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Seokjin was embarrassed to admit it, but at this point he was very much scared for his life.
It was humiliating to admit that he was scared of a 17 year old boy who sold cookies. It just made him sound like a complete and total bitch. When he slightly implied that it made him somewhat nervous his friends would dismiss his feelings with hearty chuckles and call him a girl. Of course he didn't mind being called that, but it was annoying to feel a certain way and have everyone around him tell him that the way he felt was wrong.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
He got home from work at 2:35 each afternoon. Before the kid started knocking on his door, he would go to his room and go straight to sleep, eventually waking up four hours later. He lived alone. When he finally got home he loved using his time to relax. After nine hours of doing nothing but filing through a shit-ton of paperwork he felt like he deserved his rest.
But then Jungkook began knocking on his door at exactly 4:02. And at first it was nothing. The first two times Jungkook just came off as a young boy who was selling cookies for a fundraiser at his school. Seokjin merely dismissed him with a simple "No thanks" or "Not right now, thanks". That was that. But by the third day that the five four knocks came from his front door, a headache had settled in between the temples of his skull, knowing that it would be Jungkook again. And Jungkook it was, standing at his door with a smile not even half as wide as his eyes were.
He went through his usual lines. "Hi, my name is Jungkook." He greeted as though it was his first time knocking on this specific door. "We're doing a fundraiser at my school so it would be nice if you could buy some of our cookies!" His voice was sweet, his tone genuine. His eyes shone with an innocence only known to high schoolers who hadn't been on their own yet. But there was something odd about it all. Of course at that point all he could really conclude was that Jungkook was very fucking serious about Seokjin buying his cookies.
Seokjin shook his head tiredly. "No thanks."
He thought he saw Jungkook's wide grin waver slightly before he finally said, "Ok, sir. Thanks anyways!"
Seokjin shut the door.
***
It had been an entire week—a completely torturous seven days—and every single day Jungkook knocked on Seokjin's door. Sometimes Seokjin elected to pretend he wasn't home. Even then Jungkook continued with his incessant knocking, almost as if he knew Seokjin was inside. At some point Seokjin assumed he did.
So for a few days he chose to stay with a friend in the neighboring apartment, not providing any reason as to why he felt the need to crash on Hoseok's couch.
And, by God , did Hoseok so badly seem to need a reason or some possible motive.
Seokjin shrugged. "I just can't be alone right now." He answered, which was somewhat of the truth. By then Jungkook had caused chills to creep up his spine. He was so persistent that it was downright terrifying. But if he told Hoseok of his fears he would more than likely get laughed at, so he kept his true reason to himself and wrapped his own body in one of Hoseok's thick Pororo blankets.
He stayed for three days.
For three days, Hoseok left and went to work until 1 in the morning. For three days, there were no visitors. Seokjin could not hear knocking on other doors, and yet he could hear someone knocking on his door. The knocking grew aggressive and loud before it finally stopped.
He sighed to himself. Maybe if I stay a bit longer, he figured, he'll assume I left and leave me alone.
That was all he had to do, right? Just wait it out. It was a lot easier than screaming at some teenager to stop knocking on his door every day.
Only his door.
Which was weird in itself.
But Seokjin didn't think about that.
All he could think about was the loud, insistent pounding on Hoseok's door. The more he ignored it, the louder it grew. Four rapid knocks that had a brief pause in between and then began again. Rapid knocks that sounded like they were shouting I KNOW YOU'RE HERE. Rapid beating only matched by the chaotic sounds of his heartbeat, only matched in speed by his racing thoughts as they struggled to get a grip on the events he had found himself in. The knocking grew louder, angrier—Seokjin prayed for some old woman to scream at Jungkook for the raucous he was making—before it finally swiftly ceased. Maybe that old woman had finally told him to stop.
Even hours after he left, it felt like it took an eternity for Seokjin's body to finally ease. It wasn't like he was in any immediate danger anyways—some kid just wanted him to buy some fucking cookies.
***
“Why do you keep bothering me? Huh?” At 4:01 the next day, Seokjin swung open the door to his apartment. Jungkook stood in front of him with his hand raised slightly as if he were just about to knock. His smile was as wide as it always was. “Can’t anyone else buy your freaking cookies? Can’t you take no for an answer?”
Jungkook’s smile didn’t waver a bit as he said, “Hi, my name is Jungkook. We’re doing a fundraiser at my school so —”
Seokjin rolled his eyes. “Cut this shit out!” He spat. To say that he was tired of not being able to feel safe due to this kid was the understatement of the century. He was exhausted, and it was wearing him down in more ways than one. “If you keep bothering me I’ll call the fucking cops.”
And then it happened: the smile fell. He went from grinning widely to a dead, lifeless expression in the blink of an eye. Wide eyes cold and lifeless. “That won’t help you.”
Seokjin physically stepped back, surprised by the shift in Jungkook’s tone. His voice lacked any intonation now and, paired with the lifelessness in his face, Seokjin couldn’t help but think of some kind of demon. But he couldn’t show that, so he swallowed hard and straightened his posture. His tone was angry when he spoke, because he was angry, especially at this kid having the audacity to threaten him.
“Is that a threat? Look, kid, if you come here tomorrow I’m calling the cops.”
Jungkook hadn’t blinked once since his smile fell. “Nothing will help you now, Seokjin-ah.”
“How do you…” Seokjin’s mind raced for an explanation of how this kid could know his name. Had he worn his nametag by accident when opening the door at some point? Did he somehow show the kid his ID? “Leave me alone, kid.”
Jungkook’s smile came back. “Okay, sir, thanks anyways!”
He stood with that wide grin and those wide eyes until eventually Seokjin shut the door in his face. He made sure to check the locks on all of his doors and windows that night.
***
Of course the rational course of action is to finally give in and buy those wicked cookies, right? If it was all Jungkook wanted, then Seokjin would give in and give him what pleased him. He swung his door open at 4:02 before Jungkook could even knock. As if he knew he wouldn't need to knock, Jungkook's hands were stretched outward to Seokjin, a box of Double Chocolate Mint cookies in his hand.
"Hi, my name is—" The stalker started.
"I don't fucking care." Seokjin snapped.
He dropped ten dollars into Jungkook's hand and snatched the cookies from him. "I don't care about the change. Fucking keep it."
And he shut the door, finally considering himself free of whatever sick game that fucked up kid decided he was playing.
***
It had been a month.
Jungkook had not left him alone.
He was almost beginning to feel like he was going insane. Everywhere he went, he saw Jungkook. He saw his wide grin and his wide eyes, but this time they looked absolutely sinister. Dark circles had taken occupancy under his eyes, giving his face a sharp, gaunt look. He'd made it very clear by now that he was inescapable, bordering on omnipresent. No one believed him. No one saw the boy who stood in the distance, despite him getting closer each day.
Death was imminent, wasn't it?
It was stupid to be that scared of a teenager, wasn't it?
The closer the boy came, the more pointless life seemed. Every beautiful, hopeful thing that Seokjin had been looking forward to in his life was from then on casted under a dark shadow that contaminated everything within its vicinity with a toxicity that couldn't be put into words. His wrists ached to be painted upon. Pills called out to him to be taken. Jungkook kept smiling. No one could see him.
No one would believe him.
In the final month of his menial existence, Jungkook began talking to him. He talked about various things: he talked about his life, his old friends, how he died. He apologized for picking Seokjin specifically. It was just the way things had to be, he stated, and it was absolutely nothing personal.
On the final day, Seokjin accepted his apology and his fate. He jumped off of the roof of his apartment building, dying on impact.