The biker sped away without another word. Kairin immediately rushed inside the house in a panic. Yohan remained where he was for a few moments, silently assessing the situation.
But the strangest thing wasn't Kairin's behavior.
It was the house itself.
From somewhere deep inside it, Yohan could feel a faint... yet unmistakably firm aura. It wasn't overwhelming, but it carried the same unsettling sensation as looking at a haunted house in a horror movie—a place where something invisible was quietly watching.
The feeling was incredibly faint.
Yet it refused to disappear.
Yohan climbed onto the bike. The helmet was hanging from the right handlebar, and the key was still dangling beside the brake lever. He put on the helmet, started the engine, and rode away.
The towering buildings of New York and its endless traffic reminded him a lot of Detroit.
But there was one major difference.
Here, Yohan could feel an invisible psychological pressure pressing down on him—a feeling he had never once experienced back in Detroit.
After carefully piecing everything together, a single thought surfaced in his mind.
"The board has grown more crowded."
As Yohan raced toward the school, the bell announcing the beginning of the second half echoed across the campus.
Two security guards were already closing the main gate.
At the very last second, Yohan shot his bike through the narrow gap between the two closing gates at full speed.
One of the guards spun around and shouted after him.
"Hey! Is this the time to enter school?!"
Yohan ignored him completely.
He parked the bike beside the other motorcycles belonging to the gang members.
Every single one of them bore the same emblem across the body.
BLACK CREST.
One guard looked ready to chase after him, but the other stopped him.
"Leave him."
"He's probably one of the gang."
"Don't get involved with them."
As Yohan walked away from the parking area, a faint smile crossed his lips.
"I knew it."
By the time he reached the first-floor corridor, every student had already returned to class.
Without saying a word, Yohan walked calmly toward Room 217.
He entered the classroom and headed straight for his seat, completely ignoring Yino's presence.
Dropping onto the last bench of the middle row, he leaned back against the wall and released a long, exhausted sigh.
"I almost forgot... a bomb practically exploded on my stomach."
"Fuck... it hurts."
At that moment, he noticed the timid girl sitting beside him.
She had both hands resting on the desk, pretending to read the open book in front of her.
The funny part was...
It was painfully obvious she was forcing herself not to look at him.
Yohan decided to speak first.
Perhaps... as repayment for helping him during the test.
"Do you want to say something?"
The girl immediately looked up at him in surprise.
Then, just as quickly, she lowered her gaze back to her book.
"N-No..."
"Nothing."
"Then that's good."
"...Mm."
An awkward silence settled between them.
At least...
For her.
Not for Yohan.
His mind had far more important things to think about.
Crossing his arms, he stared at the floor.
"What exactly happened while I was walking through the corridor?"
"It honestly felt like someone's eyes were going to burst through the classroom windows and appear right in front of me."
He placed both elbows on the desk and clasped his hands together.
"Was I..."
"Scared?"
The thought lingered for only a second.
Then he immediately dismissed it.
"No."
"Nothing ordinary in this world is enough to make me afraid."
A few moments later, the teacher entered the classroom.
As Yohan reached into his bag to take out his textbook, something caught his attention.
There was a neatly folded white sheet of paper inside.
He unfolded it.
Only one sentence was written.
"Leave the classroom late after school."
There was no name.
The handwriting was clean...
Beautiful...
Almost elegant.
That alone made Yohan suspicious.
"Who keeps helping me?"
"And why leave late?"
"Who's waiting for me?"
Time slipped away.
Eventually, the final school bell rang.
Students gradually poured out of the classroom until Yohan was the only one left.
The note had instructed him to leave late.
But...
It never said how late.
So he waited.
About five minutes.
Then he finally stood up and walked out.
Perhaps...
That was his mistake.
He should have waited longer.
The very moment he stepped into the corridor, large-built boys began emerging from nearly every classroom surrounding his own.
Everyone was walking toward the staircase leading downstairs.
By pure coincidence...
Yohan found himself trapped right in the middle of the crowd.
Unknown faces surrounded him from every direction.
Whispers drifted through the hallway.
Nobody spoke to him directly.
Yet...
An unbearable sense of unease slowly crept beneath his skin.
It felt as though his body desperately wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.
Then—
A sudden chill shot through his spine.
For a brief instant...
He felt countless unseen eyes staring directly at him.
His entire body jolted involuntarily.
"There's no doubt..."
"This really is the gang."
"But an aura like this...?"
"That means it isn't just one or two dangerous people."
"There are many... many monsters hiding inside this organization."
Without saying a word, Yohan quietly blended into the crowd and left the school building.
The motorcycles were parked on one side of the field.
Fortunately...
His bike was the closest one to the school gate.
Without wasting another second, Yohan climbed onto it and rode out of the campus as quickly as possible.