1.16

Mariah smiles at her friend, who has been sitting by her side for a long time, not intending to leave the bed. He watches by her side, as if he fears that at any moment her condition will worsen. Although she assures him that it's just a concussion and bruised ribs, he insists that he won't leave her alone.

The teenager keeps telling him to return to the boarding school. She wants him to help Hannah get her phone back, since she hasn't taken the time to reveal to the younger student who the perpetrator is. Nick knows this, and all he thinks about is destroying the monster that brought his friend to such a state. He is not going to let go, so he has decided that he will do everything to make this person pay for his sins.

He looks over his shoulder as someone slides the door open and steps inside. A grimace of displeasure runs across his face as he spots Jimmy.

Nick looks at his friend and understands that she wants to talk to him. He announces to her that he is going to go buy something to drink and will be back soon.

The boy sits down by her bed and looks at her closely with concern written on his face. She can see that he is worried. This is the first time he looks this way. She has never been able to see any emotion on his face.

— What has happened? Why are you lying here in such a state?

— I was sleepy and fell down the stairs — she lies, without looking him in the eye. She stares at the ceiling, ignoring his sorrow-filled gaze.

Jimmy lowers his head, looking at his shoes.

— Do you mean to tell me that you left your room in the middle of the night to walk around the building and fell down the stairs? — She doesn't answer. — I understand that we are no longer close, and you would rather not tell me the whole truth, but I won't believe that you tripped on the stairs. It could have ended very dangerously for you. You could have even died, Mariah — he says with pain in his voice. She shifts her gaze to him, and tears appear in her eyes. — Tell me if there is a person in the boarding school who did this. I promise to take care of her accordingly.

— Why this sudden concern for me?

— You have been important to me all along. Our separation has not changed anything. — His statement makes the girl open her eyes wider. Jimmy is not a man who finds it easy to utter similar words.

— Do you think you can do something? Your best friend is involved in this.

She hasn't seen such shock on his face since they started dating.

— Do you want to tell me that he did this to you?

— No! — she denies quickly, not wanting to cause an unnecessary storm in their relationship. She sees Jimmy clench his fists in anger. Her accident has made him look at everything differently. The teenager gets the impression that he even feels like having a rematch with his best friend just to punish the person who hurt her. — The two of you are close, and you don't even know that he has a girlfriend, do you? — The boy is experiencing quite a strong shock. — I know about their relationship, but I would rather not get involved. Since he wasn't going to tell you about it, I preferred all the more to keep it to myself.

— What are you talking about? There is another girl who replaces Halsey for him?

— Yes. I discovered it accidentally. She is the one who helped him pick up the pieces after Halsey left school. — Jimmy rubs his hands over his face. He is shocked by her confession. — From the very beginning, I am convinced that she was just waiting to take her place.

— You mean to say that … she was the one who destroyed Halsey and made Joseph's ex-girlfriend leave the school?

— Yes. I saw with my own eyes how she attacked her in the evening in front of the boarding school. She threatened Halsey and threatened to destroy her if she didn't leave the school. — She closes her eyelids as a sharp pain pierces her as she rises to a sitting position and rests her back against a pillow. — Halsey was fed up with this, which is why she completely broke off contact with Joseph. She guessed that this idiot was obsessed with him, so she would rather not be stuck in it any longer.

Jimmy let the air out of his mouth, clearly shocked by her confession.

— So the talk of Halsey going crazy is simply a rumor? She herself decided to leave?

— Yes. When I tried to tell Joseph about it, he didn't believe me and claimed that I had made the whole thing up. He hated me because of it.

The boy, who has been standing in front of the door and hearing everything for a long time, takes three steps back. Witnessing his presence is Nick, who returns with coffee in his hand. He is surprised that Joseph came to the hospital, despite his hatred for Mariah.

Could it be that he simply did it out of curiosity?

With a quick step, he heads for the exit. He throws a black hood over his head, as he begins to attract the attention of the nurses. The women giggle among themselves, and it's no secret that Joseph is well-known for his success with older women.

*

Tom knocks on Hannah's room several times to get her to talk to her friend. She is fed up with his grim face and absent-mindedness of spirit when she asks him questions. She can't even talk to him because Jin has been acting as if his thoughts are in a wholly different world for some time. This is unbearable.

With resignation, he decides to return to his floor, but stops in mid-step when, passing by the bathroom, he hears her voice. Through the slightly ajar door, he peeks inside and sees Hannah. She is talking to someone, but he is unable to see who accompanies her because the door prevents him from doing so.

Curiosity wins out, and he decides to turn an ear.

— You are angry with me, aren't you? — There is so much sadness and anguish in her voice that he is not sure if these words actually come out of her mouth — So angry that you tease me. Are you taking revenge because I am unable to fulfill my task?

The boy opens his mouth, increasingly curious about her words.

— I can see by your face that you are actually doing it. You want to punish me because I am unable to be like you. I can't get close to him, and yet you still believe I can do it.

— Is she a spy? — he mutters, wrinkling his eyebrows.

Tom had seen many videos where people from Russia impersonated their people to fulfill a task. Was there a possibility that Hannah was a spy and had taken Danielle's face? At this thought, the boy gets goosebumps. Since Jin is sure that his girlfriend died, so how is it possible that she is still alive and going to school with them?

— If I fail, will you take me with you? Will you kill me?

The blood drains from his face. He has no doubts. Hannah is a spy. If she fails in her task, they will kill her! Nevertheless, he can't let that happen because this is the girl who will become his wife in the future.

Without thinking, he enters the bathroom, ready to see the person who is threatening Hannah. Apart from her, he finds no one else there, and his attention is caught by a wide-open window in which the curtain moves in the wind.

He is sure that someone has jumped out of the window, as this is the only way to escape.

— Tom, what are you doing here? — She is surprised by his sudden visit. — Did you mix up the floors?

The boy walks up to her and grabs her shoulders with concern.

— Tell me… someone is threatening you, right? Will you die if you don't complete the task?

She opens her eyes wider, not knowing what Tom means.

— What are you talking about?

— Just now, you were talking to someone! — he turns to her in a raised voice. — I heard you talking about death. If you do not fulfill the task, they will take you back to the country and kill you there, am I wrong?

Hannah blinks her eyelids, looking badly shaken by his words.

— I still don't know what you're talking about, Tom.

— Let me help you. Just tell me the truth, and I'll do my best to get you free from these bandits.

— The truth? — she repeats, and her face takes on a shadow of mystery. — Do you want to know the truth? — He nods uncertainly, and then the teenager puts her finger to her lips — In that case, it must remain between us.

A shriek escapes from his throat as nine tails grow from her back.

— Gumiho! — he shouts, breathing loudly. He looks in the mirror, but surprisingly for him, he does not see his reflection in it.

He squirms on the bed, continually repeating one sentence. Jimmy is fed up with this, so he gets up from the bed and hits him in the face with a pillow.

Tom pulls himself up to a sitting position and puts his hand to his left breast.

— Stop watching this dumb anime because your head is already messed up. — The other two don't pay attention to them, as they are both immersed in their thoughts. — Ass, not Gumiho.

The offended 18-year-old gets mad at his roommate and jumps on his bed. He sits down on it and starts smothering him with a pillow. Jimmy sulks and threatens to kill him, but Tom is adamant. A friendly fight breaks out between the guys. It ends with one of them hanging head down, while the other sits on his stomach, squeezing his neck.

— Jimmy, let him go. My head hurts from your eternal fights. You guys are acting like children. — Joseph rises from the bed, glaring at them out of the corner of his eye.

He got up with his left foot, and that doesn't bode well.

— Just don't take it out on the students because you know perfectly well where you should direct your steps to vent your anger.

Black plunges an enthralling gaze into Jimmy.

— This is not yet confirmed. Your dolt also likes to make up a lot — he states in a sharp voice, then leaves the room, slamming the door too hard.

— Today will be a hellish day for people. The devil is in a bad mood — Tom announces. He hangs his head down, looking at Jin.

— It seems that Joseph is cut to Mariah again. Could it be related to her accident? — He asks, looking at the boys.

Jimmy wants to reveal to him that it is Hannah who is in worse danger, and he should keep an eye on her, but he bites his tongue. He decides to keep it to himself because he wants as few people as possible to know about it.

*

Nick squats down in the cafeteria with Hannah. He sees that the girl is anxiously looking around the room, as if trying to x-ray which student is to blame for Mariah's accident. Her gaze is so swarthy that most people turn their faces in the opposite direction. Perhaps it's not her influence, but more Josephs, that has contributed to people's fear of messing with the 16-year-old.

Hannah doesn't even notice that she has company at the table.

— Mariah is slowly recovering. She has returned home and is resting there. — She shifts her gaze to the boy, who smiles at her in a friendly manner. — She asked you to get her phone back, didn't she? Don't get involved in this. There's no point because this person got rid of her cell phone a long time ago. She is not stupid.

— You are her friend, so you should know everything…. Did Mariah tell you anything more? Maybe about whom the perpetrator is?

Nick shakes his head. He's lying to her, but he doesn't want the girl to get involved. She's already on the target of this person anyway, so it doesn't make sense for her to get into a worse mess.

— We may be close, but there are some things that even closest friends don't talk to each other about.

The girl observes the table where the divine four are sitting. She looks at Tom and smiles cheerfully as she recalls their last conversation. This boy stands out for his wonderful personality, and there is no other person like him.

She is caught by him and instead of reciprocating the smile or nodding — as is his habit — his eyes widen, and he looks as if fear has gripped him. He lowers his gaze and nervously starts eating his breakfast.

Jin ignores her the whole time, which is painful for her. Only Joseph expresses interest in her. He looks at her from under his squinted eyelids. He has no humor and is just waiting for the right opportunity to humiliate someone, although the 16-year-old is not on his target this time.

— Why are you looking at Hannah like that? Do you wonder how she might be the chosen one? The answer is simple: from the beginning, you expressed interest in her. — Jimmy smiles under his breath.

— End the subject. — She forbids him to talk about a particular person. — You should not get involved in this. I will find out everything myself.

— You start talking sense…

One look from Joseph is enough to make his friend give up and become quiet.

— I look at her because from the very beginning I thought she resembled Halsey, but that's not it. She reminds me from her behavior of someone entirely different… Someone I held in equally high esteem — he revealed, without taking his gaze off her.

— You? — Jimmy's answer contributes to the fact that Jin is finally becoming interested in their conversation.

— Her behavior… is exactly like her.

Jin crinkles his eyebrows.

— Like whom? — When Joseph's intense gaze sinks into him, that's when she sees the fear in his eyes.

— I saw a demon in her for a reason — he declares, crossing his arms over his chest. — You better keep an eye on her. — Jin understands that this is a warning, so what did Joseph really see in her?