The night air was crisp, carrying the distant hum of the city. Isabella pulled her jacket tighter around herself as she stepped out of the café, her breath escaping in small clouds.

It was late.

Later than she had intended to stay, but studying had been a welcome distraction.

The streets were emptier now, quieter, the usual bustling city sounds fading into the distance. The dim glow of streetlights cast long shadows, stretching over the pavement like reaching fingers.

She wasn’t scared.

Not really.

But there was something unsettling about the silence. Something that made her hyper-aware of every sound—the distant honk of a car, the faint murmurs from an alleyway, the soft tapping of her own footsteps against the pavement.

She adjusted the strap of her bag and walked a little faster, hugging the books close to her chest.

Then she felt it.

The unmistakable weight of someone’s gaze.

Her heart skipped a beat.

She didn’t turn around immediately. Instead, she quickened her steps, focusing on the path ahead.

It was probably nothing.

It has to be nothing.

Still, the feeling clung to her, thick and suffocating.

She swallowed hard, finally allowing herself a glance over her shoulder.

Nothing.

Just parked cars, locked storefronts, and the distant headlights of passing vehicles.

No one was there.

Her stomach twisted uncomfortably.

Maybe she was just being paranoid.

She had barely slept since the gala. Her mind had been a restless whirlwind of thoughts, haunted by memories of him.

Jungkook.

The stranger she had never spoken to.The stranger she couldn’t stop thinking about.

And that terrified her.

She exhaled slowly, forcing herself to calm down.

She was fine.

This was her usual route home—she had walked it a hundred times before.

There was no reason to feel different now.

Yet, as she continued walking, the feeling never left.

If anything, it grew stronger.

And in the distance, hidden in the shadows, someone was watching.

Elsewhere…
Jungkook sat in the back of his black car, his gaze locked onto the dimly lit street ahead. The interior of the vehicle was silent except for the soft clicking of his ring against the glass.

Isabella walked alone, her movements tense, cautious.

She was afraid.

Not of him—not yet.

But of something.

He could see it in the way she moved, in the way her fingers clenched the strap of her bag.

She was too pure for this world. Too soft.

And that made her vulnerable.

Jungkook didn’t like that.

Didn’t like the idea of anyone else seeing what he saw.

She belonged to him.

She just didn’t know it yet.

His grip tightened around the glass in his hand.

“Make sure she gets home safely,” he murmured.

A figure in the front seat nodded before slipping out of the car, disappearing into the night.

Jungkook leaned back, his fingers tapping slowly against his knee.

Soon, she would understand.

Soon, she would have to.

Isabella’s Apartment
The second Isabella locked the door behind her, she let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding.

She was being ridiculous.

There had been no one.

No one had followed her.

But still, the unease sat heavy in her chest.

She flicked on the lights, the small apartment instantly feeling warmer, safer. The familiar space calmed her nerves—the scattered books on her desk, the soft blanket draped over the couch, the quiet ticking of the clock on the wall.

Home.

She shrugged off her jacket and set her bag down before walking toward the small bookshelf near her window.

Her fingers hesitated over the worn spines before finally pulling out a single book.

She sank onto the couch, opening it carefully, letting her fingers trace the familiar words.

But her mind wasn’t on the pages.

Instead, it drifted back to the locket resting against her collarbone.

She lifted it slowly, opening it with practiced ease.

Inside, the small photograph of her parents stared back at her, frozen in time.

Her throat tightened.

I miss you.

It wasn’t a thought she voiced often.

She had learned to live with the ache, to bury it beneath school and books and the quiet routine of her life.

But some nights, it was impossible to ignore.

Some nights, it clawed its way to the surface, raw and relentless.

She shut the locket carefully, pressing it against her chest for a moment before forcing herself to move.

She had an early morning.

And she couldn’t afford to let the ghosts of the past pull her under.

Not again.

Across the City…
Taehyung sighed as he leaned against the bar counter, rolling his glass between his fingers.

“She’s stubborn.”

Lily.

The girl who had somehow wedged herself into his thoughts without permission.

Jungkook smirked from where he sat beside him. “So are you.”

Taehyung chuckled, shaking his head. “It’s annoying.”

Jungkook raised an eyebrow. “Or interesting?”

Taehyung didn’t answer.

Because he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

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