Hesa followed Wish up the stairs one step at a time toward the rooftop.
Creeeak.
As soon as the rooftop door opened, Hesa froze in shock at the sight of the filthy, chaotic area.
"You guys never use the rooftop anymore?" he asked.
"No one wants to. Two people died here," Wish replied.
"Two people?"
"Before Sakala, someone else fell from here too. He was murdered by his girlfriend after got caught cheating."
Hesa looked around the rooftop with concern. Broken objects were scattered carelessly everywhere, making the place resemble an abandoned storage area in the open air.
"I came here because I wanted to hear the full story. Did you really see Kala fall from here?" Hesa asked.
Wish let out a long sigh, recalling the bitter memory.
"After lunch break, I was planning to skip class and come up to the rooftop. While I was climbing the stairs, I heard a woman screaming. I thought it was just a teacher yelling at some troublemaker, so I ignored it and kept going.
But when I got here, her voice became clearer. She was screaming at someone not to jump.
That's when I noticed a guy standing at the edge of the rooftop. I ran toward him to pull him back, but I was too late.
I instinctively looked down… and there was a woman trembling and crying while staring at the boy's body below. She was probably the one screaming earlier."
The moment Wish finished speaking, tears rolled down Hesa's cheeks.
"The other witness in your story… was actually my late mother. A few days before she died, she told me this story too."
"My condolences," Wish said quietly.
Hesa wiped his tears while glancing toward the edge of the rooftop.
"Something strange happened before Sakala decided to jump, didn't it?"
"I'm not really sure. But people from his class used to gossip that he became way quieter after all the members of his gang died."
Hesa nodded slowly. It seemed Sakala really had chosen death himself because he wanted to follow his friends.
Even so… in the end, he was still indirectly killed.
"By the way, are things okay between you and Kyungmin now?" Wish asked.
"Yeah. He explained everything."
"It's not that I mind accompanying you here or anything, but… if Kyungmin found out, wouldn't he wonder why you asked me instead of him?"
"Just because we made up doesn't mean I can completely trust him again," Hesa replied.
"Huh?"
"N-No, that's not what I meant. There's something between me and him I can't really explain to you. I'm just… worried about him."
"Worried about what?"
"I'm scared he'll get hurt for staying close to me. So please keep an eye on him more often."
Wish became even more confused, but he simply nodded and pretended to understand.
Ting!
Hesa immediately checked the new message on his phone.
Kyungmin:
Go visit to Niki.
Did he send this to the wrong person? Hesa wondered.
He glanced at Wish, who was sitting there with his eyes closed, enjoying the cool breeze.
"Thanks for accompanying me. As repayment, I'll drive you home," Hesa said.
"No need. There are still plenty of buses."
"Just accept it as a thank-you."
Without waiting for an answer, Hesa started walking away.
"Oi, you're not even letting me respond?" Wish hurried after him as Hesa left the rooftop first.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the corridor near the parking lot. Hesa's attention was suddenly drawn to a bulletin board covered with papers.
Instinctively, he walked closer.
After taking a better look, he realized the papers were letters from students addressed to Kaze.
"Why are there so many letters for Kaze?" Hesa asked.
"There's a mysterious detective gang at this school called Kaze," Wish explained.
"Detectives?"
"Yeah. Their job was solving problems around the school. They even solved that rooftop murder case I told you about earlier."
"So people have to write letters like this if they want help?"
"Not really. Kaze members are probably students here too, which is why they always solved cases without being asked."
"Then what are these letters for?"
"That's the thing. Nobody ever found out who Kaze really was. And now they've all disappeared mysteriously without any trace."
"Was their detective gang the only one here?"
"Yeah. They were the only ones no one could ever identify."
Hesa stared at the countless letters pinned to the board.
"Why were you acting so shocked earlier?" Hesa asked.
"I think I was spacing out too much and accidentally saw something," Arkha replied.
"Tch. I regret asking."
"It wasn't a ghost. I saw two people talking in the infirmary. It seemed random at first, but then I realized it was that lavender-haired ghost and his red-haired friend. If I remember correctly… Agantha, right?"
"What were they talking about?"
"Something like an investigation. I got the feeling they were school detectives."
"They're the detective gang while we're the ghost hunter team," Hesa muttered.
"Hm."
"My friend and I are trying to investigate that suicide case—"
"For what?" Wish suddenly interrupted.
"I-It's for an assignment. Yeah, my friend and I are in the journalism club, and we were assigned to investigate a case."
"Oh." Wish nodded. "Then?"
"My friend found something that led us to suspect Sakala was a member of the detective gang along with his friend Agantha."
Hesa then showed one of the photos from the frame he found in Kyungmin's room.
"You mean they were all members of Kaze?"
"Yeah."
"What evidence did your friend find?"
Hesa fell silent for a moment.
"Don't tell me someone got possessed again," Wish teased.
"Believe it or not, that's actually what happened."
"I believe you. Since you guys are investigating their case, there's a chance you're being followed."
"Something like that… My friend once saw a vision of Sakala and Agantha discussing a case while they were in the infirmary."
"That actually explains why they all disappeared. Different worlds now."
Wish gathered the scattered papers and flipped one over to write a new message on the back.
"What are you doing?" Hesa asked.
"Giving people a little closure. Even if they probably won't believe it."
After finishing, Wish pinned the paper back onto the board.
"The students are still hoping Kaze will come back. So I wrote a message praying that the members of Kaze can rest peacefully. I also suggested people should just create a new detective club instead of searching for Kaze."
"You think they'll believe that?"
"I already told you—it'll be hard to believe. But at least I can give them some kind of explanation and advice."
Wish threw away the unused papers and put the pen back in his pocket.
"You should head home. Staying too long at someone else's school isn't a good idea."
"You too."
"Yeah."
The two of them walked together toward the parking lot. Just as Hesa was about to open the car door, another message suddenly appeared on his phone.