Shawn lay on his bed with his eyes wide open, staring fixedly at his phone screen.
He wasn't blinking.
He wasn't moving.
Just staring.
His brain—exhausted from hunger, cold, and the headache that still hadn't fully gone away—was using the last scraps of mental energy it had left to process the situation he was in.
Because yes.
They really had doxxed him.
His real name, his face, his personal details… everything was out there, exposed on the internet for thousands of people to see.
Shawn swiped through the screen, scrolling through the threads and posts that had been made about him in the last few hours.
Luckily, the photo most people were sharing was an old one from three years ago.
A photo where his nose looked bigger than normal because of the angle, and one of his eyes had come out slightly crooked.
'Is that seriously the best photo they could find?' Shawn thought, staring at the image with a mix of embarrassment and irritation. 'I don't even look like that anymore!'
And the address they'd leaked wasn't the current one either.
It was the apartment he used to live in, not this one.
That relieved him a little.
Only a little.
Because what was really starting to worry him wasn't the photo or the address.
It was something else.
'Has my family already found out about all this?' Shawn thought, feeling a knot form in his stomach.
He'd seen several comments in the main thread where users were organizing to search for his family's social media.
Some had already found his sister's profile.
Others were looking for his dad's.
And several more were asking someone to contact his family directly to "inform them" about what kind of person Shawn was.
'Do these people seriously have that much free time?' Shawn thought, clenching his teeth.
But that wasn't the worst part.
The worst part was how much attention the whole thing was getting.
Shawn couldn't believe people were getting this worked up over the comments he'd made to various girls online over the years.
Yes, he'd mocked several of them.
Yes, most of them had flat chests and sold content of their bodies on blue sites.
But to Shawn, that had always been part of the game.
They put themselves out there voluntarily!
And now suddenly he was the villain for saying what he thought?
'This is ridiculous,' Shawn thought, frowning.
The thread that girl had made in response to his "apology" already had over two million views.
Two million.
'How the hell does a comment about a girl with small boobs get this much attention?' Shawn thought, unable to believe it.
He scrolled back to the top of the thread and started reading it again.
Her tweet said:
"@TurnerTrock: Oh wow, thanks for this textbook 'apology.' Let's break it down because it's pure gold:
'It came out harsher than I meant' → Translation: 'I said it, but I didn't want it to hurt you THAT much.'
'It hurt me to see you exposing yourself for money' → It hurt YOU? Poor baby. My body, my choice, my bank account.
'I wouldn't recommend it to other girls' → Classic 'I'm your dad and I'm looking out for you' sermon. Nobody asked for your opinion, king.
'Others will say worse things' → 'My harassment is light, don't complain.' Classic minimization.
'Take care' → Cynical finisher.
But wait, this isn't just about me.
I checked your profile and… oof.
You've been doing the same thing for years: cruel comments to girls with short hair, to the ones who don't have 'enough' up top, to anyone who doesn't fit your ideal of 'sexy woman.'
Screenshots from 2023, 2024, 2025… all the same: mockery, 'jokes,' 'it's just humor.'
How many of us have you made feel like shit just for existing? Girls: if this guy has ever said anything like this to you, reply below. Let it be on record.
And to the ones saying 'it's just the internet' → no. It's systematic harassment.
#NotAJoke #OnlineHarassment #ExposingTrolls"
Below the thread were tens of thousands of comments.
All supporting her.
All demanding "justice" for what he'd done.
Shawn let out a snort.
'Justice,' he thought bitterly. 'As if I'd killed someone.'
Luckily, he and that girl were from different countries, so Shawn doubted this would ever turn into real legal consequences.
'No way this nonsense leaves the internet,' he thought, trying to convince himself.
And then his phone started ringing.
Shawn looked at the screen.
It was his sister.
Sarah.
Shawn felt his stomach shrink.
'Shit,' he thought, staring at the name on the screen.
He hesitated for several seconds.
The phone kept ringing.
Shawn didn't want to answer.
He knew exactly what was coming.
But if he didn't pick up now, she'd keep calling until he did.
'Better get this over with,' Shawn thought with resignation.
He cleared his throat a few times—his throat was still a bit dry from all the discomfort the other world had left him with.
Then he pressed the green button.
"Hel—?"
"ARE YOU AN IDIOT OR WHAT!?" Sarah screamed from the other end of the line.
Shawn instinctively pulled the phone away from his ear, face scrunched up from the volume.
His sister's voice was so loud he could hear her perfectly even with the phone held at arm's length.
"DO YOU EVEN HAVE A BRAIN, SHAWN!?" she continued, not giving him a chance to respond. "DO YOU ONLY THINK WITH WHAT'S BETWEEN YOUR LEGS!? WHAT KIND OF PERSON SAYS THAT KIND OF SHIT TO A GIRL ONLINE!?"
Shawn blinked, trying to stay calm.
"Sarah…" he said quietly. "Why are you so upset?"
The silence on the other end lasted exactly half a second.
"WHY AM I UPSET!?" Sarah exploded, her voice so high-pitched Shawn had to pull the phone away again. "DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME, SHAWN! DON'T YOU DARE!"
Shawn rubbed a hand over his face.
"I was just ask—"
"THE WHOLE FAMILY ALREADY KNOWS WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING ONLINE FOR YEARS!" Sarah interrupted, her voice shaking between rage and frustration. "DAD KNOWS! MOM KNOWS! THE AUNTS AND UNCLES KNOW! EVERYONE KNOWS!"
Shawn closed his eyes.
'So yeah, they found out,' he thought, feeling the knot in his stomach tighten a little more.
"Everyone's disappointed, Shawn," Sarah continued, lowering her voice slightly but keeping the firmness. "Everyone."
There was a brief pause.
"Dad hasn't said anything yet," she added. "But Mom cried."
Shawn opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.
He said nothing.
Sarah didn't either.
The silence stretched on for several seconds.
And then Shawn let out a small laugh.
"Hehe…"
"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY ABOUT ALL THIS!?" Sarah exploded again.
"Nothing," Shawn replied, still with a forced smile on his face. "I was just thinking that at least they don't have to see my current face, right?"
Sarah paused.
"What?" she said, confused.
"I mean," Shawn continued, scratching his head, "the photo they're sharing is from three years ago. So at least they won't connect my current face to all this."
"SHAWN!" Sarah shouted. "YOU NEVER TAKE ANYTHING IMPORTANT SERIOUSLY! YOU THINK EVERYTHING'S A GAME!"
"I don't think it's a game," Shawn answered, his tone more tired now. "I'm just being realistic."
"REALISTIC!?" Sarah repeated, incredulous. "THIS IS REALISTIC TO YOU!? THE HOUSE PHONE WON'T STOP RINGING! PEOPLE WE DON'T EVEN KNOW ARE CALLING TO INSULT US! AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"
Shawn stayed silent.
"YOU HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO APOLOGIZE!" Sarah demanded. "TO ALL THOSE GIRLS! TO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!"
Shawn let out another laugh.
"What's so funny now?" Sarah asked, her voice trembling with anger.
"Sarah," Shawn said, sighing. "Apologizing at this point isn't going to fix anything."
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"I'm talking about how internet people don't want apologies," Shawn replied. "They want blood. If I apologize publicly, they'll say it's fake. That I'm only doing it because I got caught. That it's not sincere. They'll keep attacking anyway."
Sarah went quiet.
"The best thing you all can do," Shawn continued, "is for you to make a thread talking about what a terrible brother I've been for years. Tell them every bad thing you want about me. That way all the hate focuses on me and they leave you guys alone."
The silence on the other end was long.
Very long.
And then Sarah spoke.
"That," she said in a cold voice, "is the worst idea I've ever heard in my life."
Shawn blinked.
"Has your brain rotted?" Sarah asked, incredulous. "Are you seriously asking me to talk shit about my own brother in public!? NO ONE in this family is going to do that! NO ONE!"
Shawn scratched his head.
"Then figure out how to handle that problem yourselves," Shawn said dryly.
And he hung up.
Shawn set the phone down on the nightstand and started coughing.
A dry cough that scraped his throat.
'Damn shitty body,' he thought, feeling how the discomfort from the other world was still taking its toll.
He dropped back onto the bed, staring at his computer screen, which was still on across the room.
That girl's thread was still open.
The numbers kept climbing.
More comments.
More shares.
More people joining the virtual lynching.
'It's only a matter of hours,' Shawn thought, feeling the worry creep back in.
Only a matter of hours before one of those people found the name of the company he worked for.
And when they did, they'd send all that information to his boss.
And then, goodbye job.
Again.
But this time for good.
'What can I do…?' Shawn thought, staring at the ceiling.
Following his sister's suggestion would make him look pathetic.
A public apology would just pour more fuel on the fire.
And anything he said would be twisted against him.
For Shawn, the best option was to do nothing.
Wait.
Wait for people to get bored of the topic and move on to the next one.
Because they always moved on to the next one.
Always.
The internet had the memory of a goldfish when it came to things like this.
'One week,' Shawn thought. 'Two at most. And everyone will be talking about something else.'
Just then, a notification popped up on his phone.
It was a message from his boss.
Shawn opened it with some nerves.
[Boss - 23:12]: Already deposited the $150 for today's work. Good wrap-up.
Shawn let out a sigh.
There was nothing weird in the message.
No strange tone.
No uncomfortable questions.
His boss didn't know anything.
Yet.
'$150,' Shawn thought, looking at the amount. 'That'll buy food for several days.'
It was good pay.
Pay he desperately needed.
But Shawn wasn't happy.
He couldn't be.