Surprise, surprise. Enjoy! 🤭
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chaeyoung's POV
It was in the middle of the afternoon when I received a package. Thinking that it was from Jungkook, since he had been surprising me with various gifts recently, I excitedly opened it. However, I was stricken to the core the moment I saw what was inside the box.
My hand trembled as I scattered everything on my table. They were all pictures of me, more than a dozen stolen pictures of me. What was more sickening was that the pictures were evidently taken recently based on what I was wearing then and my recent whereabouts. But the worst of all was the familiarity I gathered from these pictures.
No! This can't be happening.
I rushed outside the office, not clearly thinking what I was supposed to do but I knew I had to do something about this. But I was not able to run far when a hand pulled me from behind the door leading to the staircase. And there, I faced my greatest nightmare.
Caleb.
Caleb was the very first person I met during college back in Australia. He was already in his senior year then so I easily trusted him when we first bumped into each other and he offered to tour me around on my first day at the campus. We were in different departments since he was studying Architecture while I was continuing my degree in Communications. But that did not stop him from becoming my very first friend as well.
He always happened to be wherever I was, whether it was inside or outside the campus. But I did not suspect anything because his reasons all sounded logical. Especially for the times that I needed help, he was always there to lend me a hand. So I was only grateful to him until that day.
I was on my way to class when I happened to pass by Caleb who had his full attention to his locker. I greeted him in surprise by creeping up behind him. It was a total success when he spun around with his things scattered all over the floor beneath him. And it should have been fun if only I did not find a box filled with dozens of stolen pictures of me, all were taken inside and outside the campus.
I instantly ran away from him but he ran after me. He revealed his feelings for me as he tried to reason out that he was only looking after me. But I did not buy it even when he promised that he meant no harm. So from that day on, I avoided him at all cost.
Little did I know, his false acts around me had scarred me deeply. I tried to deny it for sometime but paranoia was right around the corner, becoming my constant companion without me realizing it. It was a good thing that my family was there for support. They supported me all throughout my therapy and helped me live normally again.
Now I was afraid that all my past efforts went to waste the moment I met Caleb eye to eye.
I yanked my arm from his hold and took a step back. "What are you doing here?"
He smirked in response, "Hmm. That's an odd way of saying you missed me, Roseanne."
"Because I don't." I hissed. "Now you better go because I'm calling security."
"Baby, you can't do that." He looked at me menacingly as he continued. "You wouldn't dare."
I was about to grab my phone and dial the security when he spoke.
"How's Jaehyun by the way? Did he, at least, crack his head from the impact?”
"Huh? You . . . you did that?" Nothing but fear fuelled me as I recalled how Jaehyun explained the car accident he got into this morning. "But he said that it was an accident. And the man, the man driving the truck that hit Jaehyun's car, was a family man who felt very sorry about what he did. So . . . how?"
"Sweetheart, you don't need to hear all the details. The car's bumper was totally damaged and the guy even attained minor injuries. So everything's all good, don't worry too much." He explained callously without the slightest bit of guilt.
"Why would you do that?" I asked him in full disgust. "Jaehyun has nothing to do with me. How could you involve . . ."
He raised his voice when he answered, sounding a bit angered. "It was high time I make him pay. You dated Jaehyun, remember? And he even took you out for a day right before my eyes. You played with him for a whole freakin' day yet you still think that he has nothing to do with you. That's bullshit!"
"Oh my gosh! That was actually you at Sejong?! You were there at the park when we were biking. I saw you." I mumbled in realization.
"Don't remind me. Your reaction back then was such a disappointment, you know. How could you get distracted after seeing me? You should have been excited and hurried towards me. Instead you hurt yourself and clung to that guy." He angrily said before beaming in delight the next second. "But I realized that you did that on purpose to make me jealous. Ah, Roseanne, you flatter me."
Ignoring his delusions, I spat at him. "Ugh! You're actually sick in the head. Now you're even threatening me and starting to hurt the people around me. What happened to, 'I don't mean no harm,' huh?!"
"Let me remind you then. You were not interested in anyone when we met. You did not show even a bit of attraction towards me no matter how frequently we used to hang out. I hated it but I had to act like it did not matter to me as long as we were together. However, you found out everything and started avoiding me. So I pretended to stop going after you and I eventually did until we met again after a few years.
You became more beautiful that I realized how my feelings for you never changed. But only a few weeks after, I started seeing you with this guy. He gets into my pictures of you and I was not liking it. I was actually in the middle of planning something when he vanished on his own. But seeing him around you even until here made me furious. So there, he got into an 'accident.'"
"You're not going to get away with this. I will make sure to . . ."
He was wearing an evil grin while playing with a familiar necktie on his hand.
"That is . . ."
"He . . . is next."
"How did you get that?" I asked in panic.
He chukled deviously, "Like I said, you don't need to hear all the details, baby."
"No!! Why would you harm Jungkook? He really has nothing to do with me. We are simply neighbors." I answered, trying to control the tremble in my voice so I might sound convincing.
"And you expect me to believe that? You even recognized his necktie the moment you saw a glimpse of it. Don't underestimate me, Roseanne." He shouted, his horrifying voice filling the narrow space we were in.
"Still . . . Jungkook and I are nothing to each other. We are . . ." I weakly said, unable to think of what else to say.
He shook his head in disbelief as he said, "You like each other and you are about to go on a date with him this evening. Did I get it right, Park?"
I put a hand over my mouth in worry. I was shocked hearing those things from him. And I was terrified at the sound of my surname against his lips. His mockery was as clear as daylight.
"Just don't do anything to him." I begged as I tried to think of a bargain. "Leave him alone for Pete's sake. I promise to, uh . . . I promise to break any relation I have with Jungkook."
"That's an interesting offer but that's not enough." He denied.
So I quickly retorted, "I will tell no one nothing about how you are stalking me."
He growled, "Of course, you should do that. Because I'm not stalking you in the first place, I'm only looking after you."
I wanted to roll my eyes at his excuses but I stopped myself. I needed him to believe me so I tried to calm down and thought of a way out of this.
"Fine, if that's what you call it." I blurted before quickly adding, "And I promise to break anything between Jungkook and I so he really would have nothing to do with me."
"Alright." He said after scrutinizing me and I almost barfed at his pungent scent. "So you're going to ditch him tonight?"
"No, I cannot do that. He will suspect me if I suddenly ditch him. So I will meet him but I promise to break his heart by the end of the night. I promise!" I explained, hoping that I sounded reasonable enough to make him believe.
"Okay. But you should come to me afterwards. We are going away together and no one can ever take you away from me."
"Y-yes, of course." I whispered, the lie cutting painfully at my throat.
The rest of the day went by in a blur. I was thinking so hard of a way to finish all of Caleb's madness that I was greatly distracted at work. So I decided to get off work at an earlier time by lying about feeling sick, even though I actually was given the situation.
Then I hurried getting to my apartment and went to rummage my medicine cabinet right when I got inside. I smiled in triumph while eyeing the thing on my hand. I was just hoping that my plan would work. And it must for I had no other idea in mind.
... ... ... ... ...
I almost bawled out the instant I saw Jungkook. He looked dashing in a black denim, deep blue tailored fit dress shirt and black lace-up boots. So I took a deep breath before I gathered the courage to reveal my presence before him.
The entire time, I tried to act as casual as I could. Even when I saw Caleb lurking around the whole time I was with Jungkook. I did my best in pouring my attention solely on Jungkook and not minding Caleb.
I almost succeeded in pretending there was nothing wrong until I could not hold it any longer.
"Not really, I'm just worried about you." He said out of his pure concern upon seeing my hurt feet from walking around in heels.
Jungkook's sincerity moved me in such a way that the fear building up inside me gobbled me up. I almost told him the truth and ruined my plan. Although seeing Caleb a few meters from behind Jungkook turned out to be a good thing after all. His appearance reminded me of my goal in protecting Jungkook and myself. And I gained strength from my desperation to succeed so that I would no longer be shackled to the past.
Damn it!
"I'm really sorry, Jeon. But we just can't. I'm so sorry." I said as I choked on my tears before running away from Jungkook.
I was no longer surprised when Caleb appeared in front of me out of nowhere. He gave me a sinister smile, making my hair stand on end. Then he roughly pulled me by the wrist and dragged me away.
We rode a taxi to a hotel on the outskirts of Seoul. It seemed that he was staying at this hotel because he readily pulled me to the elevator, planning to bring me to his room right away.
I held him back and immediately shuddered in disgust at the feel of his skin against mine. "Why don't we have drinks first? There should be a club nearby."
"We can order some and have it delivered in our room. There's no need . . ." He reasoned before I interrupted him.
"Caleb." I softly called, trying to look calm while meeting his gaze. "I'm actually afraid . . . of you. Even the thought of being alone with you in one room worries me a lot. So I thought that going to a club would, at least, help me loosen up. Please?" I truthfully said.
"I should not trust you. You could have something up your sleeves. What if . . ."
"Then I should not trust you either." I retorted while taking a step backward. "You could be fooling me all along, the same way you did before."
"Wait!" He grabbed my hand, stopping me from moving farther. "Fine, let's look for a club around here."
"Great! I, I mean . . . I greatly appreciate that you're trying to consider how I feel about all these. Thank you, Caleb!" I whispered, hoping that he would give no importance to my slip of the tongue.
... ... ... ... ...
I was far from happy but I cheerfully urged Caleb to get inside when we found a club a few blocks from the hotel. We went straight to the bar to order our drinks. And I playfully drank my margarita in one gulp to show that I only wanted to have a good time and nothing more.
A few drinks after, I could already feel my head spinning around. But I tried my best to stay awake and complete my plan. I fully faced Caleb and slowly moved closer to him. My left hand was resting on his thigh while the other one was sneakily pouring a powdered sleeping pill in his drink.
"Hey! I want to hit the dance floor. You mind dancing with me?" I whispered against his ear, speaking in a sultry voice, enough to distract him from what I was doing with his drink.
He was wearing a disturbing smirk when he agreed right away.
"But first, let's drink up. How about we do a love shot?" I suggested with a flirty wink.
"Hell yes!" He excitedly answered before grabbing his drink and intertwining his arm around mine.
We finished each of our drinks in one large gulp. And I immediately pulled Caleb to the dance floor afterwards. I was getting frustrated when it took three songs before I began noticing the sleeping pill taking effect on Caleb. He was stumbling from left to right with his eyes partly closed by the end of the third song. So I hurriedly ushered him out of the club.
We got in a taxi and headed to the nearest police station. Caleb, beside me, was getting in and out of consciousness so it was not that difficult to bring him in the police station.
When I talked to the police officer, I presented him the box of pictures that Caleb took and a recording of our conversation from this afternoon. With the evidence in hand, I easily convinced the police so they put Caleb behind bars.
I was wearily leaving the police station when I felt exhaustion taking a toll on my frail body. And before I knew it, I fell down on someone's arms.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Y'all didn't quite like how the last chapter ended so here's to make it up to you, guys. 😁 I hope that this is enough to answer 'WHY'.
Thanks for everyone's support! I'd love it if you can tell me your reactions or opinions about the story. I appreciate everyone's thoughts no matter how differing they may be. They help me get ideas too. So please feel free to comment whatsoever.
'Til the next update, hopefully soon! 🤞
💙