Mind Games - Night has come

14

The students congregated inside the cramped surveillance room, their attention fixed on Jung-won, renowned for her exceptional computer skills, as she diligently worked to locate the pertinent files.

Eager anticipation filled the room, with some urging Jung-won to expedite her efforts. Min-ji sat beside Na-hee, her head resting against the wall, seemingly absorbed in her own contemplations, indifferent to the impatience gripping her classmates.

After a brief interval, Jung-won's rapid typing ceased, her eyes scrutinizing the screen before her. "What's this? Hold on," she muttered, prompting everyone's focus, and resumed her work on the screen. "There are no files. Someone deleted them," she announced conclusively, confirming the absence of the files on the computer.

"Are they saved somewhere else? Look again," Yoon-seo urged from her vantage point, leaning closer to the screen.

"It's not that. They're really gone," Jung-won stated with certainty. "It wasn't even formatted automatically. Someone deleted them on purpose."

Upon hearing this revelation, Min-ji observed her classmates' reactions. Surprisingly, Kyung-jun found amusement in the situation, silently laughing to himself.

"Lee Yoon-seo, what's going on?" Jin-ha questioned, standing next to Kyung-jun. "You trolled us all."

"Gosh, you Mafia jerks," Kyung-jun declared, crossing his arms. "Nice team-play. Did you delete them?"

The sudden turn of events caught Min-ji off guard. In mere seconds, accusations were hurled at Yoon-seo, insinuating that she had deceived them and deleted the footage herself because she was a Mafia. Min-ji understood the significance of maintaining silence in these moments, where any utterance could be misconstrued as Mafia behavior, making one the target of suspicion.

"It's not like that," Yoon-seo refuted, shaking her head, panic now evident in her demeanor as she foresaw the unfolding ordeal.

"As if it isn't," Kyung-jun retorted, as expected. "You and Jun-hee defended Woo-ram from the start. You showed up late because you deleted the files," he accused, leveling allegations with his customary readiness to point fingers before becoming the accused. "You're just pretending you didn't know," he added.

Silence enveloped the room as the others observed the unfolding scene, uncertain about what to believe. "It's not like that!" Yoon-seo vehemently exclaimed, desperately defending herself against Kyung-jun's relentless accusations.

"Lee Yoon-seo," Yu-jun interjected, stepping forward to directly address her, "How did you know you could see the footage from here? You knew because you went looking to delete the files. No?" He asserted, aligning himself with Kyung-jun's accusations.

Caught in the dilemma of being either targeted or turning the focus on someone else, Yu-jun, a potential option for today's voting, promptly supported Kyung-jun's claims against Yoon-seo. Otherwise, the spotlight might shift to him or Jun-hee.

"What..." Yoon-seo replied, appearing perplexed. "I came across this place by chance," she explained to everyone.

"If she'd deleted the files, why would she have brought us here?" Jun-hee then articulated, being the first to speak in support of Yoon-seo.

"Yes. And she doesn't know how to do this," Jung-won added, still diligently working to recover the deleted footage.

Unfazed and unwavering, Kyung-jun retrieved his phone from his pocket, resolute in his decision to vote against her, "It's game over." He declared, pressing the voting button, holding out his phone as the siren resonated right after casting his vote. "I voted," he succinctly remarked, turning around and leaving.