The door locked behind Xinyue with a sound that was too loud.
She leaned her forehead against the cool wood, breathing through the tightness in her chest, listening not just footsteps but for the absence of them too. The building settled around her with soft mechanical sighs, distant doors closing, the elevator humming somewhere above.
Like any other normal day, even though they weren't much of a help.
Her apartment felt different the moment she stepped inside. Its kind made her feel something has occupied it, and no longer felt as hers. Not physically- she knew that much. The couch cushions were undisturbed. The faint lemon scent of the cleaner she'd used earlier still hung in the air.
But the space no longer belonged solely to herself.
She slipped off her shoes slowly, careful not to make any unnecessary noise. Her phone sat heavy in her hand, screen dark. She resisted the urge to check it again, as if doing so would invite another message.
'You already have it.'
His words echoed in her ears uninvited.
Protection?
Ownership?
She didn't know which is which anymore.
Xinyue moved through the apartment, turning on lamps instead of overhead lights. Pools of warm glow softened the shadows, but didn't erase them. Shadows still gathered in corners, behind doors, beneath furniture places the eye skipped over unless forced.
She checked the windows. Locked
The balcony door. Locked
The bathroom. Empty.
Her bedroom door stood where she left it earlier. Open.
She hesitated before closing it, then stopped.
'Lock your bedroom door tonight.'
Her jaw tightened at the memory. "No" she murmured, more to herself than anyone else. "I won't live like that."
Still, she shut it. Didn't lock it. The compromise felt pathetic.
She changed into a loose T-shirt and shorts, movements stiff, muscles tight as if expecting impact. When she finally sat on the edge of the bed, exhaustion hit her all at once – heavy, bone deep but restless.
Sleep felt like a surrender. She lay back anyway, staring at the ceiling fan as it spun lazily overhead. The steady rotation should have been soothing.
Instead, she counted the rotations.
One. Two. Three.
Her phone buzzed. She flinched despite herself.
Unknown:You shouldn't have come down.
Xinyue got irritated by reading it. Taking a deep breath she replied.
Xinyue:You shouldn't have let them into my home.
A pause, longer than the usual time.
Unknown:They were already inside your perimeter.
Her fingers curled around the phone. 'My perimeter??' she repeated again, he was saying it like she is a territory.
Xinyue:Stop talking like I'm a location.
Another pause.
Unknown: Then stop pretending you're not one??
Her anger flared hot and sharp.
Xinyue:You don't get to redefine my life because it's inconvenient for you.
This time around the response came slower.
Unknown:I didn't try to redefine it. I identified it.
She sat up abruptly, the room suddenly too small.
Xinyue:And what happens when I don't cooperate?
Three dots appeared and disappeared, the appeared again.
Unknown:Then the night gets louder.
Her throat went dry. She stared at the screen, waiting for more. Nothing came. The silence afterward was suffocating. She set the phone face down on the bed and stood, pacing the length of the room. Her reflection in the darkened window startled her-a pale face, eyes too alert, posture coiled tight.
She didn't recognize herself like this. At some point, she realized the city noise outside had shifted. Not stopped.
Multiplied.
More engines. More footsteps. Distant laughter from somewhere below. The soundscape thickened, overlapping layers of movement and presence.
The night felt… populated.
Crowded.
She moved back into the living room and peered through the peephole. The hallway was empty. No flickering lights, no passing neighbors. Her phone buzzed again.
She didn't look at it immediately. When she did, her breath caught.
Unknown:Someone just walked past your door.
Her pulse spiked. She spun toward the door, straining to hear something-anything.
Nothing. Just silence.
Xinyue:I didn't hear anything.
Unknown:That's the point.
Her skin prickled.
Xinyue:Who?
Unknown:Not someone you need to worry about.
"That's not very reassuring," she whispered. She typed with shaking fingers.
Xinyue:Are you watching the cameras??
The response came after a beat.
Unknown:I'm watching patterns.
Her chest tightened without understanding anything. "What kind of pattern??" she whispered to herself.
Xinyue slid down onto the couch, pulling her knees up, wrapping her arms around herself. The fabric smelled like detergent and something faintly familiar-home, trying desperately to remain so.
The phone buzzed again.
Unknown:Did you eat?
The abrupt shift threw her off balance.
Xinyue:What?
Unknown:You skipped dinner.
Her heart stuttered at the response.
Xinyue:How would you know that?
No immediate reply. Her gaze flicked toward the kitchen, the unopened containers still sitting on the counter from earlier.
A minute passed.
Unknown:Because no one who eats dinner paces like that.
Her stomach twisted. She stood abruptly, scanning the apartment again, suddenly hyper-aware of every possible angle, every blind spot.
"You're not here," she said aloud. "You're not."
The phone buzzed.
Unknown:No.
She swallowed.
Unknown:But you're not alone either.
A sound came then.
Soft.
Barely there.
The faintest click-like a shoe adjusting weight.
Not inside but outside.
Her breath locked in her chest. She didn't move. Didn't blink.
Unknown:Stay still.
Her heart hammered so hard she thought it might give her away.
Xinyue:Who is it?
She didn't get an answer. Seconds stretched. Then, somewhere down the hall, a door opened. Voices murmured-neighbors, normal, oblivious. Footsteps retreated. The pressure lifted, just a fraction.
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown:False approach.
She exhaled shakily.
Xinyue:You're doing this on purpose.
Unknown:No.
Xinyue:Then why does it feel like a test?
Another pause.
Unknown:Because it is.
Her stomach dropped at it. Its something she really not wanted or needed at this point in her life.
Xinyue:What am I being tested for?
The reply took longer than any before. She counted her breaths again.
One.
Two.
Three.
Unknown:Whether you break.
Her vision blurred, anger and fear tangling tight in her chest.
Xinyue:And if I do?
The response came instantly.
Unknown:Change tactics.
She closed her eyes, pressing the heel of her hand against her forehead. "This isn't protection," she whispered. "It's pressure."
No reply.
Minutes passed.
She stayed where she was, body rigid, listening to the building breathe around her. The night outside continued its restless movement-cars passing, voices drifting, sirens wailing distantly.
Crowded.
So crowded.
And yet she had never felt more isolated and lonelier. Her phone buzzed one last time.
She almost didn't look.
Almost.
Unknown:Lock the door.
She stared at the message. Slowly, deliberately, she stood and walked to the door. Her hand hovered over the deadbolt.
"Don't," she whispered to herself. Her fingers turned it anyway. The click echoed through the apartment like a gunshot.
On the other side of the city, Ryu Taehyun lowered his phone, gaze fixed on a bank of darkened windows across the street from her building.
Two men had passed her door tonight. One had been curious.
The other had been patient.
Neither had touched her.
Yet.
The night wasn't over. And it was getting more crowded by the minute.