Chapter 9: “If You Want a Monster…”**
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> **"Some people want justice. Some want peace. But there are a few\... who just want everything to break."**
> — Unknown
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### **\[1] — The Piano is Silent**
Jiwoo didn't come to school Monday. Nor Tuesday.
By Wednesday, even the teachers noticed.
"She hasn't answered texts," one said.
"I heard her mom filed a report," whispered another.
Jungho said nothing. He just stood at the edge of the rooftop, staring down at the empty garden bench where Jiwoo usually read.
His knuckles were pale.
Inside him, the pressure built.
Not anger. Not fear.
*Something colder.*
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### **\[2] — Baekho's Smile Fades**
Baekho waited near the river, like always. The ex-boxer stood beside him, sweating under his coat.
"I did what you asked," the man said. "Scared her. Broke a few windows. Didn't lay a hand on her."
Baekho nodded.
"She scream?"
The boxer hesitated. "She cried."
"Good." Baekho smiled. "Then we'll see what Jungho really is."
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### **\[3] — The Collapse**
That night, Jungho disappeared.
No one saw him leave school. No one saw him go home.
But by morning, the boxer's hideout was a scene from a horror film.
Blood on the walls.
Floorboards torn up.
Windows shattered inward.
And the boxer?
Found tied to a pillar with his own shoelaces, *upside down*, his face swollen beyond recognition.
All he kept mumbling was:
"He didn't blink. He didn't talk. He just… smiled."
On the wall, written in a mixture of spray paint and blood:
> "Don't touch what's mine."
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### **\[4] — Kim Suhyeon's Panic**
The footage arrived anonymously.
Kim Suhyeon played it once. Then again. Then a third time.
Jungho moved like a ghost.
No wasted motion. No hesitation.
He *enjoyed* it.
Jay leaned in. "Should we intervene?"
Suhyeon shook his head slowly. "We might be too late."
Daniel entered.
"He sent a message, didn't he?"
"Not just a message," Suhyeon replied. "He made a promise."
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### **\[5] — Baekho's Warning**
The next day, Baekho stood in the school courtyard.
Jungho approached him slowly.
Baekho opened his arms like an old friend. "That was quite the display."
Jungho didn't stop walking.
Didn't speak.
Didn't blink.
Baekho's arms dropped.
"You're really going to fight me here?"
Jungho stopped just inches from him.
"You think this is a game," he said softly. "But you picked the wrong board."
"Is that a threat?"
Jungho leaned in.
"No. That's a spoiler."
And then he walked away.
Baekho didn't move for five minutes.
Not because he was scared.
Because for the first time… he wasn't sure he *wasn't.*
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### **\[6] — The Beginning of a War**
Rumors spread. Fast.
That Jungho had taken down a trained boxer.
That he'd left a message in blood.
That he smiled while doing it.
Students stopped meeting his eyes in the hallway.
Some moved out of his path.
Even Daniel, hardened by two bodies and too many fights, whispered, "He's not human. Not when he gets like that."
Suhyeon just nodded.
"He's not meant to be followed. He's meant to be *avoided.*"
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### **\[7] — Jiwoo's Return**
Friday morning.
Jiwoo returned.
Bandaged fingers. Hollow eyes.
But alive.
She passed Jungho in the hallway.
He didn't say anything.
Just looked at her.
She looked back.
And whispered, "Thank you."
That night, she found a new keyboard waiting outside her door.
No note.
Just the instrument.
Perfectly tuned.
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### **\[8] — New Rules**
Baekho met with a new crew that weekend.
From Gangseo High. Infamous. Sadistic.
He showed them a photo of Jungho.
They laughed.
"We'll break him."
Baekho didn't laugh.
"I hope you *try.*"
But in his mind, he remembered that quiet voice:
> "That's not a threat. That's a spoiler."
And something deep inside him whispered:
*You might've made the wrong enemy.*
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