Chapter 163

The car came to a stop after driving on the slush-infested road for quite some time.“Shall we go?”“Yes.”Yurim felt like instructor Miso’s secretary right now, she got on the elevator of the hospital with a grin. In a flash, they arrived at Maru’s room.“Go inside.”“What about you, instructor?”“I need to think about something really quick.”“...Yes.”Well, that’s a bit odd. Yurim stepped inside, for now, on the bed was Maru with a book in hand. It felt uncomfortable to be around him, to be honest. Oh well. She opened her mouth to try to say hi.“Let me ask you just one thing,” Maru cut in.The boy was staring at her kind of scarily, their eyes met. “Did you start the fire?”The question came out of nowhere, punching Yurim’s throat completely shut. Why was he asking that? He looked like he knew something. Wait, did he know?The boy shut the book with a loud clap. Maru’s cold, calm expression grew icier by the second. He kicked away the blanket on him before standing up on one foot. Something was weird, Maru was approaching her. She couldn’t breathe. Maru leaned over to look over her, she stepped back with a gasp.“So it’s you.”“W-what are you talking about?! You were the one who started the fire!”“Me?”“Yeah!”“Why do you think that?”“T-that’s!”She didn’t know what to say. She knew Maru wasn’t the perpetrator, so she was speechless. She desperately tried to continue her words.“Did you see me start the fire?” Maru asked.“No. But there wasn’t a fire when I came out. So it has to be you. It has to be!”“I really started the fire?”“Don’t you even know? You started the fire with a tube of glue. The instructor already said you’re suspicious. Be honest. It’s you!”“I started the fire with glue?”“Yes. You started the fire and then called everyone else here!”She shouted before looking at Maru. How dare he get suspicious of her! He didn’t even have proof!“Mm.”Maru loosened his expression before stepping back.“Sorry.”“What?”“I was just really mad. I didn’t mean to shift blame.”Maru looked down apologetically. Yurim thought for a second, so Maru really didn’t know anything.“But it’s not me either, please believe me.”Maru went back to his spot with a sigh, he looked tired for some reason.“I was just feeling chaotic because I was hurt. Sorry. I got too agitated.”He looked like an apologetic sinner, Yurim relaxed a little bit.“Well, fine. I’ll take it. But you really didn’t start a fire?”“Yes. Please believe me.”“But instructor Miso’s suspicious of you. I don’t think so either, but the fire did start after you went up.”“That’s true. But if I started the fire, do you think I would’ve tried to save the stage despite risking injuries? It’s really not me. Believe me.”Maru balled up his fists, his emotions must be a mess right now. He was getting blamed for something he didn’t even do, after all. That would explain his previous actions as well.‘Good. He doesn’t know anything.’What should she do? Should she push him a bit further? No. She decided to just watch him, it kind of felt good watching the boy struggle with his thoughts. That’s right, you shouldn’t even have thought about jumping into the fire!“I heard from instructor Miso that we wouldn’t take this to the police. The school only thinks of this as a mistake as well.”“What? Really?”Yurim’s complexion improved in a flash. She’s been worried all night about what she could do if teachers or the police get involved, she didn’t want to get arrested. That would put her in a fate worse than death. But if the world saw this as a simple mistake? Nothing would happen.It was like the nervousness and regret that’s been stabbing away at her heart suddenly disappeared, it felt good to breathe again. Her vision cleared up and she began to notice things, like the little mountain of fruits next to Maru. Color was starting to come back into her world. Ah, she’s just noticed how pretty the snow is outside. Yurim smiled lightly. “I don’t think it’s you either. There’s no one here that’d do something like that.”“Thanks.”Maru sighed in relief, she felt a little less hateful of Maru now that she’s relaxed quite a bit. It’d be nice if the incident just gets forgotten like this… She took a sip of the plum juice Maru gave her and sat down, only then did she notice Maru’s hurt leg.“Were you hurting a lot?”“I’m fine now. The fracture doesn’t seem like anything bad.”“That’s good. I was worried.”Their conversation smoothed out. The plum juice was sweet. She felt like she could fly. Finally, she’d be able to sleep well for the first time in a very long time. Instructor Miso entered through the door. She didn’t feel guilty anymore when she looked at the instructor.“Yurim, can you step out for a bit?”“Yes.”She stepped outside. Once they were out of Maru’s view, instructor Miso started asking her questions.“How was he?”“He seemed suspicious, but I don’t think it’s him. He looked really guilty, so I felt sorry for him.”“Really?”Right then, instructor Miso took out her phone. She must’ve gotten a message, she checked her phone after telling Yurim to wait for a second. She put the phone in her pockets after reading it.“Hah, so no one in the club, I guess?”Yurim nodded for now. She needed to snuff out any further reason for instructor Miso to investigate further.“Alright. You’re all good kids, so I believe it. I’ll just think of it as unlucky.”“Yes, I think it’d be for the best. It feels bad to be suspicious of my friends.”“You’re a good kid.”Miso patted her shoulders. Yurim felt freed from all of her shackles, she actually had to suppress a grin from coming up on her mouth. “Yurim, I hate to say it, but can you go back by yourself? I want to talk with Maru.”“Yes, that’s fine.”“Here’s your money for the taxi. Good work. I’ll see you in two days.”“Yes.”What a good day. Yurim dropped all of her worries and stepped outside.

* * *Maru stretched; his hips hurt from sitting for too long, he twisted his hips to loosen them up a bit.“She’s gone.”Miso entered the room. Maru handed her a plum drink to her as well.“Here, it’s good.”“Your words make you sound like a liar.”And he was. It was honestly a bit too sweet for his tastes, so he’s offered it to anyone who comes to visit him. Even with that, he had eight bottles left. When would he be able to get rid of them? Just as he opened a bottle of orange juice for himself, Miso snatched the drink out of his hands and switched it out for the plum drink.“Plums are good for your health.”“Hah.”“Don’t sigh, you’re still young.”Miso gulped down the drink in one shot. She must feel pretty stuffy inside. After all, a criminal emerged from the club, when she was so sure that they wouldn’t be in there. Miso frowned in annoyance.“Alright, so. How’s Yurim the perpetrator? And why did you just send her back?”Miso spoke as she took out her phone with Maru’s text opened.[I think Yurim did it. Send her back with thanks for now.]Maru took out a voice recorder from his pant pocket.“What’s that?”“A recorder.”“What?”He wordlessly played the recording. The conversation he had with Yurim played out.“.....”Miso’s frown deepened.“You didn’t tell the club about the glue, did you?”“Of course not. I didn’t want to talk about it.”Miso played the recording multiple times, Maru smiled bitterly looking at her. The woman was a fan of humans, so an incident like this must’ve been quite a shock to her. To think her student would try to trick her and pin the blame on Maru...Maru realized that Yurim was the one who did it as soon as she stepped into the room. A giant word bubble popped up over her as soon as their eyes met. The word bubble was shaky and spiky, reflecting her current mental state. Moreover, it had the words ‘did he find any evidence?’ written on it. But of course, that wasn’t good enough as evidence. So he brought his recorder.“I wonder why she did it,” Miso sighed.“Yurim’s probably the only person who knows.”“Hah, I should ask her.”Miso’s eyes narrowed like a hawk’s. Maru grabbed her wrist with a shake of his head.“What?”“Leave her be.”“What? Leave her be?”Miso shook off Maru’s hand with a confused expression.