idol no love | jakehoon

twelve. a slithering rat in the bush

Jake's father was a businessman, not your average office worker but someone with a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders. His mother was the average office worker, dedicated to her work to a fault. He would join them in their work sometimes; when he got off from school early or he was sick and his father, whose status was more flexible so he could work from home, would keep watch over him. From watching his parents converse with different people about different subjects alone, Jake had acquired a keen knowledge about the many facades, motives and thought processes of people.

His mother was lovely and warm at home, but she was straightforward and blunt with her peers. She could not stand liars or twisted words so there was a lesson he learnt from here. On the other hand, his father was a pacifier. He did not look like it, but he was a very cunning pacifier. He once smiled down at Jake after getting off from a conference call and explained to him that in order to survive the brutal corporate world, one needed to develop certain social skills that can manipulate words, expose ulterior motives and deal with unprecedented situations.

In short, Jake got his keen observation skills from his parents. And thank God he did.

Sunghoon dropped him off at the university gate, as he asked. He wanted to clear his head from the twisted ball of thread wrapping around his head that was Park Sunghoon. He walked slowly, took his time to remember all that had happened and make sense of them, and to digest his dinner that was delicious but he was too awkward to actually pay attention to what he was chewing and what he hadn't. The nightlife of campus wasn't anything too extraordinary. Sherlock was so deserted from the rest of the dormitories, the cicadas, crickets and whatnot insects that prowl the night eventually became your companion.

As he was walking, going up a small hillock with ease, Jake began to feel ominous. The sensation could be described as delirious, suspecting and he fretted, delusional, as if someone was following him. A stalker perhaps?

He whipped his head around but to no avail. There was neither a shadow nor a silhouette behind him. Still, it did not hurt to be cautious. This was 21st Century South Korea, stalking has become a common problem and occured habitually to people, mostly girls. But, even boys who were good looking or subjected to pure unwanted feelings get stalked too.

With that in mind, Jake sprinted on his feet.

Running up a slanting road was difficult and he quickly became short of breath. He would stop by now since his legs were hurting and his breathing haggard with whatnot. But he couldn't. Because the moment he sprinted on his feet, something moved in the shadows of the bushes and trees, and it was chasing him. Or following but either way, his suspicions were right.

He had a stalker.

Sherlock appeared on sight after a while. A humble candescent building that comforted Jake's erratic heart. Tired, legs aching and desperate for proper breaths, Jake picked up the last of his strength and made chase.

He slammed against the front door, quickly opened it, entered inside, looked back one last time to catch a fleeting silhouette turning around and disappearing down the road, and slammed the door shut.

"I heard the door- Dude. You okay?" Jay came out from the living room with a giant teddy bear by the name Yang Jungwon hanging on his shoulder.

"Hyung, did you run? What happened?" Jungwon teared away and worriedly approached Jake.

First, Jake waved his hand. Then he realised reassurement was the worst idea to approach at the moment so he stopped waving and said seriously, "someone is stalking me."

"WHAT?!" Jay and Jungwon echoed at once.

"They're gone now. I immediately ran when I felt suspicious and it turns out, I was right." Jake trudged to the living room, threw his bag on the couch followed by himself.

His concerned friends immediately surround him. "Did you see their face?"

"No," he shook his head. "I couldn't even decipher if it was a man or a woman because I was too busy running."

"Wait. Let me get this straight," Jay suddenly raised a hand. He cleared his throat, "you ran all the way up but this person never caught you?"

"Yeah. They didn't even get close."

Having understood, Jay settled back to his backrest. Jake and Jungwon wait for him to speak. "It's a female," said Jay, "You're not a great runner and the road isn't too steep so if they couldn't catch up to you despite all that, it's definitely a female."

Jay was right—they both agreed, rubbing their chins with furrowed eyebrows, mimicking Jay's detective posture.

"This can only be because of one reason; Park Sunghoon," said Sunoo. "Hyung, I think you should talk to him or his managing director."

Talk to Park Sunghoon? Jake would like to take a breath for a few days without the idol haunting his mind. "I'll talk to Director Park," he said instead. Fortunately, Jay and Sunoo did not notice the little shakiness in his voice.

♡

"What did you guys do today?"

"We went to Cupcake Princess, talked and posed for the paps."

"Is that it?"

"Ah. We also had dinner, but we mostly talked about sashimi and it was short."

"And then you dropped him home?"

Sunghoon slammed the magazine shut and slammed it against the glass coffee table, which actually had a cup of coffee waiting eagerly to be digested before it ran cold.

Sunghoon takes a sip of the coffee, round eyes blinking accusingly at the Director. "Why are you nosy tonight?"

"Jake called," said Jihyo.

"Oh. I wonder what he had to say," replied Sunghoon, sardonically.

"He said he was stalked, inside his university campus and he believes it could have been a girl."

Sunghoon no longer felt cheeky. His mug froze on his lips, then he sipped and said, "I suppose you used your strings and got hold of the CCTV footage, right?"

Jihyo took the chair across from him. She had travelled from the agency to his house because the idol wasn't picking up his phone; something he liked to do when he wanted to be left alone. "I did. It's that stalker with the sick head and asked for your undying loyalty in those parcel boxes."

Now, Sunghoon scowled. He placed his coffee down. "I'm surprised she isn't locked up behind bars yet."

"Because we're dealing with a sneaky rat here. She's smart enough to use blank addresses on her posts, print her letters and use a glove when she… dissects. Anyway. The police suspect she must be in the medical industry as her cuts are neat and her stitches even tidier. And she's smart."

Sunghoon picked up the blurry images of a black coated figure before him. "Yet, she's stupid enough to let her jealousy get the better of her and leave her hole. Send someone to tail him, someone good and unlike all those buffoons you hired for me."

"Tail him?" Jihyo raised a brow. "You think she will pursue Jake again."

"Yes," and with a victorious smirk, he added, "the pictures that will grace tomorrow's papers will only make things better. Trust me."

And there it was; assurement that Jihyo wanted when she had pried him about what he did in the evening on his date. Now she knew for sure—Sunghoon had definitely sneaked his way into Jake's personal space.

Hopefully, not his head. She sighed as the idol resumed his coffee and magazine in brighter spirits.

we have a stalker DUDUN
one who is obsessed to a fault, ready to spill innocent blood and unafraid to come after others who they assume is too close to their victim.