The cafeteria during break time was, of course, very crowded. Many students were buying snacks, including the Thirteen gang who had already gathered at one table while enjoying their own food.
"How's Hesa? Is he better now?" Niki opened the conversation.
"Not sure, but earlier Jaehyuk took a permission slip and said he was going to handle Hesa's administration," Satya said.
"So he might be discharged today then," Jio replied.
"Looks like it. Later after school we should stop by his boarding house," Niki suggested.
"Yup," Satya answered shortly.
The clinking of spoons and forks filled the brief silence again. Arkha looked at his friends.
"Guys, have you found a good camping spot yet?" he asked.
"Not yet," Jio replied.
"Oh right, what about the camping plan?" Niki added.
"We're still looking. Most places seem dangerous, especially for beginners like us," Jio explained.
"In my opinion, since nothing's confirmed yet, we can still cancel it," Arkha said.
"If we cancel, then where do we go?" Satya asked.
"To an abandoned amusement park."
Arkha showed them the location along with reviews and experiences from people who had visited the place.
"Pretty good. Looks fun," Jio said after reading several reviews.
"I agree. Let's just go there instead."
Joan, who had just arrived, immediately sat down and joined them.
"You startled us," Niki said.
"Sorry, hehe," Joan replied.
"You agree with this place too, Jo?" Satya asked.
Joan nodded in response.
I thought he was lying. Is he really scared because of that MV? Arkha chuckled inwardly while watching his friend.
"We could go there," Jio said.
"Yeah, I agree too," Niki added.
"I'll just follow," Satya said.
"Okay, later we'll just inform Hesa," Arkha concluded.
"What about Setta?" Niki asked.
"There's still no news, Ki. Better just keep praying he's found soon," Satya said.
"Relax. The vlog trip is still just a plan. We can still wait," Arkha added.
They went back to finishing their food, which was almost gone. Arkha smiled to himself, feeling relieved.
"By the way, Jo, is your head better now?" Satya asked Joan, who was sitting across from him.
"Yeah, somewhat," Joan replied.
"Be more careful next time," Niki said.
Joan nodded.
"When I slipped, I didn't pass out right away. I could still feel someone covering my mouth with a handkerchief that smelled really strange. I held my breath for a bit, but I couldn't last long. The smell was so weird it made me dizzy.
Half conscious, I heard someone say 'Heeseung,' and the other person said he attacked me on purpose. Then he told the person he was talking to that they had already admitted giving up."
Joan's story shocked Arkha; his heart started pounding.
"Damn!"
Not only Arkha—everyone else was shocked too.
"How could that happen?" Jio asked.
"Ah, who knows. Maybe I got lost in another world for a moment," Joan replied casually, smiling toward Arkha.
Arkha immediately looked away.
I thought he wanted to cooperate, turns out he still has other motives…
~~~~~
The sky wasn't very bright anymore at two in the afternoon.
Arkha was still on the rooftop, relaxing for a while. Not long after, he finally opened his phone to call someone.
Tut—
"Hello, Khan," came the answer from the other side.
"I heard Jaehyuk handled the admin stuff. Are you home already?" Arkha asked.
"Yeah, I just got back to my boarding house. I was about to come see you," Hesa replied.
"Seems like the others said they want to visit your place," Arkha said.
"Oh, good thing you told me, so I can get ready first," Hesa replied.
"Actually, I called to give you some news," Arkha said.
"What news?" Hesa asked.
"The good news is I managed to convince the others to change the vlog destination," Arkha said.
"Change it to where?" Hesa asked.
"To an abandoned amusement park," Arkha answered.
"They agreed?" Hesa asked.
"Joan agreed right away, then the others followed. Before that he even asked me about the camping plan. Maybe he agreed but realized something bad might happen," Arkha explained.
"He knows?" Hesa asked.
Arkha chuckled. "No, that's just my guess."
"What do you mean? Why are you laughing like that?" Hesa asked.
"I'll tell you when you're back at school," Arkha said.
"I'm going tomorrow anyway," Hesa replied.
"Oh, that's good then," Arkha said.
"You still sound unhappy, even though I think everything's safe now," Hesa noted.
"The news I'm bringing isn't only good news," Arkha said.
"What's the bad news?" Hesa asked.
"Your copy came yesterday, right?" Arkha said.
"Joan knows?" Hesa asked.
"Yeah. He said he was still a bit conscious when he was attacked, and he overheard a bit of your conversation with Heeseung," Arkha explained.
"How much did he hear?" Hesa asked.
"Heeseung said you already gave up. That's all he told. Hmm… better we continue this talk tomorrow," Arkha said.
"Yeah… I also need to tell you something," Hesa replied.
"I'm hanging up now, I hear footsteps coming this way," Arkha said.
"Okay, bye." Hesa ended the call.
Arkha immediately opened another app, pretending he had just been playing on his phone the whole time.
The atmosphere went silent until someone called his name from behind, making him turn around.
"Khan, so you're here."
"What's up, Ji? You were looking for me?" Arkha asked.
"Yeah," Jio replied.
"Oh right, I forgot. You guys were going to Hesa's boarding house," Arkha said.
"Postponed. We're going to Setta's house instead," Jio said.
"Setta?" Arkha asked.
"Yeah, his parents told Niki he's been found," Jio explained.
Arkha quickly sent a message to Hesa, then followed Jio.
~~~~~
The Thirteen gang had gathered at Setta's house, minus Hesa of course. Arkha hadn't told them that Hesa had already gone home.
"Setta, are you okay?" Niki asked worriedly.
"I'm better now," Setta said with a smile so his friends wouldn't worry too much.
"Sorry… are you able to tell us what happened?" Satya asked.
Setta nodded.
"I was just walking like usual when suddenly someone hit me from behind. After that I don't remember anything until I woke up in an alley. Luckily someone nearby helped take me to the police station."
"You already got checked by a doctor, right? Just in case one of your organs is missing," Niki said, making Jio immediately smack his head.
"Don't say things carelessly," Jio scolded.
"Some of my belongings are missing, but I guess that's better than missing organs," Setta explained.
"Oh yeah, yesterday my parents heard about this from you guys. Is it true?"
Arkha nodded. "Yesterday Hesa and Jaehyuk saw your kidnapping. They chased the car but couldn't catch it. Hesa even ended up in the hospital."
"Hesa got hurt because he chased that car?" Setta looked sad.
"Not exactly. Jaehyuk said Hesa did fall while chasing the car and had a nosebleed, but after the doctor checked him, he was just exhausted," Satya explained.
"Still, he got hurt because of me. I'm sorry this delayed our content creation a lot," Setta said.
"No one can predict accidents. The important thing is you're safe," Niki said.
"True. Besides, we're not camping anymore, so we can save some money," Satya added.
"Not camping?" Setta asked.
"Yep, we're making content at a haunted amusement park instead," Niki said.
"Oh, I see," Setta nodded.
He agreed? Isn't that strange? Arkha thought, staring at Setta.
Wasn't the original plan camping? Or… maybe there's another plan.
Grrrkk. A stomach growled.
Setta, who had been secretly watching Arkha, turned immediately. He forgot to prepare anything. "Oh right, I didn't prepare anything for guests."
"Relax," Joan said.
"Don't make it complicated. Just order pizza online," Niki suggested.
"You're pushing it!" Setta glared at Niki and threw a pillow, accidentally hitting Joan who was sitting beside him.
"S-sorry. Eh, I just noticed your head's bandaged," Setta said.
"I just slipped," Joan replied.
Setta nodded.
"If you guys want food, just order online. I haven't refilled the snacks for guests yet. I'll get you drinks."
"Okay, we'll order, but you're paying," Niki teased.
"Yeeeah, I'll get drinks first so we're not too thirsty," Setta said.
He walked away, laughing to himself as he noticed Arkha had been silent the whole time.
You can't guess my plan, Arkhanael Vintara.