Usually, during lunch break, Hesa would head straight to the cafeteria since his friends were always waiting for him there. But this time, not long after the bell rang, he immediately made his way to the infirmary after hearing that Setta was there.
Sure enough, when he arrived, all of his friends were already gathered inside.
"So what happened, Set? How did you end up falling like this?" Hesa asked.
"It's not that serious. Satya exaggerated it in the text," Setta replied, trying to reassure him.
"I saw you tumbling down the stairs," Satya said.
"Yeah, but I didn't roll all the way down. I didn't hit anything that hard," Setta explained.
"What do you mean?" Hesa asked.
"Earlier, during class, a teacher asked me to return some books to the library. Since the library's upstairs, I went there. On my way back, while I was on the stairs, I saw my twin standing behind me. Then he pushed me.
When I was rolling down the stairs, someone suddenly caught me before I could fall any farther. It was the same kid who helped Niki at the hospital yesterday."
"Oh."
Hesa nodded, pretending not to notice Arkha staring at him.
"What are the odds of him saving you too?" Joan commented.
"That's not the point. Setta said his own twin pushed him," Arkha pointed out.
Everyone immediately turned toward Hesa.
"Uh... yeah. You guys were right. They're still targeting us," Hesa admitted.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Satya asked.
"I only realized it myself at the hospital yesterday, when I heard someone tried to kill Niki. I don't know anything beyond that," Hesa replied.
"But now that it's happening, until we get more clues, we'd better watch out for each other," Arkha said.
~~~~~~~
Once again, Hesa found himself staring at the clouds from the school's rooftop after Arkha had rescued him from the endless questions their friends had been asking in the infirmary.
"So, what did you find out at Sunshower yesterday?"
Arkha started the conversation while handing Hesa a can of soda.
"I suspected Sakala's death might've involved the copycat too, kind of like Jihan's. But after going there yesterday, I think he was genuinely depressed and wanted to follow his friends."
"Wait. Did you just say Sakala?" Arkha asked.
Hesa gave a faint smile and showed him a photo on his phone.
"This is Kaze, a detective group made up of seven members. Dion, Melvin, Hasta, Agantha, Yoga, Yoan, and last... Sakala."
Arkha froze for a moment. He recognized those names from memories that Agantha seemed to have shown him.
"Hold on. So Sakala was the one who died? Then who's your neighbor?"
"Kyungmin Athala. He was friends with both Sakala and Jihan."
"The lavender ghost guy?" Arkha asked.
"Yeah. He wants to help me while also getting revenge for his friends."
"He wants to help you? So you already knew he was the one who saved Niki yesterday?"
"Well... he used his last name."
"Why didn't you tell everyone who he really is? Did Heeseung threaten you again?" Arkha asked.
"Not at all. This time they skipped the threats and went straight to action. You know, like what happened to Niki and Jio."
"Then tell us everything. That way we can protect each other better."
"Not necessarily. I... I just didn't want to scare you guys again, so I tried to keep it to myself."
"So you're planning to sacrifice yourself again."
Hesa fell silent before letting out a long sigh.
"Yeah. I'm thinking about asking Kyungmin for help. He offered before, but I never gave him an answer."
"I can't just let you do this alone," Arkha said.
"Khan, you've nearly been thrown off a rooftop and drowned before. I know you're not afraid. But this time, please trust me. Just focus on protecting yourself and everyone else."
"I-I..."
"Please," Hesa said quietly.
"Do you really think I want to watch my friend get hurt?"
"You know I don't want that either. But this all started because of me. I'm the first person who met my own twin. So please, trust me."
Arkha lowered his head and sighed heavily.
"I don't know..."
Hesa looked at him sadly. He understood that Arkha still wanted to fight alongside him.
"Sorry, Khan. After what happened to Niki and Jio, I've been getting more scared. Then this morning I saw Kyungmin come home looking completely beaten up."
"I-I get it. Whether you ask for my help or not, that's your choice."
"Thanks, Khan."
For a moment, the two of them simply sat there, gazing at the sky and enjoying the peaceful view.
"I actually ran into Kyungmin earlier."
"You did?"
"I think he got into a fight with Niki's twin. I thought he would've left afterward, but maybe he knew Setta's twin was coming too, so he stayed nearby to help Setta."
"Did you hear what they were talking about?"
"Not really. Kyungmin only said that no matter how many times he got hurt, he'd keep helping you."
"He just wants revenge. But honestly, I never expected him to want to help me too."
Hesa took another sip from his soda and remembered what happened that morning.
"Poor guy. I just remembered he was supposedly in an accident."
"An accident?" Arkha repeated.
"Yeah. That's why I said he came home looking like a mess."
"If it was really an accident, why didn't he go to a hospital?"
"You saw him too, right? Maybe his injuries weren't that serious, so he just went to a clinic instead."
"They didn't look that serious, but something felt off. Injuries from accident are usually cuts or scrapes, right? Most of what I saw were bruises. At first I thought it made sense because Niki's twin beat him up. But now you're telling me he was in an accident..."
The moment Arkha said that, Hesa suddenly realized something as well.
"Wait. Niki's twin beat him up?"
Arkha nodded.
"Don't tell me Niki's twin went after him because Kyungmin ruined his plan to kill Niki yesterday..."
It made sense.
After all, Hesa clearly remembered that the person who saved Niki at the hospital had been Kyungmin. He had known that all along.
He just hadn't connected the dots between that incident and the battered state Kyungmin was in when he returned to his boarding house that morning.