The threat of Kang Seong hovered like an ozone smell after a thunderstorm. The official truce brought a surface peace to Ganguk High, but under the relative calm, Do felt the nets tighten. Kang Seong was no longer just a spectator; he had become a methodical hunter, and his prey was the truth behind Kim-Do.
The first clues were subtle. Choi Yu-Ra reported that two less reliable members of their faction had been seen talking with Kang Seong near the lockers. Nothing accusing, just conversations. But when Do questioned the men, they stammered evasive explanations of "questions about school life." They avoided his gaze.
He probes them, Kai analyzed, his mental presence still sharp. He's looking for inconsistencies in your recent behavior. Things you should have known, or not known. He puts together a puzzle.
The pressure was insidious. Do now had to not only manage the dyad, the rebellion and the maintenance of his authority, but also watch over every word, every reaction, so as not to betray the duality in him. It was exhausting. He began to avoid places where Kang Seong could be, a retreat that he knew was in itself suspicious.
Lyra, informed of the situation, was adamant in their next encrypted communication. "Kang Seong is an unacceptable risk factor. His curiosity could lead to dangerous deductions about the system. It must be neutralized."
Neutralized. The word sounded sinisterly. Do felt an immediate reluctance. "You mean... eliminate him?"
"No," Lyra answered, her voice unaffected. "Not physically. That would attract too much attention. It must be discredited. Make it inaudible. Or better yet, recruit him."
Recruiting Kang Seong? The idea seemed crazy. The man lived to observe, to catalogue, not to take sides.
He is a lone player, thought Kai, interested in spite of himself. But every lone player has a motivation. Why is he watching? Just out of morbid curiosity? Or because he's looking for something specific?
It was a lead. To defeat his enemy, you had to understand him. Do, with Kai's reluctant assent, decided to go on the offensive. Instead of fleeing from Kang Seong, he would go and see him.
He found it, as is often the case, in the library, leaning over an old high school archive. Do sat down in front of him without an invitation. Kang Seong barely looked up.
"Kim-Do. An unexpected pleasure. Are you coming to check the annals of ancient fighting? To inspire you?"
The sarcasm was light, but present. Do ignored the spade. "I'm coming to talk to you, Kang Seong. As an observer, you must have an opinion. This truce... will it last?"
Kang Seong finally put down his pen. His eyes, behind his glasses, were wells of cold intelligence. "It's up to you. And the consistency of your... new style of leadership. People accept change, but they hate inconstancy."
He's talking about you, thought Kai. Of our variations.
"Change is not inconstancy," Do replied, choosing his words carefully. "It's adaptation. Anyone who does not change in a changing environment is doomed. You who observe everything, you should know."
A slight smile touched Kang Seong's lips. "Interesting philosophy. But adaptation requires environmental pressure. What pressure did you come under, Kim-Do, to go from predator to... politician? The battle against Jin-Ho? Many fight without changing their nature."
The trap closed slowly, politely. Do felt the need to counterattack, to put him on the defensive. "What about you, Kang Seong? What pressure is driving you to observe everything? What are you waiting for? The moment when everything will collapse to have the fullest narrative."
Kang Seong's smile faded. His fingers tightened slightly on the register. "Knowledge is an end in itself."
"Really?" insisted Do, leaning forward. He felt Kai being fully attentive, analyzing every micro-expression. "Or are you looking for something specific in this chaos? Something you lost? Or someone?"
The change was tiny, but for the hypersensitive dyad, it was palpable. A shadow passed through Kang Seong's eyes. An old pain, quickly controlled. Kai was sure of it.
He has a history. A loss. He's looking for answers. Not just to observe. To understand.
Do changed his tone, adopting a less accusing, more compassionate note. "You don't become a ghost that haunts the corridors for no reason, Kang Seong. This school is full of secrets. Some are dangerous to discover. Others... could bring some peace."
Kang Seong stared at him for a long time, as if he was seeing through him for the first time. Not Kim-Do the tough guy, or Kim-Do the politician, but the complex, troubled entity that stood in front of him.
"You speak as if you knew these secrets," he whispered at last.
"I'm beginning to catch a glimpse of some of them," Do admitted, with a sincerity that came from both parts of himself. "And some are bigger than factional rivalries. Much bigger. If you're really looking for answers... maybe you're looking in the wrong place."
It was a huge risk. A direct allusion to realities beyond Ganguk High. But in the face of such an insightful observer, the lie would eventually be exposed. The truth, or at least part of it, could be a weapon.
Kang Seong did not answer right away. He looked out the window towards the quiet schoolyard. "Three years ago, my sister disappeared," he said at last, his voice so low that Do had to listen. Brilliant. Too curious for his own good. She was investigating things... strange. Sudden absences of students, radical personality changes. She said there was a "pattern" behind it. Then one day, she didn't come back. Officially, she ran away."
He turned to Do, and his eyes were no longer those of a detached observer, but of a brother eaten away by unbearable grief and doubt. "I take notes, Kim-Do, because I'm looking for the pattern. The motive that took my sister. And I'm starting to think you're one of them."
The revelation hit Do with full force. Kang Seong's sister... another victim of the system? A replacement? An anomaly erased? The horror of machination took on a human, familiar face.
Kai, in his mind, remained silent, but Do felt a rare, raw wave of empathy from the veteran. The loss of a loved one, he knew.
"Yoona," Do repeated softly. "She was right. There's a pattern. A cold, mechanical, and terrifying pattern. And it's much bigger than this school."
He made a decision, then. A leap into the void. "If you really want to know what happened to your sister, stop looking at the little rooms. And look at the machine."
He stood up, leaving Kang Seong stunned, his observer mask perfectly broken. And if you want to see beyond the mirror, come and find me. But get ready. The truth, once seen, can no longer be forgotten."
He left the library, his heart beating. He had just thrown a match in a powder keg. Kang Seong, driven by a personal quest, was either their greatest threat or their most valuable potential recruit.
Back at the Convent, he reported the conversation to Lyra and Joon via a secure link. Lyra remained silent for a long time.
"It's a major risk," she finally said. "But it's also an opportunity. Kang Seong has a powerful personal motif. And he has skills - observation, analysis, discrete infiltration - that we badly need for the next phase. If he can be convinced..."
"What if he betrays?" asked Joon, pragmatically.
Then we will neutralize him, Kai thought, and the cold determination in his thinking was chilling.
Do felt a shiver. They were walking a tight rope over an abyss. On the one hand, discovery and erasure by the system. On the other, the potential betrayal of an ally recruited in pain. And in the middle, he, split in two, trying to keep his balance.
The war was no longer just against an abstract system or high school rivals. She was now embodied in broken personal stories, missing sisters and vengeful brothers. Each step forward revealed the extent of the machine's collateral damage, and increased the burden on those who had chosen to fight it.
The following night, an encrypted message appeared on Do's makeshift terminal from an unidentified source. It contained only one line:
"Show me the machine." - K. S.
The observer had just stepped into the shadows. The hunter may have found a trail that would make him switch sides. Time alone would tell whether it would become an ally... or whether it would lead them all to ruin.