Monday morning.
The empty teachers' office on the second-floor.
Creak-
Choi Jungim, the third-year science teacher who had come to work early, headed straight to the brealk room as soon as she put her bag down.
'C-coffee.'
There, Teacher Choi Jungim filled a paper cup with hot water and stirred in three, four packets of instant coffee until the liquid turned thick.
Tink, tink-
After stirring it roughly, she downed the hot coffee in one go, not even caring that the roof of her mouth was scalding.
And then another cup, and another.
Gulp-gulp-
Only after downing four cups while standing did Teacher Choi Jungim calm down, using her tongue to probe the roof of her mouth, which had been left tattered from the scalding coffee.
There was no sensation.
Teacher Choi Jungim bit off a bit of the peeled skin from the roof of her mouth, chewed, swallowed it, and made another cup of coffee.
Swoosh—
At that moment, someone who had been leaning against the doorway and watching the entire scene, spoke up.
"Hohoho... you're drinkinga bit too much."
"....!"
Startled, Teacher Choi Jungim turned around.
There stood Teacher Park Damim, leaning against the break room door and smiling at her.
"If you drink too much, it could be serious. We're not getting any younger, you know."
"...."
"At our age, even caffeine can be toxic,You need to take care of your health."
Teacher Choi Jungim frowned, crumpled the paper cup, and tossed it into the trash.
Despite her irritable reaction, Park Damim remained relaxed, leaning his shoulder against the doorway.
Teacher Choi Jungim tidied up the trash and strode out briskly, intending to return to her seat.
As she was about to step past Park Damim, he blocked the doorway from where he was leaning.
"They said you had an argument with the Principal."
"..."
Teacher Choi Jungim frowned as she looked at her colleague.
"I heard it. Directly from the Principal himself."
"..."
"I heard there was some commotion because the kids were called in about the science competition."
"Step aside."
"Hohoho..."
Park Damim, completely unfazed, continued to lean against the doorframe, his belly sticking out.
An unusual ternsion flowed between the two teachers.
"Even if he's not one of our people, you still can't treat him carelessly like that. He is the Principal, after all."
"I said, step aside."
"The Vice Principal knows. You should be careful—"
Thud-!
Teacher Choi Jungim shoved past Park Damim, who was still blocking the doorway with his belly out.
Oof, Park Damim exclaimed, stepping back as he chuckled to himself.
"Well, well... How utterly disrespectful."
Just like that, Teacher Choi Jungim stomped back to her seat, her footsteps irritable and heavy.
It was fortunate that the teachers' office was empty so early in the morning, if other teachers were present, it would have been quite a scene.
"Hmm..."
Left alone in the break room, Park Damim absentmindedly rubbed his belly for a moment before slowly walking over to the trash can to take a look.
He stared intently at the coffee packets and paper cups that Teacher Choi Jungim had drank several rounds of since early morning.
'Must be the hidden queen of instant coffee in the teachers' office.'
Park Damim chuckled leisurely as he examined the items.
But in an instant, his expression shifted slightly as if he had noticed something.
'...Hm? What's this."
Park Damim bent down and pulled out a few used paper cups from the trash Can.
He then examined the traces of partially dissolved powder still left at the bottom of the paper cups.
"..This. This is medicine?"
At the bottom of the cup was the traces of a green pill that Choi Jungim had Swallowed with her coffee but hadn't fully dissolved.
'Was she drinking coffee so frequently
because of this? Hmm.'
Wondering just how potent the medication must be for her to take it with coffee... Park Damim examined the pill carefully, then slowly nodded.
'It's clearly a psychotropic medication. I have to report this.'
Park Damim leisurely entered the quiet
faculty lounge again, holding the paper cup in his hand.
Then, he calmly stood beside Choi Jungim, who was irritably flipping through papers, with his belly sticking out.
"...Are you taking medication, Teacher?"
"just go away."
"Oh? Hoho, how rude.."
Park Damim burst into a hearty laugh at Teacher Choi Jungim's rude response.
"If side effects appear, you should consult a doctor. How can you take unapproved medication on your own like this?"
"I told you to leave."
"Hohoho..."
Park Damim laughed as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Teacher Choi Jungim continued to flip through the papers with an irritated expression.
After a moment, when Choi Jungim still showed little reaction even as his laughter subsided, Park Damim simply patted his stomach once and turned to leave.
'I won't report this, Teacher.'
Park Damim opened the door to the second-floor teachers' office, stepped out, and quietly chuckled to himself as he headed down to the first-floor teachers' office.
'This is really. Something interesting might happen.'
Hohoho..
**
[2019, May 27th | Monday, 07:00 AM]
[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts - 2]
[Ghost Story Points: 716]
[Causality Rate: 33%]
"Hey, kids~ wake up~"
"Huh, haa! P-Prez! The building, the building is..."
In the sleeping area of the sauna.
Gyeongwon, startled awake by Teacher Jang Hwaeun's voice, flailed about while muttering nonsense.
"What are you saying Stop babbling and wake up! Get up and get ready to go home, everyone. Your Teacher washed all your clothes."
"Ah, yes... Yes..."
"Ugh... What time is it.."
We got up from our messy sleeping postures.
The dim lighting in the sleeping area felt somewhat unfamiliar.
The sight of the members, dressed in brown sauna uniforms, looked strangely out of place.
"...I don't even remember when we got here."
"We came in and just fell asleep..."
As Gyeongwon and I mumbled to each
other, the other members slowly sat up,then remained still in silence.
It feels like I just closed my eyes for a second, but it's already morning? Feeling a sense of unfairness, I sat there in a daze.
'F*ck, it feels like I slept just for a second.."
"Wake up! Come on, everyone, hurry up~"
"..."
As the members in their sauna uniforms lay there sluggishly, the Teacher went around personally, lifting each one to help them sit up.
"Alright, Dukhun! Hurry up!"
"Ughhh.."
"Hayoon, time to wake up Hayoon~"
Finally, the Teacher went to Sunah, who was still lying down, and gently but firmly lifted her by the shoulders to make her sit up.
"Sunah, wake up~ Come on~"
"....."
"It's morning already~"
The Teacher lifted Sunah's small frame to help her sit up, but even after being seated, Sunah's back slumped forward and she toppled over again.
"Sunah, Sunah!"
"....."
"Sunah? What's wrong with her?"
Even as the Teacher patted her cheeks and tried to rouse her, Sunah kept her eyes tightly shut like a baby bird, only mumbling with her mouth.
Eventually, the Teacher turned to Jinhee, who was sitting there with a frown, and asked for help.
"This won't do. Someone will have to carry Sunah on their back."
"Yeah."
"Jinhee, could you do it?"
"...Fine."
Jinhee, still half-asleep and frowning deeply, nevertheless nodded obediently.
"Alright, boys, hurry up too! Hey, Oh Dukhun! Aren't you getting up?!"
The Teacher kicked Dukhun, who had laid back down, with a smack, and Dukhun whined 'Konohito Wada...' as he stood up.
Hayoon's eyes were open, but despite the commotion, she remained completely still, just staring blankly at the floor.
"Come on, hurry! Come out and change your clothes! You're going to be late!"
"Okaaay..."
"Sob sob.."
"Joon, you make sure the kids stay awake and bring them back~ Your Teacher will go get your clothes~"
"...Understood."
After the Teacher left first, we finally scrambled to our feet and stepped out of the sleeping area.
**
We were so exhausted that as Soon as we entered the building, we just washed up and collapsed straight to sleep, so our remaining memories were hazy at best.
The only memory I had was of wandering around for a while in the sauna, searching for the always insufficient mats and pillows. The
entire process of when we all entered the sleeping area and how we ended up lying down like this had completely vanished from my mind.
It felt like I had just blinked, and suddenly the Teacher was there to wake us up.
"..Wow, when did we even hand over our clothes? I don't remember it at all, Prez."
"Yeah..."
While changing clothes in the men's locker room with tired eyes, I checked the time through the Status Window.
'...Status window.'
Pop-
[2019, May 27th | Monday, 07:10 AM]
[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts- 2]
[Ghost Story Points: 716]
[Causality Rate: 33%]
'.....7 in the morning.'
The boarding house collapsed just before sunrise, during that bluish hour of dawn, so it seemed like I had managed to sleep for about two to three hours.
Of course, those two to three hours of sleep didn't come after an ordinary day.
It was a deep sleep followinga night of singing and running around, so it felt even shorter to us.
"I feel like I'm about to collapse..."
"Me too..."
"Huu.."
While we were clumsily changing clothes in the locker room.
Gyeongwon, who was taking off his sauna uniform top, suddenly flinched as if he remembered something.
"... P-Prez. Uh, now that I think about it, the laptop..."
"..What about the laptop?"
"The laptop! It was inside the building that collapsed!"
Even through his exhaustion, Gyeongwon's face turned pale.
I let out a light smile, acting as though it wasn't a big deal.
"oh, that. I'll buy you a new one.Don't worry about it."
"N-No, that's not it....!"
Gyeongwon, still in his underwear, urgently grabbed my shoulders.
"All, all the PPT we made were saved there!"
"W-what did you say!"
Dukhun, who was changing behind us, flinched and turned to us.
"You, you're joking, right?! You must have backed it up somewhere-"
"I didn't... sob... I only saved it there heuk..."
"....."
"It's over, Prez... We're done for..."
Gyeongwon, with a completely broken
expression, clutched my clothes and slumped down.
And likewise, Dukhun, wearing only his underwear, wobbled his belly in panic.
"-If the President dies now and goes back— "
"We cleared the ghost story~ So it must have been saved there... Oh, then...."
I just wet my dry lips once while looking at Gyeongwon, who was clutching my clothes as if he'd lost his mind.
"...It's okay. I saved it."
"....!?"
In an instant, he flinched, his eyes widening in surprise.
"W-what!? Where!?"
Gyeongwon grabbed my clothes and shook me.
"Where!?"
"...In my email."
".....!?"
"I saved it after I kicked you out."
"....."
"I was planning to use it myself."
Gyeongwon froze completely.
"....I kicked you out, but I thought I still need to use the PPT...."
I just told the truth.
Gyeongwon froze in place, still holding
onto my collar.
Soon, Dukhun grasped the situation and let out a sound of understanding.
"oi oi. Isn't it a relief that the file is still intact?"
"...."
"Y-Yeah, that's a relief. Come on, now..."
Dukhun stepped closer to remove
Gyeongwon's hand from my clothes.
Fortunately, though, Gyeongwon let go first. Then suddenly let out a hmph and pushed his glasses.
"..Prez."
"Yeah."
"Let's call it even with this."
"...Alright."
I nodded.
Gyeongwon had been carrying a sense of guilt for dividing the club members.
But after learning that I had planned to monopolize the PPT after kicking him out, it seemed he now considered us even.
"Hehe... Who would've thought we'd end up exchanging something like this. "
He didn't seem particularly upset, as he stood there in his underwear, grinning and pushing his glasses.
"To think I'd end up being even with a guy like Prez... I've really grown a lot..."
"Just go change your clothes, damn it..."
I averted my gaze from Gyeongwon,who was standing there with his scrawny abs fully exposed, striking a pose with a smug look on his face.
**
"Is everyone here? No one went back to sleep, right?"
When we went down the building, the Teacher was waiting in the car.
After looking around outside, we asked the Teacher.
"Can everyone fit in here? What about the Detective?"
"The Detective left long time ago~"
The Teacher said with a laugh.
"He dropped you off here early this morning and went straight back to work. What about the girls?"
"Behind.."
I turned around and saw Sunah being carried out of the building on Jinhee's back.
And Hayoon was following them, carrying their bags instead.
"Is Sunah okay? Is she still asleep?"
"Yeah..."
Somehow, Sunah had been changed into fresh clothes and was being carried, still fast asleep on Jinhee's back.
She was sleeping with a peaceful face, like that of a hamster, completely unaware of her surroundings.
"Could she be running a fever? Let's get her in the Teacher's car for now."
"Okay."
Soon, Jinhee, Sunah, and Hayoon got ,into the Teacher's red Matiz.
At the same time, a taxi stopped in front of the building.
"You guys can take that one. Alright, see you later"
"Okay.."
"Don't be late~"
The Teacher and the female members left first.
We trudged along and got into the taxi.
"...I'm going to Sujeong Apartments. How about you?"
"Daerim 2nd Complex."
"I'm going to Clover Prestige."
"..Wow, you live there?"
Gyeongwon nodded silently.
Clover Prestige, from what I knew, even the cheapest unit there is over 60 pyeong.
'And Dukhun lives in the ordinary Daerim 2nd Complex.'
"Daerim, Sujeong, Prestige... Then I'll go to Sujeong first. Is that alright?"
"Yes~"
The taxi driver, after hearing the addresses, started driving toward the closest house first, and I was the first to get out of the taxia short while later.
"Take care, Prez."
"Yeah."
Before closing the door from outside, I pointed at my phone while looking at the two sitting side by side in the back seat.
"Let's keep in touch through the group chat to see who's awake. Don't go home and sleep, just grab your school uniform and come right back.Understood?"
"Got it."
"Understood."
"Especially you, Oh Dukhun. Don't go back to sleep."
"i'm a new person today."
"Even if you're tired, fighting. See you then~
The boys waved their hands as the taxi drove off.
I hurried past the students heading to school early in the morning and stepped into the apartment complex.
My house was visible in the distance.
I would head in for a moment, change into my school uniform, and then begin the day.
The school preliminary round for the Science Exhibition.