POISONED YOUTH: TWISTED

CHAPTER 39

Yoonoh gathered with the six boys in the media room, the atmosphere noticeably different from their usual meetings. Nobody was joking, arguing, or even complaining about being tired. Their attention was fixed entirely on Renjun, who sat in front of the three large screens with his fingers moving rapidly across the keyboard. Lines of code, encrypted files, and scattered pieces of data filled the monitors, most of which looked like nothing more than an alien language to everyone else in the room.

The silence was heavy enough to make every movement feel louder than it should have been. Even the usual restless energy from Jisung and Chenle was nowhere to be found as they watched Renjun work, waiting for him to break through whatever security had been placed around the recorder.

Then, finally, a loading screen appeared on the main monitor.

LOADING 30%

Nobody moved.

The percentage climbed.

LOADING 60%

Yoonoh's arms remained crossed over his chest, his eyes never leaving the screen. Mark stood beside him with his jaw tense, while Jeno, Jaemin, Jisung, and Chenle remained unusually still.

LOADING 90%

Renjun's fingers slowed.

Everyone held their breath.

LOADING 100%

A new prompt appeared.

ACCESS FILE?
YES or NO

Renjun pressed enter.

LOADING COMPLETE!
OPEN / QUIT

He selected OPEN.

The screen went black for a moment before a single line appeared.

RECORDING PLAYING.

The room became completely silent.

Then a familiar voice came through the speakers.

"It's not even a word, dummy!"

Another voice immediately answered.

"It's in my dictionary."

Every pair of eyes widened. Nobody needed an explanation. They knew those voices.

Yoonoh's expression hardened as he stared at the screen, while the others slowly turned toward him, almost as if they were afraid to look anywhere else.