Chapter Text
I looked at them, and they looked at me.
I recognized them quickly.
"Hyunsung-ssi? Jin Qing? What are you doing-"
"K-kiyoung!!" Hyunsung looked at me nervously, his eyes darted all over the place, unsure of what to do.
Meanwhile, Jin Qing was groaning, as he let himself plop on the floor, and covered his eyes with his left hand.
"K-kiyoung, please close the door!" Hyunsung whisper-shouted, hurriedly getting off Jin Qing, and approaching me.
"Why?" I subconsciously asked, this situation is so confusing that I honestly can't tell where to start with my questions.
"Just do-!" Hyunsung's voice was cut off when he heard another loud voice.
"What was that? Is someone there?"
"E-eep!" Hyunsung's face went pale, and his eyes widened, and he quickly pushed me out of the way and closed the door.
Silence..
Hyunsung was visibly gulping as he put his ear on the door, checking on where the voice went.
'I'm so confused..'
"Hyunsung, what are you- mmpf!"
'What the-?!"
A hand quickly placed itself on my mouth before I got to speak, and I peeked behind me to see whose hand it was..
'Jin Qing?' He made eye contact with me, he almost looked.. Tired? Then he looked down.
I raised my eyebrow at him, mentally asking what the hell he was looking at, he rolled his eyes and reached his hand down.
'The fuck??'
"Mmmpf!"
"Shut it!" He whispered, and started looking through all my pockets.
I can see Hyunsung glancing at us, his face quickly becoming uncomfortable. I'm fucked..
'Now he has not one, but two reasons to be mad, hell.'
"There." Jin Qing spoke again, now in his hands were my keys.
"Haah!" I breathed in after he let go, and I wanted to talk, but I'm good enough at reading the room to know I shouldn't do that.
It took only a few tries until the storage room door was now locked.
They both breathed out, Jin Qing crossed his arms and walked back, looking more relaxed, and Hyunsung was alternating between looking at me nervously and giving Jin Qing dirty looks.
Hyunsung peeked through the door peephole, and then spoke. "I think she is gone."
"Who?!" I finally spoke one of the questions I have been yearning to ask, now all I have left is why, how, why, another how, when, and what!?
"The vice principal." Jin Qing answered with a sigh, then Hyunsung looked at him silently, and approached me.
He held my arms, and I shivered a little, but held it together "Are you okay, kiyoung-ssi? You must be confused, especially when that creep laid his hands on you like that!"
'Creep?' I blinked, and looked besides me at Jin Qing who looked offended.
"I have been trying to explain, It's not what it looks like!" He raised his voice, but what was he so angry for!?
"If you're not guilty, why did you keep running away?!"
"That's…I just knew you wouldn't listen!" Jin Qing replied again, raising his hands in the air.
Hyunsung scoffed, and held my arm. "The vice principal should be gone now, kiyoung-ssi, let's go before this stalking creep follows us again, I'll explain everything when we're safe."
"Excuse me?"
'I .. I am significantly more confused now after they started speaking, what the hell happened before this?!'
"Lee Kiyoung, do not listen to him!" I snapped out my thoughts when I felt Jin Qing's hand roughly pulling my shoulder, which upset hyunsung even more.
"He is delusional and insane, I wasn't stalking him, no, why would I even stalk him?! What's so good about him to stalk?!"
"..."
I held in my glare. '.. Did you say the last part on purpose, asshole?'
"Enough, both of you, or I won't hear either of you out." I stopped them before the situation got even worse, I separated myself from both and walked back a few feet, and took a deep breath.
"Okay, now, take turns, and tell me exactly what happened that you ended up in a storage room fighting and hiding from the vice principal."
"Mm.."
"Ugh.."
They both looked at each other, dead quiet,
'The eye contact is so intense that even I'm getting nervous..'
and after a few more moments, hyunsung spoke.
"I'll go first, since I don't want him to try to twist the story."
"You!"
The problem started when classes finally ended, and I checked my phone to see if you sent anything.
"Kiyoung-ssi replied!" I smiled widely, quickly opening the message.
› 'Hello, Hyunsung-ssi!'
› 'I'll meet you after school, don't forget, haha!'
'Oh, he is so..' I started typing, over and over, but I was so nervous I couldn't muster up something good enough..
Hoof!
"Hm?" I looked up from my phone, and quickly looked around me as I felt like something was off.
I just shrugged, I was really paranoid, and I recently got better at handling it, so this is no surprise.
I stopped trying to type, and placed my phone on my desk and I gathered all my stuff and put them inside my bag.
I put it on, and grabbed my phone again, and started contemplating what to send as I exited my class.
"She was so- ugh!"
"O-oh!" I looked up from my phone after I bumped into someone. "Sorry, I wasn't looking!"
"It's alright." I nodded and smiled nervously, and looked forward again.
Huff..
'Hm?' I noticed a figure in a jacket quickly passing the corner, and I froze for a moment.
".. Could've sworn I saw them staring.." I frowned slightly, looked around me a little, and slowly put my phone in my pocket.
I tried to not pay it much mind, but the tree thing from before still freaked me out, so I decided to be more careful.
As I passed the corner too, I saw the same figure in the jacket in the lunch-eating section, using a vending machine, taking an oddly long time to pick a drink.
Gulp..
'I'm probably overthinking, whatever, I can't keep kiyoung waiting.'
I passed by the stairs, and in a moment of curiosity.. I decided to go up the stairs instead of towards the exit, just to see something..
'I can't be too obvious though..'
I went up, and took out my phone, I walked to one of the windows up the stairs, and opened the camera app.
'I don't take selfies often, so I hope this.. Person doesn't suspect anything.'
"Ahem.." I leaned on the small windowsill, and posed as if taking a selfie.
"This is awkward.." I whispered under my breath, pressing the video option and then the start button, with my back camera on.
I Held my phone up and lowered it, but the process probably only took like.. 5 seconds? I didn't want to make it obvious, so I just posed for two selfies worth.
I stopped the video and went up more stairs.
'Okay, let's see if jacket man or whatever is innocent and I'm just overthinking.'
I pressed on the video, and watched it while pretending I was just browsing.
At first, it was two female students chatting on the stairs as they went down, and then the camera moved to the bottom of the stairs.
"Ah, hell."
I stopped momentarily as I spotted the same jacket person leaning on the outer corners of one of the walls facing the stairs, crossing their arms, looking down.
'Does this prove it? What if they were just sitting there because they were bored? No, this doesn't prove anything.'
I saw a hint of brown hair though, so that could be a lead..
Brown hair…brown hair.. Damn, too many people in this school have brown hair.
But who has brown hair that could be stalking me?
The person was tall, I think three or so centimeters taller than me, but that's just assuming by how tall they looked in comparison to the people i saw near them in the video, they wore pants, so it's safe to assume it's a he.
He has brown hair, wore a white jacket with the cape over his head, and it seems he was wearing the school uniform under it.
So maybe they are a student and quickly hid their identity with the jacket?
But who else fits these characteristics that might have some.. Crush on me? Or maybe it's a grudge against me.
I gulped and took a deep breath, and decided i shouldn't worry about this too much, and my attention was quickly taken when I noticed all the club rooms getting filled with students doing their afterschool activities.
'A club, huh?' Kiyoung used to be a debate club member, then transferred to the chess club.
"His reason was because the debate club was too much for him to handle, and he realized debates weren't for him.." I smiled a little at the memory, he really can't handle too much..
'I can't believe someone as fragile as Lee Kiyoung, someone who can't handle a debate club, said he'd protect me so confidently.' I shook my head.
When I thought about what he said, I realized I had a new task to do next.
'I need to make sure kiyoung knows I'll protect him too! Maybe he can protect me with his position, but that will only get him so far before he gets hurt too, if he gets hurt.. No, I can't afford that.'
I need to make sure he is safe, and now that he knows my situation, we'll be spending much more time together.. So I'll make sure to be the perfect possible candidate for his love!
If I get stronger, and have better grades, and maybe if I make a few more friends.. Would kiyoung take me more seriously?
More than just a student he needs to protect?
Will he allow me to see him vulnerable, and let me protect him too?
'I.. I guess I'll have to wait, it'll take time, but I'll make sure our story will be perfect!! And I will make sure to treat Kiyoung well throughout it all!'
"Oh, shit, wait. Our meeting after school!!"
I completely forgot about it, the jacket guy distracted me!
I ran to the closest window that watches over the main gate, and squinted my eyes to see him.
Oh no, where is he? There is only so much time left before I'll be late to our meeting! What if he walks away and gets disappointed in me?!
"Oh, he is there!" I focused my eyes more, and I could see his figure, I'm pretty sure that's him.. He was leaning on the gate while using his phone, probably waiting for me.
"Kiyoung-ssi.." I subconsciously called out his name, he was patiently waiting for me even though i was taking too long..
'He is so pretty, I'll take a quick picture, and then I'll go meet him!'
I took out my phone again, and I opened the camera app and simultaneously positioned it at a good angle.
'Of, it's on front camer-'
I didn't have time to flip it, as I saw a figure peeking at me from a corner in the camera.
"F-fuck!"
A figure, with the familiar white jacket.
But by the time I hurriedly turned around to spot them, they were gone.
"You! Come back here right now!"
'There is no place for doubt, that bastard is definitely following me!'
I put my phone in my pocket and went after them. They passed the right corner, and are probably running, maybe I'll catch them sooner than expected!
"You're not getting away until you explain yourself, tell me now why you're doing this!" I yelled out, I hope the club members near us didn't hear that..
'He keeps running! If you didn't want to get caught, why did you come so close?!'
The bastard never got this close before, excluding the tree incident from earlier, but I don't want to repeat the mistake of running off instead of following after them, I.. I can't continue being a coward!
'I'm not small, nor even remotely weak!! I only ran away because I was scared, Kiyoung wouldn't want a scardy cat!'
I kept spotting him going by every corner, every hallway, always close enough to see, but not close enough to catch, so frustrating..
"You- o-oh!!" I almost tripped and fell on my butt when the guy, who was supposed to be running from me, turned around and ran by me, violently bumping onto my shoulder while doing so. That was more of a slam than a simple bump!
"Come back!" I catched myself pretty quickly and ran after him again, he went up the stairs to the third floor.
—---!
'Ah, did I hear something? No, It's just the club members doing stuff, focus!'
I went up these stairs, and I paused, he was gone.
"Where is…?"
I contemplated whether I should check the left or right hallway first, and I decided to check the right. I ran through while still calling for him. This floor should be empty by now, so I didn't care.
"Where are you, coward?! You don't scare me, I'm not weak! Come out now!" I called, passing by one of the four staircases we had on every side of our school.
The adrenaline was kind of a new feeling, it was sudden too, but it feels like all of the frustration and fear I felt because of the bastard stalker threatening me and kiyoung's love story has balled up to become anger, that I didn't feel scared at all.
'.. Well, maybe i'm a little scared, but anger is-"
Tap, tap, tap!
I froze when I heard the sound of someone coming up the stairs, when I peeked.
'E-eeeekkk!!!'
I had to hold in a gasp when my heart fell to my stomach, when I saw that familiar brown hair and red armband of the student council club, and before I even processed it, I turned around and started running again.
'Why am I running away?! I should tell him what's going on, right?! It'll be even better if he catches the stalker with me, but what if they manage to run away in the time I'm explaining? What if he thinks I look ridiculous? What if the stalker lays his hands on kiyoung?! What if I was wrong about the person and Kiyoung gets disappointed? I don't want our first official walk home to be ruined by this!!'
I wasn't sure why I ran off when I saw him, but I knew I didn't want Kiyoung to see me like this.
Slam!
I heard a violent slam of a door near me, when I looked, it was..
'Storage room? Did someone just go in?'
"T-the stalker, they must be inside!"
I instinctively ran there, and violently kicked the door as hard as I could.
"Gah!"
I heard a groan as I went in, and I found the stalker on the floor.
He was holding his head and laying on his back, i.. I think I slammed the door on him..?
Before I felt bad, I closed the door, and grabbed the first thing I saw in the storage room.
"W-wait, wait, wait wait! Let me explain! Put the mop down!" He tried to calm me down, whisper-shouting, as I stood on top of him, my legs both on his side as I raised the mop in the air, raising his arm.
"W-why should i listen to you?!" I spoke back, whisper-shouting too. I didn't want Kiyoung to hear me.
"The vice principal, she-"
Click.
We both froze and our faces went pale when we heard someone opening the door, and we slowly looked back at them.
Clank!
My hand went weak and I dropped the mop when I saw kiyoung just standing there, looking at us with a horrified face.
"...what the fuck is this?"
"That's what happened!" Hyunsung got done explaining, and I sighed deeply, what kind of bullshit did Jin Qing get himself into?
'Him? Stalking Hyunsung? Yeah right, fuck..'
I looked at him, and so did hyunsung, as if asking for an explanation.
He was a bit zoned out, but snapped out of it due to our glares, he avoided hyunsung's gaze and looked at me instead, frowning.
"I wasn't stalking him! It just looked like that, but i- i was doing something different!!!" He explained himself, and it'd probably be hard to believe that if you didn't know him personally.
'Why.. Would you do this then? Ugh, he is so annoying..'
"Then, why would you follow me around and run off when I caught you?!" Hyunsung jumped in again, and by Jin Qing's irritated face, I could tell it was far from how it looked.
"Jin Qing." I said, he looked at me, and we made eye contact.
I signaled to him with my eyes to go to the end of the storage room, as all of us were close to the door, he looked hesitant, and sighed.
"Huh? Where are you going?" Hyunsung asked as Jin Qing walked to the back of the room, and I grabbed his shoulder, which made him flinch.
"Hyunsung, I'm not sure if you noticed, but Jin Qing.. Is part of the student council as well." I paused, giving Hyunsung the opportunity to look back at Jin Qing and see his red armband.
"Uh..?" He blinked, then frowned. "A student council president stalked a student..? This school might be worse than I thought, how is a position to protect and take care of students given to creeps like him!? What a disgrace.. Kiyoung, you need to change schools soon!" He protested.
"Pfft.." I saw Jin Qing smirk, and hold in a chuckle.
'Motherfucker..' My right eye twitched as I fought to keep my smile, tapping my thigh for a moment, and I spoke again. "As you know, he is my.. friend, too."
"Oh.." Hyunsung looked a bit dissatisfied, then I continued speaking. "That's why i want to give him a chance to properly explain his actions, if you don't mind, I'll go discuss his behavior with him, privately."
"No, that's too dangerous, let me be there too! what if he attacks you?!" Hyunsung immediately disagreed, but I saw it coming, so I smiled.
"I have you, no?" I made my tone a little softer, a little shyer, maybe a little hesitant. He immediately froze at that. "I'm a little embarrassed, since I just promised to protect you , but.. I think I trust you enough that you can protect me too, hyunsung is very strong, and very brave! He could always protect me, right? hehe!" I ended what I said with a giggle, and I .. think it was effective.
"Ooh, u-um, ngh, i- i see, alright, of course, alright, yes, take your time, I'll pro-" he looked down, unable to get a single word right."ugh.. Sorry.. You can go.."
'He is such a mess.'
His face was red, he couldn't form a sentence, and it seemed that he just stopped functioning.
'I think this is worse than yesterday's breakdown.'
I gotta give him room to breath, he might explode if he has to hold it in front of me any longer.
"You.. Can wait outside, you deserve some fresh air."
"O-o-okay, kiyoung, good luck!" He spoke quickly and ran out—after I unlocked the door— and I sighed.
Click!
He closed the door, and I changed my expression, looking at Jin Qing who had a big grimace on his face.
"Don't look at me like that, now, explain yourself, why the hell did you scare hyunsung like that? I know you're not his stalker." I crossed my arms, glaring at him, anyone would be annoyed in my situation, honestly.
"Of course I'm not!" He protested "I wasn't stalking him, I was just-" he paused, reconsidering his words, and looking away for a moment.
"You.. Were what?" I stepped closer looking up at him, he looked back, looking a little embarrassed, almost ashamed.
"..."
"...so?"
My pressuring seemed to work as his expression got even more uncomfortable, he placed his hand on his head and sighed deeply.
"Look, i just wanted to take a peek at him and leave, but then he took an unexpected turn and i got really curious-"
"Knock it off and be direct, why did you follow him?"
'He keeps avoiding the question, do you have something to hide? Your attitude is just making it worse!'
His actions were so suspicious even I'm starting to suspect some sort of plot twist, maybe he was some kind of tsundere and just pretended to hate hyunsung when he just wanted his attention.
Ugh, is that why you hate my hobby so much? Rat Bastard.
"I can tell you're getting stupid ideas, don't."
"Uh." Fuck, he is too good at reading me.. "If you don't want me to get the wrong ideas, stop saying the wrong things! just tell me what you were doing! I'll make an excuse to hyunsung, just say it!"
"Ugh, fine!!!!" He crossed his arms with an angry face, and after opening and closing his mouth for a moment, he spoke. "I just.. Wanted to see what was so special about him."
"....what?"