Chapter 13

-Remon’s Place-

Knock knock.

The door creaked open—barely and before Mallory could react, a hand grabbed her and yanked her inside.

“Wha—” she gasped, but before she could even form a complaint, Remon put a finger to her lips.

Shhh.

Mallory gave a slow nod, alarmed by how serious Remon looked.

“Give me your phone,” Remon said, her voice low and cold.

Without question, Mallory handed it over. She watched as Remon sat at her desk, her fingers flying across the screen and then onto her laptop keyboard. Mallory stood nearby, trying to follow what she was doing, but she couldn’t make sense of any of it.

“What are you doing?” she asked quietly.

Remon didn’t answer right away. Her eyes darted between screens, focused, tense. After a moment, she handed the phone back.

“We’re safe now,” she said.

Mallory unlocked it. Everything looked the same. 

“I just wanted to check if anyone's spying on you through your phone. I deleted all the unknown sources. Seems like you’ve been clicking on sketchy websites a lot lately.”

“Oh, I see..” She stayed quiet, but her expression betrayed how lost she felt. Remon noticed.

“Did something happen?” she asked.

Mallory slowly looked up from her phone and hesitated. “Is it true you’re not from here?”

“Huh? Where did that come from?”

“…Some classmates were talking. They said you transferred here because of… something that happened.”

Remon didn’t respond. Instead, she turned her gaze to the side. Mallory waited.

“…I guess,” Remon said flatly.

“I don’t believe it,” Mallory said, gripping her phone a little tighter.

Remon looked at her again.

“So… is it true you punched a classmate and a teacher? And they were sent to the hospital?”

There was a moment of silence. Then a hum.

“There’s nothing important about that,” Remon said, brushing it off. “Anyway, I added a security layer to your phone. Our chats are now protected. Nobody can snoop on what you’re doing.”

“There are people snooping on my phone?” Mallory asked, alarmed.

Remon nodded. “Yeah. It’s way too easy to hack someone’s phone these days. That’s what I’m worried about. If someone sees our messages, it could get messy. I can explain it like this. So whenever you log in to an unknown Wi-Fi network, like at a café or a restaurant, your data gets stored by that network. Basically, everything you do could be recorded by the Wi-Fi. However, once you disconnect from the Wi-Fi, that data storage process stops. But, if you click on unknown sources, like sketchy ads or notifications, your data could still be stored even if you're no longer connected to any Wi-Fi network.”

She paused, then continued talking, “By the way, why did you come back after break looking like you just saw a ghost?”

Mallory frowned. “No. You don’t get to change the subject. You should’ve told me the truth first. Even if it is true… I’m sure you had a reason, right?”

Remon groaned, clearly annoyed. “I told you it’s not important—”

“Then I won’t tell you what happened to me either,” Mallory said, crossing her arms.

Remon stared at her, defeated. “…Fine.”

She leaned back in her chair.

“Yes and no,” she said. “I did punch a classmate. Not the teacher. The classmate pissed me off. That’s it. I wasn’t expelled—I left on my own. I was tired of being the only smart person surrounded by idiots. Thought I’d get even smarter on my own, y’know?”

There was a trace of irritation in her voice, but also honesty.

Mallory let out a small laugh. “Haha, just like I thought. They were lying.”

Remon raised a brow. “Why do you believe me so easily? What if I just made that up, too?”

Mallory’s smile faltered. “Hey, don’t joke like that…”

“Alright, alright. So, what happened with you?” Remon asked, shifting the mood.

Mallory took a breath. “There was this boy at lunch. He reminded me so much of Rein. It… kind of hit me harder than I expected.”

Remon perked up. “Who’s his name?”

Mallory shook her head. “No… I didn’t ask. Not like I wanted to know anyway.”

Remon hummed thoughtfully. 

“He… didn’t physically look like Rein either... maybe I’m just... missing him.”

A silence hung between them for a while. Mallory, now more accustomed to Remon’s room, lay on the bed like it was her own. She stared at the ceiling, feeling a bit bored. Then, something strange happened.

“Sorry, is this seat taken?”

Mallory looked up and froze. She saw a light grey-haired boy with dark grey streaked hair in the middle, who seemed familiar.

“REIN??” Her eyes widened in shock, it’s Rein.

“Hm? Yes?”

Mallory stared at him, unable to believe her eyes.

“Hm? Am I not allowed to sit beside my lovely girlfriend?”

“… Rein,”

“Oh, by the way, Mallory, why did you leave me that day?”

“Huh?”

“You told me to walk while the boba place was too far for me…”

“I... I…”

“You abandoned me.”

Her breath hitched in her throat, panic rising as she tried to catch it.

“Rein—“

Suddenly, Mallory shot up, sitting upright in shock. She looked around, disoriented, realizing she was in Remon’s room.

Remon was still sitting at her desk, her laptop open. She turned her head and glanced at Mallory.

“You were falling asleep. Are you okay?”

Mallory took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, still shaken. “I’m... I’m fine,” she said, her voice trembling slightly as she tried to calm her racing heart. 

“There’s a cup of water under the bed, if you want,” Remon said without looking up.

“...Thanks…”

Mallory reached for the glass, taking a few gulps of the mineral water. Her eyes wandered toward Remon’s screen—multiple tabs open, each filled with walls of text and images. Curious, she stood and stepped closer.

“Did you find anything new?”

“I guess, yeah. I’ve been digging into the other writer’s background—the one whose book is similar to Rein’s.”

“Oh? What did you find out?”

“His name’s Dave. Thirty years old. He’s written three books so far. The most popular one has around three thousand readers. And yeah, that’s the one with similarities to Rein’s story. I also found his personal social media accounts.”

Remon clicked on a post. It showed a man in black sunglasses taking a selfie at the beach. Then another photo—same man, same glasses, this time smiling beside a woman. The rest were images of his pets and a bunch of vague, pseudo-deep quotes.

“...Do you think he’s the one who… killed Rein?” Mallory asked quietly.

“That’s the weird part,” Remon replied. “When you look at the comments on his posts, not a single person mentions Rein or his account. Usually, if something like this happens, people are quick to bring it up. Especially fans. If someone’s being accused of plagiarism or worse, they’d say something. But look, scroll through.”

Mallory did. Nothing. No one brought up Rein.

“Huh… that’s weird. Or maybe his fans just... went all in on hating Rein without even bothering to inform Dave? You know? Like when people gang up on someone without even checking the source? Just a total one-sided attack?”

“That’s possible,” Remon said, shrugging. “But out of three thousand people, there has to be at least one person who’d speak up to him. There’s always that one person in situations like this.”

Mallory nodded slowly. “Yeah… I guess you’re right.”

“So… there’s a possibility Dave doesn’t even know Rein,” Mallory murmured.

“Seems like it,” Remon replied.

Mallory leaned back with a sigh. “So if that’s the case… whoever the hell accused Rein might just be one of Dave’s annoying fans?”

“Possible.”

“Damn…”

She glanced at the clock on Remon’s wall. It was getting late. With a stretch and a yawn, Mallory grabbed her things. “Alright, I should head home. Thanks for everything, Remon.”

“Okay. Take care,” Remon said, still half-focused on her screen.

Mallory reached for the door, then paused when she heard Remon speak again.

“One more thing,” Remon said, turning slightly toward her. “You should be more careful from now on. With how you talk, what you do. Someone is spying on us, and I don’t think they’re going away anytime soon.”

Mallory blinked, the seriousness in Remon’s voice settling in.

“…Okay,” she said softly. “I’ll keep that in mind. See ya at school, Remon.”

The door clicked shut behind her.