Chp.17| The Stalker Unveiled

“I kicked his ,”Yoon Tae muttered with his bruised lip as I applied the balm on it. He grunted and moved his head back. “Ji Won, don’t.”

When I got home, I found Yoon Tae hiding in my room---or at least that’s what it looked like he due to the fact that my mother was b*tching downstairs. He sat on the floor against the bed, tending to his bruises.

I shoved him on the forehead, feeling irritated by his cocky behavior. “Yah! Who told you to involve yourself in a fight with that son-of-a-b*tch?”

Yoon Tae rubbed at his lip, and mumbled, “Why do you have to be so grouchy?”

“Because of you. You weren’t in school for ten minutes and already you’re on suspension. Gosh, I can’t believe I’m related to you.”

Yoon Tae took hold of my arm and forced me to face him. “Ji Won, I’m sorry alright. If I got you angry, I’m sorry. And besides, I don’t like it when you act so damn righteous. It’s not like you.”

I wasn’t in the position to lecture him about righteousness because I wasn’t your typical good girl either. I almost smiled at his changed of attitude. “Sorry? Wow, that’s the first.”

“Just don’t tell my parents about this.”

“Go speak to my parents about it.”

“I spoke to them already. They understand. So, I don’t want you blabbering you big mouth for my parents to hear.”

“I won’t. But there’s something you gotta do for me.”

“What is it?”

“Keep away from Kim Tae Woo and his friends.”

He arched an eyebrow and smirked. “I’ll try my best.”

The next thing I knew, my cell phone rang. It was a restricted number. Yoon Tae looked questioningly at me. “You’re not answering it?”

“I think…it’s Shin Hye Min.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “What? That internet web-cam ? What does she have anything to do with you?”

“It’s a long story,” I answered.

He snatched the phone from my hand and answered it. “Hello?”

“No, this isn’t Lee Ji Won. You’re mistaken.” With that, he hung up.

He placed the phone back into my hand. “Alright. Tell me what’s up. Maybe I could help.”

I guess I had no choice but to tell him everything. By the time I was done telling him everything, he held onto his stomach and threw his head back, bursting into an immediate laughter.

I slapped him on the arm. “It’s not funny.”

“It is. I mean this stalker thing is hilarious too. Who would want to stalk a guy like Park Jung Sang?” He shook his head and added, “This psychotic b*tch has really bad taste in guys, and so does Shin Hye Min person.”

Should I feel insulted too?

My phone began to chime again.

I looked down and shook my head. “She must really hate me. She’s calling again.”

“You have a lot of haters, Ji Won. Remember that.”

Deciding that I was going to confront her, I exhaled deeply before answering it. “Hello?”

There was a long silence before the voice came on the line. “Come outside, I’m waiting for you.”


---


I hid behind Yoon Tae who led me outside. “I’m scared,” I whined, tightening my grip on the back of his jacket. “I know it’s the stalker. He/she probably wants me dead.”

“Aish! Quit shaking me, you're ruining my jacket.”

“But, I’m scared!” I argued.

He spun around and told me to shut it.

We strode down the street in silence, looking around the neighborhood, spotting no figure in sight.

My phone began to chime again, causing both of us to jump. I reached for my phone in my bag and held it to my ear. “Yes?”

“Why is the Hero-look-alike with you?”

Being scared, I didn’t really pay attention to the sound the voice before. But thinking about it then, I realized that this stranger was speaking so softly that it sounded more of a whisper. “Why are you whispering for?” I asked.

“Are you trying to be funny?”

“If you’re so tough, reveal yourself,” I challenged, feeling my heart quickening.

“Fine.”

Out of nowhere, a figure stepped out behind a tree five feet away from us. The figure was cloaked, but I could see the long hair peeking out from under the hood. Judging from the slender silhouette, it had to be a girl. I tugged furtively on Yoon Tae’s arm. “That’s the stalker.”

“I can see that,” Yoon Tae said, taking a daring step toward her. “Yah! What do you want with my cousin? Why are you so fixed on stalking a guy like Park Jung Sang?”

“I want to ruin her pretty face,” came the direct answer.

My legs were starting to shake from nervousness and fear. I felt my whole body leaning in against Yoon Tae for support. But then I found myself asking, “My face? Why, because it’s pretty?”

“Yes.”

This b*tch was psychotic, but at least she was honest. “Thanks for the compliment, but---it still doesn’t give you a reason for wanting to ruin it.”

“Why not?”

“Then, shouldn’t you be ruining every pretty face there is?”

There was no response.

I bet this psycho wasn’t as scary as he made herself to be. I was going to test her. If you didn’t know already, I like testing people. “You need to stop this. You don’t need to do me any harm. I mean---I’ve done nothing to you.”

“You’re dating Park Jung Sang.”

“So?”

Her next tone came out harsher and so much deeper. “I love him more than you ever will!”

Yoon Tae tilted his head down to whisper to me. "She sounds funny, doesn’t she?”

“You speak of love? You’re a damn stalker so that makes you obsessive, not in love!” I blurted out.

She took a step closer. “I will kill you.”

Aigoo. Don't push too far, Ji Won.

Yoon Tae stepped in front of me. “With what? It looks like you’ve got nothing on you.”

“Out of the way!” she demanded, charging straight at him with a raised fist.

“You’re a girl---" Yoon Tae’s words broke off by the hard punch to his face. The next thing I knew, she had kicked him down there, forcing him on his knees. Yoon Tae took a sharp intake of breath from the unbearable pain.

The poor guy just got kicked in the sensitve area by a girl.

“Stupid Yoon Tae, you weakling!!” I cried out in disappointment.

The hooded girl looked up and smiled evilly.

At this point, I was afraid and so very helpless. I was running while screaming at the top of my lungs. “HELP ME!! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!”

I didn’t get very far considering that she was holding onto my side bag that I had carried on around my shoulder. She pulled my head by grabbing a fistful of my hair in her grasp. “Scream all you want, b*tch! I hope you choke on your own saliva and die from it!!”

“Okay," I agreed and then I screamed. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

With that, I stomped hard on her toes, forcing her to let go of me. I spun around and grabbed her hair in return. And then I yanked hard on it, only to have it fall off completely. Her hood was also thrown back, revealing the true face of the stalker.

This stalker was no girl at all.

It was a guy.

A slender guy, standing around 5’8 with a bald head. He had the prettiest eyes. They were big with long lashes. And defining those eyes were the plucked eyebrows? His nose was perfectly straight and he had girl lips. It was no wonder why he sounded so strange. Gosh, if it weren’t for the adam’s apple and bald head, I’d think he was definitely a girl.

I gasped, dropping the wig in the process. I couldn’t figure out whether the gasp came from the shocking discovery that he was a guy or the fact that he was so damn pretty. “My gosh, you’re a guy!”

“Yes. I am a guy!” he recited after me.

Park Jung Sang was right. His stalker was indeed a guy. Could it be? That Jung Sang suspected him all along?

“That’s a good thing,” I pointed out.

“Why?”

I answered him by kicking him down there. “That’s why.”

He fell immediately, gasping for breath. “You…b*tch!”

Seeing that he was down, I thought about Yoon Tae. I spun around, wanting to rush to him but instead, I rammed into another body. “Yoon Tae, you---"

“Yoon Tae is still cradling his balls,” came the voice.

I raised my head to see Park Jung Sang looking quite different than before. He was wearing one of them hoodies, along with a pair of baggy jeans that looked very good on him, and carrying a duffel bag across one shoulder. I also noticed that he wore a stud on his left ear, making him appear hot and so much ier. His hair was also gelled and styled to suit his own style.

Girl in trouble, and then hot guy shows up out of nowhere to save her. This was so cliché.

“Quit staring at me,” he snapped, moving me to stand behind him. He approached the fallen guy and nudged him in the ribs with his feet. “Who the are you?”

The guy raised his head and mouthed out, “Jung Sang. It’s me. Choo Seung Won.”

Jung Sang’s brows furrowed together in question. Upon recognition, he quickly lowered himself to help Seung Won from the ground. “Seung Won. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you.”

I didn’t like the sight of it to be honest. I didn’t like this Seung Won one bit. Mainly because he seems extremely psychotic and protective of Jung Sang.

Jung Sang helped him to stand. “But---I thought you left to the states?”

Seung Won cringed. “I couldn’t leave without…without letting you know…that I love you.”

Love? My gosh. I burst out laughing. I heard another person joining me. I turned to see Yoon Tae, throwing his head back in a fit of laughter. “, the gay bastard is in love with Jung Sang! This is too good!”

Park Jung Sang was all red from embarrassment. He released Seung Won in revulsion. “Yah! Are you in’ crazy?”

“Obviously, he is. If he wasn’t he wouldn’t be here, telling you how much he loves you,” Yoon Tae interjected.

I turned to glare at Yoon Tae to get him to shut up.

Seung Won’s eyes welled up in tears. “I couldn’t stand the fact that you were getting close to her. So I did all those things to get your attention.”

I lowered my eyes, unable to look at him.

“Sh*t, Seung Won.” Jung Sang said in disbelief, as he turned his back on him, kicking nothing but air. “I’m not gay alright. You can’t like me. How could you even think of liking me?”

The tears were flowing from Seung Won’s eyes when he said, “Ever since you taught me ping-pong, I grew this attachment towards you. The feeling grows stronger and stronger every day.”

So that was the reason why Seung Won had grown so attached. Park Jung Sang had been a teacher to him and perhaps a friend. They had shared some oddly sense of bond. And Seung Won had fallen in obsession, not love.

“Go, Seung Won. Leave,” Jung Sang said, “Don’t let me see your face again. Because if I do, I can’t guarantee what’ll happen to it.”

“Hyungnim, please!” Seung Won begged.

I walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder out of pity. “I’m sorry that you feel that way. But, if it makes you feel any better, Jung Sang and I are not exactly dating.”

Seung Won swiped my hand aside, followed by a hard slap to my face. Before I even looked at him again, Jung Sang had already kicked him down, keeping him pinned to the ground with a foot on his chest. “You’re asking for it. Apologize right now, Seung Won!”

Yoon Tae came up to me, placing a tentative hand on my face. “Ji Won, you okay?”

“It’s only a slap,” I mumbled, in spite of the tears that were gliding from my eyes.

I was crying again.

Yoon Tae pulled me close to him, patting my back. “Don’t cry. It was only a slap.”

“He didn’t have to do that, I was only trying to be nice,” I cried some more, wiping my nose against Yoon Tae’s shirt.

He pulled away from me, making a disgusted face. “Yah! Who told you to wipe your snot against my shirt?!”

I didn’t answer him while I wiped my eyes with the back of my arms.

I felt him tug at my bag. “Anyway, let’s go. I’m sure Jung Sang could handle it.”

I looked over my shoulder to see that Jung Sung had crouched beside the fallen Seung Won. He glanced once at me, said nothing and then helped Seung Won up for the second time before walking down the opposite direction.

I couldn't help but feel bothered by it.

---

I was awakened by the sound of something striking against my window. Rubbing the back of my head in annoyance, I sat up and slowly got off the bed to look out the window.

Jung Sang was standing there with his hood pulled over his head, waving me down.

I pulled a robe over my pajamas and headed downstairs with my Mickey Mouse slippers. Once I was outside, I approached him slowly.

“What?”

“I came to apologize for what happened earlier.”

“Really? Why couldn’t you do it tomorrow or something?”

“I didn’t want you to…worry,” he replied inaudibly.

“I wasn’t worrying. I was sleeping like a dead pig until you woke me up with the-rocks-to-my-window thing.”

“I thought maybe, I should explain---"

I knew the reason why he was there. He wanted to explain everything to me. He just had a hard time opening up. I couldn’t blame him either because our relationship or whatever it was we had made things harder for him.

“Why should I care about your love history when we don’t have anything going on?”

He raised his voice. “Yah! Stop it!”

I yawned just to spite him. “Stop what?”

He pulled his hood back. There it was again. The tugging in my heart and the weird feeling in my stomach every time I looked at him. “Don’t act stupid.”

“Remember, a Barbie has no brain. So let the Barbie get her beauty sleep.” I turned around and added, “The horse should also be on its way.”

“Your face looks horrible,” he remarked, followed by a mocking snort.

I rolled my eyes, thinking of his immaturity. “Not as horrible as yours, I hope. Goodnight, Jung Sang.”

“Wait,” he said, grabbing for my arm. “Why are you so angry for?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know why I’m so angry, alright,” I told him honestly.

“Because you were jealous.”

“Me? Jealous of a gay guy that likes you?”

Through the darkness, I could see the hint of a smile on his face. “You were probably pissed when I walked away with him, instead of coming to you. Don't worry, I didn't let him me or anything.”

“Whatever, I don’t care.”

“You say that, but you do care.”

I tried tugging from his grasp. He drew me closer. “Since the horse is going to be on his way. The horse asks for a goodnight kiss first.”

“Well you can tell the horse to kiss his own goodnight,” I replied bluntly.

He released me, throwing his head back in laughter. “You’re really mad, huh? Oh well, I didn’t want a kiss anyway. I was testing to see what they say about you was true.”

It surprised me to see how good of a mood he was in.

“Really? And what do they say about me?”

He smirked. “They say that you like to bite.”

I raised my fist to strike him but he grabbed it and quickly leaned in to plant a chaste kiss on the bruised side of my face. “Goodnight.”

With that, he was walked off into the darkness.

“Lee Ji Won, you are so blushing,” I told myself while touching my cheeks, smiling happily as I returned to my room.