“Your Attention”

The door slammed behind her as Lily bolted into the house, sneakers squeaking against the wooden floor.

Her breath came in quick bursts, the snack bag clutched tightly to her chest like a holy relic. The warm glow of the kitchen light spilled into the hallway, but she barely noticed her father's voice murmuring in the background.

"Lily?" Kenjiro called from the living room, his voice sharper than usual. "Back so soon? What happened?"

"I'm fine! Snacks! Upstairs!" she blurted, her words tumbling over one another as she bolted for the staircase.

Kenjiro raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. "Snacks…? What—"

But she was already halfway up the stairs, her footsteps a rapid clatter that faded as she disappeared onto the second floor. He blinked, then sighed, shaking his head as he returned to his laptop. "Teenagers." he muttered, returning to the endless stream of emails.

Lily slammed her bedroom door shut, twisting the lock with shaking fingers. Her heart was still pounding as she pressed her back against the door, clutching the snack bag tightly. Slowly, her eyes darted toward the window.

With a quick burst of energy, she scrambled to the glass, peeking cautiously through the curtains. The street below was quiet, illuminated by the faint glow of the streetlamps. No dark figure. No ominous delivery guy with a motorcycle helmet.

She exhaled sharply, sinking to the floor beneath the window and dropping the bag of snacks beside her. Her knees pulled to her chest, and she buried her face in her hands for a moment. "You're being ridiculous," she whispered. "He's not a killer. Probably."

The sound of her phone vibrating jolted her out of her spiral. Her head snapped up, and she immediately fumbled with the strap of her bag, yanking it off her shoulder. "Oh, no, no, no." she muttered under her breath, yanking the phone free and staring at the glowing screen.

Koji.

Her shoulders sagged with relief as her seat buddy's name flashed on the display. "Thank god." she whispered, staring at the screen. It was a text—short, sweet, and exactly what she'd expected.

(SMS)

Koji: Hey, sorry for missing school. I'll explain later. Hope you're okay.

She stared at the message for a moment, her thumb hovering over the keyboard. But instead of typing a response, she sighed and dropped the phone onto the floor beside her.

"No time for you, Ko-ko." she murmured, pressing her hands to her cheeks. "I've got bigger problems right now."

Her phone buzzed again, the screen lighting up in the dim room. This time, it wasn't Koji.

Unknown Number.

"So? I thought I was clear today when we saw each other."

Her stomach churned as she grabbed the phone, her fingers trembling so badly she nearly dropped it.Her thumb hovered over the notification, her mind racing.

This was it. The moment. No more running. No more avoiding it. She was going to reply, and she was going to figure out who this creep was.

"Alright big asshole." she muttered to herself, straightening her back and clutching the phone tightly. "Time to face the music, delivery guy."

With a deep breath, she opened the message thread and began typing.

What do you want from me?

Her finger hovered over the send button for half a second before she pressed it, the message flying into the void.

Her heart pounded as she stared at the screen, waiting for the three little dots to appear.

Waiting for a response.

Waiting for anything.

\ᇂ_ᇂ\

"Finally." Hayato muttered, his phone buzzing on the glossy table reflected the dim, multicolored lights of the karaoke screen, his untouched drink leaving faint rings of condensation.Rika's shrill laughter cut through the noise of the music and chatter, but he barely registered it.

Meanwhile, across town, in a private karaoke lounge that screamed money, Hayato's phone buzzed on the glossy table beside his untouched drink. His eyes flicked to the screen, and his lips curled into a smirk.

"Hayato-kun." Rika whined, leaning closer to him and brushing a perfectly manicured hand against his arm. "What do you think about my dress? It's Versace, do you like it?"

"Yeah yeah, you're gorgeous, Rika-chan, nice hair."

"Are you kidding me?! Oi, Hayat—"

"Shut up, Rika-chan." Shun piped up from the other side of the table, grinning lazily. "Hayato's probably juggling texts from his fan club again. What's it now? Five girls? Ten?"

"More like twenty." Tsubasa added dryly, sipping his drink and giving Hayato a pointed look.

Hayato ignored them, his focus entirely on his phone as he unlocked it.

The princess finally deigned to answer.

(SMS)

Unknwon Number

Finally. You're braver than I thought, Lily-chan.

Lily

Who even ARE you?

Unknown Number

Try to guess.

Lily

I KNOW who you are.

You can drop the act.

Unknown Number

Oh? Who am I, exactly?

Lily

You should tell me. You're the one who started all this.

Unknown Number

You didn't seem so curious the other night.

Lily

Damn psycho! What do you want!?

Unknown Number

Psycho? You're hurting my feelings now, Lily-chan.

Lily

You don't GET to have feelings after what you pulled!

Unknown Number

What exactly did I pull?

Lily

You want to pretend nothing happened? Fine. But why did you follow me earlier? And how did you know I was at the store?

He stared at the screen, eyebrows furrowing as he reread the message. Once. Twice.

What the actual—?

His free hand lowered his drink to the table as he reread the text, the corner of his mouth twitching between amusement and confusion.

He pictured her typing this, her face probably scrunched up in frustration, that odd mixture of fire and innocence that somehow managed to annoy him and make her interesting.

But if he was amused and bored now he was definitely.. curious. Who the hell was she talking about?

His grip on the phone tightened slightly as the pieces of her nonsensical accusations floated around in his head without ever clicking together.

Unknown Number

Followed you, huh?

Lily

YES. Don't even try to deny it. You were there!

Unknown Number

It's a free country, isn't it?

Lily

Ugh, cut it out! You were watching me, weren't you?

Unknown Number

If I was, would you be flattered?

Hayato didn't understand. He was so fucking confused that he could have hit himself in the face.

No, never. You can't touch your perfect face.

But anyway, her meaningless words were already hitting him. What the hell was this woman talking about?

It was a game? A revenge? An attempt to be cool? What the heck?!

Lily

Don't play dumb. You're the guy from the other night. You were outside my door, then you sent me that message AND followed me tonight.

Unknown Number

I never said I was innocent.

Lily

I'm asking you for the last time. What do you want from me?

Hayato leaned back against the plush seat, his phone buzzing again. Another message. Another rant.

Lily

Why were you following me? Huh? If you wanted more money for the delivery because of the rain, you could've just asked! Standing there silently at my door like some weirdo—what was that about?

Following her? Rain? Money?

His grip on the phone tightened slightly as the pieces of her nonsensical accusations floated around in his head without ever clicking together.

"Who the hell is she talking about?" he muttered under his breath, though his voice was drowned out by the high-pitched laughter of Rika and Shun arguing over who could sing the chorus of the karaoke song louder. Tsubasa, ever detached, lounged in the corner, scrolling his phone with barely a glance in their direction.

Hayato's jaw ticked as he reread her message again, and this time… it hit him.

Wait. She thinks I'm someone else?

He closed his eyes, exhaling sharply through his nose as the ridiculousness of it all settled in. The princess thought he was… what? Some random dude delivering food to her door?

For a second, he almost laughed. Almost. But the more he thought about it, the more it grated at him. She thought he—Hayato Mori, son of a world-famous model, heir to his family's empire, the guy who could buy out an entire kombini without blinking—was a delivery guy?

And worse, she thought he'd followed her.

And that—somehow—bothered him.

The screen lit up again.

Lily

You could've just said something! I don't know why you were so weird about it.

If it was about the rain, I could've just tipped you more.

Oh, this was just getting better and better.

Hayato clenched his jaw, his free hand dragging through his hair in a sharp motion. There was a strange flicker of something in his chest, something that felt a lot like irritation. No. Not irritation. Annoyance. Annoyance that she—the clueless foreign girl with the messy hair and stupid, oversized sweatshirts—had the audacity to think of him as… beneath her.

Some nameless, faceless worker.

Hayato leaned back in his seat, tapping the phone against his lips as the realization settled. She really thought he was this strange guy. Folllowing and watching her.

At first, it was amusing. But the longer he thought about it, the more the idea grated on him. Who was this guy? What was he doing at her door? Why was she so fixated on him?

His eyes narrowed, his smirk fading as the questions dug deeper into his mind. She wasn't scared of Hayato Mori. No. She was scared of some faceless nobody who'd managed to slip into her thoughts.

And that—somehow—bothered him.

But then again, wasn't this the perfect opportunity? If she already thought he was this guy, why not let her believe it a little longer? Why not use the misunderstanding to his advantage?

"Yo, Hayato!" Shun called from across the room, his tone casual and grating all at once. "News from Arata? He was supposed to be here half an hour ago."

Hayato didn't look up, didn't respond. Shun's voice barely registered, a distant buzz in the back of his mind. His thumb hovered over the keyboard, thoughts swirling as he debated his next move.

His thumb hovered over the keyboard, and he began typing slowly, carefully.

Unknown Number

Princess, you've got quite the imagination.

He hit send and waited, leaning back in his seat and letting his eyes close for a moment. She was so easy to rile up—so predictable, in her own chaotic way. But still… why was she even thinking about him like this? Why was her mind jumping to him at all?

The phone buzzed almost immediately.

Lily

Oh, don't play dumb. You were there, at my door, all dressed in black and silent like some horror movie villain! I'm not afraid of you!

Silent. Dressed in black. Horror movie villain.

Hayato opened his eyes slowly, his lips parting as realization hit him. She wasn't talking about him. Not at all.

His eyes narrowed slightly, the corners of his mouth twitching. Someone else had been there. Someone she thought was him. And now she was throwing all her suspicions at his feet like they belonged there.

For some reason, the thought of this faceless "delivery guy" pissed him off more than it should have.

Who the hell was this guy? Why was he the one stuck in her head? Why did the thought of her thinking about anyone else—anyone—annoy him so much?

His grip tightened on the phone again as he started typing another response.

But the annoyance passed quickly. Because he had already found a way to exploit the thing to his advantage.

Unknown Number

If you're not scared, then let's keep talking. What do you think? I promise I won't follow you anymore.

He hit send before he could second-guess it, his smirk sharpening as he imagined her reaction. This wasn't about some mystery delivery man anymore.

This was about him. And he wasn't going to let her forget it.

Lily

What?

Unknown Number

It's just that you're so beautiful and I'm so shy. I'm sorry if I scared you, really. I would do anything to make it up to you.

Lily

Just promise me you'll never follow me again.

He didn't visualise her last message.

He set the phone down, leaning back with a sharp exhale. Whatever this misunderstanding was, it had handed him the perfect opening to keep her on edge. And that was just fine with him.

Let her think what she wanted. Let her spiral.

Because as long as she kept texting him, Hayato Mori was the only one in her head.

And for now? That was more than enough.