The rain hadn't stopped since the afternoon. Behind the window smeared with drops of water, Jaehyun stood still, his eyes locked on the silhouette of her bedroom upstairs. The light was on, curtains drawn. But he knew, he could imagine exactly where she was inside, sitting on her bed, twisting her hair while staring at her phone. A phone that had been lighting up far too often with the same name. A man she claimed was just a childhood friend.

Her laughter echoed in his mind even if it was never audible. A laugh that used to belong only to him. Only Jaehyun used to make her laugh when the world felt dull. But now, that laughter belonged to someone else. That name appeared too often. That smile was too easily given away. Jaehyun didn't like that. He had erased too many traces. The guy who used to stare at her through the classroom window was nowhere to be found now. The college friend who kept walking her home under the excuse of group projects had transferred universities. And that childhood friend… had just lost his job after a single night of being followed behind his office.

She was starting to grow uneasy. Starting to notice everyone around her pulling away. Starting to feel that people in her life were disappearing one by one. But she didn't know yet. Not fully. And even if she did… what could she possibly do? Leave the house? Jaehyun would know. Change her number? He'd still find a way to trace it. Report it? Jaehyun wasn't a man who could be touched by the law easily. He had connections. He knew how to play clean.

She was beginning to suspect something. The way she looked at Jaehyun had changed. There was distance now. Fear. Doubt growing in her eyes. But even her fear looked beautiful to him. The more fragile she became, the more perfect she seemed. More his. Jaehyun wasn't in love. This wasn't love. Love gives freedom.

Jaehyun didn't want her free. He wanted her still. In a place he chose. At a distance he controlled.

And as the night grew deeper, as she drifted into sleep and the curtains remained tightly shut, Jaehyun stayed right where he was. Beneath the rain, under the shadowed sky, breathing slow and deep, his gaze far too heavy for mere protection. He whispered one sentence, like a vow or a warning, that no one else would ever hear.

"You don't need anyone else but me."

**[ WELCOME TO AU NCT! JEONG JAEHYUN IS HERE! HAVE A GOOD TIME!<3 ]**