Mia waved enthusiastically. She smiled when she saw Kenand successfully find her. The boy immediately approached Mia and sat down in front of her.
“Sorry. Practice ran long, so you had to wait this long.”
“It’s fine, Ken. There are still two hours before sunset. What do you want to order?” Mia asked.
Kenand merely shook his head. He was on a diet so his playing performance would be more consistent.
“How’d it go? Did you find anything?”
Mia quickly shook her head. She understood that her boyfriend was talking about Stela. Mia had been worried about the girl throughout class. She had contacted her several times, but there had been no response.
Kenand himself wasn’t the type of person who cared about newcomers. He didn’t know Stela well enough—in fact, he had never even spoken to her, despite being in the same class. Based on information from his friends on the basketball team, R and his two friends had been searching for information about the girl, even skipping practice to do it.
Of course, Kenand was curious about Stela’s story after learning that R was willing to go to such lengths. However, Kenand didn’t have resources as vast and powerful as R’s. So here he was, asking Mia.
“If she really didn’t do anything wrong, she shouldn’t have disappeared,” Kenand said.
“Stela didn’t disappear, Ken. I’m sure she’s just taking time to calm down. Being the center of attention in a situation like this must be painful for her.”
“If you’re really worried, just go to her house, babe. You’ve taken her home before, right?”
Mia didn’t answer right away. She immediately lowered her head and let out a heavy sigh. She had taken Stela home before, but not to the right place. Stela hadn’t allowed her to take her all the way to her house.
Mia finished the juice she had ordered. Kenand only watched her, unwilling to interrupt. He chose to stay quiet until Mia was ready to tell him.
“I don’t know exactly where Stela lives. She wouldn’t let me take her all the way home,” Mia admitted.
“She won’t even let you take her to where she lives? That’s suspicious.”
“I’m still new to her, Ken. Maybe she’s just shy around me. Don’t think negatively.”
“I want to be positive, but what am I supposed to do when everything I see points to something negative?”
Kenand showed her the post about Stela that had gone viral among the students at their school. Mia took the phone from him and looked at it again. She had stopped checking the post for the day because Stela hadn’t come to school.
“What do you mean, negative? They’re just talking trash,” Mia defended her.
“Just talking trash? Someone clearly commented that Stela’s an FRS kid, Mia.”
“FRS?”
Kenand snatched his phone back and looked away. He ignored Mia’s question. The girl kept her eyes on her boyfriend.
Irritated, Kenand looked back at Mia and grabbed her hand. Mia was startled by his behavior, her eyes widening.
“If Stela really is an FRS kid, please stay away from her. I don’t want anything to happen to you, babe.”
Mia blinked several times, confused. “Why? What is FRS?”
R kicked a student in the stomach as he knelt in front of him. His energy had returned after receiving a report from an informant he had paid. His breakfast that morning was none other than one of the students at his school. He roughly grabbed the boy by the collar and slapped him. R wasn’t in the mood to hit anyone. He shoved the boy away until he went sprawling.
Loen and Dean helped the boy back up. R pulled over a chair and sat directly in front of him. Kulfi—that was the name displayed on his uniform name tag.
“Guys like you who talk trash deserve to get slapped!”
R slapped the boy again. The victim only winced and groaned softly. He didn’t fight back at all. Kulfi’s hands weren’t tied; he should have been able to resist. Maybe it was because Dean and Loen were guarding him from either side.
“I know I’m in the wrong, but sorry, I already told you that the other guys in my squad and I can’t delete the post. We were paid a lot of money.”
R slapped Kulfi from the other side. It had been difficult to find the mastermind behind the commotion at Immersion High School. R had spent a great deal of money mobilizing his informants.
The boy had been berated by R for two hours, yet he still stubbornly refused to take down the post. R didn’t want to spend more of his money just to have it deleted. It wasn’t that he didn’t care; he simply refused to give money to such shameless people.
“Where’d you get this photo?!” R demanded.
The boy in front of him seemed evasive. He lowered his head deeply, not daring to meet R’s eyes. R immediately lifted Kulfi’s chin so the boy would look at him, but Kulfi turned his gaze away.
“Answer me!”
Kulfi pressed his lips together. R punched him hard in the jaw. A little blood appeared at the corner of his mouth, but Kulfi merely grinned.
“I got an email. It had pictures of that vile girl and proof of the transfer. I don’t know who sent it.”
The moment R heard Stela being called something so insulting, he stood up and kicked Kulfi in the chest, sending him sprawling. Unable to contain his anger, he stepped on Kulfi’s chest until the boy screamed. Dean and Loen touched R’s shoulders, as if reminding him that he had gone too far.
R took out his phone and captured a picture of Kulfi pinned beneath his foot, battered and bruised. He stopped when Loen pulled him by the shoulder. R looked at both of his friends and nodded. Even though the place was deserted, there was no guarantee that no one would pass by.
Dean picked up Kulfi’s phone, which had fallen from his pocket, and handed it to R. R cursed when he realized the phone was locked. He forcefully pulled Kulfi’s hand over and unlocked the phone with its owner’s fingerprint. Kulfi could only submit; his body was already limp.
R checked the email Kulfi had mentioned. After finding it, he immediately forwarded it to his own email. Then R smashed Kulfi’s phone against the ground and stomped on it until it was destroyed.
“You’ve got plenty of money, right? Buy a new one. This one’s already got too many sins.”
Before leaving, R kicked Kulfi in the waist one last time. Dean and Loen immediately wrapped their arms around their friend to stop him. They were afraid the boy would die at R’s hands.
“Don’t get in my way next time.”
Stela steeled herself and entered the school. She couldn’t keep running from the situation forever. The truth was bitter, but it had all come from her own actions. The girl tried to make peace with what had happened.
She ignored all the eyes watching her. Stela walked with her chin held high. Today had to be different from the day before. She had to prove that some pathetic post was no match for her.
Stela’s steps were firm. She straightened her cap and put on her favorite headset. Without hesitation, she entered the classroom she hadn’t set foot in all day yesterday.
“Stela!”
Mia immediately hugged Stela when the girl appeared in the doorway. The other students turned toward Stela when Mia shouted. Stela only smiled and met the gazes of her classmates.
“I missed you. Why didn’t you answer my texts?” Mia complained.
Stela chuckled softly and continued walking. Mia followed her to her seat. Vero smiled at Stela when the girl arrived.
“I’m glad you came back,” she said.
“There’s no reason for me not to come back. I’m not that pathetic,” Stela defended herself.
Vero and Mia nodded at the same time. Kenand watched Stela as if she were a threat. His expression made his dislike clear, and the boy left the classroom while kicking the door. The students inside were startled by his outburst.
“What’s wrong with your boyfriend?” Vero asked. Mia shook her head, signaling that she didn’t know.
Dean and Loen ran over to R, who was sitting around leisurely. They had just snuck into the cafeteria to buy some bottled water. After dealing with the person they had been searching for, the three boys chose to skip class and enjoy the breeze in the back garden.
“Drink some water first, R.”
“Thanks,” R said as he took the bottle from Loen.
R took out several pills and swallowed them. Dean only watched him before dropping onto the grass. The morning sky was pleasant today, not as scorching as usual. R followed Dean’s example and used his arm as a pillow.
“Your stamina’s been wrecked lately, huh, R?”
R answered without looking toward Dean. “Yeah. My illness is probably getting worse.”
“Hey! You really need a filter when you talk,” Loen scolded him. “Here, I’ve got news from my twin.”
“What?”
Loen handed his phone to R. R had no choice but to sit up and take it. His eyes widened when he read the message Vero had sent.
If R was still curious, Stela came to class today.
“Well?” Loen asked.
“We’ll go there during break.”