Wanna Know a Bedtime Story? || Ateez Horror Short Stories

Episode 1: Never Take Candy From A Stranger

Walking along the cold and lonely sidewalk, Wooyoung hummed a tune to himself.

The song was to help him drown out the fears of being alone on a cold and gloomy day.

The fear that someone was watching him.

Or worse, following him.

His family always warned of what to do if a stranger approached him and asked if he wanted a ride.

He knew what to do, but that didn't stop him from being afraid of what would happen.

Wooyoung walked with his head down and listened to the crunch under his footsteps. He shivered from the chill that nipped at his soul and hugged himself to become warmer.

All he had to do was go home. Go home, and then he could drink a warm cup of hot cocoa.

Wooyoung looked toward the forest he walked alongside on the sidewalk.

He could see the fog seeping out of the dark woods like blood spilling from a wound. The trees seemed to follow Wooyoung with dead eyes as they twisted and turned like nerves. There were no birds in the leafless trees, just a sense of dread. The air was filled with the smell of after rain and smog. The rain had flooded the air and made Wooyoung want to stop breathing.

Eyes followed Wooyoung.

Wooyoung hated being followed.

They weren't natural eyes like how you see on a human or animal; these eyes could not be seen. That made the feeling worse.

The scared boy shook off the feeling and looked back at the asphalt he walked on, humming the same tune as before.

He felt hands grip at his ankles but he knew nothing was there.

Tugging on his bag to secure it from the hands of imagination and delusions, Wooyoung sighed.

He had nothing to fear, and no one was following him.

Yes, all that was there was his imagination.

Wooyoung looked back at the woods and told himself everything was fine.

Nothing was following or watching him.

Nothing.

Then he heard the sound of a low grumble and rocks grinding against each other.

The sound made Wooyoung go into a state of panic once again, for he knew what that sound was.

It was natural for anyone to hear that sound because it was a car slowly driving next to him.

Wooyoung kept looking down at the floor, for he did not want to look up and see the monster in his dreams.

Another awful sound caused Wooyoung to start walking faster, hoping that it was his imagination making this happen.

The sound of the window rolling down.

"Hey kid," a gentle voice called out. A voice so soft, Wooyoung wanted nothing more than to stop and look at the person calling for him.

"It's okay, and I don't want to hurt you. I just want to know if you are alright. It's pretty late for a young kid to be like this."

Wooyoung stopped.

His vision tunneled and his body began to tremble with dread.

The boy's small heart began to quicken again as he slowly turned to see the face of a young woman.

The woman peeked her head out the window with a gentle smile.

"See? I am sorry if I startled you there, kid," The woman parked her car to get out.