episode_0043

It was past midnight.

As soon as I heard Miju’s trembling voice, I rushed outside.

I ran like crazy to the address she had given me, and it didn’t take me more than 5 minutes to reach her house.

I was out of breath.

I was grateful for the exercise I had done.

If I hadn’t been working out, I probably wouldn’t have made it to her place and would have been gasping for air on the street.

“Heuk, heuk.”

I gasped for breath and saw the building where Miju’s studio apartment was located.

“She said it was room 305.”

The lights were off.

It was definitely a house.

Something had clearly happened.

I knocked on the door with the lights off.

“Miju, are you in there? It’s me, Jaeho.”

There was no answer.

But I could hear shuffling noises from inside.

Soon, the door opened.

“Jaeho oppa….”

Miju came out with tears streaming down her face.

She hugged me suddenly and started sobbing.

Her body trembled slightly as she held me.

She looked fragile, as if she was scared of something.

“Let’s go inside and talk first.”

We couldn’t have a conversation in this state.

“I’m sorry, oppa.”

“It’s okay. Just calm down. You can tell me slowly.”

I led the trembling Miju inside and made her sit on a chair.

“Should I leave the lights off?”

“No, it’s okay now that you’re here.”

Click.

As I turned on the lights, Miju’s studio apartment was revealed in its entirety.

It was a clean house with no dust in sight.

The smell of her cosmetics tickled my nose.

I didn’t have the presence of mind to admire the room.

Calm Miju down first.

I poured her a glass of water and handed it to her.

After taking a sip of the warm water, she opened up with a much calmer expression.

“Thank you for coming right away, oppa.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Well… I’ve been feeling someone’s gaze on me for a few days now. I thought I was just imagining it…”

After hesitating for a moment, she licked her lips and continued.

“I saw him yesterday. A man who kept staring at me from the corner of the alley over there.”

“A man?”

“Yes.”

Miju pointed to the alley.

“I felt like he was watching me from there every day.”

“….”

The alley was visible from the window.

It was a good spot to hide due to the streetlights and illegally parked cars blocking the view.

Even if someone was standing there, it was hard to see from the house because it was dark.

I couldn’t see anyone there now.

“He saw you come in, right? As soon as your eyes met, he turned off the lights… He must have been watching me until just now.”

“Do you have any idea who it might be?”

“Yes… There’s only one person with that kind of gaze.”

Miju said confidently.

“Juyeonseok, it must be him.”

I recalled Juyeonseok’s face from school.

He had a friendly smile, but his eyes were sharp like a viper’s.

He always seemed to hide his true intentions and do things behind people’s backs.

I remembered when he came to school under the pretext of student council duties.

“Was that just an excuse?”

He might have come looking for Miju back then too.

Why?

Does he like Miju?

Or is there another reason?

“Why did he come looking for you when Ye-seul said he couldn’t approach you anymore?”

“I thought that was the case too. He never came during the break. But a few days ago…”

A few days ago.

Juyeonseok, who had been quiet, suddenly went into overdrive and had a reason to stalk Miju.

“Why?”

When I tried to stop him, the memory of introducing him as my boyfriend came to mind.

Yoo Yeon-seok’s gaze as he looked at me was unsettling.

Anger, jealousy, betrayal, and more.

All sorts of negative emotions swirled in his eyes.

“I don’t understand why he’s acting like this. I tried to forget all the bad memories and pretend I didn’t know him anymore…”

Thinking of Yoo Yeon-seok, I felt a sense of dread.

Mi-joo wrapped her arms around my shoulders.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to think about it anymore.”

I embraced her like that.

There was no need to clutter my mind with bad thoughts.

“Jae-ho oppa.”

“Yeah?”

She hesitated for a moment before asking me.

“Could you stay and sleep here with me tonight?”

“Huh?”

“I’m scared right now… I feel like he’ll definitely come if I’m alone.”

There was a slight delay in understanding her words.

“Can’t… I?”

Mi-joo’s voice trembled with fear, making her look like a fragile little animal.

A vulnerable creature that seemed like it would shatter if not protected.

“Alright. I’ll stay here with you tonight.”

I agreed, but now that I thought about it, wasn’t it a big deal?

Sleeping over at a single woman’s house.

Alone in a one-room apartment with a man and a woman!

It was a situation where anything could happen.

My heart raced as if it would go crazy.

Thump thump.

“Okay.”

How could I leave a girl who was struggling alone?

It was a pure heart without malice.

It was sincere.

I was about to go get some clothes to change into at home.

“Don’t take them.”

It was hard to leave her alone even for a moment.

Mi-joo held onto my clothes and pleaded with me not to leave.

“Don’t know when he’ll come.”

Unable to resist her tearful plea, I ended up staying at her place without any change of clothes.

But it would be fine somehow.

“Sleep here.”

While I hesitated, Mi-joo spread out a blanket.

There was only one blanket she spread out.

“Shall we sleep under the same blanket?”

“…Ah!”

Realizing belatedly, she blushed and clapped her hands.

Frantically searching the house, her hands were empty.

“I guess we’ll have to sleep like this without a blanket. It’s okay though. It’s not like I changed my mind. I just thought I could trust you and sleep together…”

She hesitated, pointing her finger.

“Is that not okay?”

How could I refuse when Mi-joo, such a pretty girl, was earnestly pleading?

But lying under the same blanket felt like unnecessary guilt.

“Just give me a thin blanket.”

I took a thin blanket and lay down on the next spot.

Even though it was a one-room apartment, there was still plenty of space for two people to lie down.

“Goodnight.”

We turned off the lights and lay down together.

Sleep didn’t come.

My eyes wouldn’t close, and my mind was restless.

I tried to convince myself several times that it was just sleeping in a different blanket, but it was no use.

Was Mi-joo feeling the same way?

I heard her tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

“Still can’t sleep because of the stalker outside?”

“Oh, no… I’m fine.”

Mi-joo’s voice was more reassuring than before.

But it seemed like she couldn’t shake off the anxiety completely, as her voice trembled at the end.

“I’m here next to you. Don’t worry too much.”

“Yes… Thank you, oppa. For fulfilling all my requests.”

“It’s nothing.”

I tried to calm my voice.

Thump thump.

But I was more nervous than anyone else.

She had told me to sleep over at her place.

Of course, I knew it didn’t mean that, but I couldn’t control my trembling heart.

I was worried that Mi-joo could hear my heartbeat.

As expected, sleep didn’t come.

The night grew deeper, and my mind continued to wander.

I forced my eyes shut to sleep, but when I opened them slightly, I saw Mi-joo looking at me without sleeping.

She met his eyes.

“Ah….”

As soon as our eyes met, we both looked away simultaneously.

“I, I just can’t sleep. It’s the first time I’ve put a man to sleep at home….”

Mi-ju’s words trailed off.

“Don’t worry too much.”

I reached out and gently stroked Mi-ju’s head, who seemed unsure of what to do.

“Nothing will happen. I’m right here. As long as I’m here, no one will be able to come in.”

“Okay….”

Even as she answered, she couldn’t meet my eyes.

Is it because of the mood?

Her face seemed slightly flushed.

“Um, oppa….”

She asked without meeting my eyes.

“Yes?”

“I’m a little scared, so can I sleep closer to you?”

“Close to me?”

“Yes…. I, I’m scared. And even though it’s summer, if I sleep on the floor, you might catch a cold.”

Mi-ju lifted the blanket slightly with her hand.

Her shy demeanor as she continued to speak was truly adorable.

A man shouldn’t refuse when she’s being so open.

It’s not like she’s implying anything else.

I decided to push away the anxious thoughts of mischievous intentions and my racing heart.

Today, the priority was to reassure Mi-ju.

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Y-yes. If it’s you, oppa….”

I smiled lightly and got under the blanket she had lifted.

“It’s okay. Nothing will happen.”

“Oppa….”

“Yes?”

“Can I sleep while hugging you a little?”

“What do you mean?”

“I have a habit of hugging a doll when I’m anxious…. But I couldn’t bring it from home….”

It must be just that, right? That there’s no other intention?

I’ve come this far, so refusing now would be strange.

“Do as you wish.”

I nodded my head.

“Thank you. Hehehe.”

Mi-ju hugged me tightly.

Her soft chest pressed against my body.

Warmth spread to me.

Thump thump.

I could feel the rough heartbeat.

Was that heartbeat mine, or was it Mi-ju’s?

“Thank you. Jae-ho oppa.”

Her slightly damp, sweet voice tickled my ears.

That day, I couldn’t sleep a wink.

***

“I must be crazy.”

Mi-ju, who hugged Jae-ho tightly, realized belatedly what she had done.

There really was a stalker.

They had even made eye contact with that man.

She didn’t have the courage to call her parents or the police.

Maybe she was just worrying unnecessarily.

The first person who came to mind was Jae-ho, and she immediately called him.

He came right away.

Even though it was late at night, he came without a word of complaint.

He readily agreed to her request to sleep together.

It was embarrassing to put a man to sleep, but the stalker was even scarier.

She lay down to sleep after spreading out the blanket.

But she kept looking at Jae-ho, who was only using a thin blanket.

She wasn’t worried about him sleeping on the cold floor.

She just couldn’t help but look at him.

At first, it was comforting to know there was a man she could rely on in difficult times.

And then.

“Jae-ho oppa has a nice body….”

Her gaze was drawn to Jae-ho’s collarbone, chest muscles, and arm muscles peeking out from under the blanket.

She was captivated by his overflowing masculinity.

She couldn’t see any muscles just a while ago, but suddenly his body had grown significantly.

“He must have worked really hard to get that physique.”

She felt his determination was impressive.

And she became more curious.

What did the muscles below look like, what kind of person was Jae-ho, how did those muscles feel….

Of all times, she met his eyes then.

Even in the darkness, it was clear.

His firm muscles.

She felt a desire to touch them.

So she pulled him into the same blanket and pretended to hug him.

The contact of her soft body against his firm muscles felt so vivid.

The moment she embraced him, Jaeho’s hidden masculinity was revealed.

Every contour of his muscles.

‘Impressive…….’

And for the first time, Miju felt a desire to be held by a man.

“Ah…….”

However, as a virgin, she couldn’t bring herself to say those words out loud.

Just blushing.

Heart pounding.

She forced herself to admire Jaeho’s body, trying to suppress the feeling of her heart racing.

Not only Jaeho was the one unable to sleep on that long night.

***

After spending the night with wide eyes, he left Miju’s house.

“Well then, I’ll go first.”

Miju also went to school with a much softer expression on her face.

Although the prime suspect, Ju Yeon-seok, was at school, she couldn’t afford to skip classes.

She was worried about the dark circles under her eyes.

She hoped she wouldn’t fall asleep during class.

‘I’ll manage somehow.’

With that thought in mind, she moved on.

I was planning to go home to rest for a bit before my afternoon classes.

As I was heading home, I saw the alley that Miju had pointed out yesterday.