Unexpectedly overhearing people talking behind my back made my heart pound.
I had experienced something like this before, even before I was possessed.
I always kept to myself at school, and kids who found me annoying would often badmouth me like this in the bathroom.
My hesitant fingers moved away from the latch.
I stood a step away from the door and listened carefully to the voices coming from outside.
“She acts all quiet, but she’s really sly. I don’t know how Kang-strong managed to break through her defenses.”
“She wanted to beat everyone up so bad, I wonder how she held back last year.”
“She transferred here this year, right? She started right away. For a while, she blatantly followed the Ban-eun bloodline kids.”
“Isn’t she pretending to be nice and clueless now? Should we try provoking her? See what her real personality is like?”
[Shall we rip that mouth so she can’t talk back?]
Even though they were badmouthing me, I just stood there quietly listening.
Shahin was the first to say we should kick me out. I shook my head left and right.
[No. If that’s their common opinion, there’s no harm in hearing it.]
“Her real personality coming out would be creepy.”
The kids giggled and speculated wildly about what my real personality might be like.
I listened until I decided to open the door.
“Oh, right, that time…”
The kids stopped talking the moment they saw me step out of the stall.
In the awkward silence, I washed my hands at the sink as if I heard nothing, and I saw them quietly leave the bathroom.
‘I came out ready to pick a fight.’
And yet, they disappeared on their own.
If that’s the case, then why do they gossip like that?
Didn’t someone just say they wanted to provoke me?
They said something about seeing my “real personality.”
It would have been better if they had just come and confronted me straightforwardly.
When I returned to class, the bell signaling the start of class rang.
Since then, I no longer fled to the bathroom.
There were still many students who held animosity toward me and came after me, but aside from arguing, they didn’t take any big actions.
The daily confrontations became a monotonous rhythm, a background hum to my already chaotic life.
Each break brought a new wave of veiled threats and accusatory stares, yet I continued to navigate them with a carefully constructed façade of indifference.
Time flew by as I dealt with Ji Gang-han’s followers who came during breaks.
Soon, after the homeroom ended and I finished running the teacher’s errand, I returned to the classroom only to find most of the kids had already left.
The last lingering stragglers were packing their bags, eager for the freedom of the afternoon.
I was about to gather my writing tools from the desk and leave when a kid I’d never seen before approached me.
He was shorter than me, with a nervous fidget in his hands, and avoided eye contact as he spoke.
“Someone was looking for you at the sports field.”
“Huh? Why do I have to go all the way to the sports field?”
My voice held a hint of annoyance, a flicker of my true self trying to break through the polite mask.
“Oh, really? Thanks for telling me.”
I said something totally different from what I felt inside, then stood there for a moment, debating whether to go or not.
The sudden request felt off, a discordant note in the predictable symphony of my day.
Going to the sports field, especially after school, felt like walking into a trap.
My gut churned with a familiar unease, a premonition that something unpleasant was about to unfold.
But the hesitation didn’t last long, thanks to someone coming personally to fetch me.
Just as I was considering feigning illness or simply ignoring the summons, two figures appeared at the classroom door.
They were bigger, older, and carried themselves with an air of casual menace that immediately set my teeth on edge.
Their uniforms, subtly different from our own, hinted at a different school, a different world of trouble.
“Hey, you better behave while I’m telling you nicely.”
The taller of the two, with a sneer that seemed etched permanently onto his face, spoke with a chillingly calm tone.
“Nicely? You’ve already kidnapped me!”
I glared at the boy who just told me to behave but soon lowered my head.
Kidnapped in this outcast life?
Kidnapped?!
The absurdity of the situation almost made me laugh, a bitter, humorless sound that stayed trapped in my throat.
My mind raced, trying to make sense of this bizarre turn of events.
Who would want to kidnap me?
And for what purpose?
On the way here, I struggled internally between smashing them all to get out of this situation or just going along quietly.
The rebellious part of me screamed to unleash my true power, to show these foolish boys just how mistaken they were about their captive.
But the logical part, the one that clung to the carefully constructed persona of a shy, unawakened transfer student, urged caution.
I struggled a bit but decided that since I was in an unawakened body, I couldn’t run away from so many of them.
The sheer number of them, their physical size, and the unknown consequences of revealing my true nature weighed heavily on my decision.
I’d be better off going and seeing who ordered this.
Perhaps there was a way to diffuse the situation without resorting to extreme measures.
So, after being dragged here, the kidnappers threw me into a construction site in the middle of the neighborhood and tied my hands with rope they apparently got from somewhere.
It was such a sloppy kidnapping, probably because they knew I wasn’t an awakened one.
The rough knotting of the rope against my wrists, the dusty ground, and the lingering scent of stale cigarettes all contributed to the surreal feeling of the moment.
This wasn’t the kind of kidnapping one saw in movies; it was amateurish, almost laughable, if it weren’t for the underlying threat.
I slowly rolled my eyes and looked around.
It was a construction site in a secluded part of town where the construction had stopped due to the company’s bankruptcy.
Rusting rebar jutted out of half-finished concrete slabs, and discarded planks of wood lay scattered amidst piles of rubble.
There were scattered materials all over, but the place still showed signs of being loved as a hangout spot for delinquents.
Graffiti marred the crumbling walls, and empty bottles lay strewn about, reflecting the dimming light of the setting sun.
Several chairs, a table, and a drum barrel with a fire burning brightly inside it.
Around it, empty snack bags and cans were scattered.
The crackling flames cast dancing shadows across the faces of my captors, making them seem even more menacing in the fading light.
‘Why light a fire in a drum barrel in broad daylight to kidnap one student?’
Is this too over the top?
Are they copying some gangster movie or something?
The sheer theatricality of the setup was almost comical.
They made me kneel in the center while playing card games nearby.
It was ridiculous.
They seemed completely unconcerned about me, absorbed in their game and occasional bursts of laughter.
Since they dragged me here so recklessly, I thought they’d start something immediately, but it looked like the person who ordered this hadn’t arrived yet, so they were just killing time.
This waiting game was almost worse than any direct confrontation.
The uncertainty gnawed at me, and my mind raced, trying to anticipate what was to come.
‘Isn’t that a delinquent high school uniform?’
I looked at the familiar design and recalled when Doi Hyun’s guild had come to school recently.
That navy uniform was definitely the one I saw then.
A new wave of confusion washed over me.
What connection could I possibly have with these notorious delinquents?
‘I have nothing to do with the delinquent high school guys.’
Besides, wasn’t the delinquent high school an all-boys school?
What reason could they have to catch me?
My thoughts spiraled, desperately searching for a logical explanation.
Maybe they think I have a special connection with Ji Gang-han or Ban-eun bloodline kids and want to use me for something.
A thousand thoughts raced through my head, each one more far-fetched than the last.
Was this some kind of turf war?
A misguided attempt at leverage?
“When are we supposed to wait until? We’re busy too.”
One of the boys grumbled, tossing a card onto the makeshift table.
“I don’t know. They say if we follow orders, we get paid nicely. So, we gotta wait.”
Another replied, not even glancing in my direction.
The kids playing games on their phones near me didn’t even notice me and talked among themselves.
They didn’t seem to care about hiding the fact they were paid to kidnap me. The casualness with which they discussed my abduction was unsettling, highlighting their lack of concern for my well-being.
‘Could it be Shin Sena?’
The most likely suspect right now.
It was the only plausible explanation, given the recent uptick in her animosity. I sat quietly, thinking hard as if I had no intention of resisting.
My mind was a whirlwind of theories, piecing together fragments of information.
Recently, the frequency of people looking for me had noticeably increased, and they would glare whenever they crossed paths.
Maybe Shin Sena finally did something.
Her aggressive demeanor in the classroom earlier that day now made more sense.
I wondered if something had happened that was bad enough for Shin Sena to hire delinquent high school kids to kidnap me.
Had I inadvertently crossed a line I wasn’t even aware of?
The thought was terrifying.
While I was lost in thought, someone approached me.
I had been staring at the ground, but a pair of new sneakers appeared in my view, so I lifted my head.
A new face, one I hadn’t seen among the initial group, stood before me.
He exuded an air of authority that the others lacked, a subtle shift in the atmosphere signaling the arrival of someone important.
“They say he’s coming soon? But they told me to scratch her up a bit beforehand.”
A boy holding a cellphone in one hand, as if just finishing a call, said this behind me while looking at my friends fooling around. His words sent a fresh wave of dread through me.
“Scratch her up”? The casual cruelty of the phrase made my blood run cold.
At his words, the delinquent high school guys who had just gotten up gave sly smiles and gathered around me, their earlier nonchalance replaced by a predatory glint in their eyes.
One of them, who was standing at the front, reached out his hand toward me.
***
“I’m running an errand and will go slowly, so you guys go home first. See you tomorrow!”
After hearing Dana’s words, Nabi, who had just left the school gate with her friends, stopped walking because of a nagging uneasy feeling.
Her bag felt strangely light.
The late afternoon sun cast long shadows as her friends continued their chatter, oblivious to Nabi’s sudden halt.
She should have packed all the problem books and textbooks to take home, so why did she feel like something was missing?
Her brows furrowed in concentration as she mentally reviewed her checklist. When she checked her bag, just as she feared, her gym uniform was gone.
A sigh of exasperation escaped her lips.
Sending her friends ahead, Nabi hurried back to school, the unease in her gut growing with every step.
The thought of having to return the next day without it was enough motivation to make the detour.
After returning to the classroom and grabbing her gym clothes, she was about to leave through the front door when a pink bag caught her eye.
It was distinctly Dana’s, always left a little messily draped over her chair.
‘Still hasn’t left?’
Dana’s bag was hanging at her seat.
Dana, who had said she was running an errand for the teacher, was nowhere to be seen.
Feeling puzzled but thinking maybe she had gone to the restroom, Nabi just stepped out into the hallway.
The school was quiet now, the usual bustling energy replaced by a hollow silence.
Through the hallway window, she spotted a familiar figure from behind.
‘Dana?’
Dana was heading toward the back gate with some boys she didn’t know.
But the atmosphere was tense. Nabi had never heard that Dana had friends like those.
Dana had transferred on the first day of the second-year new semester, so besides Nabi and her friends, she didn’t have any close acquaintances.
The boys were taller, older, and carried themselves with a swagger that immediately put Nabi on alert.
Moreover, Dana was struggling to break free from those boys.
Nabi hurriedly opened the window, a sudden jolt of fear coursing through her.
“Let go of me!”
Dana, shaking off the hand that grabbed her, ran toward the opposite direction of the back gate.
Her voice, usually so quiet, was laced with desperation.
“Ahhh!”
But not long after, a boy chasing her quickly grabbed her by the hair, and she fell backward.
Nabi, who almost screamed, quickly covered her mouth.
The raw brutality of the scene made her stomach clench.
A cold wind blew, mixing with the chill, making her body shiver, but it wasn’t the wind that caused her trembling.
“Damn, is it because it’s early evening? Why is it so cold? Let’s get her quickly.”
One of the boys muttered, pulling Dana roughly to her feet.
“You’d better come quietly. If you act like earlier, it won’t be fun.”
The threat hung heavy in the air.
Since most students had already gone home, the back gate was quiet.
Nabi didn’t think anyone else was watching that scene besides her.|
A chilling sense of isolation descended upon her.
She was the only witness.
‘Kidnapping?!’
The word echoed in her mind, surreal and terrifying.
She had expected a day like this might come to Dana, given the constant animosity directed her way, but boys, and not just any boys but delinquent high school guys wearing their uniforms brazenly entering Gamsung High to kidnap Dana?
It was hard to accept such a situation.
Nabi’s mind was racing, trying to process the impossible.
It wasn’t just handsome guys like the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ she knew; Nabi basically had detailed knowledge of all the key people and news around the nearby schools.
Her internal database of local gossip and student hierarchy whirred to life.
Nabi didn’t miss the moment when the boy leading Dana turned his head slightly.
His bright light brown hair was patchy from self-dyeing, his sly face was perfect for a villain in a historical drama, and he was tall and skinny.
‘He’s the delinquent high school collection guy, isn’t he?’
Students at delinquent high school were roughly divided into four groups.
First, the famous ‘Top 3 VIPs’ including Do Ihyun and Haemalkum, then the thug groups who followed them and mainly got involved in gang fights, then a worse group who wanted to join the VIPs but were never allowed, and lastly some straight-A students who kept away from fights and trouble.
Among them, the sly-looking boy taking Dana was in charge of collection in the bad group.
In other words, he was the one leading the gang extortion.
Not only did he waste all the extorted money on partying with his friends, but rumors also said he was so extravagant he would do anything as long as it made money.
‘Why would he… why Dana…?’
The pieces of the puzzle weren’t fitting.
Dana had no money, no connections that would interest such a person.
The faces beside him were all guys who hung out with that collection guy.
Nabi’s face noticeably paled.
The implications were chilling.
This wasn’t a schoolyard prank; this was serious.
“Teacher! Teacherrr!”
Nabi immediately ran toward the faculty office, her voice a desperate cry against the encroaching darkness.
Every fiber of her being screamed for help.
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