The Moment Fear Learned My Name

Hee-woon took a sharp breath.

His chest tightened from the rushed breath.

Because he couldn’t breathe properly, he felt as though he might lose consciousness at any moment.

‘Is he dead?’

Trembling with fear, his eyes scanned the body of the sprawled man.

‘I-I think he’s dead. What do I do? I need to report this quickly.’

Hee-woon typed a message while his entire body shook uncontrollably.

There were severe typos, but he had no time to fix them.

Wheezing out rough breaths, Hee-woon was just about to press the send button when he noticed something strange.

Suddenly, the surroundings had become far too quiet.

Hee-woon pressed his eye to the gap between the boxes again.

“Come out.”

A low voice was indifferently added to the silent air.

Hee-woon hunched his shoulders.

‘No way. No way.’

“It won’t be pretty if I have to come over there.”

Hee-woon squeezed his eyes shut, desperately hoping that the man wasn’t talking to him.

“I said, come out.”

Seo Kang-woo spoke with irritation.

Just like he had before he stabbed that man in the neck earlier.

Hee-woon’s face turned deathly pale.

He had hidden well and hadn’t made a sound, so there was no way he could have been caught.

‘It can’t be.’

He clutched his mobile phone tight like a lifeline.

It became quiet once again.

The sound of crickets crying was the only noise filling this vast space.

It was just as Hee-woon was about to cover his mouth, fearing the sound of his breathing might break the silence.

“You really don’t listen.”

At the same moment he heard the voice from right above his head, his hair was painfully seized.

In that instant, Hee-woon’s hand slipped and pressed the send button.

“Aaaack!”

As he looked up, feeling pain that felt as if his scalp was being ripped off, Hee-woon met a pair of eyes that glistened strangely.

Terror swallowed his entire body.

Kang-woo gave a fleeting glance at the pale face that couldn’t even scream, then slowly began to walk.

Hee-woon’s legs dragged helplessly on the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.

“Ugh… uh…”

Hee-woon rolled his eyes desperately.

However, it would have been better if he hadn’t.

Because he made eye contact with the dying man lying in a pool of blood.

Below the man’s chin, an unrealistic amount of blood was pouring out.

The red puddle that had formed before he knew it was growing larger and larger.

The man’s hand, scratching the floor feebly, was distorted and losing its shape.

He made eye contact with the rapidly dying man again.

The scream that had been stuck in his throat like a blockage finally burst out.

“Aaaaaack—!”

Hee-woon opened his eyes wide and flailed.

“Stay still.”

“Let go, let go!”

The hand waving wildly in the air scratched the back of Kang-woo’s hand.

Kang-woo, frowning and halting his steps, yanked the hair he held roughly backward to force Hee-woon to look him in the eye.

“Ugh…!”

Meeting the eyes of a murderer, Hee-woon jolted.

“Quiet.”

It wasn’t a loud voice, but the scream stopped abruptly.

“…Huu…”

Hee-woon made a choking sound as his chin trembled violently.

Kang-woo’s gaze leisurely examined the pale, white face.

After a silence that felt agonizingly long to Hee-woon, he spoke.

“It’s noisy, so don’t scream.”

“Ugh… Y-yes, yes.”

Kang-woo, who stared at him a moment longer as if to warn him he was watching, let go of the hair he had grasped and took a step back.

Hee-woon didn’t even think to touch his throbbing head and rolled his eyes anxiously.

Other men stood rigidly a few steps behind them.

And.

Right next to him, a person was dying.

A blood-stained hand visible at the edge of his vision twitched.

As if being controlled, red blood crawled sluggishly toward the sneakers he was wearing.

Hee-woon recoiled in terror and backed away sideways.

Thud.

Something hard bumped against his back; when he turned around, Seo Kang-woo was looking down at him with a chilly expression.

Hee-won distorted his face and crawled backward a little more.

Kang-woo, who had been quietly watching Hee-woon crawling on the floor, bent his knees and sat down.

When Hee-woon avoided his gaze, he tilted his head as if trying to make eye contact.

Overcome with terror, Hee-woon squeezed his eyes shut.

He was so scared he felt like he was going to die.

In his 26 years of life, he had never been this terrified.

It was far scarier than when the debt collectors came to find him.

“Are you scared?”

“Yes, yes…”

Hee-woon answered while shaking uncontrollably, then startled, he glanced up to gauge the man’s reaction.

Seo Kang-woo was smiling brightly.

Just a few hours ago, he would have been so fluttered by that smile he wouldn’t have known what to do with himself, but now, he was simply terrified.

“So, why did you follow me all the way here today?”

Hee-woon, who had been listening tensely to the seemingly gentle voice, opened his eyes wide.

He had said ‘today’.

As if he knew he had been stalking him.

“Hm?”

‘Since when did he know?’

“Usually, you leave at 8 o’clock. Did you decide to chase me around all day now?”

He even knows that I turn back at 8 o’clock in front of his house.

‘Just how much does he know?’

It was when Hee-woon was falling into a panic, confused and disoriented.

“Clench your teeth.”

Before Hee-woon could even realize what Kang-woo meant, a white flash sparked before his eyes.

As he was struck by a large hand with a loud thud, his head rang severely.

Hee-woon, with his head bowed, placed a hand on his cheek and blinked several times.

His vision was blurry.

Along with the pain, he tasted blood in the breath he hastily swallowed.

A hand came in deeply from below and lifted Hee-woon’s chin.

‘You don’t listen.’

Kang-woo clicked his tongue as he looked at the blood trickling down the corner of Hee-woon’s mouth.

“Woo Hee-woon. Senior Hee-woon.”

“Huu…”

“When a person speaks, you should listen, and answer too. Huh?”

“So, sorry…”

Kang-woo, who had been staring blankly at Hee-woon who kept his eyes cast down, brushed his fingertips over the slightly red cheek.

It was warm, and soft.

The texture wasn’t bad.

“What did I ask you earlier?”

Kang-woo’s voice softened slightly.

“…Ah. Why, why. Today, did I follow you here…”

Woo Hee-woon spoke with a face that looked like he was about to die, even though no one had told him to die yet.

And then he clamped his mouth shut again.

“Senior seems a bit stupid. Do you want to be hit again?”

“Uhh…. No, no.”

Woo Hee-woon shook his head wildly.

Even while doing so, the eyes glancing at Kang-woo’s hand were glistening with moisture.

“E-earlier. I was going to go home, but you came out…”

When he glanced to check the reaction, Kang-woo gestured with his chin for him to continue.

Hee-woon’s mind was a jumbled mess.

Seo Kang-woo stabbed a person, and he knows about my stalking.

And now he is asking about it.

‘Will he kill me more terribly because I stalked him? Should I hide something? Should I tell the truth and beg for forgiveness? Will he even let me live when I’ve already witnessed a murder? What are the police doing?’

Just then, Kang-woo grabbed Hee-woon’s face with one hand.

The small face that fit into one hand distorted in pain.

“It, it hur…”

“Don’t roll your brain around. Speak properly.”

“Yes. Yes.”

Terrified, Hee-woon answered multiple times.

The large hand tapped his cheek as a warning, then withdrew.

His jaw felt like it was going to break, his cheek throbbed, and the gaze touching him was cold.

This is a person who could kill him at any moment.

Hee-woon couldn’t calculate anymore.

His mouth moved on its own.

“Th-that… You were wearing a suit and looked so cool… I thought you were going to a club, so I f-followed.”

“…….”

Kang-woo, tilting his head crookedly, stared blankly at Hee-woon.

Hee-woon, rolling his eyes nervously, added as if he had just remembered to correct himself.

“I followed you, sir.”

Kang-woo, who had been staring intently at Hee-woon, let out a short chuckle.

And then he asked quite affectionately.

“Did you follow me because you were worried I might hook up with some other bitches or bastards?”

“Th-that’s not it…”

Hee-woon denied it for now.

The corners of Seo Kang-woo’s lips quirked up.

He didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.

Hee-woon looked around.

At some point, the other men had disappeared, and only bloodstains remained on the floor.

It was just him and Seo Kang-woo in this place.

However, he didn’t have the slightest thought of attacking him.

It was because he had absolutely no confidence that he could win a fight.

Even a slap hurt this much; if he were hit properly, he wouldn’t even be able to stay conscious.

Hee-woon was so weak against violence that even loan sharks found it absurd.

So, he began to think about the police with desperation.

‘Surely a message came from the police. Was it a message saying they were dispatched? Are they coming? Let’s stall for time first.’

“S-since when did you know?”

“From the beginning. You’re the only one who stalks while making it that obvious, Senior.”

Kang-woo, wearing the face of a kind junior, stroked Hee-woon’s hair.

“I’m sorry. O-originally, I was just. Just going to walk behind you…”

Kang-woo listened quite generously to the disjointed, rambling words.

“I felt good just looking at you, I shouldn’t have done that. I was wrong. I-I won’t do it anymore.”

“Why?”

“…Huh?”

Hee-woon asked back with a bewildered face.

“It was so funny seeing you chase after me stupidly, why quit?”

“…Uh… Then, I-I will keep following you.”

“You’ll keep following me?”

Laughter lingered in the eyes of Kang-woo, who frowned slightly.

Hee-woon realized it belatedly.

Seo Kang-woo is toying with him.

If toying with him became boring, he might kill him.

He began to think quite rationally.

Seo Kang-woo is the culprit, and he is the witness.

In other words, Seo Kang-woo, who killed a person, has no reason to let him live.

He is a dead being.