I Don’t Want to Play Villains Anymore - Chapter 33

Pure Evil

“I’ve been caught. I’ve been caught. Ah, what should I do now?”

Suha’s lips curled up faintly.

And then it followed.

Hee hee.

At first, it seemed like a light, breath-like sound, but soon it transformed into the shape of laughter.

A laugh that was unchildlike and too mature for a child, a mean laugh.

However, that laughter was strange.

To be precise, it felt as though someone was mechanically carrying out an order to “laugh meanly.”

A laugh that seemed to mimic some “emotional acting.”

Suha was laughing, but there was not a hint of emotion in it.

The eyes were still cold, and the cheeks showed cracks instead of a smile.

‘If I smile this way, the other person will be more scared.’

‘If I speak in this tone, they’ll become more anxious.’

All of it was calculated fear.

This child knew how to scare others, and how to imitate Buram.

And now, the target of that performance was the teacher.

Suha continued to laugh with her hands clasped together.

Her arms were neatly gathered, her toes were aligned together, and her head was slightly tilted, like a character from a cartoon.

But despite all those postures appearing bizarre, the only abnormal part was the corners of her mouth.

“Eh… what should I do, teacher? I’ve been caught.”

The tone that drew out the end of her words, the attempt at playfulness, were perfect.

That made it even scarier.

A real child would have emotions seeping out.

But there was no emotion visible in that laughter.

Suha knew exactly “how to appear more frightening.”

And she was simply ‘acting’ that out.

“Still, teacher is kind, so…”

Suha slowly raised her head and spoke.

“You won’t tell the other Buram, right?”

It sounded like a question, but it also felt like a statement.

But there was a definite intention behind those words.

‘Please don’t tell. Or else.’

There were simply no more words attached to that statement.

The teacher’s pupils quivered.

She instinctively felt it.

‘This child is… threatening me right now.’

The words were soft, and the Shin Sound was pretty.

But inside it hid a clear shadow of malice.

Suha stepped closer with a giggle.

As her small footsteps echoed in the room, a dim shadow under the light slowly elongated towards the teacher.

“If you don’t tell anyone… teacher will be fine.”

Innocent tone, pretty pronunciation, childlike smile.

All were utilized to convey the purest form of threat.

Suha spoke with a face so genuine.

Brighter and more natural than anyone else.

“Teacher is a good Buram, so just trust me.”

When that statement ended—

The air pressure in the room dropped.

A silence that made even breathing cautious.

And within that, Suha still stood.

Shining eyes.

A face adorned with a smile.

All those appearances belonged to a five-year-old child.

But the existence within was the essence of the coldest evil.

“…Suha, you need counseling.”

The teacher’s Shin Sound was careful yet resolute. But at the same time, it trembled.

Like a Buram carefully walking on ice, she seemed uncertain whether this single sentence she was about to say was a landmine or not.

Suha blinked her eyes lightly.

And soon, she raised the corners of her mouth.

“Ah.”

She took a deep breath.

The admiration that came from the mouth of a five-year-old was profound.

“When my mom and dad were around, I did that a lot.”

At that moment, the teacher’s pupils slightly shook.

Not because of what she said but because of the tone behind those words.

This was not the words of a child who had ‘experienced’ counseling.

It was the tone of someone who had consumed and passed judgment on the very system of counseling.

“It’s boring. It’s tedious.”

Thunk—

Suha lightly tapped the desk.

As if recalling something.

But there was absolutely no trace of ‘the warmth of memories’ in her eyes.

“At first, they said to hold back on speaking, to trust your emotions, and such, right?”

Stretching out her words, she let her foot swing back.

The little shoe slid softly across the floor, coming to a halt.

“But when I trusted those emotions, I ended up hitting the Buram.”

Her head tilted to one side.

From beneath it, the shadow flowed along with a smile.

“So, teacher, after that, I just…”

Swish.

She touched her chest with both hands.

“What’s inside, I just keep locked away. Oh, I locked it.”

And then she smiled brightly.

That smile was so clear that it sent chills down one’s spine.

“Of course. I’m a kid who does nothing wrong.”

The teacher couldn’t say anything.

Her lips moved slightly, but no words came out.

If she tried to speak, it felt as if the child would gnaw away at that emptiness again.

Suha turned and looked directly into the teacher’s eyes.

Her gaze was as quiet as a taxidermy.

“So, teacher.”

Tapping gently.

She struck the chair leg with her fingertips to create a subtle vibration.

“If you want to help me right now…”

She said with a smiling gaze.

“How will you help me?”

That was not a genuine question.

It was a trap.

If she answered, it would pull apart all the logic, meaning, and emotions of that answer.

It was not a pure question of ‘Can you really help me?’,

But a cold jest of ‘I know you can’t help me. Still, will you try?’

Yet, Suha was surprisingly innocent.

The teacher’s hands trembled slightly on her lap.

The child laughed.

So beautifully and innocently.

But that laugh was clearly beyond innocence.

“Counseling?”

Tilting her head again, Suha spat out her final words.

“That’s something teachers only do when they don’t know me.”

And then suddenly.

The confident smile she had moments ago crumbled in an instant.

A silence that seemed to systematically dismantle every thought in order.

The corners of her mouth slowly drooped, and her eyelids cautiously closed.

Like peeling off a disguise.

It was a strange, intricate, and slow emotional transition.

And in the next moment.

“Ugh…”

A small, cautious sob rose through her throat.

The sudden trembling caused the teacher’s eyebrows to flutter.

“I miss mom… I miss dad…”

Suha’s Shin Sound was thin and delicate, as if she were on the brink of bursting into tears.

The cold tone from moments ago was nowhere to be found.

Small, trembling shoulders, lips pressed tightly together before they opened again.

Transparent moisture pooled at her eyes.

That was not forced out.

It appeared to be real crying, perfectly calculated tears.

“…I don’t know if I’ll end up like this too…”

Her voice grew softer, and breathing was swallowed in a haze of confusion and anguish.

And in response to that sound, the teacher’s hand slowly moved.

“Suha…”

The teacher’s face, which had not relaxed until just seconds ago, softened.

Her pupils wavered, growing tender.

Her lips trembled as if to speak words of comfort.

“Teacher… I, I also wasn’t good…”

Suha cautiously wrapped her arms around herself.

As if truly seeing herself crumbling apart.

“I don’t dislike the kids… Just, just…”

“…”

“It feels like things have gotten weird…”

With her head bowed deeply, her white hair fell over her face.

The teacher had slowly begun to approach the child.

Suha had not let that moment pass.

‘Good. It’s almost there.’

In that brief moment, Suha’s eyes briefly moved—smoothly.

A very slight, swift motion to confirm the teacher’s fingertips.

And then quickly, she returned to the face of a crumbled child.

“Teacher… I was really wrong… Soon, my friends will dislike me, and soon I’ll become strange…”

Her lips trembled, and her Shin Sound cracked as if suppressing emotions before bursting forth.

That was the most ‘innately fragile’ emotion a child could display.

With that single scene, the teacher’s heart crumbled completely.

Stronger than any lesson or any moral teaching, a powerful emotional response.

‘This child is in danger right now.’

That belief solidified in the moment.

“It’s okay. Suha.”

The teacher’s hand reached toward Suha’s trembling back.

As if wanting to embrace her, as if to wrap her up.

‘Gotcha.’

That delicate moment.

Suha’s eyes sparkled once more.

But— that light was one that would never be discovered.

Her face was still weeping, and her shoulders trembled slightly,

The sudden surge of emotion and trembling hands were a level of difficulty that no adult actor could mimic.

Suha’s crying was a fabrication.

Yet at the same time, it was all too real.

A perfectly designed, ’empathy-inducing distraction.’

“So… I want to know, teacher.”

“What do you want to know?”

“How does the Buram work inside?”

Plop.

With a soft sound, red liquid seeped out.

The bl**d surprisingly spread quietly.

It didn’t shimmer or shine like paint.

Unlike the exaggerated redness of fake bl**d used on stage, it was a natural but viscous shade.

Like the shadow of an old rose.

In the middle of the classroom, it appeared quiet beneath the bright lights.

The teacher’s body had not completely collapsed yet.

The chair was pushed partly back, and her body was awkwardly leaning over it.

As if trying to maintain the posture from just moments ago,

An unconscious struggle.

But that struggle did not last long.

Strength drained from her fingertips, and her shoulders collapsed.

From the nape of her neck downward, slowly, her body sank down as if flowing.

Thunk.

The sound clashed with the floor beneath the podium.

Rather than the sound of a person toppling over, it felt like something quietly crumbled.

And there stood Suha.

She quietly tilted her upper body slightly and leaned her head.

In her hand was a pair of scissors.

To be precise, it was the blade pulled out from the scissors carefully nestled in her palm.

“Yes.”

Her lips moved slightly.

A whisper.

“This side had the heart.”

That tone was ordinary.

Like a child confirming the folding order while origami-ing.

Accurate and quiet, with a hint of interest.

Suha raised her head and gazed at the teacher’s face.

Her consciousness had already drifted away, and her eyelids were slowly closing.

But the light that emerged from her seemed… strange.

Fear and confusion, and—

‘Pity.’

The fact that feeling was the last one felt a little absurd.

So they could not escape the notion of trying to ‘understand’ Suha until the very end.

“Teacher’s last world must have been filled with me.”

Suha muttered quietly and straightened her back.

The small stature unique to a child.

Just moments ago, the face that had been applying stickers to a board.

That face was now losing its delicate light beneath the fluorescent lamps.

The glimmer in her eyes faded.

Not in a way full of despair, but as if all things had collapsed back into ‘meaninglessness’, a profound emptiness.

The child took a step back and glanced once at the place where the teacher had been.

There lay bl**d, chairs, and fallen trust.

And Suha quietly walked toward the door.

Silent footsteps.

Adorning decorations that shimmered wherever they touched.

The brightly colored papers that had been carelessly stuck now appeared too absurd.

She placed her hand on the doorknob.

Quietly, click.

Then for one last time, she looked around the room.

With just her eyes, she confirmed and slowly opened the door to leave.

And softly, Suha murmured.

“Is it only in God’s kingdom that they can live?”

Clunk.