SSS-Class Suicide Hunter - Chapter 144
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Chapter 144 Rooftop. (3) >
Chapter 144
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Translator: thursdays Editor: Yahiko PR: LightBrin
âFirst, letâs placate my friends.â
A sneaky little bitch was trying to tear down everything Iâd built.
âYou think Iâll let you?â
I had to skillfully pull together these wimps who got spooked by some threatening emails. But it was fine. I could do it.
As soon as I returned to the classroom, I spoke to the kids in my group.
âHey. I know why you guys are doing this, but stop it. Why do something so hurtful between friends? Yeah? If youâve got something to say, say it. If thereâs something you have to hear, listen. Isnât that how friends should be? Yeah?â
But their reaction was underwhelming. They didnât answer and only continued to glance at my desk.
I went to the desk.
Dozens of crumpled notes were stuffed into the drawer.
ââŠâŠâ
Each and every one of those notes slandered and reviled me.
âYou were so happy you could die just cuz I said hi in the hallways yesterday.â
Anybody could tell that the contents were lies.
âI just lost at rock paper scissors, k? Donât get the wrong idea!â
Sentence after sentence contained nothing but malice and mockery.
While I was at the office, in that brief moment, the notes piled up like a mountain.
âHey, bastardsâŠâ
âHeh.â
Someone laughed. I whipped around toward where the laughter came from, but I couldnât tell who did it. There were too many students in the classroom.
âWho is it? Who did this to my desk, huh?!â
âI-it wasnât us,â one of my friends said cautiously.
âA little while ago, someone from another class came and put all the notes there at onceâŠâ
âAnother class?â
âYeah. He wanted to tell you somethingâto not contact him again.â
ââŠâŠâ
It was one of my clients. One of my customers had left the notes. I was gonna go nuts. This unknown [culprit] was not only messing with my customers but also my classmates.
âAlso, EunseoâŠâ
âAnd? What?â
âOn your backâŠâ
My back?
âWhatâs about my back?â
âWell, thereâs⊠You know.â
I turned my body around. If I turned my head, I could see my backânot very well, though. Laughter echoed throughout the classroom.
âPfftâŠ!â
âHa.â
I bent my arms and patted my back. Crunch. I felt something.
Paper. Somebody had taped paper onto my back.
I hurriedly took off the paper to see what was written on it.
+
Official Trash of Shinseo High!!
+
The words were written in cute, round handwriting.
ââŠâŠâ
When was it? And who put it on? Was it already on me when the homeroom teacher called? Or did someone secretly stick it on right after I entered the classroom?
But there was no time to figure this out.
âL-letâs start classâŠâ
First period began. The math teacher, the biggest pushover at our school. My classmates, who had been chattering all this time, sat down in unison like they had decided to become model students.
âDamn.â
Inwardly, I ground my teeth.
âIf I raise a fuss now, Iâll only make myself look ridiculous. Should I just ditch? No. I canât. Thatâd be bad. Theyâll only gossip more if I leave. Fuck, fuckâŠ!â
In the end, I had no choice but to sit quietly.
The people around me, snickering under their breaths. Kim Yul, looking expressionlessly down at his notebook. The class president, who entered the classroom late, excused himself to the math teacher and sat at his desk. Everyone was living life normally.
âFuck.â
My insides churned.
It was natural that Iâd be angry at the culprit. It was to be expected. But beyond that person, I felt anger toward my friends and classmates suddenly boil as well.
âYour hands are dirty, too!â
It was unfair.
âAre they seriously backing out now? Even though they mocked and beat up Kim Yul with me? It wasnât like I ever forced them to bully Kim Yul. They did that on their own.â
It was unfair.
âWho here hasnât made fun of Kim Yul? There were so many of them who begged me to show them the videos. Why are they pretending otherwise now?â
It was too unfair.
Because I âtried.â I worked hard to achieve what others didnât. What, was it easy to bully someone deliberately? Did they think they could make an outcast into a total pariah?
âMaggotâno, goddamn leeches.â
I put in the effort.
I created a platform using the student council suggestion box. I made connections to the rich kids. While my peers studied like everyone else and lived as they were told to, I was thinking about the [future]. I made plans!
On the other hand, what did these conniving leeches do?
âThey mooched off the platform I worked hard to create!â
It was the same. Because others laughed, they laughed too. Because others bullied, they bullied too. These guys, these bastards, followed only one logic.
[Because others are doing it.]
âDisgusting bastards.â
Like this, theyâd feign ignorance. [Because others were doing it]. [I didnât think much about it]. [I didnât mean it like that]. Making such excuses, they would forget how they, too, enjoyed bullying Kim Yul.
âRather than pretending not to remember, theyâll really forget.â
Because their heads were no good. They were idiots. They wouldnât even remember what they said or did. What else could that be but a matter of intelligence? They were just morons who blindly followed the crowd. And they still pretended to be innocent, to be humanâŠ
âItâs unfair.â
This was unfair.
âWhy would I, to these inferior bastards⊠Why only me?â
It was unfair!
If someone who was just like the hero of a story, who had acted upright since the moment he was born, came after me, Iâd understand.
But that wasnât the case.
âI bet none of them apologized to Kim Yul, even now.â
Nobody would have.
I was sure.
That was why it was unfair. It was way too unfair that these guys were just being agitated by the [culprit] and targeting me without much thought.
I didnât want to be stabbed by a knife like that! These second-rate assholes!
I was superior to them!
Buzzâ
My phone vibrated in my pants pocket.
My girlfriend had texted.
+
Hwang Eunseo, what have you done?
From now on, stay away from me.
Weâre done.
+
ââŠâŠâ
Time marched on without pause.
I had no time to respond. No method popped up in my mind. The [culprit] drove me into a corner, sparing nothing. I contacted my girlfriend, but she didnât answer. Even when I went to find her during break time, she only stared at me coldly.
Just yesterday, she had smiled, saying how fun it was to be with me.
âWhyâŠ? Iâm a fun guy, rememberâŠ?â
Afterwards, I couldnât even go to the bathroom properly during break time. I was afraid. What if someone else came and put a note in my desk drawer while I was gone?
âFuck.â
Even at lunchtime, I just lay on my desk and pretended to sleep. I wasnât an idiot. There was no way my classmates would eat lunch with me in this atmosphere.
It was better to pretend to sleep instead of going down to the cafeteria and eating alone.
âStill, wouldnât one person at least offer to eat with me?â I thought, my head slammed against the desk.
âThen, Iâll tell them straight away that I donât feel well today. If I refuse like that, then everyone will know. Hwang Eunseo didnât get hurt from this. Heâs fine. Or, maybe theyâll say that Iâm sulking and they need to comfort me. Yeah, Iâll let everyone know like that.â
That was what would happen.
âI cared so much for these guys all this time. I treated them to meals and let them appear in videos. I even helped some of them make up when they were fighting. And⊠AndâŠâ
There was nothing.
Nobody invited me to the cafeteria.
ââŠâŠâ
The classroom, devoid of students, was quiet during lunchtime. The dismal silence at 12:45 p.m. No one was walking around in the halls. The wind blew through the window, and white curtains fluttered.
âBastardsâŠâ I muttered as I stood up.
âYou can say something, canât you? At least say somethingâŠâ
Suddenly, I felt a deep sense of humiliation. Walking around unaware there was a note on my back. Being mocked by these leech-like kids. Being dumped over text. Everything was so humiliating.
âHateful jerks. Inhumane bastardsâŠâ
I went through my classmatesâ desk drawers, one by one.
I snooped.
Maybe there would be evidence pointing to the culprit. Maybe there would be specific instructions hidden, like when to send me the notes, what to write in it, etc.
âGod, I hope there is. Please!â
It was then.
ââŠHwang Eunseo, what are you doing now?â
I jerked back in surprise. My posture was sloppy because I was looking through the desks. When I turned around, I saw four of my classmates standing at the back door of the classroom.
âUh.â I stuttered. âThatâs, um. Just a moment.â
âA moment? A moment for what?â
âI just had to check for a momentâŠâ
âYouâre rummaging through someone elseâs desk to check for something? Are you crazy?â
No.
âHey, Hwang Eunseo was searching our desks!â
âWhat?â
That wasnât it.
âWhy was he looking through other peopleâs desksâŠ?â
âHave you done this before?â
Listen to me.
âWow. GrossâŠâ
It wasnât like that.
Please, listen to me.
Someoneâs controlling you right now. You didnât know, right? Youâre being used without realizing. You need to know that. You guys, you guys have also done bad things, so weâre on the same side!
The same team!
One team!
Weâre one team!
If you guys attack me, something really bad will happen. Seriously. Who but me will take care of you? I made the Kim Yul game just for you guys. I made you all happy. I provided you guys with entertainment. Who did? Me!
So return the favor! Fuckers!
Donât be dumb and get worked up. Just judge whoâs on your side! This was a conspiracy. It was slander. It was unfair. You crummy bastards! You may be stupid, but canât you tell whoâs an ally and whoâs the enemy?
Donât you have any loyalty?!
Weâve played well together this far. You guys also had fun tormenting Kim Yul. You used to laugh at Kim Yul and his old man, who lived in the dump and collected trash! Youâre all trash! Why are you trying to mutiny now?!
âItâs unfairâŠâ
The news that I had been rummaging through desks at lunchtime quickly spread to the others. Yeah, I did it. I looked through your desks. Was that such a big deal? However, my classmates seemed to think [Hwang Eunseo looking through the desks] was much more serious than [we bullied Kim Yul].
âItâs so unfairâŠâ
Those guys had laughed with me, saying, [Producer, Producer!] every day, but they betrayed me just because the culprit blackmailed them a little. How long had I been breaking my back for the happiness of the class?
âItâs so unfair, I could dieâŠâ
Nothing changed after school.
At least this morning, my friends said they were sorry. They at least pretended to be sorry. But after what happened at lunchtime, the way they looked at me changed. They looked at me coldly, like I was someone they needed to kill.
âCrazy bastards.â
What did I do wrong?
It was unfair.
I felt wronged.
âŠâŠ
âHwang Eunseo.â
The classroom was empty after the students left.
âSorry, but can I look for a moment?â asked the class president.
The class president was the only one who remained expressionless all day today.
âWhat is itâŠ?â
âI was trying not to concern myself, but the homeroom teacher and our classmates kept talking to me about it. As class president, I need to pretend I care a bit.â
âHaâŠâ
I couldnât even snark back at him for meddling. The class president was the first person to talk to me since lunchtime. Putting it nicely, the class president was a model student; putting it less nicely, he was a voluntary outsider. Maybe that was why he could ignore the surrounding atmosphere.
âWhat happened?â
ââŠâŠâ
Shortly, I saw a way out of this hellish situation.
âThatâs right. The class president.â
The class president had good grades. He was subtly adored by the teachers. Even my classmates couldnât bother the class president easily. Maybe he was born like that, but the class president had a slightly arrogant air, so it wasnât easy to talk to him.
I could turn this situation around bit by bit by winning over the class president.
âYeah. ActuallyâŠâ
Then, I talked about the unfair things that had happened to me.
Maybe I did look down on Kim Yul a little, very little. But maybe someone was jealous I was dating a rich girl, so they were spreading ridiculous rumors about me. It was unfair. It was unfair, but my classmates didnât even listen to me.
Please help.
ââŠâŠâ
The class president quietly listened to my grumbling, which lasted about half an hour. He didnât interrupt me. He didnât even ask questions. He just listened with the same dull attitude, and I was grateful for that.
âI see. Thatâs what happened.â
The class president nodded.
âEunseo, I understand you feel wronged. Itâs a horrible situation. Sometimes, kids are cold, saying it isnât their responsibility.â
âYouâre so right.â
âBut I have no way to help. MaybeâŠâ
The class president sank into thought. He seemed to think for a long time. Though I wasnât very close to him, I could feel that he was deeply concerned. Both of us kept our mouths shut. A long time later, the class president lifted his head.
âAh.â
He slapped the desk.
âEunseo. How about this? From what I can tell, this problem can only be resolved if you receive Kim Yulâs forgiveness.â
âFrom Kim YulâŠ?â
âYes. Honestly, all the other kids are outsiders. If Kim Yul, the wronged party, forgives you, then nobody can say anything.â
ââŠâŠâ
It was a solution that never occurred to me. But now that I heard it, it seemed right. No matter what the other kids tried to do, if Kim Yul said, [I forgive Hwang Eunseo now], they would have nothing to say.
âUh⊠ButâŠâ
There was a problem.
âWill Kim Yul accept my apology? I donât think he willâŠâ
âDonât worry. Itâll be troublesome, but letâs try talking to him.â
The class president smiled softly.
âIâll help you, Hwang Eunseo.â
It was a very kind smile.