IF I WERE THE DEVIL ; YANG JUNGWON

CARD III: What is your rank?

「Second year, chrysanthemum class」

Eyun's eyes fell from the name tag of the room to her fingers that wrapped themselves around the doorknob.

She entered the classroom and was immediately greeted with laughters. Clearly hearable, they weren't out of happiness but malicious pleasure.

She looked around, trying to find her seat mate, but instead noticed all of her classmates looking at one specific point in the room. Pointing their fingers in the same direction before every now and then, words like 'low-raked one' and 'shamless cheater' were spit out, loud enough for everyone to hear, rather directed to one specific someone.

It was him, Kang Taehyun.

Said student, who had once the presence of the mightiest inside these four walls, was seated on his desk with his head bowed down.

His eyes were glued to the three words that were written in bold, black letters across the entire surface of the wood, only to have more reminders of the dark side of this academy.

It was as if he could only read the words in his mind over and over again, unable to react to the situation around him.

He finally broke out of his state and looked up at the person as he felt a figure approaching, only to slam his fist down on the table a second later.

As his eyes pierced the body of the girl in front of him, he gripped the edge of the table tightly. "You," he growled out.

Eyun watched intently as every muscle in his body tensed to such an intensity that the veins stood out, the blue contours most noticeable on his throat.

He stood up and grabbed her shoulder, crumpling her neat uniform. Eyun immediately felt the intense force that was crushing her shoulder, about to push the boy away.

"This is all your fault," Taehyun gritted through his teeth in a threatening voice before storming out of the classroom.

She followed his figure with her eyes until the silver-haired man had left the room, not knowing how to react, not even knowing what was going on.

Curiosity tempted the angel to look at the now empty table, her lips forming a thin line and a frown forming on her forehead. She bent over to read the thick black letters on the dark brown wooden desk.

"Worthless one," Eyun mumbled before she could even grasp the content of what she was reading. "Worthless one?"

- 🃟 -

In the corridors, which seemed to have no end, the way was crowding with more and more students. Gripping the straps of her white backpack, Eyun concentrated on the path ahead.

"Earlier..." the angel started slowly. Minhee, who was walking beside her, turned her head to the girl's side in response, a sign that Eyun had her attention.

"You saw it too, right?" Eyun went on. However, Minhee gave her only a puzzled look by furrowing her eyebrows as to not knowing what she was referring to.

"Kang Taehyun."

Minhee stopped in her steps, causing Eyun to stare at her in her frozen state. She swallowed hard under the newbie's gaze, attempting to mask her thoughts with her earlier demeanour. Still, the tensions remained visible in her eyes.

This certain reaction made Eyun's curiosity only grow; she needed to finally get some answers to the questions that were beginning to consume her.

Unable to bear Eyun's intense gaze, Minhee broke eye contact and tried to avoid it, but a pained sigh escaped her lips. She had to say it in order to prevent the new student from ending like she did.