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Equal stand

He was stalking. Literally. He wasn’t very happy with it, it made him feel weird, and it made everyone around him that could see him feel weird. It made Jihye feel weird.  He was basically doing a really bad job at hiding himself while looking out for her. He didn’t have time to bother about the stares some of his classmates were giving him as he hid behind a corner, behind shelves of books and hoping he doesn’t get caught. He was doing more than a bad job. He had titled a book and was looking at her as she went from one book to another, but he could still be seen by the others in the library that past by him and wanted to greet them and  had him shushing them away. He was even called crazy when he stopped someone from calling his name by covering his mouth and hiding low behind the shelves.

He was actually fooling himself into thinking she didn’t know because she did know. With each page she turned, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh and try to focus some more.  He had been doing that for two days. Two entire days in which he followed her to the campus library, on her way to the apartment and even when she went to the airport to greet her returning boyfriend.

Closing the book she failed to read because of knowing he was there, she got up from her table and then moved towards the shelves. She was in the neurological department area, trying to find any book that could link changes to the functions of the brain to getting glimpses of the future. She had no actual evidence of any molecular, structural or of any other sort of modification in his brain because he had not gone for a checkup.

If it was about something he had done in the lab, where he worked mostly with chemicals, it could have induced a temporary reactions. Pheromones had been proven to create alterations inside the human brain even if temporary. It clicked with certain areas, it challenged certain areas and it could inhibit certain areas. But just what could propel the brain into reaching into the future?  Maybe instead of checking books about what was already known about the brain, she should check books about the potential of the brain.

Looking towards the shelves, she noticed a book called ‘The future of the brain’. It was pretty high up and she had to use the ladder.  She barely got to move towards it when Kyuhyun appeared next to her and took hold of the ladder before she could.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she glared towards him.

“You can’t go up on it.” He insisted, trying to take the ladder away from her.

He had a valid reason for having following her around. He had even more of a reason to stay in the library and look out for her. He had only assumed he was going to see something else related to Jihye and that it was going to be dangerous. He had to give it to her, she was right about it taking toll on him. He initially thought he was feeling drowsy because of the hours he had to spend standing while checking up on her but then it hit him. He had seen her getting up on a ladder and losing her stability, falling down.

It only made him even surer about his patterns of happenings when he had that vision of her falling down her the ladder. Something dangerous and now something potentially dangerous that he could totally stop. He was smart enough to look at the watch when he had the vision of her falling down the ladder. So when she went for the ladder, he looked at the watch again. 45 minutes.  He had been right about the time passing between the moment of the vision and it actually happening. He was getting more and more time.

“Seriously, Kyuhyun?” she asked as she crossed her arms and stared at him, finding it unbelievable that he was going to just take away things from her.

“Seriously. You can’t.” he insisted and put the ladder to the side.

“Why are you sweating?” she asked as she noted the drops of sweat down his neck and cheeks. “Wait... is this about another vision?” she spoke in a softer voice, glancing to the side to make sure no one was there to listen on what they were saying.

“Well... it’s not going to happen.” He smiled to himself, making sure she notices how he placed the ladder back in its place and that it was off limits.

“Are you kidding me? I thought you told me you’d let me know!” she hissed and then began pulling him to the side, dragging him out of the library.

Since he only had a twisted ankle, he made a full recovery within a day so there was not going to be a problem with her dragging him out of the building. Once they reached the coffee shop on the first floor, she forced him down on a chair and proceeded to take out a few napkins to clean off the sweat.

“Well... I wanted to test something.” He shrugged his shoulders and then took the napkins out of her hands since it was making him feel really weird once again.

“And what was that?” she asked with a roll of her eyes, giving him the ‘you’re unbelievable look’.

“It needs more testing.” He spoke, refusing to divulge his information.

He didn’t think it was a good idea to tell her that his visions seemed to be related to her and her safety. Danger, potential danger, something ambiguous... then danger again. He was already on the edge with what he knew and having her know the same thing wasn’t going to help. If Jihye would have known something bad was about to happen to her, she would have freaked out. She was smart enough not to make a scene but she was still a human and even more sensible than him and it was going to put her in a complete lock down state.

She was going to be afraid, she was going to either be the dare devil and laugh at the danger, ignoring it completely and think he is an idiot, humor him for a few days and then escape without him being able to find her the minute she had the chance. Either that or she was going to believe him,  close herself inside her room and try to bypass all her need for a social life so she wouldn’t be in danger.

Between her getting away from where he could reach her and her turning into a home buddy and screwing up her future, it was simply better if she didn’t know anything.  For the pattern to be complete he needed to make sure the second vision fit into the “ambiguous part” and he didn’t know when that could happen.

“I told you I am worried. You promised to tell me when it happens again and you didn’t. I am giving you until midnight to tell me what this is all about.” She frowned at him and gritted her teeth in the process.

“I’m not sure about it yet. I’ll tell you when I know.” He lied, trying to not sound very doubtful.

“And I am not buying that. Until midnight.” She glared at him again and then got up from the table. “I know you. You were following me for days, on purpose. You know what’s happening. Tell me.” She glanced one last time towards him and then shook her head in disapprove before leaving.

She wasn’t dumb. He had been very keen on that ladder and her not getting up on it. It meant something was supposed to happen and he prevented it. If he prevented it, it meant it could hurt her.  She was in trouble or in temporary trouble and that meant he knew that and was ready to help her out.

What linked them all together? A guy slipping and falling in the hospital, the elevator stopping and then opening, a car hitting her or almost hitting her and then something with the ladder. She could have slipped on that hospital floor and hurt herself. She could have panicked inside the elevator on her own or catch a cold. What was with the elevator opening though? It’s not like she could have been hurt because of that. Unless she slipped because of someone but that was very unlikely. The car thing was an obvious danger so maybe her getting up on the ladder would have injured her as well.  Was this what was actually going on? Danger, possible danger, offset, danger again... and the ladder...another possible danger. 

“Damn...that was the pattern. It’s about me!” she spoke a bit too excitedly as she got up.

“Jihye? Weren’t you listening?” her boyfriend asked with a frown.

Right after meeting with Kyuhyun, she had went to meet with her boyfriend but her thoughts had been only on Kyuhyun and what could his visions be all about. She could just give her boyfriend a look of apology, stretching her hand towards him to get his hand to make an even bigger apology.

“What were you thinking about?” he asked as he took her hand.

“Something’s up with Kyuhyun and...”

The next thing she knew, her boyfriend let her hand go and frowned, annoyance obvious all over his face. He had just about enough of Kyuhyun between them.

“Hey...” she tried to appease him.

“This isn’t working, Jihye. Everything is about Kyuhyun... every time Kyuhyun.”

It was enough and it was obviously her fault. She knew that every single step she took back to her apartment