Sunday came and early in the morning, in a certain group chat, Catherine pinged Teren ten times already.
[Hey, Teren!]
The chat was filled with that.
"What's with this girl, how can she be so tough-headed?"
Mike was getting worried over Catherine's attitude. Last night, Teren called over for Uncle Jo, Dennis, Nathan, and Old Derman. Also, they also heard that Clade was back to the hospital. They felt a little pity for him.
[What?]
Teren finally responded.
[Shouldn't we name this group chat something? It's becoming confusing.]
Catherine immediately replied.
Teren: [Okay, name it whatever you want.]
Catherine: [Really? Whatever, I want?]
"Catherine changed after that night. She's tough as always but, she began taking care more for us." Mike scratched his head, "I think she's guilty that because of her, Eline and the others suffered. Maybe that's why she's taking the lead for us."
Indeed, without Catherine's chattiness towards Teren, the group wouldn't be in constant worry about what to do. No one will be able to speak up and anxiety will build up. It was as if she's carrying them on her shoulder against the devil named Teren.
Teren: [I mean, you all, I'm not really good at naming.]
Catherine: [Yeah, you even call yourself a psychopath.]
Teren: [...]
"But you're speaking too much, Catherine!" Mike shouted at his phone.
Meanwhile, Teren was realizing how cringy he was back then while hiding his head with a pillow.
Uncle Jo: [I suggest we name the group chat Hark Clan.]
Dennis: [Jo... I think you should let the children do this...]
Uncle Jo:: [Hm? What's wrong with Hark Clan?]
Dennis: [...]
Nathan: [... Uncle Jo, clan sound old-fashioned.]
Uncle Jo: [That's what good about it. Kids these days, fine, what do the others think?]
"Even the adults are seriously participating in this..." Mike commented but soon, he answered not to let Uncle Jo hanging. The seniors and juniors have yet to mingle well. After all, a day have just passed since they met.
Mike: [I think, Uncle Jo, it's best to keep it simple like Hark Chat.]
Catherine: [Why are you all keen on having Hark on the name?]
Eline: [Is the group chat name the same with the name of the... umm... gang?]
'After Teren's promise, Eline and the others got into the group chat too. I didn't think she would participate this early.'
Mike thought and he was thinking the same thing as what Eline messaged.
After Eline's question, Catherine pinged Teren again and again.
Teren: [Depends, if you are all fine with it. It should be okay.]
Uncle Jo: [If that's the case, may I suggest again, Hark House.]
Catherine: [Seriously, what's with the Hark?]
Nathan: [I think that's pretty neat.]
Uncle Jo: [I think the kids are not fine with it.]
Catherine: [House is fine but remove the Hark! I heard the others have names like Titanes, Serpen, and theirs are cool.]
Nick: [So you're saying Hark is not a cool name?]
Catherine: [Don't turn this against me!]
Nick: [I'm just asking, no offense...!]
'But I guess she's still pretty polite since she's not using tone of emojis and emoticons like in our own group chat.'
Mike looked at their old group chat with the six of them. The passive Mira and Dan were not participating and were just reading along. It seemed they're interested too. They have no choice but to be in that group so, at the very least, they want a cool name for it.
Eline: [Since Teren is called, like, the Devil Himself... why not Devi House? Just going with the pattern.]
Uncle Jo: [That's cool! Or Hell House or Devi's Hell.]
'I think Uncle Jo is getting too much into it. Those group names are something out of a light novel. He looked stern and strict but he's actually proactive, huh... but a since they literally have super abilities, exaggerated names are strangely fitting. It just feels surreal they're creating it for themselves.'
"Oh, right, we'll meet up together soon."
Mike stood up from his bed and began to change.
He and his group decided to be together as much as possible. It makes them feel comfortable and relax from the situation. Being cooped up in their rooms just fills them up with anxiety.
Mike arrived and saw that five of them were already there. He sighed in relief after he saw that they were livelier than he thought they would be. Not to ruin the mood, he waved at them with a smile.
They decided to go straight to the nearest mall called the Heren Supermall, pretty straightforward. They got everything there from theaters to grocery stores. Since it was Sunday, there is quite a lot of people there but not to the point of suffocating.
It actually fills them with safety and peace of mind, knowing that there are others.
However, among the people, Mira suddenly spotted someone.
"Hey... isn't that Teren?"
With that one name, everyone immediately turned their heads toward the person Mira was pointing at.
Teren was sitting at a cafe alone and was sipping a drink with a relaxed face.
Immediately, the group hid into the crowd and talked to themselves.
"What are we going to do?"
Josh asked.
"Greet him?"
"Why would we do that?"
Catherine irritatedly replied with a question.
"I think it's none of our business..."
Mira supported.
"Yeah... but what if he thinks we're ignoring him?"
"Is he the kind of person who hates people who do not greet him?"
"Is there even anyone here who knows what exactly a kind of person he is except for the fact that he tortures others without blinking an eye?"
"..."
"..."
"Let's greet to be safe and... if it looks like we're bothering his alone time, let's just get out of there."
Mira suggested something sensible, thus, the group decided to go and greet Teren. Of course, seeing others hesitate even though they agreed to it, Catherine took the lead and went into the cafe.
"Teren..." but then, she walked up to him but didn't have any agenda. How should she greet him?
"Catherine? What are you doing here... alone?"
Raising her eyebrows, Catherine saw that her friends backed off and were still outside.
'Those guys!'
'We're so sorry, Catherine!' Eline and Mira gave her a teary look.