It Seems Like a Girl I Don’t Know Is Doing Housework at My Place. But She’s Cute, So I’m Watching Her.

I heightened my awareness as I entered the apartment. At first glance, there was no sign of anyone. Thankfully, it seemed I wouldn’t be confronting the intruder right away.

However, the sight of unfamiliar shoes, clearly women’s, confirmed that the intruder was indeed the stalker.

“Hmm…”

My apartment was a one-room unit with a hallway. Given that there was no one in the hallway, there were only four possible places the intruder could be: the toilet, the washroom, the bathroom beyond the washroom, and the living space. I needed to cautiously check these areas one by one.

Even though my plan was to completely ignore the intruder, I still wanted to know their exact location for safety’s sake. It was a small measure of risk management.

Additionally, if the intruder was hiding in the toilet or washroom, they might leave quietly if I stayed in the living space. So, finding out their location was crucial for my strategy.

“…”

I didn’t want to make it obvious that I was searching for them. That would contradict my plan to ignore their existence. So, my actions had to seem natural.

“I should have kept the camera hidden longer…”

Removing the hidden camera after capturing some footage had backfired. I had thought that checking the footage regularly was too much of a hassle. Clearly, that was a mistake. But it was too late now.

Setting aside my regrets, I started with the toilet. I placed my bag down and opened the door, trying to look casual.

“…Clear.”

No one there. The toilet had no places to hide, so I could rule it out completely.

I stayed in the toilet for about a minute to keep up appearances, then flushed and exited.

“Need to wash my feet…”

Next was the washroom and bathroom. I muttered to myself, partly to maintain the pretense of not searching and partly to give the intruder a chance to escape if they were in the living space.

I opened the washroom door. No one there. The bathroom door was partly see-through, and I confirmed no one was inside.

“Too bad.”

Honestly, I had been looking forward to the thrill of possibly confronting the stalker, but things were proceeding peacefully. I felt a bit let down, but a non-confrontational resolution was fine.

I moved to the bathroom and started washing my feet, making sure to make some noise with the shower. This was part of my usual routine after coming home.

“…No noise.”

It seemed the stalker hadn’t taken the opportunity to escape. Perhaps they were too cautious to move or hadn’t noticed my signals.

Or maybe they had already escaped through the window, but that was unlikely. This was the second floor, and the gravel outside would have made it impractical to jump out barefoot, especially since the shoes were still at the entrance.

So, the stalker must be in the living space. There weren’t many hiding spots there—maybe the closet, under the bed, or in the bed. The space under the bed was unlikely since I stored several boxes there.

“Well, let’s see.”

I headed back to the hallway and opened the door to the living space. It looked as familiar as ever, though tidier than when I had left. The stalker had been cleaning up, as usual.

“…”

I scanned the room. No obvious sign of the intruder around the bed area. That left the closet. It was slightly ajar, probably left that way for peeking.

“Time to change into loungewear.”

“──!”

Without hesitation, I opened the closet door.

“Ah, um…!”

Inside was the stalker, visibly flustered. They probably hadn’t expected me to open the closet so boldly.

Now that I could see them up close, I took in their appearance: wavy brown hair, gentle eyes, and a generally attractive face. Their figure was average—not particularly slender or voluptuous. They had a calm, gentle aura, fitting the impression I had formed from the camera footage.

They seemed like a kind, serious, and reserved person. In other words, someone who didn’t assert themselves, was prone to obsessive thinking, and bottled up their emotions. Traits that might lead to stalking and trespassing.

“…”

Ignoring the flustered stalker, I reached into the closet for my loungewear.

“Uh, um…?”

The stalker seemed confused by my lack of reaction. They probably expected me to be shocked or confrontational. But I continued to ignore them, pondering a conclusion from my quick observations.

──Who is this person?

“…”

Unsurprisingly, I didn’t recognize them. They weren’t among my friends, acquaintances, or even regular customers at my part-time job. Though they looked vaguely familiar, it was in a generic way, not someone I could identify.

So, I was at a loss. I didn’t know who they were or why they were fixated on me. The possibility of them being a complete stranger who had developed a crush on me was becoming more plausible.

“Uh, um──”

Before the stalker could say anything, I closed the closet door.

The fact that we were complete strangers solidified my decision to ignore them. Asking “who are you?” would invalidate all my previous efforts.

“…”

I discarded my clothes and changed into my loungewear. I noticed the closet door slightly ajar again but chose to ignore it. Even if I felt their gaze, reacting now would ruin everything. Besides, I had nothing to hide.

More importantly, the stalker’s identity being “unknown” was significant. It meant I wouldn’t have to worry about running into them outside of these stalking incidents.

If they had been a regular customer, things would have been much more complicated. Ignoring them during work would be difficult, and interacting with them would be even more awkward.

Knowing they were a complete stranger was a relief. It meant I could deal with any issues without hesitation.

“Let’s turn on the tablet.”

I sat at my desk and set up my drawing equipment. Placing my phone nearby, I could keep an eye on the closet while using it for reference.

Now it was up to the stalker. I would just continue my recent hobby of drawing until I got bored.

“…I-I’m leaving now.”

──In the end, the stalker quietly left about two hours later.