The next morning, the rain had stopped, but a heavy dampness and the smell of sewage hung over the school like a sinister spell. Jiho Park entered the classroom with his usual measured steps. There was a subtle difference in his posture; perhaps his shoulders were just a few millimeters straighter, his head a little less bowed. A change only a very keen observer—or another predator—would notice.
The first thing that caught his attention was Dong-woo. The chubby boy was sitting at his desk, but instead of his usual loud posturing, he was quiet, clutching his sketchbook tightly. His eyes, behind thick glasses, darted toward Jiho every few seconds with fear, then quickly fled. The experiment was a success. Fear had taken root.
"Boy, you're very quiet today," Soojin said in a thin, mocking voice, approaching Dong-woo. "Did your great poet betray you last night?"
Instead of answering, Dong-woo just grunted and hunched further into himself. This was unusual. Min-soo, watching from across the room, frowned. "Going soft, Dong-woo? Get up and tell us the toilet got you pregnant?"
A smattering of laughter rose from the group, but Dong-woo didn't even attempt to smile. His eyes flickered toward Jiho again. And this time, Jiho looked directly at him. Not an empty look, but one that carried a clear message: I know.
Dong-woo paled and lowered his head.
Jiho shifted his gaze and fixed it on his main target for the day: Yoojin. The skinny, nervous girl with light brown-dyed hair who always moved in Soojin's shadow. But Jiho knew her weakness: parents on the verge of divorce, allowance cut off, and stealing money from her mother's purse. Yoojin was like a compressed spring, ready to snap.
Soojin, the unofficial leader of the girls' group, had a new accessory today: a small gold starfish-shaped earring, worn only in her left ear. She kept touching it, showing it off with pride. "Did your dad bring it from his Dubai trip?" Yoojin asked, trying to hide her envy.
"Yeah, but he didn't buy the pair," Soojin said with feigned indifference. "Said wearing just one is more stylish. Oh, I lost the other one in the gym last night. Some scavenger must have found it and taken it."
Yoojin pressed her lips together. Her gaze stuck to Soojin's sparkling earring for a moment, then dropped to the floor with a sense of humiliation. Jealousy. Feeling worthless. That was exactly what Jiho needed.
---
Recess. The school rooftop.
Jiho went to the roof under the pretext of getting some air—something he never did. A cold wind blew, and the space was half-empty. A few senior students were smoking away from him. He went to a secluded corner where the cinderblock walls had a slight recess. This was Min-soo and his group's hideout for secret meetings. And Jiho, over the past week, had witnessed Yoojin crying here alone.
He quietly slipped his hand into the wall recess and, under a loose block, felt something cold and metallic. The matching starfish earring. Soojin hadn't lost it; Min-soo had hidden it here to later "accidentally" return it to Soojin and win her favor. Jiho had seen this. Information was everything.
He took out the earring. It glittered in the hazy daylight. Then he placed it in the inner pocket of his hoodie.
---
Lunchtime. The cafeteria.
It was crowded and noisy everywhere. Jiho stood in the lunch line—a tray with plain rice and pickles. Yoojin stood a few steps away, alone and frowning. She seemed to have fought with Soojin.
Soojin sat on the other side of the hall with the other girls, laughing loudly. Her single starfish earring shone like a flag of superiority.
Jiho calculated the timing. The move had to be quick, precise, and completely natural. When it was his turn to pick up his tray, he deliberately tilted it slightly. The soup cup on the tray slid, spilling its contents—a few spoonfuls of thin broth—onto Yoojin's jeans.
"Ow!" Yoojin turned angrily. "Can't you watch where you're going, you dumb cripple? Are you blind?"
"Sorry," Jiho said in his same monotone voice, quickly pulling a tissue from his pocket. With an almost dance-like motion, he leaned forward to help wipe the broth. At the same time, with his other hand—the one hidden from Yoojin and the others—he retrieved the earring from his hoodie's inner pocket and, with a fluid motion, dropped it into Yoojin's open backpack on the floor. The earring disappeared soundlessly among the jumble of notebooks and textbooks.
"Leave it! I'll do it myself!" Yoojin pushed Jiho's hand away with disgust. "Get lost, you're disgusting."
Jiho retreated. There was nothing in his eyes. But as he turned to head toward his solitary table, the right corner of his lip experienced that cold tremor. The operation was a success.
While seemingly eating his tasteless rice, he watched the scene. Yoojin wiped herself off angrily, then picked up her backpack to go change her pants. She didn't notice the slight extra weight or the tiny jingling sound.
---
Afternoon. Science class.
The classroom was half-dark, an old projector casting blurry images of cells onto the screen. Soojin suddenly spoke up loudly, "I really can't believe it! That earring was special!"
All eyes turned to her. The teacher frowned, "Soojin, be quiet."
But Soojin, angry, continued, "Someone must have stolen it! I left it in the locker room yesterday and it's gone today!"
Yoojin, sitting beside her, stiffened slightly. But she said nothing. Jiho, from the back row, felt his knuckles tightening under the desk. He waited.
Soojin suddenly turned to Yoojin, "You were there! You were the last one to leave the locker room!"
Yoojin's eyes widened. "What? No! I... I didn't take anything!"
"Then why were you in such a hurry packing your bag this morning?" Soojin asked sharply. "I saw you."
"Because I was late!" Yoojin protested, her voice trembling. "Why would I steal your earring?"
"Because you're poor," Soojin stated flatly. "You were staring at it so much yesterday. Do you know how much it's worth?"
The conversation was turning into an argument. Min-soo called out from a few rows away, "Give it a rest, Soojin. Maybe it's lost."
But Soojin wouldn't give up. "No! I want to search the bags!"
The teacher, now fully angry, shouted, "Soojin! Yoojin! Outside, now!"
The girls left the classroom with flushed, furious faces. On the way out, Soojin hissed at Yoojin, "You're a jealous, petty thief."
Yoojin, eyes brimming with tears, didn't reply.
The classroom buzzed with excited whispers. Min-soo shook his head in exasperation. Jung-ho was indifferent. Tae-seon laughed, "Girls... all screaming and shouting."
And Jiho? Jiho looked out the window. In the glass's reflection, he saw a blurred image of himself. His mask was still intact, but deep in his eyes—where no one could see—a flame of dark satisfaction flickered.
He had created the first crack. Small, localized, but real. The fragile friendship between Soojin and Yoojin now had a deep fissure. And this was only the beginning.
Tomorrow, or perhaps the day after, when Yoojin rummages through her backpack for a pen, she will find the earring. And she will panic. Will she return it and be accused of theft? Or will she hide it and live in constant fear of being found out? Whatever choice she makes, the rift will deepen.
And Jiho only needs to sit and watch. Just as he had always watched. But this time, he was the director of the show.
At the end of the day, as he passed by the girls' bathroom, he heard the unmistakable sound of Yoojin crying and Soojin's sharp voice saying, "Liar! I know you stole it!"
Jiho twitched his right ear—that subtle auditory tick. Then he walked away calmly, heading home, back to that dark room where he could plot the next step: perhaps planting a small seed of doubt in Jung-ho's mind that Min-soo knew about his feelings for Soojin and intended to humiliate him.
The gears had begun to turn. And the sounds they produced were screams of distrust and fear.