Chapter 12: Confronting the Stalker

“W-what the…!”

Hyunwoo relaxed the tension in his body as he saw Seunghyuk staring at him.

Hyunwoo’s gaze lingered briefly on Seunghyuk’s bloodshot eyes before he quickly gathered himself and asked in a deliberately casual tone.

“What are you doing here?”

“…That’s what I wanted to ask you.”

“Is it weird for me to come to my brother’s place?”

“…….”

He tried to act nonchalant, but his mind was quite complicated.

Was this something that had to be handled by one of the main characters?

Before regression, a supporting character could have done it instead of Seunghyuk.

As a non-main character, Hyunwoo had tried to help Hyunjin, more as a courtesy.

Moreover… seeing Seunghyuk reminded him of that recent incident.

Hyunwoo forcibly turned his gaze away from Seunghyuk’s lips.

And since he was here anyway, he wanted to deal with that stalker somehow.

Hyunwoo glanced at the mailbox, unable to let go of his lingering concern.

Seunghyuk frowned at him, then spoke.

“Did you come to see Joo Hyunjin without answering my calls?”

“When did you even contact me…?”

“I did. I called several times earlier.”

“…….”

Hyunwoo silently took out his phone.

He had set it to silent just before driving, but Seunghyuk had contacted him in the meantime.

Sure enough, numerous missed calls and messages from Seunghyuk were stacked.

Hyunwoo sighed softly, scrolling through the endless call list, and asked.

“Why did you call?”

“We still have things to talk about.”

“…….”

Finally, the matter he had been avoiding surfaced.

That kiss with Seunghyuk from a few days ago.

Hyunwoo bit his lip.

“Weren’t you coming to see Hyunjin?”

“No. I went to your house and saw Hyunjin there. He told me you’d be here, so I came.”

“…….”

So it turned out this way.

In this world, are main characters just assigned to catch stalkers?

It was absurd, but as a supporting character, Hyunwoo had no right to complain, having overstepped.

Hyunwoo sighed quietly and asked.

“Ha… how much did Hyunjin tell you?”

“Almost everything.”

So he knew all about the stalker too. Hyunwoo muttered to himself about the speed of this progress.

“Why are you so reckless? Something could happen.”

“Nothing has happened yet.”

“…….”

Seunghyuk looked at him disapprovingly.

His gaze fell on the mailbox behind Hyunwoo.

“Hey, wait…!”

Seunghyuk knew Hyunjin’s address too.

Without hesitation, he reached for mailbox 203.

Hyunwoo tried to stop him in panic, but it was too late.

Seunghyuk opened the problematic bag.

“…….”

“…I told you to stop.”

Hyunwoo muttered after seeing Seunghyuk’s disgusted expression.

Seunghyuk quickly sealed the bag and returned it to the mailbox.

“You came here alone?”

“I had no choice.”

Hyunwoo shrugged and looked at the stairs to the 2nd floor.

If the stalker was inside, he would wait until Hyunjin returned.

Hyunwoo’s face tightened.

“You saw it too, right? The lights in Hyunjin’s apartment.”

“…Yeah.”

“Probably that bastard’s inside right now.”

“What did you say?”

Seunghyuk raised his voice in surprise.

Hyunwoo raised a finger in front of his nose.

Startled, Seunghyuk lowered his voice.

“So, what are we going to do?”

“What else? We need to check if he’s really inside.”

“…How are you going to check?”

“I know the door code, so I’ll open the door and see.”

“That’s too dangerous.”

“Then should we just report it based on suspicion? He might not even be there.”

“We have evidence of stalking. We can find the culprit using CCTV when he put the bag in the mailbox.”

“This building’s crap. No CCTV. Same for the neighborhood.”

“….”

Seunghyuk was quiet, considering the limitations of the area.

Then he continued.

“I’ll go up. You wait here.”

“What? This is my brother’s problem. I should handle it. You wait here.”

“No.”

Originally, Hyunwoo intended for Seunghyuk to catch the stalker.

But seeing him here changed his mind.

He couldn’t send him into such danger.

“Why not? Why do I need your permission?”

“…….”

Seunghyuk bit his lip and glared.

His eyes were bloodshot from staying up late during exams, giving him a scary look.

Hyunwoo met his gaze calmly.

“…Fine. Let’s go together.”

“No, why bother….”

“I won’t yield any further.”

Seunghyuk murmured, pressing his hand firmly on Hyunwoo’s shoulder.

The grip was immense.

Hyunwoo frowned, then nodded reluctantly.

Since the story was already unfolding according to the novel, there was nothing more to do.

He decided to make use of the main Alpha’s physical strength.

“I’ll go first. I won’t yield on this either.”

“…Okay.”

Seunghyuk looked displeased but didn’t resist further.

Hyunwoo had no intention of retreating either.

With two Alphas, they should be fine confronting the stalker.

In the original, Seunghyuk handled it alone.

Even in the previous timeline, a supporting character managed it alone.

It was just an event to connect Hyunjin and the main characters.

Hyunwoo climbed the stairs slowly.

201… 202… 203.

Here it was.

Hyunwoo stopped in front of the door labeled 203.

Though he’d been here before, today the worn metal door seemed eerie.

Perhaps because he suspected the stalker was inside.

No sound came from inside.

But the lights were on, white light seeping through the window gaps.

Hyunwoo glanced back at Seunghyuk.

Seeing his nod, Hyunwoo opened the door carefully.

The door code was 0818, his birthday.

Hyunjin had explained it was easier to remember.

Beep beep beep beep.

The lock clicked open.

Hyunwoo entered cautiously.

“…….”

Hyunjin’s apartment was small, essentially a studio.

The first thing visible was the lit living room.

Strangely, something was boiling on the stove.

Hyunjin hadn’t cooked, and had been out all morning.

Clearly, there was an unwelcome guest.

“Darling, you’re here?”

“…!”

As expected, a tall man emerged from the inner room.

Hyunwoo pointed and asked.

“Sir?”

“What?”

“What did you just say?”

Both men shouted in surprise.

The stalker’s nickname had stuck in Hyunwoo’s mind.

Hyunwoo cleared his throat.

“Are you the stalker following Hyunjin?”

“Who are you?”

“That’s none of your business. What are you doing in someone else’s house?”

“…Where’s Hyunjin?”

“…….”

The man’s eyes were wild.

It was obvious he was the stalker.

Hyunwoo smirked.

“Hyunjin’s at my place.”

“You bastard…!”

The man lunged in rage.

Seunghyuk flinched, but Hyunwoo was faster.

“Ugh…!”

“Why curse, Sir? Mind your manners.”

Hyunwoo grabbed the man by the collar.

Despite charging aggressively, he was weak.

Not much strength for an Alpha.

Seunghyuk, watching from behind, spoke.

“Kim Minjae?”

“You know him?”

“Yes, a peer of Hyunjin, not close though.”

“Is he a Beta?”

“Yes.”

“So a Beta was chasing an Omega?”

Hyunwoo looked down at the man incredulously.

“Ugh, l-let go…!”

“You sent those weird messages and stuffed an animal in the mailbox?”

“I, I…”

The man’s eyes trembled wildly.

Hyunwoo clicked his tongue.

He was much weaker than he expected.

“Still, we need to go to the police. Seunghyuk, report him.”

“Yes.”

Hyunwoo held the struggling man.

Seunghyuk pulled out his phone, dialing, then looked ahead in surprise.

“Hyunwoo!”

“Ugh…!”

A sharp pain hit his arm.

Hyunwoo instinctively covered it and stepped back.

“Hyunjin is… mine! Damn it, mine!”

“This crazy bastard….”

The stalker had a sharp jackknife.

This could complicate subduing him.

“Hyunwoo, you’re bleeding…”

“Stay back, I’m fine.”

“…….”

Seunghyuk stared at Hyunwoo’s bleeding arm without flinching.

Hyunwoo, not noticing the intensity, spoke again.

“What are you doing? Hurry…”

“Damn it! Give me Hyunjin!”

“…!”

The stalker swung the knife again, reckless and irrational.

Instinctively, Hyunwoo leaned back to dodge.

Bam!

A long leg struck the stalker’s face precisely.

Blood and saliva splattered everywhere.

“…Seunghyuk?”

When Hyunwoo regained focus, Seunghyuk was stomping the stalker on the ground frantically.