stalker | hyunjin

拾伍

[sixteen ; the red walls]

WHAT CAUGHT HER ATTENTION was the light that left the entrance of her home. she felt uneasy, panic beginning to take over her body as she approached closer to the front door. "i know i didn't leave the door open like this." hei ryung uttered to herself. reaching for the doorknob, she stopped in her tracks, taking notice of her phone, unexpectedly cracked and lying by her feet.

she began to tremble, hastily picking up the device and biting down on her lips, she forced herself to enter - if she wasn't in such a dire situation, she could have time to think about how her phone ended up in front of her house or even decide against the rash decision of willingly entering inside alone despite being aware that someone must've of entered. it's even worse knowing that hyunjin's stalker was on the loose, it was plausible to call them her stalker too.

'guess whose blood'
uncomprehending terror settled upon her as she read the blood stained walls wet in the lounge room. it was psychotic, the blood that slowly leaked down the floral wallpaper, a strikingly bright red that glistened under the warm orange light was nauseating and as if it was terrorising her, she wanted to throw up.

she was dripping with sweat, her head was throbbing from an upcoming migraine and her breathing was rapid and ragged, it was difficult for her to catch her breath. to her expense, the bloody message wasn't the worst of it. her phone suddenly vibrates in her pockets, putting her shudders to a halt. as she checks the notifications, her lips begin to quiver and she places a hand over her mouth in horror.

UNKNOWN [XXX XXX YYY]
seen 7:04pm

didn't you want this?
you should've just left
it alone. now you want
to find out who i am?
fine let's play.

she wanted to run away. she wanted to fall to the ground and hug her knees, she wanted to cry. there was no point in asking but she couldn't help but question 'why me?'

as if asking unanswered questions was some sort of coping mechanism for her to process the message she had received. swallowing the bile beginning to well up in her throat, she took notice of some sort of silhouetted figure hiding under white cloth. just at the corner of the room, where the blood smeared across the wallpaper had pointed to, she reluctantly approached the colourless material that was propped against the wall. slowly pulling it away at the edges of the fabric, trimmed brown hair and pale skin met her eyes.

there sat seungmin, eyes shut and hands pressed against his shirt where the drenched blood had caused the discolouration and wrinkling of his top. he was immobilised, letting out short breaths in order to surmount to the wound by his waist.

"h-help m..m-me" he managed to let out and she winced, blinking back tears. apart from seungmin's grieving state, she caught note of the letter taped to his chest that read;

it's been decided
let's not make this one sided
in this game
don't bring the shame
make the right guess
to end this mess
it's all up to you
tell me, i am who?

stuck in a trance, the only reason she had snapped out of it was because of seungmin's screeches.
"hei ryung?!" he yelled, the blood that curled in his mouth left a metallic bitter taste and he spat it out, the red fluid escaping from his lips. he watched her frantically calling the ambulance in the midst of his efforts to keep conscious but his lack of stamina was almost getting the better of him.

"don't worry seungmin, they're on their way." hei ryung tried to reassure him. clutched in his hands was a chipped nail from the perpetrator who had sickeningly set him up for attempted murder - he would exaggerate despite knowing the wound was purposely thrusted in him with little strength - for getting himself stabbed in front of the doorstep of hei ryung's home.

he couldn't stand the perpetual failure he encountered in trying to simply return hei ryung's phone she had left behind at his place. he had lost it once he was attacked and dragged inside helplessly.

the alarming ringing of the ambulance sirens blasted through the streets of the city and once it had arrived to pick up seungmin, allowing her to stay by his side, the paramedics had asked her what had happened. as if on cue, her phone vibrates in her pockets:

UNKNOWN [XXX XXX YYY]
seen 7:26 pm

lie
lie
lie
lie
lie
lie

where is the stalker hiding?

hyunjin waits patiently outside of seungmin's home, ringing the doorbell only to find out that no one was going to answer the door anytime soon. he was desperate. there was no way hyunjin could return back to his apartment and since seungmin knew about his situation, the idea of staying over at his friends house was his best and only option. he trudged onto the doorknob, letting out groans of frustration as minutes tick away and he still remains standing outside alone.

pulling out his phone, hei ryung's number appears on his lock screen and a sudden premonition causes him to prepare to hear the bad news. he was right.
"come to the hospital, seungmin's hurt."

✿

"i give up hyunjin. i can't do this. i can't stay around you anymore and since you're here i have to leave." waiting outside the emergency room, hyunjin remains level headed as hei ryung supposedly speaks her last words to him before she disappears from his life. "this was bound to happen, i can't believe i didn't see this coming. trying to find out who the stalker was is just so stupid of me to think it was actually gonna work. i-"

"we're not stopping here." hyunjin interjects and she shakes her head side to side in disbelief.
"have you not seen seungmin's current state? he was stabbed. i'm not doing this anymore." she stated firmly, turning her heels towards the exit. before she could go anywhere, he grabs ahold of her wrist, gripping it tightly causing her to wince.
"no we can't. if you don't help then it's never going to stop. i'll always have a stalker lurking behind me and you're just gonna pretend like nothing happened?" he gradually loosens his hold on her arm as he continues, "i-i can't do this alone and you're the only one i can ask for help. we both know if anyone else gets involved, t-they're gonna get hurt again and i already know it's my fault."

"hyunjin-"
"don't try to deny it. i know i might be risking your life too and i realize it's selfish of me to ask you but i really can't do this on my own. i'm not going to force you to help me but if you can just find it in yourself t-to s-stay by my side through all of this.." he looks down to the ground as if he's lost hope for himself and she keeps quiet, rendering speechless as she's surprised to see hyunjin so vulnerable.

the warmth from her arm fades as he pulls away, she suddenly feels distant and cold.
"forget it, maybe it's better if i'm alone." he speaks up, once again disrupting the silence.

———————
well crap, i can't believe this is my first 2019 post. this just shows how inactive i am, sorry guys, i promise i'll try to update more.

and also sorry again but this is unedited, if there's any mistakes i'll fix it soon!