"Jeon Hyosung. You are suspected of cheating." The noise grew louder as many students spread the news. 

Hyosung remained calm because she knows she did nothing wrong. Sunhwa and Ravi were ready to interfere but they waited for the right moment. Both of them figured Hyosung could get out of it by her own. "Hmm...What proof have you got under that claim, sir?" 

The teacher scoffed. "Tch. Remaining so calm huh. As if you're innocent! Your subject teachers have confirmed your scores on the earlier subjects. All of them thought the scores were weird and discussed it with each other, especially yours, Ms Jeon. Because on each of the tests, you, a non-achiever, got an above average mark.... And One of your tests was a perfect score! Now that's suspicious!" The commotion grew louder. Some disagreed and some concurred it was suspicious.

Sunhwa snapped. She came forward and argued. "With all due respect, isn't it a bit insulting for you to say that sir? Even though you're a teacher and that we students are not as smart as you, it remains disrespectful to say that to anyone no matter the age difference. Jeon Hyosung here could just be working her guts out which resulted to a fair score. Please don't jump to conclusions so quickly." The students clapped and seconded the motion. The teacher could not respond and grunted.

Hyosung ,on the other hand, could not believe she achieved a perfect score. However she was confident in her above average scores. She remember answering them clearly and confidently. But It is weird. Still, she decided to build up her self-esteem. No matter what, she did not cheat at all costs. 

The guidance counselor went in between them and added, "I'm awfully sorry for jumping to a conclusion. We only wanted to interview you in a private room. We planned beforehand to only do such. We still haven't of course came to a final decision that you did cheat. Our teacher here was just too shocked at this news of cheating. But besides such, we still have other sources. As teachers, we did not just base it on your unexpected scores..... Before the exams started, One of our guards had told us someone could have entered the faculty room last night. He saw that it could be a student but he wasn't too sure if what he saw was real or was just his imagination. Hearing this, we decided to check the test papers as soon as it ended so that we could check for suspicious scores. Yours was what stood out the most, based upon everyone of your subject teacher's remarks"

The teacher continued "And one of the teacher's prepared test papers was lost, as he found it this morning! The count was subtracted by a one. This clearly means there was someone who broke in last night. In order to confirm this, we are here to solve it. Please answer honestly. My question to you Ms Jeon, where were you last night at 6pm to 7pm? Prove your innocence."

Hyosung couldn't immediately respond. During that time, she was strolling around the whole town, not knowing where to go. She was in a trance due to the sudden revelation she encountered earlier about Sunhwa and Kikwang. This was a bad timing. If she will respond vaguely, it would make it beneficial to the teacher's side. It would seem like she was lying! And she can't possibly tell them the reason why. 

Sunhwa was the first to respond. "I can bear witness to her adlib. Yesterday, Jeon Hyosung and I, along with Kikwang were out to a bookstore. And we were out up until night, eating ramyun at a local streets shop." she said. The students began siding with Hyosung.

The guidance counselor asked "At what time exactly?" Sunhwa became nervous. "It was....until 5...." But she trusted in Hyosung.

The teacher smirked. "That doesn't help. Instead it's worsened. Knowing you're a friend of Hyosung, who knows you could be just lying for her sake? What you said back there doesn't seem convincing now that you confirmed your friendship."

"But I'm not being biased! I'm for justice! And justice means delivering what is deserved of the person. Jeon Hyosung does deserve to be seen innocent." Sunhwa replied. She looked over to Ravi, but Ravi couldn't help. He still valued the fact that Hyosung does not want to be seen as one of them, as a delinquent. Thus, he could not speak out for her sake. Knowing he was a delinquent, it could even give damage to her reputation and to her innocence. Delinquents are viewed as criminals. Being a criminal won't make her seem innocent in this situation.

The teacher looked over to Hyosung. "So?"

Hyosung bit her lips. Just say the truth. "During that time, I was wandering out in town. After eating ramyun with Sunhwa, I ran almost to... anywhere. I didn't specifically visit any store or place, I just strolled around town, eating and relaxing. Afterwards, I walked towards the shop I live in. And that was it."

They laughed. What an excuse. Now that seemed obvious. Everyone shouted their thoughts. "That seems way too unclear...I'm sorry Ms Jeon, but that doesn't prove anything." the guidance counselor responded. Sunhwa was in despair and so was Ravi. Chief....I believe in you. 

"We have one last task...please allow us to search your bag." Hyosung nodded and gave away her bag. There's nothing to see there. At least that, I'm sure of. she thought.

The teacher randomly pulled out the items in her bag. The last thing he pulled was the ballpen given to her from the lockers that came along with a note "Do your best". The teacher stopped searching and stood up. "Is this the ballpen you used in your exam?" he asked.

Hyosung nodded. The ballpen? Why?

The teacher dropped the pen and smashed it with his feet. When it broke apart, there was a paper. The paper contained a code of letters, which contained the answers to the exam paper that was lost. Sunhwa and Ravi's eyes widened. Facing the paper revealed to her, Hyosung could not believe her eyes. A rush of shock her body. Did I cheat? She asked herself. This situation was familiar. She would often see this scenario in tv shows and in news stories: where one innocent weak soul is being fed to the shadows of the malicious and unfair world. 

Sunhwa and Ravi were as shocked as she. Despite such, they stood by her side until the end.

♪♪♪♪♪​♪♪♪♪♪​♪♪♪♪♪

(Sunhwa)

It's been a week and a half since the 'cheating' incident. I could not understand what had happened. When the teachers revealed her to the whole school, Hyosung unnie...just acknowledged it. She didn't deny nor did she fight against it. She accepted the lies being pushed unto her. I could not understand it. I just could not believe it either. I still strongly stand by the belief that she did nothing to cheat. But what hurts me is how unnie is being idle, how she's being weak in front of this trial. I have to admit, everyone cheats in their school. I cheated several times; and my teachers have only been scolding me and such. This time, however, the crime was beyond just cheating. It included theft and a serious fraud. Why is Hyosung accepting it so simply? This school can do more than just suspend her. What if she'll get expelled? I don't understand; up till now, I just couldn't. 

It's dangerous. Seoul is the main city of South Korea. Expelling a student will go viral in every part of the country. And it might even reach her family. I don't know much about her background; but she once told me her family was too strict and serious. Tch. Expected from businessmen. 

I could not sit still. I had to ask her now that she's back "Unnie, Tell me, why? Why aren't you saying anything?" Hyosung remained silent. "Is it because you really did cheat?" I asked.

Finally, she chose to speak up. "Sunhwa, don't worry about me. I am not too affected by this. It won't change anything to my dreams." I clenched my fists. My mind could still not grasp what she was trying to convey to me. "Aren't you giving up? You're letting them win!" My pride includes hers.

Right then and there, when hyosung spoke the next words, I was moved. She made me see things differently, through her angle of perspective. "I know you believe I didn't cheat. Ravi, Kikwang, Himchan and Yongguk believes in me too. Sometimes, it's okay to give up: when it's about pleasing other people's expectations. I realized that there was nothing I could do to change their beliefs. I could not persuade them in any way to think that it wasn't me who wrote the code. But there are people who thought otherwise. That satisfies me enough. Next time, I won't make myself seem easy to be 'framed' of such a crime. Don't worry Sunhwa, it won't happen ever again." she calmly replied.

I was convinced well enough by her. So I stopped asking; I stopped trying to understand it. I just had to think simply. I just had to think of what to do next. But what bothers me is: who gave her that pen? Who stole the test paper? and who broke into the school during that night? I spent a week with Himchan and Yongguk trying to figure it out. Kikwang offered to help, too. Yet there were no results. Whoever did so, he/she was an expert. 

More importantly, hyosung....although she seems calm, there's something wrong with how she is. It's hard to make it out; something is just off about her. Not about how she responded to the situation, but just how she's acting now when she came back from her suspension. What happened? 

​♪♪♪♪♪​♪♪♪♪♪​♪♪♪♪♪

"The plan was successful. However the school was too tolerant of the situation. It didn't result to what we expected." Hakyeon said.

"I see, Proceed to plan B immediately." the voice on the phone replied.

((finallyy Summer break!))

Leave some comments! I'd appreciate it :D

-fairy