There is laughing below you. In the kitchen? In the living room? You can’t think straight, you’re too drowsy.  It sounds hysterical. It’s the type of laugh that one has when they’re drunk and emotional. Now there’s crying.

What the hell? You think as you rub your eyes, adjusting to the little amount of light going through the window. You turn on the bed, looking for the clock set upon the nightstand and see that it is three a.m. almost four.

You sit up, crossing your legs on the bed, your eyes still closed, too drowsy to focus, but the crying is so loud. You hear some shuffling to your left, you open your eyes and squint, trying to find some sort of figure, but it’s too dark to see anything. You convince yourself to stand up from bed, crossing your arms and hugging yourself to keep warm. You head towards the noise, towards the stairs. You’re about to place your hand on the hand rail when something, someone, grabs your hand. And then it’s gone. It pulls away and suddenly you feel an arm around your waist and a hand goes up to your mouth. You feel someone’s breathing on your neck, you’re wide awake now, and you want to scream..!

 And then…nothing.

•••

You sit right up, your heart is racing and you’re trying to catch your breath. You quickly get up and look all around your room. A dream maybe?? You run towards the stairs and rush down them, looking around the living room and in the kitchen. Unmyeong is happily eating from her bowl. She looks up at you and simply meows. You decide to sit on the floor against the wall and next to her as you contemplate whether or not last night was real. You rub your forehead trying hard to remember anyone you saw, but the scene is easily lost like a dream…

“Where were you last night?” You ask your cat as if she’ll answer; she continues to eat. And then you realize “Who gave you food???” She replies with a meow.

“Wait what time is it!!?!” You look at the clock in the kitchen, on the wall opposite of the one you’re sitting against. It’s one in the afternoon. How long did I sleep..?

You have a sudden urge to check the lock on the door and the windows for anything suspicious, still not fully convinced that last night was just a dream. Everything is in place, however. You head back upstairs and decide to call your boyfriend. You throw yourself on your bed, grab your phone from the nightstand and make the call.

He doesn’t pick up.

You call again and again and still, nothing. You start looking through your contacts. Jungkook…maybe he can help me…

“Do I call? Do I send him a message..? He’s probably busy practicing…” You say aloud to yourself. After contemplating it for a full seven minutes, you decide to call him, figuring it would get you a quicker response than to wait for a reply to a message. The phone rings for about three rings and he answers.

He’s breathing heavily and says your name in question followed by a “What’s up?”

“Jung..k-kook.” You stutter and you’re not sure why. You clear your throat and sit up in bed, legs crossed. “I was..wondering if you knew where your best friend is..?” Why did I say it like that? You think to yourself and quickly follow up with “He’s not picking up his phone or answering any messages, it’s just he’s al-“ He cuts you off.

“It’s a weekday, isn’t he at work?” He says seriously. “I mean look at the time, it’s the middle of the day. Are you just now waking up?”

You scoff not exactly appreciating the tone of his voice and continue on to say “You know what? Thanks. You’re probably right.” You purposely emphasize a sarcastic tone of voice as you speak.

“Ya!” You hear in the background on Jungkooks end. “Yeah. Bye, I have to get back to work.” He clicks.

You set the phone down hard on the bed and proceed to throw yourself back against it, still trying to figure out last night, and why your boyfriend isn’t picking up, and why Jungkook’s attitude is so..-like. “And it’s not just him, it’s the rest of the group too! What’s with them?” You say aloud and roll your eyes in frustration.

An alarm goes off at two o'clock. I have to get ready for work…. You think to yourself as you stare at the white ceiling.

And so you force yourself up, gathering your clothes from your closet and head to the bathroom. You undress and stare at your reflection on the bathroom mirror, one that reveals your bare torso. You notice a bruise near the right side of your waist; small, round, and red-ish purple. You disregard it as you head towards the shower, turning on the water and letting it run on you.

  After shampooing your hair, you grab the bar of soap and decide to wash the rest of yourself. You wrap yourself up in a towel as you step out of the shower and head towards the sink where the mirror and your clothes are. After dressing and quickly towel drying your hair, you raise your shirt up and you look at the same spot on your waist through the mirror. You had noticed that one was on your waist earlier, but now as you twist your upper body to the left you see four other bruises on the same side but on your back. You run your fingers lightly on them, but then, almost hugging yourself with your left hand, you let out a small gasp of pain as you press your fingertips against the bruises, one finger for each bruise.

You stare at yourself, eye to eye, in the mirror and have a dark, blurry flashback…

Five bruises…exactly five… like from a hand…