A sudden jolt sent Yemir stumbling straight into Madam Hia.
What an awkward situation.
Yemir quickly steadied himself, trying not to make the situation even more embarrassing.
Madam Hia turned toward Vini and gave him a light pat on the back.
"Hey, are you still the same as before?"
Vini blinked.
"What do you mean, Madam?"
"You know. Always following girls around."
"Madam... I was young back then. I didn’t understand what I was doing."
Yemir quickly changed the subject.
"Hiya Ma’am, did you move somewhere around here?"
"Yes," she replied. "I live on the thirteenth floor of the second building on Star Road now."
Vini’s head shot up.
"Wait! That’s my address too!"
He looked surprised.
"You’re on my floor, Ma’am?"
"Really?" Hia laughed. "What a coincidence, Vini."
She suddenly pulled both boys into an affectionate hug.
"You two disappeared after leaving school. Didn’t you miss me?"
"We did, Ma’am—"
"Ugh!"
Vini’s sentence was cut short.
Casia stood nearby, completely stunned.
What the hell...?
She stared at the scene for a moment before quickly looking away.
A little later, Madam Hia finally let them go.
Yemir rubbed the back of his head while Vini stuffed a tissue beneath his nose.
"Ma’am," Yemir said awkwardly, "we’re in college now. Please don’t treat us like that."
Hia laughed.
"You idiots. In my eyes, you’re still those little kids in shorts."
Casia glanced at Vini’s messy face and lightly smacked him on the head.
"You deserve that."
Two enormous buildings stood side by side.
The college corridor was already packed with noise.
Some students were running toward their classrooms. Others were arguing with the class representative about last-minute assignments. A few stood around chatting and flirting.
Morning sunlight streamed through the windows, casting long shadows across the floor.
Yemir quietly walked to the very back of the classroom and took his usual seat.
Several girls tried to greet him.
"Hi, Yemir!"
"Good morning!"
He simply avoided them.
Casia stepped in front of him.
"Don’t talk to anyone, Yemir."
She pointed at him.
"Right, Yemir?"
No answer.
Casia raised an eyebrow.
Why did I even say that? He just ruined my reputation.
Yemir placed his bag beside the desk and opened his Dracula comic.
Finally, some peace.
"This people have nothing better to do than disturb me..."
Exactly three seconds later—
"Good morning, Yemir."
He slowly lowered the comic.
A girl stood in front of him with her arms folded, wearing a serious expression.
"Hey, Karin. Did you want to say something?"
Karin looked at him thoughtfully.
"I think discussing things with you might actually be useful. You’re surprisingly talented."
Before Yemir could respond, a boy sitting near the front raised his phone.
"Hey! Another report about Unknown Z!"
Half the class immediately gathered around him.
"What happened?"
"Three more criminals were caught last night."
"Again?"
Someone whistled.
"That guy is crazy."
Another student shook his head.
"Why call him crazy?"
"He only goes after criminals."
"That doesn’t mean he has the right to judge them."
Another student immediately argued,
"Our justice system takes forever. They leave criminals on the streets for years, and sometimes investigations move so slowly that justice comes far too late."
"Kain is absolutely right," Vini said from the side.
The classroom split into arguments.
"He’s a hero!"
"No, he’s a killer!"
"He’s a vigilante!"
Yemir remained at the back, staring down at his comic.
But he hadn’t turned a page for quite some time.
Then someone beside him asked,
"What do you think?"
"Hm?"
"If Unknown Z suddenly appeared in front of you..."
"What would you say to him?"
Yemir scratched his head and gave a small smile.
"I’d probably ask..."
He paused.
"...where he gets the energy to stay awake all night."
The entire class burst out laughing.
Only Yemir knew—
It wasn’t entirely a joke.
The classroom door opened.
Click.
The room gradually became quieter.
A woman stepped inside.
Long black hair fell down her back. She wore a fitted cream-colored shirt with a black pencil skirt, along with a thin blazer in one hand.
There was nothing excessive about her appearance.
Yet the confidence in her walk naturally drew attention.
She smiled.
"Good morning."
Everyone stood.
"Good morning, Ma’am!"
She placed the register on the desk and looked around the classroom.
"I see..."
She paused.
"Some of you are already very excited."
A few students awkwardly looked away.
"And some of you look completely stunned just because I’m standing here."
Laughter spread through the room.
She smiled.
"I haven’t even started teaching yet."
Casia froze.
No way... she’s our Biology teacher now.
She stared at the woman in disbelief.
The teacher picked up a marker and slowly rolled it between her fingers.
"Some of you may already know me."
She smiled.
"My name is Hia."
"From today onward, I’ll be teaching you Biology."
Her eyes moved across the classroom.
"Now, tell me..."
"What is the most important thing for a human being?"
Hands immediately went up.
"Heart!"
"Brain!"
"Lungs!"
"Kidneys!"
Casia confidently raised her hand.
"The brain."
Hia shook her head.
"Wrong."
Casia’s expression fell.
Hia looked around the classroom.
"No one?"
She smiled.
"Think carefully."
Then her eyes landed on Yemir.
"Yemir."
The entire class turned toward him.
Hia continued,
"Everyone here is part of the same family. So don’t just think about one organ. Think about what the human body actually needs to function as a whole."
Yemir thought for a moment before answering.
"Vital organs."
Hia smiled.
"Exactly."
She turned toward the board and wrote two words.
Vital Organs
Several students nodded.
The class continued.
Before anyone realized it, the lunch break had arrived.
Most of the students left the classroom to eat.
Casia called out to Yemir.
"Come on, let’s go eat."
Yemir simply raised one hand.
"No, thanks."
Casia sighed.
"I knew you’d say that."
Karin suddenly spoke from nearby.
"Yemir, do you know something?"
He looked at her.
"The place where the Unknown Z incident happened last night is near my house."
"Oh, really?"
Yemir became more attentive.
"What happened there?"
"It’s not like I could see everything in the dark," Karin replied. "But I noticed something strange."
"What?"
"Bat sounds."
Yemir paused.
"Bat sounds?"
"Yeah. But the bats looked strange too. Their eyes seemed red."
Yemir’s expression changed slightly.
"Red eyes?"
Karin nodded.
"Are you afraid of bats?"
"Umm... you could say that."
Yemir reached into his bag and pulled out his favorite red berry drink.
He opened the bottle and started drinking.
Karin watched him.
"I’ve noticed you drink that kind of juice almost every day."
She pointed at the bottle.
"What brand is it?"
Yemir tightened the cap.
"Why?"
"The smell."
"Smell?"
"Yeah."
Karin wrinkled her nose.
"It smells like rusty metal. My grandmother used to make pickles. Whenever she opened an old jar after a few months, the whole house smelled like that."
She looked at his bottle.
"Your juice smells the same."
"Oh..."
Yemir smiled awkwardly.
"My mother makes a lot of it at once. She goes on business trips, so we keep it in the fridge for a long time."
His smile felt strangely unnatural even to himself.
Then—
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Footsteps echoed from the corridor.
"Yemir!"
Casia rushed into the classroom, clutching a lunchbox against her chest.
Her hair was slightly messy, and her face was flushed from running.
She tried to act as if she had simply walked in.
"I brought a sandwich."
She held out the lunchbox.
"You said you weren’t going to eat, so I thought... I mean, I made an extra one. It would be a waste to throw it away."
Yemir reached toward it.
Before he could take it, Vini suddenly appeared.
"Oh, you guys don’t know?"
Everyone looked at him.
"Yemir never eats the last sandwich someone gives him."
Vini immediately realized his mistake.
Casia’s forehead creased.
She smiled.
But there was nothing friendly about that smile.
"Vini."
"Yes?"
"Come with me. I need to talk to you."
She grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the staircase.
A few moments later—
"Ugh!"
"Ah! Sorry! I won’t do it again! Please, let me go this time!"
Vini eventually returned with a dark mark around one eye, a slightly swollen cheek, and another bruise on his forehead.
Karin stared at him.
"Vini... what happened to you?"
Vini immediately answered,
"I fell down the stairs."
"Really?"
Karin frowned.
"You should see a doctor."
"No, no. It’s nothing."
He quickly sat down between Yemir and Karin.
Karin raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Casia looked at Karin.
"You’re Karin, right?"
She gave her a sweet smile.
"One of the other ’talented’ boys in our class."
The lid of Casia’s lunchbox made a sharp crack under her grip.
After lunch, Casia and Vini left the classroom first.
As the others began returning to their seats, Karin suddenly caught Yemir by the sleeve.
"I want to show you something."
She lowered her voice.
"Don’t tell anyone."
She pulled out her phone and led him toward a quiet corner near the window.
"Last night, I couldn’t sleep. I was standing on my balcony."
She opened her gallery.
"Across from my building is the alley where the Unknown Z incident happened."
"Yeah. You already told me."
"My friend from the apartment next to mine heard the bats and took a picture."
She paused.
"It was too dark to see anything clearly."
Karin zoomed in.
"But when you zoom in..."
She turned the screen toward him.
Yemir stared at the image.
It was blurry.
The edge of a rooftop was barely visible beneath the faint moonlight.
A tall shadow stood there.
Near its head were two tiny red points.
Eyes.
And in one hand, something caught the light.
Something small.
Long.
Metallic.
Yemir’s throat suddenly felt dry.
"He was there," Karin whispered.
"I didn’t give this to the police."
She looked directly at him.
"I wanted to show it to someone first."
"Why me?"
"Because everyone else was arguing about Unknown Z."
She lowered her voice.
"You were the only one who stayed quiet."
Yemir said nothing.
Karin continued,
"And Unknown Z isn’t an ordinary person."
Yemir looked at the picture again.
"So that’s why you showed it only to me."
He nodded slowly.
"Don’t worry. I’ll keep it a secret."
"I know."
Karin smiled faintly.
"Because he’s my idol."
Yemir looked at her.
"What?"
"I want to become like him someday."
She looked back at the image.
"You’ll see."
Yemir’s fingers tightened around his bag strap.
Inside the bag, his red bottle remained completely silent.
And for the first time—
the picture on Karin’s phone felt far too familiar.