What I Feared the Most

Chapter 1

Wonho was on the floor finishing his daily set of pushups. "297, 298, 299, 300," he said with a satisfied sigh as he stood. He went to the kitchen to take his vitamins and make himself a protein shake. He never went anywhere without his protein shakes. He wanted all the protein of meat without all the calories. So, he found an organic protein powder made of plants. He had to admit that the taste could be better, but he was willing to make the sacrifice for his own wellbeing.

He heard a faint shuffling close to the apartment door. He looked out the peephole to see a man in a black mask taping something to his door. The man ran off, but Wonho waiting quite some time before opening the door to see what had been placed there.

When he did open it, he was greeted with the sight of a serial-killer-style note on his door. The letters had been clipped from a magazine. So, they were all mismatched, of varying colors and sizes.

The note was a quote from Ariana Grande's "7 Rings" that said, "I see it; I like it; I want it; I got it." *

Wonho looked at the note in puzzlement. "Why would someone take the time to leave this on my door?" he wondered, but then shrugged his shoulders and dropped the curious note into the trash. He had been through enough crazy fan stuff that he knew he couldn't get upset over every little weird thing they did.

He returned to the kitchen and to his protein shake. As he drank the slightly gritty liquid, he reminded himself that he had to keep doing all these things for his health because he couldn't afford to get sick now that he was out of Monsta X and doing his own music.

His cell phone rang. He looked at the number. It was unavailable. He rejected the call and set down the phone. It rang again from the same number. He rejected it again, but this time the caller left a message.

"Did you like my note?" said the voice of a young woman.

"That's weird," he thought. "Who got this number?"

Wonho decided to be on the safe side and call his manager. "Hey, dude, I've got a crazy sasaeng leaving notes on my door and calling my cell phone," he said as soon as his manager, Mr. Park picked up.

"Well, good morning to you too, Wonho," said Mr. Park sardonically.

"Sorry," Wonho said. "I was just focused on this sasaeng thing. Do you think it's a problem that someone left a note and then called my personal number to see if I got the note?" he asked.

Mr. Park was silent for a moment.

"What?!" Wonho demanded.

"There have been some messages that came into the office as well," Mr. Park admitted.

"Why am I just hearing about this now?" Wonho asked.

"We didn't want to distract you with it. It seemed like a very trivial thing. We get weird behavior from sasaengs all the time," Mr. Park defended.

"Yeah, but it's not every day that they find out where I live and my cell phone number!" Wonho replied, trying to sound calmer than he felt. He had the reputation for being calm, and usually he was, but something about this situation put him on edge. The thought that a potentially threatening person had found out such private details about him was unnerving.

"The notes we've received here could have been from another fan," Mr. Park observed.

"Well, this one is a quote from Ariana Grande's 'Seven Rings'," Wonho clarified.