The class was filled with the low whispers of the girls. Aryaraj and Akshat lay on the floor, still exhausted, chatting lightly. Ankit was looking at his wolf, while Gautam sat quietly, still amused with himself.
Mayank and Narayan were sitting on chairs, silent, panting and breathing heavily.
"What do you think happened to him?" Mayank asked, looking at Narayan.
"Only one guy knows," Narayan said, moving his gaze away from Mayank toward Abhishek.
Abhishek stood with his back against the white wall, using it to support his legs. His head was buried between his hands, covering his ears. He was murmuring to himself.
Mayank stood up from his chair and walked toward him.
"Tell us what actually happened to Dhruv," he said with a straight face.
"I... I didn't do anything," Abhishek stammered. "It... it wasn't my fault."
He started backing away slowly.
He moved toward the door, but suddenly a table slid in front of it.
"You're not going anywhere," Narayan said coldly, though his eyes flickered with a strange mix of pity, curiosity, and anger.
Mayank grabbed Abhishek by the collar. "Speak!"
The room fell silent. Everyone's eyes were on Abhishek. He didn't speak for a few moments, then finally began.
---
"I was — new to this school at that time...
It was the start of a new semester, and I had just transferred here.
Back then, Dhruv was considered one of the best students in school — both academically and in sports, though he could be a bit mischievous.
It was my third day. I had forgotten my smartphone in the staff room, so I ordered Dhruv to bring it. But Dhruv, being himself, refused. Instead, he gave me a lecture on not making others do personal work and how teachers shouldn't use smartphones while teaching.
Abhishek felt humiliated. That's when a girl approached him — someone from Dhruv's class. She had confessed to him two weeks earlier but was rejected... and she wanted revenge.
"I didn't think much at the time," Abhishek muttered, eyes distant. "I didn't know what she was planning."
Together, they made a plan — the girl would complain that Dhruv had done something bad. But what she actually did… shocked even Abhishek.
"She accused him of molestation," he said quietly. "Said she'd go to the police if the school didn't act. I… I was stunned. There was no going back after that."
Dhruv's father was called to school. His mother had died long ago in a car accident. His father begged the school not to ruin his son's life — that Dhruv was innocent.
Both the girl and I realized we'd gone too far... but it was already too late.
Even though no students knew what had happened, all the teachers did — and most of them already saw Dhruv as a criminal. Some even wanted him punished.
In the end, both of us went to the chairman to confess the truth... but he had other plans.
He told us to keep quiet, gave us money to shut our mouths, and then used the situation to extort Dhruv's father — demanding a large amount in exchange for keeping things silent.
After that, Dhruv was still suspended for a month."
---
"I... I didn't know back then that my arrogance would destroy someone's life," Abhishek said, his voice breaking — tears falling, whether from guilt or grief, no one could tell.
Before he could say more, a punch landed on his face. The impact sent him crashing to the floor.
It was from Mayank — furious, shaking, his fist clenched, but Gautam quickly stepped in to hold him back.
"Leave me! Do you even understand what he did!?" Mayank shouted in rage.
"I get it," Gautam said firmly. "I'm angry too. But hitting him won't change anything. Look at him — he's already breaking apart."
Jasmine spoke up, her voice cutting through the heavy silence.
"Why didn't any of us ever hear about this?"
"Because after taking the money from Dhruv's father," Abhishek said weakly from the ground, "the chairman told us to cover it up. So they made it look like Dhruv had just beaten up some random kid..."
Most of the students didn't say a word — but their faces said it all.
Disgust, anger, guilt — everyone felt something heavy. Everyone felt sorry for Dhruv.
Narayan, still sitting in his chair, let out a long, quiet breath — almost a sigh.
"We saved the wrong guy, huh," he said softly.
Mayank stayed where he was, looking down at Abhishek. His eyes were filled with guilt... and sadness for not being able to change anything.
---
In a dark alley between two buildings — one side opening to the main road, which was strangely silent today, the other ending with a wall — Dhruv stood, breathing heavily. His hands pressed against the wall for balance, sweat dripping from his chin.
He stood there for a while, staring at his blood-covered hands.
"I... I killed someone? Is he dead? Is he alive?" he whispered, as the realization sank in.
A thousand questions flooded his mind. He wanted to run — anywhere, far away from here.
"It... it wasn't my fault, right?" he said shakily. "It can't be. I was the one who suffered the most..."His whole body trembled, as if the weight of his own words was too heavy to bear.
"I did what was — right." He let out a small laugh — but his eyes were filled with tears.
Suddenly, he grabbed his head in pain.
"Aghhh... what's happening!?" he cried out.
The pain was unbearable — it brought him to his knees.
Voices echoed in his head — voices he had never heard before.
Then, a woman appeared before him — elegant and radiant, dressed like a queen.
She had pointed ears — an elf. Her white dress shimmered with silver accessories, her face calm and royal.
She looked at him with a cold, disappointed gaze and said, "We expected better from you."
Dhruv groaned in pain, his voice trembling, "Wh... who—are…"
But before he could finish his sentence, she vanished into thin air, leaving Dhruv trembling and confused.As soon as she disappeared, the pain eased — as if she had taken it with her.
'Home,' he thought. 'I should go home. Even if everyone hates me... Dad will understand. He'll tell me what to do.'
He stumbled out of the alley and began running home.
The streets were empty — no cars, no people — as if the whole city was hiding from something.
As he ran, he saw two men cornering another man — threatening him.
They were once ordinary office workers, the kind who used to read manhwas for fun. But after awakening, they realized their strength and began testing it on others.
They met by chance — their cruel ideas aligned, and they decided to wreak havoc together.
They were the reason the streets were empty.
Dhruv felt disgusted at the sight.
In the next moment, two hands flew through the air — cleanly severed.
The men screamed in agony, but Dhruv didn't even flinch. He just walked past them.
---
Soon, he reached his house — a normal Indian home made of brick, light blue in color, standing about five meters from the road.
Dhruv opened the door and stepped inside. The house was silent. He closed the door behind him and walked further in. The living room was a mess — overturned furniture, scattered papers, like a storm had passed through.
He walked toward a door — a bedroom.
He opened it and said softly, "Dad, I'm back."
No response.
Dhruv continued, "A lot happened today… and my heart feels heavy from everything. I'm… confused."
He paused for a while. "You would listen, right?"
Only silence answered him.
He stepped into the room and sat down on the cold marble floor, his back against the wall. His eyes wandered upward.
The room was smaller than the living room — a bed, a chair, a table with some books on it, a closet for clothes, and near it, a small shelf filled with mangas and old fiction books. The lights were off, and a dim shadow covered the corners.
Above him hung a single fan — a ceiling fan.
A fan that Dhruv couldn't look away from.
From that fan hung a rope.
And from that rope — a man.
A man in his forties, a bit of beard on his face, dressed in casual clothes.
A man who had been everything to Dhruv — a man he cherished more than anything — a man who would do anything for him — a man who was just a dead corpse now — the man he called his father.
Dead for hours, his face was covered with a faint, strange smile… as if he'd finally been freed from everything. It was beautiful rather than tragic.
Dhruv stared at him for minutes, then buried his head between his knees.
Tears streamed down his face.
"You are... listening... right?" he choked. "I have finally become... strong, I can finally... take revenge but... I think everyone... me after... what I did today."
He paused for a while after if listening to someone, then spoke again,
"Yeah...you are right... they will understand... they might not hate me... I only did what anyone else would do"
"Right... Dad?"
His tears fell freely as memories crashed through his mind — his father taking care of him after his mother's death, supporting him through every hardship, enduring everything with a quiet strength… and crying because of him.
He sat there, alone in the dark, the corpse hanging above, surrounded by silence and regret.
On the bed lay a single piece of paper, edges crumpled.
Only one word written on it—
'SORRY.'