The night had deepened, but the Hanwol Elite Chat Group was blowing up.
An anonymous user had just posted a blurred image:
Roby Moreno passed out on the party floor.
Caption:
> "Welcome party? Or attempted silent murder?"
The comments exploded—some laughing, some in panic. But what shook them more: the same photo appeared on the school's anonymous forum.
Inside Seo Yoon-ji's private lounge, soft desk light lit the room in a dim orange glow.
She sat silently, a cup of warm tea untouched in her hand, her gaze frozen on her laptop screen.
Seo Min-gyu barged in without knocking, leaning against the door frame with that sly smirk of his.
"Miss... You know the whole place is chaos outside, right?" he said, voice almost amused.
Yoon-ji exhaled.
"That boy… Roby. He passed out?"
Min-gyu nodded slowly.
"Perfectly timed. Like it's scripted."
Yoon-ji:
"He's not ordinary… and I'm starting to think he's here because of Ji-hoon."
Min-gyu raised an eyebrow.
"Well, my gang wasn't the one who did it. We were just ordered around. And not even by Hae Jun directly—his oh-so-holy best friend was the one barking orders."
Yoon-ji turned toward him sharply.
"Then who's the real culprit?"
Min-gyu gave a low chuckle.
"The damn puppet master in our little show. The rich ghost pulling strings behind Hae Jun."
He stepped closer to her.
"I told you before, didn't I?" he said, now just inches away.
"Break up with Hae Jun. Don't let him use you as a shield just because his name's on every wall of this school."
Yoon-ji looked away.
"Min-gyu... he's our childhood friend."
Min-gyu scoffed.
"Friend? Ji-hoon's dead, Yoon-ji. You really think Hae Jun didn't know something? I'm done pretending. We're all just toys in their system."
He gazed out the window, voice lower.
"And you know what?"
"I actually like that punk Roby. The way he stirred chaos tonight? It's about time this elite school had a real main character."
Yoon-ji gripped her teacup tighter, lips pressed into a line.
"If Roby finds out... everything..."
Min-gyu:
"Then this stage becomes a warzone, not a playground."
And quietly, as the wind rustled the curtains, Seo Yoon-ji turned back to her laptop.
A file was open.
CCTV footage—cafeteria, two weeks before Ji-hoon's death.
Footage that no one else had seen yet.
That night, upstairs in the party building,
Han Ji-seok leaned silently against the wall, staring at the chandelier above. Beside him, Oh Tae-yang paced restlessly. Seo Min-gyu entered from the hallway, removing his jacket with a serious look.
Ji-seok spoke in a low, sharp tone:
"You know who Lee Hwang-woo is, right?"
Tae-yang paused. Ji-seok continued.
"He's from a gang at a high school in West Seoul. Sure, that group's been quiet lately... but that's exactly why they're dangerous. We don't know what they're planning. You're going to be targeted."
Tae-yang growled and kicked the wall hard.
"Damn it!"
Min-gyu walked in casually, but with clear tension.
Tae-yang shot him a question:
"So? Did you ask Hae-jun for help?"
Min-gyu smirked.
"That's old news. You still think he'd help us? I didn't go to him… I went to Yoon-ji."
Ji-seok narrowed his eyes.
"Yoon-ji? Why her?"
Min-gyu responded coldly,
"Because she has more brains than Hae-jun. And she's sick of being ordered around."
Ji-seok stood straight, voice rising slightly.
"This is what I said from the start — don't let yourself be their pawn. Those elite kids don't want their names tarnished. We're just their tools."
Suddenly—
BZZZZ!
All three of their phones buzzed.
A new anonymous post on the school's underground forum:
> "If someone must be sacrificed, make sure it's not you."
#JiHoonsCase #WhoCoveredWhat #HanwolShadowBoard
They exchanged wary glances.
Ji-seok looked pale.
Just then...
Ji-seok's phone rang.
Caller ID: Mom
He picked it up.
On the other end, a woman's voice screamed in panic:
"JI-SEOK!!! Is this all true?! The police are at the house right now! They said YOU are being named a SUSPECT in Ji-hoon's case!"
Ji-seok froze.
"W… What? Right now?!"
His mom continued, furious:
"And guess what? A lawyer from your school just showed up — not for you, but for the school! They're trying to pin everything on you to protect their name!"
Call ended.
Min-gyu rubbed his temples, muttering:
"Damn… this is coordinated. Not panic. It's misdirection — pulling attention away from the leaked drinking-party footage and forum posts about Roby."
Tae-yang clenched his jaw.
"So they're still trying to clean the school's name... by sacrificing one of us?"
Min-gyu looked at Ji-seok — who was now visibly shaking.
"They're playing it clean. And whoever looks weakest... will be thrown first."
Morning sunlight spilled across Roby's face. He groaned, his head pounding like someone used it as a drum set.
Roby:
"Ugh… where… am I?"
He sat up slowly, blinked…
Roby (eyes wide, shouting):
"HUH?! IS THIS HEAVEN?!"
Lee Hwang-woo almost choked on his toast across the room. Uncle Jong-woo, standing in the kitchen with a mug of coffee, glared at him.
Jong-woo (with a deadpan look):
"You think you died and became a flying dove, you little punk?"
Lee Hwang-woo chuckled, slipping one hand casually into his jacket pocket.
Hwang-woo:
"Welcome back to the land of idiots who think free drinks from rich kids are safe, sekkiyaa~"
Roby (rubbing his face, groaning):
"Aaarrgh… I was this close to being cool, and then bam! Out cold like a fried fish at a rave."
Jong-woo tossed a piece of bread at Roby's face.
Jong-woo:
"If your dad finds out they drugged your drink and you didn't even notice, he's gonna send you a gift—leather belt, straight from gangster hell."
Roby (pretending to die dramatically):
"If my mom finds out, she'll ban me from coffee for a year. And dad? He won't kill me with bullets, he'll kill me with disappointment trauma."
Lee Hwang-woo laughed so hard he nearly fell off the chair.
Hwang-woo:
"Bro, I swear—I almost threw a chair when you passed out. Your face looked like a broken doll. And that one girl screamed, 'OMG he's dead!' I nearly died myself."
Roby (grinning through the headache):
"Yeah well… I died in style. Literally."
Jong-woo took a seat and sipped his coffee with a sigh.
Jong-woo:
"Alright. Focus now. They laced your drink. That wasn't just a prank. They were testing you. And you gave them one hell of a free show."
Roby (narrowing his eyes):
"So… they either know I'm not just some transfer student… or they figured out I was close to Ji-hoon."
Hwang-woo (nodding seriously):
"And I really don't like this. They know how to play dirty. That means this ain't their first time."
Roby looked out the window, his jaw tightening. Then he murmured with a crooked smile—half promise, half threat.
Roby:
"Okay then… game on. But this time, they're the ones who'll black out first."