Dalgrak - The hand of a man who was organizing glass bottles containing colorful liquids stops for a moment.
"Cha Hak-yeon... It looks like this guy got hurt?"
Seongyeol frowns at the man's words and speaks in an annoyed tone.
"Cha Hak-yeon has too many gaps. Even if I tell him not to be swayed by human emotions, he always ends up making mistakes because of those gaps."
"Anyway, we can't just leave it like that, right? Cha Hak-yeon too. Kim Myung-soo too."
"Haa... I get it. I guess I can just step forward."
As Sungyeol picks up one of the colorful potions on the table and gulps it down, his figure vanishes in an instant. The man who had been watching him arranges the last potion in a pleasing display before standing up.
"Then I guess I'll start moving now."
"Kim Myung-soo!"
After hearing Yoon-ki and Seok-jin's words, Taek-woon runs straight to the Choice Classroom, but spots Myeong-su staggering unsteadily and running blindly up the stairs to the rooftop. He quickly chases after Myeong-su.
"Kim Myung-soo!"
'Squeak-'
The rooftop door opens with an old metal sound, and as Myeong-su staggers over to the rooftop railing, Taek-woon wraps his arm around Myeong-su and pulls him down the railing.
"Let go of this..."
"Kim Myung-soo...! Come to your senses! It wasn't like you wanted to end your life so meaninglessly."
At Taekwoon's words, Myeongsu looks at Taekwoon with his mind completely restored.
"I'm telling you to stop now that you've come to your senses."
Myeongsu looks down at Taekwoon, who is lying on the floor with his arms tied, and makes a disgusted expression.
"Why on earth did you try to jump?"
"You had a really tough guy as your disciple. I almost got beat up."
"A tough guy..?"
As soon as the words "poisonous guy" came out of Myeongsu's mouth, Taehyung's face naturally appeared in Taekwoon's mind. Did Taehyung do a good job of stopping Kim Myeongsu?
"More than that... how is the situation going...? Explain to me why you had to join Dark Choice and why Teacher Son Na-eun had a relationship with the Dark Choice guys."
Myeongsu, who had been quietly listening to Taekwoon, looks at Taekwoon with a somewhat hardened face and asks in a serious voice.
"What are you talking about? That woman has something to do with the Dark Choice guys?"
"That's why I feel uneasy when I send Cha Hak-yeon away."
Before even answering Myungsoo's question, Sungyeol looks down at Myungsoo and Taekwoon from the railing that Myungsoo had just tried to climb up, and speaks in a voice that shows he doesn't like it. At Sungyeol's sudden appearance, Taekwoon and Myungsoo's gaze turns to Sungyeol, and Sungyeol's expression hardens as he shifts his gaze from Myungsoo to Taekwoon.
"For Kim Myung-soo, you made him meet the guy he should never meet."
"..Do you know him?"
As Taekwoon looks at Myeongsu and asks, Myeongsu's face, whose expression has noticeably darkened since the moment Seongyeol appeared, comes into Taekwoon's sight.
"Kim Myung-soo..?"
"Kim Myung-soo, the closer you get to that guy, the more your freedom will be suppressed and the dark reality will repeat itself. I don't want to see you spend the rest of your life trapped in a small space like before."
"Ugh..ugh.."
"So, come back to where you belong, Kim Myung-soo."
At Sungyeol's words, Myungsoo clutches his head and begins to cry out in pain. Taekwoon, who has been watching Myungsoo, desperately tries to grab him, but Taekwoon is so distressed by Sungyeol's words that his neutralizing hormones are rendered meaningless. If Sungyeol's hormones were causing Myungsoo's suffering, the pain should have disappeared when Taekwoon touched him. However, Myungsoo continues to groan in pain and looks at Taekwoon with a face more desperate than anyone else's. Taekwoon is speechless upon seeing Myungsoo's despairing eyes. The moment he looks into those eyes, the despair filling Myungsoo's heart seems to instantly transfer to Taekwoon... It's so different from the clear eyes he once saw, longing for freedom...
"You...what did you do to Kim Myung-soo...?"
Taekwoon stops holding Myeongsu and stands up, looking at Seongyeol with sharp eyes. Seongyeol smiles at Taekwoon and speaks.
"What are you doing? It's disappointing to hear you say that. You must have noticed. Kim Myung-soo's behavior isn't due to my hormones."
"So, you're asking why Kim Myung-soo is suffering so much even though he's not even under the influence of hormones!"
When Taekwoon, who rarely raises his voice, grits his teeth and shouts at Seongyeol, Seongyeol instantly erases the playful expression from before and looks at Taekwoon.
"Why is this happening? The despair inherent in Kim Myung-soo's body was there before he met us. I only played a role in drawing out the despair within Kim Myung-soo's body, but I wasn't the one who created that despair. Rather, the cause was probably something that arose while he was with you all."
At Seongyeol's words, Taekwoon is at a loss for words and sits down in front of Myeongsu again, lowering his body and speaking to him.
"Kim Myung-soo... what drove you to such despair... the ever-shrinking lifespan due to hormone-suppressing injections...? Or the daily grind of being held captive at Hormone High School...? What on earth... was it that caused you such suffering..."
"Kim Myung-soo, you should know that if you continue to delay here, things could get worse than before."
At Seongyeol's words, Myeongsu gets up from his seat without hesitation and approaches Seongyeol.
"Kim Myung-soo!"
Taekwoon grabs Myungsoo's arm, but Myungsoo roughly slaps his hand away. However, Taekwoon grabs Myungsoo's arm again, determined not to let him go.
"Let go of this..."
"I won't let you go... I won't let you go. No matter what happens today, I need to hear why you had to leave us. What... What on earth!!! To separate us like this today... I need to know."
After a while of silence at Taekwoon's words, Myeongsu speaks in a voice filled with sadness.
"I don't want to hurt you..."
"..."
"Being hurt by my hormones, living in pain is enough for me... If someone else gets hurt because of me... If someone else is feeling the same pain I am without me knowing... That is the hardest thing for me to bear..."
At Myeongsu's words, Taekwoon's mind instantly remembers what Jeongguk had said.
"You... saw... that day...?"
You saw Teacher Son Na-eun sacrifice her own life to make a hormone potion... and suffer because of it... Did you see that..?
".... My leaving Hormone High School wasn't due to anyone's influence. It was entirely my own choice, and I have no intention of returning. I think I unknowingly attacked the kids at this school because of that guy's hormones... But I will make sure that doesn't happen again."
"Kim Myung-soo, your farewell is long."
At Seongyeol's words, Myeongsu's hand tries to pull Taekwoon's arm away from his grasp. However, Taekwoon holds onto Myeongsu's arm even tighter, as if he won't give up, and looks at Myeongsu.
"Kim Myung-soo... come back."
Myeongsu's eyes, which meet Taekwoon's, momentarily waver at Taekwoon's sincere gaze.
Jeon Jungkook: The world seen through hormones.
Clear. Pure white and clear. A warm blue light. I see a pure white light that resembles that blue light. As if entranced, I walk towards the pure white light. When I reach the place where the pure white light is, I see the figure of teacher Son Na-eun, whom I have seen before. I have never met her, but seeing her so often makes me feel like I know her. This too must be my imagination. I think to myself as I watch the woman, and to my bewilderment, her gaze falls on me. Huh..?
"Myeongsu must have thought he was eating away at my life. Turning my hormones into a potion certainly felt like my life was being diminished, but I didn't feel any pain. In fact, I felt fortunate. That I still had something to offer that child."
What the... Why are you rambling on about something I didn't even ask about...? Whether I was listening or not, the woman continued her story. Before I knew it, she was holding a glass bottle filled with a clear liquid in her hand.
"In order to save that child, I created a nullifying hormone potion that would last until my life ended, just as the Dark Choices wanted. I gave the potion and my freedom to Myeongsu on the condition that I would give it to him. Of course, I didn't reveal that I created the potion."
"Why are you telling me this?"
At my words, the woman put the glass bottle she was holding in my hand and said.
"I didn't sacrifice myself for anyone. It's just that Kim Myung-soo was such a precious disciple to me, and I wanted to see him not suffer, and I was happy to be of help. From the moment of birth, people endlessly run towards death. Whether that time is short or long, I gave my life to Myung-soo out of my wish to live happily with the person I consider precious. So, I'm absolutely not someone who would eat away at the lives of others. Kim Myung-soo..."
The woman's dark, clear eyes look straight into mine.
"And... you too."
I wanted to be happy with someone precious... so... I gave my life... The reason this woman is telling me this is because I'm in the same situation that Kim Myung-soo went through. Then again... the potion in the vial that Teacher Taek-woon gave me... Still... still... the fact that I'm diminishing Teacher Taek-woon's life... doesn't change. The fact that Teacher Taek-woon is in pain... doesn't change. The woman who was watching me confused approached me step by step, took me in her arms, and patted my back. A familiar, warm, clear feeling I'd felt somewhere before...
"Don't get hurt. Be strong. And with that strong heart, protect the happiness of those who are precious to you. That is the best gift you can give them."
Become strong... Become strong... The happiness of the people who are precious to me... The images of the people who are precious to me flash through my mind.
'Jeon Jungkook - Taehyung, try it, hyung~'
'Amiya! Ask!!'
'Now, even the hormone that nullifies the effect comes out?'
'ㅇㅇ said that - he melts when he sees me, so he calls me Sugar. Haha. Call me Minsuga hyung~'
'Somehow... you don't seem to feel awkward even though you're not a nullifying hormone.'
'Have hope- have hope! Jeon Jungkook!'
'Take this for now. I've prepared some medicine to give you if your symptoms worsen.'
"Jungkook. It's not your fault."
And a guy with a warm and clear energy like this woman. ㅇㅇㅇ.
'Idiot Jeon Jungkook!!'
Become strong and protect the happiness of all these people... Well, nothing will get better just by running away. I smiled brightly at Teacher Naeun, who was embracing me. I didn't say anything, but Teacher Naeun seemed to read my thoughts with just my smile and smiled kindly at me. And soon, Teacher Naeun's appearance changed into a pure white light, and I closed my eyes because they were dazzling, and when I opened them again, I was lying on the bed in the infirmary. "Meow-" In front of me was a pure white cat, Ami.
"Are you coming to your senses?"
I see Taehyung watching me with worried eyes.
"Ah... yeah."
Yeah, I think I passed out in the classroom... Did Taehyung move me here? As I sat up, I noticed something clutched in my hand. I raised my hand to check, and a glass bottle filled with clear liquid caught my eye. This... definitely... Teacher Son Naeun...
"Meow-"
The moment I checked the glass bottle in my hand, Ami licked it a couple of times and quickly left the infirmary.
"Amiya!!"
Taehyung was about to chase after Ami, but he saw Hakyeon and ㅇㅇ lying on the bed in the infirmary and made a troubled expression. Could it be that Ami... was trying to tell him where Kim Myungsoo was..? With the thought of following her, he got up from his seat and followed Ami, saying.
"I'll come find you, Ami. Stay here, hyung."
"Ah... yeah."
At Jeongguk's words, Taehyung looks at Jeongguk's back with a bewildered expression, and then his face changes to one of relief.
"Well, it doesn't seem like anything is hurting, so that's a relief."
The place I followed Ami up to was the school rooftop, the highest point in the school. Beyond the door that opened with a creaking sound...
"Teacher Taekwoon!"
"jungkook jeon...?"
With the arrival of Jeongguk, Taekwoon's eyes instinctively turn to Sungyeol. Sungyeol's hormones are the kind that induce despair in people, and those kinds of hormones are fatal not only to Myeongsu but also to Jeongguk.
"Jeon Jungkook, get out!"
"Oh- good prey. Are you the guy Kim Myung-soo was talking about?"
Jungkook, who was watching Sungyeol's eyes sparkle as he looked at him, frowns.
"You're just sitting there talking like prey. It makes me sick, so stop calling me that. More importantly, Kim Myung-soo. Listen carefully. Get away from those Dark Choice guys as soon as possible. Those guys gave you hormone potions and freedom in exchange for taking teacher Son Na-eun's life!!"
"Teacher Son Na-eun's life...?"
At Jeongguk's words, Myeongsu's steps as he approaches Seongyeol stop. Myeongsu's eyes, as he looks at Seongyeol, turn fierce.
"Lee Seong-yeol. What does that mean..?"
"Ha... Really. These little rascals are making things a hassle. Kim Myung-soo, listen carefully. You came here only for freedom. And you've gained freedom from the shackles of this school. Isn't that enough?"
"I'll ask again. The nullifying hormone potion you gave me... was it made from the life of Teacher Son Na-eun..?"
Myungsoo's anxious emotions cause his hands to tremble. He tries to suppress the maddening anger and sadness that threaten to overflow, and turns to Seongyeol to ask. Seongyeol, watching him, answers with a helpless expression.
"That's right. But we didn't force it on her. She proposed it herself. It's a good opportunity for us to obtain hormone potions, so we couldn't refuse."
"Then... then... until now... all the potions I've drunk... all the time I've been able to live..."
After hearing Seongyeol's words, Myeongsu collapses to his knees with a look of despair on his face.
"Myungsoo, you can become more free. And you can see more of the world. I will help you do that."
"Ah... no..."
Teacher Naeun's face, smiling affectionately at Myeongsu, who was still wearing her school uniform. And Myeongsu's eyes, filled with tears as he thought of that face.
'Myeongsu...'
'Teacher... what are you doing now...?'
'This is...'
'Until now... what I've been drinking... was your hormone potion..? You said you developed a medicine... You said you developed a medicine that's better than hormone suppression injections!!'
"Myeongsu, listen to what the teacher says."
'It's okay. A guy like me... becomes poison to the people around me.... It's all... because of me... They all suffer and are sad because of me.. But... now... even your life.... Teacher, I don't want to live like that. I don't want to live!!!!!!!!!!!!'
I just didn't want to hurt someone who was precious to me... That's all I did.
"Don't get hurt. Kim Myung-soo! Teacher Son Na-eun told me... to be strong... to be strong and protect the happiness of those who are precious to me... that... is... the best gift... we can give to those people..."
"Is teacher Son Na-eun still...alive..?"
Myung-soo approaches Jeong-gook, who is speaking to him, and looks at him with a look as if he is clinging to some last hope. Instead of answering Myung-soo's question, Jeong-gook places the glass bottle given to him by his teacher, Na-eun, in Myung-soo's hand.
"Teacher Naeun... wanted you to be happy more than anyone else... Because you were a precious person to Teacher Naeun... So live happily... For Teacher Naeun... And for me, who is following in your footsteps more like you than anyone else."
Myeongsu sheds large, tear-drops, perhaps sensing the clear, pure white energy of Teacher Son Na-eun from the glass bottle handed to him by Jeong-guk. Myeongsu's hand, holding the bottle, gains strength.
"I'm sorry... for not being able to protect you... I'm really... sorry... Teacher..."
Taekwoon and Jungkook, who are watching Myungsoo, feel Myungsoo's sorrow as if they were one body. Seongyeol, who has been observing this, sees Myungsoo shedding tears, as if he is dissatisfied with the situation.
"Tch- This side seems useless, so I guess I'll just watch Cha Hak-yeon's side."
Seongyeol, who had drunk the blue potion, disappeared from the railing in an instant.
"Where on earth did Park Jimin go?"
In the midst of the chaos, Hoseok, Namjoon, Yoongi, and Seokjin realize that Jimin has disappeared and frantically search for him, but he is nowhere to be seen.
"Jimin! Park Jimin!"
"If you don't come out, we'll invade!"
"I am Rap Monster of Destruction!"
Namjoon, Hoseok, Yoongi, and Seokjin are running wild, searching for Jimin. And in the center of the hallway they're wandering through, Jimin, whom they've been searching for so desperately, is sitting there. Jimin, who's been watching the Choice class kids moving busily around looking for him, forces a smile through reddened eyes from crying too much.
"I hope ㅇㅇ comes to find me soon.."
So Jimin sat alone, blankly, in the middle of the empty hallway. Like a puppy waiting for its owner in a deserted village, waiting for the warmth of that moment that would finally come after a long wait.
Hakyeon: A person like tears.
That woman entered Dark Choice during a rather chilly time. She was a fool who would readily give up her life for her one disciple, for that disciple's dream of freedom. All she did was spend all day extracting her own nullifying hormone potion. This was probably because she had made it a condition that if she didn't meet the daily quota, she would tell Kim Myung-soo everything. If you're going to do something good, shouldn't you at least make a show of it? Even though I watched her, who was always doing things that were detrimental to her, not a single day went by where I understood her actions.
"Ugh-"
The woman grew increasingly emaciated by the day. It was understandable, considering she worked tirelessly, day and night, risking her life to create hormone potions. At that point, I felt a pang of pity for her utterly unsightly state. She approached me, hesitated, then looked up at me with longing eyes. Her eyes were clear and dark, her skin was pale. Everything about her seemed so diametrically opposed to mine, I felt as if she lived in another world.
"Excuse me... Can I ask you one thing..?"
This was the first request I ever received from a woman who rarely asked for anything. When I heard it, I was a little puzzled. And soon after I got her what she asked for, she spent each day drowning in sorrow. She hesitated to make the hormone potion, but it seemed she couldn't stop because of that guy named Myeongsu. When she fell asleep, exhausted from making the hormone potion, I found the item I had rescued in her room's trash can. Two red lines. She was definitely pregnant. There was another life living inside her. And yet... if she was forcing herself to make the hormone potion like that... there was no hope for her, nor for the life inside her. From that day on, she spent every day in tears. Was that guy Myeongsu more valuable than her child's life...? I really don't understand. And besides... she really is a woman who makes me worry.
"What..? You want to bring in a doctor?"
"Yeah. That woman, it seems like she's not feeling very well."
At my words, he stopped his hands, which were preparing the potion, and turned to me with a sharp gaze. Seeing that gaze emanate from such a gentle-looking person... made me realize to my bones that you shouldn't judge a person by their appearance.
"For that woman to produce a lot of nullifying hormone potions, she has to live a long time. If she leaves it like that, it'll be a loss of property. A loss of property."
The guy, who had been thinking about something alone for a moment after hearing my words, nods, his sharp gaze disappearing from before.
"It's definitely better for us to make at least one more. Let's do that."
I was allowed to bring a doctor in under the pretext of improving her health, and I had an obstetrician examine her. I agreed to help her deliver her child. I also had her stop making the hormone potion—until the due date, of course. During that time, I filled a glass bottle with water and pretended she was making the hormone potion every day. Since it looked like a regular glass bottle, I avoided suspicion.
"Come to think of it, why am I helping that woman..?"
I never thought about why. My body just moved automatically before. And...
'Thank you so much... Mr. Hakyeon...'
The smiling face of that woman, who was crying in gratitude for my actions and smiling happier than anyone else, never left my mind.
The woman gave birth on the scheduled day, of course, after moving to a place where the Dark Choice guys were not present for a while.
"Please... give this child... to my mother... Please... Mr. Hakyeon..."
There was absolutely no reason for me to grant that request. After all, I was A, and she was B. But I decided to just take the child to her mother. It seemed to stem from a small hope: to see that happy smile of hers once more.
'wah wah-'
"Ah... no... what kid...?"
The woman's mother seemed surprised by the unexpected appearance of her child, then discovered a note next to the child. She wept and carried the child into the house. "Well, I guess I've done my part, so I guess I'll go back. She'll definitely like you."
But things didn't go as planned. When I returned, I found her... cold and helpless, asleep on a bed, surrounded by the Dark Choice men. The others seemed to think her life was cut short by the hormone potion. But this woman... she must have given her life to give birth to her own child. Until the very end... she only cared about others. Truly... hopeless.
"What is it? Cha Hak-yeon, are you crying?"
"..."
Crying... I put my hand to my eye at Seongyeol's nagging words and I felt something moist and liquid. Huh... That woman was nothing to me...? But... why am I crying...? That day was an extremely painful, miserable, and sad day for me. But I never knew why.
"Ha... Was it a dream?"
When I opened my eyes, I felt my eyes get wet. That dream... Does it still affect me? I sat up and saw Daehyun sleeping in the bed next to me, and ㅇㅇ sleeping in the bed next to him. I got up and walked towards the bed where ㅇㅇ was sleeping. Lee Sungyeol. I thought you didn't know anything... Did you know about that time...? You're telling me to catch the child I saved with my own hands? I stared at ㅇㅇ's sleeping figure for a while. Now that I think about it...
"You look a lot like that woman."
There's no way I could bring a child with that woman's face back into that darkness. The day she died. I regretted bringing her into the dark place of choices in the first place. Even if I get scolded a little, what can I do?
"Where is Park Jimin now? Has the hormone suppression injection worn off?"
"Yeah. I'm worried."
The voices of the Choice class kids could be heard outside the infirmary door. It seemed like it was time to leave this place. I looked at ㅇㅇ's sleeping face and smiled a contented fatherly smile.
"Good night, baby."
'Drrrrr-'
As soon as Hakyeon drinks the blue potion he was holding, the door opens and Hakyeon disappears.
"Is ㅇㅇ still sleeping?"
"Teacher Daehyun must be very tired too. He's sleeping soundly."
"Huh?"
While Seokjin and Namjoon check on Daehyun's condition and Taehyung and Yoongi watch over ㅇㅇ's sleeping form, Hoseok looks at the empty bed by the window with a bewildered expression.
"Did he go back..?"
I thought that if Hakyeon woke up, he would definitely target ㅇㅇ first, so I walked back quickly... Hoseok, who was thinking of Hakyeon's face, smiles slightly.
"Well, maybe he's not as bad as I thought."
"Are you feeling calmer now?"
Inside the Choice teachers' office. Myeongsu is sitting on a chair. Taekwoon offers him fragrant tea and asks.
"Well... a little."
Myung-soo, accepting the tea Taek-woon offered, spoke in a much more calming voice. Taek-woon sat down across from Myung-soo and took a sip. At the same time, the door opened with a "creak." And Dae-hyun, looking disheveled, as if just waking up from sleep, appeared.
"Kim Myung-soo..."
Daehyun's eyes, which had been blank, widen at the sight of Myeongsu. After watching Myeongsu for a while, Daehyun quickly runs to him and hugs him tightly.
"Hey- the tea is hot.."
Because of Daehyun's actions, the tea in the teacup in Myeongsu's hand starts to ripple violently, and Myeongsu looks at Daehyun with worried eyes.
"Why... are you back now..."
Myeongsu, who was listening to Daehyun's resentful words, smiles slightly at Daehyun.
"Sorry. I'm really late."
A pleasant smile appears on Taekwoon's lips as he watches the two of them.
"Kim Myung-soo, do you really have to leave like this as soon as you get here?"
At Taekwoon's tick-tick words, Myeongsu stops in front of the school gate with his backpack on and looks back at Taekwoon and Daehyun following behind him.
“I don’t want to waste the time that teacher Son Na-eun gave me.”
"But hormones..."
"Don't worry about the killer hormone. I still have this."
A glass bottle filled with clear liquid is held in Myeongsu's hand. The precious time that Teacher Son Na-eun gave to Myeongsu.
"Then I'll be back."
Myungsoo greets Daehyun and Taekwoon with a bright smile and walks away, turning his back on them.
"Don't get hurt! Be sure to come back when your trip is over!"
As Daehyun shouts at Myeongsu, Myeongsu raises his hand and gives the okay sign. Relieved smiles appear on Taekwoon and Daehyun's faces as they watch Myeongsu.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a very familiar ceiling. And...
"Hey! Are you awake?"
I see Taehyung looking at me with his eyes sparkling, as if he's thrilled that I'm awake. Taehyung... You look okay... Thank goodness... Really. As I try to sit up, Taehyung helps me up. Now that I think about it, I feel a little dizzy, maybe because of the hormone potion I made.
"Are you okay..? Let's lie down a little longer. Hey."
"Ah... it's okay..."
Taehyung must have seen that I was dizzy even though I said I was fine, because he laid me back down on the bed with great force. Then, he spoke while bringing his face close to mine.
"I'm not a nullifying hormone, so I can't pass on my life. So, let's lie down until my body fully recovers. Pretty girl. Don't worry Oppa."
Ugh... Taehyung oppa... No way... Do you remember... that I gave you the potion by mouth? But you were clearly unconscious... Feeling a bit embarrassed, I quickly changed the conversation to a different topic.
"But where did the others go?"
Taehyung laughs slightly, as if he finds my embarrassed appearance amusing, then sits back down on the chair next to my bed and speaks.
"Because Park Jimin disappeared, everyone went to look for him."
"Jimin oppa disappeared..?"
"Yeah, it's already been half a day since the kids started looking for it, but where on earth did it go?"
Memories of Jimin suddenly come to mind when I hear that Jimin has disappeared.
'More than that - there's something I really wanted to do if I had a friend who recognized me. Can you do it with me?'
Jimin, seemingly unable to answer my questions, grabs my hand and stands up excitedly. He looks at me with eyes bright with anticipation.
'What do you want to do?'
Jimin, in response to my question, put his hand over mine, interlocked his fingers, and held it tightly. He then looked at me and smiled.
'Let's hold hands and walk together on the road I used to walk alone.'
"..."
'And not just talking to ourselves, but talking to each other.'
'When I went to see my family without the power of hormone suppression injections... I was afraid that they would completely ignore me as if I didn't exist. Even though I was clearly standing in front of them, they would pass me by without even giving me a glance as if I didn't exist. I was afraid that they would see that. I was so... scared.'
No way... Jimin oppa... Even after the hormone suppression injections have worn off...?
"Hey!! Where are you going!"
"I'll go look for Jimin oppa."
Before Taehyung could even catch me, I frantically ran down the hallway to find Jimin. Surely... no. Even as I thought, "No way," I remembered Jimin's happy face when I recognized him. Jimin's range of motion was within this school. And yet, if the Choice class hadn't found Jimin for over half a day, there could only be one reason: the hormone injections had worn off. And yet, Jimin himself was waiting for someone to find him.
"Gasp...gasp..."
Where is it... Where on earth is it... I was looking for Jimin from far away from the teacher's office, and when I set foot near the Choice class, I saw a male student crouching right in front of the Choice class.
"Jimin oppa!"
When I called Jimin, Jimin turned to me with red eyes, as if he had been crying.
“Everyone is looking for Jimin oppa. Why are you here? Even though you know that no one else can see you.. Why are you here like this?”
I was upset. I was so upset. Whenever I kept seeing Jimin oppa alone, whenever I saw the loneliness and desolation that must be in Jimin's heart with my own eyes... I got angry because I felt like I knew that sadness without realizing it. When I yelled at Jimin in frustration, Jimin looked at me with sad eyes that seemed to have tears in his eyes and spoke.
"Even if it's not visible to others... it will be visible to you. You... will recognize me."
"Jimin oppa..."
As I looked at Jimin with a puzzled look, Jimin grabbed my hand and pulled me into his embrace. Thanks to that, I ended up being held by Jimin.
"I just need you to recognize me."
The image of ㅇㅇ kissing Taehyung is drawn again in Jimin's mind.
"Then... whatever else... I don't care."
Jimin, who was holding ㅇㅇ in his arms, tightly shuts his eyes as if he doesn't want to recall that scene.
"It won't work. I have to go look for ㅇㅇ."
When Taehyung, who was sitting in the infirmary, tried to leave the infirmary as if he couldn't wait any longer, Yoongi grabbed Taehyung's collar.
"If you go out and cross paths with ㅇㅇ, you'll be in trouble. Since we won't be at school anyway, just wait here quietly."
"But do you know what state ㅇㅇ is in right now?"
When Taehyung shouts at Yoongi, remembering the dizzy and staggering ㅇㅇ, Yoongi looks at Taehyung and asks, feeling something strange.
"What happened to ㅇㅇ? Where did he get hurt?"
"That's... not that, though."
Taehyung feels a little embarrassed to explain the situation on his own. When Yoongi asks, Taehyung's face turns bright red. Jungkook, who has been watching him, looks at him with a suspicious look.
"Taehyung, why is your face suddenly red? Did something happen with ㅇㅇ?"
"Wh...what is happening!!"
"Oh, come to think of it, Taehyung's face is red."
Hoseok noticed Jungkook's face flushing red and chuckled as if he found it amusing. Then, the door to the infirmary opened.
"Jimin oppa came to find me."
"Hehe- It's really late, isn't it?"
ㅇㅇ and Jimin appear. Taehyung, who found Jimin appearing with ㅇㅇ, lifts Jimin by the collar without thinking.
"Hey!! Park Jimin- It's because of you that you suddenly disappeared that our ㅇㅇ!"
"No, so why is ㅇㅇ your ㅇㅇ!"
Taehyung, who was flustered by Jimin's rebuttal, cautiously and shyly approaches ㅇㅇ, letting go of the collar he had grabbed.
"What if I suddenly run out when I'm not feeling well?"
Taehyung's eyes looking at ㅇㅇ are filled with worry.
"sorry."
At Taehyung's words, ㅇㅇ smiles slightly as if he feels sorry.
"I didn't mean to hear that."
Taehyung, who was watching ㅇㅇ like that, hugs ㅇㅇ tightly in his arms.
"I'm glad you're safe."
A smile of relief appears on Taehyung's lips as he holds ㅇㅇ in his arms.
"Hey~ What's the mood between you two- What is it~"
"Hey- I'm not ready to let ㅇㅇ go yet!"
"Get off me! Kim Taehyung!"
Hoseok is busy teasing Taehyung and XX, and Yoongi pats Taehyung's back, saying he's not mentally prepared. Jimin grits his teeth and tries to push XX away from Taehyung. Jungkook, who was watching XX in Taehyung's arms, smiles bitterly.
"Ugh..."
Jungkook, who frowns as if he feels a pain in his chest for a moment, quickly leaves the infirmary.
"Haa... ha... ugh.."
Jungkook's face turned pale as cold sweat poured down his face. Jungkook instinctively felt that his life was ending.
"Just watching... let's be satisfied. Jeon Jungkook."
A deep sadness is drawn in Jeongguk's eyes.
Dark Choice Headquarters.
'Clang-'
We see Hakyeon being thrown against the wall, covered in blood, with the sound of glass breaking.
"Ugh.."
A clear liquid flows out between broken glass bottles on the floor littered with groaning students.
"Did you think I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between real and fake hormone potions..?"
A gentle-looking man who approached Hakyeon step by step, lowered his body enough to look at Hakyeon's face, and looked at Hakyeon with sharp eyes.
"And on top of that... I gave you a chance to cover it up, and you ruined that too."
Seongyeol, who was watching Hakyeon covered in blood, speaks to the man as if he feels sorry for Hakyeon.
"Yoo Young-jae. And then Cha Hak-yeon dies. Now, the three of us have the choice of darkness. Let's refrain from team killing."
"Get rid of it, I don't want to see it."
At Sungyeol's words, Yoo Youngjae leaves the dark space, leaving Sungyeol to deal with the aftermath of the school affair. As he emerges into the light, Yoo Youngjae is revealed in his Hormone High School uniform.
"Now I have no choice but to step forward myself."
Youngjae's gentle eyes, with an unreadable expression, shine with a fierceness that doesn't match his own.