What I Feared the Most

Chapter 4

Julia walked into the apartment ahead of Wonho. Suddenly, she whipped back around and put her hand against his chest, holding him back.

"Shh," she said. "Someone's been in here."

"What the hell?!" Wonho whispered.

"Stay here," she ordered as she crept soundlessly into the apartment. Whoever had been there had done little to disguise their presence. Magazines from the coffee table were strewn all over the floor and the PS5 had been knocked off the entertainment center. Julia tiptoed down the hall and ducked her head into the bedrooms. Wonho's drawers had been opened, and socks and T-shirts were peeking from the tops of them. When Julia was certain that the intruder was no longer in the apartment, she motioned Wonho inside. He immediately headed for his room.

"They stole my underwear!" he cried as he rooted through one of the open drawers. "They stole every last pair!" he bemoaned in disbelief.

"That's messed up," Julia said as she grabbed a duffle bag from Wonho's closet and laid it on his bed. "Pack up a few things. It's not safe to stay here right now," she concluded. "We'd better stay at a hotel until we get this sorted out."

They each packed a bag and left the apartment. They called the police and told them the door code so that they could enter and dust for fingerprints in their absence. As they ducked into a cab, Wonho said, "I don't have any underwear. We're gonna have to stop and get some."

"I'll get them," Julia said. "When this cab stops, I want you to stay put and scrunch down. We don't know if anyone is following us."

"Well, that's a helpful though," Wonho groused. "Now, I'm even more freaked out."

"Stay chill. It's under control," Julia said, hoping that Wonho hadn't noticed the slight crack in her voice. "So, what kind of underwear do you use?" Julia asked, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Wonho blushed. "Boxers," he whispered.

"Size?" Julia demanded.

"Um --- large," he answered.

"Riiiight," said Julia sarcastically.

"You don't believe me?" Wonho asked. "Because I will show you right now," he threatened as he went to unzip his pants.

"That won't be necessary," Julia said. "I'll take your word for it."

When they reached the hotel, they booked a suite with adjoining rooms. "Are you sure we're going to be safe here?" Wonho worried aloud.

"I don't think we were followed," Julia assured him. "We should be fine for a bit here, but we do need to find out where this fan is getting her information. How was she able to locate your apartment? It's a puzzling question, and we need to get to the bottom of it," Julia declared.

Wonho got settled in his room while Julia took a shower. When Wonho heard a knock at his room door, he panicked. He knocked on the door that separated the two rooms. Julia did not hear him, however, because she had her ear buds in. After the stressful day they had had, she felt the need to dance off some of her excess energy. So, she put on her Reggaetón playlist. Safely in the privacy of her room, she danced to the music only she could hear. Her wet curls were plastered to the back of her red midriff T-shirt. She wore spandex shorts over her ample hips.

Wonho knocked again but heard nothing. So, he carefully opened the door a crack and peeked through. Julia's back was to him as she swung her hips to the music. Wonho's mouth went dry. He knew he shouldn't be watching Julia in a private moment, but he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away. Suddenly, Julia turned around and saw Wonho standing in the doorway. Her eyes widened but she said nothing. She pulled out her ear buds and let the rhythmic music fill the room.

"Do you know how to dance to Reggaetón?" Julia asked.

Wonho merely shook his head as his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth. Julia grabbed his hand and showed him.

"So, you take little, tiny steps with your feet, but most of the movement is happening up here in your hips," she explained.

"I see that," Wonho managed to say before Julia placed her hands on his waist and pushed his hips up and down to the music.

"You're getting it," Julia encouraged. Wonho blinked. Just then, Julia dropped it down low and stood back up again. Wonho couldn't bear any more. The room was feeling very hot and stuffy to him suddenly.

"Um, I came over to tell you that someone knocked on my door," Wonho said finally to break the sexual tension he was feeling.

"Oh, yeah?" Julia replied. "Let me take a look," she said as she walked past Wonho who was standing in the doorway. As she squeezed through the doorway, she ended up pressed against Wonho. He held his breath and tried to find somewhere else to look.

"What's your problem?" Julia asked when she saw the uncomfortable look on Wonho's face. Without awaiting a reply, she said, "You're so silly." She chose to be willfully unaware of the effect she had on him.

She walked to the door that led to the hallways. She cracked it open and found a basket with wine and fruit. Wonho reached for it, but Julia slapped his hand away.

"No, don't touch it, for cryin' out loud!" she scolded. "You don't know who left this here."

"Oh, yeah, right," Wonho said, stepping away from the basket.

"I'm gonna call the front desk to find out if they sent it up," Julia said, pulling her phone out of a pocket in her spandex shorts.

"Question," she said when the front desk answered. "Did you send anything to room 301?"

"Anything like what?" the receptionist asked her impatiently.

"I'm not going to tell you. You tell me. Did you send anything to room 301," Julia demanded.

"No," said the surly voice on the other end.

"That's all I wanted to know," Julia confirmed. She looked at Wonho and shook her head.

"Well, if it wasn't the hotel staff, then who the hell was it?" Wonho asked. He walked around the basket, peering at it suspiciously. "Wait, there's a note!" Wonho exclaimed.

"Don't touch it!" Julia warned.

"You told me that already," Wonho said.

"Let me get a pair of latex gloves from my room and I'll take a look at it," Julia said.

"Why do you carry latex gloves with you?" Wonho asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Julia quipped as she went to her room and returned in short order. With her hands protected, Julia lifted the note from the basket.

It read, "I wish you didn't have to post it out/I wish you'd save a little bit just for me/Protective or possessive, yeah/Call it passive or aggressive." *

"That's from that Nick Jonas' song, 'Jealous'," said Wonho.

"Well, it appears they are sticking pretty closely to their MO of using song lyrics to be creepy as hell," Julia commented. "I'm going to call the police to pick this up," Julia said as she ushered Wonho back into his room.

"We're not staying here, are we?" Wonho asked in disbelief.

"Well, if we leave, they will only follow us," she said. Wonho didn't look convinced. "Listen, this room has a metal door with a deadbolt on the inside. No one is getting in here tonight," she assured him.

"I don't know," Wonho fretted.

Julia rolled her eyes. "Do you want me to stay here with you tonight?" she asked, sounding annoyed.

"Could you?" he asked as he pressed his hands together in a sign of petition.  

* "Jealous", Nick Jonas, 2014