Let's Kill Her (Book #1)

(ﾒ￣▽￣)︻┳═一(33)

When I walk into history class with Sejeong, I'm surprised to find I'm now doing all the things I thought were so weird my first day - walking silently, keeping track of the other students through subtle glances, and speaking in a low voice. And since we woke up this morning, Sejeong has gone silent on me again. Not her normal thinking quiet, either. She seems agitated and upset but refuses to talk about it. I can't help but wonder if it has something to do with revealing her relationship with Taehyung. Even in the short time I've spent with her, I know that must not have been easy for her. And I'm almost positive that if I bring it up, I will only make things worse.

Taemin is already in the room and looks like he got as little sleep as I did. Sejeong is practically scowling, and everyone seems on edge - the kind of vibe that has you wanting to look over your shoulder or jump when something grazes your arm.

"Shall we begin?" Küre says, even though it's not really a question. She's standing near her globe and drums her fingers on it while the students take their seats.

Jimin and Rose are the last in the door, and their body language makes me think they might have been fighting.

"Sit," Küre says to Rose, and I can tell she doesn't want to.

Her fists clench but she drops into her chair.

"Now then . . . The Knight Noir were trained to fight to the death and to the very last man, not matter the odds against them," Küre says, and looks at Rose. "And they were geared up to do just that in 1271, when Rook Blanc attacked the Noir castle Black N' White in Chess. Over the course of the moth, the rook gradually drove the knight within the castle walls. But the rook knew that the cornered knight would never surrender. So he cleverly crafted a forged letter that was supposedly from the Grand Master of the Knights Noir and sent it to them."

She looks around the room and for a brief second her eyes land on me. "The letter told the knights that they had permission to surrender and even contained instructions on how to do so. And wouldn't you know it, the brave knights fell for the forgery. In exchange for their surrender, the rooks spared their lives." Küre smiles. "It's history's stories of near misses that I love so much - the ones where you think a certain outcome is in inevitable, only to be proven wrong. From the outside, the rooks faced what looked like an inflexible situation. But the rooks was creative; he thought past the conflict. What was the key here? What did the rook do that is worth remembering?"

The class is strangely silent. Where everyone would usually be competing to answer and one-up each other, they now look lost in thought or tired. In the wake of everything that's happened, I wonder more than ever if there is a subtly message in Küre's story.

"Suzy?" Küre says.

My attention snaps back to class. "He didn't take the knights for granted."

"Explain."

"Well, like you said, the knights were known to fight to the last man," I say, trying to think my way through the strategy psychologically - the way Sejeong does when she talks about history. "So a typical approach would be to consider that an immovable truth and prepare to meet them in battle. The rook was special because he gave the knights an opportunity to act differently, to change what everyone else assumed could never be changed."

Küre spins her globe. "Yes. Very much so. It's not always the situation that's immovable, as you said, but the way people think about the situation. A fresh perspective is often needed."

The door opens then and everyone's head turn as if on cue. Kang walks in, and there are two guards behind her. The anxiety in the room noticeably rises.

"Sejeong and Suzy," Kang says. "Come with me."

Sweat immediately breaks out on my forehead, and Rosé gives us a look. We slide our chairs back and follow Kang into the hallway. As I pass the guards, I expect to get a needle in my arm and be dragged to the dungeon, but it doesn't come. Instead they walk silently behind us.