stalker | hyunjin

拾柒

[eighteen ; the mirror]

RED BEAN FILLED BUN was shoved to his face by none other than hei ryung nagging him to eat.
"where'd you get that?" he groaned, just waking up from his little nap in the lavatory and sloppily grabbing the dessert from her slender fingers.
"i bought it from the canteen earlier, it was under special offer today!" she stuck a thumbs up and snagged on the savoury sweet snack as if she hadn't eaten anything all day.

he stared at the bun, fondling with the transparent wrapper before ripping it open to consume the small treat. the bean paste was still warm and it melted in his mouth causing him to let out a satisfied moan following tumultuous chewing with a grin plastered on his face.

it had been a while since he had felt happy and fearless all at once, it was what hei ryung could do to him, make him forget. he needed a small break from reality.

ginormous plastic bags stationed at the toilet stall floor preoccupied much of the space they needed to move freely causing hyunjin to raise the question.
"why are these here?" he gestured towards the bags, "and how'd you bring it in here unnoticed?"

"well, i need you to change out of your uniform if we're going to sneak out of school so i brought you some clothes from the lost property section." she informed, well aware he was beginning to scowl at the idea of wearing clothes that lacked hygiene. "you're not going to die," she continued, "we'll change back to our uniforms once we're successfully out of school."

"who said i wanted to ditch school?" he said teasingly and she rolled her eyes, throwing a thin jumper to his face.
"okay no worries, i'll go get some ice cream alone, it's not like i wanted you to come." she answered back sarcastically, playing along with him and they both laugh.
"okay but seriously," hyunjin spoke up, regaining his composure, "school is gonna end soon anyways."
"yeah but we still have a few hours, once you're out of high school, you'll regret not sneaking out once. who's to better break the rules with other than me?" she snickered. to retaliate, he pulled her closer by drawing her arms towards him and smirking, "so you're saying it's better if it's just us two?"
she sighs and pushes him back, scoffing and wondering where all his confidence was suddenly coming from.

stepping out of the men's bathroom, she headed to the ladies room to change. entering the cubicle far from the only stall that remained occupied, she quickly replaced her school jumper with a plain oversized ruby hoodie and switched out her skirt and stockings with black leggings. taking off her shoes, she peeled off her stockings, leaving her legs exposed to the cool air. upon grabbing the leggings, she felt as if there were eyes watching her.

eyes that belonged to the only student that was already inside the restroom. hei ryung had heard them flush the toilet seconds ago but to ignore washing their hands and walk straight towards her compartment that she was in, were immediate red flags that evoked danger. the figure peered through the gap between the locked door, fingernails scratching at the doorway.

with her back turned against the stranger, she was too afraid to look. she clutched onto her phone, observing the screen that read hyunjin's phone number. she couldn't call him, hei ryung thought but she didn't exactly know who else could help her. as of lately, not only did she keep her distance from hyunjin, minho was out of the picture. she hadn't seen him in awhile and she couldn't bring herself to visit seungmin.

the lights suddenly turned off, the darkness of the girls toilets swallowed her in fear. she was reminded of the night she was dragged to the sports shed and she blinked away tears beginning to form from fright. she quickly turned around realising her eyes weren't adjusted to the dark yet. she couldn't see anything. loud banging suddenly transpired against the stall she occupied and glass shattering was all she could hear. fear induced sweat was drenching her palms and forehead, she had to do something - anything for this nightmare to stop.

blindly rummaging through her bag in search for some sort of weapon she could use, scissors seemed to fit the description. she gripped onto the stationery, making sure she forced her mouth shut in order to hold in her sobs, turn the lock to vacant and jump out with a surprise attack. within the few seconds she used to regrettably barge out the stall, the lights flickered on and she made contact with shattered mirrors below the soles of her feet. the glass had pierced through her skin, blood was beginning to pool and this was the final step to push her limits. she cried.

hyunjin ran in alert from hearing her wails whilst in the midst of fixing his hair in the men's lavatory. he ran to the adjacent room, noticing the bits of glass covering the black tiled floors of the girls bathroom and was greeted with hei ryung crying out of terror. she was paralysed, the pain of the shattered mirror piercing beneath her feet was horrifying and she couldn't bring herself to move. he immediately fled to her side, panicking with thoughts that flooded his mind on what he should do next - quickly, he packed up her things, carrying all her belongings in a white bag held in his right hand and swept her off the floor, her back leaning against his left arm and her legs cradled in his right. she wrapped her arms around his neck and he hoisted her up, bridal style,  immediately running towards the gym's change rooms.

"w-why are we here? shouldn't we go to the nurses room?" hei ryung asked finally calming down after he gently puts her down on the benches.
"i was about to do that but then i remembered whoever did this to you wants to see us there. i figured the change rooms have first aid kits here anyways." hyunjin walked towards a small white box nailed to the wall near the sinks and opened it, revealing all necessities required to ameliorate her injuries. he first grabbed the tweezers then a towel, anti bacterial gel and some white cloth.

he pulled the trash can towards hei ryung and knelt down, slowly lifting her feet.
"don't be scared i'm going to take out the glass." he warned and she nodded.
luckily the shards of glass she stepped on weren't too big to require any serious medical attention. she winced every time the tweezers would near her feet and she closed her eyes for what was next to come. just removing the glass was painful enough, hyunjin pulled out the last piece and threw it in the bin. he wet the towel and wrung out the excess water to clean the wounds.
"sorry this is gonna hurt a bit."

after minutes of cleaning and applying the gel, he finally wraps her feet in bandages and sits next to her, their fingers only inches away from touching.

"i'm sorry that because of me you're hurt." said hyunjin looking directly at her. he brought his fingers to her cheeks and wiped away her tears from before. she reached for his hands to pull them away gently.
"it's not your fault, it doesn't hurt that much. we just have to find the stalker." his face turned sour and looked down in dismay. he just wanted it all to end.
"and also-" she spoke up, noticing his misery, "don't ever say you're sorry anymore when your stalker does anything like this." she lifted her feet up to portray her injuries as an example, "we all know it's not your responsibility that there's a psychopath in our year."

a notification brought her attention to her phone and she checked to see a message from sarah.

UNKNOWN [XXX XXX YYY]
seen at 2:09 pm

unknown:
hi! this is sarah
i'm holding a party tomorrow
for my 18th, it's the biggest
one yet, everyone will be there!
details are; party is at my place,
XXXX, at 7-11 pm, food and
drinks provided. let this be a
time to relax and forget about
everything. hope to see you there!
seen 2:09 pm

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it's a very long chapter, whoops!
thanks for reading and showing this book some love, i feel more motivated to write when i read the comments. love youss ❤️