𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 | 𝐚 𝐭𝐱𝐭 × 𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

four - blood runs cold

blood runs cold

⚠ blood and human carcass ⚠

her brief conversation with choi yeonjun became a part of history as a week had passed with nothing too out of the ordinary. another tuesday, and lia was headed back to her classroom after a hearty lunch when she saw a crowd gathered around what seemed to be a brawl.

she sighed, praying that this did not involve a certain girl.

as class president, she had to ensure none of her classmates were involved in the brawl so she pushed her away against the crowd to have a front row look.

disappointment washed down her already dying spirits. there was shin ryujin, in a fight, again, with a girl from another section. lia pondered for a few minutes for a name and she got it.

kim sihyeon was the name. and she was an angry, privileged kid.

no wonder she's involved in an intense brawl with shin ryujin - thought lia.

"hey. kim sihyeon, why don't you just mind your own fucking business instead of riling me up? i'm not in the mood for your stupid yapping. what the fuck do you even want?" spat shin ryujin.

"what do i want? for you to fucking disappear." while ryujin was menacing and straight-up tired of the drama, kim sihyeon was boiling with hot, angry tears threatening to gush down any moment. the spectators couldn't help but wonder why she was behaving like that.

"didn't you hear? the bell fucking rang again!"

"and how the fuck is that my problem?!"

the amount of distasteful words exchanged in the short conversation was enough for three days worth of detention - lia had noticed.

suddenly, an unexpected guest, choi beomgyu, showed up and immediately engaged himself into a conversation with her. "kim sihyeon is angry because it's been a year since serim died," he whispered in her ear, much to her surprise.

"wh- what?" she stammered while the boy simply grinned.

"you don't believe me? just listen," he motioned to return back to the commotion. and lia oddly did as told.

"she died because of you! i lost my friend because of you!" sihyeon was yelling hysterically. and lia thought she was just asking for trouble.

trouble did arrive, in the form of the dean whose voice silenced the entire crowd. "shin ryujin! kim sihyeon! at my office, now! lia, you too."

"huh?" lia was suddenly dragged into the mess.

beside her, beomgyu sniggered as he said, "good luck, pres. and please take care of our ryujin." he even bowed.

this little shit!

lia couldn't risk swearing at the presence of the dean so she shot him a look engraved with all her anger as she began to walk away. beomgyu, the annoying brat, waved her off.

when lia returned from the dean's office, she returned with a new friend, or, in this case, a new responsibility.

ryujin trudged behind her like a child who had been refused her favourite toy. even lia thought she was funny.

"anyway," she began in order to consummate their new found partnership, "please stay from trouble for the next two weeks and i'll write you a good report to the dean."

"i have no intention on doing that," retorted the girl.

"hey. i hate this as much as you do. or maybe even more. besides, half yearly tests are around the corner so i have more important stuff to do than babysit your ass for an entire week. just do nothing that's against the rule, say nothing, and you'll find yourself away from the devil's plan."

although lia spoke of it easily, she knew it would be difficult for ryujin who was a magnet for trouble.

ryujin said nothing until they reached their classroom. it was currently biology class and lia heard suppressed scoffs and chuckles when they walked in.

she wasn't shin ryujin who got into trouble, so why was she embarrassed instead?

lia was too engrossed in her head, and getting her textbook out, she hadn't noticed choi yeonjun who for some odd reason, placed his desk right beside her's.

"pres." it was when he whispered that lia turned around and noticed.

she was caught off guard, and confused because the boy had done a great job of ignoring her for an entire week. what made him decide to break the silence?

she ignored him.

after a few minutes, a neatly folded paper found its way on to her desk. seems he really has something to say, lia surmised.

she opened the paper and what she read made her dig her eyebrows.

"do you know what happens when the bell rings three times?"

of course, she knew. it was to mark the first half of the month - another one of ace's traditions which didn't make any sense.

but she decided to humour him so she wrote:

"i dunno. you tell me."

the paper reached her again and this time it said something - something that lia did not find funny or amusing, but disturbing:

"a little black bird dies ^^"

she whipped her head at the boy with a frown. when suddenly, a shrill cry echoed through the air and the entire school stood their grounds.

"wait here," the teacher instructed as he went out to have a look.

he never returned, but other teachers rushed past their classroom all in all, drawing curiosity from the confused students.

"what do you think happened, to scream like that?"

"i dunno. should we go have a look?"

"out there! on the grass!" suddenly, one of the kids who sat near the window yelled and everyone rushed towards the windows.

what was outside in a pool of blood, was a body wrapped in white cloth oozing with the red liquid, and panic rose in lia's heart.

she whipped her head back to see yeonjun and another boy, choi soobin, laid-back in their seats like they had foreseen the terror. or perhaps grown accustomed to it.