I was 22 years old. I was about to start the 2nd semester of my 3rd year. I had live in the dorm for over two years. But i wanted to enjoy my freedom for my remaining time in college by moving out of the dorm. It was tough but I managed to persuade my parents. But their condition was that I had to live with a friend.
"Where is it?"
"Dad, it's this one."
"It's a semi-basement unit?"
"It's alright. It gets a lot of sunlight so it's bright during the day."
"It's not that. It's not safe for two girls."
"It's okay. There will be two of us. Besides, there's a window guard too. We will be fine."
I reassured my dad, but living in a semi-basement unit made me anxious that people might look into the house. On top of that, I had to use a key to open the door.
'What if a stranger picks the lock and breaks in?' That worried me too.
On the first day we moved in, once my roommate and I finished putting away our things, we were so excited.
"CHEERS!"
"CHEERS!"
We had a cold beer with fried chicken. We stayed up all night to talk and enjoyed ourselves. The roommate and I had a fun party.
It was a week after we had moved in.
(She was heading to school.)
I was heading to school early in the morning.
(On her way she got a text message.)
'You're wearing a yellow outfit today. You look so pretty.'
I was so shocked because I was wearing a yellow dress that day. I looked around right away. No one was in the alley except for me. 'Who is that?' I wondered who it was. So, I checked the sender's number.
'One, zero, zero, four? As in an angel? Gosh, seriously? It must be Choi Bum Jun,' There was a junior student in my department who liked to pull silly pranks. I thought it had to be him. So, I hurried to school.
"Hey, Choi Bum Jun. This is you, right?" I said showing him the text.
"What is this?" he said.
"Why would you send me a text like that?"
"It wasn't me."
"Stop lying, no one would do this but you."
"It really wasn't me."
'Gosh. Who is it then? Who would send such a creepy text like this to me?'
But that was only the beginning. When I wore a skirt....
"Don't wear that skirt.
When I applied new lipstick....
"You changed your lipstick."
When I left school late at night....
"Don't worry. I'll protect you."
I got these text messages all the time. But the sender's number was 1004 which meant an angel. I wanted to know who this was and why he was sending these text messages to me. But there's no way of knowing. Whenever my cell phone rang, my heart sank. Wherever I went, I felt as if someone was watching me. On top of that, it felt as if someone was following me.
So I became so anxious. It had been about a week since the texts started to pester me.
"What is this?"
Someone had dropped postcards on my mailbox. Something was written on it.
'Wednesday, September 9' 'At 11:06 a.m.' 'The tumbler you put your lips.'
I checked the front. It was a photo of the tumbler, I always carry around. At that moment, sweats ran down my back. So, I checked rest of the cards.
'At 4:18p.m.' 'Third trip to the restroom.'
It was my photo going to the restroom. It was like I was being watched every single moment. The time and the number of visits on the photos were accurate.
And then a photo caught my eyes. I was with someone in the photo. And his face was scraped out with a knife. And there was a note in the back.
'Talked to Choi Min Seok, an economic student who entered school in 2005, for 16 minutes.'
His face was scratched out. When I saw the multiple knife marks, I was so scared. I was about to lose it. I thought something could happen. So I decided to call the police right away.
I told the police officer about the knife marks. I complained that someone could get hurt. But he said he couldn't do anything because that was the law. I had no choice but to go back home.
But....
"I am sorry. Are you sure you can stay here alone?" "It's my mom's birthday otherwise I would stay with you.."
My roommate said she was going to visit her parents. When I thought I would be all alone, I became so scared. I locked the door and closed all the curtains. I decided to stay in the house.
And that night, I was lying down to go to sleep. But I heard footsteps around the door. I thought someone was just passing by. But it sounded like this person was circling only around my house. At that moment...
"KNOCK KNOCK"
"What? Is someone here?" "I'm not expecting anyone in this hour."
I pretended not to be home and stayed quiet. I heard the knocking again.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"I am here to deliver fried chicken."
"Fried chicken? I didn't order any fried chicken. You came to the wrong house."
"No, it is the right house. Ask your roommate."
"My roommate isn't here right now. I think you should check again."
('How did he know that I have a roommate?')
"Your roommate isn't home today?"
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