Kai didn’t realize he’d stopped breathing until the video ended.

Silence settled over the apartment.

Not the comforting kind.

The empty kind, as if every sound had been pulled out of the room and replaced with a pressure that sat heavily against his chest.

His thumb hovered over the phone while the final frame remained frozen on the screen.

Apartment 7A.

His front door.

Centered perfectly.

The timestamp in the corner read 11:42 PM.

Thirty-four minutes ago.

His pulse pounded against his ribs.

"Kai?"

Luna’s voice cut gently through the silence.

He couldn’t answer.

Not right away.

His throat had tightened without him noticing.

"Kai."

She sounded softer this time.

"I’m here."

He swallowed.

"I... got another one."

"What is it?"

"A video."

The words felt heavier than they should have.

"They walked into my building."

The call went quiet.

Not awkward.

Focused.

Kai had learned there was a difference.

Whenever Luna fell silent like this, she wasn’t panicking.

She was thinking.

Fast.

"Send it to me."

Without another word, he dragged the video into Discord and pressed Send.

The upload bar crept across the screen at a pace that felt deliberately cruel.

Twenty percent.

Forty.

Sixty.

Eighty.

Complete.

Almost immediately, the typing indicator appeared.

Then disappeared.

Then came back.

Kai found himself staring at those three bouncing dots harder than he had stared at the video itself.

Finally, instead of typing, Luna spoke.

"Pause it at seventeen seconds."

Kai frowned.

"You already watched the whole thing?"

"Mhm."

"How?"

"I watch videos at double speed."

He blinked.

"...That’s somehow the least concerning thing you’ve admitted all week."

A quiet laugh escaped her.

"I’m trying."

Despite everything, the sound loosened the knot in his chest, if only a little.

He replayed the video and scrubbed forward until the timestamp reached seventeen seconds.

The footage froze beside the apartment mailboxes.

"What am I looking for?"

"The wall."

Kai narrowed his eyes.

Gray paint.

Fluorescent lighting.

Metal mailboxes.

Nothing looked unusual.

"I don’t—"

"The floor."

He lowered his gaze.

At first he still saw nothing.

Then something bright caught his attention.

A yellow folding sign rested against the wall.

CAUTION: WET FLOOR

Kai blinked.

"What about it?"

"It wasn’t there."

He looked at the screen again.

"What?"

"I checked photos of your building yesterday."

He slowly lowered his phone.

"...You what?"

"I was trying to figure out how many exits your building has."

She said it so casually that his brain needed several seconds to catch up.

"And?"

"The sign wasn’t in any of the pictures."

Kai frowned.

"So..."

"So the cleaning staff had already come through."

She let the thought settle before continuing.

"The video really was recorded tonight."

His stomach tightened.

He already knew that.

Or at least he thought he did.

Somehow hearing Luna confirm it made the reality sink in much deeper.

Outside, a car horn echoed somewhere down the street.

Kai flinched.

His nerves had frayed so badly that ordinary city noises now sounded like warnings.

He dragged both hands down his face.

"I’m losing it."

"No."

Luna answered immediately.

"You’re exhausted."

"There is a difference."

"There is."

She paused.

"But I don’t think you’re losing it."

He appreciated that she hadn’t said I know.

She couldn’t know.

Not after tonight.

Not after everything.

The honesty mattered more than she probably realized.

His phone vibrated.

Derek.

Kai stared at the name for a moment before answering.

"What?"

"You sound worse."

"You always open with compliments?"

"You look worse too."

"I’m still on the phone."

"I know."

Kai sighed.

"I got another video."

The joking disappeared from Derek’s voice.

"What kind of video?"

"Someone filmed themselves walking into my building."

"...Call the police again."

"I already did."

"And?"

"They said they’d increase patrols."

Silence lingered between them.

When Derek finally spoke again, his voice was noticeably quieter.

"Kai."

"Yeah?"

"If this gets any worse..."

He hesitated.

"Come stay at my place."

Kai blinked.

That wasn’t what he’d expected.

"You serious?"

"I’m not letting you get murdered because you’re too stubborn to inconvenience somebody."

A smile slipped onto Kai’s face before he realized it.

"That’s almost nice."

"It was nice."

"It had the emotional warmth of a tax audit."

"I tried."

Kai laughed.

A genuine laugh.

The first one he’d managed all night.

He hadn’t realized how badly he’d needed concern from someone who wasn’t hidden behind an anonymous username.

"Thanks."

"Don’t thank me yet."

"Why?"

"If you actually show up, I’m throwing away every energy drink you own."

Kai’s smile disappeared instantly.

"...Never mind."

"I knew that would hurt you."

After the call ended, Kai leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.

The apartment suddenly felt crowded.

Not physically.

Emotionally.

Derek.

Luna.

The police.

One hundred thousand strangers online.

The stalker.

Everyone seemed to occupy pieces of his life now.

There was barely any room left for himself.

Discord chimed.

A new message from Luna.

Luna: He offered, didn’t he?

Kai stared at the screen.

His fingers froze above the keyboard.

Kai: ...How do you know that?

The typing bubble appeared.

Stopped.

Appeared again.

Finally:

Luna: You smiled.

Kai instinctively looked around the apartment.

Empty.

Just him.

The reflection staring back from the dark monitor.

Nothing else.

He typed slowly.

Kai: You couldn’t see me smile.

This time, nearly a minute passed before she replied.

Long enough for him to wonder if she’d decided not to answer.

Then another message appeared.

Luna: No.

Luna: I couldn’t.

A pause.

Then one final message.

Luna: I guessed.

Kai let out a slow breath.

That made sense.

Mostly.

It didn’t stop his heart from racing.

He stood and wandered toward the window.

The city stretched beneath him beneath a haze of orange streetlights.

People still walked the sidewalks.

Someone crossed the street carrying groceries.

A couple waited at a bus stop.

A man laughed as his dog pulled him toward a fire hydrant.

Ordinary lives.

Completely ordinary.

It felt unreal.

Kai rested his forehead against the cool glass.

"I miss being boring."

Luna chuckled softly.

"I don’t think you were ever boring."

"I absolutely was."

"No."

Her voice carried the same quiet certainty it always did.

"You were lonely."

The words settled over him with uncomfortable precision.

He closed his eyes.

"...Those aren’t the same thing."

"I know."

Silence returned.

Gentle.

Comfortable.

She didn’t apologize.

She didn’t explain herself.

She simply stayed.

For reasons Kai couldn’t fully understand, that meant more than hearing the perfect words ever could.

His phone buzzed again.

One last notification.

Not a text.

Not Discord.

Not a phone call.

The apartment management app.

He frowned and opened it.

Maintenance Notice

Building security cameras are temporarily unavailable due to scheduled maintenance between 11:15 PM and 12:30 AM.

Kai’s expression slowly changed.

He looked at the clock.

12:19 AM.

Then back at the notice.

Then at the video.

11:42 PM.

Right in the middle of the maintenance window.

His stomach dropped.

Whoever had filmed that video hadn’t been wandering around by chance.

They had known exactly when the security cameras would be offline.

Before he could say anything, Discord chimed softly.

Luna was typing.

The indicator blinked once.

Twice.

Then disappeared.

A second later, a new message appeared.

Luna: Kai...

Luna: I don’t think they picked tonight by accident.