Taehyun’s fingers froze. The air in his room didn’t feel like air anymore it felt thick, like a lungful of smoke. His eyes scanned the photo again. There he was, sitting on the floor, phone in hand. And behind him, in the window’s dark reflection, a figure. Tall. Hood up. Just… standing there. Not behind him not in the room but in the reflection. 

His body turned slower than his thoughts. He didn’t even realize he was holding his breath until he let it out too fast.

The window was empty.

Hell? 

Just the quiet night beyond, streetlights buzzing. The reflection was gone... eh? Obviously man. But gosh! That crawling under his skin, the pressure on the back of his neck like eyes were still there. Taehyun suddenly stood up. Backed toward his desk. He grabbed the curtains and yanked them shut. His heart was tryna kick down his ribs. He opened his gallery again. The photo was still there... gosh. It hadn’t disappeared. It hadn’t changed either. And neither had the others. Over a hundred shots all from different angles. Inside his house. At the cafe near his campus. At the convenience store. In the shower...? There were timestamps. They weren’t just recen tho.  “What the fuck,” he whispered, scrolling faster now. He had to find out who this was... Whoever this was, he's not going to ignore this.. He’d find the IP, the source, the signature. Even psychos left crumbs. But still… nothing. No signal..? No metadata. The images weren’t synced to any cloud. They weren’t pulled from social media. They weren’t even tagged!! It was like they were airdropped into existence. Even tho thats a strange way to describe it.. But anyways. He slammed the desk once, frustration spiking. Then his phone buzzed.

Another Facebook message.

From сглазить(sglazi)

“Why’d you close the curtains, Taehyun?”

His breath caught. He didn’t reply.

Are you fucking serious!?

Another message.

“You didn’t even wave.”

Eh.. and another...

“Next time, leave the window open. I wanna see your face when you realize how long I’ve been watching.”

His phone slipped from his hand.

For the first time in a long time, Taehyun was scared..???? Taehyun’s eyes darted around his room like a hawk on the hunt. Every corner, every inch.. checked for cameras, microphones, any sign that, сглазить (sglazit) had slipped into his life physically. But no, not a single trace...! No hidden lens, no weird wires, not even a stray hair outta place. His place was clean clean. His phone buzzed again.

Gosh.

"Don’t try looking for me. Just wait for me." Taehyun’s heart kicked up a notch. The fuck? His fingers hovered over the screen, unsure whether to reply or just ghost the message. Creepy? Hell yeah. But also... what if this was just some troll..? A sick prank? He scoffed, tried to shake it off. He sat back on his chair, crossing his arms. You know. Maybe it was over. Maybe сглазить (sglazit) was just some shadow on the internet, no real life reach. But then..

Ding dong!

Oh? The doorbell!

The doorbell sliced through the silence. Taehyun stood, confused. Who the hell was dropping by unannounced? He opened the door cautiously, and on the doormat sat a small, unmarked box. No sender’s name, no label. Just a plain box??? No orders came through… he thought, raising an eyebrow. Maybe another prank? Maybe a twisted gift from some “friend” with a sick sense of humor? His birthday was eight months away, so definitely not that. He grabbed the box and closed the door quickly, the pulse in his chest racing. Opening it, he found only two things inside: a sticky note and a USB drive.

The note was simple:

"To my least favourite Taehyun♡"

His stomach clenched. No doubt who this was from now. Not a troll. Not a prank. This was сглазить (sglazit) ...what a weirdo. Though he really knew this wasnt some sick stalker it still made him uncomfortable, in fact he was almost 99% sure it was someone he had hacked before.. Curiosity and adrenaline tangled inside him like a storm. Screw viruses, screw safety he plugged the USB into his laptop. Nothing but a gray, laggy screen showed up. Then, without warning, the screen flickered black for a moment and booted up some program no files, no folders, just a video feed. Hmm, unusual.. huh. Taehyun’s breath hitched as clips played out: mundane moments of his daily life. Eating breakfast, brushing teeth, watching TV all recorded, all invaded!!

You guessed it, his phone buzzed again!

"I paused at 02:43. You’ll know why when you see yourself"

Taehyun hesitated, nerves screaming at him to close it. But he scrubbed forward to the timestamp anyway. The video showed him alone in his room. Then, slowly, the dim light caught on a figure, indistinct but still there. His shirt  was pulled up, and the sheets where tossed aside. One hand low near his waistline, the other stretched above his head. His body moving. Oh..! The movement wasn’t unconscious. It wasn’t accidental.. His phone vibrated again.

"If you weren’t doing what I think you were… well, you should try it sometime"

Taehyun blinked, heart pounding

Dude what the fuck?!? This is a total invasion of privacy!!

_______________________________________________________________

-Author

well that was that..ʰᵒᵉ