Clue

Dense forest.

A light breeze rustled through the treetops.

As if sensing something, Lana slowly raised her head. "Clark?"

The girl was somewhat surprised to see her neighbor here, but when she saw Jino, Clark's friend, beside him, her expression turned a little awkward.

Because of Whitney, her relationship with Jino could hardly be called good.

Still, as the sociable beauty of Smallville High, Lana approached them with a smile on her face.

Lana blinked and asked with a smile, "What are you two doing here?"

Jino glanced at Clark. Whether Clark had remembered what was on the camera or not, the big boy's cheeks had gone bright red, and he looked completely at a loss.

Honestly, you need to start dating early. Jino gave Clark's performance a zero in his heart. His gaze swept over the girl's body with a half-smile. "We meet again."

Lana felt somewhat disgusted by Jino's gaze. At that moment, Whitney caught up from behind her.

"Lana... uh, and Jino."

Seeing Jino here as well, Whitney looked somewhat frightened. He felt the arm that had been broken aching faintly.

"Whitney." Jino nodded indifferently, considering that a greeting. Then his gaze shifted between the two of them as he deliberately asked, "It seems you two had an argument?"

He had not forgotten how Lana had scolded him before. Now that he had the chance to make the two of them uncomfortable, he naturally would not go easy on them.

Sure enough, as soon as Jino asked, Lana's pretty face stiffened slightly. She gave Jino, who was smiling at the corner of his mouth, a deep look. She was certain this guy had done it on purpose.

However, as Clark's White Moonlight, Lana's bright and open personality was definitely a plus. The girl did not act coy and nodded seriously. "We didn't argue. Whitney and I broke up."

"Oh~" Jino drew out the sound and slowly nodded. "Perfect. Clark and I have something important to tell you."

As he spoke, Jino ignored the awkward-looking Whitney, grabbed Clark, and walked toward the distance, gesturing for Lana to follow.

Watching the three figures gradually walk away, Whitney could not help clenching the fist hidden in his sleeve. "Three assholes!"

Elsewhere.

"What did you want with me?"

Lana crossed her arms over her chest. She wore a brown short-sleeved shirt today, and her long, smooth black hair flowing down her shoulders made her look full of youthful vitality.

Jino glanced at Clark. Seeing that Clark still looked like his mind was somewhere else, he angrily hooked his elbow and drove it hard into Clark's kidney.

If it had been an ordinary person, Jino might have been the one hurt. But since they both had bodies of steel, Jino's elbow strike genuinely hurt Clark.

"Gah!"

Clark sucked in a sharp breath and hurriedly covered his kidney. When he came back to his senses, he saw Lana looking at him curiously.

"Ahem."

Clark pretended nothing had happened and lowered his right hand from his waist. Then he scratched his head and awkwardly held out the camera in his left hand.

"Lana, I think you need to see this."

"What is it?"

Lana took the camera. The moment she saw what was on it, her face darkened as though water could drip from it.

The pictures inside documented the details of her life after she got home.

"We found this camera in a crooked tree not far from your house." Clark scratched his head and told Lana what had happened.

After listening to Clark's account, Lana stood frozen in place like a stiff wooden statue.

Anger, grievance, fear—countless emotions tangled together, and Lana could not help bursting into tears.

"Uh? La-Lana, don't cry."

Clark instinctively looked toward Jino, hoping his good friend would give him an idea.

Idiot. Jino sighed inwardly. What did a girl need in a situation like this? A solid, dependable hug—a safe harbor where she could feel at ease.

Jino raised his right hand and gave Clark's shoulder a light push.

Smack!

Clark staggered and instinctively wrapped his arms around Lana.

"Mmph!"

Feeling a tall body embrace her, even Lana was startled. Her body tensed, while Clark looked even more awkward and flustered.

God, this was the first time he had ever hugged Lana. As he caught the faint, pleasant scent of her perfume, Clark's face turned even redder.

At that moment, Jino quietly added fuel to the fire.

"Who knows how long that peeping creep had been secretly taking pictures?"

That only made Lana cry harder. Something like this happening to anyone would be a nightmare.

Lana clung to Clark and cried bitterly.

Rustling came from the woods behind them. Jino turned his head and saw the stunned Little Black Pete and Chloe, who was covering her mouth.

"Uh, perhaps we came at the wrong time?" Pete hesitated. He remembered Lana had a boyfriend, yet she was now hugging Clark.

Meanwhile, Chloe's eyes burned with the raging fire of gossip as she used her gaze to ask Jino what had happened.

The girls at a high school campus were like Hollywood actresses, full of catfights and drama.

Perhaps Lana was popular with boys, but quite a few girls disliked her as well, and Chloe was naturally among the latter. She had always found Lana's fake sweetness irritating and felt the girl was putting on an act.

Jino shrugged, walked over to Chloe, put an arm around both their shoulders, and told them what had happened.

After hearing Jino's account, Chloe's gaze toward Lana was already full of sympathy.

Though she did not like Lana, Lana really was miserable.

"Do you know who at school uses a camera?" Jino looked at Chloe. As the editor of the school newspaper, Chloe was practically Smallville's know-it-all.

"Hmm, someone who uses a camera..."

Chloe rubbed her short blonde hair, as if doing so helped her think.

A memory flashed through her mind, and Chloe's eyes suddenly lit up. "I remember now. Gerry once submitted an article to me."

"He wanted to call on everyone to protect little insects and appreciate their beauty. To that end, he brought in a huge number of insect photos."

Remembering the scene back then, Chloe could not help feeling a chill run down her spine.

"Gerry?" Jino narrowed his eyes slightly, the image of the short figure he had seen at the farmers' market flashing through his mind.

"Does anyone know where he lives?"

Jino planned to investigate in person.

"I do." Little Black Pete raised his hand. "There's a shortcut nearby that leads to Gerry's house."

"Let's go. We'll check out his house." Jino signaled for Little Black Pete to lead the way, then turned and called to Clark and Lana, "You two, stop hugging and come investigate the clues with me."

Hearing Jino call out, Clark reluctantly let go of Lana, while Lana had clearly realized that what they had just done was a little too intimate.

The two, faces red, followed Jino's group, maintaining an awkward silence beneath everyone's uneasy gazes.