Killing the Possessor - Chapter 139

Han Bori looked like an utterly ordinary girl. Quiet, a little slow to act, and somewhat lacking in social awareness—that was my overall impression of her. But those were flaws you could find anywhere, nothing rare enough to make her stand out.

At some point, I realized that the girl from the class next door was being ostracized. It wasn’t outright bullying, more the subtle kind—people quietly avoiding her.

Maybe because of that, Bori always came to our classroom during breaks. The only person she was close to was in our class.

“Hey, I told you to buy a chocolate roll and strawberry milk. Does this look like chocolate to you?”

“…Sorry.”

To be honest, from an outsider’s perspective, their relationship could hardly be called a friendship. Yoon Sohee, who was in my class, treated Han Bori like a personal attendant. They’d known each other since elementary school, or so she said.

And coincidentally, I happened to be friends with Yoon Sohee.

“Want to hear something interesting? Han Bori’s borderline.”

“Borderline?”

“Borderline intelligence. I think her IQ’s around 84?”

It was surprising. The high school I attended was a foreign language academy, only students with excellent grades were admitted.

Contrary to common belief, having borderline intelligence didn’t necessarily mean someone was bad at studying.

In Bori’s case, her verbal comprehension was high, but her perceptual reasoning and processing speed were significantly lower. Thanks to her strong language skills, she’d managed to keep up academically without major issues.

Honestly, it was unexpected, but that was all. It didn’t move me much beyond mild surprise. Still, since I shared a class with Yoon Sohee, I ended up knowing far more about Bori than I ever wanted to.

For instance, how Sohee’s behavior grew harsher by the day, and how their relationship tilted more and more in one direction.

Once word spread that Bori had borderline intelligence, her peers distanced themselves even further. The more isolated she became, the more desperately she clung to Yoon Sohee—her one remaining ‘friend’. She bent over backward to please her, apologizing first no matter how irrationally she was scolded.

Even if that friend looked down on her, being able to call someone a friend seemed to matter more to Bori than anything else. No one believed she was truly Sohee’s friend. But from where I stood, she was fighting with everything she had to preserve even the thinnest thread of companionship.

There were many moments that made me frown, but stepping in felt burdensome. I was busy securing test scores during my sophomore year to prepare for overseas universities, and on top of that, my own family situation was falling apart. I was barely keeping my own head above water.

When my own life felt too heavy to carry, the idea of taking responsibility for someone else’s was unimaginable.

That was why I swallowed my discomfort and chose to simply watch.

“Did you hear? Han Bori’s apparently involved with Yoon Sojun.”

The conscience I’d buried started pricking me again around the time I entered my senior year. Yoon Sohee’s younger brother, Yoon Sojun, enrolled at our school. Not long after, rumors about him and Han Bori spread through the entire campus.

Our school strictly prohibited dating, so even seeing a boy and girl together drew attention. And the fact that the student involved was Han Bori only fueled more gossip.

If the rumors had been innocent, maybe it would’ve been fine. Teachers often turned a blind eye to harmless crushes. But when the power imbalance was so glaring, there was no way this was a healthy relationship. Just like how no one ever believed Han Bori was truly Sohee’s friend.

“I don’t know… Yoon Sojun gives me bad vibes. I’ve heard him saying all kinds of disgusting things about Bori. He even called her over to his room.”

One day, a friend shared what she’d witnessed. It was shocking. I’d assumed the relationship was unhealthy, but it went far beyond emotional manipulation.

The friend, who said she’d heard Sojun describe Bori using words too vile to repeat, asked me uneasily.

“Shouldn’t we help her? You know… Han Bori. You know what I mean, right?”

“……”