Chapter 15 || After the Truth

Chapter 15: 15 || After the Truth

Huegene continued singing, stretching the final words of the melody.

"? Falliiiing down...

Falliiiing down...

Looondon Bridge is falliiiing down...

My faaaair... Ladyyyyyy... ?"

The classroom fell silent.

Huegene’s smile remained.

He looked like he couldn’t have been enjoying the chaos more.

Torin stared at him. "Well, someone seems to be enjoying himself."

Huegene’s smile didn’t falter.

"I wouldn’t call this enjoyment. If Miss 11 had given me a heads up earlier before creating this spectacle, I would have gotten prepared and would have been eating a popcorn right about now."

Ethan, who had his jaw resting on his desk, stared at Huegene’s back.

"This really isn’t the time, Huegene."

Huegene didn’t even turn around.

"It seems Mr. 12 was right. Today is a joyous occasion. The shut-in decides to speak up for once."

Ethan raised his head. "What do you mean by a shut-in? I’m not—"

Huegene interrupted. "And who are you going to deceive with such looks?"

Ethan looked down at himself.

Huegene continued. "Why don’t you go crawl up in some corner of the classroom or wherever shut-ins go to hide away from the world?"

Ethan frowned. "It was a mistake talking to you."

He slumped his head back onto his desk and didn’t say anything after that.

Meira looked at Huegene. "Why don’t you try not being a jerk, Huegene? We’re at crisis here."

Huegene raised his palm toward her.

"Don’t go projecting your anger towards me, princess. It wasn’t my fault your hair clip went missing."

Meira gritted her teeth. "I’m not projecting...."

She let out a loud sigh and stood up from her seat.

Ivy looked at her. "...Where are you going, Meira? We still have to discuss—"

Meira cut in angrily. "There’s literally nothing to discuss anymore, Ivy. Nothing. This teamwork charade is over."

Ashir raised a hand. "Called it."

Riven lowered his head. "...Sorry."

He whispered the words.

Ivy lowered her head and quietly sat back in her seat.

Meira walked out of the classroom through the front door, sliding it shut behind her.

"This wouldn’t have happened," Ken said, turning towards Juro, "if someone had come clean sooner."

Juro slumped down in his seat. "...I’m sorry, everyone."

Sena looked away. "There’s nothing that can do now, Juro."

Caden sighed. "I guess that’s it."

Torin looked at him.

Caden continued. "...It’s over."

Ken replied quietly. "Yeah."

Code, who had watched everything play out silently, turned his gaze away from Ken and towards Aria.

Aria sat there reading a novel in her hand, completely unbothered by what was happening in the classroom.

Code stared at Riven for a moment, then sighed.

’I’m going back to sleep....’

He rested his head on his desk and closed his eyes.

The whole classroom was silent.

No one said anything.

Code 11’s voice finally broke the silence.

She stepped away from Riven.

"Classes will still go on today. So get ready for your next class."

Silence.

She walked back to her desk, picked up her tablet, and left the class without another word.

The door slid shut behind her.

Riven remained there, not moving.

He looked like a statue.

Ivy looked at Riven’s notebook with a sad expression on her face.

She opened it and stared at the book for a moment before closing it again.

She looked up and saw Lily’s worried gaze.

Ivy shook her head lightly.

Lily looked at her for a moment, then turned forward.

...

The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky orange.

Class had ended.

Bags were zipped shut, and the students began leaving the classroom silently.

The class was almost empty now.

Only Code, Aria, and Riven remained.

Code placed his book into his bag, then turned towards Riven at the front of the classroom.

He stood up and walked over to his seat.

Riven closed his book.

"Hey, Riven."

Riven turned towards Code, who was standing beside him.

Code continued. "Can you lend me your note? I fell asleep for a moment during the maths class."

Riven blinked once. Then twice.

He picked up his notebook from the table and handed it to Code.

"Here."

He said it in a low tone.

Code took the notebook."Thanks."

"Don’t mention it."

Code looked at Riven, who had already lowered his head.

He turned to the notebook and opened it.

After a while, he handed Riven the notebook back.

"I’m done."

Riven froze. "Really...?"

Code said. "Yes. It turns out I didn’t miss anything."

He walked back towards his seat.

"Anyways, thanks a lot."

Riven watched him sit back down.

Then he turned away and placed his book back into his bag.

Meanwhile, Aria drank from her can of water.

She closed it and placed it into her bag.

She zipped her bag shut and stood up, her chair scraping against the floor.

She placed the strap over her shoulder and walked out of the classroom through the back door.

...

Minutes later—

The front door slid open.

Lily and Ivy stepped into the now empty classroom.

Lily stayed by the door, holding her bag in her hand.

Ivy walked towards her seat and picked up her bag from the chair.

She froze when she saw a folded piece of paper on the chair.

She picked it up and read through it.

Lily, who stood by the door, spoke out.

"Is something wrong?"

Ivy folded the paper and placed it into her bag. "No. It’s nothing..."

She zipped her bag, picked it up, and walked towards Lily.

"Let’s go get ready for our part-time job."

Lily nodded, and they both stepped out of the classroom.

The door slid shut behind them.

...

Outside the mall, Code came out with a soda in his left hand while his bag was strapped over his shoulder and held by his right hand.

He looked at the orange sky, then lowered his gaze to the students walking ahead.

Some students chatted as they walked into the mall with their tote bags.

Code walked forward while sipping his soda.

’This is my second day on the job. I’m really proud to call myself a working adult.’

...

At the boys’ locker room—

Code, Ken, Caden, and Torin were fully dressed in their butler uniforms.

Riven and Juro walked out of the room together without saying a word.

The group watched them.

Caden spoke first. "Those two haven’t said anything since what happened in the classroom."

Ken closed his locker, which was opposite Code’s.

"What do you expect him to say, Caden? There’s nothing to talk about."

Torin sighed. "Let’s just all go do our jobs."

Code closed his locker door.

They all walked out of the room, closing the door behind them.

The hallway was silent as they walked forward.

Ahead of them were Riven and Juro.

Caden looked at them, then turned towards his group, who were silent.

He said,

"I just don’t know what I should be worried about right now. Should I be worried that Riven was secretly our master all along and kept it a secret from us or..."

He raised his watch.

"...I should be worried that this damn watch can’t come off my hand. I couldn’t have a bath because of it."

Everyone froze.

Caden kept walking.

He stopped when he noticed the three of them weren’t with him.

He turned. "What’s wrong?"

Torin spoke slowly. "Caden, are you trying to tell us that you didn’t take a bath this morning?"

Caden replied. "Well, there was a moment when—"

Ken cut in. "You didn’t bathe. What are you, five?"

Caden was about to speak, but Torin interrupted.

"Why didn’t you have a bath? So you put on your uniform just like that? Oh my God."

Ken started again. "I’m sure he sprayed lots of perfume to keep yourself smelling good, didn’t you?"

They continued talking.

Caden watched them.

"I feel like we’re forgetting the topic here. This wasn’t supposed to be about me. This is about the watches being stuck to our hands. I mean, we can be spied on while we take our baths or do all sorts of things. Not to mention we just got our trust broken...."

But Ken and Torin weren’t listening.

They just kept talking.

Code simply watched them.

"...Why... Why aren’t we focusing on that?"

"Are you allergic to baths, Caden?" Torin asked.

Caden frowned. "Guys ..."

"I’m sure he didn’t even take a bath yesterday," Ken said.

"Guys!"

Code walked up to Caden. "We’re going to be late. Let’s go."

Caden nodded, and they both walked ahead while Ken and Torin trailed behind them, still talking.

Caden folded his arms.

"Everything’s falling apart, but for some reason what everyone seems to be interested in is whether I took a bath or not."

Torin spoke again. "Did you brush your teeth this morning, Caden? I just got to ask since you didn’t..."

Caden replied. "No . Wanna take a sniff."

He turned towards them.

Torin and Ken both immediately backed away.

Torin replied. "No. No."

Ken pointed at him. "After our jobs, we’re having a serious talk about personal hygiene."

Caden frowned and continued walking.

"Did you really not have a bath today, Caden?" Code asked.

Caden said. "You’re making it worse, Code."

"Sorry. Forget I asked."