While other groups collaborated smoothly, Mala's group was a chaotic mix: one person was a chronic sleeper, one ignored everyone's opinions, one tried to keep the peace, and another simply didn't care. Despite this, they weren't incompetent and managed to present their ideas well. When the recess bell rang, Hana hurried to check the bathrooms; seeing no water mess, she walked back but realized kan and Siv were missing. She asked the Class President, who informed her they had gone to Class 12C.
"Why go there?" Hana wondered, but she didn't dwell on it and sat back down to continue her exercises.
Meanwhile, Liv tried to stop Mala and her friends, but Mala ignored him. "Hey! Can you stop following me? Go back to class. It's annoying, don't you get it?" Mala snapped. Liv went silent, apologized, and actually headed back. Kan and Siv were secretly watching them. When Liv walked by, they pretended to be looking around at random things so he wouldn't suspect they were spying on Mala. Liv just gave them a blank smile and didn't ask anything. As he walked away, he muttered, "If you can stop her, please help stop Mala." "Oh? Uh… okay," they replied awkwardly.
Mala reached Class 12C and demanded, "Who went into the bathroom and made a mess for Hana to clean?" Everyone stared at her and laughed mockingly. Soon, a girl came out and told Mala to calm down because anyone could use that bathroom, so they didn't know who did it. "That's not true! It was you!" Shiv couldn't hold back and interjected. Mala glanced at kan and Siv but didn't say a word to them. She turned back to the girl, stepped closer, and stared her directly in the eyes while others whispered.
"Look at her! Getting worked up over Hana's business. Is she a servant, a classmate, or a friend?" they mocked. "What are you laughing at?" Mala asked sharply, silencing them for a moment before they resumed whispering. "You and your group should stop this behavior. If this doesn't reach the teachers, I'll deal with it myself!" Another girl laughed. "Deal with it yourself? What, are you a gangster? Just because of a little bathroom cleaning, you're acting out for attention?" Siv was furious. "And what about having a foul mind just to cause trouble for a friend isn't that acting out too? Hana look good and pretty on the outside, but don't let it rot on the inside, right, Likan?" The girl sneered. Mala's anger boiled over while Tata and Sing Sing tried to calm her. Kan, hearing this, finally reacted.
"Hana isn't like that! Believe me. I didn't believe it at first either, but now I do Hana isn't that kind of person. Some people want to hurt her. Those chats weren't written by Hana herself. Don't you know that nowadays Facebook accounts can be hacked?" kan spoke without holding back until everyone was shocked. "kan! Are you crazy? Hana tried to hurt you, and now you're taking her side?" Since she had already blurted it out, kan didn't hide it anymore. "I'm not crazy. I'm the one who found out her Facebook was hacked, though I don't know by whom!"
The girls were angry but refused to accept that Hana was innocent. One retorted, "She could just use the 'hacked' excuse as a cover. She might have another phone and hacked herself, or hired someone to do it!" Everyone looked at her, thinking it was a possibility. Kan, siv, and Mala were stunned had Hana and kan kept this a secret and just accepted the punishment? They were confused but didn't have time to process the girl's claim.
As the bell rang for class, Mala warned the girl one last time to tell her group to stop. Siv felt a bit upset that Hana and kan had hidden this from her. Mala didn't overthink it; she turned to kan and asked, "Is what you said just now true?" kan nodded. Mala understood and decided she wouldn't stay quiet. Hana was the one who always helped her study so she could get good grades.
After morning classes ended for the lunch break, Hana asked them where they had been and what they were doing during recess. Mala and Siv pulled Hana aside and asked if what kan said was true. Kan felt uneasy because she had slipped up, giving Hana an apologetic look. "Was your account really hacked, Hana?" Hana looked at kan and understood what happened. She took a breath and replied, "Yes." "Then why did you stay quiet and not protest to the teacher?" "I didn't want more trouble. It's only one month, and it's almost over. I don't want this to drag on." "But…" Hana cut Mala off, saying she had a headache and wanted to forget about it.
While talking, kan noticed Sina walking behind Sara's group, which included tuna. She turned back to the conversation. Mala tried to keep her cool but brought up what the students said earlier for Sara to hear. "Sara, if your account was really hacked, you should deal with whoever did it. If you don't want to bother the teachers, just find out who it was!" Mala saw Hana looked tired of the topic, but she continued. "Hana, by doing this, you're making it look like you actually did it. Even though it was hacked, those people are accusing you of having two phones and hacking yourself!"
Siv thought for a second. "Wait, how did the hacker know so much detail about Hana and kan?" Mala still didn't like kan, but kan didn't care and mentioned, "During the New Year in Siem Reap, a junior helped me meet Ree. I asked him, but he denied everything, saying he just followed the chat. He didn't know if it was a hack or not, but he said the chat looked exactly like Hana she even told him not to talk about personal stuff outside of school. It seems whoever hacked it knows Hana's personality too well!"
As they were brainstorming, Hana snapped. "Can you guys stop? It's my fault for telling kan. I'm really tired of this. Can we stop? It's giving me a headache!" kan felt guilty and looked down. Han walked away. "Or is it exactly as those girls said?" Mala asked angrily because Hana wasn't seeing her good intentions and chose to suffer alone. "Mmm! Actually, there was no hacker. If there was, I was the one who hacked myself. I did it, and I'm taking the punishment. One month goes by fast. I hope it ends here. Stop bringing it up!" Hana said this to end the discussion, leaving the three of them stunned and feeling guilty.
"Think about it, Hana! I'm only saying this for your own good!" Mala shouted after her. Siv, looking sad, took her bag to follow Hana, but kan stopped her, saying she had somewhere to go and asked Siv to make up with Hana for her. Siv nodded and followed Hana. Mala looked at kan briefly before leaving to find her friends; her heart had softened slightly toward kan.
Kan watched where the others were going and then ran after them, but lost their trail. Suddenly, she saw vud. He hadn't gone home for lunch yet. She ran to him. "vud! Have you seen Sina?" he smiled, thinking kan maby had caught on to something. "Why ask me about Sina?" he teased, wanting kan to acknowledge that he and Sina were somewhat close since she didn't have many friends. "Oh, because vud is in class with Sina! Just tell me, did you see her?" "Mmm, right. She said she and Sara had a group project to discuss. She's in a group with Sara now. They'll be back for class soon."
Kan's phone was out of credit, so she borrowed vud's phone. He was confused was she going to call Sina? He had never dared to call or text her himself, but he didn't stop kan. She went to the chat. "Oh! You guys are friends on Facebook, that makes it easier!" vud smiled but acted casual. "Yeah, we're in the same class, we have a class group chat." kan quickly typed to Sina, stating she was Kaan from 12B. While doing so, she just kept saying "Mmm" to vud, sounding very distracted, which made him stall. Just an 'Mmm'? he wondered. Then kan sent a voice message. He was shocked; it took him forever just to get Sina to accept his friend request, and he never dared to message her, yet kan just sent a voice note. He wondered what Sina would think seeing a voice message from his account.
"Sina! It's me likan 12B. Where are you? Send me your location, I need to talk to you urgently!" kan spoke with a sense of desperation. Vud sat on a bench under a tree since Sina hadn't replied yet. "Hey, vud, have you ever done something to upset Sina? Why did she see the message but not reply?" "I… I haven't done anything! You know Sina, she doesn't talk about non-school stuff with anyone." kan thought, So when Sina messaged me, it was 'official'? Vud felt a bit jealous seeing how much Sina and Senior kan had been interacting lately. While waiting, kan asked about the relationship between Hav and vud. They didn't seem like a boss and henchman, but more like brothers, with vud being the obedient younger one.
"Is that so?" vud smiled, scratching his head. "Yeah. Back in Grade 10, some Grade 12 seniors were bullying me. If it wasn't for Brother Hav, I wouldn't be as cheerful as I am now. He was so cool. He had just transferred and didn't talk much. I wondered why he was so quiet but didn't dare ask. I used to have to serve those seniors during recess. One day, I went back to class early but didn't want to go in because everyone knew I was a target. I went to the rooftop and saw Hav even though he was young, he was smoking! I whispered to him to be careful of his health." kan laughed. "Hav's eyes were so sharp; he looked at me as if telling me to mind my own business. Back in class, the teacher searched our bags because they heard students were smoking. Hav wasn't scared. I took his bag and secretly hid the cigarettes in my shirt without anyone seeing. Hav saw it and looked surprised, but his face remained calm. After the teacher found nothing, I gave them back to him."
"Why were you so brave, vud?" "I don't know, I just liked Hav's style. We didn't become friends right away. But one day, I felt sick and went to the roof because the Grade 12s called me. I couldn't do anything right that day and they started hitting me. It was noisy and bothered Hav, who was smoking there. It was funny the seniors asked about the smell of cigarettes because it was expensive and different from normal ones. Hav came out and saw me being stepped on, his face totally calm. Wasn't he cool?" "Uh… mmm," kan dragged her voice. "Not really cool!" she said smiling, seeing the pride on vud's face.
"The even funnier thing," vud continued, "was another person who seemed to be fighting with his girlfriend on a video call. She didn't believe he was at school. He walked up right during the fight and pointed his camera at the bullying. The Grade 12s thought he was filming them and told him to delete it. He quickly hung up and apologized, saying he wasn't involved. At first, he sounded angry, but when he looked up, he had this cheeky but gentle smile, saying since he saw a fight, he should probably intervene. While Hav was dealing with the seniors, that guy jumped in to help me too. I was so touched!"
"Wait, wait. I think that guy is cooler than Hav, especially that cheeky 'I know I'm wrong' attitude," kan said, laughing. Vud smiled. "After that, we all went to the office and lost 30 points. The three of us became friends. But Hav's personality he doesn't treat us like 'friends' but like a senior. Later, I found out that guy was actually Hav's online gaming friend! What a coincidence!" kan laughed and asked who it was. Vud went quiet for a moment, then smiled. "Chay from Grade 10!"[ Chay that Lin's boyfriend]
Kan couldn't believe it. "Him?" She wondered why Chay was still in Grade 10 if they were the same age. She realized so much had happened that she never knew about because she never cared. Suddenly, vud's phone buzzed. Sina sent a voice message back, saying she was very busy and kan didn't need to wait, but if it was truly urgent, kan should set a time tonight and tell her through kan's own chat. Her voice didn't sound as soft as when she talked to Kan probably because it was vud's chat.
"Huh? She said 'my' chat? Does she mean I have to use my own account?" kan asked, confused. Seeing vud's excited face as he grabbed the phone to replay the message, kan gave him a blank look. "What's wrong with you, vud?" "She sent a voice message! Didn't you see, Senior?" "I saw it. Is it that big of a deal?" vud shook his head, pushing kan to go home. "Go home and eat, don't you have to come back for class?" kan took a breath and walked away.