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….

Soobin was in the gym’s shower room , waiting outside one of the shower stalls where Sera was washing herself. After a while, Sera turned off the shower, wiped her hair and put on her gym uniform before stepping outside, looking quite shaken up.

“Are you okay?” Soobin asked in a gentle tone.

“I’m fine,” Sera mumbled. “What about you? Did the earthquake hurt anyone?”

“Earthquake?” Soobin blinked. “What earthquake?”

Sera was now confused. “Y-you didn’t feel any earthquake?” she nervously asked.

“No,” Soobin said, shaking her head. “We were all at the assembly when we heard you scream. There was no earthquake.”

Sera was now visibly scared. Was she imagining things now? Her heart thumped hard against her chest and she bit her lip, unable to comprehend anything. Soobin was now alarmed at Sera’s strange behavior.

  “What happened in the girls’ toilet?” she asked. “Why were you screaming?”

“I…” Sera trailed off, feeling very nervous. She was not sure what happened and it was such a crazy phenomenon that she was now scared to even narrate it.

“I saw a cockroach and was scared,” she lied. “And I probably thought the ground beneath me was shaking while I ran from the cockroach and then I fell on the floor…”

She hid her eyes, trying not to cry but it was impossible. The humiliation was freshly etched into her head and she was embarrassed. All the students had seen her without her panties and she was crying hard thinking about the utter embarrassment. Everyone was now going to outcast her even further.

“Sera, don’t worry about the others,” Soobin comforted her. “I’m sure the teachers will punish them-“

“You don’t understand!” Sera exclaimed tearfully. “School punishment doesn’t matter! I’ll be the laughing stock now! Everyone will make fun of me for exposing my… I’ll be a social pariah!”

“Why do you care so much about those people?” Sera frowned. “They always made fun of you! Ever since my first day, I’ve seen how those people treat you and you still flock around them. Why? You’re better than that! They don’t deserve a friend like you. You always tell me how fake and shallow they are. So why are you looking for their approval?”

Soobin was truly looking out for her friend but Sera was not listening. She wanted to be free of this miserable nameless existence.

“They call me a Hippo, Soobin,” she sobbed. “Coz I’m fat and ugly! No one wants to be my friend. Do you have any idea how many times I had to eat lunch alone in the bathroom because I was too scared of Rachel and her gang? Yeah, they made my life miserable! They were the worst!”

Soobin was speechless. She did not know much about the school and its people yet. Other than the twins and Sera, she was not acquainted with many people but only heard of some cases of bullying among the rich elites. But this…

“Your brother used to date her, right?” She asked. “Then why did she bully you?”

“Because she wanted to!” Sera said bitterly. “In front of my brother, she was sweet and innocent but behind his back, she made my life hell! She even-“

Sera stopped herself. 

“What did she do?” Soobin asked but Sera turned on her heels and ran away.

Yoonmin stood outside the gym, waiting for the girls. Minyoon had to go back to class but Yoonmin stayed behind to make sure that Soobin and Sera were okay. He was typing a message to this secretary about an investment when Sera came running out. She briefly glanced at him, blushed and continued to run. 

“Sera!” Soobin called her but Sera disappeared around a corner. Soobin was disheartened by the turn of events. Yoonmin observed her and let out a loud sigh.

“What is it?” Soobin sneered. “I’m not in the mood for your snarky remarks.”

“Are you an idiot?” he asked. “Isn’t it clear that she wants to be alone?”

“I’m just trying to help!” Soobin exclaimed. “She just went through a traumatic experience!”

“Which is why she needs to be alone with her thoughts,” Yoonmin pointed out. “The more you’re gonna chase her, the more she’ll be distraught. Just let her be.”

“It’s not that…” Soobin bit her lip. There was something which bothered her. She sat on the floor, crossing her legs, thinking about the absurd people around her. Yoonmin sat next to her and nudged her.

“This school is really weird,” she admitted. “Someone died and yet, no one is sorry for her. And Sera. Sera was humiliated by the entire school and no one came to help.”

“You did,” Yoonmin said. “You helped her. As long as there’s one person who stands up for her, she’ll be fine.”

“She wants to be liked by others,” Soobin mumbled, looking down.

“Don’t we all?” Yoonmin asked. “I mean, if fans didn’t like Minyoon and spent money on him, my company would have died. Of course we wanna be liked so that we can survive!”

Soobin rolled her eyes. “You are really insensitive!” she snapped at him and stood up. 

“What’d I do?” he asked, feeling completely dumbfounded. “It’s true! Companies run on the customers’ approval-“

“Are you really comparing money with someone’s feelings?” she scolded him. “She’s a person not an object for sale!”

Yoonmin was about to say something but Soobin stormed off. He slowly got up and walked along the empty hallway feeling a little irritated and dejected.

“Why is she always angry at me but dotes on Minyoon?” he mumbled with a scowl. “We look the same!”

He was trying to figure out what Soobin meant when he nearly bumped into someone.

“Oh sorry- sis!” he exclaimed when he saw his sister and one of her officers. Jina and Chanmi had just finished talking to the Principal and were heading towards the senior classroom where Rachel used to study when she ran into Yoonmin, who seemed a little lost. She was peering suspiciously at her brother.

“Why are you outside of class?” she asked.

“I was helping that girl, Sera,” he explained. “She was…let’s just say that she was in a sticky situation and everyone made fun of her. Only Soobin, Minyoon and I stepped up to help her. It was really weird. But why are you here?”

“It’s for an investigation,” Chanmi replied. 

“Ah yes, the Song Rachel Case!” Yoonmin realized.

“You don’t have to worry about all that,” Jina told him. “Go to class. We’ll handle it.”

But Yoonmin did not leave immediately. “I just wanna tell you something, sis,” he began. “A word of caution, actually.”

“What is it?” Jina frowned.

“In this school, no one’s gonna tell you their true feelings about Rachel,” Yoonmin revealed. “Even her friends. So don’t trust anyone’s words here. And…”

He took a deep breath and said, “Every student here had a motive to kill her. She was a bully after all.”