Code 3: Students

"You made him disappear, didn't you?" said one of the fighting students, holding the collar of his opponent, who was sitting on the floor with a face full of wounds.

The downed student just grinned at the winner. The winner also stared at his opponent sharply and clenched his fists in annoyance. On the other hand, Baek Do Hyun immediately looked at Jae Hoon, who frowned at the student's statement.

"I will prove that you are also the one behind this," said the winner, pushing his opponent. He turned around, preparing to leave.

However, before he could move away, DUK!

Something slammed into the back of his head. Not too hard, but it made him stop, a carton of vanilla milk. The liquid milk splashed and slightly hit the person walking in front of him.

"Eiii!" everyone who saw the incident exclaimed simultaneously, signaling their shock as well as mocking the loser. 

The splash hit Soo Ji, who was walking with her tray of food. She stopped immediately. The winner was just dumbfounded to see who got splashed. Suddenly, a student behind Soo Ji, who was following her, walked up to the loser.

"Didn't you lose?" the student said, followed by the crowd dispersing and refocusing on their previous activities.

"Sunbae, are you okay?" said the winner. Soo Ji, who wiped the splashes on her face, just nodded. "It's okay," she said flatly and left the winner to continue her lunch.

"What's going on?" someone suddenly said from behind Do Hyun and his friends, making them turn around.

Jae Hoon, who didn't know who it was, furrowed his brow. Baek Do Hyun, realizing, immediately informed Jae Hoon. "He's my friend too," said Do Hyun, leading the way to grab lunch.

"Well then, I'll leave now," Jung Min said, a little hesitant, as he prepared to leave Jae Hoon and his friends.

"Why? Come, let's eat together," Jae Hoon said to Jung Min, followed by everyone's gaze on him, halting Do Hyun's steps.

Do Hyun turned around. "Yeah, let's just eat together," he said while grinning, looking at each of his friends who were puzzled by what was happening now.

**

Now, Jae Hoon, Do Hyun, and the four of his friends were sitting at the cafeteria bench, ready to enjoy their lunch. Do Hyun knew that his three friends were waiting for an explanation. "This is Jae Hoon," Do Hyun said, introducing Jae Hoon to his friends.

"Hyu... no, Jae Hoon, this is Heo Jung, Yeon Seok, In Han." Do Hyun introduced each of his friends to Jae Hoon. "Heo Jung and Yeon Seok are in the same class as me. In Han is in your class and Jung Min's. Ah, I know you didn't see him earlier because he's a swimmer. So on certain days, he has practice schedules in the morning," Do Hyun continued explaining.

"Aah, I'm Jae Hoon," he introduced himself. Everyone nodded while continuing to eat their food.

Sensing the awkwardness, Do Hyun tried to explain again why Jae Hoon and Jung Min were joining them now. "Jae Hoon is the child of my dad's good friend, so there's no need to worry. As for Jung Min, I think it's because he's Jae Hoon's friend," Do Hyun said with a small smile, hoping his friends would trust him. They just gave Do Hyun a brief glance, trying to trust his words.

Jung Min, who suddenly joined Do Hyun's group, simply lowered his head and fell silent while eating his food, choosing to sit at the edge of the table.

"But, can I know what he meant by making someone disappear?" Jae Hoon asked, trying to lighten the mood. Immediately, all of his friends turned to look at him.

"Some days ago, one of the students went missing," Do Hyun said.

"Who?" Jae Hoon asked again. Once more, everyone turned to look at Jae Hoon, who had previously returned his focus to his food.

"Jin Dong," Yeon Seok replied. Jae Hoon looked at him. "Why?" Jae Hoon asked, wanting to know more about what had happened. However, instead of getting an answer, everyone fell silent. It was as if they were hesitant to share more details about it. 

"Hyu... I mean, Jae Hoon, listen carefully," Do Hyun finally spoke, understanding that Jae Hoon needed more information for his mission. "For some reason, at certain times, students here suddenly go missing. But the strange thing is, all of those who disappeared were scholarship recipients. And as we know, the scholarship recipients at this school are usually from lower-class families," Do Hyun began explaining cautiously.

Jae Hoon was now paying close attention to Do Hyun, momentarily setting his food aside. "But, even though they received scholarships because of their intelligence, they still can't compete with students from wealthier families," Do Hyun continued. "This has been happening for a long time, and until now, no one really knows what's going on. Those who disappeared never came back, not even the students who were here before us at this elite school."

"But," now In Han took over the conversation. "There's one person who holds the key to why all of this might be uncovered."

In Han pointed to someone two seats ahead of him with his chin. Everyone turned to look at the person In Han was pointing to. "Jeon Soo Ji," In Han continued, with the attention of his friends now focused on him.

"She's the only one who came back," In Han said, now directing his gaze toward Jae Hoon. Sensing that Jae Hoon still wanted more explanation, In Han continued. "At first, no one knew why some students disappeared until she came to the student council president's class, in a torn uniform with several bleeding wounds, after being missing for three days. This happened right after the mid-term exam results were released. She held a razor blade to Ye Seong's neck and said that Ye Seong was the one who had Soo Ji kidnapped."

Everyone just listened, still focused on finishing their food, except for Jae Hoon, who was focused on In Han, asking for more explanation. "But no one knows what exactly happened between them. We assume that Soo Ji beat Ye Seong's rank, and Ye Seong couldn't accept that. From there, all of their friends, who suddenly disappeared, started suspecting one by one who might be responsible for their friends' disappearances," In Han continued.

"But why hasn't anyone reported it before?" Jae Hoon asked.

"Because they would disappear if this all reached the outside world, especially the authorities. It doesn't matter who you are, whether from the lower or upper classes. You'd also receive threats right at your doorstep," Jung Min, who had been silent until then, spoke up hesitantly.

"But again and again, because of Soo Ji, the authorities found out about this issue. However, there's nothing they could do. And this problem is still ongoing," Do Hyun continued, having finished his lunch.

Jae Hoon furrowed his brows slightly, deep in thought. Then, he turned around and glanced at Soo Ji, who was eating her lunch.

"She's a monster," Jung Min said, noticing that Jae Hoon was looking at Soo Ji. Slowly, Jae Hoon shifted his gaze toward Jung Min, and so did the rest of his friends.

**

Jae Hoon quietly entered the dark teacher's room. It was now 8:00 PM KST, and all the teachers and students had left the school. He was trying to find information about Jin Dong. It was known that Jin Dong was a student in class 1-2 and had received a scholarship.

He found it. The file containing Jin Dong's name was now in his hands. He quickly left the teacher's room and closed the door tightly behind him.

"Who's there?" Unfortunately, a figure—identified as the security guard—walked from the left side of Jae Hoon, shining a flashlight in his direction. Without wasting a second, Jae Hoon sprinted in the opposite direction. The security guard quickly tried to chase after him.

On the other side, Soo Ji had just closed the library door that had been left unlocked. She had stepped out of the library to retrieve something she had left behind. Just as she was about to leave, she saw someone running toward her. She stood frozen, watching. Jae Hoon, however, kept running and passed right by her.

However, Jae Hoon stopped after a few steps, having run past Soo Ji. With a thoughtful expression on his face, he turned back toward her, grabbed Soo Ji's wrist, and quickly pulled her along, leading her out of the school building with him.

Soo Ji, confused, simply followed Jae Hoon. Eventually, she realized that they were being chased by the young security guard from their school. After thinking for a moment, Jae Hoon figured that if they kept running, there would be no end to it. Still holding onto Soo Ji's hand, he led her to hide behind the sports storage shed, located at the far left corner of the school field.

Jae Hoon positioned Soo Ji against the wall, standing protectively in front of her, with his hand pressing against the wall just above her head. Soo Ji, slightly out of breath, took a moment to steady herself, still confused about what was really happening.

As the sound of the security guard getting closer reached their ears, Jae Hoon pressed his body even closer to Soo Ji and lowered his face to look at her. Soo Ji, still catching her breath, tilted her head up to meet his gaze. Their eyes locked in the middle of their heavy breaths, surrounded by the tense atmosphere.

"We have the only key that can take us further into this case," Captain Baek said to Jae Hoon, handing him a sheet of personal data for a student. Jeon Soo Ji was written in the name section of the document.

Jae Hoon recalled his captain's words amidst the tense atmosphere surrounding him.

***