The Predators

It has been a few minutes since the bell stopped ringing. Most of the students were back in the classrooms, while some continued to linger in the hallway.

In class 2-B, students were either buried in their studies or chatting with friends about sports, the latest gossip, and anything.

Kim Hyeon-ju was one of those few who just sat alone by her desk. Unlike most of the students, she just joined the Academy for this year as a Sophomore. Unfortunately, she knew no one, and it seemed like everyone had their own circle of friendship.

Despite that, she had been busy doing something else on her mind. A parchment paper lay on the desk, and a pen was held in her right hand. Her thoughts had been racking up ideas on what to write.

What should I say? How should I start?

Dear... Crush? Wait...

I don't even have his name.

She sighed as her pen hovered around.

How are you? I have been looking forward to meeting-

Too formal? Too desperate?

Every version felt wrong.

She had been bothered by the way her heart flutters every time she sees that man with jet black hair and piercing red eyes. The scene kept replaying in her mind when they first bumped into each other, like a fairytale dream.

Lately, she had been seeing him by the lockers in the corridor next door.

Locker Door 2154

Class 2-C

She remembered every detail. All except his name.

She knew that he existed and was not just a figment of her dreams.

She wanted to introduce herself first, but how could she approach him? She is nothing but an awkward mess.

Will he be interested in her?

She sighed, exhausted, thinking.

A couple just went inside the room, Judy and Robin. The popular loveteam in class.

Casually wrapping his arms around his girl and laughing off Judy's jokes. The perfect couple.

"How sweet," she thought under her breath with a bit of envy in her tone.

She wished to be protected in such a way.

She yearned for such a relationship.

Somewhere along the corridor, a noise started to build up as students began to whisper and gasp, stepping back to pave the way. Some students rushed back inside the rooms, but their attention was still glued to that certain direction.

A scream echoed through the halls, followed by a flurry of cries.

Kim Hyeon-ju's attention shifted immediately after hearing such an unusual noise. Her desk by the doorway gave her the full close proximity of the scene.

A senior student, wearing a varsity jacket and a cap, came down the hall, walking with a pissed look etched on his face.

"Isn't that Michael Godfriede?" one of the onlookers whispered.

"Yeah, he is dangerous."

"Look what's behind him..."

Kim Hyeon-ju also watched silently, still holding a pen in her hand as the figure passed by, Michael Godfriede, one of the delinquents in the Academy.

However, something else caught her eye.

Michael had been treading his pace, dragging his leg like a heavy sack while grunting from the burden.

Just right behind him, a hand was clasped tightly, as if he was holding onto it for his life. A young, fresh man cried out loud.

"Please! I beg of you."

"Can you stop? I don't have it, you know," he snarled as he tried to kick him off.

"Please return my card! I need some funds, or else she's going to kill me," the young man persisted despite the embarrassing situation.

"Not my problem," he scoffed.

Then, two sets of heads approached in front of him.

"Hey, Mike. What's up with that koala on your leg?" A semi-bald guy with pink dyed bristles appeared, and a smug look on his face struck up a conversation.

"Pfft. Hey, Flipper, can you get this dude off me?"

"Sure!" the guy named Flipper obliged as he knelt beside the guy on the floor. "Hey, buddy. Don't you ever embarrass yourself like this?"

He calmly tried to talk to him, but others whimpered as he clung tighter.

"N-no. Please just give me back some cash."

As soon as he defied him, a punch went straight across his stomach.

He gasped, choking for breath.

His grip loosened, releasing Michael from his hands.

"My, my... he is persistent." Flipper clicked his tongue as he shook his head in dismay. A girl beside him squeezed behind the bags held on her arms, hiding.

"A-are you going to beat him?" she spoke out shyly with a hint of worry in her voice as she took a peek with a phone in her hand to record the scene.

"Of course. He deserves it!" Flipper reasoned out with conviction.

"This guy is getting on my nerves!" Michael cracked his neck and stretched his arms.

Then, a stomping kick aimed squarely at the poor victim's stomach.

"You should ask someone else!" Michael finally vented.

The poor man clutched his belly and writhed in pain, but they didn't stop.

Another kick.

Another jab.

Sent in rapid succession. One after the other.

The shy girl just watched from a certain distance, but enough to capture the whole scene. A live footage recorded through the phone with a bunch of fans chanting in the chat.

Her hands were trembling upon seeing the scene unfold right in front of her.

"They like it," she conveyed softly enough to be heard by the two delinquents.

Flipper laughed out loud in amusement before they paused to take a pose for a thumbnail.

"Should we give him more?" he asked Michael.

"What does chat say, Margot?" Michael looked over his shoulder towards her, awaiting approval.

Margot glanced at the chat box, skimming through the array of answers.

All in unison.

YES.

Her thumbs lifted, greenlighting his idea.

Right on queue, they continued to beat him all together.

The guy just sputtered out blood from his lip, and his face had gotten swollen as bruises began to form. Scratches appeared in marks of bloodied red and dirtied blacks from the soles of their shoes.

Meanwhile, in the background, students began to back off as the scene continued to increase in violence.

Some retched from the gruesome encounter.

Others shielded their eyes from the sheer horror.

Nobody could stop them.

No one dared.

Kim Hyeon-ju gasped in fear as she held her hand over her face, trembling at the sight.

In a blink of her eye, Michael's gaze wandered over Hyeon-ju's sight as their eyes locked upon each other like a click.

It was like a cold, predatory gaze.

Something that sent more chills down her spine.

Her pen slipped from her fingers and clattered onto her desk like a deafening sound.

The silence continued to haunt her.

A sound broke through in a roar.

"Hey! What are you guys doing?!" A homeroom teacher witnessed the incident, calling out their attention.

The hallways immediately cleared out.

Michael and Flipper were caught, getting scolded and reprimanded on the spot.

The two just scratched their heads and rolled their eyes.

"You two... to the disciplinary office NOW!" he sternly ordered, pointing in that direction.

They lowered their heads and complied, walking off from the scene.

"A-Adrian?" One of the female students approached the man, still lying on his back in a daze. "Are you okay?" she asked, worried.

The guy named Adrian nodded once while a pained smile forcibly formed on his face.

"Hey, bring him to the nurse's office, asap!"

Quickly, the homeroom teacher motioned two onlookers to assist him in carrying the man towards the clinic downstairs.

In just a snap, the corridors returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

However, the atmosphere in the room felt tense as the students began gossiping about the incident.

The lingering fear still stirred around the room.

Kim Hyeon-ju felt her chest tighten, not just from the scene.

Her senses could feel something different from that gaze.

Like a predator watching over its prey.