A/N: YO GIRL JUST GOT HERSELF INTO THE STUDENT COUNCIL!! I recently applied for a position in the student council and they finally wrote me an email saying they would give me a position as 'Publicity and Social Media Co-ordinator', whatever that means. Our first meeting is this Sunday and I'm so so nervous :(
P.S: Two more requests and I can get started on the part 2s for you guys! Until then, my request box will still be closed!
Q: How's college?
A: College is fun but super super tiring, if you guys think that high school is bad, trust me when I say that college is worse but much more fulfilling especially if you're doing you enjoy! In terms of friends, I've a pretty big bunch but not all of them are as crazy about K-POP as I am, but I'll slowly have to find more hardcore K-POP friends!
(Ask me anything: KPOP, life, advise!)
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Requested by: XxYuzukaxX (this was requested before I stopped taking requests)
Song Recommendation: Obsessed ; Super Junior D &E
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'You sure you doing okay?' JB's smooth voice crackled over the phone as you rolled to lie on your side in bed, the sheets tangled between your legs.
'I'm fine love,' you reassured him for what felt like the millionth time but what was actually only the third. You pillowed your head using your forearm, as you steadied your mobile phone against one of the spare pillows so that you could see Jaebeom properly as he was preparing to head out for breakfast on the other side of the world.
'I hate not seeing you,' he sighed and you could feel his irritation through the phone screen.
'Just 3 more months and you'll be back from tour so don't worry,' you said gently, trying to soothe his worries. That was one of the things you just had to do when it came to being in a relationship with Jaebeom, he had the slight tendency to be overprotective especially when he went overseas for more than a few weeks. And, you with your hectic schedules in university, you certainly couldn't just skip lessons and join him for a world tour. Besides, being a final year degree student meant flooded with assignments and assessments, even if you had wanted to leave the country, you would have to get through the mound of papers, work and online hand-ins first before you were even allowed to step out of the dorm.
'So you're very very sure you're okay? You're not sick or anything right?' he asked, brow still furrowed, making him look like an old man, something you loved to tease him about. Now, what you wouldn't give for him to be there so you could kiss the wrinkles away. 'Nothing's going on at work or school right?"
At that point, you hesitated slightly but only for a fraction of a second. You forced your lips into a smile as you nodded. 'Things are fine, the only thing is that Nora has shredded my couch to near pieces,' you complained, trying to inject some false brightness into your tone as he chuckled. 'I'll pay you back for the couch,' he promised as a distant shout reached your ears and there came a knock from JB's hotel room door.
'Hyung! Stop talking to (Y/N) and let's go before Yugyeom and Bam Bam clean out the buffet!' a distinct husky voice you immediately recognised as Jackson.
'Go,' you laughed, cheered up only slightly by the antics of your second family as JB turned to the door shouting: 'I'LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE,'
'I love you,' he said, giving you that soft smile he reserved mostly for you, the one that he only did on special occasions because he stated that he needed to maintain his 'chic and sexy vibe' which you rolled your eyes at whenever he brought up, because deep down inside, you knew he was a pure fluffball, although he never acknowledged it.
'And I you,' you replied simply, fluttering your fingers as a form of goodbye as his face disappeared from the screen the only words left were the big bold letters
Call Ended
34:56
You had been feeling sleepy when you first picked up JB's call but at the mention of work, you were now wide awake. Not that it meant anything, but certain incidents kept happening at work lately and you had no idea what to think of them. They weren't what you could categorise as creepy and neither could you categorise them as completely innocent either.
The first time had been 3 weeks after your boyfriend had jetted off for the first stop of his world tour, after having started with a bang in Seoul. You worked in a small café near your university and your apartment, most of the time it was pretty easy walking distance. You would take your morning classes and then go back home to freshen up and try to polish off your small mountain of homework before heading to the café for your evening to night shift where you would work as both waitress and cashier. The old lady that was in charge of the shop had always been nice to you and often gave you free home-cooked dinners which was great for a broke university student.
When you first worked there, things had been fine, everything going around like clockwork, you would buss tables, take orders, give out change, count the money in the cashier and then close up at 10 and walk back home. The streets were often well-lit and you didn't really have a problem when it came to walking back, seeing as the police presence in the area was relatively heavy, and there had been minimal to no crime. When JB was around, he insisted that he either drive or walk you back, something that you had tried, to no avail, to dissuade him from continuing to do. You never truly noticed how much his presence protected you but now that he was no longer by your side, things just began to happen.
The first time was when you came for work on the day after Valentine's Day and the friendly matron Mrs Kim had tapped you on the shoulder as you prepared for your shift.
'Yes?' you asked, turning around fingers still fiddling with the strings of your apron as you tugged, knotting it nearly behind.
'These came in for you,' she smiled, motioning to a bouquet of beautiful flowers that seemed to have been delivered to you.
'Oh wow,' you murmured, as you picked them up, cradling them gently in your arms. Roses laced with baby's breath you inhaled faintly, enjoying the sweet scent of the flowers.
Could JB have sent these to me? He knows I don't particularly like flowers, I can't even keep myself healthy much less grow flowers. But then again, it is Valentine's Day, maybe he's just feeling sappy.
There was a vacant smile on your face as your mind drifted off to your boyfriend who you were missing terribly, until the sharp snap of Mrs Kim's fingers brought you back to stark reality.
'Enough with the heart eyes,' she said in a stern yet teasing voice as you blushed, putting the bouquet down carefully on the countertop, rushing to attend to customers that were starting to stream in for the dinner rush, reminding yourself to ask JB about the flowers.
You were distracted most of the night, and you somehow made it through work without slipping up or mixing up someone's order as you constant glanced at the flowers that lay on the counter, waiting for you. Just the sight of it would fill you with warmth, that even though Jaebeom was not here at least, he had remembered and was thinking of you.
By the time the shift was over, Mrs Kim clucked her tongue at the speed in which you removed your apron and counted the money in the cashier.
'Give it here,' she laughed in a low voice as you flushed, once again embarrassed at getting caught being so enthusiastic and flustered, so unlike your usual, composed self. 'I remember being excited when my first boyfriend sent me flowers as well, so I'll close up shop for now,' she flicked you with the dishcloth as a slight form of punishment, still smiling as she went, shaking her head.
Nearly bursting with happiness, you scooped up the bouquet in your arms and proceeded to gather your things, plugging in your earphones for the walk home. Deciding against calling him, seeing as he might be busy, you texted him instead, trying to sound chill and not at all like an excited high school girl.
You: Thanks for the flowers <3
Beomie: Flowers??
You: Yeah, the ones you sent to the café. I thought it was really sweet.
You watched as the tick on the right-hand corner of the chat box turned into a blue double tick, brow furrowed in confusion as your screen suddenly transformed into that of an incoming call, Jaebeom's face displayed prominently on screen. Sliding the icon to the left, you picked up his call, still wondering what was going on.
Immediately, his voice filled your ear, his tone confused and wary.
'I never sent you any flowers,'
'Then who did these come from?" you asked, perplexed, turning the bouquet over in your hands. And how did the sender know what your favourite flowers were? The only people you had shared that information with was Jaebeom and maybe some of your best friends.
His silence on the other end of the line was nerve-wracking until you finally clued in onto why he was being so silent.
'Jaebeom don't be ridiculous,' you said in a warning tone. 'You know I'm not going behind your back,'
He sighed over the phone and you knew that the battle was won. Both of you trusted each other enough for this to work, even with him being half a world away.
'If it wasn't you who sent these to me, then who could it have been?' you wondered aloud.
'Is there a card or something?" JB asked as you searched for any clue that might give the sender away.
'Hmmm, no,' things were getting weirder by the second and the fact that you were travelling alone in the middle of the night was not helping matters.
'Maybe it's just a case of mis-delivery?' JB's soothing voice tried to reassure you. 'It's Valentine's Day remember, I'm sure there are a lot of flowers being sent everywhere,' he reasoned it out with his sound logic. That was one of the things you loved about him. He was the logical reasoning behind most of your emotional reactions. He was the only one that could calm you down and pick apart the situation piece by piece before finally coming to a conclusion. In a way, it was what made him a very effective leader.
His voice combined with the sound reasoning put your mind somewhat at ease and your breathing slowed.
'I guess you're right,' you muttered, slightly disappointed that the flowers weren't for you after all. 'I feel bad for the girl that should have gotten these, they really are beautiful,' you felt slightly guilty for having accidentally taken another girl's bouquet. You wondered if there was any way to return them to the sender so that the package could actually be sent to the right person, albeit the surprise would be slightly late. You made a mental to check during the weekend, but for now, the flowers would have to be under your care.
Weekend
'Hey,' you approached the counter with a smile on your face, holding out the flowers. 'I was wondering if you could check the address for these flowers? Because I think you guys might have mistakenly sent them to the café where I'm working,' you enquired as the girl at the counter, took the bouquet to the back where she was probably doing some form of checks.
5 minutes later, as you were scrolling through Instagram and updating Jaebeom about the flowers, she finally re-emerged from the back, still carrying the flowers.
'Actually, the address was correct, it was definitely supposed to be sent to your café,' she noted, handing it back to you. 'The sender never stated a name, so we just delivered it to the address,' she said formally, while you frowned. 'Is there anything else I'll be able to assist you in?' she asked as you shook your head, heading out of the post office.
If the address was wrong, then who the hell sent me these flowers?
A ping from the front pocket of your jeans, alerted you to a text message.
Beomie: So, what happened with the flowers?
Me: Apparently, the café really was the right address
Beomie: Well, maybe you have a secret admirer or something
You knew Jaebeom well enough that he was teasing you over text.
Me: Ha.Ha.
Beomie: I'm being serious (Y/N)
Me: Yeah right Beom. I'm just going to put this behind me as some sort of misidentification or something, as long as its out of the way and never happens again.
Beom: Just be careful for the next few days. I'm not saying anything but like, just be careful okay?
You smiled as your fingers flew, typing in a reply.
Me: Yeah yeah Mr Worry-Wart
Beom: I only worry because I love you okay
Me: Oh my god are you finally admitting that you love me???
Beom: UGHHHHH
Me: Go to work dummy, I love you too
You shook your head as he sent a kissing emoji in reply as you responded with one vomiting before turning off your phone.
By the time you reached your apartment, you had completely forgotten about the flowers despite the nagging feeling tugging at the back of your mind whenever you saw them on the countertop. At first, they seemed sweet and innocent to you but the longer you looked at them, the more and more nervous you got. Unable to take it much longer, you dumped them in the rubbish bin before firmly allowing the lid to snap close.
Well, that's that. You bit your lip as you thought, turning your back to the bin, proceeding with your daily routine, trying your best to push away the troubling thoughts that seemed to continuously take centre stage in the back of your mind.
But that, had been the beginning of an experience that still haunted your every footstep.
A month after the flower incident which you had long forgotten, you noticed strange things happening at your university, specifically when it came to your personal belongings. You stashed most of your stuff in a locker that had a 4 digit combination lock provided by the school, to make it easier for you to get to classes, since the majors you were taking required a lot of reading, most of the textbooks were dictionary-thick or sometimes worse and you knew that if you attempted to carry all of them in your bag, you would wind up an old-hunchback by the time you graduated in your early 20s.
So, when the stuff began to go missing, you were bound to notice. It was small things at first, like a pencil which you ignored because knowing how forgetful you were, you assumed that you probably had just misplaced it somewhere or it had dropped out of your bag while you were packing up. In the beginning it was just a pen, but as time passed, more and more disconcerting things managed to disappear. Your notebooks, your mini comb you used for emergencies, until one day, a bracelet Jaebeom had given you for your 1-year anniversary went missing. It had held significant meaning for you and your heart dropped to the floor when you nearly thrashed your locker, searching for it. You usually kept it in there while you showered and changed in the bathrooms provided after your swim practise.
Despite searching through your locker again and again, even re-checking your purse you couldn't find it and you were distraught. Calling your best friend, she had advised you to stash your remaining stuff in her locker first and submitting a complaint to the admissions office and handing in the padlock of the locker to the management so that they could do something about it.
So, that was exactly what you did and after a while, the stuff just stopped disappearing. Having learnt your lesson, you stopped keeping your stuff in school instead preferring to carry an extra bag with you just to keep some of your extra belongings. Every time you wanted to complain about how troublesome or heavy it was, all it took was one glance at your empty wrist and you would swallow your complaints, lugging around the bag.
'It's fine, at least none of your important stuff was taken. It could have been your purse or your university ID or something (Y/N),' Jaebeom had said over the phone when you called to tell him about your mysterious case of the missing belongings, apologising over and over again about how you had lost the bracelet, constantly blaming yourself for its disappearance, lamenting about how you should have kept it with you instead of being lazy.
Over and over again Jaebeom kept reassuring you that it wasn't a big deal and that he was more glad that you were safe and that the rest of your more important belongings escaped unscathed.
'But,' there was a burst of static as he walked around what you assumed was his hotel room. 'I'm just wondering why take those stuff instead of taking the important things? Like, it doesn't make any sense,' you heard a satisfied grunt as he laid down on bed with a thump of his body hitting the mattress.
'I don't know, all I know is that I'm glad it stopped,' you sighed, and Jaebeom, sensing your discomfort, quickly diverted your attention to other things such as the ridiculous antics that GOT7 were coming up while they were on tour and soon enough you were laughing along as if nothing had happened.
You thought that after that phone call and taking the pre-cautions, that it would be the end of it but 3 weeks later a new revelation disturbed you even more.
'Hey (Y/N),' your best friend came up to you during lunch as you were scanning the menu for anything cheap and there was an internal war debating between rice cakes or ramen when she came up to you.
'Hmmm?" you hummed at the back of your throat, mind still coming up with the pros and cons of each of the dishes.
A stinging slap on your left arm, jolted you out of the debate as you yelped, rubbing the afflicted area.
'What was that for?" you demanded to know, annoyed that you were interrupted from making a very important decision.
'I found something that I think would be of great interest to you,' she said cryptically, waggling her eyebrows.
'I swear to god Jiyoo, if this is one of your pranks again, I will-,' you started off but she interjected you in the middle of your sentence with a wave of her hand.
'It's not like that,' she insisted. She then lowered her voice as if she was about to reveal a very big secret. 'I found your stuff,'
Your brain stopped for a while as if to compute what she was saying and whether she was making it up or not, but judging by the seriousness of her expression and the actual concern shining in her eyes, she wasn't. Suddenly, ramen and rice cakes weren't that important anymore. Sighing, looking down at the wrist where Jaebeom's bracelet used to reside, you said two words:
'Take me.'
'Well, you see-,' Jiyoo had been babbling all the way to wherever it was she had discovered your stash of missing things, her voice echoing around the empty halls as everybody was in the cafeteria.
'Minhyuk and I were checking out the storage areas, looking for um...' she trailed off and it perked your interest to see that she was going a deep red.
'A place to make out perhaps?" you teased, elbowing her in the side as she spluttered, which gave the game away. Minhyuk was Jiyoo's boyfriend of 2 years and they were big on PDA and constantly trying to scout out places in school where they could do it in private, as if the back of the car wasn't enough.
'ANYWAY,' she said in a loud voice, smothering over your girls as the halls echoed in unison till it sounded like there were 5 million Jiyoos talking at the same time.
'We were looking out for storage areas for... certain reasons,' her face flushed red again but she cleared her throat to continue. 'And while doing that, I spotted something glimmering on the ground near one of the shelves and since I was being curious, I picked it up and realised that it was your necklace. I sped out there faster than light and came to find you,'
'You left Minhyuk, in a dark dusty storage room?" you cocked an eyebrow as she nodded. 'You didn't even tell him where you were going?" you asked in disbelief, wondering how she could just bail on him like that.
'Well, if he minded he could have always just left, but I don't think he did, I'm always running off like that,' she shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. 'Besides, if he had gone somewhere else he would have texted me,' she muttered as both of you finally reached your destination: a door with peeling paint coming off in cracks, with a lopsided rusted sign, saying: Janitor's Storage
You whistled through your teeth and laughed. 'This is a classy place for a makeout session,' you muttered sarcastically. '5 stars if the inside doesn't smell like old detergent and dirty school water,' your throat hurled at the very thought.
'Ha. Ha,' was all you got out of Jiyoo as she turned the knob to admit you into the room where sure enough, Minhyuk was still standing there, tapping away on his phone, his platinum blonde hair sweeping to his eyes as he constantly tried to push it back.
'Hey, (Y/N),' he greeted you calmly as if it was everyday where he found himself playing mobile games in the janitor's old closet and then finding his girlfriend and her best friend walk through the doors.
'Here,' Jiyoo tossed something small and shiny at your face which you barely managed to catch, the metal links slipping through your fingers until your pinkie finger hooked onto the end. It was definitely Jaebeom's bracelet. The charms, the sleek metallic feel of it and the most important the tag that was engraved on it his date of birth was still there and as you clasped it back on your wrist, you let out a sigh of relief you didn't know you had been holding. Losing the bracelet had been like losing a part of Jaebeom himself, especially in a time like this when he was a million miles away.
'That's not all,' Jiyoo called out from behind the shelves as you jerked your head up. 'You gotta come and see this (Y/N),' she said as you creeped behind the shelves to see a small alcove deep in the recesses of the wall there was a small mound of your things including your hair tie, your comb, books and stationery.
'What the-,' you breathed out unable to make sense of any of this. All you knew was that this was hard evidence that someone had been stealing your stuff and hiding them here, whether to mess with you or because they had something against you, he, she, or they had done it to make your life incredibly difficult.
You mumbled obscenities under your breath as you scooped up your things in your arms, with Minhyuk helping you out with your books as he came back to check what both of you were up to.
'Can't believe we found all of your stuff here of all places,' Jiyoo wrinkled her nose in disgust as you brushed off some of the dust that had collected on the books
'Thanks... I guess?" you weren't sure what to say because your mind was floating off, wondering who had the time and the willingness to pull off this kind of prank. Or, if it was even a prank. But it had to be right? No one in their right mind would just steal your stuff and leave them in such an obvious place to find.
You found your feet carrying you to the administration office as Jiyoo called out, hurrying up to match your pace.
'Any idea who would want to do this to you?" she asked, sceptically.
'Honestly?' you blew out a gust of a sigh, ruffling your bangs. 'I have no idea, I just hope that whoever this is, he or she stops fucking around with me, I've had enough of that already,' you were starting to sound more and more irritated with the culprit.
'Okay,' Jiyoo had pulled out the 'don't-kill-me-but' tone as you raised an eyebrow. 'You know what I think?" she asked as you maintained your silence, waiting for whatever explanation she had come up with this round.
'I think,' she lowered her voice as if she was sharing North Korea's secret nuclear codes with you. 'That this whole incident with the book stealing and the thing where you got a bunch of flowers on Valentine's is connected,'
You nearly burst out laughing, your voice echoing through the halls and bouncing off lockers.
'Really Jiyoo?" you asked, still chuckling, shaking your head, using that nickname you had reserved especially for occasions like this where she went off one of her tangents and started connecting sometimes meaningless things together.
'I mean, just think about it,' she insisted, running forward so that you were facing her as she walked backwards and explained her theory. 'Jaebeom flies off and then suddenly you get some flowers that he didn't send and when you ask to return it to the sender, they explain that its supposed to be sent to you. And then, all your stuff goes missing and somehow ends up in this creepy unused janitor's room,' she said with a flourish as if that solved everything.
You snorted in disbelief, you had had enough of Jiyoo's "theories" to last a life time, shifting the books in your hand so that the weight was more equally distributed as your forearms began to ache. There was the slight crinkling of paper as a loose piece of paper fluttered to your feet. Perplexed, Jiyoo bent to help you pick it up, her dark brown eyes scanning the paper as her frown soured.
'That's weird, I don't usually put in any of my loose notes in my books,' you muttered flipping through the rest, supporting them with one knee, leaning against the wall of lockers.
'Um (Y/N),' Jiyoo's voice was suddenly sombre as you looked up, as she held the paper between her fingers, her expression unreadable. 'I think you might want to have a look at this,' she whispered, as if she was speaking ill of the dead.
Swiping the paper from her, you took a quick look and suddenly, all you could hear was the thump and clang of books hitting the metallic surface of the lockers as they tumbled to the floor from your numb arms, as you had to lean most of your weight against the cold lockers, the chill seeping into your bones and despite the turn of the season into the warmer months, you felt as if a breeze had frozen you to the very core.
There was a collage of pictures of you and Jaebeom but then there was something fundamentally wrong about them. Firstly, these were pictures that you had posted on your private Instagram you had created for you and Jaebeom where you posted most of your pictures together. The account was set on private and only a select few people were allowed to follow and all those people were people who you would trust with your life and after much checking even JB approved. So... how the hell did they get those pictures?
But that wasn't the scary part. The scary part was that the pictures had been printed out and stuck on but with one vital missing piece. All of them had had JB's portion of the photo cut out with what looked like a jagged edged blade or more like rusty scissors, as you saw flakes of brown scattered on the pristine white paper, looking suspiciously and dizzyingly like dried blood. A red gash that looked like thick red sharpie, like a cut welling with fresh blood had 'X'-ed out Jaebeom's name that had been cut and pasted from letters using newspapers while your name remained untouched except with a thin black line connecting it to the initials:
ㄱ ㅅ ㅎ
That was when you must have blacked out because all you remember was a sharp shriek from Rachel as your head hit the floor.
Later
'Jeez do you think she's going to be alright?" a muffled voice asked from above you, as if she was speaking through a body of water.
You let out a moan that sounded like a cross between a dying whale and some sort of supernatural creature as you sat up, elbows sinking deep into the mattress, as you blinked the bleariness out of your eyes.
'Oh God,' you heard the scuffling of feet against carpet as someone whisked to your bedside. By the sheet of hair that flew behind her, you already knew it was Jiyoo.
'Hey, hey hey,' she said, latching on to your arm, her hands ice-cold. 'Don't get up just yet, before you pass out again,' she said as a joke but you could tell by how she was still clinging on to you, that she was genuinely worried.
Your tongue felt thick and unusual and when you opened your mouth it was more like a croak rather than an actual word that came out of you.
'Where am I?"
'You're back home, when I saw you pass out I just panicked and I grabbed all of your stuff, called the administration telling them that you'd be missing your classes for the rest of the day due to medical issues and Minhyuk and I rushed you back here,' she explained as you glanced to the left where sure enough, Minhyuk was sitting in one of the plush chairs you had, giving you a slight wave.
'And the stuff?' you worked your jaw to spit out the words.
'Right there,' she pointed to your table, staring at it as if contained some sort of infectious disease.
'The paper?" you asked in a flat tone.
'I didn't know what to do with it so I just brought it along and I-,'
'Good,' you cut her off, throwing off the covers, relieved that Jiyoo hadn't undressed you after you had fainted because that would have been awkward for all parties.
'Woah woah woah,' she nearly leaped out of the chair, hands still hovering over you. 'Where are you going?' she asked.
'To the police station so that they can figure out whoever this psycho is and slap a restraining order on him so fast he won't even know what hit him,' you snapped, slipping the paper into a clear plastic file that you had kept in your drawer.
'You can't just run off like that!' Jiyoo insisted, as Minhyuk finally interjected.
'Let her.' he said in his low yet commanding tone. Minhyuk had the type of voice that could carry through the apocalypse. It was magnetic, no matter who was talking even if it was the President of the United States, people would stop talking to listen to what he had to say.
'What do you mean let her?" Jiyoo turned to her boyfriend with fiery eyes as he stood up.
'What I mean is that there's been this stalker going around our school for the past 2 years we've been here,' he informed, leaning against the door frame as you and Jiyoo looked at each other, baffled.
'Kim Sohyeon, Lee Jae In, Park Minji,' he counted off the names each with the flick of a finger. 'These three girls have gone missing, they've transferred out of our high school ever since the stalking began,' he said calmly.
'Well, why didn't they say anything about it?" you demanded to know.
'Well.... because when they were assaulted, no one believed them, because they never had any proof. All they could say was that their stuff went missing and then it would turn up maybe 2 or 3 months later as if nothing had happened. And you know the administration doesn't give a damn about what goes on in SNS,' he scowled. 'Most of the stalking occurred online but I don't know why he's kicked it up a notch with you,' he mused staring at the paper in the file with a sense of fascination.
'Well, I don't care why he's done it, all I want is for him to stop,' you said fiercely, shoving your feet into your already abused sneakers, marching out of the door with Jiyoo and Minhyuk in tow.
'Just sign your name here and once we get to the bottom of this, we'll be contacting you,' the burly police officer handed you a clipboard and a cheap pen which you used to sign in a flourish. 'While waiting for the results, I'd advise you to get some pepper spray just in case anything happens, and do try walking in groups or asking a friend to accompany you,' he handed you a small metal canister which you pocketed, secretly relieved.
'It's done,' you heaved a huge sigh of relief as you exited the police station. 'I just hope that this guy, whoever he is, stops, I just wish Jaebeom was here,' you muttered the last bit as you whipped your head to face Minhyuk, eyes narrowing. 'Don't you utter a single word about this to him, Lee Minhyuk.' You knew how close both of them were and you knew exactly what your boyfriend would do the moment he heard the news, he would abandon his concert, take the fastest flight to Korea and pummel the guy with his bare hands. 'I refuse to allow him to worry now that he's halfway around the world. He has enough to worry about as it is,' you mumbled getting into the taxi that Rachel had ordered.
Two Weeks Later
As if by magic, everything stopped. It was as if the stalker, whoever he was had blown away with the spring wind as summer settled in. You went about your business cautiously at first but then you became more and more comfortable, your hand now less likely to immediately flinch to your pocket where the canister was still residing.
Whatever it was, you glad it had stopped. Maybe whoever this sicko was, he had had enough of stalking you and had moved on to whichever other unfortunate girl he had on his list. You pitied the poor soul whoever she was but you certainly didn't envy her. All you hoped was that the police, who seemed to have forgotten the evidence that you had given them, would responds soon to catch the sick bastard.
With summer not only came new changes and the heat of the sun burning down your back but also hope.
Jaebeom was finally coming back.
It might have been for a short time but he was coming back nonetheless. The group was taking a rest from their Asian part of the tour, resting up for a month before flying off to Europe and America.
He was due to come back by next week and you could barely contain your excitement at the thought of finally being with him again. With all the stalking things and your suspicions when you walked at night, things were starting to get to you.
Even at night, you had stopped the practise of asking Ms Kim to accompany you back to your apartment, seeing as you didn't want to trouble her and that the whole incident had probably blown over by now.
If only you knew that you had just entered the calm before the storm.
The Week Later
'Thank you, Ms Kim!' you said with good cheer as she waved goodbye, knowing what your good mood was attributed to.
Jaebeom would be coming back in the morning and you were going to pick him up at the airport with the rest of the guys.
The buzz that lit you up from the inside at the very thought of seeing him was what probably distracted you from the insistent vibration of your phone. Scowling slightly, you swiped open the new message that had come in.
As you read the police report that they had finally bothered to send to you, your eyes widened and a hand clapped to your mouth as you tried your best not to scream. You closed your eyes for two seconds, the name that had appeared on the report seared on your mind:
Kim Seong Ho
Those were his initials and you wanted to kick yourself for not realising it sooner. Seong Ho the very name caused a chill to travel down your spine despite the humidity of summer.
Seong Ho was your bitter ex-boyfriend that was a such a dark part of your history that you had forced yourself to forget about him. If there was an award for the most asshole boyfriend of all asshole boyfriend, Seong Ho would have won first, second, third and consolation prizes. He was over-protective both physically and mentally, not allowing you to talk anyone of the opposite gender and even with girls he had to run a 'background check' on them before you talked to them. And then, if he ever found out that you had talked to a guy, you would have bruises the next day to show it.
The last straw had come when you found out that he actually had 3 other girls, treating all of them exactly the same way, using his dominance to oppress their free will. That was when you had had enough. You had walked away from him but not before changing your contact and all of your social media sites, ensuring that you had blocked him on each and every one. You had moved from your province, begging your parents to let you study in the university you wanted spouting a lot of bullshit about there being a better environment but in truth you just wanted to get away from him.
The day you left Busan, that was the day you thought you would see the last of him as you leaned your forehead against the cold window of the taxi, watching your old life pass by.
The sound of feet crunching on gravel shook you out of not so nice memory lane and you whirled around, heart thumping but all you could see behind you was an empty lane.
'Fuck it, he's just screwing with my head,' you stuttered to yourself, forcing your legs to move step by step, until you were only 2 minutes away from your apartment.
Think about Jaebeom, think about Jaebeom, think about Jaebeom
That's all that was running through your mind. Jaebeom was your anchor when it came to things like this, although he had no idea about your abusive ex. You never wanted to burden him with things like that and you didn't want him to think of you like damaged goods.
A shrill ring made you jump but you calmed down when you realised that it was from your phone. You didn't believe in coincidences but when you saw Jaebeom's name flash up on your phone you nearly cried with relief.
'Hi, hi,' you said grateful just to hear his voice.
'Hey,' his smooth voice replied, instantly calming you down. 'You okay? You sound sort of... out of breath,'
'No, no, I'm fine, don't worry about me. Just you know, really excited about seeing you again,' you made your voice light but it was a strain when every shadow you saw reminded you of Seong Ho.
'Oh yeah speaking about coming back I have a little surprise for you-,' he said but then his voice was cut off as something hit you in the back, knocking the breath out of you.
That too was put to a stop as a heavy boot landed, crushing your phone to bits.
Jaebeom's POV
'Hello? Hello?? (Y/N)??' Jaebeom was nearly screaming into his phone, attracting stares from his members, they had never seen him so uncomposed before.
All he had heard before the call cut off was a cry of pain, the dull thudding sound of a body hitting the ground and the crackling as the phone got cut off.
'Jaebeom?' Jackson approached him as he looked vacantly at his phone, (Y/N)'s face flashing on it with the words 'Call Ended'
'We need a taxi. Now.'
Your POV
'Tsk tsk,' a figure whispered from above you, your back throbbing from where he had hit you. 'What did I say about talking to other guys (Y/N)?" he stepped out of the shadows, lowering the hood covering his face, Seong Ho's face coming to full view.
'You don't own me. Not anymore,' you would have spit at him if you weren't in so much pain.
'Correction,' he stepped on your forearm making you yelp in pain as he grounded it into the pavement, bits of gravel being embedded into your skin as he leaned down so close that if you had moved the slightest bit, he would have kissed you right on the lips.
The prospect disgusted you.
'I still own you,' his rank breath made you want to hurl, as he stepped off of you, wrenching you to a standing position. 'You've led me on a very very long goose chase (Y/N) and you know how I hate running after you,' he sighed, slamming you against the wall as you cried out in pain, pinning you there like a butterfly in those collections you used to see in the zoo.
'You. Really. Think. You. Could. Run. From. ME?' he screamed every single word, spit raining down on you as the look on his eyes changed from neutral to borderline deranged, punctuating each word with a sharp tug on your hair or a stinging slap on the cheek.
'I followed you all the way from Busan, came all the way here, signed up for the same university as you and even found out where you're working after schooling hours,' he leered and through the haze of pain you wondered when you had ever found that attractive. 'You'll never get away from me (Y/N), face it,' he growled, before he wrenched your head backwards, licking his lips as you shivered with revulsion.
Tracing your face with a single finger you resisted the urge to bite it right off as he settled on your lips, leaning in and you closed your eyes tight, knowing what was about to happen was inevitable.
Suddenly, there was an audible whoosh of air as you felt yourself released from Seongho's grip and you sucked in a huge breath that was untainted by his breath and presence.
There was an audible groan to your left as two figures pummelled each other to the ground, or more accurately, there was someone that was beating the utter crap out of Seongho.
'Jaebeom!' you called out, voice cracking in the middle from relief and worry as you rushed to him, stopped only by the fact that he had shoved you roughly aside. There was a chilling expression on his face, his dark eyes cold and empty. This wasn't for the sake of avenging you, Jaebeom was just carrying out his duty as sick as it seemed.
'Jaebeom STOP!' you screamed, reaching out of for his arm as he was about to swing another blow to Seongho's already broken face, several of his teeth had been knocked out and scattered against the pavement.
'Stop. Now.' you ordered in your most authoritative voice, your hand still on his outstretched arm as his chest heaved from the exertion as well as the chilling anger that he exuded. You had never seen him like this and it scared you shitless.
'He's not worth it,' you whispered as your ex curled up into a little sobbing ball of disgust on the pavement, lowering Jaebeom's arm slowly to his side.
Suddenly, you found yourself crushed to his chest as the warmth radiated from him, his hands running worriedly through your hair as he murmured something unintelligible into your ears his body racking with sobs as you stroked his back, silent tears leaking out of your own eyes.
That was how the police found you, as you were bathed in the sound of whirring sirens and blue and red light.
3 in the Morning
It was Jaebeom's idea to carry you to your bedroom, insisting that you were still injured probably both physically and emotionally and that you were in no fit position to be walking around on your own. The carrying part you didn't mind.
What you did mind was the vacant expression of a mask that he had slipped back on when law enforcement swooped down on both of you, demanding this detail and that detail, shoving forms to be signed under your nose and by the time you were done at the station, you could barely stand, hence the whole carrying you back bit.
'Jaebeom,' you touched his face lightly as he lowered you on the bed, clicking on the bedside lamp so that your face was illuminated by a soft buttery light, while harsh shadows fell on his instead. 'You haven't said a word to me the entire ride or in the station,' he grabbed your wrist before pulling it firmly away from your face. 'Are you okay?" you asked, sitting up, sheets falling off your body and you were about to stand up had he not pushed you back firmly and insistently back to your former lying position.
'I should have been there for you,' he whispered, agonized, as he turned away from your face and you could tell by the slump in his shoulders, that he was beating himself up for the whole situation even though clearly it wasn't. That was the thing about Jaebeom, he felt like it was his responsibility to prevent anything bad from happening to you even though he couldn't control the entire world or that he couldn't have prevented Seongho from coming for you anymore than you wanted to.
'Lim Jaebeom,' you said dark and deadly serious. 'If you say one more word about blaming yourself, I will personally kick you out of my apartment,' you warned. 'It's my fault you big dolt, I didn't tell you anything so why in the world are you beating yourself up for something that you had no idea was going on?' you asked, hugging him from the back, his broad shoulders causing your hands to barely touch as you squeezed him tight.
'I should have known, should have at least suspected something,' now his tone was bordering on frustration which was a relief from the lifeless zombie like voice earlier. At least now, you knew that you had managed to break through his lack of emotion which he liked to wear like armour. 'It was from the flowers. From those goddamn flowers,' he muttered to himself, sounding deranged.
'Stop it,' you slid out of bed to stand in front of him. Getting down on your knees so that your faces were inches apart, you cupped his face in your hands. 'It's. Not. Your. Fault. You saved me from the bastard before he-,' your mouth twisted into a grimace at the very thought of what he could have done to you had Jaebeom not made it on time.
'If he hurt you,' there was that fiery look of anger that you wanted to see, as he tugged you into his arms, cradling you against his chest. 'I don't think I would have been able to forgive myself,' he muttered, burying his face in your hair.
'But you did and that's what matters,' you repeated. 'I'm sorry I should have told you about it but I was just worried that if I did you would have dropped everything and rushed back home and forget all about the tour,' you muttered into his shirt.
'Damn right I would have,' he growled, you could actually feel the force of the vibrations through your body. Glancing down at you, his lips turned into a frown as he stroked away the stray hair from your eyes. 'No more secrets. No more hiding, (Y/N). This is only going to work if you trust me and I trust you,' he tapped the tip of your nose with his index finger, which showed that he had calmed down somewhat but was still serious.
'And no,' there was the faintest smile on his lips as you opened your mouth to argue. 'I won't over-react, if you tell me about something like this again,' he promised.
'You sure?" you cocked an eyebrow. For Jaebeom to not over-react was a faint possibility. Maybe the faintest of all.
He narrowed his eyes, flicking you lightly on the forehead. 'Yes,' he said, sighing, flopping on the bed with you still in his arms as you snuggled in, getting more comfortable. It had been so long since you were held like this, you almost forgot how you and Jaebeom fit each other perfectly.
'Fine,' you agreed reluctantly, but only because you felt sleep overtaking you. 'But this is a conditional agreement, since you're bribing me with cuddles,' you yawned.
'Seriously?" he chuckled as you nodded. 'Get some sleep, love, we'll talk about this "conditional agreement" tomorrow,' he air quoted what he was saying but you were too far gone to notice it or make a sarcastic remark in response.
You drifted off, finally for once, feeling completely safe in his arms as he clicked off the bedside lamp, the only source of light left was the faint rays of moonlight peeking through the curtains.