CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Then… Who gave this to me?” I slowly kneeled down on the floor as my knees fell weak. Taehyun placed the piece of paper down to his side as he continued sitting on his bed, lost in words.

We turned our heads to the door when it suddenly bursts open and the rest of WINNER spilled into Taehyun’s room.

“What the! Why are you guys hovering outside my room?” Taehyun looked at them suspiciously.

“If we didn’t then we wouldn’t know what’s going on! Dude, where’s that letter?” Mino quickly insisted and his eyes darted around, searching every possible corners of the room.

Seungyoon snatched the paper right off Taehyun’s bed and stared at it. “What kind of prank is this? Who the heck would send this to you?” He kneeled down to face me now. I shook my head. I don’t know either…

“That’s messed up!” Seunghoon said as he sat on the floor, his hands attempting to pull hair off his scalp due to frustration.

Jinwoo ran out of the room and came back within seconds. All eyes stared at him when he entered and he sheepishly smiled and rubbed the back of his head. “Just checking to see if we locked our front door… Now I feel a little safer.”

I sighed and started to get up to exit the room. “Maybe I should go back to my place now. It’ll be bad if that person managed to come inside your apartment.”

“WHOA hold up! Don’t you dare!” Mino exclaimed as he held onto my arm, not letting me take another step forward.

I shook my head. “People are crazy these days! You don’t know what they’re capable of!”

“And that’s exactly why you’re not leaving!” Seungyoon spoke up, his eyes glaring with anger as he looked at me. Whoa… Is this what a mad Seungyoon looks like? Definitely not so friendly looking... I mentally noted to never anger him. But I also can’t put them in danger!

"Listen to me!” My volume was louder than usual in order to catch their attention. “Have you not heard of sesaeng fans? They probably know you all live here already-“ I paused when I saw Jinwoo’s expression tensing up and huddling a little closer to Mino. “and that’s why they sent me that… Because they know I live next door to you all.”

Seunghoon shook his head. “That’s disgusting. Should we tell Sungmin-shi about this?”

“Don’t’ sweat it guys. It’s probably just a one-time prank. I mean… I lived in the same apartment building with Big Bang for so long now and nothing has happened.”

Seungyoon immediately shushed me. “No. We are telling Sungmin-shi!”

“No you’re not!” I disagreed. “That’ll just make the issue bigger which is never a good idea. Do you guys really want negative reports before you debut?”

“But still…” Jinwoo expressed. “What if it’s not a one-time thing?”

“Oh come on guys. Chill. I’m sure it’s not that big of a deal!” I said, smiling at the boys in hopes to cheer them up. I glanced over at Taehyun who has been quiet this whole time.

He finally stood up and said, “Fine, we won’t tell Sungmin-shi. But you’re staying here with us.”

“What? No. That’s not necessary.”

Seunghoon chimed in. “I agree with Taehyun. You should just live with us! We’re neighbours anyways, might as well!”

I shook my head. “No and that’s final.” I crossed my arms and tried glaring at them to get my way.

Did it work?

Nope.

“Fine, then we’ll stay at your place with you.” Seungyoon announced as he started to get up, seemingly trying to go into his room to pack up.

I blocked his way out of Taehyun’s room. “VERY unnecessary! Guys, seriously? How about we just pretend nothing happened and call it a night?” Mino was about to speak up but I clasped his mouth shut so he wouldn’t make a sound. “Okay deal! Good night guys!”

They seemed unconvinced but succumbed to my words in the end. I walked to the foyer area and placed my shoes on. The boys looked at me uneasily.

“You’re not leaving here unless you put my number on speed dial!” Taehyun insisted, pulling my phone out of my hand and setting it up himself. I chuckled at his behaviour. Why must you do this to me? I’m afraid I will call you a lot for another reason then.

Mino ran into his room and came back out with a baseball bat. “Maybe this will come in handy?” I tried to hide my smirk as I took it from him. Baseball bat? Hilarious! I guess I’ll just take it so they won’t be paranoid.

“OH!” Jinwoo exclaimed and also left us for a bit before he came back and shoved something in my hands.

“Pepper spray? Why do you even have this?” I asked curiously.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I got it because it was on sale the other day.” The rest of us laughed at him. “Hey! Don’t be mean! I’m just trying to protect Yunju noona!”

I smiled. “I know. Thanks for everything. I’m sure it’s just a prank so don’t worry about me! Now get some rest you all! Filming must be tiring for you all! OH! And besides, you guys have recording for tomorrow. You should all be well rested, arrasseo?”

They reluctantly waved me off as I left and went back inside my apartment. Finally… Home sweet home! I looked at the clock which read 8PM. Still a little too early for bedtime… I then noticed my stomach grumbling. Whoa I totally missed dinner because of all that hassle! I should probably fix up something quick for dinner! Before I head to the kitchen, I decided to turn on the TV to see what’s on. I reached for the remote to the left of the sofa but couldn’t find it. That’s weird… I always put it here! I looked to my right and there’s my remote, sitting stealthily on the couch. I shook the thought out of my head. Maybe I’m just being paranoid here… Of course I could’ve put it over there too. I’m not THAT organized.

With the television on, I went to the kitchen and opened the fridge to see what I can cook. What the… Where did this come from? I took out a plastic container and looked at the contents inside. It looked like some kind of fried rice… A chill went down my spine. Who the heck placed this here? I slowly closed the fridge, trying to make the slightest noise possible.

Someone is in here and have the damn guts to touch and use my belongings! I stared at the kitchen counter and saw a box of chocolates laying there. Well… Whoever is in here sure knows I like this chocolate brand. How long have this person been stalking me for? I quickly ran to the door and grabbed the baseball bat that Mino gave me just now. Well well, it’s once and for all. I started to walk slowly into the hallway, knowing that there’s no one in my kitchen and living room. As I picked up my pace, I noticed that the washroom door is closed.

I never leave any doors closed in my apartment.

A HA! So you’re in there eh! Good.

I tightened my grip on the weapon and quickened my pace towards the washroom. Once I’m outside, I placed my ears on the door and tried to hear if there are any noises coming from within.

Nothing. It was as quiet as a mouse. I slowly reached for the door knob and turned it slowly. I took in a deep breath and pushed the door open.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Was the scream I heard when I stepped inside. I screamed too in response of what I heard. Inside my bathtub was a person taking a bubble bath. Now’s the chance! USE THE DAMN WEAPON YUNJU!! I held the bat up and with all my might took a swing at the person.

Wait. This person looks familiar.

“IT’S ME YUNJU, STOP!” That’s Hyejin’s voice! I looked closely at the figure under the bubbles and stopped my bat from swinging before it was about to hit her. “Holy crap you’re scared me!!”

“I SHOULD BE ASKING YOU THAT!” I yelled, dropping the bat onto the floor tiles. “Why are you even here!”

“Dude, you don’t remember!? It’s Thursday! We always spend Thursday evenings together! It’s our girls’ night in time!” Hyejin exclaimed. Today is Thursday already? Oh shoot I totally forgot!

“How did you get in?!” I asked immediately. “Did you watch TV and touched the remote? Did you buy take out and placed it in the fridge? Did you also buy my favourite chocolates??”

Hyejin rolled her eyes. “First, this WAS my apartment, and I still had the key. Sorry, I intruded into your place… Hehe. I TRIED CALLING YOU BUT YOU DIDN’T PICK UP! So I thought I’d just come in first. Second, yes I was watching TV while waiting for you. Third, I bought take out and decided to put it into the fridge first because you weren’t home, and of course I got you your favourite chocolates! Today is our cheat day after all!” She turned around and reached for something on the other side of the tub and picked up a bottle and two glasses. “I got wine too! Care to join me?”

I heaved a huge sigh of relief once I realized it was Hyejin in my apartment all along.  

“Am I that scary to you? Baseball bat? Really now Yunju?” She questioned.

“You don’t understand… I received a prank letter just now… “

“Prank letter?” Hyejin immediately grabbed my towel to wrap herself up and stepped out to join me. “What do you mean?” I spent the next few minutes explaining what happened to her. Her reaction is even worse than the five boys who live next door. “BASEBALL BAT? ONE ISN’T ENOUGH! SHOULD I BUY YOU MORE?”

I shook my head and chuckled at her suggestion. “No need Hyejin-ah. Seriously? Even you think it’s something that scary and dangerous?”

“Yunju! BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY! Those sesaeng fans are crazy!” Hyejin continued. Why does this conversation seem so familiar…

“Well, I don’t know. It’s just a letter.”

“Omo… You should probably tell sajangnim!” Hyejin advised.

“WHOA! NO NO!” I immediately dismissed her thought. “That’s the worse idea ever!”

“But-“

“No buts, okay Hyejin-ah!” I said. “And that’s final.”

She pouted but listened to my words in the end. “Okay. But I’ll spend the night here with you, arrasseo!!”

I was about to decline her suggestion but in the end I smiled and nodded at her. Sometimes, it just feels so good to know that I have such a great friend!

---

The next morning arrived faster than I thought and I slept like a baby. Stalker huh? Yeah right! Hyejin had to leave early though because she has an event to go to with Big Bang. Brand new day, brand new start! I decided to take a shower before having breakfast.

I was having a nice hot shower and rinsing my shampoo-ed hair when I heard a knock at my door. Such bad timing… Who can it be? Don’t tell me it’s those paranoid boys from next door! What’s the hurry anyways!

“Noona!!! Are you inside?? Come get the door now!!” I recognized it as Seunghoon’s voice right away. What the heck is he doing out there?? Whoa, if I’m able to hear it with the water running, then the neighbours must be complaining about the noise soon! Better get out ASAP!

I quickly rinsed off the soap from my body at such an amazing speed, I wouldn’t be surprised if I got the Guinness world record for fastest shower taken in human history! I stepped out of my tub and reached out to grab my towel.

Emptiness.

Where’s my towel? It’s not on the rack!! Then I remembered Hyejin using my towel last night and probably left it somewhere in my room. Dang it… Such good timing indeed!! With water droplets dripping down from my hair and body, I clenched my teeth as I opened the door and braced the cold air from the hallway. Now the doorbell is ringing and the knocking is getting even crazier.

When I reached my room, I hopped over to my drawer and quickly picked out the first towel I saw. A crash was heard outside in the living room. Oh goodness, don’t tell me-

“Yunju-noona?!”

Taehyun?

I wrapped myself up with the towel just in time before he stepped inside my room. I turned around and there he stood, staring at me with hair that is still dripping from the shower.

“Noona are you okay??” He asked, sprinting towards me that I almost wanted to back away.

“HOW THE HECK DID YOU GET IN? Don’t tell me you have a key too!!” I shouted. I looked at his face and immediately blushed. Taehyun and I in my room and I am practically under this towel! Taehyun don’t seem to notice my behaviour though and acted as if it’s another usual day.

“Uh no…” He pointed at the balcony. “I kind of just… Hopped over and got in through your porch…”

“You what?” I yelled out, feeling extremely flustered. Don’t people understand privacy?!?!

“I have a legitimate reason!!” He argued but was interrupted by another loud knock at the door. I stomped over to the front door angrily and opened it to reveal Mino and Seunghoon outside.

“NOONA ARE YOU OKAY?” Mino questioned immediately, grabbing onto my arm and examining me from head to toe.

“Noona, what took you so long, you scared us to death!!” Seunghoon complained.

“Calm down!” I said to shush the boys. “If you three still haven’t noticed, I was clearly taking a shower!” I pointed at my damp hair to emphasize my point. “What’s the hurry for?”

“Oh. Sorry.” Mino apologized. “Well you see… We were getting ready to go to the studio but then we decided to check if you’re okay first…”

“So we went downstairs to spy on your letters and coincidentally saw a mail man putting a parcel into your letter box...” Taehyun continued.

“And…” Seunghoon hesitated and looked at the other two boys uneasily. The three of them simply stared at each other.

“Go on, I don’t have all day.” I urged, crossing my arms, unimpressed by their idiotic actions.

“We decided to open it for you because we were scared it’ll be something threatening to you!” Seunghoon said.

“Okay? What did you find?” I asked again.

“THAT PERSON WANTS TO KILL YOU! WITH KIMCHI!” Mino finally said, pointing at a plastic container of kimchi and some other banchans in the parcel.

I raised an eyebrow. “Who sent it?”

“We don’t know, but it has a return address and it says it’s from Busan.” Taehyun informed. “They probably poisoned the food! Good thing we figured it out eh?”

“Busan?” I went over to Mino and grabbed the parcel from him. “DUDE, it’s from my mom!! Busan is my hometown you guys! I asked her to send this to me a few days ago!”

“WHAT?” The three of them exclaimed at the same time. Eventually, they believed me after a little more convincing. Taehyun paced himself around the room and face palmed himself. Mino dropped his jaw and stood still, staring at me. Seunghoon’s eyes bulged out and cursed. “Oh no… Jinwoo and Seungyoon went downstairs to spy on the mail man!!!”

Mino cursed too. “Oh my… We got to find them before they beat the crap out of the innocent man!” With that, Mino and Seunghoon left my apartment at the speed of light.

I turned towards Taehyun and shook my head disapprovingly at him. “You guys could’ve gave me a call first next time. Isn’t that what a phone is for?”

He pursed his lips and shrugged. “We were just worried. It was their idea to check up on you!”

“Really now huh? I thought it was you who was insane enough to crawl over to my balcony from your side. Who the heck does that??” I ranted to him. Can’t he think logically?? Thank God he’s safe!!! What would I do if he slipped off? No. No don’t even think of that!

“Okay, I agree I wasn’t thinking clearly but I’m just worried about your safety! Is that wrong?” He argued. “What if that person had another scheme of plans to harm you?”

“Shouldn’t you think about your safety first? What if you fall down? Just to remind you, we do live on the tenth floor!” I quarreled. Why are we even talking about this? Why is he even here? I kind of wish he didn’t do anything at all! Maybe that will make it easier for me to forget about him… It really doesn’t help that he’s arguing with me about this right now.

Taehyun paused to look down at the floor but slowly raised his head to look at me again. “I just care about you. That’s all.”

My body relaxed at his sincere words. Oh no… He really shouldn’t have said that! Does he even know how much my heart is aching right now to see him like this? I just want to hide away from him. Maybe even disappear into thin air so I don’t have to see how miserable he currently looks. No Yunju… Don’t give in yet. “I… I just.” I hesitated for a bit but continued to speak my mind. “I care about you too.” His expression lightened up upon my words. Uh damn it, I should’ve chosen my words carefully… “I mean, I mean like… It would totally if you died just like that, right? Then my life will be so boring since there’s no one to annoy me… You know what I mean?” I somehow decided to stare at the very interesting corner in my living room, avoiding Taehyun’s eyes.

He’s not talking and the eerie silence is haunting me. I pursed my lips and finally got the guts to look at him again. His face was unreadable and I wished I could read people’s minds at that moment. Sometimes I wish super powers were real! I faked a cough and began to pace myself around the living room. Well this is awkward. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. In order to break the ice, I decided to switch the topic. “The weather’s pretty nice today eh… Haha!”

No response.

I gulped. Oh how I wish I can just hug him right now to comfort him or something. I shouldn’t have said something so harsh to him… He was just worried about me after all. I almost reached my arms out to hug him but I was able to control myself at the last minute.

“Actually, I think I should go get changed now…” I pointed back and forth at myself and towards my room. After all, I only have a towel wrapped around my body and I really don’t want to be anywhere near him. Seeing no response, I took it as a cue and my heels and headed for my room, feeling more relieved than ever.

I stopped walking when I suddenly felt a pair of arms pulling me back by my shoulders. I froze right on the spot. His arms wrapped around me and I felt his chin on my shoulder.

Oh my God, don’t tell me he’s back hugging me right now. No… This is not good!! MAJOR BAD NEWS. My heart is beating faster by the second. My eyes fluttered, spacing out into thin air. I bit my lips. Now it’s getting hard for me to breathe. Okay, Yunju, stay calm. Breathe in and out. Slowly, inhale and exhale. My heart is still pumping at an abnormal speed. I wish he can just stop hugging me right now.

Taehyun didn’t say anything and I had no idea how long we stayed in that position. All I can hear was his breathing and my own heart beating crazily.

No, I actually don’t want him to stop. I cursed at myself. What the heck do I even want?!

“I won’t do it again, I promise.” Taehyun slowly released his grip from me. I hear him stepping backwards. “I should probably go check up on the guys now.”

One foot step.

Two foot step.

“Wait. Taehyun, listen.” I turned around to face him and he stopped walking. He didn’t turn towards me though so his back was all I could see. “Look… I just want to say sorry for what I said earlier. I know you all just wanted to protect me from whoever that crazy person is… I promise I’ll contact you guys if anything out of the ordinary happens but… I can take care of myself too you know. I just think you guys exaggerated your reaction a little too much.”

“You still don’t understand huh?” I heard him sigh. “Sorry for intruding in your life so much. But guess what? You can do whatever you want from now on because I’m not going to care anymore.” He continued walking out of my apartment.

My heart sank and so did the tears that have been collecting at the rim of my eyes. Get a hold of yourself Yunju, this is the most inappropriate time to weep! I quickly brushed my tears away. I almost wanted to laugh at myself because of this ridiculous matter.

I tried to muffle in my cries and I finally gathered up the energy to walk inside my room. I locked the doorknob and my legs gave in immediately as I collapsed onto the floor, with my back sliding down against the door.

Why does it have to hurt so much? Why did it have to turn out this way?

My phone rang at that moment but it was all way in the corner of my room. I didn’t want to answer it so I just stayed put and let it go to my voicemail.

“You have one new voice message. First new message…” I turned to the direction of my phone, still sitting down.

“Lee Yunju.” A voice was heard but I couldn’t make out who it is. The voice also sounded very robotic. “Well, you didn’t seem to get my first message, so I thought I’d make it clear this time…”

I held my breath in as I listened with fear. They were right, I guess this prank is no joke.

“I see you’re quite close with WINNER and I don’t like that… If you don’t stop seeing them, I’ll come find you and teach you a lesson. Let’s see who gives in first?” A cynical laugh ended the message and the person hung up. “End of messages…”

My breath quickened, heck I almost forgot how to breathe.

I got up and quickly checked the recorded message on my phone. It was from an unknown number. What do I do?? My fingers fumbled with fear as I automatically hit speed dial.

But wait…

I quickly ended the call before it was able to go through. I can’t call Taehyun now…

For the first time in my life, I felt lonely and lost.

---

Author's note:

is going down guys :S

I knew i had to update today because GUESS WHAT? 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAM TAEHYUN <3 heehee