Who Is It? | Treasure | SukHoon

8|21 Or 20

Jaehyuk stayed up late to study for the upcoming midterms. His roommate, Haruto, was fast asleep on the upper bunk bed.

One of the tests they were studying for covered a part of their lesson that Jaehyuk was struggling to fully comprehend. He had been working on how to correctly solve the math problems. That's the real horror here: math problems.

Jaehyuk put down his pen with a tired sigh and rubbed his face. His eyelids had now started feeling heavy with a great urge to sleep. He leaned back on his chair and stretched his aching neck. It made a small popping sound from straining himself of looking down for such a long time. Jaehyuk yawned and stood up to stretch his body. He needed to keep himself awake. It was currently 2:36 am. He was planning to keep studying until 3 am. Then he will go to sleep.

He felt thirsty from studying very hard, so he picked up his empty water jug to head out and get some water to drink. Jaehyuk carefully opened the door to avoid creating noises which could wake up Haruto or anyone else nearby. He was greeted by the outside with a dimly lit hallway. The area was empty. No one else was there. There was only silence in the air. Everyone was perhaps fast asleep or either drowning in their own studies.

Jaehyuk walked alone the long hallways. The light that barely illuminated his path came from the rays of lamp lights outside the dormitories that poked through the glass windows.

He soon reached the kitchen slash also dining area of the dorm. He went to the water dispenser and filled some water into his jug. Jaehyuk stood there waiting until he could make his jug full. While he waited, he listened to the quiet echoes of the lonely night. It was calming yet also unsettling. He soon felt alarmed by his surroundings. He had an awful feeling crawling up his spine. It was that kind of feeling that feels like you aren't as alone than what you first thought. Jaehyuk could feel that someone was watching him.

He couldn't focus well on his water jug anymore. Though he kept his eyes on it, he was trying to keep his guard up to detect his surroundings.

He filled his jug to the brim and screwed it shut. He turned to leave the place to quickly return to the safety of his room.

However, Jaehyuk's eyes widened in fear from the tight grasp that grabbed his neck. He immediately struggled to break free from the chokehold. Jaehyuk kept trying to turn around to see who it was but he could not do it. Whoever it was, the person was very strong. It kept him facing away while painfully tightening their hands around Jaehyuk's neck.

Jaehyuk dropped his water jug to the floor and held onto the cold hands that were dangerously getting tighter around his neck. He tried to scream for help but he couldn't. All that came out were gagging noises as he fought to take the hands off him.

He was now suffocating. The continuous struggle for air started to make him feel light headed. He coughed and wheezed. His eyes started to close. Tears were already spilling out his eyes in fear of how maybe this was it, he was going to die.

Just before he gave in to the darkness, he felt the hands released him. Jaehyuk fell down to the floor on his hands and knees. He gasped, wheezed and coughed, greedily putting the much needed oxygen back into his lungs. Jaehyuk stayed there on the cold tiled floor panting. His eyes were wide open in fear but kept blinking rapidly as extreme fatigue from the struggle reigned over him. He blinked his eyes some more before he looked around to catch sight of whoever had tried to kill him. All he could see was the poorly lit empty room with no one else but him in it.

Jaehyuk couldn't believe it. Why was there no one? Surely he should have at least seen that person's silhouette leave.

But there was only him.

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

The next day of classes came. Jaehyuk hadn't been able to sleep well after what he had encountered. He feared of having nightmares that would make him relive that near death experience. He was thankful it wasn't their midterms just yet. He would be failing the exams if he were this tired on a school day.