Morning sunlight crawled through the thin dorm curtains, landing on my half-packed bag and the uniform I hadn’t bothered to iron. I sat cross-legged on my bed, staring at my student card lying next to my phone.

So they tracked her because she didn’t wear it. And they killed her for it.

I picked up the card, turned it over in my fingers, but then I put it over my neck and prepared for school.

The first period passed quietly. I glanced over at Joo Won and Sunhi a few times, hoping they’d notice me, but then didn’t.

Suddenly, 2 powerful-looking girls stepped into our class. They looked nothing like us: Their outer jackets were made of high-quality fabric, purple - the color of royalty, while the normal school uniform was just a simple shirt and skirt. The difference was crazy.

I squinted my eyes to read their student ID.

Park Yoona, Student Council Disciplinary Department.

Lee Soo A, Student Council Disciplinary Department.

So they were the ones that Hyun Joo had mentioned before.

One of the two girls, the one with long silver hair who looked extremely attractive, approached Joo Won and spoke.

“Jang Joo Won, right?” Joo Won gave her a skeptical look and backed away. The rebellious and arrogant look on her face completely vanished, leaving her pale with fear.

“It’s me. What do you want?”

The girl with silver hair, Yoona, stared at her coldly and explained.

“You have violated school rules by not wearing your student ID card. Please come with us to receive your punishment.” ”What are you talking about?!” Joo Won took off the card and held it up in front of Yoona. “I’m wearing it, see?’ Yoona gently grabbed the card and inspected it for a while before shaking her head.

“I’m sorry, but this isn’t the real card. The punishment will still happen.”

“What do you mean, not the real card? You people gave me this!” Joo Won shouted at her. “I’m not going anywhere!”

“This is necessary to maintain school order, please cooperate-” Yoona's voice was still soft, but Joo Won was starting to panic. As if she had already known what the punishment would be.

“No! You can’t do this to me!”

“Jang Joo Won.” Yoona interrupted, her voice as cold as ice. “Punishment begins.”

Before anyone could move, Soo A lunged forward like a trained soldier and slammed Joo Won face-first onto a desk. The sharp edge of the wood dug into Joo Won’s ribs, forcing a strangled gasp from her throat.

“Don’t… please!” Joo Won thrashed, kicking at the floor, her sneakers squealing on the linoleum. A couple of students cried out, but no one dared to stand up.

Yoona approached with the calm, chilling patience of someone folding laundry. She placed her gloved hands on Joo Won’s shoulder blades and pushed down. A tremor ran through Joo Won’s back.

“Start, now,” Yoona repeated, voice flat as glass.

Then she bent Joo Won’s arm backward, slowly, deliberately — until the first pop echoed through the classroom. Joo Won shrieked, a sound that carved itself into my eardrums like a nail.

Soo A pinned her legs when she tried to buck them free. Another twist — another crack.

“Stop! Stop! Please!” Joo Won’s voice broke apart into raw, animal howls. A wet snap made someone in the back vomit on the floor.

I couldn’t move. My fingernails dug crescent moons into my palms. Beside me, Sunhi’s sobs blended with Joo Won’s agony until it felt like the whole room was crying.

And then, as if snapping a twig, Yoona wrenched Joo Won’s spine into an angle no human body could endure.

Silence dropped like a curtain. Joo Won’s head lolled against the desk, her eyes wide open, staring at nothing.

Some students screamed and closed their eyes; the rest watched in shock. I let out a small cry, my body shaking and falling onto the chair next to me. My tears flowed uncontrollably. I could only watch silently in utter fear.

After finishing their work, Yoona and Soo A stood up and left gracefully, leaving Joo Won lying motionless on the ground. Hyun Joo closed her eyes and turned away, while Sunhi cried silently. No one dared to speak.

It was Haneul, our spineless class president, who finally stumbled forward. She crouched beside Joo Won, touched her shoulder gently, then looked up at the rest of us with eyes full of quiet pleading.

“Class… class is dismissed for the day. Please return to your dorms quietly. Don’t gather in the halls.”

Her voice cracked on the last word.

I couldn’t stand up immediately. My knees didn’t want to work. Sunhi was still shaking, hugging her bag to her chest like a lifeline.

I swallowed hard. My throat burned from holding back vomit.

So this is what happens to rulebreakers.

The one who suffered the most was Sunhi. She stared at the corpse, her mouth open in horror. Haneul was the first to remove the corpse before it rotted and attracted insects. We left the classroom one by one in silence; no one said a word.

I followed the hallway wall and crawled back to my room, my legs shaking violently.

Countless thoughts flashed through my mind. How did they know Joo Won was wearing a fake ID? Did they intentionally give her a fake ID? No… If that were the case, Joo Won would have been killed from the start. But why break her bones… I honestly didn't expect that.

I breathed heavily, trying to calm myself down. Think… come on, Young Il. Think…

However, the good side was that I had finally gotten to know more student council members. Yoona and Soo A.

Yoona is a girl with striking silver hair and a gentle smile, which contrasts with her cold-blooded personality. From what I noticed, she wears contact lenses and has calluses on her fingertips, apparently from holding a pen and looking at books too much. The way she speaks also proves that she is brilliant.

Soo A was quite pretty, but I noticed her toned biceps under her tight jacket. She seemed strong, specialized in punishment, and had a disciplined lifestyle.

I quickly jotted down my thoughts, one hand fiddling with the card around my neck.

I need to use this event carefully.

I quickly got out of the room and went to look for Sunhi. She wasn’t in the cafeteria, library, or canteen… Finally, I was able to find her room and knocked on it. 

A few minutes later, Sunhi opened the door. Her eyes were puffed and her face stained with tears. I came in and sat down on her bed.

“Are you okay?” I asked. 

Sunhi didn’t reply, so I continued speaking. 

“I get it. Losing such a close friend… it sucks, right?” 

”It does.” She finally spoke. “Not just because I lost a friend, but because of how they killed her.”

She clenched her fists and spoke through the tears. “I swear, those b*tches… they have no humanity. I hate them. I despise them.” 

”Careful, they might hear us,” I warned.

 As she had calmed down, I finally spoke about what I was here for. “But I agree with you, that’s heartless.” 

”It is, those monsters.”

I nodded in agreement. “They don’t deserve to have such a peaceful life. Someone needs to end this. It could be us.” 

Sunhi wiped her tears, still having her gaze full of hatred. Seeing that, I suggested.

“How about you join me?” 

She raised an eyebrow, looking at me with skepticism. “Join you?” 

”Yes, join me. My goal is to end them, end this cold-blooded system, and free innocent people like us.”

“Are you trying to trick me?” 

”Of course not!” I gave her an offended look. “Not just that, you have me to fill in Joo Won’s place. I can help you to be less lonely. Plus, we can protect each other.”

Sunhi scratched her chin and thought about it for a while, then finally nodded.

“Fine, but with a condition. You can’t use me to gain something.” 

”I won’t. So it’s a deal then.”

I smiled. Sunhi scoffed and turned away, wiping at her swollen eyes with the back of her hand.

“Don’t smile at me like that,” she muttered. “I didn’t say I trust you completely.”

“Good. You shouldn’t.” I folded my arms behind my head and leaned back against her wall. “Trusting people too easily is what gets you killed around here.”

She let out a small, humorless laugh — it sounded like something brittle snapping.

“I just want them to pay. That’s all I care about. Joo Won… she was reckless, but she didn’t deserve that.”

“I know,” I said softly. I didn’t reach for her hand — I wasn’t that naive. Instead, I let the silence settle between us until her breathing grew steadier.

Outside her window, the sunset painted the dorm buildings gold, the same gold that coated this place in filth.

“I’ll need your help soon,” I murmured. “Think you can handle that?”

Sunhi looked at me — her eyes were raw, but somewhere inside them flickered something more than pain. Not hope. Hunger.

“If it means watching them crawl? Yeah. I can handle anything.”

The room fell quiet again, heavy with the taste of unsaid things. Then Sunhi spoke, her voice hoarse.

“I have a question, though. They said Joo Won was wearing a fake card, right? What does that even mean?”

“About that… I’m not sure.” I rubbed my temples, trying to string a theory together. “Either she was set up, or… she wore the fake one on purpose.”

“No way. She would never do that!” Sunhi slammed her fist on the bed so hard that I flinched. “Someone must have switched it. Damn it… I swear, if I find out who—”

She didn’t finish. We sat in that choking quiet, the kind that crawls up your spine and eats at your lungs. And then I realized I was too hasty

Finally, I asked, “Can I ask something? What were you and Joo Won, exactly? Friends or… more than that?”

Sunhi gave a humorless little laugh, then sighed. 

“Friends, yeah. More like sisters. We bickered constantly, but… we were the closest. She always gave in to me, looked out for me, like a big sister should. She may have seemed tough, but… she was so gentle. So warm. I’m a model, you know? And she never once was jealous. She was just happy for me, proud of me. She taught me how to live. How to love life. How to see the beauty in everything, even this ugly place.”

She paused, eyes distant, and for a moment, the arrogance was gone — only something soft and painfully raw was left.

“She was the reason I kept living.”

I studied her, unexpectedly struck by how human she looked, stripped of her pride and anger, just a girl mourning another girl who had been her whole world.

“Two opposite poles, but together in harmony… do you know what that’s called?” Sunhi whispered, turning to look at me. “It’s destiny.”

For a moment, I almost envied her. To believe in something like that, destiny.

I gave her a faint smile, but my mind was somewhere else entirely.

“In that case… why didn’t you help Joo Won when she was being killed?” I asked. Sunhi’s smile dropped immediately as she lowered her head in guilt.

“Because after all, I still want to live.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I can't help, it can only make things worse. And you know it.”

My throat tightened, and I knew I had said the wrong thing. I gently helped Sunhi brush the hair that was falling over her face as a final comfort, and then gently left the room.