𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. ; 𝐤.𝐭𝐡

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨. 𝟏

"𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞."

 ; 𝐥.𝐣 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡

━━━━━━━━┓ ✠ ┏━━━━━━━━

I pull my jacket tighter around me as I turn the corner, unable to shake the eerie feeling creeping up my spine.

I look behind me once. Twice. Letting out a sigh of slight relief upon seeing no one around. As cars continue to drive by and the people on the street thin out, I make my way home after a long day. 

I take this route home every day, but today something feels different... Something feels off.

I can't shake this feeling of being watched, I try gaslighting myself into believing it's just paranoia, but deep down I know better. However, with no car, all I can do is try my best to make it home as quickly as possible.

I rub my arms in an attempt to provoke warmth, still making sure to observe my surroundings carefully. Just five more minutes. Five minutes until I'm home, where I can relax and feel at ease.

I round yet another corner, seeing the familiar street my apartment building is on when a car approaches me. "Hello there, miss." Says the stranger as he rolls down his window, "It's pretty dangerous to be walking around at night alone, need a lift?" 

The man is very handsome, with defined features, but his aura alone is enough to send that same eerie chill through my body.

"No, thank you, I'm almost home." I give him a polite smile and bow, turning on my heels to walk away, "Wait!" He says abruptly, stopping me in my tracks, "Yes?" I turn to face him. 

Things are quiet for a few seconds, the man just staring at me with an unreadable expression. I shift uncomfortably on my feet, "Did you need something?" I ask, the man shakes his head in response, "No, sorry, you just look very familiar."

"Ah, okay, well I'm going to get going then." I awkwardly wave and turn to quickly walk away, as I look back, I see the strange man drive away and I let out a breath of relief. 

As I speedily walk the last few minutes home that same unsettled feeling stayed with me, only leaving once I step through my front door.

I shut the door with a thump and lean against it with a big sigh, kicking off my shoes I make my way to my bedroom where I gather some clothes and a towel before entering the bathroom. 

I turn on the hot water in the shower and wait until it heats up to step in, the heat relaxes my muscles instantly and I close my eyes,

* thump *

I furrow my eyebrows at the noise but assume it's probably my just cat getting into something again.

* thump *, * thump *, * crash! *

My eyes jolt open as I flinch at the noise, my heart rate picks up as my hands shakily open the shower door, I step out and wrap a towel around me, making sure to leave the shower running. 

I tiptoe into my bedroom and grab my phone before going back into the bathroom and locking the door.

I can hear the footsteps of the intruder as I quickly get dressed, as I go to dial 911, I realize my phone is dead. Shit. Shit. Shit. 

I take a shaky breath and set my phone down, looking around for anything that could be used as a weapon. I spot some scissors and grip them tightly in my hand as I reach for the door lock holding my breath as I open it. 

Making sure to glance around, I slowly walk into the hallway, nothing but silence greeting me as I tiptoe into the living room.

I peek around the corner and see front door wide open, the window next to it smashed as well as various broken things on the floor. 

I check every area of the house finding it empty, when upon returning to the living room I notice a small blue note on my coffee table that reads,

"Hello, Kang Hye-Jin. You have no clue how long I've been watching you. Every smile, laugh, every moment you've felt safe - it's all been etched into my brain. You may think you can escape your fate but you're wrong. 

Your life has been a series of careless choices and now it is time to pay the price. I'm the shadow lurking behind you, the monster under your bed, and the faint voice in the back of your mind.

You will never be truly alone again.

The clock is ticking, and your time is running out. I want you to remember this moment - the moment you realize that I will always be one step ahead. Do you feel that chill down your spine? 

That's me. 

Prepare yourself, miss Kang. The game has just begun."

━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━

word count : 818

a/n ; 

this is a re-write of "hide and seek" for anyone that cares. enjoy!

- han <3