Ana woke up from a very troubled sleep with her throat completely dry. Getting up she massaged her neck, strained by the night spent on the couch and stretched her arms to the ceiling making a very audible yawn. “Wait. Couch, wine, dinner, Hee-Joon…” her eyes immediately scanned the place looking for his presence already feeling the heat of shame in her cheeks. No one was around, which made her a bit disappointed. Heading to the fridge she spots the napkin on the counter under a bottle of water. “I changed your door code: 873241” Ok...that was short. No wonder. She was giving that guy so much trouble, he probably could not wait to get away from her asap. Who could blame him?
There’s an old Portuguese saying: “O travesseiro é o melhor conselheiro (the pillow is the best adviser).” and that might be just right. At that moment she was reminded of the building security cameras and that she just might be able to find out who was the person freaking the shit out of her by checking those footages.
Ana gulped down the water as fast as she could and, after a 10 minutes bath and change of clothes, stormed out of the apartment heading straight to the security desk.
“Good morning.” she smiled to the guard on the other side of the counter.
“좋은 아침 (good morning)” he replied back turning his full attention to her.
Now, that she was face to face with the security guard, she suddenly struggled with how she was going to explain to him what she wanted…
“Ah…” she began
“...the cameras…” she looked around trying to spot the one in the hall of the building.
She needed to learn Korean and fast if she was to remain in the country. She was getting so frustrated at the questioning look at the young man’s face and her inability to communicate she ended up letting out a curse
“Bolas (Damn).”
“Can I help 성셍님 (teacher)?”
For a split second, all Ana could do was stare at him with her mouth opened in dismay. Really! That guy could speak English and was just staring at her while she struggled that whole time?!
“ I was wondering if I could have access to the footage of our security cameras.”
The languages the man could speak were not her main concern at the moment. So, she just moved on.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Why? Was there a problem?” The young man got up.
“Yes...well no...I mean I don’t know. I think maybe someone was in my apartment a couple of days ago and maybe yesterday also.”
Trying to convince him to let her look at the footages she went a little overboard.
“I already made a complaint at the police station.”
“If that is true it’s very serious. Let’s go to the security room.”
She had managed to scare the security guard enough for him to go over the footages with her. Both inside the small room they looked carefully at the computer screen. The footages of the night before, in the period of time the flowers would have been left by her doorstep, showed a person dressed in a uniform wearing a cap, in the other cameras, you could see the person’s face clearly so the security guard handed her a print screen of the best possible image. However, they could not find the security footage of the day she suspected someone was in the apartment. When questioned about it, the guard shrugged his shoulders telling her he did not have any clues about why there were no footages of that day. She thanked the security guard for his help and headed for the elevators.
Maybe she would have to change apartments to feel safer. But, although that was a nightmare on its own, after all, finding an apartment in Seoul was not easy. She was not allowing that freak of a person to break her. He, or she, was just enjoying messing with her head, that’s all. The sound of an incoming message shook her heart however, this time she didn’t hesitate to look at the screen.
“Did you sleep alright last night?”
This time the number was showing on her phone but she did not recognize it.
“Sorry I had to leave so early. Duty called.”
“Did you find my note?”
That second message put her at ease and she found herself smiling with excitement.
“Good morning.”
“I slept fine. Thank you for keeping me company.”
“I did find the note.”
Ana was wondering what else to write, she did not want the conversation to end yet. Another bling came in and she hurried reading the message.
“Who was the man in your apartment last night?”
“Are you cheating on me?”
“I’ll kill you both.”
Ana dropped the phone on the hallway floor and just stared at it. That whole thing was getting out of hand. She kept looking at the phone and trembling as she read message after message coming in. She was so changing her number and getting out of that apartment. Picking up the phone, she fought the fears that were taking over her again and telling her not to go home. Sitting at her couch Ana looked at the received messages from the unidentified number.
“You bitch! ”
“You’re just a teaser aren’t you? You smile at every fucking guy who looks your way and then take them home.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Forgive me. I lost my mind there for a minute.”
“It's just that I like you so much.”
“Please forgive me.”
“I’m sure he’s just a friend.”
“Did you like my gift?”