It's the first day of work for Se Ri. She was eager that morning and arrived a little to early. The gutters of the library were still down so she decided to head to the nearest cafe and purchase her daily dosage of caffeine. Spotting a seat 2 metres away from the window of the cafe, she leisurely walked over and sat down. Se Ri took out her book, authored by the famous Paolo Coelho, from her bag and began reading from where she had left yesterday night. 20 minutes later, her phone vibrated, indicating a text message. She fished out her phone to see Baekhyun's name displayed as the sender.

**Baekhyun**
Hmmm...Brida..interesting. Could you lend it to me when you're done with it?

She replied "sure" and was about to hit send when she paused. Her face plastered the look of confusion and flipped her book to the front cover and double checked the title. *How does he know?!*

Then came another text message from him.
**Baekhyun**
Don't frown, you look funny.

She frowned further. Byun Baekhyun was definitely playing with her. By chance, she happen to turn her head and spotted Baekhyun outside the cafe window waving his hands at her with a goofy grin.

*Baekhyun, you're so silly* She chuckled and made her way out of the cafe. In a way, Baekhyun reminded her of Chanyeol. The silly grin on his face, his dorkiness and playfulness. Except for the height. Chanyeol was a giant while Baekhyun was of average height. If the both of them were to become friends, they would probably get along really well. Se Ri suddenly felt the longing to see Chanyeol again but after all that she had done, she knew she couldn't face him ever. She was ashamed for treating him like trash. Quickly, she brushed off the feeling. She didn't want to ruin her first day of work.

"Good morning, Se Ri." Baekhyun greeted as soon as she exited the cafe. "Hey Bacon. Morning." she nodded. Now it was his turn to frown.
"Seriously, what's with "Bacon"?" He questioned as they both started to walk to the library.
"Baekhyun's a little too mouthful. Bacon's short and sweet." she shrugged as she walked ahead of him.
"Why?" he scratched his head and catching up with her.
"Say your name a hundred times faster, you'll see what I mean." she answered nonchalantly.

And that's what exactly Baekhyun did. When he realised what she meant, his expression went flat. "Ha ha, very funny Ms Smarty Pants."
Se Ri jutted out her lower lips and shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm going to ask whoever the supervisor that's supervising you to give you a hard time. That'll teach you to not mess with me." he pointed a finger at her with a playful grin.
"Yeah yeah. Like that threat's gonna work." she rolled her eyes.

And it did.
Se Ri's supervisor was 2 years older than her. Her name is Lee Eunji. From nine to lunchtime, Eunji was nice to her but it changed three sixty degrees after lunch. She started to ignore Se Ri when she had questions and would glare at Se Ri with murderous eyes. Se Ri wondered why but then she somehow tried to piece the puzzle together. At lunchtime, Baekhyun had sneaked into Se Ri's art section and surprised her with meal coupons. At the sight of Baekhyun, Eunji's eyes lit up and she would shuffle over to him with an overspilling aegyo. She had asked Baekhyun out for lunch but he declined it politely and told her that he would be going for lunch with Se Ri instead. Eunji frowned slightly but smiled at him right after. Swinging his arms around Se Ri's neck, which she shrugged it off a second later, both of them exited the building. When she came back from lunch, Eunji had dumped all the books that needed to be arranged alphabetically on the shelf to her, leaving her with the stack of books in her arm that was almost covering her head. When the day ended, Baekhyun had waited for her at the elevator at her level. Eunji walked towards him and shamelessly asked him if he could walk her home. Again, Baekhyun declined with a smile. He spotted Se Ri over Eunji's shoulders and called out to her. Se Ri look up from her phone and notice both Baekhyun and Eunji looking at her, but both wore a different expression. Baekhyun was grinning at her but Eunji was throwing daggers. She repeatedly pressed the elevator button but the elevator was coming down too slowly for her liking. Irritated, she fled down the stairs instead. Se Ri's eyes followed Eunji's figure then back to Baekhyun. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Did you just decline her request again?" Se Ri sighed as she walked towards him. Baekhyun shrugged. "I don't wanna do the things I don't wanna do."
Se Ri look at him, analysing him. "You do know she has a major crush on you right?"
Baekhyun nodded as he pressed the elevator button. "Exactly like you said. She has a crush on me. Not the other way round. Besides, she's not my type."he wiggled his eyebrow at her.
"Whatever your ideal type is, just don't tell me." She shuddered playfully. "And...please stop using me as a reason for you to avoid her. I don't want rumors going around saying I'm stealing my senior's eye candy." she shot him a glare. Baekhyun whistled and pretending that he didn't hear her. Exasperated, she pulled his right ear. "Yah! Did you hear me?"
"Ah ah ah!" Baekhyun winced. She let go of his reddening ear with a scowl. Baekhyun pouted and rubbed his ear. "Fine. Fine. Jeez. You're so rough with guys."
She chuckled. "Let's go home, Bacon."
"I'm beginning to like that nickname." Baekhyun grinned. Se Ri side glanced him and rolled her eyes. Baekhyun caught that and pretended to claw her eye out with his fingers.

When they reached the intersection, Se Ri bid farewell to Baekhyun but he still stood there watching her. Se Ri turned back to him with a furrowed eyebrows.
"What are you doing? Shoo. Go home." she motioned him to go.
"It's late, Se Ri. I'll walk you home. It's dangerous for a girl to walk alone." Baekhyun replied, with a hint of concern in his voice.
She softened, suddenly feeling guilty for sending him away so rudely. "It's okay Baekhyun, I can take care of myself. If anyone dares to come close, I know what to do." She pretended to punch the air but it didn't amuse Baekhyun at all. He wasn't anything but serious.
"No, I'll send you home. Come on." He started walking her direction. "Baek. Please. I can go home myself." she stopped him. He paused from walking and look at her. After a moment, he sighed. "Fine. But be on the line with me." he waved his phone in the air.
She nodded with a smile, grateful that he respected her decision. With one last wave, both of them parted ways. Just as promised, Baekhyun rang her cellphone. She chuckled seeing Baekhyun's id and decided to let her ringtone play for a few seconds before picking up.

"What took you so long to pick up?" Baekhyun asked.
"My phone got lost in my bag." She lied and chuckled inwardly.
"Hmmm.." Baekhyun sounded unsure about her excuse but shrugged it off. "So..are you halfway home yet?"
"Yeah, I'm walking up slope now." She replied.

The area was dead quiet. If she were to hang up the phone with Baekhyun now, the place is as good as the mortuary. The streetlights flickered away and eventually died making the street she was walking on entirely dark.

"Umm.. Baek, I'm warning you, my battery is dying soon. If our little chat got cut off, you know why."Se Ri told him. She heard Baekhyun grunt in dissapproval.
"I told you I should walk you home." He nagged. "You're so stubborn."
"Stop being a worrywart. Jeez. Just stay on the line, I'm reach--" the line got cut off. "Baek? Hello?" She checked her phone and cursed. Her phone was dead. Just then, she heard a scurrying noise behind her. Alarmed, she whipped behind and scanned the vicinity. She couldn't see well because of the dark. She cursed again. If her phone wasn't dead, she could have flashed her phone torch around. *Probably a rat* She shrugged and continued walking. Halfway reaching her home, she felt the hairs at the back of her neck rising. Her hands unconsciously tightened around her phone and she quickened her pace. Fear crippled her, freezing every muscle of her body even though she could tell she was shaking on the outside. Sweat drips down her forehead like the dribble of a melting ice cream. Hot wet fluid dribbled down her legs, a bastion of warm comfort in a moment of primal terror.

Suddenly, there was a quick tap on her shoulder.

"OH GOD!" She yelled and stumbled around. Her phone dropped to the ground in the process and a large crack was formed. Her eyes were wide like an owl's and they darted around, squinting in the dark. Her heart pounded madly and she felt like she was about to pee in her pants. Her face was drained of color as she tok a large gulp of her the lump in .

"WHO IS THERE?!" she yelled again. She knew something was out there. A tight congestion started to build up in her chest and she felt like air was being knocked out of her. "IF YOU'RE PLAYING AROUND, IT'S NOT FUNNY!"

Silence.

Slowly, backing away, she turned around and made a run for it. She was out of breath the moment she reached her gate. As quickly as possible, she fished clumsily for her key and unlocked the front door. Without a second glance, she slammed the door shut.

A figure peered out from behind a tree, stared at the front door for a couple of minutes. With narrowed eyes, the figure slowly backed away and disappeared into the darkness.