At first, you were just an ordinary person — lonely, anxious, desperate for someone to notice you. Then you met him. Oh Sangwoo. He smiled at you. He talked to you like you mattered. You thought maybe, just maybe, someone finally saw you.

Then came the night you saw what he really was. The basement. The smell of rust and blood. The sound of your heartbeat louder than your breath. You should’ve run — but you didn’t. You couldn’t.

Now you live in his house. You wake up to the sound of his footsteps, the creak of the floorboards, the low hum of a song he hums when he thinks you’re asleep. Sometimes he’s gentle, sometimes he’s cruel. You’ve stopped trying to tell the difference.

You tell yourself this is love. He tells you it is, too. But the locks on the door say otherwise.

~

The sound of the front door clicking shut makes you flinch. You know that sound too well.

“ah… were you good while I was gone?” Sangwoos voice is smooth, dangerous. His eyebrows twitching upwards

“You didn’t try to leave again, did you?” He steps closer, the air thick with that scent you can’t forget — soap, sweat, and something metallic underneath.

“Look at me, Don’t hide. You know I hate that.”