It didn’t take Sujeong long before she managed to spot Gary on the second floor.

“Gary Oppa?” she whispered, and he flinched, turning around with a gasp.

“Sujeong, you scared me!” he breathed. “Are you okay?”

She nodded once. “Oppa, I’m scared being alone. Things keep popping out and scaring me. Can I stay with you?”

“S-sure you can,” he offered her his arm, and she meekly took it. “It’s not Monday…” he joked.

He led her to one of the larger classrooms, and they both looked for clues. Problem was, there were so many of them, but mostly blank.

“Let’s pile all of the R stickered papers in the middle of the room, and then after we search through the room we can look through them,” Sujeong suggested, and Gary acknowledged with a nod of his head.

They spent a good twenty minutes gathering all the papers they found with R stickers on them and putting them in the middle of the room. After that they sat down in the middle and sorted through all the papers one by one. After another ten minutes of sorting, Gary finally found the clue.

“Yes!” Gary pumped his fist, and frowned when he saw the numbers. “Aish! It’s math.”

“Let’s solve it together,” Sujeong grinned as they both looked at the paper.

“52(22)-62(0+2)-1,928=?

“22=40. 52x40=2,080. 0+2=2. 62x2=144. 2,080-144=1,936. 1,936-1,928=8. So the answer is 8,” Sujeong gave Gary a high five and she put the clue in her pocket.

“Where do we go now?” Gary asked.

Only one clue left… Sujeong thought. So I have 3, 8, and another 8. One more clue left before I can finally figure out the combination order…

“Um, let’s check for more clues,” Sujeong blinked out of her thoughts, not wanting to give Gary any suspicions.

She followed him into the next room as he held her hand. They stayed crouching and kept to the walls. Where is Choi? Does he expect me to take Gary out myself? she thought, glancing at his back every so often, the temptation to pull the nametag strong just to get it over with. Gary pulled her fully into the room as he quietly closed the door behind them.

“It doesn’t look like there’s anything in here,” Sujeong whispered while looking around and moving her flashlight with her view.

“Shh,” Gary put a hand to and pulled her down to kneel.

A figure wisped by just as silently, and then was gone. They stayed in that position for a few more minutes, and then Gary peeked out through the crack of the door. The coast was clear.

“There’s someone else here,” Gary whispered. “Either PD Myeok lied, or we are all being tricked.”

Sujeong just nodded, eyes widening as she saw Choi appear from the shadows behind them in the room. Gary still didn’t notice, until she tugged at his shirt and he gasped in surprise. Gary didn’t recognize it was Choi yet since he had a black blank mask on that covered most of his face.

“Get behind me,” Gary nudged Sujeong behind him and spread his arms to protect her.

“What are you doing?” the hooded Choi hissed.

“Protecting her,” Gary answered bravely, not realizing that the question was meant for Sujeong.

Choi glared at her, and she gulped, not knowing what to do. The mask he was wearing was scaring the crap out of her! She suddenly realized what he was asking of her, and with fake blind rage she charged at Choi. Gary tried to reach out for her but it was too late, and Choi had her in a headlock while he wrapped one arm around her from behind. That arm s around her back until he held her nametag hostage, just barely tugging at it.

“Gary Oppa, help!” Sujeong pleaded.

Gary was too scared to move, not knowing what to do. He glanced back at the masked figure, sweat dripping off his forehead. He was half tempted to just run away, but he had to protect Sujeong. He couldn’t just abandon her.

“I’ll tell you what,” the masked figure breathed. “I’ll bargain for a trade. You for the girl. Trade places. I’ll give you ten seconds to decide.”

Gary looked at him in bewilderment. What’s he supposed to do?!

“10…9…8…”

Sujeong struggled, but she felt her nametag being pulled a little more away from her, and she stopped.

“7…6…5…4”

“Okay, okay, I’ll switch places with her. Let her go first,” Gary pleaded.

The figure shook his head. “Come 5 steps closer, and I will release her.”

Gulping, Gary did take the 5 steps closer until he was within reaching distance. Choi patted her back and shoved her away, swiftly grabbing for Gary and held him in a headlock.

“Quickly! Run!” Gary gasped.

He didn’t understand why she just stood there. His eyes widened as he saw her grin.

“He fell for it,” Choi whispered with a laugh.

Gary froze; realizing who the voice finally belonged to. His knees gave out on him, but Choi held him firmly in place.

“Sujeong, you betrayed me?” Gary asked in bewilderment. “But I thought we were the new couple. The new Monday couple?!”

“Sorry, Oppa. I have no choice,” Sujeong frowned and approached him.

She wrapped her arms around him and tore his nametag off. The staff member in black came in and gagged as well as blindfolded Gary before taking him to the jail with the others. Sujeong was left alone with the masked Choi.

“How the hell did you manage to get in here without me knowing?” Sujeong asked, still scared witless of him.

“I have my ways,” he grinned. “Now all who’s left is the Commander and Haha. If you encounter the grasshopper, make sure you don’t alert him of my presence. If he tags along with you find a way to abandon him. Remember you are alone in this. Do not betray me.”

Sujeong blinked hard and nodded, too scared to answer.

“Take out whoever encounters you next. Doesn’t matter if it’s Haha or Kook. I trust you know how to handle yourself,” and with that Choi walked out the door and disappeared.

Sujeong just shuddered and stood alone in the dark and empty room, her mind still reeling with questions.

If Choi isn’t the creature or isn’t involved in the mysterious things happening, what the hell is happening here?

It would be more important to go back to HQ and see what PD Myeok has to say about this. Someone here has to know what’s really happening.

With a renewed strength she took a deep breath and stepped back into the dark hallway in the direction of the computer lab.