"Girl, isn't that the guy who caused trouble during the play?"
"You're wrong, girl. He didn't cause trouble! We should even thank him because he solved the crime there!"
"What solved? He's the reason my crush is in jail! Him!"
"I don't know about you, girl. He didn't do anything wrong, so don't blame him."
I smiled at what I heard. It's better to hear things like that in the morning.
"Edoy!" I frowned when I heard that name. It ruins my day. "Let's go to the classroom together!"
She ran toward me, but I just gave her a sharp look.
"For your information, that's the best way to make me hate you."
"Huh? What did I do? W-wait!"
I turned away from her and entered the room.
And there I saw a bunch of white flowers placed on Lyca's desk. I also noticed some students crying because of the news that Lyca was dead.
"I'm deeply saddened by the loss of your classmate, Angelica Ruiz. I understand why your faces look so downcast and why you seem unmotivated today, but we must continue with our class. That's life—there will always be obstacles that try to stop us, but we must overcome them," Professor Tobias began.
"Today's lesson is about the word homonym ."
"You're probably familiar with synonym and antonym, but this time we will talk about homonyms."
"In linguistics, a homonym is one of a group of words that sound alike but have different meanings depending on context."
"Simply put, homonyms are words that sound the same but have different meanings. There, their, and they're, as well as to, too, and two, are common examples that students often confuse, but there are many more in English."
After Professor Tobias's class ended, I went to the cafeteria.
"Hey, Edoy! Why do you always leave me behind? Hey! Pay attention to me!"
I turned to her.
"First of all, my name is Aedrian. And second, I don't like being called by another name. If you're talking to me, make sure you use my real name."
"Y-yeah? I didn't know. Sorry."
I walked ahead while she followed me. I placed my food on the table and started eating.
"Why do you hate being called 'Edoy' so much?"
"Do I ask you why you're always sleeping in class? No, right? So just mind your own business."
"Why are you so angry at me? I'm just asking. Is that wrong?"
"Only suspects are asked for their alibi," I replied.
"Ugh, whatever, Aedrian!"
She shook her head.
My attention shifted when my phone suddenly vibrated. It was just a message from the network reminding me that my load was about to expire. I deleted it and focused on the remaining message from Lyca.
"Oh? Why do you look like that? Who texted you? Wait, why is your screen cracked? What happened?"
"It's Lyca."
"L-Lyca? Are you joking? How could she possibly text you?"
I looked at her because of her sarcasm.
"What I mean is, someone is using Lyca's phone and they're trying to mess with me."
My phone vibrated again. I answered the call, and my eyes widened at what my dad told me.
"What do you mean, Dad? What do you mean Lemuel is dead?"
"Just like a fall without water, the one who lives like a murderer meets his demise even while still existing. And I am just a sail that moves with his wave—unable to turn back, unable to turn away."
I kept repeating Lemuel's last words in my mind.
"I don't know if it was part of a poem, but that was his final message."
A dying message? Perhaps.
But I needed to find out what was really going on.
First Lyca, now Lemuel.
Something inside me told me these were connected.
"Just like a fall without water, the one who lives like a murderer meets his demise even while still existing. And I am just a sail that moves with his wave. I don't know how to turn back, I don't know how to turn away," I repeated.
I felt my dad take my hand.
I could see both relief and concern in his eyes.
"Son, I'm glad you're interested in police work. I was really proud when you solved your classmate's poisoning case. But I don't want you getting involved in this. I don't want you getting hurt. This is a police officer's job. It's my job, not yours. I'll handle finding the culprit."
I frowned.
"What do you mean, Dad? Was Lemuel killed? How did he die?"
"Aedrian..."
"Dad, tell me. I won't be able to rest until I get answers," I insisted.
He took a deep breath, as if debating whether to involve his son in the case.
"Dad, you're always behind me, right? Think of it as training me to take your place someday. Just tell me—what happened?"
He sighed again.
"It's suicide. He poisoned the apple juice we gave him."
"Apple juice?"
"He requested it while we were questioning him about Lyca's poisoning. And when he drank it, he suddenly collapsed. He poisoned himself. But I doubt it's really suicide. It's impossible—I never took my eyes off him."
I thought about what my dad said.
Maybe he was just confused by everything happening.
How could Lemuel poison himself without anyone noticing?
That was probably why my dad believed there was a culprit.
There are two possibilities:
Maybe Lemuel had already prepared the poison and planned to kill himself after murdering the person he loved.
Or maybe someone poisoned him.
Someone silenced him.
But why would they silence him?
And why would he request apple juice?
Maybe… he really did poison himself.
It felt like something clicked in my mind as I remembered Lemuel's final message once again.