PRECIOUS - PARK SEONGHWA

39

The morning light filtered through the cracks of the heavy curtains, casting faint golden lines across the unfamiliar room. Y/n stirred, her body aching with a dull, lingering warmth from the night before.

She reached out instinctively, expecting to feel the familiar weight of him beside her, but her hand met only cold, empty sheets.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she froze. This wasn’t his room. The walls were a pale, lifeless gray, the furniture sparse and impersonal. A single dresser stood against the wall, its surface bare except for a small, ornate key that gleamed faintly in the dim light. The air smelled stale, like a room long unused.

Y/n sat up, her heart pounding.

“Seonghwa?” she called, her voice trembling.

No answer. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, her bare feet touching the cold wooden floor. The door across the room caught her eye_solid, heavy, and unmistakably locked.

A small, barred window near the top of the door let in a sliver of light, but it was too high to see through.

Panic surged through her as she rushed to the door, rattling the handle. It didn’t budge. “Seonghwa!” she shouted, her voice rising.

“What is this? Let me out!”

Silence. Her mind raced, trying to piece together the events of the previous night. He had been tender, his touch familiar and reassuring. But now, this. This room. This lock. This betrayal.

She turned back to the room, her eyes landing on the key on the dresser. She grabbed it, her fingers trembling as she tried to fit it into the lock. It didn’t work. The key was too small, too delicate. It was a cruel joke, a taunt.

Y/n sank to the floor, her back against the door, tears streaming down her face. How could he do this? After every promise whispered in the dark, how could he lock her away like some forgotten secret?

The room seemed to close in around her, the walls pressing against her chest. She felt the weight of his betrayal like a physical blow, crushing her under its enormity. She had trusted him, loved him, and now she was trapped, alone, with nothing but the cold, unyielding truth of his deceit.

And as she sat there, the key clutched tightly in her hand, she realized something even more terrifying: she had no idea who Seonghwa really was.

Days blurred together in the gray, unchanging room. Y/n had stopped counting the hours, the meals slipped silently through a narrow slot in the door, the faint sounds of footsteps outside that never stopped for her. She had screamed, pleaded, and eventually fallen silent, her voice hoarse and her spirit frayed. The key on the dresser remained untouched, a cruel reminder of her helplessness.

Meanwhile, outside the confines of the room, whispers began to stir. Seonghwa’s mates—*their* friends—had started to notice her absence. At first, it was casual questions. “Where’s she?” Hongjoong asked at a gathering, a bottle of wine in hand. Seonghwa shrugged, his smile easy, his tone light.

“She’s visiting family,” he said. Wooyoung raised an eyebrow as he overheard their conversation while passing by without them knowing.

“Needed some time away.”

But days turned into a week, and the questions grew more persistent.

San texted her repeatedly, the messages piling up with no response. “Hey, where are you?” one read. “You’re not answering your phone. Are you okay?” Another: “Seonghwa says you’re out of town, but this isn’t like you. Call me.”

When Siyeon showed up at Seonghwa’s apartment unannounced, he was calm, composed. “She’s fine,” he assured her, leaning casually against the doorframe. “Just needed some space. You know how she gets sometimes.” But Siyeon’s eyes narrowed. She knew better that Y/n would never disappear without a word. Not like this.

That night, Wooyoung called the others. They gathered in the living room, their faces tense with worry.

“Something’s wrong,” He said.

Yeosang, who had always been quiet but observant, spoke up. “I saw him yesterday. He was buying groceries—enough for two people. And he looked… nervous. Like he was hiding something.”

The room fell silent, the weight of their suspicions pressing down on them. Finally, Hongjoong, who had known Seonghwa the longest, sighed.

“I don’t want to believe it, but… we need to find out what’s going on. For Y/n’s sake.”

Back in the gray room, Y/n sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the key on the dresser. She had tried everything—picking the lock with a bobby pin, banging on the walls, even screaming until her throat burned. Nothing worked. But as the days passed, a quiet determination had begun to replace her despair. She wasn’t going to let him win. She wasn’t going to disappear.

Somewhere, deep in her heart, she held onto the hope that the guys would come for her.

________________________________

Guess who's back (   ͡°⁠ ͜  ͡⁠° )