Kyungsoo was always afraid of the shadows. As a child he slept with a light on, making sure the light touched all corners of the room and left no chance for anything to hide. Even when he grew up, he was wary of things lurking in the dark.

There wasn’t much by means of attractions in his small town, which made way for a lavish number of stories, rumours, and legends in their stead. Of course people said they’d be silly to believe them – that ghosts and demons roamed the streets, hid in walls and closets, waited down dark alleys and in empty playgrounds – but once the sun fell from the sky, they became cautious. People didn’t go out after nightfall, unless they had to; they always checked their houses and locked their doors. There was a haunting sense of paranoia in the town.

Which was why Kyungsoo was uncomfortable as he made his way home, far too late on a Friday night coming back from a friend’s house. It wasn’t a terribly long walk, but it required him to cut through parts of downtown, which was always eerily empty at night, the feeling getting under his skin. Nothing had ever happened to him before, of course – there were claims of sightings and encounters and other strange experiences, but nothing had ever been proven about the town – but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a bit… nervous. In a place like this, one was always given that anxiousness, as one would feel from watching a scary movie and trying to fall asleep that night.

Kyungsoo ended up laughing at himself a few times, when he jumped at a loose door creaking and almost gave himself a heart attack when a squirrel ran out from an alley in front of him. Still, his heart thumped on apprehensively, and he may have picked up his pace a bit.

It started to feel colder, and Kyungsoo wasn’t sure if the temperature had actually dropped so quickly or if he was just beginning to feel it now. He zipped up his sweater, but it didn’t seem to help much.

As he was walking down the main street of town, his eyes were suddenly drawn towards movement ahead, on the same side of the road as him. However, when he glanced over to see what it was, he found he couldn’t see anything, the shadows too thick. He didn’t know if he’d actually seen something, or just imagined it, but then, again, there was the slightest shift in light, and Kyungsoo was sure he made out the dimmest outline of someone standing there.

He strongly considered crossing the road – because there was no reason for someone to just be out, standing in the dark like that – but told himself that it would be an obvious sign of fear, so he just kept going. Even as he got closer, though, he could hardly see the person, straining his eyes as much as he could. When he reached them, he realized he was still staring – and still couldn’t see them – and gave a small nod and a stammered “hello”. He received no reply, and hurried on.

There were no footsteps, but Kyungsoo almost knew he was being followed. Even when he walked faster, he got the feeling someone was right behind him, that whoever he’d passed had started walking along after him. He dared to glance back, but somehow all there was behind him was blackness. Why was it so dark? The other side of the street was still vaguely lit by streetlamps, but all there was over here was obscure shadows…

“Exc-use me…”

Kyungsoo’s blood turned to ice at the voice too close behind him. It was low, but also weak, as though its owner were sick. He stopped in his tracks and turned back slowly. A few feet away, someone was standing – the same someone as before, Kyungsoo thought, although features were really too hard to make out in the lack of lighting – and, strangely, holding out their hand, arm stretched in the space between them as though offering it for Kyungsoo to take. Somehow, even though it was close to Kyungsoo, their hand seemed to be absorbed by the shadows, almost translucent, not holding colour of its own.

“Yes?” Kyungsoo asked faintly, glancing up towards the stranger’s face. All he could make out was a slight line – the bridge of a nose – and two tiny lights reflecting in their eyes. They didn’t say anything more, didn’t move, just holding out their hand.

“I’m sorry, what?” he wondered weakly, confused.

Without a word, the person retracted their hand and being retreating into the shadows. Not knowing why, Kyungsoo took a step forward to follow them, but the moment he stepped into the dark he immediately felt overwhelmingly anxious, and instead turned and ran the rest of the way home, not looking back again.

(A/n: Who are you, stranger?)