Do you ever hate a song so much that you can’t stand when it comes on? Every time you hear it, you just wanna tear your ears out. And then as time goes on, occasionally you find yourself singing along to it. It gets stuck in your head at random times and drives you even crazier.

Well, that’s how Jaera felt about Jungkook.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get the boy out of her head. She hadn’t seen him in a few days. Even at school, she hadn’t passed him by in the hallways or spotted him in the quad. It wasn’t unusual seeing as they were in different years, but she felt weird about his sudden absence in her life.

She’d seen him almost every day for the past few weeks, and now he had disappeared almost instantly. She thought he would have visited. She thought they were on alright terms.

I guess not.

“What are you thinking about?” Chanyeol stopped strumming on the guitar, eyeing Jaera closely.

She’d been spacing out too many times during their lesson that day, and he was starting to get annoyed.

“Nothing,” she lied. “I’m sorry. Can we practice another day, please? I just wanna get into bed.”

He smiled. “Of course. You go home, I’ll close up here. You did a good job today.”

“Thank you,” she chimed back, getting to her feet and stretching her legs. “See you later, Chanyeol.”

It was chilly outside. Jaera pulled the collar of her shirt up, not caring if she looked like a wannabe 50s gangster. She stuffed her hands in her sleeves and paced home quickly, hoping to warm up soon. She’d forgotten her headphones, so the walk was unusually silent. Despite that, she embraced the ambience of the streets happily. Cars driving past, a dog barking in the distance, and the light rustle of the wind breezing through the trees.

It was peaceful during the evening.

She skipped ahead, checking for cars before coming up to the alleyway that was her secret shortcut to her street. She didn’t usually take it because of its creepy atmosphere, but she was eager to get home today.

Her mind started wandering back to Jungkook again. She kicked a stone as she walked. It flew towards the metal gate beside her, ricocheting off and dribbling to a stop in front of her. She imagined it was Jungkook’s head bouncing along the ground and she laughed.

Her laughter was soon cut off when she heard footsteps behind her.

Her face froze. She continued walking; quickening her pace, but the footsteps mimicked her own, moving faster as they approached her from behind.

She looked up. She was almost at the exit of the alleyway. The footsteps were heavy, calculated. A shiver crawled up her back, this time not caused by the cold air, as they grew even louder.  Holding her breath, she broke out into a run, not sparing a glance behind her.

The strange footsteps thudded against the concrete as whoever it was following her started to run, too. She didn’t know whether to cry or scream, so she stayed silent. The wind was slapping her face, her face went numb. She felt like her lungs would freeze up and stop working at any moment.

Her house came into view. Jaera sighed with relief and sprinted towards the gate. Once she was finally on her front porch, safe and sound, she turned around to scope out her street, panting heavily.

It was empty.

“Ahh!” she finally whimpered, collapsing to the wooden floor to calm herself down. She still felt prickles against her skin thinking about the fact that somebody had been following her, and what could have happened if she hadn’t run away.

The paranoia didn’t leave her for the rest of the night. Even as she sat watching TV, she couldn’t stop thinking about those heavy footsteps following her.

Oh well, she thought, at least I’m not thinking about Jungkook anymore.

“Jaera,” her mom called from the hallway. “I’m going to work now. Don’t stay up too late.”

Jaera sat up on the couch instantly. “You’re leaving?”

Her mother frowned in confusion. “Yeah… I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

“Love you,” Jaera mumbled quickly. “Be careful.”

“I love you, too.” Her mom eyed her closely, wondering why Jaera suddenly looked so afraid. “Are you okay?”

Jaera regained her composure and slumped back down in the couch, pulling her blanket tighter over her chest. “I’m fine. Have a good shift.”

Even as her mother was leaving, she pretended to be calm. Subconsciously, she was doing it for herself. If she acted like she wasn’t worried, then maybe she wouldn’t feel so scared anymore. But, of course, it didn’t work, and no matter how many times she checked the locks on the doors and sealed the windows shut, she didn’t feel safe.

She scurried over to the window near the TV, ensuring it was closed, and for a second she peered out at the dark street outside. More shivers travelled down her spine. It felt like she was being watched. She surveyed everything once more, noticing the lights at Jungkook’s house switching off and how everything was eerily dark.

--

Jungkook shut himself in his room, not bothering to take off his basketball uniform. He was tired and drained, and not just because of practice.

The notes had come back.

At first when he’d come home from school a few days ago to see a small card in his letterbox, he thought it was from Jaera in reply to his. A smile had graced his lips, but it soon faded when he opened it.

I’m watching you, that one had said.

Then more came. Flooding his letterbox daily, with no sign of who had left them. There were even a few slipped into his locker.

Be careful. Watch your back. Why did you do it? I’m coming for you. Are you scared?

These messages constantly filled his mind. He didn’t tell anyone, but he was sure everyone around him could tell how distracted he was. He was angry and confused. Nothing made the thoughts disappear. Not even his parents could help. All they did was make it worse when they asked him how he was and why he was being so quiet.

He wanted to be left alone.

But there was nowhere to go. The dance studio was ruined. He didn’t want to bother his friends. So he isolated himself. He went to his classes, avoided interacting with anyone, and when the day was over he stayed in his room until he fell asleep.

That evening was no different. His parents were already asleep, the house completely silent. He sunk into his bed and stared at the blank ceiling above him. He could almost see each of the hateful words in those messages scrawled across its clean surface. Swirling above him and tormenting his mind.

He sighed.

“Leave me alone,” he whispered for nobody to hear.

After what seemed like forever, he finally felt his eyes growing heavy. They were about to slide shut when a light tap on his window startled him back into reality. His head snapped in the direction of the noise as the tapping sounded again.

What the hell, he thought, carefully making his way to his window.

He was hesitant, but mustering enough courage, he pulled his curtains aside. What he saw shocked him more than a little. Standing just below his window outside was Jaera. She was wrapped in a blanket, the material shrouded over her head and body completely.

She smiled at him pathetically, shivering.

He opened the window immediately. “What are you doing, you idiot?! It’s freezing outside!” He noticed she didn’t have any shoes on either.

“Can I come inside?” she urged him. “I tried knocking, but nobody answered.”

“Why aren’t you at home?” he asked, ignoring her.

She glanced around nervously; eyes searching for something she hoped wasn’t there. “Please, Jungkook!” she whined.

He groaned in response, but stood back. “Come on then.”

Quicker than he expected, Jaera scrambled through the window and soon she was tumbling onto the floor of his bedroom. He helped her up as she fixed the blanket around her.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Her teeth were chattering so fast she found it difficult to speak. Taking a seat on his bed, she wrapped the blanket up and over . “I got scared,” she mumbled, embarrassed.

His eyebrows rose. “What do you mean?”

He tentatively made his way towards the bed, sitting beside her.

“Somebody was following me home from work today. I didn’t get a look at them, but it scared the out of me.” She felt herself getting warmer by the second. “My mom left for work a few hours ago, and I didn’t feel safe enough to sleep there alone, so I came here.”

“Oh,” was all Jungkook said. The creepy notes came to his mind. “So you didn’t see who it was?”

She shook her head, causing the blanket to fall even further down her back. Without realizing, Jungkook tugged it up and secured it around her neck before speaking again. “Is this the first time someone’s followed you home? Like, recently?”

“Yeah…” She shivered. “But when I got home, I looked and there was nobody around. Maybe I imagined it all.”

He watched her lower her head. “Don’t think like that,” he told her. “If somebody was actually tryna follow you, you should probably prepare yourself in case it happens again. Instead of hiding away, just face it.”

“What? Like… learn self-defense or something?”

“Why not? It wouldn’t hurt.”

She mulled over it briefly. “Yeah, but how? I can’t just start taking classes overnight. I know I’ve got a job, but I aint a big baller yet.”

“YouTube?”

“Oh, hell no… Have you ever seen me try to copy those make up tutorials online? It doesn’t end well.” She pouted. “Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to start taking knives in my pockets everywhere I go. Or else, I’ll just stop leaving the house altogether. That sounds like a good idea.”

Jungkook sensed the slight sarcasm in her voice. “Seriously? You’re just gonna let something like this affect you? How many years did I torment and tease you when we were little? Yet you still had the balls to come back over when your parents visited. You always fight back.”

“I do,” she said sullenly.

“So, what are you so afraid of?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “You weren’t there Jungkook… It actually scared me. I don’t think you understand that.” She nuzzled her face deeper in the covers.

Her tone froze his thoughts. He replayed her words in his head again. She’s right. He wasn’t there.

“Then what if I am from now on?”

She frowned. “I don’t get it.”

“I’ll be there,” he said simply. “We only live across the road from each other. We go to the same school and we both have after school activities. I’ll pick you up from your house every morning, and drop you back off every night.”

He peered over at her to try and gauge her reaction, but she sat there, motionless.

“It’s up to you, though…”

“Okay.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, why not?”

He laughed in response. “It’s gonna take me a while to get used to you agreeing with me, you know that?”

“Don’t expect it too often,” she teased, breaking into a smile for the first time that night.

The air fell silent after their laughter had faded. They both sighed.

Suddenly, everything became awkward. Jaera felt like her mind was finally at ease, and now she was seeing things clearly.

“What the hell am I doing here?”

“I have no idea. I think the cold weather is getting to your head.”

Jaera failed to punch his arm in time before he was already standing up. “I’ll walk you back home?”

“But my mom’s not there yet,” she whined unintentionally, not moving from her spot.

He rolled his eyes. Why was she always so stubborn? “Then I’ll stay there until she does?”

“Ew. That’s weird.”

“Says the one who came climbing into my bedroom window this late at night,” he retorted.

“Fine! God damn,” she muttered angrily, getting to her feet. She noticed him just standing there, trying to hold back his laughter. “Well, hurry up! We haven’t got all day.”

He headed for his door. “Honestly, this is gonna take so long to get used to…”

 A/N: Sorry, literally nothing much happened in this chapter… T^T