The Next Morning
Gaeul heard someone knocking on her bedroom door quite loudly. She thought it was still too early to make a scene.
Who? she thought.
Gaeul opened the door and to her surprise, Helian was standing in front of her door. Helian's face looked so upset.
Did I make a mistake against her? Why does he look so angry? Gaeul said to herself.
“I know it's early in the morning. But honestly, I feel irritated with you!” Helian walked into Gaeul's room on a whim. “Aren't you the one who stole my guitar?” he accused carelessly.
Helian set Gaeul up by accusing her of stealing his milky guitar.
Gaeul was silent for a moment, she tried to think about the situation calmly. Suddenly a smile appeared on her lips.
“It seems like you just realized it now?” Gaeul herself said yes even though she knew Helian was lying, she just wanted to follow Helian's game. She knew that Helian clearly wanted to trap her.
“Then you have to return it or I'll report you to the dormitory authorities!” threatened Helian.
“Before you report me, then I give you permission to first go through my things and see if your guitar is in my room or not,” Gaeul offered calmly.
“You must have hidden it somewhere else. It's useless for me to do so,” Helian refused.
“If you're so sure I stole it, why don't you just do what I say,” Gaeul said gently.
Helian remained stubborn, “I won't believe your nonsense! You must have hidden it somewhere!”
Gaeul remained calm, “Then, let's check together. I'm sure your guitar is where it belongs, and I never touched it.”
They both headed back to Helian's music room. Gaeul saw that the guitar was still there. She asked Helian to check for herself.
“As you can see, your guitar is here. I'm not lying,” Gaeul said calmly.
Helian looked doubtful, but there was doubt in her eyes. Perhaps, she realized that her accusations were unfounded. However, she didn't want to admit her mistake.
“I... I don't believe you,” Helian said anxiously, trying to find an excuse to defend her accusation.
Gaeul felt sad to see Helian being so stubborn. However, she didn't want to prolong the matter.
“Well, if you don't believe me, that's your right. But I wish you could stop accusing me without clear evidence. I never stole anything, including your guitar,” Gaeul said firmly.
Helian finally slowly tried to regulate her emotions. She realized that she didn't have any solid evidence to accuse Gaeul. She felt a little embarrassed by her over-reactive attitude.
“I... I'm sorry for accusing you so casually,” Helian said hesitantly.
Gaeul smiled gently, “No problem. I hope we can reconcile and learn to respect each other.”
Helian nodded, “Yes, I'll try to do better. Sorry for bothering you.”
What a mess! Helian bit his lip in annoyance. The young man had deliberately accused Gaeul of accusing his guitar. He just wanted to trap his friend. He knew a cheap plan like this would only end badly. But he was too panicked earlier that he didn't think long about his actions.
When he woke up earlier, he got a call from someone named Fall Gray. And because of that figure, that made Helian become very impulsive. The figure named Fall Gray told him to steal a painting if Helian refused he would spread Helian's secret that he was the son of Yojin, a businessman who was quite famous in South Korea.
Helian deliberately wanted to trap Gaeul, so that she would get a friend to carry out the theft of the painting.
“It looks like you have something behind you, your behavior is very strange,” Gaeul said while looking at Helian intently. Gaeul realized that Helian was deliberately accusing her and wanted to set her up. Gaeul honestly felt a little humiliated for being used by her own friend for a bad plan. However, she also felt sorry for Helian who seemed to be caught up in something she didn't want.
Although Gaeul desperately wanted to tease Helian, she chose to stay calm and not make the situation worse. She knew that in this situation Helian was actually feeling depressed by the atmosphere of the situation and she knew very well, acting nosy would only make things more complicated. Instead, she wanted to talk to Helian in a tactful manner.
“Gaeul, what you told me earlier is true, right? You never stole my guitar,” Helian said anxiously, realizing that Gaeul had figured out her plan.
Gaeul nodded, “Yes, it's true. I never stole your guitar. But I want to know what really happened, why did you do this?”
Helian felt confused and embarrassed by his own behavior. “I... I just got a call from someone named Fall Grey. He threatened me and told me to steal the painting if I didn't want my secret revealed.”
Gaeul became concerned hearing Helian's explanation. “Fall Grey? Who is he? And what is your secret that could make you so panicked?”
Helian hesitated to speak, but finally decided to share with Gaeul. “Fall Grey said that she knew that I was the son of Yojin, a famous businessman. She wanted to use that information to force me to commit a crime.”
Gaeul frowned, “Wow I'm a little surprised. But looking at your background I feel that you are indeed suitable to be a targat.” It was no surprise in Gaeul's mind that Helian was targeted.
Helian nodded, “But I'm scared, Gaeul. I'm afraid that if my secret gets out, people will see me in a different light.”
Gaeul placed a hand on Helian's shoulder gently, “Take it easy, Helian. I will support you and we will face this problem together. So will the consequences.” In Gaeul's mind, she felt that getting involved with Helian would be quite interesting. That's why she deliberately threw herself into a trap that she clearly knew about.
Helian was relieved to hear Gaeul's support. “Thank you, Gaeul. I'm lucky to have a friend like you.”
Gaeul smiled, “We support each other as friends, Helian. I will help you in stealing the painting. So shouldn't we come up with a plan?” lured Gaeul. He did that on purpose to provoke Helian.
Hearing Gaeul speak like that, Helian somehow felt that she was the one who had fallen into her own trap. Instead of feeling scared and refusing, Gaeul was excited and seemed to be enjoying it. Apparently, Helian began to realize that there was indeed something strange in Gaeul.
Wasn't this too easy? Why is she giving a sense of approval, as if she wouldn't know the danger before her eyes? Helian thought anxiously.
***
In the evening, Helian took Gaeul and Chyou along. The three of them secretly stole a painting in a small museum.
“Shouldn't you be a lot more careful?” nagged Gaeul at Helian who was too careless and easily tripped over her own feet. She found it amusing that her friend was so unprofessional.
“Sorry,” Helian said softly. He himself admitted that he was too nervous while doing this. This kind of theft was the first criminal act he had made, it was natural that he felt nervous as well as a little trembling to the point of tripping over his feet many times.