🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 11
“Hey, pass it!”
“Block him! I said, block him!”
“Class 3, fighting!”
Kids shouted and cheered at the top of their lungs.
“Eat your corndog. If you get 100 points, you can have another one!”
“Yeah! Let’s get that skewer thing. Looks good.”
The smell of food filled the air, mixed with laughter. Chaer-in slowly opened her eyes as she stepped into Dong-gyu’s memory of the school.
“This feels… weird.”
It looked exactly like the real school, but in memory, everything felt slightly different. Familiar, yet strange. She couldn’t explain it.
“First, I need to find Dong-gyu.”
Chaer-in scanned the area quickly. Luckily, it was a festival day, so everyone was in casual clothes, blending naturally with the crowd.
She had to move carefully. One wrong step could ruin this chance to witness the memory and uncover the truth.
Near the school gate, she saw a boy walking slowly, head down, holding a black plastic bag.
It was Dong-gyu.
He seemed invisible—no one paid him any attention from the noisy school gate to the building. A complete loner. Chaer-in felt a strange sense of kinship.
“Why won’t he go inside?”
At the entrance, Dong-gyu sighed deeply, looking up at the rooftop. After a moment, he took heavy, reluctant steps into the building.
“Is he going to the rooftop?”
Chaer-in followed carefully. With each step up the stairs, Dong-gyu’s shoulders drooped further, and his sighs grew louder.
At the rooftop, he hesitated before opening the metal door. Laughter from below drifted through. His hands trembled on the handle.
If he entered, he’d face that hellish memory again.
If he didn’t, he’d never escape it.
‘No matter what I choose, life’s the worst right now.’
Dong-gyu closed his eyes tightly and opened the door.
“Dong-gyu, hurry up!”
The tragic memory was about to replay.
“Help! Somebody help me!”
Dong-gyu’s screams echoed through the school. Chaer-in, hidden behind the rooftop door, tensed.
A few kids walking by heard the cries but ignored them, pretending nothing was happening.
“Min-jun… stop. I was wrong. Please… help me!”
The screams continued. Chaer-in clenched her fists. She wanted to run in but couldn’t. Any rash action could break the hypnotic memory or hide crucial evidence of Dong-gyu’s innocence.
“Hang on. I’ll save you.”
This was her only way to witness every detail and find the truth.
Meanwhile, the other kids laughed at the suffering Dong-gyu experienced.
“Hahaha, his face! So funny!”
“Try hitting him more rhythmically. This could get views.”
One kid, Dong-gun, even had his phone recording.
Then Min-jun grabbed a metal pipe from scrap materials, ready to strike Dong-gyu.
“Is this it?”
Chaer-in cautiously entered the rooftop to see more clearly.
Thunk!
Min-jun fell to the floor after a sudden hit.
“Stop, you idiot! Listen when someone talks!”
Chaer-in recognized the kid—he was on the witness stand earlier. Something wasn’t revealed in court. There was more going on here.
Min-jun, enraged, swung the pipe at others, and chaos erupted. The rooftop became like a fighting ring.
“Awesome! This is crazy!”
Dong-gun dodged Min-jun and filmed everything, grinning as if this were a movie.
Thunk!
Seong-ho tripped over a desk, and Min-jun swung at him.
“You dare hit me? Die!”
Thunk!
Suddenly, Hyung-jin’s pipe strike hit Min-jun’s head. He staggered, bleeding, and fell near the rooftop railing. Everyone froze.
“You… you… how dare you…”
Min-jun, holding the railing, breathed heavily, bloodied, and wiped his face.
“Fun… this is fun.”
“Min-jun, calm down. Hyung-jin didn’t mean to hit you.”
“Yeah, calm down. You’re losing too much blood.”
Other kids tried to restrain Min-jun.
Suddenly, Dong-gyu, holding a pipe, ran toward Min-jun and the kids.
“Ah, damn it! What now?!”
Min-jun grabbed another pipe, screaming:
“Everyone die! All of you!”
Then Jin-woo lunged at Min-jun, pushing him over the railing.
“Ah—”
Min-jun vanished from sight. Bang! The heavy thud echoed with the relay signal gun.
Everyone froze, staring in shock.
“Oh, damn… we’re screwed.”
Dong-gun dropped his phone. All the kids ran to the railing, carefully looking down.
Min-jun lay still below, like on a red carpet.
“Kya—ah—ah—”
Screams echoed throughout the school.
Dong-gyu, trembling, couldn’t stop his body from shaking. The other kids were equally stunned. Eighteen-year-olds could not handle such a scene.
“Everyone, be quiet!”
Jin-woo shouted, grabbing Hyung-jin’s metal pipe. Calm and decisive, he ran to Dong-gyu.
“Listen carefully, Dong-gyu.”
“Huh? Uh?”
“Pay attention. This is yours to handle.”
Jin-woo cleaned the pipe with nearby clothes, removing fingerprints.
“Me…? I did this?”
“Yes. It’s an accident. You lost control, struck Min-jun, and he stumbled off. We’ll make sure everyone believes it was an accident. You’ll be fine.”
Dong-gyu nodded, still shaking, finally understanding.
Thud-thud-thud…
Footsteps approached the rooftop. Chaer-in quickly retreated to the empty classroom below.
[“Now, take a deep breath and slowly open your eyes.”]
In-hye’s soft voice whispered in Chaer-in’s ear—the signal that the hypnotic session was ending.
[“One… two… three.”]
Chaer-in exhaled deeply and closed her eyes again.
“Ms. Jung, ending the hypnosis already? Only five minutes passed.”
Chief Choi worried—too short a time to find evidence.
“Dong-gyu’s state won’t allow more hypnosis.”
Chaer-in checked Dong-gyu immediately, concerned for his well-being.
“He’s okay. Are you alright? Any pain?”
“I’m fine. Chief, I have something to tell you. Outside.”
Chaer-in opened the break room door, leaving to report what she found.
Before the trial started, Dong-gyu’s public defender and Chief Choi had been speaking seriously.
“Is this about what you saw?”
“Probably.”
“So, who’s the real culprit?”
In-hye whispered to Chaer-in:
“You’ll see soon enough.”
Chaer-in clenched her fist quietly as she watched the kids in the witness area.
“Then, let’s start the trial. Defendant, are you okay?”
Dong-gyu nodded weakly.
“Prosecutor, please resume your questioning.”
“Judge, before that, I request new evidence.”
The public defender stood, glaring at the kids in the witness stand.
