Global Awakening: Only I Can Respawn

The room went dead silent. Everyone knew about the incident with Yeji's photos. After all, it was the scandal that had rocked their college, and YuWon was the culprit... or so they believed.

At the same time, Yeji's face drained of color as she looked at Hoon, and then back at YuWon. Her step-brother's question raised many questions and Yeji didn't know how she would face YuWon if it turned out Hoon had lied to them.

The professor reluctantly nodded as she turned to Hoon. "Hoon, did YuWon take those photos?"

Hoon couldn't believe his eyes. YuWon had him trapped, and the bastard was smiling. He looked around. Everyone had their eyes on him. There was no chance for his escape.

Hoon's face twisted into a sneer, trying to regain his composure. He didn't know how the professor's ability worked. If it was like a polygraph test, then maybe he could fool her, and that's what he decided to do.

"Of course he did! I saw him!" he replied calmly. "Why would I—"

But before he could finish, the professor's ability activated, and a faint red light appeared over her head. It was an absolute sign Hoon was lying. Everyone gasped as they realized what that meant.

"Hoon... lied?" someone whispered among the crowd.

Everyone remembered Hoon's statement as the reason YuWon was deemed as the weirdo. But if he lied, did it mean YuWon was innocent, and they were wrong?

While everyone else was shocked, Yeji turned into a statue right there, her eyes fixed on YuWon. However, her brother never looked at her, just smiled and shook his head.

"I do!"

A green light appeared over the professor. But instead of being relieved, Hoon was hit with another question.

"Was the person YuWon?"

"Y-Yes!"

The red light flashed again.

Hoon tried to defend himself, but the red light still hovered above the professor, damning every word that came out of his mouth. Soon the crowd, once on Hoon's side, turned against him.

The truth was about to be revealed. But a moment later, everything changed.

Watching her, YuWon shook his head and turned to leave when Yeji's voice rang out.

"Everyone, whatever happened is between me and Hoon," she said. "Please stop blaming him for everything. He might have lied, but the photographs were ultimately recovered from YuWon's phone. So, if you have any evidence—"

"That's right!"

One lackey immediately jumped to Hoon's defense and a few more followed. Yeji turned to YuWon next.

"Apart from Hoon's statement, how will you explain the rest, YuWon?" she asked.

Hoon didn't miss the chance and immediately jumped up.

"Are you framing me for taking Yeji's photos? If you have any proof, show it! Don't just talk crap!" he yelled.

YuWon stopped but didn't turn. Everyone held their breath, wanting to see what he'll do now. With a long sigh, YuWon turned and stared at Yeji.

"Proof? What good will it do?" YuWon asked. "I proved he lied, yet you chose his side. What good will come even if I showed you the proof? In your eyes, I'm already a criminal, so there's no point in continuing this farce."

The question caught everyone off guard. But especially Yeji. She was a practical person, that's why she demanded proof so YuWon could clear his name once and for all. But YuWon assumed the worst, and he wasn't entirely wrong.

Next, YuWon turned towards Hoon and said, "I, Jaehwan, you, and Suhyun—we all know the truth. That's enough for me."

Hoon was wide-eyed and so was Suhyun. But Yeji was confused, wondering how Jaehwan, Hoon, and Suhyun were involved in it. However, YuWon had no interest in explaining things because he knew no one would believe him either way.

YuWon then turned towards everyone else and laughed at their expression.

"All of you want proof, but why should I give you anything?" he said, looking at Yeji. "Proving my innocence means nothing to me now. After all, it won't undo the pain I've endured over the last year."

His words hit Yeji like a truck. The look in YuWon's eyes scared her. Her brother wasn't like this before, but everyone's betrayal seemed to have broken him.

For the first time since everything had happened, Yeji wondered if maybe, just maybe, YuWon had been innocent all along. But to prove his innocence before everyone, she needed some proof which YuWon wasn't willing to give.

Everyone had questions, but YuWon had lost all interest in them and was about to leave. Much like the last time, Soo-Ah noticed something green outside and yelled for YuWon to stop.

However, things were different this time as Gina approached YuWon with concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm okay," YuWon smiled, patting her head as usual. "Just had to deal with some old business."

However, YuWon couldn't lie to her as she looked inside the room with rage. Something had to have happened inside for her husband to appear distressed.

"Did they hurt you?" she asked, clutching her fist.

"No," YuWon laughed. "I'm stronger now. They can't hurt me like they used to."

"I'm glad," Gina looked up at him with a smile.

"Let's get out of here," he said, ruffling her hair.

Everyone was surprised to see YuWon chatting casually with a monster. They thought maybe he had a class similar to Soo-Ah's and he could tame them. Little did they know it was far from the truth.

However, a twisted grin spread across Hoon's face, wanting to distract everyone, and saw an opportunity to shift the attention back to YuWon and away from his own lies.

"Tsk, even monsters aren't safe from YuWon's twisted desires," Hoon yelled, pointing at Gina. "What's next, YuWon? Are you going to start chasing after animals, too? You and that thing are both disgusting and ugly, so get lost!"

No one joined Hoon in mocking YuWon this time. Not even his lackeys. But someone did as a moment later they heard someone's rapid pounding of footsteps.

YuWon ran back into the room, moving with a speed that caught everyone off guard. Before anyone could react, YuWon was in front of Hoon and punched him with so much force he went flying to the other side of the room.

But YuWon wasn't done yet. He grabbed Hoon's fallen spear and threw it at him. Yeji wanted to stop him, but he was too quick. All they heard was Hoon's scream as the spear pinned him to the wall.

"YuWon stop!" Yeji yelled as he headed towards Hoon.

But YuWon didn't care about anything. She showed no concern when Hoon was spouting shit, so why should he listen to her now?

Pinned to the wall, Hoon's face turned pale with fear, his body trembling as he looked up at YuWon. Completely defenseless. Meanwhile, YuWon stared down at him like the eyes of a predator sizing up its prey.

"Say whatever the hell you want about me," YuWon growled. "But I won't tolerate a single word about my partner."

The word partner confused them all. Everyone had seen the green-skinned girl standing outside, and though she was beautiful, she was clearly not human. So why was YuWon calling that… thing his partner?