Notice Me - Sunwon

Neighbor

Just a few more blocks Sunoo thinks to himself. He's been walking home for about 15 minutes now. He looks back for what he thinks is the 100th time because halfway through the walk he realized there was a boy following him. The boy had blonde hair like him, seemed slightly taller and was wearing a varsity jacket. He didn't seem like he'd hurt a fly, but paranoia caught Sunoo and he's thinking about all the possible worst outcomes that could happen.

Why is he following me. I don't think I made any enemies recently.

Sunoo speeds up his walking pace in hopes that he could further the distance between him and the stranger.

I should have just called Bobo for a ride home but nooo you want to seem like an ordinary kid, huh Sunoo.

He looks back again and while the stranger is still behind him, he feels a bit safer since there's a big distance between them.

One more block

He finally makes it to the front of his house and sneaks a look at the boy who was still walking in the same direction. Sunoo walks in the door and hurriedly closes it. He goes straight behind the curtains and peeps to see if the boy was following him. The boy passes right by Sunoo's house but before he does, he looks over at the window Sunoo was hiding behind. Sunoo immediately ducks and after a few seconds he peeps out the window again. He watches the boy enter the house next door.

"Young master, what are you doing?"

Sunoo jumps at the voice by his ear. He almost flipped the man that startled him over his shoulder, but his arm was blocked from doing anything. Sunoo looks at the man holding his arm and relaxes.

"I'm sorry Bobo Hyung, I thought I was being followed."

"You were being followed?"

The tall man gets close to the wall and looks out the window. He reaches for something in his back pocket, but Sunoo chuckles and stops him.

"I thought I was, but I wasn't so you can get off alert. Question though, do the neighbors next door have a son?"

The tall man wearing a black and white suit puts back the thing he reached for in his pocket. He had short jet-black hair that was slicked back. His face was clean shaven but with a noticeable large scar that ran horizontally underneath his left eye.

"Yeah, they do. He goes to your school, he's a senior, and his name is Jae-Won."

"Bobo Hyung, I asked if they had a son, not a whole biography. Now it makes sense. I got spooked and thought he was following me home."

"You wouldn't have felt that if you would have just accepted me picking you up, young master."

"Stop calling me that, Hyung. And I already told you I want to be an ordinary kid here. I don't want to be looked at different or attract fake friends just because I have money. I don't want people finding out my family's..."

"I get it. I have to thank you for allowing me to be here to protect you and get away from...you know. But young master, all I have to say is to be careful. I understand you want to live the normal life, but you can't forget your father is-"

"I know who my father is."

"Then you know you have to be cautious at all times. Don't fully trust anyone."

"So, I can't fully trust you, Bobo Hyung?"

The man rolls his eyes and takes Sunoo's school bag and jacket. He hangs them up on the coat rack.

"I've known you for 14 of your 16 years of life, young master. If there's anyone you can fully trust, it's me."

"But...you just sai-"