Xu Wei rolled his shoulders as he got into the elevator of his apartment with a fabric shopping bag swinging freely from his hand. Only the two boxes he'd grabbed were inside, but he knew Shin Bao tended to be nosy, and he didn't particularly feel like answering questions.
It had already been two days since he'd walked out to blow off some steam. After he left his mother's apartment, he went to the small gym he used to frequent in high school and destroyed a punching bag before heading to the airport to catch his flight back.
When he got back, instead of heading to his apartment, he ended up renting a nice hotel room with cash and let himself unwind for one night.
As soon as he opened his door, he felt like he'd walked into a totally different apartment. Not only had his furniture arrived, but the Shin siblings had also gone shopping.
They had turned part of his 'living room' into two bedrooms, separated from both the couch and each other by three matching room dividers. In between the dividers were two daybeds that had already been converted to their beds, with each bed having a matching nightstand. They had also bought matching clothing racks made of metal that were stood side by side, sitting in the corner near his balcony.
Despite that, it didn't look that cluttered.
Shin Bao sat on the couch, eating chips right out of the bag as he watched a stream. When he heard the door close behind Xu Wei, he turned his head and said. "It's on your desk."
Xu Wei hummed. He could tell that Shin Bao had more to say, but he could hear the sound of the shower running, so he was holding himself back. "Thanks, I'll look at it in a second."
"Did you eat?"
"Just breakfast. Are you cooking tonight?"
"You wanted me to cook!"
Xu Wei chuckled at that. He had almost forgotten that he'd asked Shin Bao to cook for him! "Right, also send me money, I'm getting on."
Shin Bao turned his head back to the TV, mumbling. "Don't you have homework to do or something?"
"Already did it."
"A test to study for?"
"None, my professors are being nice lately. Just one open-book test on Friday."
"…"
The translation to his silence was for him to fuck off, which Xu Wei gladly did with a smug smile. Once he got to his room, he found a note on his desk on top of the envelope.
[Removed the cameras we could find.]
It wasn't Shin Bao's handwriting.
Xu Wei picked up the paper with narrowed eyes and his lips pressed together. His eyes flickered to the door, then the paper in his hand, then the envelope, and he could only let it go. It would have already been too late for him to do anything if Shin Bao had told anyone.
Besides, if he had to take a guess, those two neighbors of theirs got roped into helping the kid after he stormed off.
He sighed and poured the contents of the envelope onto his desk. Five hidden cameras and three photos.
His hand reached out to pick up the photos with a small grimace, wondering if his little stalker was angry since he hadn't gotten his way with him last time.
Was it his fault that he didn't fancy someone who would not only stalk someone out of some sick twisted feeling of love, but also drug and beat him? He wasn't a masochist.
The worst part was that no matter how many times he'd reported this behavior, nothing could be done because they didn't directly threaten his life until that night, and no one knew who it was.
It could be literally anyone.
A disgruntled fan who didn't receive the response they wanted, a passerby who fell in love with him at first sight, a schoolmate whose love letter wasn't responded to, anyone. He could look at any random person on the street, point at them, and they could be his stalker.
When he secretly hired his own security, the little bastard managed to sneak past them and left a taunting, empty envelope at his door with a picture of his security guards instead of himself.
At this point, Xu Wei wouldn't be surprised if his stalker was a ghost.
The envelope didn't leave any clues, just a simple yellow envelope that could have been bought from any stationery store or stolen from someone's workplace. He put the photos and the little camera back into the envelope and placed it into the second box. Then, he shoved both of the boxes underneath his bed and clapped his hands together, not allowing himself to think of it anymore for today.
'It'll be another few months until they show up again, anyway.'
He could hear the bathroom door close and the brother's start talking outside, but he didn't pay any attention to it. Instead, he walked back to his desk and placed his phone on the wireless charger as he slumped into his chair.
The computer burst to life when his hand grazed the mouse, and he half expected the game to still be open, but it wasn't. He opened the browser to check the forums as his game started.
There was really nothing to see on the forum, no news about Shin Han, no juicy drama, just a few popular guides for end-game content that had been released over the past few days. He scrolled through the posts until the game loaded, then closed his browser.
After the warm welcome and fast-paced guild chat the other day, Xu Wei glanced at the bottom left corner, expecting to see the same thing. However, unlike the other day, the guild chat was silent. He checked the guild interface and found that everyone was online, in different locations, and none of them were in the voice chat, either.
They could be afk. The thought passed through his mind, and he entered the community to continue where he'd left off the other day.
An hour later, the guild members had moved maps and locations, but the chat was still as quiet as it'd been when he got on.
Three hours later, when Shin Bao came in to drag him away from the game, not even a dot had been made in the chat. He shrugged his shoulders and put his character in a meditative stance atop his floating island and went out to eat with the brothers, but a strange sense of unease filled his veins that he couldn't put his finger on.
When he went to grab his food, Shin Han was in the midst of making tea. He turned toward him and directly asked. "What happened?"
"…"
Xu Wei turned toward Shin Bao, who only shrugged with his back turned to him while eating on the couch.
Shin Bao hadn't said anything to Shin Han, but this older brother of his was actually quite sensitive to emotions. Both men had acted strangely.
When he came home that night, Shin Bao nearly leaped off the floor when he walked into the unlocked apartment. Xu Wei didn't come home to his own apartment despite furniture arriving. Today, the two men had barely glanced at one another, one lost in his own thoughts on the couch and the other holed away in his room.
With a firm grip on the plate, Xu Wei said. "Just a family emergency."
"Are you sure? I don't want to be unwelcome…"
Ah. Xu Wei shook his head. "You guys are welcome to stay as long as you need, not unwelcome."
"Alright…"
Xu Wei went back to his room and closed the door, leaving the two siblings at either end of the room.
Shin Bao glanced toward the door with a complex expression. He didn't look the least bit concerned about the fact that someone had placed cameras all over his apartment.