IDOL'S OBSESSION

The Puppet Strings Begin to Move

She blinked.

"Shoot? Here? In this park?"

"Hmm,"

he hummed, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets.

"For an ad campaign. Location was close and... you know, I wanted something simple, green, real."

He said it smoothly, convincingly. As if the entire thing hadn't been a carefully constructed scheme to get close to her.

Sera stared at him, trying to make sense of it. Her eyes flicked toward the gate, then back to him.

Something didn't feel right.

She tried to shake the thought off. But women-they always know. They're taught to sense it. The invisible thread of danger that sometimes coils around your ankle like a snake, slowly tightening.

And Sera felt it now. A premonition. A warning. Her palms had begun to sweat. Her breath was uneven.

She tried to mask it with a small smile.

"It's... just strange. See you here. Alone. Without guards or paparazzi. Again."

Jungkook raised an eyebrow, amused.

"Again?"

"You were at my school,"

she said softly.

"Then... that night... the car. And now here."

His smile didn't falter, but his eyes flickered.

"Coincidence?"

Sera hesitated. Was it?

No. She wasn't naive. She wasn't some wide-eyed girl desperate for attention. Her instincts were alive-screaming at her now.

She could still remember that night. Falling asleep in the warm cocoon of his car, only to wake up far later than she should've. She'd felt disoriented... watched. Not in an unsafe way, but in a way that unsettled her.

Something inside her had begun to coil then-a strange fear she couldn't name. Not because he'd done anything wrong... but because he hadn't. Not yet.

And now, standing face to face again, that same discomfort was returning. Not because of who he was-but because of what he could be.

She quickly bent down and began gathering the biscuit wrapper and bag beside her.

"I should go. It's getting late,"

she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

But just as she took a step past him, a hand reached out-firm but not harsh-and wrapped gently around her wrist.

She froze.

Jungkook's touch wasn't aggressive. But it wasn't soft, either. It was firm enough to stop her.

Her breath hitched again.

Not because she felt anything romantic.

But because she felt something else entirely.

That premonition again. That primal female instinct that tells you when something isn't right. That tells you to run even when everything looks calm.

Unease. A quiet dread.

Her body tensed. She instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but his grip tightened for a second before he released it.

She stepped back.

But Jungkook moved around her, standing in front of her now, blocking the path.

His eyes searched hers-not with menace, but with something else.