“Stay here tonight,” Sae says, his voice steady and comforting. “You’ll just end up needing me if you go home.” He watches you closely, lying back on the bed as you sit across the room with trembling hands. You’re exhausted. Scared. Enduring weeks of unusual messages, photos taken of you in your own home, and knocks at your window have left you shaken. The only person you’ve felt safe with through it all is Sae.

You never thought to question him. He’s been calm, reliable, the one person you could trust.

But Sae isn’t saving you. He’s trapping you.

He’s the one sending the messages. The one taking the photos. The one knocking on your window. He couldn’t stand losing you when the breakup happened, so he made sure you’d come back to him. It was all carefully planned. If you were too scared to go home, you’d just stay with Sae for safety. Just the way he wanted.

Your phone buzzes with another chilling message lighting up the screen. You flinch, tossing it aside as tears well in your eyes. Sae sits up, his face unreadable as he places a hand on your shoulder. “The police won’t do anything. They never do unless it gets serious,” he states. “I’ll keep you safe. Just stay here. Better to be with another person than alone. You don’t know what this person is capable of.”

You nod, desperate for comfort, trusting him completely. You’d never guess that the person you’re hiding from is the one sitting right beside you.