PSYCHO | BANG CHAN [✓]

CHAPTER THREE

Chan knew he had no right to feel jealous whenever Misun spoke to another male, whether it was a customer or a coworker. He knew it was part of her job and human nature to socialize with others. One of her coworkers, Hyunjin, seemed to be one of her close friends. The way she smiled at him, and laughed at his jokes, the way they teased each other in ways friends tease each other, it made Chan sick to his stomach. Not because he thought it was repulsive, but because he wanted to be someone she could act the same way around.

He wanted to have inside jokes with her, to make her laugh until her stomach hurt and her sides cramped up. To make her smile and to make her happy, to be able to casually share skinship without it being awkward. He wanted to be close to her, physically and emotionally. However he was at a significant disadvantage.

Chan knew he wouldn't be able to act that way with her when he was someone she didn't know existed until a week prior. Someone she didn't see as more than a customer who came in every morning before work.

He knew he was crossing a line when he started wondering what she did after her shift at the cafe. What time did she get off work? Did she work weekends? Does she walk home or take transit? What does she do and where does she go on her free time? Is she a homebody? An extrovert? Chan had so many questions and absolutely no answers and he wouldn't get those answers until he started to get to know her better. But his schedule didn't align with hers in order to do that, and they didn't know each other enough for him to ask. More so, he was too nervous to be rejected if he did ask.

Chan was at a crossroads, and he had to decide which route he was going to take to get closer to Misun.

The day he caught himself going back to the cafe after work to see if she was still there was when he knew he was about to break a boundary. He felt disappointment rush over him when he saw she wasn't at the counter, but that disappointment was quickly replaced with relief when he saw her walking out of the cafe. She smiled and waved at her coworkers as she walked past the window.

Finishes her shift at 5:30pm.

Chan began to follow her from a safe distance, mentally shouting at himself to stop. This wasn't right and he knew that, so why couldn't he bring himself to stop? This was morally wrong, he shouldn't be following someone to see where they were going, but his curiosity to know more about her was too strong.

Misun took out her phone, putting in earbuds as she continued her walk home, completely oblivious to the man following her.

Walks home, listens to music on her walk. What does she listen to? What's her favourite song? Favourite artist?

Chan followed her for approximately 10 minutes before she reached her destination. He stopped walking as she entered the small condo, disappearing from his sight for the night. Part of him was hoping she would sit in what looked like the living room so he could see her through the window, but a light upstairs had been turned on.

He sighed as he turned around to start his own walk home. He was partly disgusted with himself for following Misun, but another part of him felt accomplished. Was he proud of how he obtained more information about her? Absolutely not, But, he got it and that's what mattered to him.

The next week consisted of his newly formed routine. Coffee at the cafe, the longest hours of his life at work before he could see her again, going back to the cafe to see her leave at 5:30, and following her home to make sure she got home safe.

He would do anything to be closer to her, even if it meant questioning himself and his sanity in the process.