It has been three weeks since the fan sign and so far nothing has happened, although Kyungsoo has noticed that the van is still parking on their street every so often. Come to think of it, he has never seen anybody actually get out of that van, and it makes him suspicious. He gets a little nervous when he sees the black van roll quietly down the street and park a few houses away. Perhaps the van isn't actually looking into their house, perhaps he's worrying about nothing. But Kyungsoo can't help but feel that he should warn the other neighbours. He would feel awful if something happened to them and he knew something about it. He is so deep in thought about the recent commotion that he doesn't even realise it when the rest of his friends trail into the kitchen- Kyungsoo seemingly frozen in time while holding a cup of cooling coffee. The words that the fan had told him at the fan-meet are still swirling around in his head- a concoction of ideas and thoughts springing out from the odd sentence.
"What does it mean?" He asks himself for the thousandth time, however his question remains unanswered, no matter how much time he spends pondering over it. He throws his head back and grunts in frustration, before noticing that Baekhyun is eyeing him strangely.
"Is everything alright? What are you thinking about?" The older asks, slipping into the chair across from the younger and sliding his bowl of cereal just slightly off to the side. Kyungsoo quickly makes a decision on whether or not to share his problem with the older, and after a few moments gently nods his head.
"At the least fan meet, there was this fan that was dressed in a large hoodie, a mask, a SnapBack and sunglasses. They didn't speak to me, at all, and so I began writing to them on paper. They told me that 'I shouldn't ask questions because they get me in trouble'. What does that mean?" Baekhyun sighs in thought and squints his eyes slightly in concentration.
"I have no idea. Did you ask personal questions?" Baekhyun asks. Kyungsoo shakes his head, frowning.
"No, but they didn't seem terribly happy when I asked them how their studies were going. Do you think that the statement is related to the question that I asked them?" The younger suggests, hopeful. Baekhyun only shrugs his shoulders, unable to give a definitive answer. Another groan of frustration can be heard.

Another two days after that morning and it is finally their day off. Most of the boys are lazing about in the living room, trying to wake up from a deep sleep. The brass letterbox clangs and Yixing slowly gets to his feet, walking along the glossy hardwood floor to get to the front door. There isn't much- just a bill for their electricity and water, a letter from the military to let Minseok know that he is on the enlistment list and finally an envelope for Kyungsoo. Yixing groans while opening the two bills, especially when he sees how much electricity and water they are using as well as how much they have to pay. He hands Minseok and Kyungsoo their letters and grabs Junmyeon to help him work out their finances. Kyungsoo slowly tears open the envelope which is marked with nothing other than their address. He pulls out the two sheets of paper inside, one lined and the other glossy. The lined paper reads:

To Do Kyungsoo,
We have been watching your group for a while now and want to warn you of some upcoming events. Please try your best not to be alarmed and to continue your daily schedule. There has been some recent activity to suggest that the lives of both yourself and your band mates are on the line. We, the IPP are watching over you all and are trying our very best to find the group who threaten your lives. We know not what they want with you, nor who they are, but we have seen them a few times by your dormitory.

Please stay safe and take care,
42

Kyungsoo places a trembling hand over his mouth as he tries to prevent himself from alerting the others. Should they know about this? It's about their safety too. Will I get in trouble? Is this about the van outside? What about the fan-meet? Who do I trust? With so many questions swirling around in his head, he can feel his heart rate increase so that he can feel the blood pumping in his ears, his eyes stinging with forming tears and his chest heaves with shallow breaths. Yet another question pops into his head as he quickly folds the letter with clumsy hands into the back pocket of his jeans: what is '42'? He quickly leaves the room, followed by the gaze of a confused Baekhyun and escapes to his bedroom on the second floor. He shuts and locks his door before slumping down into his desk chair, resting his head on his forearms before releasing quiet tears of anxiety. He has no idea what to do in this kind of situation and it is frightening because he has no idea if this is saesang fans trying to trick them again, or if it is a legitimate letter of warning. Fear oozes out of every pore in his body and before he knows it, he is up on his feet and is walking to the window, hands resting on the window ledge. His stomach is churning and he can feel the bile beginning to climb up his throat. There, he sees it. The van parked slightly closer this time. He squints as best as he can but accidentally makes eye contact with the driver. It's a blurry figure but he can feel their gaze burning straight through him. He rushes away from the window, slides on his glasses that were resting on top of his desk and runs to the window again. However, the van has already vanished. His hands shake and he quickly unlocks his door, throws it open and sprints to the bathroom, just being able to fall onto his knees in front of the toilet before getting rid of his breakfast. Do the others have to know about this? Should they know about this? He ponders on these two questions when he gets a sudden Kakao Talk message notification on his phone:

Unknown: Don't let anybody know. They cannot know. Not even your friends.

Kyungsoo is torn between the two decisions. Will he tell them and face whatever is haunting him - but with his friends, or will he keep it a secret and possibly reap the consequences but by himself? What should he do?

Hi guys! Thank you so much for reading this chapter and I apologise for going on a temporary hiatus. I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I hope that you are all doing well and I will try my absolute best to update soon 💜🍪

Word count: 1188

Date: Monday July 23rd