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My face soured. I never would have guessed he had this kind of violence ingrained in him.
Rainer laughed, almost mischievously, before clicking his tongue. “Oh, was that a threat? Too bad it fell flat.” I listened to his knife clattering on his plate, demonstrating how Keith’s words had hit their mark. “I don’t feel anything at all. But, please, go on.” Rainer let out that low laugh again.
Keith remained silent, refusing to take the bait.
After a moment, Rainer added, “I’m surprised you have the backbone to even try threatening me. Just goes to show that you’re really something else, Keith Roeske. No wonder he likes you.”
“What?” Keith inhaled sharply. “Who?”
My eyes went wide as everything escalated in a split second.
“Your secret admirer,” Rainer said in a low and menacing voice. “That same monster who ripped your mother into pieces.”
There was a lengthy and dramatic pause.
Then, Keith broke the silence, “I’m leaving. I feel like I’m wasting my time.”
“I have the information you need,” Rainer said, his voice low, still cautious even though the TV volume was blaring. They shouldn’t even be chatting here.
“And what is that, exactly?” It sounded like Rainer finally caught Keith’s attention.
“Not everyone you trust is who you think they are. We don’t really know who’s real or fake,” Rainer warned him. “Oftentimes, the ones we love the most are the ones who will betray us in the end. Tell you what, I will leave you a gift in your locker. Look for a box. There will be a note with an address where you can find the den of your mother’s killer. Isn’t that why you hunt? So you can kill that creature before it runs away again?”
“And what do you, a self-proclaimed psychopath, get out of telling me all this?”
“Do I have to get anything in return?” Rainer sighed. “We’re in the same class, Roeske. I just want to try and … help you get revenge.” I could hear Rainer’s voice faltering slightly as he moved his plate in front of him and stood. “I better get going now. Someone’s a little too engrossed in our conversation,” he added, making my heart pump faster.
Rainer escorted himself toward the glass door, but before stepping out in the sun, he locked eyes with me as his pale face crinkled into a vile smirk.
He saw me.
A psychopath, huh? I bet he hasn’t even killed anyone. He’s too busy manipulating people. Hold on a sec. Isn’t he friends with Gray? Wouldn’t that mean—
“Did you have fun eavesdropping?” Keith’s voice ricocheted me back to reality, his butt still glued on the same spot as we sat back-to-back from one another.
I waved him off. “Eavesdropping? I just happened to be here of all places. I mean, you guys should have whispered to each other if you didn’t want me to hear.” I faked a laugh, afraid to face him. “Just kill me already.”
“Relax.” Keith rose from his seat and prepared to leave as I internally cursed him for making me lose my train of thought. “I’ll see you around, Aera.”
By the time he exited the restaurant, my silly mom finally made an appearance, and her teasing expression gave me goosebumps all over the back of my neck.
“Eomma, it’s not what you think it is.”
“Why not? He’s cute,” Mom said. “And he looks like he just got discharged from the military, which makes him a good candidate for you and your future babies. I mean, have you not been paying attention to that adorable little buzz cut?”
“Eomma,” I whined and grabbed the paper bag in her hand. “Trust me, he’s not cute. He’s a boy magnet, and he’s too skinny. I could literally knock him down with one finger. Besides, I’m only seventeen and a virgin. I don’t think my body has the capacity to carry anything heavier than a hamburger.”
“Aigoo… I had you at seventeen, if that makes you feel better,” she reasoned.
“No, it doesn’t. And did you not hear me say that he’s a boy magnet in a boy’s body?” I pouted and headed toward the parking lot as she blabbered about my love life.
I couldn’t blame her. She was only in her thirties, but according to her calculation, she’d already dated around fifty men. Not saying there was anything wrong with it. I wanted her to be happy, even if she had to go through a lot of people to find that happiness.
Later, we jumped in the car and ate on the drive to my school, but since she’d bought us so much food, we spent ten more minutes finishing our breakfast burgers and taro shakes in the cramped car.
“I’m done,” I said.
“Here.” Mom handed me an extra cheeseburger. “Don’t throw the pickles away.”
