A few days later at school, White sat at his desk, gathering his thoughts regarding every clue he had collected about Shu's situation.
For Zen, he had already asked Aris to help locate him. Zen never came to school, but he often returned home late at night. If Aris managed to convince him and bring him to the meeting spot White had arranged, the rest of the plan could be executed—though White was still ironing out the finer details.
As for Shu, he remained mostly clueless. He had known her for a couple of months, yet he felt he had never truly understood her.
Damn it.
If only he knew her better. Still, he understood one thing: to rid someone of these emotion-formed creatures, the first step was to uncover the core reason behind those emotions. He had a small hint—it was related to Shu being physically abused by her parents.
But that alone could not solve anything; he needed more. As far as he knew, Shu never spoke to anyone in class besides Zen and himself. He considered asking others, but that would consume too much time, and he had no idea how much time she had left.
As he glanced toward Shu, who was preparing to head home, he observed her carefully. Her behavior and the way she spoke remained unchanged. Maybe he could just ask her directly, but he knew it would be futile—he had tried before and failed. Shu kept wearing that impenetrable mask, pretending everything was fine.
"I don't know what to do…" White muttered, scratching his head. Then, an idea struck him: maybe Luna could help. But after what he had witnessed yesterday, he wasn't sure if he should involve her. Still, he had no choice; she was his only hope for finding more information.
Taking his bag, White headed toward the club room. When he arrived, he tried to open the door, but it was locked. Confused, since classes had just ended, he figured Luna might be in the student council room.
It was his first time visiting. The aura around the room felt heavy, as though it might crush him if he let his guard down. Just as he reached for the doorknob, someone suddenly covered his eyes from behind.
"Tell me who I am," a cheerful girl's voice said.
"Miss Claire," White replied. He was shocked at first, but he recognized her instantly; her aura was so bright it was impossible to forget.
"Bingo! You win," she said, releasing her hands.
As he turned, she leaned closer. "Oh! The '100-score guy' from before… what was your name again?" she asked energetically.
"Ah, yes, that's me. I haven't introduced myself properly. I'm White, second year, Class B. Nice to meet you."
"Yo! Claire here. So, why are you at the council office? Need something?"
"Well… do you know where I can find President Luna?"
"Oh, Luna? She didn't come to school today. She messaged me saying she has a fever and is taking the day off," Claire said casually.
White hesitated, unsure where else to find her. Claire continued, "Well, if you want, why don't you visit her? I was planning to go, but I have to meet my friends. I came here to ask Blake, but I know he'd complain."
Before White could respond, she handed him some medicine, paperwork, and a cheat sheet with Luna's address. She also exchanged contacts with him. This worked in his favor—now he had a direct way to reach her.
Following the address, White arrived at a tall, luxurious building. "Apartment 707… here goes nothing," he murmured.
He took the lift to the seventh floor and found her door at the end of the hall. Taking a deep breath, he rang the bell. When the door opened, he saw President Luna in pink pajamas, coughing continuously. It stunned him—it was the first time he had seen her outside of her school uniform.
"If you came here just to stare, I'm closing the door," she said, annoyed.
As she started to shut it, White quickly said, "Wait, please. I'm sorry. I came to deliver this to you." He handed her the medicine and papers Claire had provided. She tried to close the door again, but White stopped it with his hand.
"Don't you think it's polite to invite someone in for tea when they visit?" he asked.
"Sorry, but we don't have any, and I don't want to talk to anyone right now. I'm sick; you'll catch it if I let you in," she replied.
"Don't worry. I have good immunity. Nothing will happen, so please let me in," he pleaded.
After a brief struggle, she released the doorknob. White lost his balance and nearly fell forward. He almost landed on her, but Luna calmly stepped aside, and he fell flat on his face.
Covering his bruised face, he heard her say, "What were you trying to do? A rom-com scene?"
"Stop that," White muttered through the pain.
He felt that talking to her now was much more comfortable than at school. Perhaps she had lost her intimidating aura after falling sick.
"So, why are you so eager to get into my apartment? Do you want to talk about those emotion-formed creatures I mentioned before?" she asked.
"It's possible," White admitted.
"To get rid of that creature?" she pressed.
"Yes," he said firmly.
"Don't be stupid. It's impossible," she claimed.
"No, it's possible. Well, you're not entirely wrong—it can't be ended by anyone other than the host itself," White explained. Since she looked confused, he told her everything Aisha had told him.
"Well, that makes sense. Emotions can't be altered by others, only by the person who carries them. As soon as the emotions cease, the creatures will die," Luna said thoughtfully. Looking at him, she asked, "Where did you get this kind of knowledge?"
"Ah… well… I was searching and came to this conclusion. That's all," White laughed nervously, hiding the truth.
"That sounds suspicious, but forget it. So, you came here to tell me this? It won't help you on its own," she said.
"No… I came here because I know you can help me. Do you know anyone related to Shu besides her parents?"
"Hmm… Well, after yesterday, I also tried to find information about her. Besides the parents you mentioned, the mother is not her biological mother—the abuser is her stepmother. I also found that Shu was bullied in middle school. Other than that, I don't know," Luna said cautiously.
"That's a major lead. Anything else?"
"No, nothing more." She wrote something in a notebook and handed him a note. "Here. This is the name of her middle school. Maybe you can find more about her there."
"Thank you…" White said, standing up to leave.
"President… no, Luna. As I said, I'm going to save my friends. Just as I promised."
With that, he bid her farewell. As he left, Luna whispered softly, "Maybe if I had the courage you have now, back then, I could've… Well, good luck, White."