Chapter 16: The Lunatic’s Silence Is Scarier

“I almost died holding it in.”

“…Huh?”

“You couldn’t move on your own, right? Even non-contact, you scanned my whole body. I almost died too.”

Dead serious face, calm voice, long relieved exhale—like he really just survived something.

Lee Chae tested his legs again.

They moved.

Haejin smirked annoyingly and ruffled his hair.

“Hand off my head.”

“Our Lee Chae is back to normal.”

The hand left, but those damn crescent-moon eyes returned, making his heart stutter.

Lee Chae shoved Haejin’s shoulder and stormed out of the practice room.

The thirst that had felt like it would rip his throat apart was completely gone.

Crazy bastard.

Plan A: treat him like he didn’t exist → failed. Plan B: prove low matching rate and make him give up → obliterated. Plan C: perfectly control his weird reactions → collapsed.

Everything. Gone.

From the moment ignoring failed, Haejin’s madness escalated daily.

He appeared in every single moment except the one place Lee Chae had forbidden: the cleanup crew workplace.

“Babe, hold the handrail on the bus. Or do you want to hold something else?”

“How many times did you think of me today? What do you think about in the shower? Before sleep? When you wake up? When your mind wanders while studying?”

The question hell was stressful, but ignorable.

The real problem was the brainwashing requests and that tail-wagging puppy smile.

“Think of me from the moment you wake up until you sleep.”

“Get excited when I come near.”

“Come to Legion when you’re not working.”

He’d foolishly thought he could ignore those too—that was the biggest reason every strategy failed.

He knew his enemy, but he didn’t know himself.

Even if he figured both out now, could he win?

Enemy analysis result: a lunatic who crossed every line. Self-analysis result: powerless against eye-smiles.

Conclusion: he couldn’t beat a lunatic.

So what was left?

Avoid all contact. Out-hustle the lunatic.

Next morning.

Black hoodie, black cap, eyes darting.

As expected, Haejin was waiting in front of the house.

Fortunately looking the other way.

Lee Chae instantly turned down a different street.

A longer route, but if it meant reaching the bus stop undetected—worth it.

He sprinted.

Arrived at the stop, panting.

Haejin was already there, waiting.

His feet froze.

Motherf— he wasn’t ignoring me. What now?

Shadow attacks could happen anytime; resources were scarce—only two buses a day, often canceled.

Nowhere to run.

Screw it. Act shameless.

Lee Chae walked up like nothing happened.

He braced for morning madness, but Haejin only said:

“Morning. You look pretty today.”

And stayed quiet until the bus came.

Don’t let your guard down. He’s definitely plotting something.

They boarded together.

Haejin kept a polite distance, just watching.

He owned one of the few imported luxury cars in the country—why the hell was he taking the bus with him?

Lee Chae stared out the window, pretending to be unbothered.

At least no perverted comments in public; he could relax a little.

Same pattern at school.

First period: Understanding Aberrant Lifeforms.

Lee Chae focused hard.

He couldn’t afford to miss another lecture because of Cha Haejin.

Fortunately, no stealing books or “accidentally” dropping pens.

He let it slide.

The problem came after class.

He stood to go to the bathroom.

Haejin stood too, like he’d been waiting.

So the silence was the calm before the storm. Knew it.

Haejin hadn’t even spoken, but Lee Chae opened his mouth first.

“You’re not following me to the bathroom, right?”

“Yeah. Not inside—just waiting out front.”

“…Why?”

“In case some random fly tries something weird with my guide in there.”

You’re not my— shut up in front of people— he was about to snap when Haejin cut in.

“We already certified exclusive guide status in front of everyone during practice. Remember?”

“I never asked you to come.”

No comeback.

Haejin just stared, waiting.

Their eyes met.

Eye-smile attack.

The practice room flashed in his mind; his face burned.

Lee Chae glared, went to the bathroom, came out, headed to the next building.

Predictably, Haejin was already there, grinning sleazily, scrubbing the seat next to him with wet wipes.

Is he trying to bury me socially by making me look like the bad guy?

He didn’t really care about stares, but the pervert act in public bothered him.

So instead of sitting elsewhere, he plopped down on the freshly cleaned seat.

Whistles erupted.

“Whoa… are they finally dating?”

“Ten tries and the tree finally falls—he’s accepting him!”

Lee Chae wanted to scream.

Did he predict even this and set a trap?

No way… Actually, totally something Cha Haejin would do.

Class began.

Haejin pretended to listen diligently.

Lee Chae couldn’t focus, paranoid about the next stunt.

“Suppose we get sick. Medicine helps us recover fast, but what happens with chronic illness if we keep relying on it? Tolerance builds, right?”

Will I build tolerance to the eye-smiles someday? Then I could ignore them?

“The stronger our espers’ attack power and guides’ healing become, the more enemies evolve to match.”

When eye-smiles stop working, what face will you make?

“That’s how new variant lifeforms are born. Recap of last lecture…”

The professor suddenly stopped, stared at Lee Chae.

Every head turned.

Lee Chae had been glaring at Haejin, trying to decode his strategy.

“Jung Lee Chae.”

“…”

“Jung Lee Chae guide!”

Only on the second call:

“Y-Yes?”

“I know Esper Cha Haejin is handsome and cool, but you’re in the front row—how am I supposed to teach if you only stare at his face?”

Laughter exploded.

Lee Chae’s cheeks flamed.

The most humiliating moment of his life.

“S-Sorry. I’ll focus.”

“Fine. You’re a good student—this once.”

“…Yes.”

He bowed his head, glaring at the textbook.

This has to be part of his plan too…

He wanted to curse out loud.

He felt Haejin’s gaze.

Don’t look— his body betrayed him and turned.

Haejin was already looking.

Eyes met.

Eye-smile barrage.

“Babe, you were staring at me?”

Professor, there’s a crazy esper talking during class—help! He sent desperate eyes, but the professor was writing on the board.

Ears burning red, he glared, then whipped his head back.

Couldn’t focus for the rest of the lecture, terrified of the next move.

Lunchtime.

Haejin silently followed like a shadow all the way to the cafeteria.

The silence was worse than the crazy talk.

When he spouted nonsense, at least Lee Chae could predict and counter.

Silent stalking was pure anxiety.

Too many classes today to walk to his usual cheap snack place.

The awakened-student cafeteria was expensive—he only used it once a week, often skipping meals altogether.

Yesterday the schedule made skipping natural.

Today it would look weird.

So he reluctantly spent blood money on a meal ticket and sat at a big table.

One spoonful of soup—

Haejin was suddenly sitting across from him.

Lee Chae ignored him and kept eating.

Then Haejin started piling food from his own tray onto Lee Chae’s: premium hamburger steak, tonkatsu, bulgogi.

The most expensive items on the menu.

Things Lee Chae’s wallet would never allow.