𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐲 ❅ 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐲𝐮𝐤

[ 𝟏 ]

Yujin was quietly minding her own business, busy typing away her assignment for the college course she was in. She looked at the clock sitting on her desk, 21:37, it has been almost 26 hours since she last slept. She has just come home two hours ago after working an 8-hour shift at a café nearby. 

As a college student, it was almost impossible for her to work such long hours and maintain her studies at the same time, striking a balance between the two was honestly much easier said than done. 

The accumulated workload and stress were way too much for the 18-year-old girl. The constant lack of sleep and the mega pressure to earn a living as well as to perform well in school has put a huge strain on Yujin's mental health lately.

But she simply didn't have a choice, she had bills to pay.

Both of her parents passed away in a plane crash 2 years ago back when she was 16. Without financial support from her parents, she had no choice but to start working at a young age and make a living by herself. 

After coming home from work, she dragged her fatigued body to her desk and immediately turned on her old laptop to start drafting her essay. The young girl was exhausted and she wanted nothing more than to drift off to sleep so badly. But she couldn't, not when her assignment that took up almost half of her grade was due in three hours.

Yujin took a deep breath and stretched her back as she let out a content sigh before getting back to work. Right when she was about to start a new paragraph, Pang Pang Pang, she heard loud bangs started coming from outside. 

Judging by the volume of the noise, Yujin could tell it was from a flat near hers. The apartment building she was living in was usually very quiet in the late hours, so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop if you tried hard enough. 

Yujin's eyebrows furrowed, something was wrong.

The loud banging continued, each bang louder than the previous one, causing Yujin to jolt in her seat, anxiety bubbling in the pit of her stomach. She even started hearing the doorknob jiggling, almost as if the person was trying their hardest to get into the flat.

Why are they banging on the door so loudly? Yujin couldn't help but wonder. Feeling unsettled and curious as to what was happening, she got up from her desk and slowly made her way to her apartment door, careful not to make any loud noises. 

She leaned against her thin metal door that separated her apartment from the corridor, held her breath, and tried her best to listen to the sounds outside.

"Please help me... I'm scared... Let me in, please..." she could hear the voice of a crying woman. Yujin's eyes widen after recognizing the voice, the woman crying outside was an idol trainee that lived three flats down from hers. 

She was a young, gorgeous lady, but sometimes quite arrogant as she would ignore her neighbors who greeted her.

What happened to her? Is she hurt? Yujin questioned, an urge to open the door and offer help to the woman popped up in her mind.

"Please... I need help!" the woman cried louder as she banged on the door of the flat near Yujin's. She didn't know why the person living in that flat wasn't opening the door, but Yujin knew that she just had to open the door and help the woman. She couldn't just stand there and do nothing when the woman clearly needed help, she needed to help her. 

Yujin slowly opened her apartment door, peeking her head outside. Turning her head to her right, she saw the woman standing right outside one of the apartments. "Ma'am, do you need-" she asked hesitantly but stopped her question halfway after seeing the sight in front of her.

Droplets of blood dripped onto the floor and soon a huge amount of blood began pouring out from the woman, making Yujin's mouth fell open. Not to mention her bizarre-looking arms, they were covered in blood and her nails were sharp like claws. Yujin's breath hitched in her throat when the woman started letting out monster-like growls.

The woman screeched loudly as more and more blood began pooling out of her. "OPEN THE DOOR!" the woman yelled angrily. She began banging the door and reaching for the doorbell before ringing it continuously, the loud noise startling Yujin.

Yujin's heart was thumping rapidly against her chest, her vision became blurry and she found it hard for her to breathe, all common symptoms for when she was having a panic attack. All of a sudden, Yujin could hear loud bass noises coming from the floor above her. The woman became quiet and she slowly looked up, almost as if she were attracted by the noise. She let out a spine-chilling screech again before swiftly running towards the stairway.

Feeling petrified as ever, Yujin shut her apartment door as quick as she could before she reached for the security lock and locked it shut. Her trembling feet brought her to her bed where her legs gave out and she slumped down. 

She took small and shallow breaths, she was hyperventilating, soon becoming lightheaded since she was not getting enough air. She thought she was gonna die. "Oh... oh god..." Yujin mumbled, clearly panicking.

She has been through this countless times before, but she still couldn't help but feel helpless and frantic every time she had a panic attack. Yujin tried her best to clear her mind and began memorizing the steps for when she had a panic attack.

Slowly, she paid attention to her breathing, taking deep breaths as she focused on how her chest rise and fall rhythmically. Once her breathing slowed down, Yujin glanced around her room and diverted her attention to the clock on her desk. "The clock is black and white... it is in the shape of a square, the hands on the clock are white..." she softly whispered, attempting to focus on things other than her panic symptoms.

Her breathing soon became normal and regular again and the feeling of dying slowly subsided. However, the terror and fear were still there as she recalled the terrifying events that happened moments ago.

The woman. The blood. The screams.

"What the hell just happened?" Yujin let out a shaky breath, looking around her apartment, suddenly feeling unsafe. Yujin had no idea what was happening then. But she was certain for two things.

One, that woman was definitely not human. And two, something bad, very bad, is going on.