▬ Chapter 19: Time Loop - Part 1 ▬

Day 3 - D-Day - Second half

“The night fell late at the grounds of Woollim High and the silence was eerily creeping as time slowly went by. The school was surrounded by a light fog that reached just below the knees and for the normal students, they thought they saw something lurking by the trees. So they went on their way back to the confines of their dorm, hoping that by dawn, things will get back to the norm.

Yet for others this was just the usual sign, to follow what the principal said in his established guideline. But alas, something seems different and if all must fail, this would be the last of their heroic tale. For tonight, the time loop will revive once more, determining a fate that has never been theirs before.”

“What the heck are you saying over there, Toma?” Minhyun, who has been crossing his arms patiently while listening to the man, raised an eyebrow.

The students and teachers who were involved in the Han Hyerin case stood a few distances away from the top of the hill below the old burned-down building. They were asked to remain hidden from Hoya as they wait for the principal. It was finally the usual time and day for when the time loop happens so everyone knew what to expect. As always, they brought nothing, not even a flashlight to pave their way, because for some reason, the moon shone just enough light for them to see where to go every time a time loop happened.

Minsoo chuckled beside him. “You know how he is with making poems and prose aside from his love for history.”

Daeryong snorted. “He should have used that to pick up girls. Not once did I see him interact with a girl aside from his classes.”

“I’m not sure you’re in the position to say that, big brother,” Soryong snickered.

“Hey, I do interact with the ladies!”

“Pranking does not count, my goodness.” Changjo shook his head in disbelief.

“Poor Aejung,” Minkyung sighed. “She still couldn’t get over the fact that someone messed up her project so bad that she had to leave mid-presentation.”

“She wouldn’t even come out of her dorm room due to embarrassment for a few days, you idiot.” Jonghyun felt sorry for his schoolmate whenever he thought of that unfavorable event.

“Right,” Mr. Junho intervened. “I had to go up there personally to tell her it was fine and that she wouldn’t get points deducted from her grade. Still took her a while to open her door though.”

“That sweet and quiet Park Aejung?” Mr. Byunghyun joined their conversation out of curiosity. “What the heck did you do to that girl, Jung Daeryong?”

“Apparently, Daeryong found a picture and inserted it into her presentation slide.” Haeri began to recount while Daeryong covered his ears and mumbled other things. Yes, he did feel sorry for her days after that happened but the repercussions have already been made. “Aejung likes to play with photoshop during her spare time and she… uh, photoshopped herself together with Mr. Junho.”

“It looked so real though,” Minhyun added. “As expected of someone who got here with defamation charges.”

“Hwang Minhyun, that is not a good thing to say to a lady,” Mr. Junho reprimanded him. “But I gotta say, I wonder where she got that photo. I looked so— ouch!”

“You and your rated mouth. We’re in front of children, you dolt!”

The students laughed at Mr. Byunghyun and Mr. Junho’s antics. Both teachers have been good friends and seeing them being playful with one another has been known to be an event no one would want to miss.

“What’s with all this ruckus?”

“Oh, Sunggyu.” Toma turned to greet the new face. “What took you so long?”

“Just had a last minute talk with the principal. Where are Ms. Chaeyoung and Ms. Jeongyeon?”

“The students haven’t seen Ms. Chaeyoung in class since around a week ago and I have no idea where Ms. Jeongyeon is,” Jonghyun explained. “Perhaps Ms. Chaeyoung’s sick. She might come by in a few minutes. We practically still have twenty more minutes until the principal arrives.”

“I see. On another note, did you guys find anything that we can use against Hyerin?”

“The only viable thing that we found was a copy of our yearbook that Minkyung kept,” Haeri motioned towards the book her friend held in her hand. “Others were just random pictures and written letters.”

“I’m still not a hundred percent sure that would work,” Minhyun admitted. “Since she’s gone this far, I think she hates everyone in that book.”

“You’re such a pessimist,” Minsoo placed a hand on his shoulder. “Loosen up, will you?”

“Speaking of that, seems like most of you are taking this well,” Sunggyu gave them a tugged smile. “You all know what happens after this, right?”

Everyone fell silent as some looked at Sunggyu while others tried to look elsewhere.

“It’s not like we have a choice,” Jonghyun spoke after a while. “We’ve lived for too long anyway so it’s about time we left this place.”

Suddenly there were sounds by the bushes that didn’t go with the natural flow of the breeze. The group stopped talking and with determined curiosity, Sunggyu walked over to the sound to peer over the other side. That’s when he found five familiar faces either crouching down or laying on the ground to hide from plain sight. Well, that was their initial plan, anyway.

“What are you all doing here?” Sunggyu eyed the five men looking up at him. “It’s past curfew and you shouldn’t even be here.”

“We just wanted to see if there was something we could help with,” Dongwoo shrugged.

“Look,” Minsoo sighed, “I already told you guys that you’re only in the way. Just leave us be.”

“So we heard,” Sungjong replied, brushing off the grass on his pants. “But we don’t back out on our friends.”

Sungyeol stepped up this time with hands lazily placed in his pockets. “To you, we may just be people passing by but to us, you guys have been our friends, teachers, and people who have been a part of our lives.”

“Whoa there,” Minhyun raised a hand before he could go on. “Now is seriously not the time to make Hallmark greeting cards.”

More footsteps were approaching and to this, Minkyung and a few others hastily pushed the five back to their hiding spot.

“Hey!” Woohyun half-screamed while