The Woman

Good To Know

"Ya!" I shake my head abruptly as I get pulled back to reality. "Are you okay?" asks Yoohyeon. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just zoning out." I say uneasily. The aroma of sweat soon hits me. "Gosh. We really need to clean the practice room tonight." Yoohyeon nods her head in agreement.

She replies by saying "Especially since we're getting a new member. We can't let her think that we're disgusting." My eyes grow wide as I take in what she says. "Wait. A new member? Why did no one tell me?" "Because we knew you would get like this. Wanting everything to be perfect. We know how you are."

Suddenly, the rest of the members join us. "Hey!" I say with a large smile running across my face. "What has you so happy?" Asks JiU. "I just heard that we're getting a new member. No thanks to you." I reply in a sarcastic tone. "Hey. We knew you would want everything perfect. That's why we didn't tell you."

"Okay okay. I know I can be a handful. I need to ask though. What's their name?" Gahyeon chimes in and says "Lee Siyeon!" "What a beautiful but familiar name." I think to myself.

Fun fact. I actually haven't come out to anyone yet. I've always been so confident in everything. But this... this is different. My parents always talked about the man I was going to marry, having children, and other things that they wanted me to have. I could never bring myself to tell them that I didn't want that. I liked and still like girls. Either way, I knew my members would probably be accepting, but I didn't want to risk it if they weren't. Their friendships mean the world to me. I don't want to ruin that.

"Bora. Hey. Bora! You keep zoning out. What's going on?" Yoohyeon worriedly says. "I'm fine. Just tired." Handong looks at me like my mother would if I was in trouble. "Of course you are. You've been working incredibly hard for your solo. Being here day in and day out. Take time for yourself."

"You're right. I'm going to go home. The cleaning can wait. Thank you." I reply. "Be safe." All of the other members chime in. They also decided to go home. All of us have a long day tomorrow. Unfortunately, I don't have a car. So, walking is my specialty.

I live about 15 minutes from the studio so it's not too bad. The walk at night can be pretty eerie though. The faint sound of cars, the breeze that blows the bold smell of food around, and the light travel of those walking. Gosh. I'm hungry. "Soon" I told myself. I just had to get home.

Something felt off tonight though. Like I was being watched. Followed even. My heart started to race. The anxiety starting to flow through my veins. I decided to walk faster. I was so close to home, anyway. I gradually felt the hairs of the back of my neck raise. "This can't be happening... it can't end this way. No. Not today. Get it together, Bora. You can do this." I say to myself as I build up the courage to look behind me. "Woah." I say under my breath as I see a woman staring at me from afar. No one else. "Hopefully she isn't here to hurt me. I really don't want to die tonight ." The real question is though: Who is she and why is she following me?