The rain had started quietly.
The kind that tapped on the windows like it had nowhere else to be. Not loud. Not dramatic. Just... persistent.
Sera stood at the kitchen sink, watching droplets race each other down the glass. She hated Sundays like this — where the weekend felt like it was slipping away, and the world felt a little too still.
Her mother was in the back room folding laundry. The apartment was warm and dimly lit. Safe.
Sera grabbed the trash bag by the door and slipped on her house slippers.
Just a quick trip.
She didn't even bring her phone.
Outside, the hallway echoed slightly with the buzz of fluorescent lights. The complex courtyard was mostly empty, save for a few umbrellas bobbing toward the exit gate.
She tossed the trash into the bin by the corner wall and turned to go back inside—
But froze.
There.
Across the courtyard.
A figure.
Dark hoodie. Standing near the alley between the buildings. Still. Too still.
Her breath caught.
The figure shifted — like he realized he'd been spotted — and in a blink, moved back into the shadows.
Gone.
Sera's pulse exploded in her chest.
She backed away, nearly slipping in the rain, and bolted for the door. Her slippers slapped against the tile as she ran up the stairs, heart hammering, lungs burning.
She fumbled with her keys—
"Sera?"
She jumped.
Her mother stood in the hallway, laundry basket in her arms.
"You okay?" she asked.
Sera blinked at her. Her hands were shaking.
But she forced a smile. "Yeah. Just—cold."
Her mother tilted her head but didn't push.
Sera walked past her, muttering "goodnight" without meeting her eyes.
In her room, the rain sounded louder.
Sera sat on the bed, heart still racing, trying to breathe.
Was it just a trick of the light?
Or was someone actually watching her?
She reached for her phone on impulse.
Scrolled to Jisoo's name. Hovered over the message bar.
Would he even respond?
Would he think she was being dramatic?
She typed:
> hey are you—
Then erased it.
Typed again:
> can't sleep lol
Erased that too.
She locked the screen and tossed the phone across the bed.
Pulled the covers over her head.
And whispered into the darkness:
"Please let it be nothing."
But the image of that shadowed figure
stayed behind her eyelids
long after she fell asleep.