Archive of Our Own

Lunch had been fraught, to say the least. It had not been a pleasant surprise to find Mo Tae Gu behind the door of the private luncheon room.

For someone not in her social circle and only barely peripheral to her working one, he had been too visible a guest in her life for the past six months. 

After today, she finally learned the reason why. It was not a welcome development.

When she had returned home from the blind date, her father had been curious and dinner had consisted of a light conversational interrogation. 

She had been honest with some of the details, that instead of the promised Mr Ahn, Mrs Mo’s own son had attended. The fact that they had met before due to work related events. That she would be giving further consideration on whether to continue seeing him, as per his request.

Her father had been happily surprised, if cautious. 

He was on friendly terms with Mrs Mo, a humble, kind and down-to-earth woman who just so happened to be married to one of the wealthiest self-made man in their region. 

The son, however, was in a different league of social circles than the parents, and could as often be found on the pages of gossip magazines as he would be in the business papers. 

It was a heady combination, if one was ambitious or interested in climbing the social or wealth ladder. However, neither her father nor her had any such aspirations. 

On the contrary, his fascination with her was a risk factor to the lives they wished to lead. 

Not only that, but with what she knew well through her studies and work, what she had learned today about the hidden sides to Mo Tae Gu was exceedingly alarming.

While she would need to verify most of what he had told her independently, she had no reason to believe what he claimed were lies. He sounded sincere and in earnest, which was the most horrifying part.

He could prove to be a significant threat to her mental and physical health. She really did not need more stress in her life, or unreasonable men.

When she had found through her hearing abilities the numerous spy installations in her apartment, she had been spooked but not unnecessarily disturbed. She understood that her work and position would bring with it certain risks, some even life threatening. 

Due to some of the rumours circulating, even Mo Tae Gu had been on the list of suspects for the installations. Still, it had come as a shock to learn that those trespasses had nothing to do with her work but herself, as a woman.

While the dangers were similar, the quality of the hazards felt completely different. This was personal. She exhaled a soft sigh.

Instinctively, Mo Tae Gu had raised alarm bells in her mind from the moment they met. 

She was not blind to the way his eyes tracked her wherever they were in the same spaces. How he would literally be standing next to her wherever she turned. It had gone beyond disconcerting.

When she had begun receiving flowers, gifts and dinner invitations from him, she had been quick to shoot him down. While she was certain an element of sexual interest was involved, she was doubtful about his motivations. 

Added to that fact was disinterest in further complications to her life then, absorbed as she was with her new position and father’s health. When he had ceased his overt attempts, she had released a huge sigh of relief. 

Which had proven to be more illusory than she could have imagined.

While she had been unnerved to still find him nearly everywhere she was, he had made no further moves to approach her. So, she had tried to brush aside her own concerns, relegating them to the back of her mind. 

After all, they were from parallel worlds and if he was bored, she was certain he could easily find other, more willing playmates. 

When she had browsed through the gossip pages and found photos of him and his new companions gracing the pages, she had been slightly reassured, though she did not fail to notice the resemblances those women bore to herself.

She had rationalized that he must have a certain type and she fit some of those, hence his initial interest. She had managed to come up with a line of thinking to dispel her own deep unease, and even when his gaze never failed to land and remain on her, she had insisted on ignoring the signs.

Now, she realised that she needed to trust her own instincts more. She had been negligent in thinking that she should only heed her intuition with regards to work, but not in her personal life. She could not afford to make the same mistakes twice.

Not that she could truly discourage his obsession even if she knew of it earlier but perhaps she could take better steps to protect herself. His confession today had terrified her, because she knew obsession and stalking could be devastating to victims, even resulting in a loss of life in extreme cases.

More concerning was the knowledge that Mo Tae Gu himself knew he had a disordered personality, and actually had years of therapy to mitigate the worst that could result from the disorder.

While his stalking had so far been mild by certain standards, there was no guarantee that he would not behave worse with time. In truth, he had already escalated by manipulating her into a blind date and confessing. 

Her main conundrum now was the fact that he had already told her he would not cease his stalking regardless of her wishes. In this, she had no doubts he would continue on as threatened. After all, he did not just stalk her on his own, he had a whole team of qualified people behind him to do it. 

She was quite confident cases like his were extremely rare. The implications, however, did not bear thinking deeply about. 

A fearsome predator had locked onto her as prey and it seemed the only option available to her was to beard the lion in its den. She had no wish to do so, but it would appear she did not have other alternatives. 

The consequences of building an emotional connection with him could be even more disastrous, however. If she attempted an intimate relationship with him and it went sour or failed, given what she had discovered today, the chances of a catastrophic fallout was high. 

She shuddered at the possible scenarios.

Why her? She rested her cheek on her knees and tightened the arms around her legs.

Her mobile beeped with the notification of an incoming message. She glanced at the notification, unsurprised to find that it was from an unknown number. She could guess whom it was from. 

She was rather impressed he had waited this long to message her. Perhaps all hope was not lost. 

She drank up the last of her herbal tea and stood up to head towards the kitchen with her mug.

After her nightly ablutions, she picked up her mobile before moving towards the bed. Reclining against the wall next to her bed, she finally opened her messages. 

After confirming that the messages were indeed from Mo Tae Gu, she saved his number in her contacts under the name of Representative Mo.

She expected him to detail his feelings about their lunch, the activities he indulged in afters and commentaries about something or other, and she was not disappointed. However, the photo which greeted her at the final message did give her pause. 

It was a self-taken photo of him enjoying a bath and a short message of, You are always on my mind. Please take a moment to think of me too. She could not stop the smirk which graced her lips, shaking her head at the cheesiness of that final message. Even if he did cut a very fine half-naked figure.

She simply sent him a short Goodnight, leaving the phone on the bedside table and laying down for the night.

As the dark cocooned her in its embrace, she called to mind the parts of his confession which had finally managed to move her.

The words connotating quietude in his admission had provoked an answering ache in her heart. She understood what it meant to be besieged by sounds, to crave stillness and silence. It was that desolate note in his voice which had pulled at her. 

In that moment, she had put aside the knowledge that he was obsessed with and stalking her, and simply recognized him as a fellow human, someone in pain, endeavoring to seek respite from the constant inner turmoil. 

More than anything, that understanding and empathy had softened her heart and attitude. 

And if she was honest, she would not deny that she found him somewhat attractive. Sexy. After all, that man looked as if he stepped off the pages of a high couture fashion magazine and with the build, looks and mannerisms to go along with the style. He did not look half bad in his workout clothes, either.

It was his deep, sandpapered velvety voice, however, which caused frissons of thrill to run down her spine and lodged itself into her being. Whether from apprehension or excitement, she could not tell. Yet.

That said, she was entirely frank when she had told him that he would not have been her choice or preference. The problem was he had not deigned to give her any, much less a more palatable choice. 

Then, there was the issue of her. She was not someone to run away from fear. More often than not, the more dangerous a situation, the calmer she became. It was one of the main reasons she was competent at her job. 

She never expected to find out that this trait extended to her personal life as well.

She had given herself two weeks and tonnes of homework laid waiting. She needed a good night’s rest. 

She closed her eyes.