Chapter 16 - Bashful Psychopath

[What do you mean by there are no gang wars?]

With a lifted eyebrow, Teren didn't expect her to ask so quickly. He looked at his phone and blushed.

'Should I really say it? It's embarrassing...'

But looking at the lifeless eyes on Iesa, Teren felt no choice but to answer.

[It's because it's me who they thought. So it's not a gang war - gang to gang - but me to gang.]

Upon receiving the message, Iesa's jaw dropped. She immediately asked.

[Do you mean they are searching for you?]

[No, our fight is already over.]

The life on Iesa's eyes came back as she frowned.

[Wait, what fight? Do gangs fight differently?]

She asked because she saw that Teren is nowhere wounded.

[No, they tried to raid my house with guns on the second week of summer.]

After reading it, Iesa then looked at Teren.

'Why is he bashful?'

Noticing that Iesa was looking at him, Teren tried to cover his face.

[Don't look at me. This is why I don't want to tell it. It looks like I'm bragging!]

Iesa then received an angry emoji.

'What?'

She then leaned to the side to peek at Teren's face and saw that he was just being shy.

'Who is this person? The psychopath who threatened me isn't this cute.' she felt conflicted.

[No, I don't think it's bragging. After all, I'm the one who asked.]

[...]

[So what happened next?]

Iesa typed and sent. She glanced and saw that Teren pondered for a moment, trying to recall what happened before.

[I may have forgotten some parts but I already expected them to do it after I blackmailed their gang leader.]

[Blackmailed?] Iesa confirmed that it is Teren Hark who is in front of her.

[Yeah, I searched a close-up picture of him on the internet and photoshopped it as if he's sleeping at night. It must've scared him, thinking that I actually stalked him without him knowing.]

[That's... kind of funny. Now I want to see the gang leader's reaction.]

[You wouldn't want to. His reaction is to send almost half of his entire gang to raid a single man. It's not funny at all.]

[Maybe he panicked too much.]

[I think so too. He was trying to hide behind his men at that time. I don't know why he went with them if he's just going to hide but he got a big body so I found him after taking out some skilled ones.]

[Taking out... you mean...]

Iesa didn't react that much. She couldn't just picture the scene.

'It feels more like he's trying to tell me about a movie he watched. I don't know if I should trust his story or not. But he doesn't seem to be lying...'

[I shot them in the head.]

[...]

Iesa frowned at this and peeked at Teren's face again.

[Why are you shy about it? I think it's scary.]

[You looked at my face again?!!!]

Iesa then received three more angry emojis.

[I didn't mean to, I swear.]

She then sent an apologetic emoji to which Teren replied with "I forgive you" emoji.

[Let me finish the story first before you can look at me.]

[Okay]

[After I shot them, I shot their gang leader. They're not the SWAT Team or something, they didn't even have a bulletproof vest. So I just hid and switched my hiding spot while they're panicking. That's why I was able to defend myself.]

[Defend yourself... you massacred them.]

[They were about to raid my house, hope you remember that.]

[So what happened next? Maybe that is why it is called a gang war because so many died.]

Although Iesa seemed fine with the topic, she just couldn't let those words sink in as reality.

[Maybe. After I shot their leader, they dropped their weapons and I showed myself to them. Then I helped them regroup and to some other things.]

[Wait, why did you help them?]

[I thought that if I left them defeated like that, they will return another time. So I thought I should make them an ally. I helped them recruit some members and train. Taught them some tactics on evading the police or colluding with the police.]

[You... I can't believe you're the same age as I am.]

Teren then frowned.

[What are you talking about? I think it's a bad thing. I just attract people's animosity so I had to take extra measures to remove them. I actually want to be like you. No one messes with you in school.]

"..." Iesa Hun stared at her phone. She slightly blushed. She almost replied about her psychic ability but stopped herself.

'Wait, Iesa, do get hooked by the flow. He's still a murderer. You don't trust him yet. No one except you knows this secret. Keep it to yourself. Also, it's not like he will believe you. No one does.'

Trying to restrain herself from sharing her secret, she just typed her second thought.

Teren received a message again. When he read it, he couldn't keep his composure. His pupils spiraled and he stood up.

"I-... I think the class is starting. I-I'll go ahead first." afterward, he walked with fast strides.

Iesa looked at him go and got scared.

'What? Is there something wrong with-' she then looked again at what she texted.

[No, I think you're cool for doing all that alone.]

Her eyes widened.

'I just said he's cool for massacring people! I'm not thinking straight while I'm typing!'

At that moment, without Teren, Iesa eased and picked up the other people's thoughts.

'What happened with that boy?'

'I thought they were flirting.'

'That's pretty sweet, the boy is all red. But isn't that Iesa Hun? I didn't know she had a boyfriend and he looked pretty ordinary.'

After hearing these thoughts, she stood up and left the canteen.

The third period began when Iesa sat on her chair next to Teren. She glanced at him and found that he's looking the other way around.

'You're just facing the curtain.'