MM Ch 7 part 1

PR by neji

The apartment where Lee Kyuwol and I lived was about five kilometers away from my university’s campus. It was four bus stops away, and if I really wanted to, I could even walk to class. Although there was a hill in between, it had only been about ten years since the apartment’s construction, and it was not inside the crowded university town, so it was relatively peaceful.

For Lee Kyuwol, the reason why he’d chosen this apartment was solely because of its proximity to my school, but I enjoyed the tranquility that this neighborhood provided.

There was an old dry cleaner’s and a salon. In the alleyway, there was a piano school and a quiet cafe. In the opposite direction of the university, there was also a large park that was perfect for taking a nice walk.

I bought an iced coffee at the neighborhood cafe and sipped it as I sat on a bench underneath the shadow of a tree. The faint smell of the acacia tree traveled with the wind as it brushed against my face. It was quite refreshing. Because of the slightly hot sunlight, my forehead was damp with sweat, but it was being pleasantly cooled by the wind.

A couple of children entered the park holding their mother’s hand. A dog came along with them. They began to run around. It felt nice to just sit on this bench underneath the shadow and watch the children laugh and play.

Ever since we moved here, life was so peaceful that it almost felt strange.

The ice clinked inside the plastic cup as it melted. I sipped on the faintly acidic coffee through the straw and checked the time. 3:15 PM. Lee Kyuwol had been in New Zealand for the past month to train. He was probably on the flight home around now.

I considered killing some more time at the park, but I decided against it and stood up. I needed to return some of the books I’d borrowed from the library and check out some new ones.

By the time I returned to the apartment complex, it was five in the afternoon. I didn’t have any classes on Tuesdays, and I was following the same routine I always did, but for some reason, I felt lighthearted today.

I glanced at the mirror in the elevator and checked my face. As the doors began to close, it suddenly opened again. A man with a black cap entered the elevator. His cap was lowered far down on his head. I automatically took a step back to make more space.

Did he live here?

He seemed strangely familiar, so this must be the case. However, for some reason, I suddenly felt anxious, and I clenched my purse that was hanging on my shoulder. It was impossible to memorize all the residents in the apartment complex. I wasn’t even familiar with all the faces that lived on the same floor as me, but whenever I was in situations like this, I regretted it.

I deliberately stepped back so that I was behind him. When I saw the man push the button for the seventh floor, I moved to push the button for the eleventh floor.

Although Lee Kyuwol’s and my apartment was on the ninth floor, for some odd reason, I had a feeling that I needed to do this. Nothing bad would come out of being too careful.

When we got to the seventh floor, the man got out of the elevator. I glanced at the security camera on the ceiling of the elevator and relaxed. It would soon be time for dinner. I had been constantly ordering out while Lee Kyuwol was away, but I felt that I wouldn’t be doing it anytime soon.

Ding.

The doors opened on the eleventh floor. No one got inside, and I pressed the button for the ninth floor when the doors closed. I checked my phone. I had received a text message from Lee Kyuwol fifteen minutes ago.

「Where are you?」

I could almost hear his curt voice in the message. I stared at the message and blinked. There were still three hours left before his arrival time.

Was he sending this inside the plane?

Just in case, I called him, but he did not answer. The elevator finally reached the ninth floor. When the call went over to voicemail, I ended the call and stepped out.

At that moment, I heard the door to the emergency stairwell creak open.

“……”

When I saw the man with the black cap, my heart dropped. It was dangerous. I immediately felt that I was in danger. My entire body tensed in an instant.

I held onto my purse and ran to the end of the corridor. My apartment was four doors down at the very end of the hallway. Meanwhile, my cell phone dropped onto the floor behind me, but I did not have a chance to pick it up. With a trembling hand, I barely managed to enter the passcode to unlock and open the front door. I entered the apartment and moved to close the door.

Thud.

Before the door closed, a black hand slid in through the crack. The door burst open. My heart raced and my blood ran cold.

“Ah… Aaah!”

The man with the baseball cap entered through the door and grabbed the nape of my neck. Without taking off my shoes, I pushed him away with all my might.

“Ugh…!”

The man pulled something out of his jacket. It was a knife. Startled, I went completely still. He looked at me and murmured.

“Let’s not make this difficult. Be good, be good.”

Absolutely terrified, I didn’t say a word. He shoved me back, and I collapsed to the floor. My bottom throbbed from the impact, but I didn’t even feel the pain.

“If you’re quiet, it’ll be a good time for the both of us, okay?”

The man looked at me and smacked his lips before bending down. When our chins bumped together, my jaw throbbed. His eyes gleaming with arousal was a disgusting sight, but I couldn’t even scream due to the paralyzing fear. I couldn’t even lift a finger. A new kind of terror crashed through me, and my body remained frozen.

Click.

Suddenly, I heard the bathroom door open. From the floor, I could see Lee Kyuwol’s long legs. The man’s head spun back to look at him.

Lee Kyuwol’s hair was wet, and there was a towel wrapped around his waist. When he saw me on the floor, he frowned. The man with the knife stood up and ran for the front door to make his escape.

“Ugh…!”

“Who are you, you fucking bastard?”

Lee Kyuwol crossed the living room in an instant and snatched the man’s head before spitting out the words.

“Let go… Aaaagh!”

The man brandished the knife, but Lee Kyuwol grabbed his wrist and forcefully twisted it back. The man let out a loud scream. I began to shake. My entire body felt limp, and I couldn’t even get up off of the floor like an idiot.

Smack, the dull sound of a fist pounding into the man’s face rang in the air. The man’s goggling eyes searched around and found the knife on the floor. He stretched out his hand and picked it up.

I gasped and couldn’t even scream. Lee Kyuwol clenched his hand around the man’s wrist and pushed it down towards the man’s own leg. I watched as the knife pierced the man’s thigh.

“Uaaaaagh!”

The man screamed. Unable to make a sound, I remained frozen in my spot. I merely covered my mouth with my hand and watched as Lee Kyuwol beat the man over and over again.

Compared to Lee Kyuwol’s physique, the man had no chance. He could not overcome the years of training and exercise that Lee Kyuwol had cultivated. Lee Kyuwol did not target the man’s face. Instead, he slammed his fists down on the man’s abdomen. His eyes gleaming with a murderous rage reminded me of the time when he had grabbed Professor Lee’s neck. The man let out a pained moan and coughed. He was no longer able to scream or plead. At some point, he lost consciousness.

“…Lee-Lee Kyuwol…”

I barely managed to open my mouth as I called out to him. Lee Kyuwol didn’t seem to have heard me. Before he could grab the man’s head and slam it on the floor, I yelled out in a strained voice.

“…Lee Kyuwol…!”

Lee Kyuwol froze and looked at me. His wide chest puffed up and down with each ragged breath. It was red with blood, and I could see the blue veins bulging on his neck. I didn’t know what to say, so I merely shook my head at him. He took a deep breath and stood up.

“…Are you okay?”

He came up to me and slipped his hands underneath my arms before helping me up. I gave him a slight nod.

“Have you seen this guy before?”

His hair was still dripping with water. I began to imagine what could have happened if Lee Kyuwol hadn’t been home early. My teeth chattered.

“…Yeah.”

“Who is he?”

“I think… he’s the delivery man.”

Now that the cap had fallen off his head, I could see his familiar face. I recalled seeing his face through the latched door as he chewed on his gum.

“Give me your phone.”

Lee Kyuwol swept his wet hair back and held out his hand. Suddenly, something hot surged up from within me.

“…I dropped it in the hallway.”

If Lee Kyuwol hadn’t been home, even if I had managed to stop the man from entering through the door, I wouldn’t have been able to call the police. Because I would have been too scared to take a step out through the door.

“I was surprised and dropped it…”

Like an idiot, I began to make excuses for myself. Because I was trying to hold back my tears, my voice trembled as it left my clenched teeth.

“…I was too scared, so I couldn’t pick it up.”

If everything were to happen again, would I have been able to do anything differently? The more I thought about it, the more depressed I became. I lowered my head and whispered my words like a guilty criminal. Lee Kyuwol’s hand touched my cheek.

The hand that was still dripping with the man’s blood.

I flinched. His warmth seeped into my skin. He slowly lifted my face up. His eyes contained a calm that followed a raging storm as they gazed at me.

Tick. Tock.

The clock on the wall ticked on. The longer I looked into his unwavering eyes, the calmer my heart became. Lee Kyuwol’s uniquely calm eyes captured my gaze.

“I’m sorry for being late.”

And he apologized to me. Even though he did nothing wrong. No, actually, he had arrived earlier and had been waiting for me.

I wasn’t alone, and Lee Kyuwol was in front of me. The moment I realized this fact, a wave of relief washed over me. I did my best not to pay any attention to the twitching man on the floor and gulped.

“We need to… call the police.”

He rubbed his thumb on my cheek and nodded.

“We should. Can you bring my phone from my room?”

I took his phone that was sitting on his desk. By the time I returned, Lee Kyuwol was mechanically fashioning a tourniquet around the man’s bleeding leg. He used blue packing tape to bind the man’s hands and feet. The man twitched on the ground and moaned.

“A burglar entered my home. Yes. He is a family member’s stalker.”

Lee Kyuwol held the phone to his ear, and his voice was calm.

After finishing his call with the police, he immediately began to dial another number. By the time the police had arrived, his lawyer had already come.

After initial investigation, they found out that the man was a criminal who had committed similar sexual assaults in the neighborhood as a food delivery man. He was a habitual offender who would target women who lived alone and rape them. For the past month, I had ordered food to be delivered to the apartment, and this man worked at one of the restaurants I had ordered from. He had probably targeted me then and began to observe my daily routine.

I had deliberately placed Lee Kyuwol’s shoes at the foyer in order to show others that a man lived in the apartment, and my attempt to confuse him by pushing a different button on the elevator had all been for naught. When I realized that a complete stranger could figure out my daily routine, a shiver ran down my spine. It filled me with dread.

When I told them that I did not want to see his face, the lawyer went over to the police and had a brief conversation with them. Recalling the events that had just taken place caused my hands to go cold and my body to tremble. When Lee Kyuwol and I returned home after the investigation had been completed, my body went limp.

I took a long shower and stumbled into bed. My head felt heavy as if it were made of wet cotton. Lee Kyuwol approached me and lifted the blanket before laying down beside me. He slipped his arm underneath my shoulders and cautiously pulled me into his embrace.

“…That must have surprised you.”

His low whisper vibrated against the crown of my head.

“…Yeah.”

“You know this isn’t your fault, right?”

I couldn’t answer him this time. Lee Kyuwol’s arm tightened around me. His large hand gently stroked my back.

“Sleep. Don’t dream any dreams.”

My throat closed up, and I couldn’t make a sound. The tears that I had barely held back began to surge. I cried silently, but my tears began to wet Lee Kyuwol’s t-shirt. My peaceful daily life had transformed into a nightmare in a single moment.

I felt as if this was all happening to me and me alone. I felt like bad things followed me everywhere. Even though Lee Kyuwol said it wasn’t my fault, I felt as if it was.

“That bastard… Maybe I should have just killed him.”

When I heard his remark, I slowly raised my face. Underneath the soft, warm light, Lee Kyuwol gazed at me. As I looked into his distant eyes, I could not figure out what he was feeling. Just when I thought I was familiar with his eyes and his expressions, I could not figure out what he was thinking at all.

Did he want to soothe me? Did he want to console me?

“I held back because I didn’t want to kill someone in front of you. But should I have just gone ahead?”

His voice was very low. When I saw his expression as he asked in earnest, I realized that he wasn’t making a tasteless joke. If I told him to, I felt that Lee Kyuwol would burst up and run to where the man was being confined.

“Would that have been better?”

In an instant, the room was drowned in silence. All I could hear was the sound of his breaths. I suddenly recalled what Lee Kyuwol had said to me that night when we discovered Professor Lee’s perversion. The night when my mother verbally abused me. He told me not to endure it and to find a way. If I didn’t know how, I needed to ask someone who did.

“…Embrace me.”

I whispered to him. If I didn’t, I had no idea what I’d say instead. I wanted that man with a knife to die. This desire was mixed with the shock of what had just happened.

I recalled how my heart sank the moment the door to the emergency stairwell creaked open. A shiver ran down from the crown of my head, and my body began to shake.

“Have… sex with me.”

Lee Kyuwol gulped, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. He murmured in a slightly raspy voice.

“Just sleep for tonight.”

“I don’t want to.”

I shook my head. More accurately, I didn’t think I could fall asleep like this.

“You’re in shock.”

I grabbed his face with both hands and gasped out in a tear-filled voice.

“I don’t care.”

Lee Kyuwol stared at me and slowly raised a brow.

“…I don’t know why I need to… feel afraid because of that bastard.”

Actually, it was the opposite. I was too afraid. I could not shake off the sight of the man’s gleaming eyes as he held onto my clothes. Would it have ended in rape? Would he have killed me? Would he come back to get revenge?

“That bastard won’t be able to do anything to you.”

As if he’d read my thoughts, Lee Kyuwol kept my eyes on him as he murmured. If I asked him to kill that man, I felt that he would really do it.

“Don’t be nervous.”

Lee Kyuwol slowly raised an arm and placed his hand on top of mine. His scar twitched underneath the hem of his sleeveless shirt. The memories of that night that I had kept buried rose back up to the surface.

“If you want, I’ll find that bastard and…”

I pressed my trembling lips onto his, and the rest of Lee Kyuwol’s sentence faded away. I was afraid of what would come out of his mouth. I was even more anxious that I’d ask him to do something that he shouldn’t do.

“I don’t want anything.”

I murmured as I kept my lips pressed to his. I didn’t want to think about anything. I wanted to forget it all. The crazy stalker. The fear that he would appear again. The sudden rush of past memories that I did not want to remember. I wanted to stop it all.

“All I want right now… is you.”

I felt the stiff proof of his masculine arousal. Lee Kyuwol’s bloodthirsty eyes as he plunged the knife into the stalker’s thigh without hesitation. The sharp gleam in his eyes as he pressed the fountain pen up against Professor Lee when he found out that I was the subject of his desires.

His breath was hot as it brushed against my cheek. His hesitating lips parted, and his hot tongue tangled with mine.