Sasaeng Sister [In big roles: Sunghoon, Lee Know, skz, Ateez, Jungkook]

Chapter 4

I read my half of Sunghoon's letter.

"-ut I decided to write something in case you

- ame across that way, but I am pretty shy

- was nice. Our chat on the plane really

- touch, this is my private Instagram.

-ng21282"

My cheeks flushed when I thought about him writing the letter and folding it in my scarf. Heart racing, I opened my Instagram, but it was impossible to find his account, knowing only the last seven characters.

I walked past Hari's room multiple times that day, hoping to search for the other half of the message, but she was always around. I even contemplated sneaking in at night when she was asleep. However, I never seriously considered doing it.

Because I didn't get a chance to sweep her room that day, I couldn't sleep at night. I kept guessing the name of Sunghoon's account, to no prevail.

A loud bang stopped my heart for a second.

My thumb hovered above the phone screen as I froze in place, listening to the noise coming from downstairs.

Something creaked. Then there was another bang and glass shattering.

An alarm went off.

Mike and Ae Ri weren't home. They had left for a spa weekend. It was Friday, so Minho could have been in his room, but I hadn't seen him. Hari was the only one who was for sure inside.

Hands shaking, I called the emergency number.

The operator assured me there was no reason to panic as the Police were on their way, but it didn't calm me down. After all, the Police could only help once they actually arrived. I didn't see blue flashing lights when I peeked outside the window, nor did I hear any emergency vehicles nearing our house.

The handle on my door squeaked. I stared in horror as someone from the other side pressed it down.

"It's me. Are you alright?" Minho whispered, slowly pushing the door open.

His eyes which were already naturally big were now even bigger. I could see the white around his irises.

"I called the cops," he said, walking restlessly back and forth in my room.

"Me too."

He nodded.

"They would have already come upstairs if they wanted to hurt us," he said, but it sounded like a question.

"Yeah," I agreed, although I feared he was wrong.

Minho sat on my bed, fidgeting with his phone.

"I got a weird message on Bubble."

"What did it say?"

He checked the time on his phone.

"Might be nothing. There are always some weird ones."

"Did they threaten you?"

"Not exactly."

He stood up suddenly.

"Do you think Hari is okay?"

I wasn't that worried about her, which after thinking about it, made me feel guilty.

"She wasn't in her room?" I asked.

Minho looked down.

"I didn't check."

No way... He had come to me first, although I was just a stepsister, and Hari was his actual biological family. Did it mean that he was more worried about me or felt safer with me? No matter the reason, knowing that he cared about me warmed my heart. I had liked him from our first encounter, but watching him now, I realized he had become dear to me. I wished nothing bad would ever happen to him, so I didn't let him go check on Hari.

"I think she is fine. Let's just wait for the Police."

The Police arrived an hour before Mike and Ae Ri, who had been automatically informed about the antitheft alarm system going off. The officers suspected it was just a random break-in, and Ae Ri confirmed that three of her antique vases and a jewelry box had been stolen.

Later, Hari claimed she had slept throughout the incident, only waking up to the police sirens, yet, she appeared the most frightened. She relentlessly complained about feeling unsafe at the house, so Ae Ri sent her to live with an aunt for a few days.

It was good news to me.

Her room was free to inspect.

Hari had hung purple and blue string lights on her walls. It looked rather beautiful. Next to a grand-sized bed, there was a modern nightstand with two narrow drawers. I checked them first. They were nearly empty aside from a dozen odd earrings and a couple of rings.

Sunghoon's message wasn't on the writing desk either. Instead, I found a notebook with a list of phone numbers, addresses, and words written in code language. Before placing the notebook back in its place, I snapped a photo of the page just in case it had something to do with her shady behavior and could be used as evidence later.

In the corner of Hari's walk-in closet, I found the black leather purse she had used at the Enhypen concert. In its smaller pocket, there were menstrual pads and receipts. Makeup and sunglasses were stuffed into the largest compartment. A folded piece of paper was stuck to the side of an eyeshadow palette. It was the other half of Sunghoon's message!

I rushed toward my room to fit the two halves together and finally read the full message, but as I stepped out of Hari's room, I faced Minho's surprised gaze.

"Uhm... Mum wants to talk to you," he said.

"Okay. By the way, I went to Hari's room just to get something back that is mine," I explained and changed my course downstairs, where Ae Ri waited for me.

She put her phone down.

"Mike said you are still shocked about the break-in. He doesn't like you staying here all by yourself. I was thinking that you could stick with Minho for a while now that Hari is at my sister's," she said. "How does that sound? It would be good for Minho too."

"Do you mean that I should follow him to work?" I asked, unable to grasp that she offered me such an exciting opportunity.

"Yes. I'll talk with Minho and his manager, but it should be fine."

"Yeah, I can do it," I said, hoping I didn't sound too excited.

I should have been scared rather than excited because Mike had never had a problem with me staying home alone. He knew something about the break-in that I didn't. It must have been targeted, not random like the Police assumed. However, sticking with Minho sounded great. So, despite the ominous feeling gnawing at me, I was glad to comply with Mike's wishes.