This happened to me last night and I hope that sharing my story will remind you to be careful, even if you feel very safe in your home.
I live in Korea which is a ridiculously safe country. After 4 years I haven't even had anyone (other than one asshole american) cat call me. But a few months ago I had a man try to follow me home. He looked like he was not all there in the head, and I noticed him before I was anywhere near my home and was able to scare him back to where he came from.
Last night though I had another creepy experience that could have been any number of things, but it reminded me to be very careful.
I live in an apartment building here in Seoul and I know everyone who lives on my floor (there arent that many of us) so I can usually tell who is coming down the hall based on their footsteps.
I was waiting for my boyfriend to come over and usually I open the door for him right when he arrives since our key pad is hard to use.
Most apartments in Korea use a keypad like this to open the door, not a real key. Usually even though I always beat him to it, my boyfriend at least tries to open the door. But when I heard footsteps come down the hallway and stop at my door, I was surprised he didnt start pressing buttons.
For some reason I looked out the peephole and saw the shoulder of a man (i think) with a puffy winter jacket on outside my door. It was similar to my boyfriend so I thought maybe he was just reading an email or something (he can be a scatter brain haha) and paused before opening the door.
I waited without saying anything because I usually try to surprise him at the door.
But the man stayed still for so long that the lights went off in our hallway (most lights in Korean apartment hallways are motion censored so if theres no movement in the hallway for a while, they go off.
I thought that was SUPER weird so I knocked on my door to make the man do something (i still thought it could be my boyfriend)
Thats when he disappeared/walked away. At this point I cant remember if I actually saw him turn and move away or if I looked away and when I looked back he was gone.
Either way I was freaked out.
I texted my boyfriend asking if that was him, and saw I had missed a message from him asking if I wanted snacks. I thought then maybe he came to my home but went back out to grab snacks.
Maybe 30 seconds later he was unlocking my door and apologizing for being late.
That wasn't him at the door only a minute before.
It could have been an innocent mistake, someone got the wrong room number or something, but something about the way they just stood there not moving for so long gave me the creeps.
I want to encourage all of you to, even if you're expecting someone at your door, to check first and ask who it is.
