After the third lesson, Jensen snatched his brother out of class and headed for the cafeteria. The voices of the students, bunched together, were cutting to the ears. Dragging the muttering Hyun behind him, the boy stood in line and, relaxed with his hands in his pockets, looked around indifferently at the crowd in front of him.

Some students jostled, impatiently looking at the fresh food on the counter. Some, seeing the tall, familiar figure, famous throughout the school, pressed their heads into their shoulders and fell silent.

Jensen stomped his foot and muttered loudly:

"Let's get your asses moving, work faster with your hands, well. My stomach's already twisting, I'm starving," the boy urged the students. After the third lesson, his appetite was running high, and even the morning churros couldn't dampen it.

Hyun glanced at his brother and threw a lazy "glutton". He pinched his side, and Jensen smiled. They pushed each other around for a while longer, and when it was their turn, they rushed to get their portions.

Finding an empty seat with several other students sitting next to it, Jensen plopped down at the table, immediately picking up his chopsticks, picking up a large lump of rice, and greedily stuffing it into his mouth. Hyun, after watching him for a few seconds, joined in. Feeling the stares sliding down his back, he shrugged.

Obviously, some people who were unaware of their kinship were now a little stunned. It was inevitable, but the residue was still there.

The familiar company passed by, led by Gum Dae Han, who was walking in a sprawling manner. When he came across Jensen, hunched over his portion, who saw nothing but rice, his expression immediately changed. Turning away, Dae Han hurried away as quickly as he could. His desperately blushing ears were visible a mile away.

The conversations of the dining students did not stop, soon becoming one rumbling mass.

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound.

Hyun turned hastily, throwing away his chopsticks. Jensen raised his head and squinted.

"What's going on out there?" he asked perplexedly.

The sound came from the far side of the dining hall. Several students suddenly jumped up from their seats and rushed to the sides with strange shrieks.

Jensen stood up and took two cautious steps forward. Hyun slowly rose after him and grabbed his forearm.

"What is it?" he asked in a whisper.

The silence that hung in the air for a second was broken by a deafening scream:

"Get the nurse!"

The atmosphere evaporated, filled with panic. Jensen moved forward, and, struggling through the crowd, froze when his gaze fell upon a teenager lying in an unnatural pose.

His face looked like a bright scarlet tomato. His eyes, covered with a white translucent film, rolled up, his pupils barely visible from beneath his eyelids.

White foam protruded from his mouth, obstructing his breathing. One of the girls bent down and rolled him over onto his side, flicking her frantic eyes at his frozen classmates.

"What are you standing there for?!" she shouted. "Call an ambulance!"

Some of them grabbed their phones with trembling fingers at the same moment.

Jensen stared tensely at the overturned chair and the dinner scattered across the table. With his tongue pushing the inside of his cheek, he flinched at the startled voice of his brother under his ear.

"That's my classmate..."

After pondering, EL squeezed out softly:

"Don't eat in the cafeteria anymore."

Du Hyun arched an eyebrow in surprise.

"What...?"

"You heard me," Jensen cut off. His eyes darkened as he looked his brother in the eye. "Take the food from home."

Soon the director, teachers, and a concerned nurse came running in to the noise and screaming of the students.

She said something in the principal's ear after examining the convulsing teenager, who recoiled in surprise.

The physics teacher, known throughout the school for his loud harsh voice, wailed:

"Everyone please return to your classrooms, now! Leave the cafeteria! Now! He needs air!"

Jensen clutched at his brother's collar with his fingers and dragged him out of the room after him as one of the first. The crowd of children slowly moved toward the exit, looking back and forth at the adults surrounding the schoolboy.

Everyone seemed to be in a bad dream. The food, still in their stomachs, begged to be expelled at the memory of the gruesome sight. Some of them rushed to the toilets, some returned safely to class. Jensen parted with his brother in the corridor, giving him one last punishment:

"Wait for me at school after class, don't go anywhere, okay?"

Hyun only had to nod obediently.

***

The next class was a little late because the teacher was late. The woman who entered the classroom seemed unrealistically pale. With trembling fingers she nervously went through her papers, tapping her desk with the other hand at the same time.

At last she let out a hoarse voice:

"Guys, I have a little message, please listen to the end and don't be distracted by anything."

The seniors' ears perked up. The woman, realizing that all attention had shifted to her, continued:

"Due to the situation that occurred during lunch, we have an emergency special order coming to our school. I will now ask you all to open your backpacks for inspection."

There was a commotion. The teacher hurriedly calmed the class down:

"This is not done for any purpose of violating your personal space, it is done for safety purposes, so all personal items must be inspected. Don't worry, nothing that violates school policy will be confiscated."

"What happened to that guy?" inquired from the back desks.

She was silent for a moment, the teacher was covered in sweat and leaned tiredly on her desk with her hand. Lowering her voice, she said confidentially:

"It's not worth talking about, but I think you're understanding kids, so you won't talk."

The students, whispering, nodded in agreement. Jensen leaned back in his stiff chair and twirled a pen between his fingers. The teacher staggered to the front of the row. Her hoarse voice, which sounded in the silence, struck her like a gust of frosty wind.

"They found a drug in his system."

The pen slipped from Jensen's hand and hit the floor with a sharp pop.

His breathing quickened. The overturned portion of rice flopped in front of his eyes.

The class was silent.

"Please don't spread this around," the teacher asked as she placed the stack of papers on the table. She turned back to the students and continued. "Now please open your bags."

Everyone rustled their backpacks unreservedly, and though their every movement was a little wooden, no one dared to disobey. Jensen, following the others, also clicked his zipper, but his expressive, predatory eyes stared fixedly and tensely at the back opposite.

Dae Han, feeling the pressure enveloping the back of his head, swallowed hard.

His fingers trembled.

Exhaling noisily, he unzipped his black backpack and tried to keep a calm expression on his face.

The teacher hurried along the row.

An ambulance siren squealed outside. Jensen looked dryly out the window overlooking the courtyard.

Heavy flakes of snow were coming down from the darkened sky, which, like a solid white wall, shielded the school from the rest of the world. A cold, prickly wind blew in through the window, which was slightly ajar for the break.

The previously warm weather that had haunted Pusan this morning had finally deteriorated.