Taehyun has no more doubts about what is happening and that’s what is scaring him the most. He has been walking for ten minutes since he left the convenience store and he has taken a few turns he doesn’t usually take, just to prove something.

 

And that man is still there.

 

Taehyun tries to keep calm and not to quicken his pace because he doesn’t want the man to notice. He’s been following him since the shop and he’s pretty sure he was keeping an eye on him already when they were still inside. He can’t really see his face because he’s wearing a dark green jacket and the hood covers half of his face, but from the way he walks and the clothes he’s wearing, he must be a middle-aged man.

 

Taehyun checks his phone and curses at the black screen. The stupid thing died when he was still studying at the library and he already tried the pretend-to-call-a-friend trick but the man hasn’t stopped following him. If he were a robber, he would have already assaulted him, so he clearly wants something else and this is what is making Taehyun go insane. He curses his bad luck, curses how soon the sun sets in winter, curses the day he decided to leave his small town to go study in the big city and most of all curses how far the library is from his dormitory. He should have waited until Jinwoo was done studying too, so they could walk home together. But no, he had to make some shopping because the fridge is always, miserably empty. And in the end, he just bought an apple and a couple yogurts.

 

“,” he murmurs as he fixes his earphones. He always pretends to listen to music while actually listening to what happens around him. People tend to be more careless when they think no one is paying attention, even though that method mostly made Taehyun realize just how many people make comments about his looks. His mother always tells him not to wear earphones when walking alone, because there might be some psycho following him. Taehyun always thought she spoke nonsense. How ironic.

 

It’s when he walks into a narrow street and crosses the road that he realizes the man is quickly catching up on him. Taehyun doesn’t want to wait and see what he wants from him, so he starts looking around almost frantically, without searching for anything in particular. He hopes for some brilliant idea to pop up in his mind, but all the shops are either closed or closing and there’s nowhere he can hide.

 

He spots an old phone booth on the side of the road, one of those light blue cabins that gives off a very nostalgic vibe whenever you see them. Taehyun doesn’t think much of it at first, but as he approaches, he realizes he can lock himself inside and call his friends for help. And that’s exactly what he does.

 

With shaking hands, he closes the door behind him and looks outside of the window. The man has stopped near a streetlamp maybe thirty meters away from the booth and he’s standing still, facing Taehyun’s direction.

 

“,” Taehyun hisses as he fishes out his wallet and looks for some coins to put into the machine. He takes out his phone as well, only to be reminded that it’s off and he can’t check his friends’ numbers. “!”

 

He takes the receiver and pushes the coins inside the split, one after another, in a rush. Half of them threaten to slip through his fingers and he takes a while to finally fit them all in. He stops, takes a deep breath and tries to remember the number of Seungyoon, his roommate.

 

He wonders if it wouldn’t be better to call the police. But how can he explain this situation? That man hasn’t done anything yet and Taehyun’s a man too. He’s sure they would just laugh at him, as sad as it sounds.

 

Seungyoon is my best option, he resolves, pressing hard on each key of the old phone. His roommate is a bit of an , but he certainly wouldn’t leave him alone in a dangerous situation. Or so Taehyun hopes. He also hopes that Seungyoon is not playing his goddamn guitar because he keeps the volume so high that he often doesn’t even hear his phone.

 

Luckily, a couple of rings later the line gets connected.

 

“Hello?”

 

Taehyun releases a sigh of relief. “Seungyoon! Thank god. Where are you right now?”

 

“I think you got the wrong number. There’s no Seungyoon here.”

 

Taehyun slowly removes his ear from the receiver and looks at it like it’s some kind of alien thing. He looks at the keys and tries to remember what number he dialed. He’s sure he typed in the right number. He’s sure…

 

Is he?

 

Taehyun doesn’t even have the time to wonder when did he become so freaking stupid, because the stranger on the other side speaks again. And this time, Taehyun realizes that yes, his voice is definitely different from Seungyoon’s.

 

“Alright, have a nice day,” says a rather soft voice. Taehyun imagines a very thin guy around his age, he doesn’t know why.

 

And he doesn’t even know why he says what he says next.

 

“Wait!” he cries into the receiver, searching his pockets for other coins. He knows he has none, which makes that call his only chance. “I’m– I’m sorry to bother, but could you please… he-help me?”

 

The stranger doesn’t reply immediately and Taehyun fears that the next thing he will hear is the sound of the call being disconnected. Both of his hands clutch at the receiver and he squeezes his eyes, praying that the man won’t hung up.

 

“How?”

 

Taehyun’s shoulders deflate in relief. He his dry lips and tries to find the right words to explain his situation without sounding like a crazy person – which he probably already does.

 

“I’m being followed by a strange guy and I’m scared. Can you please keep talking to me? I hope that he goes away if he sees that I’m on the phone with someone.”

 

“What?” the man seems to be in disbelief, Taehyun can hear it in his voice. He can’t blame him. He waits in silence as the stranger probably considers his plea for help. When he turns around, the stalker has gotten closer and he’s standing still a few meters away from the phone booth. Taehyun panics and turns away quickly, feeling his stomach squirming in fear. Maybe he shouldn’t have stopped at the booth and should have run straight to the dormitory. His heart is beating crazily in his ears.

 

“What’s your name?”

 

Taehyun opens his eyes, realizing he had shut them in fear. He’s not sure he got the question right at first – he doesn’t understand why the stranger would want to know about him.

 

“Taehyun,” he says slowly, his voice fading away with the last syllable.

 

“Jackson,” replies the stranger, who’s not that much of a stranger anymore. “Taehyun, where are you right now?”

 

His voice got a much warmer tone and it sounds soothing to Taehyun’s ears. He feels his heartbeat slowing down a bit and takes a deep breath for what feels the first time in a very long time.

 

“I’m in a phone booth in front of the music shop near K University. The one–”

 

“–beside the minimarket? There’s a clothing store on the other side of the road, right?”

 

Taehyun is taken aback. He looks outside and indeed, there’s a shop in front of him; it’s closed, but the sign tells him it’s a clothing store. The stranger seems to know that neighborhood very well.

 

“How…?”

 

“I’m a student at K University and the library is not far from there.”

 

“I’m a student too,” Taehyun says in disbelief before he can help himself. He realizes it’s a useless piece of information in the situation he is now, but the words slipped off of his tongue on their own when he heard Jackson’s.

 

He's not sure whether the man heard him or not, because his next words have nothing to do with the topic anymore.

 

“Is the creepy guy still there?”

 

Taehyun freezes, as if he had forgotten about him. He glances at his back and his heart skips a beat when he realizes that the unknown man is still where he was before. Taehyun can tell he’s keeping an eye on him and he’s on the verge of truly freaking out.

 

“Ye-yes. He got closer.”

 

“Are you safe?”

 

“I locked myself in the phone booth.”

 

A long ‘mmh’ can be heard from the other side. “Okay. Listen. Stay where you are and–”

 

The line gets cut right there and then. Taehyun stares at the void for a moment, in shock. Then, he turns around and slams his hand against the phone. “Stupid! phone! Why! Are you! Doing! This!” He hits the keys over and over, hoping for a miracle he knows it won’t happen. He simply ran out of credit and there’s nothing else he can do.

 

He looks through his pockets again, then through his shoulder bag and again through his jeans, but he has no coins left and he doesn’t have any credit card with him. He looks out: the dormitory is at the end of the street, just behind the corner, but that boulevard is a long one and it would take five to ten minutes to get there by foot.

 

Taehyun doesn’t want to look back. He knows the man is still there because he feels his eyes on him and his presence gives him the shivers. He checks the lock on the door and crouches down on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. He hopes some policeman will pass by, eventually. He’s going to sleep there if he needs, even if he’s too agitated to sleep.

 

His stomach growls and he sighs, resting his head on his knees. He wonders what that Jackson was about to say. He seemed willing to help him and Taehyun is sure he would have stayed on the phone with him if he only had more money. It all comes back to him, in the end. It’s his fault for being so distracted and careless all the time. He always forgets the big city can be dangerous.

 

A few minutes into his thoughts, Taehyun hears someone knocking on the door of the phone booth. When he looks up, his worst nightmare has come to life: the creepy man is standing in front of him and Taehyun can finally see his face. He’s in his forties, bloodshot eyes and a neglected short beard. His eyes are as wide as his disturbing smile as he looks at Taehyun and the latter understands immediately that the man is not in his right mind.

 

“Hello,” he says, an amused voice. “Do you need help?”

 

Taehyun stares back at him with big eyes and slowly shakes his head, his lips tight in disbelief.

 

“You look troubled,” the man continues, always sounding extremely cheerful. “Open the door, I can help you. Are you hungry? I don’t live far from here.”

 

Like hell I would come with you, Taehyun thinks, eyes darting to the small lock. The man pulls at the door once and Taehyun suddenly realizes that old lock wouldn’t last long if the man started shaking it for real.

 

He doesn’t reply to that either and decides to look away and ignore his whole existence, hoping he would desist.

 

The man takes a long look at Taehyun before he continues, “You study at the nearby university, don’t you? I see you coming and going from the library. You’re really cute.”

 

The way he speaks is disgusting in itself and Taehyun feels shivers up his spine. He doesn’t know how he keeps so calm, knowing that the only thing separating him from that psycho is a very thin door. Thinking about it now, locking himself in the booth has definitely not been a good idea. He’s literally trapped in there.

 

The man pulls at the door once more, violently this time. The whole booth shakes a bit and Taehyun looks up in horror.

 

“Come on, open the door. I don’t want to do anything, I just want to know you,” the man his lips as if Taehyun is something to eat. “How old are you? You look very young…” he seems very satisfied at the thought and pulls at the door again.

 

Taehyun jolts up and presses himself against the opposite side of the booth. “Please go away.”

 

“Why are you like this? I’ve been nothing but nice to you.” He can see that the man is getting angrier and he’s now shaking the door without breaks. The small lock starts cracking and then breaks all at once as the door swings open.

 

A victorious smirk creeps open on the man’s lips. Taehyun feels his legs becoming jelly. Maybe he still has a chance to escape if he hits him with his bag full of books, but none of his muscles want to move.

 

The man stands on the door, filling the whole space with his presence. He’s tall and well-built, just Taehyun’s luck.

 

“Please le-leave me alone. I’m going to c-call the police!” His heart is beating so fast that he’s becoming deaf to every sound around him.

 

The man snickers. “You’re not going to call anyone.”

 

His hand reaches out to grab Taehyun’s hoodie.

 

“But I am.”

 

An unknown hand grabs the creepy man’s shoulder and pulls him back until he’s out of the booth. Taehyun steals a glance at his savior: it’s a young man with baggy gym pants and a hoodie. His hair is black and he’s wearing a red baseball cap. He’s not bigger than his assailant, but his face looks extremely threatening.

 

“I already called the police, so you better off,” he says, showing his mobile phone.

 

The other man gets rid of the hand on his shoulder and snickers. “So what? I didn’t do anything.”

 

“You can be charged with attempted assault and damage to public property, for a start,” the young man replies without blinking. “Which would result in several hundred thousand won of fine and around six months in jail, if not more.”

 

Taehyun can see that the stranger’s words really scared his stalker this time. He glances back at Taehyun with disdain, murmurs something obscure and runs away without turning back.

 

Taehyun picks his bag from the ground with shaking hands and steps out of the booth with eyes full of gratitude for the man in front of him. The latter seems more relaxed now and his face doesn’t look as scary anymore. Taehyun’s eyes fall on his hoodie again and he realizes it has the name of his university printed on it in capital letters. His brain makes two plus two.

 

“Jackson…?” he says in disbelief.

 

The other man smiles. It’s the most beautiful smile Taehyun has ever seen and it makes him feel all warm inside.

 

“Taehyun, right?” Jackson offers his hand. “I’m glad I was in time.”

 

Taehyun shakes his hand in astonishment. Jackson is far from how he imagined him from the phone. He’s a tall, muscular guy with broad shoulders. His voice sounds deeper in person as well. Taehyun is mesmerized. “You came all the way from the dormitory…? For me?”

 

The other furrows his thick eyebrows. “Who would leave someone in danger when they can make a difference?”

 

“Uh, everyone else?” Taehyun’s lips stretch into a trembling smile. “Thank you. I was lucky you were nearby.”

 

“I would have come even if I lived on the other side of the city,” Jackson retorts, noticing Taehyun’s surprised frown immediately. He shrugs. “I’m just like that,” he smiles again and Taehyun can’t help but think he’s definitely a handsome guy.

 

“Do you study law?” He blurts out without thinking.

 

Jackson just keeps smiling. Taehyun can tell he does that a lot and that his threatening appearance of a few minutes before might be something pretty rare to witness.

 

“Medicine,” he laughs. “I honestly have no idea what I said to that guy, I just recited what I learned from watching crimes.”

 

Taehyun starts laughing and Jackson fixes his cap, feeling both embarrassed and enchanted by that sight. “In which dormitory are you staying, Taehyun?”

 

“W building.”

 

Jackson nods. “I live in the G building, but I will walk you there.”

 

Taehyun smiles softly. He can’t believe he got so lucky on a night that had started in the worst way possible. “You should come up to my room, I can offer you some coffee. My roommate is a bit of a loud , but hopefully you won’t feel like punching him in the face.”

 

“Seungyoon?”

 

Taehyun is impressed. “Wow. Such good memory.”

 

Jackson taps his temple with his index finger. “I need it if I want to graduate in my faculty.”

 

“Right?” They smile at each other and they both start walking. Very, very slowly.

 

Jackson looks around and sinks both hands in his pockets. “Do you go to the library often?”

 

Taehyun grabs tightly at the strap of his shoulder bag. “Basically every day.”

 

Jackson hums thoughtfully and looks at his shoes for a while. “I’m thinking maybe I could walk you home every day, for some time. Just to make sure that weirdo doesn’t show up again.”

 

Taehyun’s eyes grow wide. “You would?”

 

“If you don’t have anyone else to go with…” he shrugs. “I could walk you from the dormitory as well. Back and forth. I don’t mind, I have to study too anyway.”

 

Taehyun is thinking less about studying and more about the fact that he really wouldn’t mind to have an excuse to spend some more time with this Jackson. A bright smile appears on his lips.

 

“I would love to.”