When Kala woke up that morning, he glanced at the clock, which showed 6 a.m.
"Time to get ready." He pushed off his blanket and got out of bed, heading to the bathroom.
He walked lazily, remembering that for the next few weeks he'd be alone at home because both his parents were on a business trip abroad.
The clinking sound of a spoon stirring tea filled the quiet of his morning—until the doorbell rang.
Ding dong.
Kala immediately went to the door, and it turned out to be Kyungmin, who came to pick him up so they could go to school together.
They walked side by side after getting off the bus at the stop.
"Kal, why do you look so gloomy?" Kyungmin asked, confused by Kala's silence. He'd been walking with a blank stare since earlier, making Kyungmin wonder if he was walking with someone who was possessed.
"Ah—no, I'm fine. Just thinking about some assignments," Kala replied. But in truth, he was thinking about Lyo. For some reason, he felt bad for the ghost and was thinking about helping him find the missing diary.
"You're not having problems with your gang, are you?" Kyungmin asked suspiciously.
"No, my gang's fine," Kala quickly denied.
"Just checking."
Kala and Kyungmin went to the same school but were in different classes, which is why they each had their own circle of friends.
Before long, they arrived at school and went their separate ways.
~~~~~~~
Before the bell rang, Kala decided to stop for a moment in the hallway and buy a drink from the vending machine.
As he was taking a sip, he saw Hasta approaching, about to greet him. That made Kala choke.
"What's wrong? Need to go to the nurse's office?" Hasta asked, worried.
Kala shook his head. "No, As. I'm fine."
His heart pounded. He couldn't shake his suspicion of Hasta about Miko's death yesterday.
"Asta, do you… often play with that orange cat in the park?" Kala asked.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" Hasta replied.
Hearing that made Kala tremble even more. "A-a friend told me. As… that cat died."
Hasta's eyes widened. "A-are you serious, Kal?"
Kala nodded. "I found the body yesterday."
Hasta's expression softened with sadness. "I was planning to take that cat home and take care of it…"
Kala felt even more uneasy but hid his expression.
Not far away, Gantha had been watching the two of them. He noticed Kala's strange demeanor.
"He's scared."
Gantha unlocked his phone and sent Kala a message, telling him to meet him on the rooftop.
~~~~~~
"What do you want to talk about?"
Kala and Gantha stood near the rooftop fence, watching the basketball kids practicing on the court below.
Gantha took a drag from his cigarette, then pulled another from the pack in his uniform pocket, offering it to Kala.
Kala stared at him in disbelief. "Seriously? You're offering that to an innocent, sweet kid like me?"
"Disgusting," Gantha muttered.
Kala chuckled softly at the comment. "Just get to the point. I didn't come up here just to watch you smoke."
Gantha dropped the cigarette butt and crushed it under his shoe.
"Why are you suddenly scared of Asta?"
Kala quickly denied it. "I'm not scared of him. I'm just having trust issues."
"Trust issues? What are you suspicious of? He's a harmless kid," Gantha said, baffled.
"I saw Lyo always playing with the cat in the park—Miko. When Asta escorted me to the nurse yesterday when I suddenly had that asthma attack, I saw him put a cat collar in his pocket. It looked exactly like Miko's. He said he just 'found it on the road.' Then yesterday Lyo cried and begged me to bury Miko, who had been mutilated. Lyo said Asta played with Miko too, so he asked me to tell Asta the cat died." Kala explained.
"Isn't it possible all of that is just a coincidence?" Gantha asked.
"I thought about that too, but still… I can't shake this feeling," Kala muttered.
"Just don't suspect him unless you have real proof," Gantha replied.
~~~~~~~
Kaze gathered at the cafeteria during lunch break, sitting at one table while waiting for their food.
Dion glanced at Hasta, who looked unusually quiet. "What's up, As? You're zoning out."
"Nothing. I was just thinking," Hasta replied.
"About what?" Melvin asked.
"About Lyo. I feel like he has a serious reason for asking us for help."
"Maybe, but he's freaky," Yoan commented.
"He's just an introvert. You know! Kids like him rarely socialize, so they act weird because they don't know how to behave around people," Kala said.
"You're defending him?" Yoga asked, suspicious.
"No. I just ran into him several times on my way home, and that's the impression I got," Kala said.
Gantha glanced briefly at Kala before looking away. Why did it sound like Kala was low-key defending that weird ghost?
Kala also glanced at Gantha, aware of what he must be thinking. He'd probably pull him aside to talk later.
"So he has trouble asking people for help," Hasta continued.
"Whatever the reason is, that kid is really weird," Yoan said.
"He is suspicious, yeah, but what's wrong with helping him? Maybe he really needs it," Melvin said.
"This whole thing is strange. I'm not convinced," Yoga muttered.
"I'll take the case," Kala said suddenly.
His friends all whipped their heads toward him.
"Are you crazy, Kal?" Yoan snapped.
"A-ah, I'm just bored. Nothing to do," Kala chuckled awkwardly.
"We can't take official cases now. Surveillance is too tight. While we wait for the inquiry to settle, why not take another case first? Maybe this one," Dion suggested.
"Good idea, but this case is weird," Yoga said.
"Not weird—challenging. Feels like one of those bizarre cases from the books I read," Dion said.
Everyone stared at him flatly. Maybe he just wanted to get pulled into a novel plot.
"What did you read? Something like Final Destination?" Yoan asked.
"Dude, that's too horror."
Kala laughed internally. If only they knew I almost got isekai'd just from imagining stuff like that…
Gantha, who had been fiddling with his phone, looked at them with an unreadable expression. He glanced at Kala, then lowered his gaze.
"I agree. Let's take the case," Gantha said.
"You two okay? Sakala? Agantha?" Yoan scoffed.
"Since when do you agree so quickly, Gan?" Melvin asked.
"Am I not allowed to say that?" Gantha replied.
"It's not that. It's just weird. Usually you just go along with whatever we do," Dion said.
"You guys are taking forever. If you're bored, it's better to take something than do nothing," Gantha said.
"Heh, true. So, what do you guys think?" Dion asked.
"Fine, I'm in," Melvin said.
"The rest of you?" Dion asked.
Their silence meant agreement.
"Lyo left his phone number that day. I'll ask him about the villa's location. We can probably go tomorrow since it's Saturday," Dion continued.
"Isn't that too rushed?" Yoan said.
"We're not going there to stay overnight. I'll text you guys later if we can meet up today to buy supplies," Dion explained.
"You sure your car's safe to drive long-distance?" Melvin asked.
"I'll take it to the workshop today to check everything," Dion said.
"So later we meet at the mall? Around the afternoon?" Yoga asked.
"Yeah, around two or three," Dion replied.
"Okay."
Their food arrived shortly after. Kala ate while occasionally glancing at Gantha.
"Does he trust me?"