Stockholm {j.h.s}

Tempting

Rose's POV

I got ready for school like any other day. I wore a loose white dress, with see-through, balloon, lace long sleeves that cuffed at the wrist. underneath the lacy white, see-through exterior, there was an opaque white shorter dress that covered me up. The back laced up from the waist up. I made sure to slip on my grey overcoat to shield myself from the harsh winds of the end of autumn. I pulled on my white sneakers to match, grabbing my pale pink backpack and slinging it over my shoulder before I headed off to school. I decided to walk every day since I didn't live far.

It was weird not wearing my school uniform every day. It's been months since I attended a private school. I was used to the feeling of a mini skirt and blazer every single day. Though I did like the freedom with my outfits, I noticed I didn't fit in with everybody else. Other students would show up sloppily with large hoodies and sweatpants.

Some showed up showing more skin than I've seen in everyday life. I had been doing ballet since I was just a kid around 4 years old. I was used to showing off my legs a lot, only on occasion would I display skin under my collarbones. I might have seemed confident but I really did have problems with my body. I was thin, but I didn't like being thin. I found it hard to gain weight always. I had always been stuck with a smaller chest and thin legs. But these girls had things they could show off, and I felt jealousy.

Of course, there were the kids who wore ripped skinny jeans and biker jackets. I was told to stay away, but I didn't. After my fling with Taehyung ended so quickly, I couldn't imagine ever talking to a kid like that again. They were nothing like I had seen before in my old town, and they intimidated me. Just the stares of that one man who watches as I walk by him. Even if my back is turned, I feel his stare burning holes in the back of my skull.

I walked into the building and held my jacket close over me to cover myself as I walked by the man's group once again, not wanting him to see anything but my bare legs that were slowly ridding of the goosebumps from the cold. I could see Taehyung take a split second to glare at me while everyone else chatted away loudly, banging on the metal lockers in pure amusement as they made the obnoxious noise. I turned my head away once I had passed, not wanting to look behind me as I walked up the stairs to enter my classroom.

Once the coast was clear, I removed my jacket since the building was heated due to the number of complaints from the students who refused to show less skin. I looked around the almost empty class at a few girls and a boy. I didn't consider myself to have any real friends, only a few that would be nice to me when I would be nice in return. I was too shy to talk to anyone. I knew what people said about me. Stuck up, rich, spoiled, prissy, and so on. I wasn't rich or near it. I had to move to a smaller house than my old one in a cheaper neighborhood because my mother was investing so much money in my ballet career, that I could've sworn she thought was hers. It was like she was living off of my hard work. And that's exactly what she did.

I tightened my curly and loose ponytail with a white ribbon tied around it. My thin hands wrapped around my notebook as I pulled it onto my desk and looked at the empty desk next to mine. The previous student had recently gotten into a bullying accident, his parents deciding it would be better for them to move away to a better school. I could only sigh with pity as I set down my bag next to my chair and hung my coat on the back of my chair.

I heard a small deep sigh from behind me as I quickly turned around in sudden shock at the noise. The shock faded quickly and was replaced with confusion as the same man who had been eyeing me for months was standing in front of me now, towering over me as my hands gripped my desk behind me with him standing only a mere inches away.

"What?" I spoke slowly and quietly, my voice trembling slightly as I tried to relax. It wasn't every day an attractive male spoke to me, let alone a dangerous one.

"Nothing." He piped cheerfully before biting his lip. Was this man bipolar or something? I nodded slowly before quickly fleeing the scene by walking to the front of the class where the blackboard laid on the large wall. I could've sworn I heard a phone camera shutter but I just assumed the girls were taking a selfie with each other in the corner of the white classroom.

-

As the last bell rang I stuffed my things back into my bag in relief. That first camera shutter wasn't the last. I must have heard at least four during the entire school day. Though I wasn't suspicious, I knew how important selfies were to them on social media to fight for their role in the school as most popular.

I slipped on my long, grey wool jacket and slipped out of the room with my backpack hung loosely on one shoulder. I walked down the thin sidewalk on the empty street in silence. I didn't use my music as I usually do since I was on low battery for watching ballet performances during the entirety of gym class. I would always save some battery in case of emergencies.

As soon as I heard quiet footsteps in the distance, I turned my head curiously to look behind me and find nothing. They slowly stopped and faded away. I only continued to walk with my jacket pulled tight to my chest to stay warm in the strong winds that blew my ponytail side to side. I entered my small house with relief but couldn't help but instantly lock the door in fear that I really was being followed. I was always very jumpy and cautious, I couldn't help it.

-

Hoseok's POV

I sighed as I transferred my photos to my thin laptop. I bit my lip in anticipation as I watched the photos slowly appear on the screen. Three were of the back of Rose's teasing dress, the other two being of her caught off guard and still looking gorgeous. I saved the photos to my laptop.

I couldn't help but feel like an awful stalker. I can promise that I am not as bad as I sound in this moment. It was my first time talking to Rose and I was over excited about it. The way her smooth and soft voice filled my ears was getting to me. I still couldn't believe she actually had spoken a word to me. I wanted to savor the way she looked. Rose did not own a social media, and there was no other way for me to see her outside of school. She was afraid of me, and she has every right to be.

I tried to follow her home today but I was stopped. It felt wrong. If I were to find her home, I only felt finding out through her or Taehyung was the right way. I was surprised she didn't catch me since I half wanted to be caught and see the fear or confusion stricken on her face, preferably both. But at the same time, I wanted to know about her. I wanted to know about her life, and who she is. But I didn't know a single important detail about her. I didn't know what she liked or didn't like, her hobbies, her dreams. I didn't know the darkness that she hid. At this moment, my desire to corrupt her conflicted with my desire to know her and save her. And I was only a creepy stalker with a pathetic motive.

"Why are you so tempting, Han Rose?"