Meanwhile, at the technical school, Lee Hwang Woo sat on the edge of the rear parking lot railing, lazily chewing gum, his gaze fixed on the main building — sharp, calculating.
Beside him stood Jin Gook, his longtime friend, wearing a ripped denim jacket and a headset hanging around his neck.
Jin Gook:
"I know someone was watching my house last night. They stood out there for over an hour. The second I opened the door, they bolted into a black car. Fake plates."
Lee Hwang Woo glanced over calmly.
"You think it was Dae Hyun's guy?"
Jin Gook nodded firmly.
"Same threatening vibe. Back then, when I punched him at our old school, he just smiled. You know... that psycho kind of smile."
Lee stood up from the railing, hands in his pockets.
"So... he knows you're still in the game. Which means he sees you as a threat that didn't stay buried."
Jin Gook chuckled darkly.
"Took you this long to realize? Roby — your cousin — he's got guts. He's diving headfirst into this mess with those elite kids? They have no clue who they're dealing with."
Lee Hwang Woo smirked.
"He's reckless. But sharp. I'm not surprised his mom Hye Mi jumped into this herself."
Jin Gook scoffed.
"His mom? That CIA-level woman you told me about? Thought you were exaggerating. Now I'm not so sure."
Lee patted his shoulder.
"Now we move faster. If Dae Hyun's already sending people to your house, it means they're panicking. And when someone like Dae Hyun panics… he starts throwing people away."
Jin Gook (serious):
"You mean Roby?"
Lee Hwang Woo nodded slowly.
"Roby. You. Me. All of us."
Inside the police detention room, Ji Seok stared at his lawyer with sharp, restless eyes.
His hands were cuffed, but his gaze held no fear—only defiance.
Ji Seok:
"You can get me out of this, right? This is just one of their twisted games..."
The lawyer sighed, arms crossed.
"I can maybe reduce your sentence—juvenile detention, a few months at most. But full exoneration? I can't guarantee that."
Ji Seok leaned forward slowly, voice lowered but full of pressure.
"Pathetic. You think I'll just take this lying down? My friends are out there. They'll tear down this whole rotten school. The corruption, the lies—and you? You're part of it too."
The lawyer gave him a flat smile, then knocked on the door to leave.
"Then I suggest you pray they're fast."
Meanwhile, in a small apartment-turned-headquarters, Hye Mi sat in silence.
A tablet in her hands displayed archived news—most of them pulled from circulation.
News of five student suicides. All from Hanwol High.
She murmured to herself:
"Five kids. And all swept under the rug as 'academic stress'..."
From behind, a voice interrupted. Deep. Weathered. Familiar.
It was Lee Hwang Woo's father, newly arrived from Busan—a man with a military aura and decades of silence.
Mr. Lee:
"Listen... you should back off. This isn't about what's right or wrong anymore. It's about who holds the bigger knife. Nathan won't be pleased you're stirring this up."
Hye Mi turned slowly and smiled, calm but cutting.
"If Nathan's nervous, then we're on the right track. I won't stand back while my son is dragged into this cesspool. Especially not after what they did to Ji Hoon."
Mr. Lee exhaled deeply.
"You've always been this stubborn."
Hye Mi, with fire in her eyes:
"And you've always been too scared to reopen the old wounds."
The atmosphere in the elite classroom was unusually tense.
Though only a few students were inside, the silence between them was almost suffocating.
Min Jae Suk sat casually at the back corner, his fingers tapping away on his phone screen.
He was immersed in a war strategy game, muttering under his breath.
"Why is the archer moving that way? Idiot…"
Up front, Hae Jun sat with a thick book on leadership philosophy open in front of him.
His eyes scanned the words, but his focus clearly wandered.
From time to time, he glanced toward Yoon Ji, who sat by the window, alone.
Yoon Ji had her white headset on, her expression blank, staring forward as if no one else existed.
Dae Hyun slowly walked over, standing behind her for a moment.
Dae Hyun:
"Yoon Ji… are you still mad?"
Yoon Ji slowly removed one earbud, turned her gaze toward him — her expression completely flat.
Yoon Ji:
"Do whatever you want."
Then she put her headset back in and turned away, eyes fixed on the window.
Cold. Dismissive.
Hae Jun noticed the exchange, watching silently from behind his book, though his eyes now clearly reflected unease — a mix of guilt and concern.
Min Jae Suk, who had been sneakily watching the whole thing, cleared his throat theatrically.
Min Jae Suk:
"Ahem, ahem. Wow… chilly in here, huh?
Pretty sure it's not the AC though…"
No one laughed. But the silence at least shifted slightly.
Dae Hyun exhaled, stepping back.
Yoon Ji didn't move, still looking out the window.
Outside, autumn leaves started to fall.
And with them… secrets began to unravel, one by one.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway of the elite classroom building.
Seo Min Gyu entered with a relaxed gait, his bag slung over one shoulder, hair slightly tousled. But his demeanor was calm—too calm.
He didn't glance at Hae Jun, Dae Hyun, or Min Jae Suk.
His eyes were fixed on one person: Yoon Ji.
Min Gyu walked straight to her desk.
From his bag, he pulled out a dark, plain-covered novel—a book Yoon Ji had left in his car the night before.
Min Gyu (coolly):
"You left this on the dashboard."
Yoon Ji gave the book a brief glance and took it without a word.
No "thank you," no smile. Just a quiet grip on the cover.
Min Gyu turned and walked away, as if nothing had happened.
But three pairs of eyes—Hae Jun, Dae Hyun, and Min Jae Suk—watched him with suspicion.
Dae Hyun (muttering):
"What was that? Did he just...?"
Min Jae Suk (frowning):
"He never bothers returning stuff like that. Weird. Really weird."
Hae Jun didn't speak.
But his expression tightened. He knew Min Gyu was sending a message.
The question was… what?
Flashback – A few nights earlier, in Jong Woo's apartment.
Roby sat at a small table, examining a duplicated copy of the original CCTV footage they got from Yoon Ji.
Do Yoon:
"We've got the real footage. But they can still say it's fake. We need another copy… a backup, hidden. Something unexpected."
Min Gyu crossed his arms, thinking, then smirked.
"Then we hide the evidence in something ordinary. Something no one would suspect. A novel. One of Yoon Ji's."
Lee Hwang Woo:
"You sure? If we screw this up, Yoon Ji could get dragged into the fire."
Min Gyu (quietly):
"She's not new to this game. And she wants out too.
This is just... the first step."
Back in the elite classroom.
Yoon Ji sat quietly, slowly opening the book Min Gyu returned.
Tucked between the middle pages was a small, thin object: a micro-SD card.
Her fingers closed the book quickly.
Her gaze drifted to the window.
Her expression remained calm—but her lips tightened.
She understood.
The real war had just begun.