♔ ʀᴀʙʙɪᴛʜᴏʟᴇ ♔

Chapter 1: Frustration

Jaehyun was violently woken up by a beam of sunlight striking right into his eyes. He quickly reacted and turned to lie on his left side to avoid the bright light with his eyes shut tight.
It was Sunday. A calm, quiet Sunday.

Being a morning person, the man got up and checked the time. It was early morning and so he decided to get himself up and start his usual morning routine by brushing his teeth and changing his outfit to something more casual. Jaehyun swiftly hopped down the stairs and made himself some toast before sitting down on the couch and silently listening to some music through his headphones.

He quickly got bored as he was the only one awake in the household and the family did not possess any pets. He had always wanted a cat, but his mother told him they had no time to take care of animals. Jaehyun got up and made his way back into his room to take a small nap and pass the time.
Even though he did like getting up early, he couldn't dismiss the fact that he was feeling very tired due to waking up at such a time.

Once he fell back into slumber and awakened, the time was roughly 13.27.
His mother had gone out for her usual Sunday jog, that's what he was certain about, however when he checked the whole apartment and even called out a few times, it seemed like his father was gone without a word. But it was just a completely normal Sunday, so he had probably gone out to the nearby convenience store.

He went back to the couch and scrolled through the different channels on the TV, though nothing too special caught his eye. He decided to click onto TLC for some background noise before scrolling through social media. The time seemed to pass by slowly, however soon he heard his father pull up in the drive way. Thinking he should go help him with the groceries, Jaehyun got up and walked to the door, only for his father to open it with an unnecessary amount of force and aggressively shut it behind him.

"Oh, um.. Is something wrong?"
The young adult asked carefully, not wanting to make his father more mad than he already might have been. The elder quickly checked the door was locked before turning to his son with rather frightened eyes.
"Jaehyun, I.. I don't know how I'm going to explain this to you, but.."
He had to take some pauses to breathe as he practically ran to the house.
"Just promise me you won't go outside for the next two days, okay?"
Jaehyun's face turned as puzzled as ever.
"What? What do you mean?"
"I'm sorry, son. I can't tell you right now, I'm not ready for that yet. Please promise me you won't go outside, not even the balcony. You're in danger right now."

Danger? What kind of danger? Why? He was just a normal student with wealthy parents, that's all.
"I.. What? But what about school?"
"I'll just tell them you're sick. Please, stay in for two days. That's all I'm asking for."
Jaehyun didn't like the sound of this, not even one bit, but as his father did seem really serious, he felt like he had no choice but to do what's told.
"Ok, fine.. but you better tell me soon."
His father let out a strong sigh of relief.
"Thank you, son. This is very simple. You're just going to have to stay inside at all times, do not go to the garden, not to the balcony. Do not even open the door for anyone unless you know it's me or your mother. Do not evem invite friends over."

Oh. So basically a lockdown? This all could've been much worse.
"Okay, then.. How am I gonna know it's you or mom?"
"You've a window in your room where you can see who's at the front door."
"Ah, alright..Are you doing okay? You're not in danger, are you?"
"No, no I don't think so. I shouldn't be."
This all didn't help Jaehyun's confusion. If his father had messed up with something or someone, why was he the one in danger? Was also his mother capable of getting hurt?
"What about mom?"
"..She should be fine. Listen, just do what I told you to and I'll explain everything after."
His father didn't seem to want to say anything at the moment and so Jaehyun just gave up on trying.

"Fine, okay."
Jaehyun was getting irritated and went towards the stairs as his father shouted after him.
"Jaehyun, I'm serious!"
"Yeah, whatever!"
He shouted back and slammed his door shut in frustration.

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It was the next day and Jaehyun went to sleep quite late as he didn't need to go to school. He opened his eyes and scanned through his dim room thoughtlessly. It was completely silent. His parents had obviously gone to work and so he was home alone, but unfortunately he couldn't even invite a friend over.

Jaehyun took a hold of his phone and saw how his father had sent him a message, which he opened. It read:

"Morning, Jaehyun. Me and your mother have gone to work. You do remember all the rules, right? No going outside or opening the door to anyone but us. Please trust me on this. You will get the answer very soon, just be patient. I love you.
~ Your dad"

Jaehyun couldn't help but chuckle at his father's message. He wasn't the type to send such emotional texts, let alone say "I love you". Jaehyun had no memory of him saying such words to anyone but his mother. No, not even him, his own son.

But.. it was true. He wasn't the type of person to send such messages, so was this situation really all that serious? Jaehyun began thinking about all the possibilities of what this could be about, sending a shiver down his spine. However, he quickly snapped out of his trance and put the alarming thoughts aside, labeling them as overthinking.
He was just overthinking.

14.8.2022
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