facade [ jaebum got7 ]

chapter 1

You run, mindlessly, consumed by the dark silent night while your bare feet slam against the cold, hard concrete. Dark silhouettes of buildings surround you mockingly, your panic rises and the ringing in your ears only scream louder. You spin your head around, trying to assess your location, your long, dark hair only slapping you in the face as you try to escape whatever it is chasing you. Thoughts? People? Voices? Expectations?

Frustrating builds up unbearably and you stop dead in your tracks, letting out an ear-piercing scream.

"Wow that felt good" you whisper between deep, heavy breathes.

"That was deafening" someone speaks, your heart starts to beat immediately in fear. It's the middle of the night, and the voice sounds far from sweet. You spin around, in search of the voice but all you see is darkness. A snicker swims through the air. You decide to start running, turning on your heel you begin to run but a firm grip wraps around your arm and stops you, you struggle out of his grip but to no avail.

"Calm down, I won't hurt you" the male voice speaks again, you stop. Your heart still racing and breathing still ragged you turn your head around to see a man towering a little over you. He looks young, maybe a little older than you? 25? He looks intimidating but to your surprise, sincere.

The lack of light doesn't allow you to see much of his face but you make out a sweet smile, bright eyes and a nose piercing shining in whatever light the moon was giving you. You feel a little relaxed that he doesn't seem like some gang member or pervert. Although, you still refuse to let your guard down.

"What do you want?" You speak firmly, finally snatching your arm away from his grip, his smile drops as if brought back to reality and his eyes suddenly look dark and cold.

"Nothing" he speaks nonchalantly, you take in a bit of his appearance wearing a long coat and ripped skinny jeans. His dark hair comes down below his ears but is styled neatly.

"Nothing?" you question

"What are you doing screaming so loudly in the middle of the night?" he questions and you look away from him,

"It doesn't matter" you state, "I'm leaving"

"Woah woah wait" he calls out to you as you begin to take steps away from him, "i'll walk you home, it's not safe to be walking around this late at night"

This is stupid, is he crazy? This guy expects me to take him to my house?

Your mind runs wild, your fear starting to grow again

"I'm fine thanks" you speak emotionless and start to walk away quickly from the stranger. After a couple of steps you realise you have nowhere to go. You don't want to go home, anywhere but home. Home is suffocating.

Pulling out your phone from your pocket, you dial the only person who could possibly help you right now in this situation.

"Hello?" his voice speaks through the phone groggily

"Hi, sorry to wake you" you pout, feeling awful, "but can I sleep at yours tonight? Please?" you beg

"Yes, of course how far are you?" he speaks, concern slipping through his tone

"Um, I think I'm a couple blocks away"

"are you walking!?" he whisper-yells through the phone, you stutter a little,"i'm coming to pick you up, send me your location"

"oh okay, thank you" you end the call. You send your location, and sit down on some stairs of a building. The night grows colder and starts to look scarier as time goes by. You clench your sweater, trying to bring some warmth to you.

"Still here?"

Your head snaps up from in between your knees and your eyes widen to see the same man. This time, your sitting under a street light and you can see him perfectly. His features correlate so well and his eyes look simply, beautiful.

What are you thinking about!? He's a stranger, he could be dangerous!

You scold yourself mentally and check the time, he should be here to pick you in a couple of minutes. Not too long now.

Meanwhile, the stranger sits himself down next to you, curiosity grows furiously inside you and you can't help but ask,

"What are you doing?" his eyebrow raises sightly, "Like, out here... in the middle of the night"

He sighs loudly and turns his body to face away from you. His rubs his hands together and smiles into the darkness,

"Nothing really" he says but doesn't seem satisfied with his answer, "I think, the night comforts me" he lets out a breathy scoffs

"comforts you?" you question, and suddenly you become interested. Interested in this stranger and his story. He laughs again, and you feel like he's laughing at himself and for a second you feel some kind of sympathy for this stranger you've just met.

A car pulls up, and you jump up.

"Uh, bye" you say awkwardly, he looks up and smiles softly and you rush into the car. You jump into the car, rubbing your hands together to create some kind of warmth.

"Hi" you speak, "i'm sorry to wake you" you pout and he chuckles, patting your head

"It's okay, I don't mind looking out for you" he says,

"Thanks Jinyoung" you smile warmly

"My pleasure, oh by the way, who was that?" he asks and it take you a moment to realise who he was talking about.

"Oh him. I'm not sure..." your peer out the window, and see him sitting there, looking small compared to everything else as he watches you drive away. He looks lost, not physically lost but the more you think about it the more you would've liked to find out about him.

"Don't talk to strangers so late at night, you never know their intentions" Jinyoung demands and you feel bad for making him worry.

From the entire drive to the moment you feel asleep, the man was still on your mind.