That day, I was about to take a shower.

I had forgotten to lock the door after entering, though. When I heard the front door opening softly, I was a little alarmed.

Then, I heard the rustling of footsteps getting closer to the bathroom.

I quickly rushed to the door and locked it from the inside. My previous roommate was a lady, and I never had such a problem, so I had the habit of not locking the door.

I was careless. I forgot that I was living with a man. I wondered if he would have barged in if I locked the door a little later?

"Is that you? What are you trying to do?" I said in the iciest voice I could muster, trying to intimidate him.

I was terrified he would barge in. The bathroom door was not sturdy, after all, and any adult could have kicked it down.

No answer came; all I heard was quiet footsteps. He left.

I quickly showered and wrapped myself tightly. I put on my pajama robe and wrapped myself in a huge towel before walking out of the bathroom.

He was sitting on the couch with his back facing me. When he heard me coming out of the bathroom, he immediately turned to look at me with a calm smile. "I wanted to use the bathroom. I was a little sleepy, so I didn't realize you were there. I’m sorry."

He looked rather innocent.

"I-I see... It's fine."

After exchanging a few sentences, I returned to my room while he headed to the bathroom. I blew-dry my hair and put on a facial mask. When I came out of the room, he was no longer in the living room.

The door to his room was shut tight.

It felt like I was the paranoid one from the start. He, on the other hand, was always composed.

I forced myself to calm down and kept telling myself I was overthinking things.

Did I have a preconceived notion about him all this while?

At that moment, I noticed something strange. Did I hang my clothes this way? I could not recall it being that way exactly.

I could not be sure since it was always a random action.

"I'm just being paranoid," I muttered to myself.

My roommate's door was facing the balcony. Just when I finished hanging my clothes on the balcony and turned around, I suddenly noticed…

I did not know when, but the door to his room was slightly ajar. Through the slit, I noticed the reflection of his glasses.

This time, I was sure that he was peeping on me.

My roommate shut the door when our eyes met.

A sense of dread overwhelmed me. He was just peeking at this point, sure, but what if he were to get more aggressive?

Frightened at the mere thought, I quickly returned to my room and ordered pepper spray online.

The delivery took a few days. I considered my situation, and then I locked my door with a hanger, following the guides I read online. That way, he would not be able to open the door from the outside.

I cowered under my sheets, secretly praying that he was a cowardly scoundrel.

The next few days went by peacefully. He was quiet at night. Neither did I ever catch him spying on me again.

I gradually let my guard down. Life seemed to return to normal.

On Saturday, I could finally sleep in, and it felt good. I thought about going to look for my best friend to go shopping and have a feast.

I opened the door and headed out, but it was then I froze when I saw what was happening on the balcony.

"What are you doing? That's… That's sick!"

He smirked lewdly, not at all embarrassed that I caught him in the act. "The only reason you're hanging it on the balcony is to seduce me, right?"

He looked me up and down and snickered ominously. "Congratulations, you've succeeded. Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

What sort of sick mongrel was he?!

I subconsciously took a step back and bit my lip. Facing his predatory stare, I turned and ran back to my room.

My heart was pounding hard. I was terrified.

No. I could not stay there any longer. I quickly changed my clothes and headed to my best friend's house.

When she heard my stories, she cursed and called him a pervert. However, since he did not do anything concrete, it was pointless calling the police.

I stayed with my best friend until Sunday afternoon when I had no choice but to head home. I had work on Monday and my clothes and work badge were all at home.

"Don't be afraid. If he still dares to harass you like that, tell me. I'll get my boyfriend to beat him up!"

With my best friend's consolation and the delivery of the pepper spray that just arrived, I was much more at ease.

He did not seem to be home when I returned.

While I was doing my laundry and putting it into the washing machine, I could not seem to find the stockings I wore on Friday. I could not locate them even after a round of searching.

Not knowing why, I found myself in front of my roommate's room. I reached out to open the door but realized it was locked.

I pulled back my hand, not knowing what to feel. Perhaps I misplaced those stockings somewhere.

…

I was fast asleep late at night when I heard my roommate returning home. This time, he was quiet in his room.

I fell asleep.

A long while later, I heard a loud thud. The sound of the water bottle falling to the floor woke me up instantly.

I groggily looked at the door to see it was ajar. I could roughly make out a dark figure standing by the door.

I shuddered in fear, terrified he would barge in.

The figure tried to push his way in. Luckily, the hanger was stuck on the door, so he could not get in.

I shivered. I was so frightened I could not find my words! With trembling hands, I picked up the pepper spray hidden under my pillow.

The figure tried a few more rounds. After realizing he could not open the door, he closed it shut and left.

I was reeling in shock for about 10 minutes or so before I slowly calmed down. Even so, my brain was working overtime.

That was definitely my roommate. The fact that he could open my door meant he had a set of keys to my room.

Did that mean that while I was not at home, he…

That thought horrified me.

I quickly checked my room to see if anything was missing and found nothing amiss. Nonetheless, I knew this could no longer persist.

After a worrying night, I called in sick from work the next day. I perked my ears up to listen to what was going on.

I heard him opening the door and leaving the house. I immediately got up and called a locksmith to change my lock.

That relieved me a lot… but I could not help but look at my roommate's door.

He had been so mysterious all this while. Something fishy must be going on!

I asked the locksmith to open my roommate's door, citing that I accidentally locked it. The locksmith thought nothing of it and pried open the door for me before leaving.

I pushed open the door and entered his room. The curtains were shut, and it was dark as night in his room.

His computer was locked, but I could see equipment for live-streaming such as microphones, webcams, and lights. It looked professional enough.

Was he not a voice actor? Why was he doing live-streaming as well?

With furrowed eyebrows, I scanned the room… before I noticed something mortifying.

I was so disgusted that I almost hurled.

That sick mongrel had gone through my trash. Disgusting!

In a small drawer in the corner, I found a lot of tiny things belonging to me: hair ties, mugs that I have used, small combs, and nail clippers.

I did not even remember when I lost them.

What I saw inside the drawers had upset my stomach even more. I did not dare to think about it.

Suddenly, I heard the door to our house open. I frantically ran out of his room only to be caught red-handed by my roommate.

Though stunned for a moment, he then chuckled. "Did you go to my room?"