The class stared where Woo-Ram was pointing and found that indeed, it was already past the due. Their hearts almost jumped out of their chests. Had they actually done it?

  "Are we safe now?"

  "It's over!"

  The class celebrated the lack of announcement, screaming, crying, and hugging one another. 

  Meanwhile, Yoon-Ji felt her heart beat fast, wanting badly to finally be proven incorrect.

  She exchanged looks with her friends, just barely able to muster a smile of relief when all of a sudden, the familiar horn of death rang, spelling a world of danger for them once again.

  Accompanying the tune of horror, an announcement came, "The participants must vote and identify the mafia."

  It was said in a definite tone, just as it had been when it gave those past the line the punishment of death. It immediately sent a jolt of electricity to the back of Yoon-Ji's head, causing her to take a few tentative steps towards the yellow bin, forgoing the slight pain that shot through her injured ankles in favor of reaching the center.

  Her attempt was noticed by the others and met with various screams of protest.

  "Hey, hey, stop her!"

  "Yoon!"

  "Hey!" Jang Hyun-Ho yelled, "What are you doing?"

  "You're still asking that?" Yoon-Ji scoffed, bewildered.

  This time, she disregarded all attempts at seeming calm, having had enough. "You heard the announcement, it clearly said to vote! Yet you still think we can save ourselves by doing the opposite of what they want? How many times does this have to happen for you guys to finally get it?"

  "She's right," Lee Joo-Young backed her up, also nearing the yellow bin, "What if we die? How are you gonna take responsibility for that?"

  Mi-Na came up to her side, agreeing with the notion. 

  The three momentarily stopped as Jun-Hee  pleadingly called out, "We don't know that yet."

  "Well, we do know that the game didn't end after we didn't vote. So should we really wait until someone dies before we abandon this idea?" Joo-Young asked, face showing horror at the thought. 

  "Hey!" A loud yell rang out from the side, coming from the only Kim So-Mi. "Stop blaming Jun-Hee and calm down, okay?"

  Her voice produced a gritting effect against Yoon-Ji's ear canals, making her completely abandon all sense of rationality and working her way towards the yellow bin. Too late were the others who'd made a move to stop her, and soon she had retreated ways away, clutching three other phones along with her own.

  "Hey! Give those back!"

  "What do we do?"

  "Please don't do anything," Jun-Hee pleaded with her, eyes wavering as he noticed the guarded state the girl presented herself with. 

  "Stop telling me what to do! You know I'm not gonna stand there and just let whatever happen to my friends!" Yoon-Ji yelled, others stiffened at her words, "Not when I've already lost Yool!"

  Her words urged her friends to run over to her. They surrounded her, shielding her away from the prying eyes. 

  It broke their hearts to hear her admittance, as she seemed to have been mostly composed thus far. But it made sense, as the two had been with one another for so much longer.

  She'd donned a mask of calm yet cautious wit, suppressing the immense sadness brought on by the loss of her best friend to continue supporting her other friends throughout the game. Now that the threat of death loomed over once more, she had to resort to extremes, no longer keeping herself from showing her true emotions.

  "Yoon..." Eun-Ha placed a hand on top of the girl's shoulder. Yeon-Woo and Eun-Chan shared a knowing glance as they agreed on taking the phones that Yoon-Ji managed to swipe away.

  "Hey, stop! Have you guys completely lost your minds?" So-Mi's voice filled the air, and Yoon-Ji was less than pleased by the constant interruption.

  She scoffed loudly in return. "Have we? On the other hand, I think we're far more sane than any of you guys at this point." 

  A tense moment of silence passed as everyone tried to grapple with the situation. 

  The game did not end. Did this mean... they really had to go along with what the game wanted, just like Yoon-Ji said?

  Must they vote for one of their classmates to execute?

  The answer came no later, in the form of a body falling from the second floor of the building, hitting the ground with a loud and haunting thud. 

  Screams rang out as the body, all bloodied and mangled, started standing back up, the scene reminding them of earlier deaths.

  "For breaking the rules, Lee Soo-Bin and Park Ji-Hoon, will be executed," There came the announcement, and just as the former's body had gained its footing, another body came crashing down, sending the two students to their actual demise.

  'I knew it,' Yoon-Ji could not find the voice to say it out loud, instead she immediately handed the other phone in her hand to Eun-Ha, telling her, "Go vote."

  "You guys too," She addressed Yeon-Woo and Eun-Chan, who'd both been too shocked to even remember what they were supposed to be doing.

  "If we don't vote, we die!" Came a scream that sent everyone else into a desperate chase, trying to get to the yellow bin and fish out their phones before the game could deem them as rule breakers.

  "I need to get to my phone!"

  "Where's my phone?!"

  "No, we'll die!"

  A student grabbed the yellow bin and flipped it over, all of its contents falling to the floor.

  The sheer desperation from the scene made Yoon-Ji swallow, her grip on her own phone shaking. Had she been just a tad less persistent, her and her friends would be in the same pile, clawing away just to get to their devices.

  Their group cautiously huddled together by the sidelines.

  "W-Who do we vote for?" Yeon-Woo asked. Him, Eun-Chan, and Eun-Ha all turned to Yoon-Ji who glanced back at the scene of chaos and pinned her gaze on one person.

  "Vote So-Mi." She told them.

  Without asking, the three immediately got to work, fiddling with their applications and locking in their votes for the class vice president. 

  Their actions were announced via the intercom, marking the beginning of votes. It didn't start a wave of mass voting against So-Mi, but that could easily be attributed to the fact that most students had yet to even retrieve their devices in the mess.

  Following the death of another student, the lights within the place went out, replaced instead by emergency lights the color of blood. Yoon-Ji and her friends could only watch in horror as more names were announced. Civilians and Mafias alike could do nothing but fall victim to the unforgiving death game's rules.

  "Yoon!" Eun-Ha called, "Your vote!"

  Realising she'd yet to punch her own vote in, Yoon-Ji decided to finally navigate the mafia game application, locking her own vote on Kim So-Mi and saving herself from the punishment.

  Once done, she told them, "You guys stay here and be vigilant, we don't know if any of the mafia will take this chance to get a kill in."

  "W-Wait! Where are you going?" Eun-Chan grabbed Yoon-Ji by her wrist, realising she was planning on doing something.

  The girl gently unlinked the hand from her wrist, "I'm gonna try to help the others who haven't voted yet, and tell them to use their votes on So-Mi."

  "It's dangerous!" Yeon-Woo argued, whilst both Eun-Chan and Eun-Ha collectively called Yoon-Ji to try to get her to stay.

  "It'll be just as dangerous if everyone here used their votes for someone who could be a civilian," Yoon-Ji furrowed her brows, trying to think ahead of the situation. "Me and Eun-Ha could also get targeted if we let So-Mi live, so I have to make sure she gets voted this round."

  "We can help you-" Eun-Chan tried to reason, but Yoon-Ji wasn't willing to let them stop her, "Listen, I'm not doing all of this just to die and leave you guys alone."

  "If all of us went around getting others to vote for her, we’ll be vulnerable to individual attacks," The girl continued.

  Eun-Chan's mouth opened and then shut as she explained further, "I'll be quick. And while I do that, I want you guys to stay away from the others and focus on protecting Eun-Ha, okay? Do you guys understand?"

  "But-" Yeon-Woo was cut off as Eun-Ha used a hand to press at his shoulder. He looked towards Eun-Chan, who himself looked torn, but eventually gave in. The three warily backed away, making Yoon-Ji sigh in relief.

  "Make sure to keep an eye on Eun-Ha, okay?" Yoon-Ji told the guys, who nodded stiffly. She nodded at said female, before leaving.

  She once again joined the chaos taking place in the court, trying to locate the students who were able to get ahold of their devices. It was a very difficult task, owing to the fact that panic-stricken students surrounded her. Thankfully, she soon sighted two male students holding their phones out.

  She immediately fled towards the pair, tapping them both to get their attention. The two jumped in surprise, just as she asked, "Have you guys voted yet?"

  "N-No, we don't know who to vote for!" One of the guys replied, the other male nodding along.

  Yoon-Ji swallowed her nerves and told them, "Good, I need you guys to put your votes on Kim So-Mi."

  "Kim So-Mi? The VP? W-Why?" The question carried an air of uncertainty, one that Yoon-Ji had anticipated when she first thought of rallying votes against the girl.

  "We found out she had something to do with Dong-Hyun, and if we don't vote for her now, she could lie to everyone and send all others to death." She reasoned without mincing her words.

  The guys looked at each other nervously, unsure whether to believe what she had said. Yoon-Ji, noticing the stall, impatiently urged them on, "Go and put your votes in while you still can!" 

  At that the two finally relented, locking their votes on the Vice President out of fear of being the ones next on the chopping block.

   With a total of six votes counting their group's own, Yoon-Ji was far from confident it would be enough to get So-Mi. She needed to find more people in order to ensure the vice president would not be able to get to the next round.

  "You two get away from here, we don't know if the mafia will use the chaos to kill," Yoon-Ji made sure to advise them, and the pair agreed, running away shortly after.

  Yoon-Ji looked around, and this time, from the distance she saw the familiar figure of Kyung-Jun, standing amidst a mess of tangled limbs.

  "Hey!" Her voice carried over, making the male snap out of his mini daze, but instead of directing his focus on her, he suddenly raised the phone he had in his grasp and faced the opposite way. 

  She followed the direction and saw Hyun-Ho who was desperately looking for his device. Immediately, she was clued in on what he was planning to do.

  "Hyun-Ho!" The male called out, the athlete turned to him and realized immediately that the delinquent had his phone.

  Hurriedly, he lunged towards the other, who dodged before swiftly running. They engaged in a short chase, and it wasn't until Kyung-Jun decided to toss the phone away, that it came to an end. Yoon-Ji gasped as the athlete's device flew and was sent further away from him.

  Just barely missing the small crevice below the benches, the phone was sent to the floor only a few steps away from Yoon-Ji.

  She automatically ambled towards the device. Briefly making eye contact with Kyung-Jun whose face took on an unreadable look, she checked if the phone was still working before ambling over to Hyun-Ho.

  "Here!" She yelled over the noise, and Hyun-Ho looked on expectantly.

  However, before she could even begin to do anything, her body was roughly shoved, sending her falling to the ground and making the phone fly out of her grasp. Yoon-Ji let out a pained sound as her head hit the floor, but she didn't let it stop her from trying to take a peek at the perpetrator.

  Unfortunately, she was only able to briefly sight the student running away. Due to the dark lights and the abruptness of the incident, she was unable to put a face to the male.

  "Damnit..." She muttered, pressing a hand to the spot on her head that had suffered from the fall.

  "Hey, get up!" A hand started to help her to her feet. Recognizing the voice, Yoon-Ji looked up and saw Go Kyung-Jun.

  Seeing him, Yoon-Ji glanced around once again, trying to confirm if Hyun-Ho had managed to retrieve the phone she'd lost during the fall. To her relief, she saw him to the side along with Na-Hee as the two finally started deciding on their votes.

  "Why would you do that?" pertaining to the whole chase Kyung-Jun had Hyun-Ho doing. It went unsaid, but the weight of her question lingered, 'why would you try to kill Hyun-Ho?'

  She'd always known the two had issues against each other, as evidenced by their fights which usually bordered on the physical side. But to see one of them, Kyung-Jun, actually take matters up to a more serious level, was horrifying.

  Killed. He was planning to get Hyun-Ho killed.

  Had she unknowingly forged an allyship with a mafia?

  "Does it matter? He's voted already, so you don't need to worry about your little head," Kyung-Jun answered, his eyes narrowing as he stared ahead.

  Yoon-Ji was unsatisfied with the reply, but chose not to question him as there were matters of higher importance. Instead, she proceeded to ask, "Did you see who it was who pushed me?"

  She had reason to believe it could be another mafia, who upon hearing her rally votes against So-Mi had decided to target her. Of course, there was a chance that the shove could very well be accidental, but it was still better to be open to other possibilities.

  "No," Kyung-Jun scoffed to himself, "Bastard was fast, ran away before I could get a good look at his face."

  She turned to Kyung-Jun, voice hushed and hasty, "Wait, Have you voted yet?"

  "Why?" The male immediately asked back.

  "Vote for So-Mi if you haven't," Yoon-Ji told him straight away, "Me and Eun-Ha saw her push Dong-Hyun during the hike. We brought it up during a circle meeting and I have reason to believe she'll try to get one of us to be voted in retaliation."

  He looked away from her, trying to find the Vice President with his own eyes. He saw her standing off to one side, carefully sweeping the scene as if looking for something, or someone.

  Looking back at Yoon-Ji, who was also looking on trying to find who to get to vote for So-Mi next. He saw the determination in her eyes, as well as the fierce drive to ensure her friends' safety.

  "Fine," Kyung-Jun agreed. He opened his phone and rushed to place his vote on the Vice President, the intercom announcing his move almost immediately. "What are you gonna do now?"

  "I still need to get more people to vote for her," Yoon-Ji furrowed her brows as she went into thought, "If she's also collecting votes against me, Eun-Ha, or even someone else, she could potentially overturn our votes, kill a citizen in her place and move onto the next round."

  Hearing this, the delinquent cursed under his breath. He looked around, trying to spot his companions. Once he'd done so, he told Yoon-Ji, "Fine, I'll tell those two over there to vote her out."

  Yoon-Ji was surprised the delinquent had little to say about her accusations. It made her feel a sense of companionship, which was crazy considering it was with someone who she would not even consider to be an acquaintance normally.

  Due to this, she couldn't help but blurt out, "Thank you."

  Kyung-Jun stilled, before replying, "Don't thank me. I'm still keeping my eye on you, and If I found out you were wrong or that you lied to me, I'll kill you."

  "Same goes for you," Yoon-Ji hit back with just as much threat dancing around her words. To her, Kyung-Jun's role was as much of a mystery, and depending on how he chose to go through with the game from now on, Yoon-Ji would make sure to act accordingly.

  Kyung-Jun went over to his group to relay their next move, and for a moment since the chaos started, everything seemed quieter- until the illusion was broken.

  "Kim So-Mi voted for Kwon Yoon-Ji," the announcement rang out, causing Yoon-Ji to immediately turn toward the side, meeting the steely gaze of the vice president.

  This revelation sparked various reactions from the students, especially those who had not been present for the earlier circle discussion. They couldn't fathom why the vice president had suddenly cast her vote for Yoon-Ji.

  Some, however, followed suit without hesitation.

  "Park Woo-Ram voted for Kwon Yoon-Ji."

  "Choi Mi-Na voted for Kwon Yoon-Ji."

  "Shin Seung-Bin voted for Kim So-Mi." At this, all eyes turned toward the male student, flanked by Jin-Ha and, of course, Go Kyung-Jun. Yoon-Ji could feel her pulse pounding in her ears as murmurs of confusion spread through the room.

  "Yah! Vote for Kim So-Mi instead!" Kyung-Jun yelled over the loud noise. His words only added to the chaos as the students struggled to figure out whom to vote for between the two.

  "What the hell are you trying to do now, Kyung-Jun?" came a sharp hiss from Jang Hyun-Ho. It was no surprise, considering that moments ago, the delinquent had attempted to prevent him from voting altogether.

  Kyung-Jun opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted when Yoon-Ji, having had enough, raised her voice and addressed the room. "Listen, everyone!"

  "The Vice President has been hiding something from you all-something only Eun-Ha and I have seen!" Yoon-Ji's gaze swept the room, making eye contact with each student. "Kim Dong-Hyun didn't die by accident. He was killed!"

  She pointed a finger directly at So-Mi. "And it was Kim So-Mi who killed him!"

  This revelation sparked a flurry of discussions, with students scrambling to piece together the truth and uncover So-Mi's role.

  Meanwhile, the girl at the center of the accusation moved swiftly toward Yoon-Ji, but was halted by Kyung-Jun, who locked eyes with her and asked, "What're you trying to do, huh?"

  "Get out of my way," So-Mi hissed, her voice low and tense. Kyung-Jun continued to get in the way, and So-Mi, now seething with frustration, shouted, "I said, get out of my way!"

  "Is it true?" came the voice of Kim Jun-Hee, the class president. So-Mi's eyes widened in shock as she turned toward him. "Did you really kill Dong-Hyun?"

  So-Mi, visibly shaken, let out a disbelieving laugh. "A-Are you-?" She scanned the room, eyes frantic. "Do you seriously believe I would do that?"

  "You're not answering his question, So-Mi." Yoon-Ji's voice cut through the tension like a knife. "Tell them how you did it, tell them how you pushed Dong-Hyun and played the helpless witness afterward."

  "And while you're at it," she added, her voice sharp and biting, "why don't you tell them how you planned to get me out of the way just now, after I exposed you to the others?"

  "No," So-Mi whispered, shaking her head vigorously. She brought a hand up to her face in a desperate attempt to calm herself. "You're wrong! I didn't kill him! I didn't push Dong-Hyun. I tried to help him!"

  Her voice grew louder as she turned to Jun-Hee, pleading, "I didn't do it! I'm not part of the mafia! Look, Kwon Yoon-Ji and Baek Eun-Ha, they're the mafia! You should vote for them!"

  In her fit, So-Mi moved toward a stunned Lee Yoon-Seo, grabbing her by the arm. "You believe me, right?"

  Yoon-Seo didn't respond. She tightened her grip on her phone, eyes avoiding So-Mi's desperate gaze.

  So-Mi's eyes darted around in panic. Her pleas were falling on deaf ears, but she didn't give up. She rushed over to Joo-Young, repeating her frantic words over and over again.

  "I-I'm..."

  "Lee Joo-Young voted for Kim So-Mi."

  "An Na-Hee voted for Kim So-Mi."

  "Jang Hyun-Ho voted for Kim So-Mi."

  The votes began piling up quickly, and So-Mi could only stand there, helpless, as her fate was sealed by the growing tally.

  In a last-ditch attempt to outdo the system-or perhaps to alleviate their own guilt-Yoon-Ji couldn't help but think bitterly, Lee Yoon-Seo instructed her friends to spread their votes among each other.

  "Oh Jung-Won voted for Jin Da-Beom."

  "Jin Da-Beom voted for Oh Jung-Won."

  "Lee Yoon-Seo voted for Kim Jun-Hee."

  "Kim Jun-Hee voted for Lee Yoon-Seo."

  But as the final votes were processed, it became clear that the system recognized only one outcome.

  "The voting has ended," the announcement came, the lights flickering back to normal. "With the most votes, Kim So-Mi will now be executed."

  "No, no, NO!" So-Mi screamed, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Tears of frustration streamed down her face as she began to lose control, crying out and yanking at her own hair.

  "So-Mi..." came the hushed whispers of her name from the other students, though none of them dared to approach her.

  She was left to spend her final moments alone, standing before everyone, including the one person she had wished she could confess to. But as the weight of her fate settled in, So-Mi suddenly regained her composure. 

  She wiped her tears away, straightened her posture, and looked everyone in the eye. Her gaze eventually settled on the person who had led her to this end.

  "You won't win," So-Mi muttered under her breath, her voice defeated. She stared at Yoon-Ji, who stood behind the imposing figure of Kyung-Jun. "It's just the way it has to be."

  "The way it has to be?" Kyung-Jun repeated quietly, his brow furrowing in confusion.

  "What do you mean, Kim So-Mi?" Yoon-Ji's voice tinged with uncertainty as she tried to make sense of the other girl's words. But So-Mi didn't reply right away. Her eyes began to unfocus, her voice growing distant.

  "I...What...?" So-Mi managed to ask, lost in confusion, but before she could say anything else, her eyes finally glazed over, and in that moment, her true role was revealed to everyone.

  "Kim So-Mi was a Mafia."

  The announcement reverberated through the room, leaving everyone in stunned silence. Even those who had voted against her could hardly believe it. The vice president had been playing them, hiding her true intent all along.

  And yet, despite the truth coming to light, no one was prepared for the gruesome sight that followed. They had all played a part in her downfall, and they were about to witness yet another death unfold before them.

  The students watched in tense silence as So-Mi moved as if she were being puppeteered, stumbling towards a nearby glass window. 

  Once finished, she stood before it, her eyes unfocused, and began banging her forehead against the cold, unyielding surface, the impact of each hit stunning everyone into complete terror.

  She did it once, twice, thrice, countless times-only stopping after finally shattering the glass window altogether.

  By then, everybody in the assembly hall had started to clam up, some crying in place while others shivered in fear. They watched as the bloodied So-Mi regained her footing, her hand seeming to enclose over something fairly sizable.

  A faint glint under the assembly hall's lights clued everyone on what she had, and they could only watch in utter terror as So-Mi's hand brought a big glass shard up to her eye level. Screams rang just as the girl started slashing at both her eyes.

  "Stop it already, please!"

  "No!"

  "No more!"

  Blood streamed down the girl's face as she mutilated her eyes. And then, to finish it off, she brought the shard down to her throat level, and with a swift motion, slit her own neck. 

  The ragged edges of the glass along with the force exerted through her hands tore open So-Mi's neck, almost making it tilt back inhumanely. 

  The gruesome scene burned itself into everyone's heads, and some could not help but puke from all the blood and gore. 

  It was all too much, all too terrifying.

  They needed it to stop, they didn't want this to go on any longer. All these deaths, all the blood they would have to bear on their hands. They were too cruel.

  But no matter how many or how desperate their pleas became, they all fell on deaf ears, swallowed by the stillness, as the hauntingly familiar tune began to play.

  "Night has come."

───────── •✧• ─────────

( note )
major character death :P

so I actually didn't know whether to proceed with killing So-Mi knowing a lot of nhc's drama involved her, but I realized this is more Yoon-Ji's story now than just nhc anyways so I have free reign on what'll happen next and boy am I prepared to make more shit go down.

anyways this one is random but do y'all also get uncomfortable when a story you're reading decides to go all descriptive with the mc, who's supposed to be barely a teen, and calling their features 'luckily(¿) more developed' 'compared to others' while describing their chest, curves, or the color of this and that??

I swear I've experienced this so many times reading diff fanfics and I just click off and delete the book from my library so fast 😭✋🏻like pls we do not need allat??

04/18 - lightly edited bc uni bs got me wanting to ignore everything else for at least one day of peace