No one had told her that there would be a special school assembly today. No one had warned her that she would be the one standing in front of the stage, staring down amongst the many students who were forced to look up. No one, especially the school itself, told her that she was the victim of the so-called "Humiliation Day."

It wasn't just Namjoo standing on stage, though. Ilhoon was already on his knees, crouching down in a pathetic position. Three other unfamiliar students were also desperately bowing down to the student body. She figured that she was supposed to bow in forgiveness, but she didn't know what she did wrong.

Kai, who was standing tall and firm, stared at the four students. He narrowed his eyes on Namjoo, making her quite shocked. Then, Ilhoon had pulled her down to his side, forcing her to lower her head. When she looked back up, Kai smirked in satisfactory.

"Welcome to another day of Humiliation Day!" Kai announced proudly. There was an awkward, loud cheer throughout the gym. "As usual, the school picks five of the most unfortunate students who got the lowest ranking of the school. It's time to finally teach them the dangers of ruining the school's reputation, and--"

"Excuse me," Namjoo interrupted, slowly getting up. "I didn't do anything wrong. If I remember, I was in the top twenty."

There was silence. If this wasn't such a serious event, Namjoo swore that she would've laughed. It was funny to see everyone stand still as if they were preparing for a childish battle.

Splat!

Namjoo felt something cold on her ear. She quickly put her finger over her ear, and wiped off the slimy, red substance. Then, the same object was thrown at her from the audience. When she looked down at the thrown object, she realized that it was a tomato.

"A tomato? Really?" she asked, shooting a glare at Kai. "Are you that childish--"

"Namjoo, stop," Ilhoon whispered, getting up to pull Namjoo back down.

"No!" she protested. "I will not stop until the school's system changes!" She turned to the audience. "What are you so afraid for? Him? He's not going to do anything to you. If he sends in reports about all of you, wouldn't that just seem strange to the principal?"

"Namjoo, stop it!" Ilhoon said in a louder voice, trying to push her down. "You're just embarrassing yourself--"

"No, Ilhoon. It's time for you to get back on your feet, too," Namjoo told him. "And as long as I'm standing here, I hope you all know that one day, there might be a day where you guys are all nonexistent, just like Niel and Jiyoung."

The poor boy didn't speak a word after that. He lowered his head, and went back down to bowing his head towards the audience. Namjoo continued to stand, alone and with no support. 

"She," Kai finally said, "deserves the most harsh punishment."

With a snap of his fingers, rocks flew in the air. They were the size of a fist, heavy and dense. When Namjoo looked up, it almost looked like the rocks were part of a meteor shower that would happen in a gym. Suddenly, a sharp rock landed against her head. The harsh impact caused Namjoo to fall backwards unconsciously, making her dazed. She saw Ilhoon scrambled onto his feet and cup her cheeks.

"Ilhoon," she said quietly for only him to hear, "you know what you first told me when we met?" She thought she saw him shake his head. "'Don't get yourself involved anymore. Don't step into someone else's problems.'"

"What does that have to do with anything right now?" Ilhoon asked gently. She let out a weak laugh.

"Do you think I should've... listened to you?"

He kept silent, then said, "No... No, I think you're doing the right thing... and maybe I'll try to get more involved, too..."

The next thing Namjoo knew was that she out in his cold, trembling hands. 

L gave the three acquaintances a ticked-off look. He was just about to leave the school's campus, but in front of the exit was Minho, Jessica, and Suzy. The three gave him a small smile, and waited for him to leave the gates. 

If I leave now, they'll probably get me to confess about Krystal, he thought. He just couldn't understand why they wanted to reveal the truth. There was no point in bringing back the truth. Why couldn't they just let things go?

"L!" a voice behind him cried. He turned around, only to find a slim, yet powerful figure.

"Oh, Bora," he said, blinking his eyes. "What's up?"

"I know I've been busy and all,  but I finally found some time to go on a date with you next Saturday," Bora said, looking at her schedule book. "So? How about it? Saturday at noon? I'll text you the details later."

"I wouldn't miss it," L replied, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. She left with a giggle, and ran to her own group of friends. L looked back at his old friends. Minho was quite surprised with what he had just seen, while Jessica remained disgusted (as always). When he looked for Suzy's reaction, she had the same expression as she did just a few minutes ago. He sighed, then walked towards the trio.

"What do you want now?" L asked, irritated.

"Who's that girl?" Minho questioned him.

"His girlfriend, I suppose," Jessica answered for him. She clicked her tongue. "You seriously got the nerves, L."

"So? I just got hooked up with her four days ago. It's none of your businesses to judge my date," L defended.

"She looks old," Minho blurted, earning a cold stare from L.

"She's two years older than me. Problem?"

"Problem? Yes! Yes, there is a problem!" Suzy finally shouted. "The problem isn't her age, but it's the fact that you're dating someone while we're all suffering from either the truth or the rumors. If you're so happy, why can't you just tell me what happened to Krystal?"

"Why do you care about Krystal so much?" L yelled back. "It's not like you actually cared about her!"

Suzy gripped her fingers around her small purse. "Okay, fine. Maybe I never cared about her. Maybe I found pleasure in dumping her pale skin with milk, or making the other girls throw rotten tomatoes at her. Maybe I liked seeing her painful figure in the mud with a tattered library book. But guess what? In every event I did something to Krystal, you were there, too. You were there, and you didn't even stop me! I understand if Minho doesn't want to tell me, but you? Why are you, who used to be supportive of my cruel actions, against me of knowing?"

He stopped to think. There was a rather simple answer to that: he was selfish. Though saying that out loud would sound bitter and nasty. He had his pride, and he was determined to keep it. 

"Because I don't see a point for you to know," L replied.

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "That's not a good answer--"

"Find your own happiness, Suzy," he quickly said. "Just forget about Krystal and--"

Jessica's phone began to ring. She held up her index finger to shush the boy. Swiftly fishing out her phone from her pocket, she grabbed onto L's collar, just in case that he would try to escape.

"Hello? This is Jessica," she said. She frowned. "What does that have to do with me... No, I can go... Yeah, I have a degree... Okay, fine, fine! G.NA, calm down! I'll go!... Okay... No, no problem. I'm just going to bring some friends over, then, okay?... Sure... Yep, okay... I'll see you in ten minutes. Bye."

The brunette hung up. Suzy looked at Jessica, who gave them an uncomfortable gaze.

"Who was it?" she asked her.

"My old friend. I was in America for two yeras and made a friend there. She's currently a nurse at the school Kai goes to. For some reason, there's a lot of injuries coming in and she needs to attend a meeting. She wants me to substitute for, like, thirty minutes." Jessica stared at them. "Do you want to come?"

"I would dread going back--"

"Let's go," Suzy said firmly. "Besides, I'm supposed to attend that school by now, anyway."

L widened his eyes. "You don't mean that--"

"Well, it's kind of our fault that she can't go back to school," Minho pointed out. 

"Hence, our fault," L repeated.

"You are just too childish, L," Jessica said, calling to grab a taxi cab. "You might think of yourself as a mature person, but you're not mature at all."

"What--"

"You grew up too fast." Jessica put her phone away once she saw a yellow car come towards them. "You grew up too fast, Minho is growing up too slowly, and Suzy isn't growing at all. Sometimes you guys have to remember that you're kids, not adults who can properly take care of themselves. That's what I've learned during my stay at America."

"So you're saying that you have no regrets over your sister's death?" Minho asked, getting into the cab. Jessica took a spot in the front, then told the driver where they were heading. She scoffed softly and put her sunglasses over her glassy eyes.

"Whoever said that?" she asked him.

After that, the entire ride to school was as silent as the dark clouds above them.