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34 || strange

Jeongyeon sat on the bed in her new penthouse rubbing her temples, confused as ever with a splitting headache to add to her strife. Nothing made sense anymore. Within the last two days, the sasaeng situation had escalated beyond recognition, she'd fallen hard for her best friend and ditched the man she was supposed to inevitably marry behind in the dust. She felt bad.

Even though she and Jimin despised each other, she still felt a sense of guilt. It was almost as though she were betraying him.

Well, she was technically cheating on him.

And if he were alright with it, it could last for a while.

The woman flopped back on her bed, muttering a soft 'come in' when she heard a sharp rap at the door.

"You good, Jeongyeon?"

She watched as the doorknob twisted to reveal Jimin, looking a little concerned. Turning away to face the wall, she sighed.

"Yeah. What makes you think I'm not?"

Her soon-to-be husband shut the white wooden door and came to perch on the mattress. "Well for starters, you haven't left your room all day. Not even for meals." He frowned.

Coughing lightly, Jeongyeon rolled over and eyeballed him. "Not hungry."

"Regardless, you should still eat something." Tentatively, he reached out and rested the back of his hand on her forehead. She flinched at the action. "You don't have a fever."

"I know."

Jimin rolled his eyes. "Alright, I'm gonna go make you some soup and bring it in here. Be as stubborn as you want, but you're going to consume at least something today." He rose to his feet, dusting imaginary dust off of his pants before slowly shuffling to the door.

"Hey Park- sorry, Jimin. What's with the caring attitude?"

Letting a tight smile slide past his plump lips, the man rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Just thought that someone might as well take care of you while Nayeon can't."

With a curt nod, he slipped out of her room again, leaving her alone with her befuddled thoughts and aching head.

:|:|:

Gritting her teeth, the woman hoisted herself up the side of the building, cleverly hiding behind support bolsters to avoid inhabitants seeing her through the glass paneled structure. If they did, it wouldn't matter. She was wearing a cleaner's uniform and it was nighttime.

Besides, most of the curtains were shut anyway.

Glancing up, she couldn't help but let out a little growl. She'd been climbing for the last fifteen minutes and had only just passed halfway. The woman was beginning to regret not just risking the stairs.

With final look down at her makeshift landing pad she'd hopefully fall on with her target, she resumed her climb, failing to notice her name badge falling off and landing on the ground in front a young woman with a choppy brown bob and bunny teeth.

:|:|:

Sending a quick text to Taehyung to let him know she was on her way up, Nayeon started up the stairs that led to the glass entry way of her apartment building. Reaching the sliding door, she let out a little shriek when she felt something light and cold hit her head before falling onto the ground at her feet. Checking her watch, the girl bent down to take a closer look.

It was a metal object that glinted in the light of the nearby streetlamps. Carefully, she lifted it up to inspect it more closely. The lightweight piece of metal was a name badge.

The badge said KIM CHAESOL in big, bold letters, with the apartment logo beneath it.

Perhaps it fell from a cleaner?

Pocketing the object, Nayeon pushed gently on the turning glass panel and shuffled towards the concierge desk.

Pulling her mask up higher over the bridge of her nose, the girl mustered up her most dignified voice for 9:00 pm. "Hi ma'am, I was walking in and I noticed this badge on the ground. I think it belongs to one of your workers?" She retrieved it from her jeans and handed it to the receptionist who studied it closely.

"Chaesol, huh? The name doesn't sound too familiar. But then again, the company is always adding more staff to the team to meet the recent spike in residents" The older woman scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Let me just crosscheck it quickly for you sweetheart."

With nothing else to do, Nayeon tapped her foot impatiently and let her mind wander for a moment. She couldn't wait to see Jeongyeon. Her friend(?) had stayed home all day, complaining of a headache while Nayeon went back to the TWICE dorm to play some games with the other girls. Deep in thought, she almost didn't notice the receptionist speaking to her.

"That's strange."

Shaken from her reverie, Nayeon blinked. "What's strange?"

The older woman frowned. "We have absolutely no company records of a staff member named Kim Chaesol."

Slowly the gears began to turn in Nayeon's head. "None at all?"

"Sorry, honey, but no."

"Then how would this badge have been created?" She studied it again before passing it off to the receptionist. "It looks professionally done."

Squinting at it, the woman gasped. "It's not though. The pin is in the wrong direction." She removed her own badge to show Nayeon the difference. "See?"

The idol thought for a moment. Then a look of horror crossed her face. "Oh my... May I please hold onto that badge, ma'am?"

"Of course, sweetheart. And you can call me Sohee." She smiled at Nayeon before returning back to a professional demeanor. "Now off you go. Clearly this badge means something to you."

And with that, Nayeon raced off towards the lifts.

:|:|:

Jeongyeon began to doze off, only mildly paying attention to other noises in the household. She could hear Jimin and Taehyung chatting softly in the kitchen, airplanes flying distantly overhead and the aircon lightly blowing. There was also an odd scratching sound that she couldn't quite place. However, it sounded as though it was coming from outside, so she disregarded it.

But it got louder. It sounded as though it were coming closer. Somewhere in the house a door slammed.

Dizzy due to the dull pain in her head, Jeongyeon dragged herself off the bed and over to the window to find the source. Eyes bleary and ears ringing, she made it over to the glass before hearing Nayeon's shouting voice calling her name.

She expected to see a moth or a bird. Instead she saw a grinning woman with a knife in her hand.

Then she let out a bloodcurdling scream as glass shattered and she was roughly pulled from the penthouse before plummeting to the ground.

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