Hierarchy : Murder Mystery ⚊ Lee Heeseung & Park Sunghoon

ten

The next day, Jake slipped into Sunghoon’s dorm room, his best friend still missing. His gut churned with suspicion—Sunghoon had been acting strange ever since Hwan’s death, sneaking out at odd hours, and now Jake couldn’t shake the feeling that something darker was at play.

He decided to search the room, hoping to find answers.

As he rifled through Sunghoon's things, frustration mounted. Every room held relics of Sunghoon’s past with Hana—photos, small gifts, letters. It was as though the entire dorm was a shrine to the time when Sunghoon had been at his happiest.

But nothing that hinted at the trouble Jake feared he was in.

With a sigh, Jake moved to the bar room, the last place he hadn’t checked. The room was spotless, too clean, considering how much of a mess Sunghoon had left it the night before. His eyes scanned the shelves, landing on a small, hastily tucked envelope wedged between two wine bottles.

Jake grabbed it, curiosity gnawing at him. He carefully opened the envelope and unfolded the papers inside. His blood ran cold as he read.

It was damning.

Evidence that the Principal had been blackmailing Sunghoon, using Hana as leverage. Threats against her safety, warning Sunghoon to fall in line or else. And then, more shockingly, Jake discovered that Sunghoon’s younger sister, Yeji, had been followed. If Sunghoon misstepped, she too could meet a fate similar to Hwan’s.

Jake’s heart raced as he flipped through more papers.

There were more names, more students caught in the web of the Principal's schemes. It wasn’t just about Sunghoon—it was bigger.

The Principal had been manipulating students, using their secrets and fears to maintain control over something buried deep within the school.

Whatever it was, it was powerful enough to have Sunghoon entangled in a nightmare he couldn’t escape.

Jake sat down, his mind reeling. His best friend had accidentally gotten himself into something far beyond their understanding—something dangerous.

And now, Jake knew. But what could they do against someone like the Principal?

Jake’s heart pounded as he slipped through the empty hallways of the dorms, his phone in hand and his mind racing. Every step echoed louder in the silence, each corner he turned pulling him closer to a confrontation that had been brewing for far too long.

The weight of what he had discovered in Sunghoon’s room hung heavy in the air, pressing down on him like an invisible force. He had to find Hana—and fast. Sunghoon’s life, his sister Yeji’s life, even Hana’s life... they were all tangled in the Principal’s web, and Jake feared what might happen if they didn’t act soon.

He paused outside Sunghoon’s dorm for a moment, glancing once more at the pictures on his phone—the blackmail, the threats, the surveillance on Hana dating back to before Hwan’s death.

It was all there, laid out in undeniable detail.

The Principal had been pulling strings in the shadows for who knows how long, and Sunghoon had gotten caught in the middle of it all.

Jake had known his best friend was spiraling, but this... this was bigger than anything he had imagined.

He needed help. Someone with power. Someone who could take down the Principal and put an end to the madness that had gripped Daesung Academy.

As his thoughts churned, his eyes fell on the photo hanging in the living room—a picture of Hana, radiant in her formal dress, standing beside her grandfather during his inauguration as the President of South Korea.