During break time, everyone was quietly eating their own meals.
"Nikiii!" Setta called out.
"What?" Niki replied indifferently.
"You're the one who switched the labels on the chili sauce and the tomato sauce bottles, right?" Setta said.
"Nope," Niki answered.
"Was it too spicy, Set?" Joan asked.
"Not really. Luckily I only used a little," Setta replied.
"You're so dramatic, making a fuss like that," Niki teased.
"Whatever, bleh," Setta mocked back.
"So when are we going to the park later?" Jio asked.
"Guys, sorry. Actually Setta and I already prepared a surprise for you," Hesa said.
"What surprise?" Niki asked.
"We've prepared the place, car rental, and the other necessities for you," Hesa explained.
"Yeah, you guys just need to come along," Setta added.
Arkha and Joan naturally glanced at the two young men suspiciously, especially Arkha, who had already realized that person wasn't the real Hesa.
Joan spoke first.
"Come along to what, by the way?" he asked.
"Camping," Setta replied.
"But I thought we hadn't found a good place yet," Jio said.
"There is one. I found a place that's already viral and lots of people go there," Setta said while showing the location on his phone.
"When are we going?" Niki asked.
"We could even go tomorrow," Setta replied.
"Isn't that too sudden?" Joan said.
"We're camping in the forest, we don't need to rent a place like a villa," Hesa said.
"What about tents, blankets, and all the other stuff?" Arkha asked.
"I told you I'd handle it. You guys just need to come along and bring your own supplies," Hesa replied.
"Is it really safe? Nothing dangerous in that forest?" Arkha asked again.
"Setta already explained earlier that a lot of people visit that place and they're all fine," Hesa said.
"This is also my apology for making you all worried when I got kidnapped yesterday," Setta added.
Arkha could only snort in annoyance, letting out a rough sigh in disbelief.
"I'm not convinced," Joan said.
"We're going together as a group, relax," Jio replied.
"Yeah, since someone's covering it, we might as well go," Niki said.
"Exactly, it'll be great so we'll have camping memories together," Satya added.
"Whatever." Arkha agreed half-heartedly, even though he felt irritated inside.
Camping memories, my ass.
"Okay then. So tomorrow?" Hesa said.
Everyone nodded except Arkha. He only looked at his friends lazily.
"Calm down,"
Arkha turned to Joan beside him. The younger boy rubbed his shoulder as if trying to calm him.
~~~~~~~~
Tired of thinking about everything, Arkha chose to relax on the rooftop. Break time was almost over anyway. Clearing his mind before class wouldn't hurt.
When he opened the rooftop door, he saw someone sitting on a bench.
"Tch, running into a demon instead,"
Arkha turned around to leave, but that person called him.
"Khan, in a hurry?"
Reluctantly, he turned back to face him with a forced sweet smile.
"Hesa, turns out you're relaxing here too," Arkha said as he approached.
"Yeah. Since we often talk here, maybe there's something we need to discuss," Hesa said.
"I've got nothing. Maybe you do," Arkha replied, standing by the railing but still facing him.
*This demon doesn't know I want to talk about Joan, right?*
"Oh good, then I can ask you directly?" Hesa said.
"Ask what?" Arkha replied.
"You and Joan don't seem to like our camping plan," Hesa said.
"I just feel like it's too sudden. Plus we already agreed to go to the abandoned amusement park before," Arkha answered.
"That's your reason?" Hesa smiled.
"That reason? Not because you know I'm actually Heeseung?" Hesa added.
Arkha clicked his tongue in annoyance. "You already know, so stop pretending to be sweet in front of me."
Hesa clapped his hands. "You managed to investigate Setta before, and now me. Not bad."
"I don't need your praise," Arkha snapped.
Hesa walked closer, chuckling cynically. "No wonder my twin wanted to cooperate with you. You're perceptive, even without a sixth sense."
He then pouted. "I'm disappointed. I acted so well too."
Arkha turned his face away lazily. "You're ridiculous."
He felt too annoyed to stay. Instead of calming down, he was getting angrier. Arkha stepped away, but his hand was suddenly grabbed.
Hesa immediately choked him tightly, pushing his body slightly backward.
"Such a shame you can't look behind you in this position. You can't see that field waiting for you to fall onto it."
Hesa laughed happily as Arkha struggled to break free from the grip on his neck.
**Thud**
Arkha managed to kick Hesa in the stomach, forcing him backward and automatically releasing the chokehold. Arkha bent down, holding his neck. But he didn't stay still and quickly moved to attack, though the strike was easily dodged.
"I almost forgot about the impostor. Even though I'm evil, I can still be nice enough to remind you that the impostor is close to you. So don't trust them so easily," Hesa said before disappearing with a snap of his fingers.
"That demon makes no sense. He himself obviously can't be trusted,"
Arkha dropped down to sit there. He would go back later once the pain in his neck subsided.
~~~~~~~~~
Joan closed the assignment book he had just finished, then put it into his bag so he wouldn't forget it tomorrow.
Another book on the table reminded him of what happened earlier during break.
Joan had wanted to relax on the rooftop while reading, but hearing voices made him stop. He only hugged his book tightly behind the door.
"No wonder my twin wanted to cooperate with you. You're perceptive even without a sixth sense. I'm disappointed—I acted so well."
"You're ridiculous."
"Ahh!"
Joan was startled by the groan of pain. He almost opened the rooftop door, but fear immediately stopped him.
The conversation he overheard disturbed him deeply.
"If he's not Hesa, then who is he? Is he the one who pushed me at the hospital? Is he Hesa's twin? And Setta… is he not the real one either?"
Joan roughly ran his hand through his hair.
"I suddenly thought… what if Hesa and Arkha kidnapped Setta just to confirm their suspicion that he's not the real Setta?"
~~~~~~~~~
Arkha walked home while continuously thinking about where the real Hesa might be hidden by the Copy.
"Damn it! They already know about me and Hesa trying to ruin their plan—that's why they kidnapped him."
His irritation eased a little when someone tapped his shoulder from behind, making him turn reflexively.
A sweet-looking kid eating ice cream. "Don't daydream, or you'll get possessed."
"You're noisy," Arkha replied casually, even though the kid kept following him while he tried to ignore him.
"I'm only one year younger than you," the kid said.
"Know-it-all. I don't even know you," Arkha answered.
He grinned. "You're thinking about Hesa? He's fine as long as he's under my supervision."
Arkha turned in shock. "You're the one who kidnapped Hesa?!"
"Do I really look like a criminal?" he said lazily.
"Then why did you say Hesa's under your supervision?!" Arkha snapped.
The red-haired boy walked lightly while eating his ice cream, leaving Arkha with countless questions.
"Hey!"
Arkha chased him, but the boy noticed and immediately ran.
They kept chasing each other until they reached a corner where Arkha lost track of him because the road split into two.
"Damn it! Where'd that kid go?" Arkha kept walking down one side until he reached an alley.
He looked inside and saw many cigarette butts and green glass bottles.
"A thug hideout, huh."
Without thinking much, he didn't enter the alley and just passed by.
Unbeknownst to him, the boy he had been chasing was actually hiding there beside a trash bin.
"Agantha… He's funny, even though his role is the same as yours back then," the boy chuckled, remembering one of his friends, then walked away from the alley with light steps.