Of Wolves and Spiders (Seo Moonjo x Jung Jongwoo)

Chapter 2: Of a Curious Sharp Eye

Jongwoo felt frustrated for the last week. No sleeping, no free time, no money, no respect, no friends, living in a shitty studio, no stable job with a good pay, no appreciation, no help, not a good son.

A million toxic needles pierced through his mind, and none stayed for too long either, and he didn't know if he should be grateful or more hurt. It hurt, not even his mind loved him just enough to think of something good about him, to cheer him up, just a little, a tiny bitsy itsy bit. But no. Try another station, sir, his confidence would say if it was still there.

He was more fucked up than he had thought.

Now that he had his mind working, he didn't have nothing to shine over everyone else. No skills more than ordinary, not a great beauty either, he didn't had a good built, and he certainly had no money to work on it. The only talent he thought he had was slowly disappearing into thin air. He tried to get a hold of it, keep it inside him, but talent cannot be holded or made into a slave.

He had to let it grow in himself, free, and he needed to be in sync with it too, growing with it at the same time. He couldn't push all the work on talent alone, he had to work hard for itHE COULDN'TDOITANYMOREIT'STOOMUCHPLEASESTOP or it would leave him to find someone more worthyOHGODPLEASEJUSTDON'TSTAYDON'TLEAVEMEI'MALONEINEEDYOU of its help. And Jongwoo was scared, no, TERRIFIED.

What if it leftDON'T? What if he didn't had what it take to be a writerIAMIREALLYAM? Then what would he had leftICANDOITLETMESHOWYOU? NOTHING.

Jongwoo felt that tiny room he had to call home for now like a tiny box, a box that kept getting smaller, each day a more suffocating aura hanging around heave like the dust. It wasn't enough to drive him totally mad, but enough to keep him annoyed each day. The residents didn't help, nor the freaking tea the landlady 'oh so kindly' made for him every day. But it was disgusting, not like a strong tea for someone who wasn't used to tea. No. It was FUCKING DISGUSTING. It didn't taste like the teas he'd had in the past, or the ones Jieun sometimes gave him when they met. No. This one was denser, bitterer and... earthy? It tasted a bit like dirt.

Did that bitch just took the water off the plants and served it to him? Just like that raw meat stocked in the fridge, it smelled disgusting to him lately, that chewy thing resembling of worms to Jongwoo, disgusting and bloody. How could Moonjo eat-?

"Wait"

What was wrong with him!? Why was he thinking all of a sudden about that man!? Just the other day he'd swore he saw him right outside of work, just on the other side of the street, and while he was dinning with his co-workers, he was there, on one of the tables, right outside! ...Right? He had to, why else would he see him? He wasn't going crazy, he was a stalker, a crazy, sick stalker! There was no other explanation, wasn't there!?

BUT WHY WOULD HE DO IT.

He was nobody, just a simple worker, and well, Moonjo was...another level. He was a successful dentist, he knew it from the landlady (which caused him to wonder why he lived in such a shitty studio. Gambling problems, maybe?), he was a dutiful person, and a handsome man. Even he had to admit it. That man radiated elegance wherever he stepped by, the looks he got by other people, such a dutiful man, and the smile that captured your attention...So how could someone like that follow him?

He wasn't good enough to even be thinking of having a stalker, so what was this coming from?

Jongwoo felt lost in an immense sea, a sea with no land, just him and the dark waters surrounding him. He could see a sky, just like the canvas of an unfinished masterpiece, faint strokes of blue against a raw black. The waves felt like a soft lullaby to him at first, but they kept getting higher, and colder. Everything was cold, sharp and empty coldness. He wanted warmth, he needed it. He DESPERATELY NEEDED warmth. He used to swim in such a warm, calm sea, like a soft mattress, and now...Now it was a predator, waiting in silence, testing him, patiently. LIKE A CAT WATCHING THE GOLDFISH IN A BOWL. But...He didn't felt like a goldfish. At least not anymore.

...wake up...

How? I just want to sleep until my endless dream comes.

...I know you're there...

I've always been here, how couldn't you know? I. AM. INVISIBLE. TO. YOU!?

Come to me...

HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO ME!? I'VE WAITED TOO LONG! TAKE ME OUT!

I need you...

AND I NEED YOU!

Jongwoo stared at the excel page in front of him, his breath caught in his throat. He just...stopped breathing. He didn't care about the bad jokes JeoGa said, he didn't care about Sangman dull bitching fuckingassholesheisn'tgonnaseeyouasasexymanyou'repatheticjustDIE, he just-

"...I'm the one obsessing over him. I'm...I'm the....Oh god..."

I'M THE CAT LOOKING AT THE GOLDFISH.....................am I not?

[xoxoxo_oxoxox]

Moonjo had practically ignored Jongwoo for the last few days. Not because he wanted to, but work, volunteering, the extra-curricular playtime... He had almost no energy left. For the first time in years, Moonjo had to admit he felt tired. And...oddly weird.

For maybe...a week? Moonjo felt observed. He knew people looked at him, he knew what kind of impression he caused on people. He was used to that. No. This sensation was more new. It's not he had not been followed before; a careless and insignificant detective that felt like a lion and was just a mouse, a patient that once felt a princess following his prince to only fall into the dragon's mouth, an independent reporter with a little blog that saw a big catch but found himself deeply caught...

There were so many dishes that he had caught, so many that had come willingly to him...But no. This time, this sensation of being observed, it felt piercing. There was no mouse, no coward dog...No.

A cat. And a curious one, he had to say.

He had tried to catch those curious eyes, but it...disappeared quickly. And it fascinated him. He wanted to see who could be his cat, he wanted to see behind them and try to find the cause of its attraction to him. Maybe he had been careless? Jongwoo had been quite a surprise to him when he came, maybe he had shaken his entire world and he still didn't notice. Or maybe it was something else?

He had been more entertained in molding his future student, his companion, a soul to finally connect with. The tea was working perfectly, just like Boksoon had promised. But lately, she's been bothering him too much. I raised you, you OWE me, and she would remind him constantly. God, her neck just looked more and more breakable by each day it passed...But she wasn't ready. Not yet. He still needed her, as much as he hated the thought. The twins...yes, they can go. Nambok...No doubt. He was disgusting, he was rush, he had no manners or etiquette during killing. Kihyeok was a disaster, he was good but...he wanted to touch the sun too soon.

But Jongwoo won't be a disaster. He was perfect. Everything he was, no, what he will be, PERFECTION. He just wanted to hold him, caress those hands while they worked, observe him while he wrote, those adorable frowns when he was thinking a murder machination. God, their first conversation just gave him chills, it left a wanting need deep inside him, and just by talking about what his imagination created! He felt so connected just by that little description of his killer, so in synch...He knew it. That deep inside him, there was a lurching predator, weak and lost. But he would make sure to call it out. He would feed it and show him the wonders they could make, he just needed time.

He still had to take care of a few things, groom Jongwoo a little more, shape him right, and it was going good. The tea was making effect, he saw it each night. He even had one night deep framed in his mind, made already one of his most treasured memories. It was...so magical.

Moonjo had finally found his perfect match.

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