– Where is your house, Kyung –
After writing that down, Hesa placed the paper on top of his study desk. He had just remembered that he used to exchange sticky notes like this with the lavender-haired ghost.
Knock knock knock
Hesa immediately went to the door, and when he opened it, it turned out to be the friend who had asked him to go to school together.
"Isn't it a little too early for us to leave?" Hesa said.
"Eat breakfast first, idiot. Aren't you hungry?" Jaehyuk replied.
"Fine, I'll come," Hesa said.
The two of them went to buy porridge from a stall that was quite far from the boarding house. Hesa was honestly a little surprised, but Jaehyuk said the porridge there was really good and that he wanted Hesa to try it too.
"Now you get why I came to get you so early," Jaehyuk said.
"I'm still kind of surprised. Since when do you wake up this early? Aren't you usually hard to wake up?" Hesa said.
"Damn, you really love making fun of me," Jaehyuk muttered.
"Making fun of you is just the appetizer," Hesa replied.
"Whatever," Jaehyuk said helplessly.
Not long after, their food arrived, and they immediately started eating.
"Suddenly I'm having déjà vu," Jaehyuk said.
"Huh?" Hesa looked confused.
"Back when your friend got mugged, we were also just sitting around eating by the roadside," Jaehyuk said.
"Don't say weird stuff," Hesa said.
"I'm just imagining something passing by again," Jaehyuk said.
"Your brain needs to be washed clean first," Hesa said flatly.
The calm morning atmosphere and the soft breeze made their breakfast feel especially enjoyable, but it seemed Jaehyuk's words had come true. While they were eating, they suddenly saw a motorcyclist slip and fall because the road was still slippery from yesterday's rain.
"This is your fault, Jae," Hesa said as he set his bowl down on the table.
"Help him first, idiot. You can blame me later," Jaehyuk replied.
The two of them immediately rushed over to help the young man.
"Does it hurt, bro?" Jaehyuk asked, making Hesa instantly shove him.
"Do you really need to ask that?" Hesa said.
"Haha, yeah bro, it kinda hurts," answered the pink-haired guy.
"We can take you to the hospital," Jaehyuk offered.
"N-No need, I can still walk," the young man refused politely.
"You just said it hurts. Come on, we'll take you to the nearest hospital—wait, aren't you the guy I saw with Kala before?" Hesa said.
The young man immediately looked panicked.
"W-What do you mean, that ghost following me?"
"Huh? No—"
"I-I've never met you before."
The young man hurriedly left, leaving Hesa standing there with a confused expression.
"Why did he suddenly get so scared?" Jaehyuk asked.
"I don't know either, Jae," Hesa said.
"Hey, you mentioned Kala earlier. Is he his friend?" Jaehyuk asked.
"No idea, but I've seen them together before," Hesa replied.
"Well, judging from the uniform, it's the same. Maybe they go to the same school," Jaehyuk said.
"Yeah… maybe," Hesa replied.
~~~~~
Hesa walked down the school hallway, which looked quiet. By chance, his eyes drifted toward Niki, who was walking toward class together with Setta.
They looked like they were joking around while walking side by side.
Hesa felt relieved seeing that.
He didn't know whether everything was really over yet.
But one thing was certain—the Setta who was with Niki now wasn't Sunoo.
Yesterday, he had managed to find Setta and bring him back, with Jihan's help of course.
And in the end, they all stayed overnight at Setta's house, because the fox-like boy had been alone at home—and on top of that, he didn't know anything about what had happened, so he was scared of being left alone.
Hesa and Arkha had hesitated about whether they should explain everything, but in the end, they told him the whole truth.
Hesa had seen Heeseung disappear back at the villa, so he figured the other copycats had probably experienced the same thing, and that maybe everything was finally over.
"How long are you planning to just stand there?"
That remark snapped Hesa out of it. He looked again, and Niki and Setta were already gone—most likely already inside their classroom.
He turned toward the two people who had just arrived together.
"R-Ryu, you're here too," Hesa said awkwardly.
"You were spacing out. Thinking about your debts or something?" Ryujin said.
"No way," Hesa denied.
"He's definitely thinking about his lover, that's why he's acting all nervous," Minju said.
"Ugh," Ryujin muttered.
"Haha, you know me too well, Min," Hesa said.
"Just because I'm single," Ryujin grumbled.
"Well, our student council president is single too. Why don't you try getting closer to him?" Minju teased.
"As if. I'm not into guys like him who are such a mess," Ryujin said.
"Why do my ears suddenly feel hot?"
Hesa could only hold back his laughter after hearing that, because he had noticed Beomgyu standing behind Minju and Ryujin the whole time.
"We were talking about you. Perfect timing too, now we can just say it to your face," Ryujin said.
"I know I'm handsome, but you guys really don't need to gossip about me," Beomgyu said confidently.
"You're way too full of yourself," Ryujin shot back.
"Instead of gossiping about me for no reason, why don't we just talk about when we're getting married?" Beomgyu said.
"You little—!" Ryujin snapped.
"It's still morning, Ryu. Is this really the kind of breakfast you want?" Minju said, holding her friend back before she could claw his face.
"Why don't we just gather the student council now and talk about next week's event?" Hesa suggested.
"Now that's a good idea," Beomgyu said.
"You're the student council president. You should be the one reminding everyone," Ryujin said.
"Oh right, I forgot," Beomgyu said while pulling out his phone to send a message.
Hesa could only shake his head at his friends' behavior.
But at the same time, he felt happy seeing a scene like this.
A scene that had once been impossible for him to enjoy ever since Heeseung appeared.
~~~~~
As usual, during lunch break, Thirteen gathered together in the cafeteria.
"You're not Setta, are you?" Niki said suspiciously.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Setta protested, offended that he was still being suspected even after Hesa and Arkha had already explained everything.
"We literally just had a conversation earlier and you still don't believe me?" he continued.
"I'm kidding," Niki said with his usual annoying expression.
"Damn it," Setta grumbled.
"Nyenyenye," Niki teased again.
"Oi, stop it, he's gonna cry," Satya added.
"You guys are ridiculous," Setta muttered.
He glanced toward Joan and suddenly remembered something.
"Jo, that MV you showed me yesterday was actually pretty fun. There's more to it, right?" he asked.
"Oh, Get Away? Yeah, there is. But actually, that's not where the story starts," Joan said.
"It starts with Tag. I've already watched it," Niki bragged.
"Hey, I wanna watch it too," Setta said.
"How about we all hang out again later like yesterday?" Jio suggested.
"Sounds good," Satya said.
"It's okay if we do it at my house, right?" Setta asked.
"My brother already came back from his friend's boarding house," Arkha said.
"Then it's settled. We'll hang out at my place," Setta said.
"Yeah," Joan replied.
"Everyone can make it, right?" Setta asked.
They all fell silent, which meant they were all free.
"I probably won't be able to come in the afternoon like everyone else. I think I'll only be able to come later in the evening since I'm still handling event stuff," Hesa said.
"That's okay. As long as you can come," Setta said.
"Okay," Hesa replied.
Hesa continued drinking his canned coffee while slowly turning to look at Arkha, who had apparently already been staring at him.
Hesa simply returned that mysterious gaze with a smile.