Stalker
"That'll be 72,100 won all together."
"Here you go — card."
"Got your card."
While the convenience-store clerk ran the payment, I looked over everything I'd bought. Just looking at it was enough to make me feel full. If Hoyeon unnie had been with me, I wouldn't have dared to dream of any of this.
It started with a simple cream bun and only escalated from there: ice cream to blast the sweaty heat away in a single hit, boxed lunches and snacks for when I got peckish reading scripts in the dead of night. A parade of high-calorie food, and happiness rose in my chest like a tide.
I need to get back and eat this. Now.
The last time I'd slipped out and bought snacks, I'd grabbed about the same amount... and I'd demolished every last bit of it before a day had even passed. A regret once committed is never repeated.
Kang Hoyeon must have caught a whiff of something off, because lately she'd been dropping me right at the dormitory door. Today she must have been busy — she let me off near the entrance instead of at it, and that was how this opportunity had opened up.
The clerk finished the transaction and started packing the food into the bag I'd bought along with it, sneaking glances at me.
"Excuse me — are you Lee Jiwoo...?"
"Ah, yes. That's me."
Color flooded his face. He thrust his phone out toward me.
"I knew it! Could I get your autograph?"
"Of course."
I pulled out the pencil case I always carried and signed the clerk's phone case. Good thing I'd practiced my signature ahead of time. After the PUG Executive saw my first official autograph, Kang Hoyeon had told me on the ride home from the broadcast that day to get some practice in.
"Thank you!"
"...? I'm the one who should be thanking you. Well then — take care."
I bowed, left the convenience store, and headed for the dormitory. On the way back I cracked the bag open to check whether anything was missing. Sure enough, something was.
I hadn't bought a drink.
Everyone at the dormitory was watching their figures, so beverages never touched their lips. Even the zero-calorie ones — they said that once your mouth got started, willpower went out the window, and they'd given those up too. I'd felt genuine fear that day.
How can anyone just... not drink things?
The sharp fizz of soda. Sports drinks that slid clean down your throat the second thirst hit. Juices with real fruit in them, bright and sweet. The kinds of drinks out there were endless, and they had sworn off every last one of them to drink nothing but water that tasted like absolutely nothing. I couldn't help being shocked.
"Ah... now that I'm thinking about it, I want one even more. I should buy one of each."
People asked me sometimes what I spent my money on. Every time, I answered without a second's hesitation.
Food.
A person is a creature that cannot live without eating. Eating was the one thing that could actually satisfy the cravings that had been swelling up in me lately.
My steps turned cheerful again as I headed back toward the convenience store.
Thud.
Footsteps. I didn't pay them much mind. The dormitory wasn't a private house I had to myself — it was an apartment complex everyone used. A little past eight, it could easily be someone getting off work late, or someone whose job was far away only just now getting home.
I ignored the sound and made it back around to the convenience store.
Thud. Thud.
The footsteps were getting closer. Were we going the same way?
This kind of thing used to happen in my past life sometimes too.
Just walking home, and a woman ahead of me would get scared for no reason and hurry off. It used to piss me off quite a bit. This time our destination might simply happen to be the same convenience store. I didn't let myself get suspicious. I walked on at an easy pace.
Then, just as the convenience store came into view—
"Kyaaak!"
Someone seized my shoulder and my mouth and slammed me hard into the wall. It happened so fast I never even got a chance to resist before I hit.
That hurts...
I couldn't tell whether it was the impact or the unknown person's crushing grip on my wrist.
"Heh... heheh... we finally met..."
Kh—
A weird smell. The voice was a heavy baritone, too low for a woman. The other person was a man. His build looked about twice mine, his clothes stretched tight, a bit of belly showing underneath.
Who the hell is this?
I lifted my gaze to check his face. A hat pulled down low and a black mask covering everything — I couldn't make out who he was. But this was not anyone I knew. If he'd been an acquaintance, he wouldn't have announced himself like this.
First priority: calm the man down.
"Um... um... please, just calm—"
"Haa... haa... Goddess's voice is ringing inside my hand..."
I'm going insane. He is not in his right mind. His eyes have already rolled all the way back.
There was no method in existence for calming a person like this. Running was the only play — except damn it, my arm was already caught. No matter how hard I pulled, it wouldn't come free, and the more I moved—
Squeeze.
Ow... that hurts...
The man's grip only grew stronger.
"Heh. Heheh... Goddess... Goddess... is right in front of my eyes... I love it so much."
I don't.
Who even was this goddess he kept talking about? I wanted to snap at him, but every time I opened my mouth I only wound him up further. Thankfully, we were right by a convenience store. It was about the hour when people got a little hungry after dinner and dropped in.
You're dead. The second I get out of here... as a former man, I am going to land the worst possible blow on you.
I widened my eyes and glared at him.
But—
"Huff... huff... Goddess's fierce eyes... I love them so much... huff..."
It did not take long to realize that had been a mistake. The man's waist drew closer. A strange sensation through his pants. This was... a slight bulge from inside the fabric. There was no way I wouldn't know what that meant.
R-right now... what is he trying to...
"Huff... I can finally become one with Goddess... huff..."
The man dropped the hand that had been holding my arm and started undoing his belt buckle.
Click.
The buckle came fully undone, and a roll of belly fat spilled out through the gap. Disgust surged up through me.
I am not just going to take this!
One of his hands was still clamped over my mouth — to keep me from screaming, no doubt.
Wrong! You should have covered my hands, not my mouth!
I put everything I had into both arms and shoved. My own strength wasn't nearly enough to throw a man that size. So I shoved hard off the wall at my back for leverage. Power several times greater than usual flooded into my hands, and I drove him off me.
"G-gyaaaah!"
He let out a pathetic cry and toppled backward. I used the opening to sprint for the convenience store as fast as my legs would go.
Before that—
Crunch!
I lifted my foot. And stomped down hard. I will not specify where.
But I can say this with absolute certainty.
Your life as a man is over!
You piece of shit!
Ding-a-ling.
The bell on the convenience-store door rang, announcing a customer.
"Welcome."
The greeting came out on reflex. I went straight to the counter and asked for help.
"P-please... help me!!"
With the clerk's help, a police car pulled up in front of the convenience store not long after.
"Who filed the report?"
"Ah... that would be me."
The officer asked the clerk a few questions, then pointed a finger at me.
"The victim? Have you experienced anything strange recently? Or is there any indication you've been dealing with a stalker?"
"Well..."
No matter how I turned it over, I couldn't think of anything. That made sense — I spent every day running myself ragged between drama filming and workouts until there weren't enough hours left. I could barely drag my exhausted body back to the dormitory. I hadn't had the bandwidth to check for a stalker.
"I don't know. I never got that feeling... is that a problem?"
"No, it isn't. For now... we did receive word that the perpetrator who attacked the victim has just been arrested. However..."
Something about this feels off...
"He's been repeating that we should bring him his goddess. Do you know what he means by that?"
"No... wait a second."
Goddess. Did he mean me? From the moment that man had shoved me, he'd called me goddess rather than my name. He'd kept calling me that afterward, and he had never once used my actual name. Like someone high on something...
"Could that person be on drugs?"
"Drugs? What makes you think that..."
It wasn't certain. I only knew because I'd been reading a script that happened to have a character like that.
"I am an actress, you know. Through scripts, I've read that people on drugs sometimes slip into a kind of confusion and mix other people up."
"That's certainly a possibility. We'll look into it."
Thankfully the officer believed me, and we got through it without a bigger mess.
"Still, you're a minor, so you'll need to come down to the station with us and call a guardian."
"...What? Th-that means..."
I started trembling. At the word guardian, a few faces flashed through my mind. One option was calling my mother. The other was calling my manager, Kang Hoyeon. Whoever I called, a huge commotion was guaranteed.
"Um... does the guardian have to be family? Someone like that?"
"Not necessarily... but a legal guardian would be best. If a legal guardian isn't possible, you can call your manager."
"...What? My manager?"
How did he know that?
"I'm a fan of actress Lee Jiwoo."
Ah. So that was why he hadn't looked surprised — why he'd believed me so easily when I said I was an actress. This actually worked out.
Relieved, I got in touch with my so-called manager and rode the police car to the nearby station. First time in a police car. The interior was similar to a regular car, but there was this unidentifiable pressure sitting on my chest.
Is this why criminals try to run?
My chest felt tight. My heart was pounding. Even though I hadn't done anything wrong.
Not long after, a woman came bursting into the precinct in a breathless rush.
"Ji-Jiwoo! What is this I heard! A stalker?!"
Lee Yuwol's gaze flew at me, sharp. Her face was packed full of worry and disbelief. The moment I saw unnie's face—
Drip.
Tears fell from my eyes.