CHAPETER 3:seoul station (2)
After roll call, the students boarded. Car no. 7, reserved exclusively for their class, was spacious and luxurious—nothing like an ordinary train.
The seats, wide and reclining, had footrests and individual screens. Each student had an assigned seat, two by two, like in a premium airplane.
Some settled near the windows, others gathered with friends. The noise of suitcases, laughter, and lively conversations filled the air.
There were no sleeping cabins like in an overnight train, but the seats were so comfortable one could easily doze off. A soft light bathed the cabin, and meal trays were already waiting at the front.
"You're kidding!" someone exclaimed.
"Not at all. How do you explain the disappearances in Seoul these past two years? And elsewhere in the world!"
A group of boys on the left were loudly debating. Their deep voices echoed through the whole car.
"It was the same in America, in Europe… People disappear without reason, without trace."
"In Spain, for example, several people vanished after a concert, and others in different places, overnight. No clue, no lead."
"Same in France, Morocco, Japan! Hikers, high schoolers, travelers… untraceable!"
"I'm telling you man, it's aliens behind it." declared the boy, tone grave.
"Kang, seriously? Only a naive fanatic like you would believe that!" retorted another, a bit chubby, arms crossed.
"It's surely a mystical phenomenon. My grandmother is an exorcist. She told me spiritual energy has been unstable for two years. Must be evil spirits."
"Idiot, ghosts don't exist! I'm telling you, it was aliens who did it!"
"No, ghosts, dumbass!"
"Alien!"
"Ghost!"
The third boy of the group, who had remained silent until then, abruptly shut his book. He stood up in a leap, turned around, climbed on his seat, his face twisted in a nasty grimace, and threw his book at their faces.
"Kang ! Min-Woo!
Grrrrr…
"Stop your bullshit, bunch of pompous morons! You're disturbing everyone with your nonsense!"
A short silence followed. Then the young man added calmly, adjusting his glasses with his fingers:
"Anyway, everyone knows these disappearances are caused by a multidimensional paranormal phenomenon, teleporting people into other realities… because of a rift in the space-time continuum."
The other two stared at him, then at each other.
"Alien, I tell you!"
"Ghost! My grandmother is never wrong, she even predicted the end of the world!"
"You and your old witch piss me off! It's aliens, period!"
Suddenly, a soft and harmonious voice cut through their noise.
"Why… not all three at once?"
"Huh?!"
"President Seo Hanna!!!" they answered in unison, instantly straightening.
The trio flinched. They stared at her, stunned, slightly panicked.
Seo Hanna advanced gracefully. She gave them a little wave, accompanied by a calm smile. A floral, bewitching fragrance floated around her.
"Please, could you be a little quieter? You're disturbing the others." she said softly.
The three boys blushed like tomatoes. It was as if a goddess had spoken to them.
"W-what… what are you doing here, President?" stammered one of them.
"I just wanted to make sure everyone was properly settled in."
Seo Hanna was the most beautiful flower of the high school.
The most popular girl, the most admired, the most unreachable.
President of the student council, she naturally imposed respect, through her presence as much as her intelligence.
She could not be ignored.
Her long hair, black as the night, fell in silky waves down her back.
Her delicate face seemed to come straight out of a fairy tale, making her look like a gentle fairy. Her eyes, a pure sapphire blue, only made her even more magnificent.
Even her strict uniform couldn't hide the flawless elegance of her silhouette.
After a few seconds, the young girl stepped away from the group, offering them one last smile and a wave of her hand before going to greet another group of students…
Suddenly, the door of the train car opened with a metallic creak.
All eyes turned in a single motion.
A heavy silence fell over the carriage, followed by barely contained whispers.
"Tss… wait, wasn't he dead?"
"It's been two years since he stopped coming to school… why is that demon here?"
The students, shocked, stared at the face of the one who had just entered, clear confusion and bewilderment written on their expressions.
Wait, seriously… what is he doing here?" the slightly chubby young man from the nerd group asked, frustration written all over his face.
"Tss… Him? Seriously… he could just disappear for good, wouldn't be a loss…"
Kang gave him a nervous nudge.
"Shut up. You're sick… You want the Demon King to crush you? You know this guy is the devil. Better not provoke him."
The beautiful president froze, eyes wide, her gaze hypnotized, fixed on the newcomer walking right past her.
"Who is that guy? A new student?" she asked, intrigued.
"No, President…" replied the glasses-wearing student, staring at the mysterious figure's back with a mixture of complex emotions on his face.
"Then why have I never seen him at school?" she countered, her voice soft but firm.
"Hmmm… Ah yes, that's right, you don't know him yet. You were transferred here last year." The young man let out a heavy sigh, blinking for a moment before pointing slowly at the mysterious individual.
"This guy hasn't come to class in three years. He disappeared from the school. From what I heard from the teachers, he was tutored at home, under the pretext of a mysterious 'illness' that supposedly kept him from attending school."
The young man suddenly burst out laughing, a hoarse, crazy laugh so brutal it made the girl and the others jump. It was a painful laugh to hear, a vain attempt to shake off the unease gnawing at his chest.
"An illness, huh…?" he breathed, his voice thick with resentment. "You think that? Everyone knows it's a lie. An excuse. A sick guy could never take on a gang of over fifty guys… all by himself!"
He shook his head, as if to shake off an unbearable memory, before declaring:
"No one had seen him for those three years… except me. By pure coincidence, I ran into him, healthy, in an alley. Pfff… how could I ever forget that day…"
The president furrowed her brows, lost.
"Wait, what are you talking about? I don't understand! Who is he? Is he really that dangerous?"
The voice of the glasses-wearing student grew deeper, his gaze serious.
"President… do you remember the Gangseo tragedy?"
Seo Hanna froze. She noticed the sudden change in his expression and, despite herself, swallowed hard. Just the mention of that name sent a chill down her spine. The whole city had been shaken by that disaster.
"Yes… who wouldn't know about that incident?" she whispered, her voice slightly trembling.
"The events took place on May 13, 2022, in the early evening… if I remember correctly from what I heard, it happened in a busy alley not far from Banghwa station. According to witnesses, it all started with a simple dispute between two youths from rival gangs… but it escalated into an uncontrollable brawl. Within minutes, dozens of teenagers were fighting each other face-to-face, armed with kitchen knives, baseball bats, and metal bars ripped from nearby construction sites."
She paused, her throat tight, before continuing in an even softer voice:
"Twenty-eight seriously injured. Nine dead. Fifteen hospitalized. Public property destroyed, shops ruined… Witnesses say they all went mad, as if possessed by demons. A true vision of hell… And to this day, the real reason for the fight remains unknown."
The boy with glasses took a deep breath. His voice grew heavier, darker.
"Actually… I was there. I saw everything that day."
The girl stared at him, eyes wide with shock.
"You… you were there?"
"Yes. By chance… I was running an errand, and as I came out of the restroom… with my legendary luck, I stumbled right into the middle of the carnage. Imagine the mess," he said, scratching his head.
"And believe me when I say it was him who caused all of this."
A chilling silence fell over them, until the glasses-wearing boy cut through it with his deep voice.
"Damn…" he muttered, fingers trembling as he gripped his glasses.
"There were fifty of them. Not five, but fifty guys, all enraged, surrounding him. I don't know what he had done… or said to them. But they clearly wanted his life. And yet…"
He took a deep breath. His voice, increasingly shaky, betrayed a crack in his mask.
Then, slowly, very slowly, he turned his face toward the young girl and added in a grave, almost solemn tone:
"…He massacred them all. One by one. Brutally. Sadistically. A massacre in every sense of the word. From my hiding place, I could see and hear the blows strike flesh, bones crack… A few minutes later, the rest of the gang, furious, arrived… but not finding him, they ended up blaming the rival gang, and everything escalated into a tragedy."
"But for me… that wasn't the worst part."
He paused, his throat tight. His eyes lowered, but the memory choked him, forcing him to speak.
"…The worst part… was that smile. The smile he wore while destroying them. A psychopathic smile. As if he took vile pleasure in shedding blood."
The others stared, captivated, a cold sweat running down their temples. Then he continued, in an even more solemn, yet slightly uneasy tone:
"No human smiles like that. No human fights like that. That day, seeing his body covered in the blood of his victims… I realized. This guy… is not human. Believe me, this guy… he's a demon. Maybe even… the Demon King."
The young man seemed completely broken, frozen by the memory. And in front of him, in this carriage, stood the same demon. His presence chilled him to the bone.
He turned to Seo Hanna and murmured in a grave, almost pleading voice:
"A piece of advice. Believe me or not, President… but for your own good… this guy is dangerous. Avoid him. Don't even meet his gaze. Don't believe what he says. Stay completely away. This guy attracts trouble like a curse."
***
A few hours later, the train continued speeding toward Busan. The sky, tinged with orange and pink, marked the end of the day. Inside the carriage, dim lights bathed the tired faces of the students. Some whispered quietly, others dozed, rocked by the steady motion of the rails.
A few hours after, Ken Jiheon had managed to settle into an isolated seat near a window. No one dared approach him. The other students occasionally cast furtive glances, filled with curiosity or fear, but none had the courage to cross the invisible barrier separating him from the rest of the carriage.
He didn't mind. On the contrary. Elbow resting on the sill, hand supporting his face, he stared at the sky set ablaze by the sunset, letting his mind wander.
Until a soft female voice broke his reverie.
"Hey… so you're the famous Ken Jiheon?"
A gentle yet confident voice. Seo Hanna stood before him, all her poise, sapphire eyes shining with an almost unreal curiosity. She offered a slight smile.
"Can I sit here?" she asked softly… and before waiting for an answer, she took her seat.
Ken tilted his head slightly. His usually neutral gaze darkened, as if a silent threat emanated from him. Hanna, far from recoiling, leaned slightly toward him, observing with unusual intensity.
"I've had a question on my mind for a while…" she said, voice soft but firm.
Ken turned back to the window. His red eyes caught the golden light of dusk, giving him a certain aura. The scenery passed peacefully, and he remained silent for a long time.
"What do you want from me?" he finally asked, in a cold tone, without even looking at her.
Seo Hanna raised an eyebrow, a small teasing, provocative smile forming on her lips. She straightened elegantly, crossing her arms and legs.
"You know, my dear Ken… Looking at the person you're talking to is one of the first basics of politeness," she said sharply.
Ken frowned, then gave a slight, discreet smile, elbow still on the window, hand supporting his cheek.
"For someone who asks permission to sit, then does it without waiting… I'd say that's pretty bold, don't you think?"
Ken Jiheon had never been talkative.
Even back when he attended classes in person, sitting in a room full of students, he remained distant, locked in his own world. The others didn't interest him.
And when he deigned to speak, his words were often ambiguous, leaving everyone to interpret them as they pleased.
This haughty indifference had stirred resentment and hatred in several students. And frankly, he didn't care at all.
He never got involved in school activities or extracurriculars. Absenteeism had become his trademark. And when, by chance, he appeared in class, it was to sleep, indifferent to everything. If he was here today, it was only because of his mother, Heajin Jiheon. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered to come.
So why hadn't a student, seemingly without support or a powerful family, undisciplined and insolent, been expelled from such a prestigious and strict school? The answer lay in two words:
"His monstrous talent."
Ken Jiheon excelled at everything he touched. Sports, arts, sciences… his achievements crushed all competition. His results in provincial exams as well as victories in various contests were the pride of the school. His behavior was overlooked, no one able to give up such a weapon.
He was tolerated for transgressions that no one else could have gotten away with.
"It was you, wasn't it?"
Seo Hanna. Her voice, soft moments ago, had grown sharper. She leaned slightly toward him, her sapphire eyes shining with a piercing intensity.
"I saw you… at the end of the corridor, near the stairs, at the station. There's no doubt, it was you." A dangerous smile brushed her lips.