stalker | hyunjin

肆

[four ; the locked room]

"HOW HAVE I NOT SEEN THIS place before?" she asked in awe of the scenery. she stepped in the middle of the meadow field, taking in the fresh aroma of daisies.
"it's pretty great, my mom showed me this place when i was younger." he said nonchalantly, approaching towards her side and sat down.
she smiled and took the seat next to him, "i'm already feeling much better, thanks."
"you're welcome, now i know you don't hate me."

she scrunched her face in confusion, her eyes holding a mystified expression towards his statement, "what made you think that?"
"well..you're best friends with myung hee, i'm sure she'd call me a jerk or something."
"i mean yea she has but i make my own judgements on people and at this very moment, you're pretty cool." she punches his shoulder lightly and chuckles.
their laughter mixed within the peaceful atmosphere.

he gapes at her face, observing the crinkles on the edges of her eyes as she smiles, her rosy cheeks held a natural pink hue to them and her lips had a supple cupid's bow.
"w-what is it? is there something on my face?" she asks, aware of his staring.
"yea, ugliness." he laughs and a scowl immediately replaces her expression.
"i said don't frown or you'll get wrinkles." he once again places his finger over the crinkling of her forehead and strokes it. she hits his hand away and she lets out a sigh, annoyed at his joke.
"by the way, when are we returning back to school?" she questions, changing the subject.

❀

her mind was at ease (shockingly because of minho's surprise) and she decided to finally continue her search for hyunjin. it was technically the end of school already and students were flooding the school halls to reach for the exit, making it harder to complete her task. it was much more difficult to find him than she had thought.

for one, she was never really close with hyunjin to begin with. their small interactions usually started because myung hee was around and that was the only reason they knew each other. not knowing a clue about where he hung around or where his locker is made it harder for her to find him but she was desperate. she wasn't going home until hyunjin and her had a proper conversation about yesterday's event.

she searched the library, the front gates to the school, the laboratory classes and the cafeteria. he was no where in sight and she was getting frustrated. running around school thoughtlessly, she bumps into lianne, one of the schools class representatives.

"lianne? i'm so sorry, let me help you." she kneels down gathering the mess she made.
"hei ryung? what are you doing here so late? if i recall, you take part in the volleyball team but training doesn't start till next summer." lianne was a straight a student with light freckles peppered on her nose and always had her hair braided in 2. hei ryung was quite frankly intimidated by her presence, there was nothing that lianne didn't know or could do perfectly.
"well actually, i'm looking for hyunjin but i have no clue what i'm doing."
lianne nods her head slowly, picking up the last book that hei ryung had also grabbed. she snatched it back and feigned a gentle smile,
"why are you looking for him exactly?"
"i just need to ask some questions." she stammered, mentally chastising herself for stuttering, showcasing her nervousness towards lianne.

"well you could ask me, i'm sure i'd be useful." lianne persisted.
"it's just between me and hyunjin." she answered and lianne nodded grimly.
"if you must know, he's at basketball training now. it ends at 5."
"right of course, thank you."

she stood standing cluelessly and disappointed in the middle of the empty basketball court, tired of looking for him. for all she knew he could be home by now. her watch read 5:29 pm. she groaned, wanting to give up already. in efforts of making her way out of the building, her head deep in the clouds, a hooded figure roughly pushed her to the floor, grabbing her attention and she falls to the ground. as if bumping into lianne wasn't enough to display her clumsiness.

"oww. sorry for that, i wasn't paying att-" the lights to the room suddenly turns off and her sight darkens. "what the-" a hand wraps around her mouth and grabs her by her hair, pulling her to the equipment room. her heart was racing in fear, beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she raises her arms to the hand pulling onto her hair, her legs kicking about.

before she knew it, she was shoved inside the enclosed space, tennis balls falling on top of her as her back knocks over the shelf. she was locked inside the sports shed surrounded by the dark. the eerie silence sent shivers down her spine and she began screaming whilst banging her arms on the door. her eyes darted around the area and her breaths quickened, equivalent to her heart rate.
"help!! please get me out of here!" she shrieked, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "anyone please help me!!" she couldn't believe the luck she was getting, "can anyone hear me?! i'm stuck, help!!"

❀

"that was good practice, you might as well join the team, hyunjin." chan smiles, reaching the boys locker rooms to change out of his basketball uniform.
"i'll think about it, basketball's just something to relieve stress. it's not something i'm serious about." hyunjin replies, grabbing a white hand towel to wipe the sweat dripping down to his chin.
"are you serious? you practically smashed half of the members in the basketball team and you're saying you're not serious about it?" jisung pipes up, following after both teens to the locker rooms. hyunjin shrugs, looking for his phone in his pockets. his eyes widen to the realisation of it being empty.

"where's my phone?" he asks his friends, frantically searching the area.
"chill out, you could've left it back in the gym, go check." chan answers as he walks to the sink to wash his face.
"right thanks." he waves him off and leaves.

once he reached the building, flicking on the lights, he immediately spots his phone on top of the benches, in the same place he had left it before. he smiles as he retrieves the device, quickly turning towards the exit to hurry back to the lockers and change out of his sweaty sports uniform. his basketball tank top was practically sticking to his chest and it felt stuffy.

"help!! is anyone there?" a despairing voice calls out to him, suddenly raising his nerves. he was startled and his eyebrows contracted as he determines the voice coming from the equipment shed.
"um hello..?" he responds, hesitancy in his voice.
"i'm in here, please help me get out, i'm locked in."

the voice was familiar and he tilted his head in question to who was behind the closed door. "umm are you still there?" the voice asked.
"i-i'm here. how'd you get stuck inside?"
"can you get me out first? it's creepy in here."
"oh right, sure."

unlocking it, the stranger runs out of the room and immediately holds onto his shirt, gripping tightly to the fabric as she shudders while hugging him. his cheeks redden from her action and he takes a step back in reaction to the force of the sudden hug. it wasn't until he cleared his throat that she let go and looked up to her saviour.

both their mouths dropped in shock to see each other. "hyunjin?"