stockholm syndrome | minsung

chapter one

booming music. spilled drinks. sweaty bodies. dancing people.

jisung jumped up and down to the beat of the song that played over the speakers. though it was far from his taste, he could still enjoy the bass that shook his entire body.

surrounded by strangers, he danced to his hearts content. at first, he had been accompanied by a couple of friends, but they had all scattered away somewhere on the dance floor and had not been seen for almost an hour.

not that jisung was concerned.

being alone in the crowd almost made the experience better; he didn't have to worry about being judged by close friends. instead, he could focus on himself. and perhaps, even finding someone to take home at the end of the night.

as he danced, jisung could feel chills going down his spine, despite the almost suffocating heat from inside the hyper crowd.

someone was watching him.

normally he would have brushed it off; he was bound to be watched while dancing in the middle of the room.

but this time, it was different. it wasn't just a simple glance, or an amused observation. someone was staring. and it did not take long for jisung to find whom it was.

in the corner, by a table, sat a man. dressed casually, he was sipping on some drink while staring jisung down. grinning slightly to himself, the latter began moving more seductively. if he was already being watched, who would it harm to create a better show?

apparently, that was the wrong move. the man's eyebrows furrowed, before he focused his attention on something else instead. shrugging nonchalantly, jisung ignored the man, and continued doing his own thing.

———

about an hour passed after the incident, with the man having disappeared like a ghost. he was nowhere to be found. not that jisung was trying to find him or anything.

deciding that he, too, had enough, jisung made a final attempt at trying to find his friends. it was a thorough search, which still wound up hopeless. ironic, since finding a bright red head of hair should be easy.

they weren't by the bar, or the seating area, or on the dance floor. it appeared that they had already left the club.

dejected, jisung shook his head before pushing his way through the crowd a final time. this time, it felt closer to claustrophobic than enjoyable. he longed for nothing but to get out of there.

fresh air came as his saviour when he finally made it outside to the dark, empty street outside. standing for a second, simply breathing, jisung closed his eyes.

the alcohol in his body that had previously helped him forget about the social anxiety had began to wear off, leaving him self conscious and in dire need to get home.

so, in his desperate need, he began walking. the lights that followed the street were, as if it wasn't already bad enough, flickering eerily. at this point, jisung had sobered up quite a lot. enough to walk properly and be able to feel fear, at least.

he wrapped his jacked tighter around his body as he hurried his steps. there were all sorts of sounds and voices from the many alleyways he passed by. with the darkness came automatic silencers, according to the people making loud noises somewhere between the buildings. jisung rolled his eyes.

he let his eyes linger on two people standing outside one alleyway. positioned on both sides of the street, it seemed like they were keeping guard. and when a third person emerged from the darkness covered in blood, jisung understood why.

with a new, more intense fear growing in his body, he hurried his steps more. he had to get out of there. fast.

but when he finally was able to move his eyes from the alleyway, they landed on a man that stood in front of him. it was the man.

"hello...?" though he tried to sound tough, his voice came out more as a questioned whisper. the man kept his mouth tightly shut.

feeling his hands start to shake, jisung attempted to walk past the man. but it was to no avail. every time he took a step, the man followed, blocking jisung's path each time. at first, the latter tried to be careful. but after a while, he simply got annoyed.

"do you mind?!"

another wrong move of his.

the man lifted his arm. with a clenched fist, he swung it towards jisung's face, in a speed to which he had no time to react. it made contact in the middle of his face, leaving him completely knocked out.