—

    xx: Why photo? That''s too cliche, darling.

    xx: I want to ask something a bit naughty. I don''t want you to feel like I''m a creep.

    xx: So I want you to drop me the clothes you wore to school today.

    —

    …

    …

    —

    xx: You wore a plaid shirt, right? I bet you haven''t washed it yet. Drop it outside, at the back door. I''ll pick it up and replace it with a box of crystal meth.

    —

    Oh, come on! What kind of high-level creep can you be! Why would you want my sweaty-ass plaid shirt? You know, at this point, I''d rather give you my photo.

    Even my baby photo, I didn''t mind it!

    Wait, the baby photo sounded even grosser than before, never mind then.

    —

    Emmy: Fine, do you want me to drop it now?

    xx: Yes, I bet Mom is already sleeping at this hour, right?

    Emmy: Stop making it as if he''s your Mom!

    xx: Darling, we''re going to marry in the future. Of course, I''ll call him Mom, just like how you''ll call my parents Mom and Dad.

    —

    Ugh, fucking creep!

    But what he said was true. Mom must''ve been sleeping at this hour. I checked the clock, and it was 10.30 already.

    I sighed, walked to my laundry basket at the corner of my room, and then picked up the brown plaid shirt I used today.

    I smelled it and distanced my nose immediately.

    Ick, it smelled of sweat.

    Of course, since I used this for the whole day and used my bike, I got sweaty.

    It didn''t smell that bad, but I still hated it since I remembered some of those bullies tormented me for being a nasty, smelly pig.

    Yet, this one-man liked this kind of thing. What a sick man.

    I bet he was some ugly ass creep, no doubt.

    I opened my door room and peeked from the staircase, checking if my Mom was still watching some late-night show or not.

    Luckily, there was nobody in the living room.

    So I went downstairs and headed straight to the kitchen, where the back door was located. I unlocked the key and took a deep breath.

    Click.

    I opened the door slowly, peeking at what was outside in case that creepy man might be around.

    After finding it safe, I hung the shirt at the door handle outside and then closed the door silently.

    I locked the door again, afraid that he might break in and attack my family and me.

    I took out my phone and texted him.

    —

    Emmy: I''ve put my plaid shirt outside.

    xx: Yes, I saw that, wait for about thirty minutes and open the door, okay? The box of crystal meth will be at the door for your use.

    —

    I wasn''t brave enough to confront him, but I also didn''t want to miss this moment because this felt like a totally illegal trade between us.

    But the trade wasn''t between money and drugs. It was a smelly plaid shirt for a box of expensive drugs.

    Strange, I knew.

    After fifteen minutes, I could faintly hear the firm footstep walking towards the door. I listened carefully but dared not open the door.

    I feared my own life, feared that he might bring a weapon and attacked me while I opened the door.

    After a while, his footsteps started getting further and further. I assumed that he was walking away from the door.

    I checked my phone to see if he had texted me. In another ten minutes, he finally texted,

    —

    xx: The box is at your door, my dear.

    xx: Thank you for the shirt, darling.

    xx: it smells like you, so wonderful. I really want to hug the real you. I really want to kiss the real you…

    —

    Ugh, come on, things were already bad right now. You didn''t need to make it even worse!

    I didn''t intend to open the door right now because I was afraid that he was still standing there. Maybe he was faking his footstep and was ready to strike me with a baseball bat or something.

    It was like a scene of horror, where I clutched my phone tightly and cowered in fear behind the door.

    I waited until exactly one hour, and when I opened the door slowly, peeking with only one eye, hoping that my greatest fear wouldn''t come true.

    After being assured that everything was safe, I opened the door a bit more and saw a black box on the mat.

    I sighed in relief and lowered my guard a bit. I opened the door a bit more and took the box inside.

    But when I was about to close the door again, I looked up and saw a figure in the dark of the night, standing quite far from my position.

    Although I could see nothing since it was really dark and there was no garden lighting, I could see that he was wearing a hoodie and holding my plaid shirt.

    I couldn''t see his expression, but I could sense that his eyes were glued at me, and he was smirking. I couldn''t determine whether he had malicious intent or not, but his smirk definitely perked up when our eyes met.

    I froze on the spot, my leg felt too weak, and I could not move nor react with anything. I lost all strength on my feet, thinking that I might''ve made a really terrible choice to open the door.

    But then, I heard the notification of an incoming message on my phone. The man then turned around and walked away leisurely, leaving me terrified for another ten minutes before I regained my strength and closed the door silently.

    I locked the door and slumped on the ground. The shock was too much for me to handle. I never knew that being stalked like this was ten times scarier than in my stupid imagination.

    I slowly unlocked my phone screen and saw his text.

    —

    xx: Do you think I''ll leave so soon? I keep waiting until you open the door, darling. So I can see your beautiful eyes, hair, face before I return.

    xx: Thank you for the shirt. I''ll treasure it.

    xx: I love you.

    —