“The new dean is going to roam around today and he might enter some classes so you guys better behave well or I-”

Our teacher stopped talking when the door slid open. It was dean Yang, just as he said.

“Oh, good afternoon Mr. Yang!”

“Good afternoon! Ah… this was the last classroom I taught in before I was promoted to dean a long time ago.”

“Class president.” Our teacher signaled.

“A- all ris—”

“Oh, No need for that. Sit down, everyone. I’m just here to take a look at the school. Surely, nothing much has changed. hahaha! I’ll be on my way now. Good luck everyone. Study well and have a nice day!”

“Mr. Yang! you dropped this.” Our teacher picked up something from the ground as Mr. Yang was about to get out of our classroom. I took a glimpse of it and it was a pin or a brooch with a… willow tree… and a Chinese character…. 楊. It looks exactly the same as the pin Yerim showed us the other day.

“Ah! Thank you… this is a family heirloom. Well, we had to have it replicated because the original pin was lost 15 years ago. I think I’ll have this fixed so I won’t lose it like the original piece. I’ll take my leave now.”

Light bulb! That was TMI but now I’m sure the brooch Yerim found near the storage room is Mr. Yang’s.

“Yerim-ah, you said you can confirm that Baechu was buried in the forest?”

“Yeah. They didn’t bury her too deep. Just about 3 feet so I kinda saw her… (whisper) bones.”

“It’s okay Yerim. But how do you think we could get my remains out of there? We can’t just exhume it on our own.” Baechu said.

“I guess I need to use my connections now.” I pulled my phone out and called Seulgi.

 “What are you guys up to?” Sooyoung suddenly showed up behind us. “I didn’t know you end Seungwan were close, Yerim.”

“Ah! Yeah unnie. I go to the library often these days and you know, Seungwan unnie’s a library assistant, right?”

“I didn’t know you read books.”

“Hey!”

“I’m just kidding. Carry on. I’m off the the teachers’ office. I just happened to pass by you.”

“Y-yeah. See you later in class, Sooyoung.”

What a relief. That was close. I really thought Sooyoung was going to pry on our business here. Wait, Seulgi’s still on the line.

“H-hey! Seul, still there?”

“Yeah, I heard everything.”

“Sorry. I have a favor to ask”

Seulgi knows a cop. I met her once, she was really cool. Her name was Moon Byulyi I asked Seulgi to contact her to help us. I had to explain to her that we found Baechu’s body and we need a professional so we can exhume and examine it to give justice to Baechu.

Apparently, Byulie unnie knew about Baechu’s case. She found out while studying that it was a cold case of an unknown girl who was reported to be missing from that school several years ago. The person who reported it apparently went missing too, shortly after. It sounds really fishy.

A few days later, a warrant was issued and everyone was peeking out of their classroom windows to see what was going on.

“Byulie unnie!”

“Hey, kiddos! The men are digging now. We’ll finish soon.” Byulie unnie is Seulgi’s cop friend. She’s really nice and cool.

“Ma’am we found it!” One of the workers exclaimed.

“Good job! You did great.” Byulie unnie patted the man’s back.

“What’s gonna happen now?” Yerim asked.

“We’re going to take this to the laboratory to do some tests. Find out how this person ended up here… Also, I’m really curious. How did you end up finding this skeleton here?”

“Aha! Long story but to cut it short, I was just strolling then I saw something sticking out of the soil.” Yerim lied.

“Sounds plausible.” Byulie unnie was convinced.

Yerim gave them the brooch she found near the burial site and told them that she was willing to testify or give her statement. She explained to her that it was a family heirloom of the Yangs that was lost a long time ago and was only recently found. Within that week, the new dean was summoned for investigation.

I wasn’t there but Byul unnie said that he was crying probably out of guilt even before the interrogation started and immediately confessed.

“I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t raise my son well. I just love my son so much that I couldn’t bear to see him be punished. I deeply regret all of that now.”

“Thank you for your confession. It would be a big help if you cooperate with us, Mr. Yang.”

“I know where he lives. I can give you his address. Please make my son pay for his crimes.”

It’s truly heartbreaking how a father would do everything in his power to protect his child even if his child did something wrong. A parent would never want to see their child hurt. It took Mr. Yang a great deal of courage to confess his and his son’s crimes to the authorities.

Mr. Yang told her the whole story and it was just exactly as Baechu told me. He confessed to aiding a crime by helping his son bury the body of a person he killed and for starting a huge fire in the school to cover everything up. He pleaded guilty and his son, Hyuk, is now on the hunt by the police force.

That weekend, we all went out for some Korean barbecue. And of course, we couldn’t leave Baechu out. We grilled some meat to offer to her soul.

“Byul unnie. Really, thank you so much for helping us.”

“You’re welcome. I was just doing my job too, anyways. So… can you guys tell me exactly how you got caught in all this trouble? I don’t believe you just tripped over this bone sticking out from the ground.”

“Well, it’s hard to explain but it was Bae Jooyeon’s ghost who tipped us.”

“The ghost of the unearthed skeleton? You’re telling me she came to you to ask for help?”

“Yeah! Ridiculous, right? Haha! It doesn’t make sense. You probably don’t believe in ghosts. I used to not believe in them too until I met Jooyeon.”

“Well I don’t exactly not believe in them. I just haven’t seen one yet so I’m just on the skeptical side.”

Yerim and I looked at each other and shrugged when suddenly, Byulie unnie’s phone rang.

“Hang on, let me get this.” She answered the phone call and apparently, it was from the station.

“What was that? Yeah? Alright, thanks. I’m on my way.” Byulie unnie said over the phone

“What happened, unnie?”

“It’s Dean Yang’s son. They got him.”

Yerim and I hurriedly got up and rushed to the station with Byulie unnie. We saw him, the culprit behind Baechu’s death. He confessed to everything, but he didn’t look like he had any remorse. He even tried to bribe his way out. How shameless. People like him should rot in jail.

I went directly to school to find Baechu and tell her that they finally caught her killer.

“Baechu! They got him… the guy who killed you. He’ll be prosecuted and he will finally be punished.”

Baechu started tearing up. She threw her arms around me and wrapped me in her ghostly embrace.

“Seungwan-ah. Thank you for everything. Thank you so much.”

“We’re not done yet. There’s going to be another trial and when he’s convicted, he’ll finally pay for his crimes.”

“When is that?”

“This weekend.”

That weekend arrived really soon. The day that we have all been waiting for. Yang Hyuk’s judgement day. Apparently, he has also accumulated recent charges of physical abuse, ual abuse, assault, bribery, and others. At that point, I truly believed he was a scum of the earth.

Everything went well. Yang Hyuk was later convicted of the several crimes he committed over the years, including the ones he did to Baechu. On the day he was sentenced, we were relieved that finally, Baechu received justice. We thanked everyone for their hard work and went home. Well… I didn’t really go home.

I rushed to school to tell Baechu about everything that happened.

She wasn’t in the music room. I wonder where she ran off to.

“Baechu-yah! Where are you?”

She isn’t anywhere she usually is. I checked every floor, every room, to look for her. I’m starting to get worried. What if she cro-

“Wannie!” She came from behind.

“Oh my god! Baechu, please don’t do that again. Where were you? I was looking all over for you.”

“Oh, sorry. I was on the rooftop to breathe the cold night air.. It was really good. Anyway, what’s up?”

“Yang Hyuk. He’s finally put behind bars to pay for several crimes.”

“R… really?” Baechu stuttered. Her face lit up but it dimmed in just moments. Her excitement disappeared right away.

“What’s wrong?”

Baechu sighed and then held my hand. It’s always so cold but it makes me feel warm inside.

“I’m glad that all of this is finally done. I feel peaceful now that Hyuk and his father are in jail. It is finally done, Seungwan-ah…”

“Yeah… it is… done.”

“I guess… this is the end.”