▬ Chapter 11: Connection ▬

“Wait, so you’re saying that this lot previously belonged to Hankyung High?” Sungyeol hid behind L. “I thought that was somewhere else.”

Before they could continue their conversation, Hoya entered the dorm room just a few minutes before curfew. Everyone in the room looked at him with a deadpanned face while he just stared at them in return.

“Did I miss the memo on a meeting?”

“No, not at all,” Sunggyu calmly replied. “Everyone just woke up from their nap so they’re playing around.”

Hoya raised an eyebrow then somehow his eyes landed on Sungyeol who was half hidden behind L. When Hoya saw him flinch the moment their eyes locked, he smirked.

“If you say so. I’m heading to bed so good night.” Just as he took five steps towards the bedroom hallway, Sungyeol cleared his throat.

“I’ll be sleeping in Sungjong’s room for the night. I’m helping him with his homework and it’ll probably take the whole night.”

His roommate shrugged, continuing on his way to the door. “Sure, whatever.”

Once the room fell silent, those who held their breaths the moment Hoya came in the room heaved a sigh of relief. L turned around and smacked the taller man. “The hell, man?! Don’t be so obvious!” He yelled in a whisper.

“Did you see the guy look at me?! That creeped me out!” Sungyeol used the same whispered tone but his voice came out in a higher pitch.

Dongwoo snorted, “Maybe he likes you.”

“Don’t even joke about that, you idiot. Plus, I like women.”

“Back to what Sungyeol said earlier, are you implying that Woollim used to be Hankyung?” Woohyun interrupted.

“There’s no correlation that I found to support that statement,” Dongwoo replied. “At least not when I looked last time. I mean, I didn’t even care about this school but just searched for pictures of what the buildings looked like for reference to make sure I’m at the right place since I’m not from this area.”

“Then let’s check again.” Sungjong went to his room and came back with his laptop in hand. He began typing once the screen loaded and the other five guys crowded behind the screen. Once the search results popped out, he read snippets of what he found. “Woollim High, built in 1901, regarded as a school for delinquents but graduates come out like normal members of society with less to no further cases of troublesome behavior unlike prior to admittance.”

After Sungjong clicked on a link, Sungyeol was the next one who read. “Oh? It’s a past student’s testimonial. ‘Woollim High is just like any other school. The teachers and administrators are helpful and kind to students.’ What is this guy talking about? The admins are as stiff as stone.”

“I actually find them helpful,” Dongwoo remarked. “They may seem cold but they’re way better than those lazy admins at my previous school. I barely get my questions answered and if they do, it’s either too late or it’s given like three months after I asked.”

“Maybe it’s just because he gets in trouble often so every time they hear Sungyeol’s name, it’s all ‘WTF, again?’ from them. They’ve had enough of him at this point.”

“Shut up.” Sungyeol nudged the smirking guy beside him. “What happened to you being all quiet, you poker-faced jerk?”

“Look,” Dongwoo pointed at the screen. “Click on that one, Sungjong. That’s what I saw last time.”

With his command, Sungjong clicked on the small image thumbnail on the side. Once the image loaded, everyone fell silent. It was a yearbook photograph with the caption ‘Woollim High Seniors (1905).’ The students lined up neatly by the steps with their hands by their sides. Some had minuscule smiles while others looked at the camera with expressionless faces.

Woohyun broke the silence after a while. “They look like they’re in the military.” Then his eyes landed on the figure that had a different uniform right by one of the students. His face was blurred out, just like they have been suspecting. “Whoa.”

Sungjong clicked on the next image and this time, the caption read ‘Woollim High Seniors (1950).’ The students looked rowdier and just like the present, their