Sh- She’s coming for me. She’s hunting me down.

Hyun Jung didn’t feel protected even with securely locked windows and doors. The whole house suddenly had an eerie feel to it after the news. She felt watched, but was certain the lunatic hadn’t got too near her yet.

“H- Hannah? D- Did you w- watch the news yet?” Hyun Jung spoke into the phone with a shaky voice.

“Hyun? What’s wrong with you? Why the news?” Hannah, on the other side, grabbed the remote and switched the channels. The newscaster was making a repeat announcement.

“Hyun, lock all your doors. Grab a knife from the kitchen, sit it your room and lock that door as well. Make sure your phone is always with you and call Kyuhyun now.”

“I- I can’t call him. He’s on a plane,” panicky tears blurred her vision as she did as told. Once she grabbed a kitchen knife, she locked herself in her room.

“Don’t worry. The police are hot on her trail. She doesn’t have the chance to come after you now. Call the authorities, tell them your story and ask for protection.”

“I- I can’t. I’m too scared to do anything right now.”

“Calm down. , why does this have to happen when the boys leave. It’s almost as if she knew what was gonna happen and planned it out accordingly. For now, just stay where you are, okay?”

“O- Okay,” Hyun Jung took deep breaths.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“It’s alright,” Hyun Jung hung up the phone and drew the curtains. She curled up in her bed and prayed everything would be fine, at least until the next morning. She eventually fell asleep from the crying and woke up the next day. With the knife in hand, she made her way outside cautiously. Nothing seemed to be different and the fact that it was morning sunlight seemed to have taken some of the eeriness away. Hyun Jung the news and watched for updates on the escape. The police weren’t able to find her just yet. The convict wasn’t even a guy that escaped, it was a girl. How hard could it be to find her? Hyun Jung jumped at the sudden ringing of her cellphone but calmed down when the caller ID showed Kyuhyun.

“Yeoboseyo?” she tried to sound casual. She couldn’t let them know anything, it would cause them to worry and not focus on their concert. She could only hope that they didn’t watch the news or read any newspapers there.

“Hyun! How are you?” Kyuhyun sounded normal.

“O- Oh I’m doing okay. I’m a big girl,” Hyun Jung swallowed hard.

“That’s good. Well I’m calling during my break. The concert’s starting later tonight.”

“Really? All the best then, oppa.”

“You okay? You sound a little weird.”

“I’m fine. I have to go, Hannah’s waiting for me,” she fibbed.

“Well, okay. See you in Korea soon,” Kyuhyun smiled.

“Alright,” Hyun Jung hung up and tried to find things to distract herself. Just then, the doorbell rang. Hyun Jung ran to the kitchen and grabbed the knife from last night. Better to be safe than sorry. She peered through the peephole and found that it was only Hannah.

“You okay?” Hannah engulfed her in a tight hug as soon as she opened the door for her.

“I could be better,” Hyun Jung held her tight.

“Don’t worry. I’ll stay with you today. Everything’ll be okay,” Hannah reassured.

“She said- She said she’d come back for me. And this time, she’d kill me if she found me,” Hyun Jung recounted the previous event.

“Don’t worry, she’ll have to get through me,” Hannah smiled. “I’ll fix you something, I’m sure you haven’t eaten.”

Hyun Jung nodded stiffly and went to sit on the couch, fiddling with her phone while waiting for Hannah to return. The day passed painfully slowly but nothing happened to the both of them. The dreadfull night came and the both of them sat in the living room with all the lights and all the windows and doors locked, seeking each other for comfort and reassurance. If anything were to happen, at least they’d have each other.

—

It had been three horrifying days since the news of Shin Bongsoon’s escape was made known to the public. Nothing weird happened to either of the girls and Hyun Jung was relieved that the boys were about to arrive back at the dorms any time now.

“Hannah thank you so much for staying with me. You were risking your life, but you still stayed.”

“I’m not called your best friend for nothing. At least if we die, we die together, right?”

“Right,” Hyun Jung nodded and heard the jingling of keys outside. They both stood up and went to the door. She couldn’t be happier about their return, she could finally feel safe knowing all these boys would be there to protect her. Somehow, she felt a little bit braver now that they were here.

“Oppa,” Hyun Jung ran up to her brother and hugged him as if she hadn’t seen him in years.

“It’s only been three days, Hyun,” Kyuhyun chuckled and patted her head.

“Yeah. Only three days,” Hyun Jung hugged him tighter and only let go when he gently put her at arm’s length.

“Hannah was here to keep you company!” Sungmin beamed.

“Yeah,” Hyun Jung looked at her meaningfully.

“I’ll get going now,” she smiled and took her bag.

“Will you be safe?”

“Of course I will. It’s broad daylight, dear,” Hannah smiled.

“Please call me once you get home,” Hyun Jung said.

“I will,” she was sent out by Ryeowook.

“Now that you guys are back, I have something to tell all of you,” Hyun Jung announced, earning the attention of the boys. “Remember that lunatic who broke in and tried to kill me?”

Their jaws dropped and prayed it wouldn’t be what they were thinking.

“She escaped from prison,” Hyun Jung said shakily. “I don’t know what drives her so far. All I did was date Jonghyun after she left the country. I never knew it’d hurt her so bad to go this far.”

“Did you call the police?” Leeteuk asked with a serious look.

“I didn’t.”

“I’m staying home with you until they catch her,” Kyuhyun stated firmly. “I’m also calling the police to protect you.”

“It’s not me that I’m worried about right now. It’s Hannah,” Hyun Jung looked up fearfully. “What if she gets Hannah to lure me out or something?”

“Don’t worry. Hannah’ll be okay,” Donghae reassured and squeezed her shoulder.

“I never knew a normal person could go this far just because someone else dated their crush,” Heechul shook his head.

“Then again, she isn’t normal,” Leeteuk sighed. “Let’s just all unpack and act try to like our usual selves, okay? All of us had a tough three days and rest is what we need. Make sure everything that can be locked is locked securely.”

All of them followed the eldest’s instructions and went about unpacking. After some time, everyone was prepared for bed. Hyun Jung would be sleeping with Donghae in his room for extra protection. He came out of the shower and sighed seeing Hyun Jung in a daze.

“Baby, you’ll be okay. You have us, you have me,” all she did was nod stiffly before burying herself under the covers. Donghae joined her underneath and wrapped his arms protectively around her.

“If anything happens, I’ll be there to save you like the last time. Sleep,” he closed his eyes and she did so as well.

—

Ding dong

“Who is it?” Those who were at the living room curiously glanced at the door. Ryeowook went ahead to peek through the peephole and opened the door after confirming the visitors weren’t sasaeng fans. Well, at least they didn’t look like they were.

“Good afternoon, sir. I’m an officer from the CID, my name is Lee Yongjae and this is my colleague, Kim Jiwon,” the male held out his identification card that was hanging around his neck.

“Okay, come in,” though unsure, Ryeowook let the two guests in. Leeteuk came from nowhere and led the two officers to the table to sit.

“We received a call regarding convict Shin Bongsoon’s escape and you said you have a story to tell?” Yongjae asked while Jiwon got her notepad and pen out.

“Yeah, just let me get her out,” Leeteuk got up from his seat and got Ryeowook to get some water for the two guests before running in to call Hyun Jung out. She followed Leeteuk and greeted the two officers.

“Annyeonghaseyo, my name is Hyun Jung and I’ll be telling you my story regarding Shin Bongsoon,” Hyun Jung bowed and took a seat. She summarized what happened back then without leaving any details behind.

“Not long ago, she snuck into the dorm and tried to attack me while I was sleeping. One of the guys managed to help me before I lost my life. She was then taken to prison and now she’s escaped and I’m positive she’s out to get me and it’s possible that my best friend, Hannah, will be implicated as well.”

“I understand, Ms. Cho. However, we have a lack of manpower, everybody who is able to help in the arrest of Shin Bongsoon needs to be utilized. We can only afford to have Jiwon follow you about your daily life until it is safe again.

“I’ll let Jiwon ssi follow her!”

“No, from what you have informed us, you are her main target. We have to ensure your safety first.”

“Then her safety isn’t important?!” Hyun Jung scowled.

“As of now, I’m afraid not,” Hyun Jung’s fist clenched tighter and was about to say something but was stopped by Leeteuk who squeezed her shoulder.

”.. Fine,” she gave up, still extremely worried.

“Do avoid leaving the house too often, especially at night. Hope you’ll be able to cooperate with us during this period of time.”

“Okay. I do hope she gets caught soon, I want to live my life normally. If anything happens to my friend, you’ll have to answer to me,” she shot then both a firm look before leaving. After sending the two officers off, everyone went back to what they were doing before. Later that night, Jiwon was back again to guard the house. They gave her some warm tea to sip when she was thirsty before leaving her to do her job. This routine went on until Monday came, five days after Bongsoon escaped from prison. It was nearing 9pm and there were still many people on campus rushing projects or just studying. For Hannah and Hyun Jung, it was the latter. There was a huge series of tests coming up in about a month’s time and the two of them haven’t touched their books in quite a while, Hyun Jung especially. Jiwon was sitting nearby, constantly glancing around for any suspicious characters.

“My neck,” Hannah groaned an rotated her stiff neck.

“Let’s grab a drink,” Hyun Jung suggested.

“Go to the bathroom at the same time,” Hannah nodded and the both of them grabbed their purse. Jiwon stood up as well, following the two from behind.

“If you’re not going to use the bathroom, do you mind getting drinks for us? For yourself as well if you’d like,” Hyun Jung asked politely.

“Are you sure you both will be alright?” Jiwon hesitated.

“I think we’ll be okay. There’s still a lot of people in the school,” she nodded.

“Alright, stay right where you are after you’re done, okay?” the two girls nodded and Jiwon hurried off to get drinks for the three of them as quickly as she could.

Perfect. Bongsoon smirked after hearing Hyun Jung’s voice. I have you right where you are.

As soon as she heard the flush and the door unlock, she lunged out of the cubicle she was hiding in. Completely blinded by rage and hatred, Bongsoon plunged the knife into the stomach of her mortal enemy before the latter could even react.

I'm sorry. This was awkward beyond awkward :p.