030

Chapter thirty

The hallway tilts

Or maybe it's just me

Whispers slither through the crowd like smoke

"Is that her?"

"I couldn't show my face if I were her"

A sharp laugh cuts through the air like a blade

Please... not again

I lower my head and walk faster, heart hammering in my chest

When I step into the classroom, the noise dies instantly

Silence

All eyes turn to me—some wide with shock, others smug with amusement

The kind of silence that crawls on your skin and makes you want to vanish

Phones slip out of sigh, guilt flashes in glances

But then— a sound so small, so faint, but so familiar it knocks the breath out of me

Sobbing— My sobbing

Choked criesMe, begging

Nari's laughter

Her friends cheering her on while I collapse

I freeze, I can't move, my throat tightens, vision blurs

I turn slowly, and my eyes land on the source,a boy across the room

The phone slips from his hand, he fumbles, rushes to turn it off, shoves it deep into his pocket like he didn't just expose my trauma to an entire room

Jiwon stands, "Haerin—"

"It's that account again, isn't it?" My voice is cold. I already know. But I need her to say it, I need someone to admit this is real

She nods with trembling hands, then silently passes me her phone

The screen glows

That day

The day I broke

The day Nari filmed me before I tried to take my life

I don't even cry, I just watch

I read the caption

"Guess we know why she switched schools now"

Something inside me snaps. Quietly. Not like glass— like bone

"I'm going to find whoever made that account and actually—"

"I already know" The words leave my mouth before I even realize I'm speaking

I turn on my heel and storm out of the classroom, behind me, footstep, murmurs and people following

Let them watch

I spot her

Sitting beside Ha-eun, grinning at something on her phone, laughing like she didn't do anything and is just enjoying the show

I don't hesitate, I walk straight to her and rip the phone from her hands

The screen is still playing it—my video

Their smiles drop, they shoot to their feet

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" On-Jo snaps, voice shrill and panicked

I lift the phone between us

"It's you, isn't it?" My voice is steady now, "You run that account"

"I don't know what you're talking ab—"

"No" I cut her off

I don't know what's taken over me, but for the first time... I'm not afraid of her

Not her voice, not her cruelty

She can't reach me anymore

"Cut the bullshit"

Gasps ripple through the hallway, I glance up

There's a crowd, dozens of them— watching

But for once, I don't care what they see

"Look who finally gained some balls" On-Jo laughs and I throw her phone across the classroom, her face immediately drops

"You bitch—" She screams at me and tries to charge towards me but I move back so her swing misses my face

I grab a book on the desk next to me and hit her across the face with it, before she can even look at me properly again, I grab her head and throw her to the table

She falls back on to the ground and Ha-eun attacks me next, she grabs my hair and tries to swing me around, but I run forward and she stumbles back into the cabinets at the back of the classroom

She loses her grip on my hair and I punch her in the face, then I grab her hair and throw her to the ground aswell

Before I can catch my breath, someone grabs me from behind and pulls me backwards

I use my elbow to land a blow to their stomach and she groans in pain, letting go off me, I turn around and see On-Jo staring back at me

Blood beginning to drip from her nose

My hand lifts before I can thin, not to hit her but just to prove I can again

She flinches, actually flinches—and stumbles back like a child caught lying

The power in that moment nearly breaks me

"Take down the video" I say, voice low but razor-sharp

She doesn't answer my words—only shrieks, "You just broke my phone!"

Her panic is loud, but all I hear is confirmation

"So it was you" I say, louder now. And her silence tells me everything

"I—I didn't mean—"

"Take it down," I repeat

There's no scream in my voice, no shaking, just truth, and finality

Then I turn, I don't wait for an answer

I push past her, through the circle of wide-eyed onlookers

They part like waves, stunned into silence

Mouths hang open, phones forgotten in their hands, no one dares follow me this time

But my eyes meet with a certain pair of big, brown and doe eyes

He stares at me with confusion but also shock, I look away and continue walking

The hallway feels quieter than it should, the air heavie, my chest is pounding, but I don't feel weak

I don't feel like her anymore—the girl in the video, sobbing, broken, begging for it to stop

I don't know what came over me

Maybe it was Heeseung

Maybe it was all the nights I stayed silent, letting people rewrite my story

Or maybe...

Maybe this was my breaking point

But for once, it didn't break me

It set me free

I did not expect jjst this part of the chapter to be 1000 words bruh, so I guess I'll continue it in the next

-K