I didn’t think anything would happen. Not on that bus. Not with everyone laughing, playing that stupid mafia game. I sat by the window, headphones in, pretending not to hear — but I did. I heard her laugh. I always did. Music in one ear, her laughter in the other.

She sat two rows ahead. The girl who used to be mine.

She hadn’t looked at me once. Not since she decided to believe I cheated. No proof. Just rumors. And I — I was too angry to chase after her again. At least, that’s what I told myself.

They played Mafia on the bus. Loud. Silly. Everyone laughing. Someone joked I’d make a good killer. I smirked. They didn’t know how right they were.

When we arrived and the teachers left, I already felt something was off. Then came the notifications. One by one, our phones lit up with roles. Mine? “Detective.” Great. I’d have to protect the innocent — even when one of them broke me long before the game began.

It wasn’t planned. Jiwoon had been watching me. Asking questions. Whispering things to others. I saw him near the storage room where I kept the keys — keys I’d stolen from the staff dorm. One night he followed me. Caught me unlocking the room with the axes.

He thought that I was mafia.

He said he’d tell. Said I was dangerous. Said if I didn’t confess, he’d make sure the whole class voted me out next morning.

I didn’t think. I just acted.

I grabbed the axe before he could scream. One hit. Maybe two. I don’t remember. I only remember the silence afterward. The warmth on my hands. The way he looked at me, even when he couldn’t breathe.

I told myself it was survival. That’s what this game is now, right?

But then... she found out. My past. My weakness.

She saw me coming out of the room again. Saw the keys. The blood I hadn’t cleaned right. And she put it together — smart girl.

Now, she stands in front of me. Accusation in her eyes. Fear behind it.

“I know what you did.” she says.

I want to laugh. I don’t.

She threatens to tell the others. To end me.

So I do what I do best — I move fast. Trap her between me and the wall. My breath cold. Her eyes locked on mine.

“You think you’re the only one with secrets?” I say, voice low. “You think I won’t drag you down with me?”

She trembles — just a flicker — and I know I still have some hold.

“I killed to survive.” I whisper. I decided to shift attention not to myself, but to her. To her rather unpleasant little secrets. “You want to play dirty? What’s your excuse for Soohyun? You knew he wasn’t mafia, but you still pointed fingers. Cried. Lied. Manipulated them. You used your tears like a knife.”

Her breath hitches. She remembers.

“You tell them about me,” I continue, “and I’ll tell them about you. I’ll make them see you for who you really are. And then let’s see who gets voted out.”

My ex. The girl who once believed I’d cheated on her, though I never did. She didn’t listen. I yelled. I begged. She turned away, just like now, when she thinks she’s got something on me — something worth threatening me over.

She thought she had the upper hand. She thought the truth she found would make me kneel. But she forgot who I am. Who I was to her.

“You think I’m scared of you?” I whispered. “You forgot who used to make you beg.”

I remembered everything. The way she’d claw at my shoulders, stifling moans in the crook of my neck. How my hand would tighten around her throat, watching her eyes flutter between pain and pleasure. The way she gasped for air under the weight of my hips, trembling from the inside out. The way she whispered my name when she broke apart in my arms. I remembered the taste of her tears — salty, hot, clinging to my tongue as she came undone. Every time, she said she hated me. Every time, she came back for more.

“But I haven’t said a word. You know why?” I leaned in closer, brushing my lips near her ear. “Because I still give a damn. Stupid, right?”