The next morning...…
Ji-eun hadn't seen Min-ho since the library incident. Not in the halls. Not at lunch. Not even
in class. It was as if he'd vanished, leaving behind only the echo of his cruel words.
And yet, she couldn't forget the way he froze when she said he was scared.
Because she had seen it behind the sharp edges of his anger, there was something broken.
That night, Ji-eun sat curled under her blanket, her phone dimly lighting her face as she
scrolled through the school's social media pages. Min-ho was tagged in a photo from last year his arm thrown over another boy's shoulder, smiling like he hadn't learned how to hate
yet.
But that wasn't what caught her eye.
In the comments, someone had written: "He changed after that night. We all did."
Ji-eun's stomach twisted.
What night?
Before she could click on the profile, her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
"Pretty girls don't last long in this school. Especially ones who talk too much."
Her blood ran cold.
She dropped the phone. Her room was suddenly too quiet, too dark. She turned on the lamp
and locked the door, her breaths coming quick and shallow.
Was it a joke?
Or had someone been watching her?
The next morning, Ji-eun kept her head down, her nerves frayed. When she passed her locker,
she noticed something taped to the front.
A photo.
It was blurry. Grainy. But it was unmistakably her sitting alone in the library yesterday.
The timestamp in the corner made her skin crawl.
Someone had been there.
Someone had taken her picture. And stayed hidden.
At lunch, she saw Min-ho again.
He sat alone behind the gym, headphones in, staring off into nothing. Ji-eun didn't know
what pulled her toward him maybe the silence, or the fact that he looked like he needed
someone to prove him wrong.
"Min-ho," she said quietly.
He looked up, startled. Then groaned. "What do you want now?"
She hesitated. "I need to ask you something."
He rolled his eyes but didn't walk away.
Ji-eun pulled the crumpled photo from her pocket and placed it beside him.
His expression changed instantly. The smirk disappeared. His jaw clenched.
"Where did you get this?" he asked sharply.
t was on my locker."
He stood up so fast the bench creaked. "You shouldn't have come here."
"Why?" she asked. "What are you not telling me?"
Min-ho turned away, running a hand through his hair. "You don't understand what this school
is."
"Then help me understand."
He looked at her really looked at her and something in him faltered.
"There was a girl," he said quietly. "Last year. Her name was Soo-min. She was like you.
Kind. New. Too curious. She found out something she shouldn't have."
Ji-eun's breath caught.
"What happened to her?"
He shook his head. "She disappeared. No one talks about her anymore. But I remember."
"And the message I got last night?"
Min-ho's eyes darkened. "You're being watched. Someone… or something, doesn't want you
here. I tried to warn you."
"Was it you?"
His eyes burned. "If I wanted to scare you, you'd already be gone."
Silence. Heavy. Haunting.
Before Ji-eun could say more, Min-ho stepped back. "Don't talk to me again, Ji-eun. You
don't know what kind of mess you're getting into."
He turned and walked away.
Ji-eun was left standing in the shadows alone, shaken, and more afraid than ever.
Because now… she wasn't just being bullied.
She was being hunted....
To be continued.....