The morning was nothing special. The sun hadn't even decided to fully wake up yet, sneaking through cracked blinds in the corner of Taehyun's room, casting long lazy shadows across the cluttered desk. The hum of the city was a low constant, the kind of sound that could lull anyone into a false sense of normalcy. For Taehyun, though, normalcy was the illusion he clung to, the thin line between the chaos he hid from and the world outside.
Coffee boiled in the kitchen, the scent crawling through the small apartment, barely enough to remind him that the day was starting. He sat down in front of his laptop, fingers twitching with the habit of tapping the keyboard, the cold plastic keys cold against his skin. Hacking wasn't just a skill or a hobby it was his escape, the one place where he could be something more than the residue of a broken home.
His room was a mix of old tech scraps and neon posters peeling at the edges, the cyberpunk aesthetic he curated himself with a quiet obsession. His life outside the glow of the screen was a mess his parents barely spoke, his home a pressure cooker of unspoken tension. But here, in the circuits and code, he was king. Thank god he moved out from there for college.. that home was hell down on earth.
The morning routine was mechanical: checking emails, scanning security forums, poking around illegal websites, and hunting for something that might break the monotony. He'd long ago learned to recognize the patterns in the dark web the red flags, the traps, the places where people traded in sins and nightmares.
College was supposed to be different. Bigger city, new people, fresh start. But Taehyun felt like he carried his past everywhere he went. He wasn't the type to make friends easily, preferring the company of lines of code over strangers' faces. His hacking paid off, got him into a decent college, but he still kept to himself, eyes always scanning, always analyzing.
His phone buzzed softly. Another message, another distraction from the endless scrolling. Usually, it was some group chat or a meme. Today, it was something else.
A Facebook message. Weird, considering he barely used Facebook anymore. He opened it, brow furrowing as he saw the sender's name...V0RT3XX.
The message read: Taehyun, how's the weather in Japan?
He blinked. Japan? What the fuck? He was in Seoul, Korea, not some tourist posting about Tokyo's heat. And how did this dude know his real name??? Whatever.. probably just some digging gave him enough information..?
He typed back, thinking maybe it was some weird joke or a glitch. "Haha, random, hope it's rainy. Hate the heat not gonna lie"
Seconds later, another message popped up: Do you like games?
Taehyun smirked, fingers moving quicker. Probably some lame gamer troll. "Yeah, League, GTA. You?"
The reply came fast, too fast.
"What, haha no Taehyun you must be mistaken I mean real life games. For people's lives, why, dont like those?"
His smirk dropped. The screen felt colder now, like the message was ice crawling down his spine.
"What the hell?" he muttered, fingers hesitating over the keys.He chuckled to himself, man these trolls on the internet are getting too good, he should be more careful
Beep! Another message
"Why laughing? Im being serious Taehyun~"
What the fuck, man this person better shut up or hes about to block them.
Then for a second his mind flicked back to all the dark web stories he'd read, the horror lurking behind every anonymous username.
Suddenly, his phone rang. Caller ID: Mom.
He answered, voice casual, "Hey, Mom, what's up?"
Silence. Then a soft voice, too calm, whispered, "Taehyun, how's the weather in Japan?"
His heart slammed against his ribs. The caller ID flickered, changing from Mom to Unknown Number.
Something about the voice chilled him, familiar but wrong, like a shadow in a dream. Taehyun's fingers tightened around the phone.
"Who is this?" he demanded.
No answer. Just the echo of that same question, whispered again Taehyun, do you want to play a game?
His breath hitched. Then, the voice said something else this time.. "You haven't checked your photo gallery in a while...Go check it out, might find something"
Taehyun's eyes snapped to his phone. Curiosity warred with fear, but something pulled him to unlock the screen and open the gallery.
What he saw made his blood freeze.
Hundreds of photos. Him, everywhere his bedroom, the streets, college hallways. Some were candid, some horrifyingly intimate, snapshots of moments he never knew were captured. And the last photo, the most recent one, was a picture of him taken seconds ago... No.. no, no, no..! What is this shit???
Behind him, in the reflection of the window, a figure stared back. Smiling.
There was a guess who that might be.. Just, maybe.
He slammed the phone shut, breath ragged. The game had just begun.
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Uh first time writing smt like this, oh yeah by the way beyond this chapter theres a lot of triggering topics, like abuse, murder, stalking, and mentions of a lot of illegal shit. Yeah that, so if your easily triggered please please please prioritize yourself and either read with caution or just skip through but, that would be the whole story so theres no point. This story also has a lot of stuff that is associated/found on the dark and deep web, like red rooms, if you dont know what that is, once again if your triggered by stuff easily I dont recommend searching that up.