The Freshman Building has three floors:
The Ground Floor welcomes freshmen with a bright lobby, lockers neatly lined along the walls, and bulletin boards filled with announcements, newspapers, and class schedules.
Nearby are the guidance office, the faculty room, and a multipurpose room. Restrooms, drinking fountains, and a small courtyard provide spaces for students to relax and enjoy.
The Second Floor is primarily academic, featuring six classrooms for freshmen arranged along a wide hallway. Each room is equipped with 30 desks, blackboards and whiteboards, and lockers for textbooks and personal belongings.
The Third Floor houses the Art Room, Music Room, Study Lounge with a small library, Science Lab, and Computer Room, as well as a corner reserved for indoor club activities.
***
It was 2:00 PM. The Freshman Building was nearly empty, with only a few teachers and students lingering in the hallways—a stark contrast to its usual bustling atmosphere.
"President? Why are we in the Freshman Building?" Mirae asked, frowning. "Aren't we supposed to go to the Top 10 Strange Places?"
"Those places are crowded right now," Juri replied, his eyes scanning the quiet hallway. "And… aren't you curious why your classmates suddenly avoid you?"
They climbed the stairs to the second floor, their footsteps echoing softly against the walls.
"O-of course I am," Mirae stammered, her fingers gripping the railing. "But… this doesn't have anything to do with that, right?"
"Two days ago, a rumor started circulating in Freshman," Juri said, his tone calm but serious. "It spread slowly through the rest of the class… but by the next day, it had vanished completely."
"Maybe it wasn't important enough, so everyone forgot," Mirae suggested, shrugging.
"Correct. But if it weren't about someone I'm familiar with, being the subject of that rumor, I wouldn't even remember it now," Juri added, glancing at her.
A shiver ran down Mirae's spine. She felt… implicated.
"Apparently, at 2:04 PM, while answering a math activity, a certain someone was witnessed by her deskmate talking to a shadow person."
"The conversation started with solving a math problem, then moved to clubs, and ended with that certain someone lying about our club: 'It's… a group of strange and lonely people huddled together for warmth, looking for friends.'"
Mirae's chest tightened. She suddenly wished she could found a hole right now to crawl and disappear, never to be found again.
Though the words sounded familiar, leaving a bitter taste of embarrassment on her tongue, she couldn't recall ever saying them.
"By the way… have you heard about the Principal's activity before it was announced yesterday?" Juri asked, tilting his head slightly.
Mirae nodded, closing her eyes briefly as she tried to recall when she had heard it.
A sudden flash of light pierced the darkness in her mind.
"Yes! It was two days ago. Someone with black eyes told me!"
"Black eyes… huh," Juri murmured, frowning slightly. "Yes—black eyes exist, but not in the purest sense you might imagine."
"Scientifically, what people often call 'black eyes' are actually very dark brown. True black pigmentation in the iris is extremely rare. Usually, the iris just has so much melanin that it appears black."
"So… is that person really has black eyes? Or did you just think they did?"
"Yes! I'm sure she has black eyes!" Mirae said, her voice trembling slightly with certainty.
"She… huh." Juri muttered, falling silent as they reached the classrooms.
The classrooms were open and empty. It was safe to enter—no bags or belongings were left behind, all safely locked in the lockers.
They first went to Mirae's classroom: Class 1-2.
"Where's your seat again?" Juri asked, tilting his head.
"Last row, fourth column, one desk away from the window," Mirae replied, pointing.
Juri walked toward the desk that no one was using, pulled out the chair, and sat down, gazing quietly out the window.
For a moment, Mirae froze on her spot as she saw a black silhouette replacing Juri sitting there.
It sat still, staring out at the bustling school ground beyond the glass. She felt as if it were tilting its head slightly, silently wondering why no one was talking to it.
"Who are you looking at?" a soft whisper reached her ears.
Her hair stood on end, and she jumped away from the voice, heart thudding.
She let out a long, shaky breath when she realized it was Juri standing beside her again. She hadn't even noticed him leaving the desk and approaching her.
"Oh, that's 10 over a 100," he said dryly. "Not funny anymore—but your expression is still amusing."
"Anyway," he added, leaning slightly closer, "do you remember writing these notes?"
Mirae held the sticky notes in her hands.
The designs felt familiar: pink cat-shaped notes she had used on the first day of class, now long gone after two months. Then another set—black-and-white cats—used up in the same period. And finally, the light yellow cat notes she was currently using.
"Didn't expect you to like cats," Juri said casually, though his gaze lingered.
"I don't," Mirae replied without thinking. "It's… she who likes cats."
Juri's eyes narrowed slightly, keenly catching the slip. Interesting, he thought. Mirae doesn't know—or doesn't remember—her, yet she instinctively gives clues? Or maybe it's just feelings.
Perhaps they really were friends. Based on the ten notes Mirae had sent, it was clear she was attached to this mysterious classmate—she had cared deeply, even without conscious memory.
By tracking the designs, the pattern was clear: two notes on pink sticky notes were given over the first two months, four on black-and-white, and three on the current light yellow ones.
[ Thank you for helping me earlier! If it weren't for you, I would have definitely cried in front of the class because I just rambled using my dialect out of anxiety. Thank you ( )! Thank you so much! (flower.drawing) ]
[ I joined a club, and we're currently looking for new members. Do you want to join us? (adorablecat.drawing) ]
[ I forgot to tell you earlier! Can we have lunch later? (heart-eyedcat.drawing) ]
[ Thank you for comforting me earlier! I promise I'll become strong so I can save Coco! (determinedcat.drawing)]
[ Thank you for comforting me! I'll definitely become strong to save others! By the way, I don't know why, but I still miss you so much. It feels like it's been a long time since I last saw you. (sadcat.drawing) ]
[ Thank you, ( )! I miss you already. (lonelycat.drawing) ]
[ Let's hang out tomorrow! (excitedcat.drawing) ]
[ You are really the best! I'll return your notebook tomorrow. Promise! (bashfulcat.drawing) ]
[ ( ), I love you. Thank you for being my best friend. ]
[ For the activity on 30th, can we be partners? (shycat.drawing) ]
Clarity, confusion, guilt, sadness, happiness—emotions rolled through her heart in a tangle so complex she couldn't describe it with a single word.
Her heart beat faster with the familiarity of every word, yet her memory stubbornly refused to recall any of it.
She was happy to know she had a best friend. But she was equally sad to realize she had forgotten her.
And from these notes, it seemed her mysterious best friend had always been there whenever she needed help.
Just like two days ago—when they had lost another 7th member. She was there for her, checking her out.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. If Castiel knew about your… affair with a mysterious classmate, I wonder how he'd react," Jun Rui joked, his laugh sounded hollow. "Oh, I can imagine it."
He stepped away from Mirae after reading the contents of the notes, leaving her staring at them, still trembling slightly.
"By the way… do you remember having a notebook with no name?" he asked after a pause.
"Yes?" Mirae responded, her voice small.
"Where?"
"In my locker. Ground floor," she replied, still clutching the notes.
"Let's go."
Mirae followed him wordlessly, her mind still reeling from what they had discovered.
And clearly, she wasn't the only one affected. If she had been thinking clearly, she would have noticed how slowly Jun Rui was walking—far slower than his usual brisk pace.
She didn't notice when he paused briefly as they passed by the Class 1-1.
While Mirae had been lost in confusion earlier, Jun Rui moved through the other five rooms. Like in Mirae's classroom, the other four classrooms had notes or scraps of paper with writings hidden in the compartment of the 30th desk.
But in his classroom, Class 1-1, the 30th desk was empty— but he had found a sticky note under the 29th desk, his desk.
Jun Rui's hand, still in his pocket, clenched tightly around the note he had found.
The penmanship was clearly not his. It wasn't written by him—but it was written for him.
[ Thank you for giving me a gift, Ju Ri. ]