Chapter 5

She was heading toward her house, but her mind was elsewhere, on someone else.

She kept wondering what had happened to her friend.

Why hadn’t she told her?

Curiosity was still getting the better of her. So, she thought.

"Let me just go and meet my friend."

​But suddenly she realized.

 "No, I'm way too sweaty right now, plus I need to freshen up."

 So, she quickly rushed home, freshened up, took a shower, changed into simple clothes, grabbed a quick snack, and around 7:30-8:00 in evening.

she left for her friend's house.

​"While walking toward her friend's house, she felt that someone was staring at her.

 Someone's eyes were on her.

So, she paused there, but when she looked around, there was no one.

She thought maybe it was just her illusion or she was overthinking.

 After that, she ignored it and finally reached her friend's house.

When she reached her friend's house, she rang the bell, but no one came out. She waited patiently and rang the bell two or three times, but there was still no response.

She got a little scared about what had happened. She tried to call, but the phone was switched off. So, she started banging on the door and calling her name repeatedly.

​Hana!

Hana!

she kept shouting and banging on the door.

"Hana, what happened? Open the door! Hana, are you there? Hana, Hana, open the door!"

 HANA!!!

She sighed in exhaustion and frustration, but she did not give up.

She stood up and moved backward because she was about to break the door.

 With a sprint, she ran toward the door with determination.

But suddenly...

​The door opened and she bumped into her friend, Hana.

They both groan, "Ouch!"

Hana looked up at her and said

"Yoon? What are you doing here? And what were you about to do?

 Were you trying to break my door?"

 Yoon looked at her and hugged her.

 "Thank God!"

 "Thank God! you opened the door. I was so scared. Why were you not opening the door?"

Oh , I was taking a shower hehe.

​"But why were you banging on my door ?"

You know, when I came out of the shower, I literally got so scared, i thought someone was trying to break my door down."

​Yoon replied

"Huh? Stupid? Are you stupid or something?

 "Dude! I was scared!"

"That's why I tried to call you ten-twenty times, but still you didn't pick up."

"I rang your doorbell, but still, there was no response"

"I scream your name several times, still no response."

So I banged, thinking maybe, just maybe you would open the door, but still you did not. So I chose to break the door.

 but see, you're here

After a long moment, Hana slowly pulled back, looking directly into Yoon's eyes, which were brimming with unshed tears. She gently rubbed Yoon's back and said.

I swear I didn't mean to scare you like that.

But look, I am okay. I am fine. Please, calm down.

Yoon took a deep breath and nod.

Hana guided her inside and said, "I'm so sorry I could not join you guys today at cafe. I don't know how, but right after lunch, I felt this overwhelming sleepiness. I was actually going to text you guys, but I couldn't even reach my phone and just fell asleep."

Yoon looked so suspicious and worried, thinking

'What is going on?'

But to keep Hana calm, she rolled her eyes and snapped

"You are literally a pig! Who sleeps like that?"

If you do this again, I’m breaking the door on your face next time."

​Hana laughed, "Okay, okay! I won't do it again. Let's go inside. I made cookies yesterday, we can eat them together."

For the next two or three hours, the tension completely melted away. They talked, laughed, and ate the cookies Hana had made.

Yoon ended up telling Hana everything. She laid out all the details, explaining what they had discussed and how they were planning to meet up again.

​By the time 9:30 PM rolled around, they were finally done chatting. Yoon looked at her friend and said.

"Hana, let's go to my house tonight. My mom made noodles for dinner! It’s our absolute favorite, remember?"

 Let's go!

​Hana shook her head. "No, no, it's okay. I'll just manage here."

​Yoon got annoyed and snapped playfully

"No way, let's go, yaar! I literally missed you so much today."

​Hana couldn't argue with that. They both packed up and headed toward Yoon's house. As soon as they arrived, they sat down to enjoy the meal. Hana warmly greeted Yoon's mother and father, thanking them for the delicious food.

​By the time they finished, it was getting really late. Yoon looked at the clock and said.

"Hana, it's too late now. Just stay here and sleep over."

​They went upstairs to Yoon's bedroom, got into bed, and kept talking. But right around midnight, Yoon's phone buzzed. She picked it up and frowned.

​"Hey, look at this,"Yoon said, showing the screen to Hana.

"It's a message from that cafe guy. But he sent it to my personal number, not the group chat we all have."

​Yoon's expression turned serious.

"I'm getting a bad vibe, Hana. This guy is a little weird. Today at the cafe, he was staring at me continuously. And when I told him I needed to leave because you hadn't arrived, his behavior got really strange."

​Hana interrupted with a wave of her hand.

 "Oh, come on! You are thinking way too much. You are such an overthinker. He isn't creepy at all. Don't forget, he's gay, so maybe he's just a little shy around new people."

​Hana nudged her arm and continued, "Plus, you two already discussed doing a contract marriage—a fake marriage, remember?

"He probably thinks it's better to talk to you directly since you guys are going to be partners in this setup. He's just trying to be comfortable with you. Stop overanalyzing everything, seriously. Just reply and see what he’s saying."

Yoon rolled her eyes and gave Hana a heavy side-eye. "Fine, fine. Whatever you say," she muttered, pulling up the message.

​Hana leaned over her shoulder as Yoon opened the text.

Hi Yoon, how are you?

Yoon reply

​Hi

He reply back

"​We met and talked today, right? And your friend wasn't there. So, like we discussed, tomorrow we will finalize everything with her right"

​Yoon paused for a second before typing back.

​"Yes"

​He send smile emoji and reply

"Perfect. So we will meet tomorrow, right?"

​Yoon stared at the screen for a full two minutes, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. She didn't want to meet him tomorrow. Finally, she typed out her reply.

​"No, we aren't"

I already told her everything that we discussed today, so there's no meeting tomorrow. I'll see when we can meet...maybe next week, or I'll let you know, okay? I hope you understand.

​He reply

Oh, okay. No problem, no problem! I was just trying to confirm things. Okay okay, Yoon. Take care, good night.

​she reply back

Good night

​Then she locked her phone with a sigh and turned to Hana, only to find Hana already glaring at her with a massive side-eye of her own.

​"Yoon, what was that?"

Hana demanded, throwing her hands up. "Why did you refuse? He is such a cute guy! He literally asked to meet up, and he even asked about me. How can you just reject him like that, bro? Whatever you say but gay guys are literally so caring."

​Yoon gave her another flat side-eye.

 "Fine, fine. Let's just sleep now."

​Hana groaned but didn't push it any further. They both pulled up the blankets, settled into the pillows, and within a few minutes, finally fell fast asleep.

The night grew completely quiet, the darkness swallowing the room as the two friends drifted off.

​But miles away, in a dimly lit room, the silence was heavy with a dangerous frustration.

He was stared down at his phone, his jaw clenched in anger. He wasn't annoyed by her cold reply but was furious because she had pushed him away for a whole week. The thought of waiting that long was driving him crazy.

​He looked down at the screen. Her photo was set as his phone wallpaper. He traced his fingers over the glass, touching her face. A slow, creepy smile spread across his lips.

​"Yoon," he muttered softly into the dark room. "My Yoon. You really shouldn't have done that. Why did you do this to me?"

​He laughed quietly to himself, a sound that held no real warmth. "I thought playing the gay guy would let me meet you every single day. But you still refused me."

​He unlocked his phone, staring deeper into her eyes. He didn't mind the rejection—not completely. It just made the game more interesting.

​"Yoon" he whispered, his voice dripping with obsession.

"Ignore me as much as you want. Avoid me. Keep your distance for now. Go ahead Comfort yourself with the lie that this is just a fake contract marriage, But once you are in my house, in my life... there is no going back."

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***