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You had only been in the RFA for a few days, and already you seemed to be getting a grasp of the lives and complexities of the other members. Each of them had their own struggles and problems, and also had their own views on matters which affected them all. They all had their differences, whether it be to do with age, wealth, education, family, or their past, and it made you feel curious. You wanted to be able to understand them and get along with them all as the new member and new party planner of the group.But despite this…There was one member who was still so confusing to you.An enigma.The current leader of the group, V.He was the one person which you knew close to nothing about. Not even his real name was known to you. All you knew that he was known as V on the messenger, he was engaged to Rika before she committed suicide, a childhood friend of Jumin’s, and that he was a photographer. Nothing else was known.You even knew more about Seven than that, considering that Seven was a hacker whose job depended on him keeping details about himself a secret.Speaking of Seven, your were currently on the phone with him, though thinking about how well you knew everyone had distracted you.“You absolutely must listen to me… You can’t leave the apartment.”“What...? But what if I need-”“You can’t leave, not even for a few moments! It’s dangerous, okay?! I have reason to believe that the hacker will try to target you as soon as you leave the apartment...Please… Don’t leave.”“Um… F- Fine...” You take a shaky breath, before closing your eyes. “But Seven… What if an RFA member comes here? Would I be allowed to let them in?”“Hmm… Well, only myself and V know the address. But I suppose if it’s us, it will be okay. Call me straight away if Zen, Jaehee, Yoosung, or Jumin end up there though, because that means that something...” You could hear Seven trying to find the right words on the other end of the phone.”That… something isn’t right.” Reluctantly, you sighed and sat down on the sofa in the apartment. Moments later, you heard Seven just about meow and say bye, and then you were stuck in silence.You couldn’t leave the apartment? That was great… just great. You could have swore that you had almost no food in that morning, and were barely able to get a breakfast together, and now you were stuck here for god knows how long, perhaps even all the way up to the party! You were lucky that there was running water in the apartment, but… What could you possibly do about eating?After what felt like a good few hours wondering about what you could possibly do in regards to food, a sudden notification popped up on your phone.
A new chatroom has opened!
Almost as if by instinct, you pressed the notification, unlocked your phone, and then watched as the RFA messenger opened up. The list of chatrooms opened up, and you quickly scrolled down to find the current one. Zen and Jumin were online… Zen was likely to freak out over your current situation, so you decided that it would be best not to mention it.
Jumin Han: Why don’t you accept the job, Zen?
ZEN: Jerk. You know that I have an allergy to cats!
Jumin Han: Hello there.
ZEN: Hey! Are you changing the subject on me?!
ZEN: Oh! Hey! You okay?
You: Hello, you two~
You: I’m good at the moment, Zen. Just a bit bored.
ZEN: Bored? How come?
You: Oh… Seven called me before, saying that it’s dangerous for me to leave the apartment right now…
Jumin Han: Is this because of the hacker?
You: Unfortunately.
ZEN: God! This hacker isn’t letting up!
Jumin Han: Agreed. But perhaps we should change the topic of conversation, she might have come online for a distraction from her current situation.
You: Aaaand one point to Jumin Han!
ZEN: Um…
You: Oh. And one sympathy point to Zen for being good looking and good at acting ^^
Jumin Han: I object.
ZEN: lolol overruled~
You laughed at the way in which Zen reacted to Jumin’s objection, before deciding to get in on the fun yourself. This was a fun distraction.
You: Silence in the courtroom~
Jumin Han: This is not a court.
You: Booooooo, you can’t take a joke, Jumin……..
ZEN: And that, your honour, is why Jumin Han is GUILTY!
It was fun when you got to joke around with Seven in the chatroom, but sometimes, Zen was just as playful. The same went with Yoosung too, if you managed to perk him up enough with video game related encouragement. This was one of the few times where you were having fun with Zen. Sure, you felt somewhat sorry for Jumin, but…
-V has entered the chatroom-
Jumin Han: This. Is. Not. A. Courtroom.
V: I probably shouldn’t ask, should I?
You stared at the screen in disbelief. V had said about two days before that he was going on a trip, and would return a day before the party… The party was still a few days away. No doubt Zen and Jumin were gasping at their phone screens too.
You: !!
Jumin Han: V? What are you doing here?
V: Something came up… I had to return back to the city.
ZEN: What was it?
V: I can’t really say. Sorry, Hyun.
V: Anyway, seeming as I am here, I might as well talk to you all. Have you all ate?
The question you were dreading. You knew that it would get brought up at some point, it always does at this point in the day by somebody, typically Zen or Yoosung.
ZEN: lololol I’ve just gone to the convenience store and bought some food
Jumin Han: I just had an enjoyable meal with Elizabeth. It is a shame that you did not come on here earlier, V, I would have invited you to join us.
You: … I can’t eat at the moment.
Moments later, Zen’s surprised emoji was posted, and even more shockingly, Jumin used his angry emoji. You closed your eyes, annoyed with yourself for actually writing that. One question was going through your mind – why didn’t you lie to them?
V: What do you mean?
ZEN: You should always eat if you can!!! Are you skipping meals?!
Jumin Han: If you could leave the apartment, I would invite you to my penthouse for a meal…
V: Wait, she can’t leave Rika’s apartment?
Because you weren’t wanting any sympathy at that moment in time, you quickly logged out of the chatroom and left it behind on the sofa as you stood up. What you needed right now was a drink of water.The kitchen was hardly touched in the few days which you had been residing at the apartment, so it still had two years worth of dust all over the surfaces. You had relied simply on ready-made meals from convenience stores or on anything which could be cooked within a few minutes in the microwave, making that the only thing in the kitchen which didn’t have any dust. Besides the tap, that was.You reached out for the empty bottle which had been a substitute for a cup over the past few days, before unscrewing the lid and sighing as you began to pour the water. Unfortunately, you got a bit sidetracked as the water ran, because you began to hear the buzzing of texts from your phone. It was probably just Zen and Jumin trying to see what had happened to make you suddenly leave the chatroom.Water suddenly began to overflow onto your hands moments later, so you shrieked and quickly screwed the lid onto the bottle before turning off the tap. Just your luck… Things weren’t going your way today.Suddenly, your phone began to ring with an unknown ringtone. It made you slightly paranoid, because the your phone was quite new, and the only contacts which you had on there were Zen, Yoosung, Jaehee, Jumin, and Seven. “God… Thanks a lot, Seven, you’ve made me worried that the hacker is trying to call me now...” With a slight reluctance, you returned to the sofa and picked up the device and slowly moved your finger over to ‘reject call’.But you still answered it.“Hello? This is V… I’m sorry, I just had to ask Jumin for your number so that I could call you.” “V? God… I was scared that you were the hacker...” You placed the bottle of water down on the ground, before you sat on the sofa. It was only V… But wait, why didn’t Seven put his number in your contacts like he had the others? “Uh… Why did you want to talk to me?...”“After Hyun and Jumin mentioned that you weren’t able to leave Rika’s apartment, I looked back through the chatroom and noticed that you had mentioned that Luciel said for you not to leave. What exactly did he tell you? Normally he wouldn’t have made a decision like that on his own, but he must have presumed that I was still away,” V explained, before you heard what sounded like a door closing behind him, followed by the noises made by moving cars.For the next few minutes, you did exactly as V asked, and relayed to him as best as you could everything which Seven had told you in regards to leaving the apartment. It was a relief that V was so understanding over this being the reason behind you not being able to get any food to eat. Zen and Jumin probably would have gone ballistic if they were told that though.“I… see,” V started, before you heard him muttering something to himself for a moment. “Could you quickly send Luciel a text for me whilst I am on the phone with you? I just tried to, and I got a notification saying that the message wasn’t sent.”“Okay… Just let me put my phone on speaker so I can hear you at the same time,” you mumbled, pulling your phone away from your ear and pressing the speaker button. After that, you opened the messages and pressed Seven’s name. “Right. I’ve got my messages open. What do you want me to put?”“Tell Luciel that I am back in town, my phone is bugged meaning that I can’t contact him, and that I am going to see you at the apartment.”You typed it out, and pressed send. But then you gasped. “Wait… Are you… coming here?”“Yes. You are just as much a member of the RFA as everyone else is, and I should be concerned about your welfare as the leader of the group. I’ll bring you some food to eat.” He then fell silent, and you bit your lip. V was coming to see you? At the apartment? To bring you something to eat?! “Would you like me to buy anything in particular, or are you not too bothered with what you eat? I can get you what you want… Take it as an apology for everything which has been happening recently.”“I- I’m fine with anything…” Moments later, your phone buzzed through receiving a text message. “Oh… Seven replied… He said that he wants to talk to you as soon as you get to the apartment so you’ll have to use my phone...”“Right… See you in a few minutes. I’m only at the convenience store just outside the building with the apartment.”“V… Thank you so much for this… See you soon.”For the next few minutes, you kept getting repeated frustrated texts from Seven to stop sticking your head out of the apartment door. Each time, you would turn to the security camera down the hallway and stick your tongue out. After a while, Seven just gave up. What surprised you though was the image which was sent to you moments later by him.‘This guy right here is V. Except he’s likely to have a cane and sunglasses because he’s got a bit of an eye injury at the moment and he can’t see properly.’Almost as if on cue, the sound of the elevator arriving at the floor rang through the air, and a man matching the image and what Seven had said in his message stepped out. With that, you waved over to the camera and then pointed towards him. It quickly moved to face towards the elevator.‘Awesome, he’s there ;) Call me so that I can speak to him when you’ve ate.’‘By the way, sorry for springing the whole ‘don’t leave the apartment’ thing on you so suddenly;;’‘I never knew that you didn’t have any food, I was just concerned for your safety!’‘I mean, what can I do in the chat without my partner in crime to help me joke about or tease Yoosung?!’You laughed at the four successive messages, before putting on a smile as V approached you.This was your opportunity to figure out the mystery of the RFA… Perhaps you could finally find out more about him.“Hello there… This is our first time meeting in person,” V stated, before he pulled his sunglasses down slightly. “I’ve only seen you on images which Luciel managed to get of you. I have to say… You look much nicer in person.”Was it possible to get this flustered because of somebody you only met in person less than thirty seconds ago?It took a lot to muster up something to say. “We should go inside… Seven will start getting more and more paranoid the longer that I’m stood in the doorway,” you mumbled, before then waving to the camera in the hall once more. Once the two of you were inside, you made a quick glance over to the kitchen. “S- So, um… I don’t mean to sound rude or anything… But do you have the food?… I haven’t ate since this morning, and that was barely anything… Just a bit of leftover rice from yesterday...”It was easy to tell that V was looking directly at you through his sunglasses, before he held up a bag which was in his hand. “I’ve got it all in here. But let me make you something, okay?” He pulled the bag back as you went to reach out for it, before… grinning. Was he teasing you?! “I’ll just make a few sandwiches. They’re quick and filling, and I’m sure that you’ll stop receiving text after text from Hyun asking if you’ve ate...” Oh. You had started blanking out your phone once you noticed V leaving the elevator, so you hadn’t noticed the bombardment of texts which you had got from Zen. Twelve of them, by the looks of things. “Reply to him. I’m sure that you will be able to eat once he’s stopped stressing out over your health.”You felt warm and happy when V ruffled your hair as he walked past you towards the kitchen as you sat down on the sofa in order to do as V had suggested.‘Gah! Answer me! Are you skipping your meals?!’You rolled your eyes, and began to type out your answer.‘Not intentionally, Zen… There was no food in the apartment and Seven pretty much has me on lockdown here because of the hacker.’‘Oh! But there’s no reason to worry now! V suddenly called me, saying that he was going to bring me some food… He’s here right now, actually.’ You yawned slightly then, awaiting Zen’s response. You then reached out for the nearby television remote, and turned the tv on. The only somewhat decent thing on at that moment in time was the news, so you decided to just put that on.‘V… IS WITH YOU RIGHT NOW?!’‘YOU’RE ALONE WITH A MAN IN THE APARTMENT?!’‘AT NIGHT?!’You could already picture Zen’s face, and a smirk formed on yours.‘He offered to make me something to eat as an apology for everything which has happened over the past few days… It’s really sweet, isn’t it?’‘Yeah, I guess so… V’s a nice guy.’‘Though I’m so jealous;;’‘He’s the first RFA member to meet you in person...’As soon as Zen’s last text came through, you suddenly noticed a plate with some sandwiches cut up into triangles appear beside you, and moments later, V did too with some food for himself. “So… Did you explain about your no food situation to Hyun?” You nod in reply, reaching out for one of the cute little triangles with cheese as the filling. “That’s good.”After that, whilst the two of you ate, the only noise which could be heard was the weather report for tomorrow on the news. It was only once the sandwiches had been devoured that you were actually able to speak.“Hey, V?… I want to know more about you,” you began, pulling your knees up onto the sofa and turning to face him. “I’ve got to know quite a bit about the others in the chatrooms, but I hardly know you...” You then noticed him turn towards you, and smile. “I might as well get to know you whilst we’re together in person, you know? Oh… After you’ve called Seven, that is.” Quickly, you held out your phone with Seven’s contact page already open.The next thing you knew, it was morning, and you had woke up and found yourself lying in the bed in the apartment. Beside you was your phone, and a small slip of paper.‘It was nice to meet you last night. You fell asleep whilst I spoke to Luciel before I could answer those questions you had. I took the liberty of tucking you into bed and putting away everything which I bought for you. There’s bread, coffee and rice in the cupboards; butter, milk, cheese, egg, and a few other things in the fridge, and also some fruit in the bowl on the counter.
You look quite sweet when you’re sleeping, by the way. I never thought of you to be the sort of person who sleep-talks either.
Oh yes, just so you know, I slept on the sofa last night. I just needed to make sure that you were safe and well.
Anyway, I have to go and meet Luciel today about seeing that the bugs in my phone are dealt with. But how about I return to the apartment at the same time tonight? I’ll answer any questions that you have about me or anything else.
- V (Jihyun Kim)’
A wide smile formed on your face then.His name…The perfect start in uncovering the RFA’s enigma.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was moments like these which V was so glad that he lived for, and made him willing to continue living after everything which had happened. His blindness no longer mattered, his past hurt now felt more of a distant memory with the occasional slight throb.What made him even happier though… Was that you had chose him. You had the opportunity to become closer to everybody else in the RFA, and yet… You chose to stand by his side, and keep him strong even when the world felt against him.You were so gentle with him, and so patient… It wasn’t anything like Rika was once her depression sent her spiralling out of control. Whenever he got frustrated when he couldn’t do something which he could have done normally when he could see, your hands would take hold of his, and carefully guide him. When he would hold onto his phone, and feel the buzzing of the messenger, you would log in yourself and read everything which was being said, no matter how embarrassing it happened to be. You’d even do little impressions of the other members to get his mind off his worries, and they were always guaranteed to make him laugh.But this… It was just wonderful.Though he couldn’t see you, he could feel you close to his body, under the blankets of the bed. You were awake, your breathing wasn’t as relaxed or nasally as it happened to be when you were asleep, and he could feel your feet shifting every few seconds. That was one of your cute little habits, you would fidget a lot until either you fell asleep or he ended up hugging you.“Ah… God… It’s so strange seeing you looking at me...” Your voice was so gentle, so calm, but so tired. “Knowing that you can’t see me… It’s upsetting, but… Just seeing your eyes facing me makes my heart flutter...” You gave off a small yawn, and your hand slowly reached out to his face and rested on his cheek.Just that soft touch brought a smile to V’s face, and he felt the need to move his own hand to rest on yours. Just knowing that you were there was so overwhelming, and a smile formed on his face at the same time as tears began to form in his eyes. Following that, he then moved one of his legs to rest over yours. He savoured this feeling of having you close to him, and that made even more tears form.Moments later, V reached out as best as he could to take hold of you. Once he managed to get one arm over you, and the other underneath you, you were pulled against him. He could feel and hear the small gasp you made when he did that, and a faint blush formed on his face. “Thank you… You make this life worth living...” He mumbled, moving his head forward to that his face was buried into your hair. It was so soft to him, and the floral scent reminded him of some of the best photos he had taken before his career as a photographer ground to a halt. “I may not be able to see you, but you brighten my day… Like the sun.” He then paused for a moment, and laughed quietly into your hair. “You’re my sun.”He then felt one of your hands move to rest on his chest, and the other was now pushing his hair off his face. “Jihyun, you always know how to make me smile…” The ways in which you always described how you felt, and some of the small physical changes which you had… He could envision it in your head, but he knew that he would never be able to truly see it. But still… It made him feel so joyous. “Here… You should at least be able to see it with your hands...”You then took hold of the hand over you, and then he felt it be moved to your face. A slightly choked sob came out when his thumb then stroked over your lips as you grinned, before he felt the urge to pull you even closer to him. His arm underneath you then moved so that he could feel all of you, not just your mouth, side, and legs, before then pulling your face over to his. “You’re too good for me… I… I don’t deserve you. Y- You should have gone to one of the others...”“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jihyun,” you started, making his eyes open with surprise despite the fact that he couldn’t see you. “I’d say… That you deserve me the most. You deserve the whole world for everything you have been through. You’re my sun.”Hearing those words come from your mouth was enough for the waterworks to completely burst, and the two of you were now in tears. How did he manage to get himself an angel such as you? What made you stay with him?It was also those words which made him push his pride aside, and he made up his mind on something. First though, he had to kiss you. He couldn’t hold it back any more, he needed to feel your lips against his, taste the sweetness which you always seemed to have, and most importantly, he needed to show you just how thankful he was for your love.Once the tears had died down, and V finally brought himself around into releasing his grasp of you, he followed your arms to take hold of your hands. “Could you… call Jumin for me?” He then pressed your foreheads together, and his eyes did their best to meet yours. “I can’t take it any more… I need to see you. I need you. I need everything about you…" He then sighed, and closed his eyes as he finally began to fall asleep. "I’m going to try and get that surgery for my eyes... I need to see brightness of my sun, not just feel her warmth...”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Hey… Are you crying? There… There isn’t any need to cry...” A hand was against your cheek, a thumb stroking just underneath your eye to wipe the tears which were forming away. “This surgery isn’t going to kill me, you know… If anything, it will make me feel more alive than I have been in a while...” V then leaned forward, and did his best to find your forehead so that he could plant a small kiss against it.“… I know...”
Slowly, you held onto your arms, more tears welling up in your eyes. It wasn’t the surgery which was the problem. If anything, you were overjoyed by the fact that V had finally decided to go ahead with it.
The problem was you.
“I’ll… see you on the other side,” V whispered, pulling you into an embrace. “Literally…” His hand found the side of your face, and he stroked your cheek for a moment. “I can’t wait to be able to see what you actually look like.”That conversation had happened about an hour before V actually had the surgery. It had been going through your head over and over, and after a while, you just decided to hide. Now you were sat on a bench in the park which was near the hospital, waiting for a text from Jumin on when the surgery was over and V was given the okay to leave.You had only one thing on your mind at that moment in time – you were the problem. You wouldn’t be somebody who V would want to see after his surgery. Why would he want to see what you looked like? He probably had high expectations for what you looked like, and there was no doubt that when he finally is able to see you, you would be nothing but a disappointment to him.Insecurities you had over what you looked like had also led to you avoiding V every so often since he made the decision to go ahead with the surgery too. Any time he brought up wanting to see you, you would end up excusing yourself.
Zen had invited you and V over to his apartment to celebrate the fact that V was going to be able to see again soon. He had ordered in some food for the three of you to eat, and after that, you were all sat on the roof of the apartment. You and Zen could see the stars, but obviously, V couldn’t. It sure as hell didn’t stop him from taking photos of it though.
“Does this look okay?...” V held his camera out for you and Zen, just so that you could see the most recent photo he had taken. He may have been blind… But god, he sure hadn’t lost his photography skills. On the image, the city outline was bordering the bottom of it, and was giving off a faint glow which eventually blended into the deep purple hues of the night sky, and stars were peppering said sky.
Awestruck was hardly the word to describe Zen’s face. “God, I thought it was impossible to beat seeing the sky here from your own eyes, but… V, you’ve used your photography magic,” Zen then took hold of the camera, and grinned. “I’m so going to have to get a copy of this image for when I have to go away for some of my upcoming roles, you know.”
You laughed at Zen’s obsession over the photo, before you then took hold of V’s hand. “It really does look good, you know...” At your words, V began to smile, before using his free hand to follow your arm, and eventually take hold of you in a hug. “I can’t wait to see what your photographs look like when you actually can see...”
V laughed, before his chin rested on your shoulder. “I want you to be the first thing I take a photo of when I can see again.”
“M- Me?… But...” Your eyes grew wide then, before you pulled back slightly. “You wouldn’t want to… Trust me...” Suddenly, you were looking for any excuse to get away for a moment. Why was he wanting to take a photo of you? Why?! “O- Oh, uh… I’ve got a call that I need to make, I- I just remembered..”Tears sprung to your eyes as you remembered Zen mentioning that V looked quite upset after you insisted that he wouldn’t want to take a photo of you. God… You didn’t want to upset him, you just knew that once he could see you, he wouldn’t want to take the photo…People walking past you gave worried or confused glances as you did your best to dry your eyes, but it was impossible to stop the tears when the ringtone which you had set for Jumin began to ring. It took a lot just to press the ‘answer call’ button.“Hello. You asked for me to call you when V was allowed to leave the hospital, didn’t you?” You were choking back tears as you laughed quietly. “Good… Thanks, Jumin...” After that, you then gazed at the hospital just in the distance. “Um… Is V with you at the moment?”“He is. He seems quite desperate to talk to you, so I shall hand you over to him.”You gulped. You were about to talk to him… God forbid he tries to find you when he realises that you’re not there at the hospital waiting for him. Even though you knew that he was about to talk to you, it was surprising when his voice came through your phone. “Hello… I’m out of the surgery now...” You honestly didn’t know what to say. “I… Can just about see at the moment. With my sunglasses, that is… Apparently my sight will return to me gradually over the next few days.”Quietly, you forced yourself into replying. “I’m glad…” You had to stop your crying from becoming too loud, because you didn’t want him to worry about you when he should be worrying about his eyes.“Where are you?… I want to see you… I really want to see you...To be honest, Jumin isn’t exactly the first thing you want to see after spending a few months blind.” V was laughing as there was faint grumbling in the background, presumably Jumin complaining over his remark, before he sighed. “If you’re nearby… could you meet me by the entrance to the hospital? I’m really looking forward to seeing you… I still want to take a photo of you, you know...”“Um…” You looked around, before deciding to stay where you were. Why was he so desperate to see you? Nobody had ever wanted to specifically see what you looked like before… “I’d rather stay where I am, for now… You wouldn’t want to see me once you know what I look like...”“What are you going on about? What do you mean by that?” A choked sob escaped you as he asked that. “Are you okay?!” It was too hard to speak as you continued to cry out loud after that. “You’re feeling self-conscious, aren’t you?… There… There isn’t any need to worry, you know… Somebody as kind-hearted, understanding, and loving as you could never look bad… Jumin, here’s your phone back. I need to do something.”“Hmm… I wonder what is up with him.”Moments later, you hung up the call, and buried your head in your hands. Well done you… You worried V.“Hello… Luciel? It’s V...” As soon as V could, he had grabbed his phone from his pocket which you had apparently charged for him the day before. “This may seem abrupt, but… Could you do me a quick favour?”“V! Ah, it’s so good to hear you again! It’s weird seeing your name on my phone instead of that girlfriend of yours now… Ha,” Even though V couldn’t physically see Seven, he could envision the grin on his face… Or at least a grin on the face which Seven had a few months ago, before he turned blind. “So… What do you need me, the great hacker Seven Zero Seven, to do for you?”V stepped outside the hospital, and then glanced around. “It’s to do with said ‘girlfriend of mine’. Could you… Try and find where she is for me? I want to see her, and she’s upset…” Moments later, he could hear the tapping of a keyboard from down the phone. “She said something like… ‘You wouldn’t want to see me once you know what I look like’...”The typing continued for a moment, before Seven sighed. “Didn’t she tell you?… For the past month or so on the chatroom, since you decided to have the surgery… She’s been scared that you won’t like what she looks like, and will abandon her. Whenever you’ve brought up wanting to see her, or wanting to take a photo of her, she’s always tried to do what she could to avoid you or at least change the topic of conversation. She ended up at Zen’s house quite a lot when she’s needed an outlet to cry over her worries, and she’s been calling the rest of us a lot about it too… She made us swear not to let you know, because she wanted to tell you that herself...”V fell silent then. He wasn’t sure on how to react to that.“… I’ve got into her GPS, and some CCTV cameras. She’s by the lake in the middle of the park by the hospital. She’s wearing a large, cream-coloured sweater, for reference. Good luck cheering her up, yeah?” V sighed at finally knowing where you were. “I expect to see you both happy and in the chatroom tonight, you hear me? See you later, V! Bye~!” “I can’t avoid him forever… I can’t avoid him forever...” Over and over, you were saying that phrase just to calm yourself down. But still… You didn’t want V to see you. Not just yet… You needed time to try and see if there was a way to make you look better than you currently did… V couldn’t see you as the mess you were right now.
Maybe you could find temporary refuge at Rika’s apartment until you managed to bring yourself together? Yes, there was a bomb there, but Seven had deactivated it, and you did know the password…
Little did you know that V was trying to find you as you spoke.“Why am I so insecure about how I look?… Why do I feel this way?...” You gazed up at the sky, watching as the sun was setting and the sky was turning into subtle hues of orange. “At least the sunset is pretty… I hope that V is looking at that right now, rather than thinking about me and my horrible appearance...”Nor did you know that he had been able to locate you, and was quickly trying to get to where you were stood without you noticing.“Damn it… He’s going to hate me for how I look, and he’s going to hate me even more for-” You felt a cold breeze in the air just as a sudden pair of arms made their way around your waist.“I don’t know what you are talking about… You’re beautiful.” You could feel your heart racing as the pair of arms slowly made you turn around at the same time as the arms’ owner spoke. More tears sprang to your eyes when you noticed V was the person talking to you. Tears had stained his cheeks too. “God… You’re adorable… What on earth were you going on about before, saying that I wouldn’t like how you looked?… You’re the prettiest thing I’ve seen in my entire life...”V let go of you with one of his hands, just to put his sunglasses into his pocket. There was more colour and more life in his eyes than before the surgery…“Y- You’re lying… You’re making it up so that I s- stop crying because it makes me uglier, a- aren’t you?...”His eyes widened in surprise. “No. Absolutely not… You really are magnificent… I think I have fallen in love with you for a second time...” His free hand slowly cupped your cheek, before he leaned closer to you to press a small kiss against your lips. “You know… It’s going to be hard not to take photos of you… I never realised that you would look so pretty...” Another small kiss. “I love you. I love everything about you… Your looks included.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was surprising when Yoosung suggested that the RFA have a Halloween themed party, and even more surprising when it was officially announced a mere day later. There was one thing that bothered you though, as the official party planner – you had almost the exact same time frame as the first party which you helped to organise. Just under two weeks was quite the push, considering that you barely just managed to pull it off last time.For the past few hours, you had been busy dealing with the influx of emails from potential guests, and barely had a chance to look over the various different chatrooms which had opened up. You wanted to guarantee that you actually had guests first, rather than getting too into chatting with everyone and leaving the emails to the last minute.Now, it was about nine at night, and were re-reading the chatroom which had happened about three hours earlier.
ZEN: What do you think that I should go dressed up as?
Yoosung★: lololol a sexy vampire
707: FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER.
Jaehee Kang: Hmm… A vampire would be aesthetically pleasing...
Jumin Han: He can’t go as a vampire.
Jumin Han: Because I am.
Jumin Han: Are you calling me ‘aesthetically pleasing’, assistant Kang?
Yoosung★: PFFFFFFT-
ZEN: I’m thinking… A werewolf.
Yoosung★: A sexy werewolf?
707: Don’t make me start the ‘Does Yoosung Kim is gay’ rumour online~
ZEN: LOLOLOLOL
Jumin Han: What are the rest of you going to be dressed up as?
Jaehee Kang: I was thinking about perhaps being a witch… I can hit all of the guests which 707 invites over the head with a broom if they step out of line.
707: HEY! You’d better not hurt Tom, you hear me?!
707: I’m thinking about going as Jumin btw.
ZEN: God… Such a horrifying creature, Seven!
707: lol jk, jk. I was considering going as a maid!
Yoosung★: … I’m not going to question that. Anyway! I want to go as a zombie!
Jumin Han: Zen, I am offended and because of that, I shall now be bringing Elizabeth to the party.
707: Yay~ Elly~
Jumin Han: On the other hand, perhaps not.
Jaehee Kang: Anyway… We had best get our costumes ready now, considering how close it is to the party…
You laughed at the conversation, before you then yawned and rested your head against the pillows of your bed. Your bed. After the first party, it was decided that it would be best to allow you to carry out your RFA duties away from Rika’s apartment. Surprisingly, Jumin then went and rented out an apartment for you elsewhere in the city. It was a high end one too, but what surprised you even more… It was in the same building which V lived. The same floor even.It was somewhat obvious that Jumin had decided this intentionally, because V had ended up completely losing his sight a mere few days after the previous party. He knew that the RFA leader would need some help at times, and he decided that you were most reliable. So… That was another of your duties in the RFA now. Helping V, and persuading guests. Sometimes though, the roles were reversed and you’d be busy typing a few emails, and then you’d find a bottle of water be placed beside you. V just about knew where everything in your apartment was just through touching, smelling, and hearing, so he would do his best to pay you back for your help with little favours like that.It had already been a good six or so months since you started living here, so that meant that you had been able to visit V and vice versa on a daily basis. For that matter… the two of you had become very close. Very close. The others had seen it too, and began joking that the two of you had started dating. To be honest, neither of you denied that… but neither of you had confirmed it either. You knew that V still needed time to get over Rika, despite it being three years since she left the world, so you didn’t want to ask him… yet. What you didn’t know is that V wasn’t wanting to ask you just yet either, because he had found out about your rather bumpy history in the dating scene.As you pulled your blankets over you, a sudden thought came to your head. The party was tomorrow. You were meant to go with V, but due to him being blind, you had to help him get ready. The two of you had actually sorted out what you were going to wear almost as soon as the party had been announced – you were going to go as Medusa, whereas V had decided to go as a zombie simply because he had some torn up clothes which you described as ‘looking like he had died wearing them’. You had both decided to take your costumes very seriously too, you had make-up and everything else for it planned out precisely.You never even felt yourself fall asleep, but you did feel yourself waking up to hearing your phone buzzing with a call. It was the ringtone which was set for V. You had forgot that when he had lost his sight, Seven had actually been able to alter the programming of the phone’s microphone, so that V could still do basically anything with it just using his voice. Yes, most newer phones had that feature built in anyway… But V wasn’t wanting to part with his phone just yet.Quietly, you yawned as you answered the phone. “Ahhh… Morning, V...” You made a small strained noise as you stretched your arms out then. “Are you ready for the party today?...”“I would say that I was ready, but that would be a lie,” V began, and you quickly sat up, remembering that you were meant to be helping him right now. “Where in my apartment did you put the clothes I’m wearing today? I’m having trouble trying to find them...”“O- Oh… Give me a few minutes… I’ll help you find them in a minute… I only just woke up...”“And… who are you?”“Jaehee Kang, I am ashamed… How could you not recognise us?” You grinned at the woman stood at the doorway to the hall that the Halloween party was being held in, and you could see V trying to cover the slight smirk on his face. “Are our outfits just that good?”Jaehee blinked for a moment, before her jaw dropped. “No way… I didn’t even recognise you at first! But then again… I could hardly recognise Luciel, Yoosung, or Mr Han when they arrived,” she sighed, before looking between the two of you. “So, what are the two of you here as?”V then put on a smile, and rubbed the back of his head. “I’m hoping that I look like a zombie… And I believe she is Medusa,” V then put his arm around your waist and pulled you over to him, and you could see him smiling at the quiet gasp you made as he did that. “Mind if we go into the party now? We still need to say hello to everyone else.”Jaehee nodded, before handing the guest list over to a security guard stood nearby, before she went in with the two of you.The hall had been decorated to fit the Halloween theme, and the lighting was very dim… To be honest, V wouldn’t have been missing out on much in regards to what could be seen. From what you could see, there was quite a few glow in the dark decorations around the room, consisting primarily of skulls and pumpkins, and a majority of the lighting was provided by carved pumpkins.“I tell you what, you two should get a drink whilst I go and get the others. The drinks are on a table to the left of you, for reference,” Jaehee explained, before rushing off elsewhere in the hall. So, you and V were left alone. To be honest, where you were stood was quite isolated too, so you guessed that either all of the guests happened to be elsewhere, or not many had showed up yet.“Hmm… Is there any tables to sit at around here?” V suddenly asked when you picked up two glasses of what was likely either punch or some sort of wine and you handed one to him. “I wouldn’t mind sitting down for a moment, considering that we walked all the way here… And I want to ask you something.”You glanced around, before sighing and pulling your phone out of your pocket. “I’ll try and find one. I just need to use the light from my phone to see though...” V nodded and took a sip of his drink, before feeling for the table the drinks were on and leaning on it. “Um...” You shone the light around, before gasping. “There’s a table we can sit at! I’ll take you over there, okay?” You then put your phone away took hold oh his hand, and just about managed to make your way there without tripping up.After that, when you had helped V sit down, he placed his hand onto the table and tilted his head back. “You know, since you decided on dressing up as Medusa for this party… I’ve been thinking about something,” he muttered, taking another sip of his drink. “Anybody who gazes at Medusa’s face turns to stone, right? Well… What if somebody is blind and looks at her? Would they be immune to turning to stone?”With a slightly puzzled face on, you turned to face V. “I’m not sure… I guess that they would be immune, because if they can’t see...” Then you took a moment to think. “You’re blind...”“And you’re Medusa,” V was now grinning, and his hand stretched out across the table until he managed to touch your hand. Then he took hold if it. “Well, I guess that I’m immune to your face, but I’m definitely not immune to your charms...”Your face began to heat up at hearing that, and god, you were glad for the dim lighting now. “V… You’re lucky that none of the others are nearby! I- I think my face is all red...” And when you said that, V ended up laughing.“Not that they’ll be able to see it or tell anyone, they’ll all turn to stone.”“H- Hey! This isn’t fair!” You were pouting then, but then you went and stared right at him. “A- Are you trying to flirt?!”“I’m just a zombie… Dead people don’t have emotions, babe~”
Okay, he was singing that with a wide grin on his face.
Plus V wouldn’t normally say ‘babe’, Zen and Seven are most likely to say that.
He was definitely trying to flirt.
Stuttering was the most that you could do then, and your face had definitely a flushed crimson colour. “Y- You-” You closed your eyes and made a slight whining noise. “This isn’t faaaaaaiiiiiiiir… You’re making it hard for me to hide that I like you...”“Oh?”
Shit. You shouldn’t have said that out loud…
“J- Just-!” Suddenly, V tightened his grasp of your hand as you tried to speak, and he pulled you both up to your feet and you were then tugged over to him. “Hey!”What surprised you next was the hug, and V managing to rest his head on your shoulder. “So… You like me, hmm?...” He paused for a moment. “I guess that means I can’t eat your brain, if you do...” His fingers dug into your back a slight bit then. “I like you too. Just so you know.”A small gasp escaped you then, before you out your own arms around him as you mimicked what he had previously said. “But the undead don’t have emotions, babe!” “Ah, well, you revived me...”Neither of you noticed the other RFA members approach you then, until there was a particularly loud smirk from Seven.The glare you gave him had him froze to the spot for the rest of the party. Quite literally.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Hey, V… I need to tell you something. Something important…”“What is it, Luciel?”“Well… It’s about Rika’s apartment,” the owner of the first voice went silent as the sound of keys being pressed on a keyboard went down the phone. “The security footage started messing up at Rika’s apartment about three hours ago, and I was alerted about it. It’s almost as though a hacker managed to get into it and was trying to keep me out.”The second voice’s owner bit his lip, before asking something. “Nobody got into the apartment… did they?”“No… I managed to regain access to the security cameras when there was two people outside it though… I’ll send you the video once I’ve hung up,” he then took a moment to collect his thoughts. “I think that it was a kidnapping. And I think that it was done on purpose, because… Well, the kidnapper turned to face the camera and said ‘She is just the beginning, Luciel. She will be entering paradise soon. The RFA is next.’… It’s got me kinda worried.”V felt as though he was frozen when he heard that. Some random person had been taken just to show what this person wants to do to the RFA? That sounded exactly like something he had heard Rika say one of the last times they had met.“Why try to protect them, V? Why do you lie to them? They will all be brought to my paradise soon, and they shall learn the truth…”
“-to V! Come in, V!”
“O- Oh… Luciel, I’m sorry… Something just came up. I have somewhere that I need to go for a few days, and I need to leave as soon as possible,” V muttered, before sighing. “Do send me the video though. I’ll message you about this when I can.”
He had somewhere to be, alright.
He needed to have a word with Rika.
“You could have told the truth, and put that password in… All of this could have been avoided,” a sharp pain started at the top of your forehead, and made its way down the side of your face, ending at your chin. Just the exposure to the air was enough to make it more painful, and that wasn’t even taking into account the pain caused by the sweat on your face. “Not to mention you continued to refuse to be my assistant… The saviour said that there was no other option but to torture you, and use you as an example for those who disobey…”Your assailant’s mint coloured eyes seemed to shine as he pulled the blade he was holding away from your face, and he grinned when you gulped at the sight of your blood upon the metal. Moments later, blood made its way into your eye, and he began laughing.Slowly, his finger moved across the knife, and seemed to love the way in which you grimaced at the sight whilst wincing. “It hurts, doesn’t it?” He pressed his hand against the cut he had made, resulting in it stinging like crazy, before smiling. “I promise that the pain will help you realise that paradise is where you deserve to be…”Somebody had been kidnapped. Somebody had been kidnapped because of Rika’s vision of peace. V felt wholly responsible for this situation, so he was going to do his best to solve this on his own… First he needed to prevent things from going any worse before he lost his phone signal, and so he logged into the messenger. It had already been six days, and he had no idea when the next tragedy would strike, after all.
Jaehee Kang:
Zen, your performance last night was spectacular. That was perhaps one of the best roles you have held to date.
ZEN:
Jaehee… Ahhh, that feels good knowing that you feel that.
Yoosung★: Narcissist…
Jumin Han:
I, for one, have noticed that Assistant Kang’s productivity has increased today. Maybe watching this performance is behind this… If so, congratulations, Zen.
707:
WOAH. MISTER TRUST FUND CONGRATULATING ZEN?!
707:
Somebody pinch me something isn’t right-
707:
lololol actually, pinch Jumin, Jaehee~
Jumin Han:
I was congratulating him for making Assistant Kang do more work. Nothing else.
Jaehee Kang:
…
Yoosung★: ... Seconded.
Zen:
... Thirded.
-V has entered the chatroom-
Yoosung★: Oh… V.
707:
V… I guess that you have signal?
V:
Hello, everybody.
V:
At the moment, yes.
V:
Any progress on… what happened?
707:
No… Not yet;;
ZEN:
?
Jumin Han:
Is something going on?
707:
I’ll text you all about it later… It’s kinda complex…
Jaehee Kang:
Right…
V:
Anyway… Once Luciel texts you all, you should be able to understand why I am going to request this…
V:
Everybody, try to limit how often you go outside to only when necessary. And Jumin, I think that everybody will need bodyguards…
707:
I agree… And he’s right, you’ll understand when I explain it to you all.
Yoosung★: … Have you done something that puts our lives at risk, V?
ZEN:
No, he wouldn’t, Yoosung…
V:
I promise, Yoosung, you should hopefully be safe… I’m sorry for making this decision without informing you all first.
V:
Luciel, I leave the explaining to you.
V:
I’m about to lose signal on my phone.
-V has left the chatroom-
With a frown, V watched as the bars for his signal faded from his phone’s screen, before turning on the map which was on it… He wasn’t too far from where he needed to be, so he knew that he had to be ready… Rika may not be too happy over his presence, after all.Your leg feels as though it’s twisted awkwardly. You are sure that it was broken. The same went with a few of your fingers, they were clearly broken. You didn’t want to see the awkward bends and shards of bone poking through your skin, but it was hard not to look and see what was causing you this pain.“Leave her be for today, Saeran… Allow me to speak with her on my own,” a blonde woman whispered as she was stood in the doorway of your little prison cell, and had a frown on her face as she stepped forward. The man who had been slowly causing you pain all through the past few days (had it been days?) stood up, ran his bloody hand through his white and pink hair, before nodding.As soon as he had left, the woman turned around and closed the door, leaving the only light source present as two candles on opposite walls.“Ah… You’re badly hurt, aren’t you?...” She knelt down before you, and then placed her hand on the cut across your face. It stung like mad, and sure as hell wasn’t healing. “You know… This could all be over if you join us in our paradise… You were chosen to be one of us. Not many are worthy…”You wearily glance up at her with the one eye which worked now, before shaking your head. “This isn’t paradise… You’re running a dictatorship…” You coughed for a moment, watching as she flinched at those words. “Let me go… Let me return to my normal life!”“You sound just like him.”“Well, whoever ‘he’ is, he seems to be talking sense…”“Saeran!” She shouted for your attacker once more, and as soon as he stepped in the doorway, she stood up and kicked your leg, making it hurt even more. It was obvious that whoever this man happened to be, he was quite the touchy subject to her. “She is still blind. We must double the dosage of the medicine of salvation immediately. Let those who question paradise know what shall happen if their loyalty begins to waver.”He was being held back. V just needed to talk to Rika, and he was being held back by people who seemed to have been brainwashed by her. If Luciel were there, he would have just hacked his way in… But he wasn’t Luciel, he didn’t possess the same skills with computers that the redhead held.“Get lost… You are not welcome here!” One of the people who were standing in V’s way shouted, before turning to their companion. “Tell the saviour that ‘that particular non-believer’ is trying to force his way inside…”V’s hand tightened around the cane he was having to use to assist him in getting around, before he pulled his sunglasses down to the tip of his nose. “I just have one question to ask Rika. Just one. Let me see her, I’ll be gone as soon as I have my answers-!” Footsteps cut off V from continuing his sentence, and even though his vision was bad, he recognised that blonde hair and green eyes.An exasperated sigh was given off, before the newcomer spoke. “What is going on here? I have a headache from dealing with the doubter we brought in a few days ago…” She looked up, and rolled her eyes. “Oh… You are here now. Great… What is it that you want? We have been dealing with enough trouble recently…” After that, she quickly dismissed the people trying to hold V back.V pushed his sunglasses up his nose once more, before sighing. “I’m trying to figure something out… Was it you who ordered for a lady to be sent to your apartment, just to get kidnapped and brought here?” V then found himself looking at the ground. He couldn’t bring himself around into meeting the eyes of his former lover. “And… by Saeran, no less… Since when did you have Saeran here? I honestly thought that he went missing after his and Luciel’s mother-““…” Rika was quick to turn her back, and start to walk back inside. “She is being cleansed of the filth from the tainted world. And Saeran could see the taint for what it was, and was one of the first to join my paradise…” She stopped at the door, and turned back at V to give him a blank stare. “Don’t worry… Soon, his brother, and all of the other RFA members will understand paradise soon… You are not welcome though. You can leave before worse than blindness happens… V.”Once Rika went indoors, V closed his eyes and sighed as he pulled out his phone. He just about had signal, so that was enough to send Luciel a few texts.‘Do not tell the others’
‘If you can, come to my current coordinates as soon as possible’
‘It has something to do with the woman who got kidnapped…’
‘And I have a bad feeling that Saeran may be involved in what is going on too.’
‘Call me as soon as possible. I’ll explain everything.’
Your body was now… numb. So numb. How long had you been here, lying in your own blood, incapable of the slightest movements and having to have food and water forcefully given to you so that you wouldn’t die or thirst or starvation? When would you be allowed to leave this infernal place? Would it even be possible to return to any semblance of normal life after this?One thing was for sure – you knew that if you ever managed to leave, you would have lost the sight of the eye which blood had got into, and your mobility would be very limited… Perhaps even leave you restricted to a wheelchair for the rest of your life.The only peace which you had right now was that this ‘Saeran’ and the saviour had not been present for a short while… Or was it a short while? Time was such an odd concept for you now, you had no idea on how long it had actually been since you were taken.“If these blueprints I managed to obtain are correct… This hallway is split into cells. If you believe that she is being kept here… it will definitely be in one of these rooms.”That was… a new voice. It didn’t sound like one of those paradise-seeking buffoons either, because that voice wasn’t as distorted, scratchy, or dull as theirs happened to be.“I’ll trust you on that, Luciel… We need to find her, and get her out of here fast… Who knows what they could have done to-! “A second voice, another one which didn’t meet the conditions to be one belonging to these Mint Eye people, was cut off just as you noticed light enter the room you were in. “Luciel… I believe that this may be…”After that, the first voice whispered your name, and that made you try to force your arm up to reach out for whoever these people could have been.“H- Help…”The last thing which you recall seeing before falling unconscious was a slight hint of turquoise and red in your vision…The hallways of hospitals were always uncomfortable for V, with just how frequently he had to visit one over the past few years. Just the fact that he had been coming every day during visiting hours for the past two months was enough to increase his discomfort. But… He just felt too guilty for everything which had happened, and he felt as though he had no choice but to be there for you whilst you recovered.It was quite upsetting to discover after he and Luciel had been able to get to you that you had no direct family who could be contacted, or friends which were close enough to you to have had concern over your disappearance. You were alone here, so you needed somebody there with you… even if it had to be him.What made matters worse was that V knew that Luciel intended to return back to that place where you had been held, with the intention of finding and pulling Saeran away from that place from hell... When he realises that Rika was the one who took him there, well…As those thoughts dwelled on V’s mind, he ended up arriving at the room which you were being treated in. He knew that you would be waiting for him, as even though you were almost complete strangers, he had saved you, so you at least wanted to get to know him.Slowly, he pushed the door open and noticed you sat up with the support of what seemed to be a stack of pillows. “Oh… There you are, Jihyun!” Though you were dosed up on medicine to ease the horrible pain that you were still in, you were still able to give him a cheerful greeting. “I’ve been waiting to speak to you today!”V was able to put on a faint smile, before stepping into the room. “You’re in quite the good mood today… Did something happen?”You waited until he sat down before you spoke any more. “I had somebody else visit me before, even though the doctors kept saying that he couldn’t… it was quite funny,” you smiled, before doing your best to stretch out your bandaged fingers. “I think his name was… Jumin? He said that he was a friend of yours.”“Jumin Han… Ha. Typical. Yes, he’s been a friend of mine since we were children. We lived in the same neighbourhood together when growing up.”“And you got him his adorable cat, didn’t you? Uh… Elizabeth 3rd?”V was quite surprised at knowing that Jumin had made time to visit you, but wasn’t so surprised that he had spoken about his cat. In response to your confusion though, he nodded.“Well… He spoke to me for a while. About you,” you whispered, before looking straight at him. “Jumin said… That you feel responsible for everything which happened to me. There isn’t any need, you know… Even if you had any involvement in what happened, you and… is it Luciel? Well… you both saved me. That honestly means more than anything to me. And you remember what the doctors said… If I had been there even for a short while longer, I would have died by now.”“But still…” V took a moment to look across your body. One of your eyes was clouded over and bloodshot, and he knew that was the eye of yours which was blinded. A pale scar also stretched across your face from where the blade had been ran across it. One arm was in a sling, and on top of that, your fingers on both hands had to have been bandaged all over the place. The worst thing of all was that from the waist downwards, you were paralysed. The damage had been that bad, you would never be able to walk without support again, just as you had feared. And for V, knowing that Rika had allowed such a thing to happen…In a way, it made him feel responsible for not pushing her into getting more help for her mental health.“Jihyun.” V’s eyes met yours again when you said his name. “I… want a hug…”He was quite taken aback by your request. “A… hug?...” Moments later, you nodded, and held the arm which wasn’t in a sling out. “Okay… If you want one.” Carefully, V moved so that he was sat on the edge of the hospital bed, and pulled you into a gentle embrace.“Thank you, Jihyun… For everything…”V began to feel tears forming in his eyes as you rested you chin on his shoulder. You were so forgiving…It made him feel as though he could possibly begin to forgive himself.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“So… You’re the leader of a group called the RFA…” You furrowed your brows as you heard that name. You recalled that being mentioned a few times by the blonde lady and the person who hurt you, but you decide against mentioning that. “How many people are part of the group?”V took a moment to think, before smiling. “There are six of us. You know three of us so far – Jumin, Luciel, and myself,” he explained, stretching his legs whilst remaining on the seat that he was on beside your bed. “The other three have actually been wanting to see you, actually. Maybe it would be nice for them to introduce themselves to you in person.” Seeing the excited look in your eyes at the idea of making a few new friends, he pulled out his phone and opened his messages. “I could get them to come here now, if you want.”At your nod, he started typing something on his phone, and that gave you a moment to think to yourself. V really was doing his best to make you feel comfortable after everything that you had gone through, and had sacrificed so much of his spare time to be with you… But you had noticed something though. Every day, he seemed just a slight bit clumsier on his feet, and his eyes seemed to be turning paler – something which said a lot, considering your partial sight.Moments later, he put his phone down and noticed that you seemed to be somewhat distracted, so he tapped your arm. “Are you okay?”Your gaze slowly moved over to him, before you nodded. “I’m fine… But are you?” Quietly, you then reached your arm out and pointed at his eyes. “You hurt them at some point, didn’t you?... They’re starting to almost… fade.”Silence lingered between the two of you for a moment, before V sighed. “When you were stuck in that place… Did you meet a woman with long, blonde hair?” You felt your body freeze as he said that, but you forced yourself into nodding. “… I used to date her. We… were going to get married. Her name is Rika. She had a few mental health issues… It led to her making the group which took you.” He seemed just as shaken, having to think back to things which have happened surrounding Rika. “When I found out about her doing that… I confronted her, and told her that it wasn’t right, and that it was almost like-““A dictatorship?... I said the same thing to her, and she got quite angry…”“… Yes… Moments later, she attacked my eyes, bringing up something that I had said in the past… From then, everything was over between us…” His gaze was now on your injuries. “I was blinded by my love with her up to that point… and look at me now. A photographer without his sight is… nothing.”Once V had said that, you ignored the fact that you weren’t to do anything strenuous whilst you remained in hospital, and used your arm to pull yourself over to him, and pulled him into a hug. He was quite surprised, but when you felt him return the embrace, you smiled.“You’re not nothing though. Jihyun, you’re a wonderful person!” You were able to surprise him further by then placing a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for being here for me.”For the few days following those events, you hadn’t been visited by V. It upset you somewhat, but you were glad that his friends in the RFA had been keeping you company when possible. At present, Jumin, Luciel, and Yoosung were with you.“I’m wondering something; do you have a phone?” Yoosung asked, giving you a confused look as he held onto his own phone. “I’d love to keep chatting to you outside the visiting hours, you’re a nice person!”You had to rack your memory after that. You knew that you had one… but what had happened to it? It took a moment for you to remember. “A- After I was taken… Uh… H- He took it off me and b- broke it…” At that, all three men with you gave you a concerned look.“’He’? Who is ‘he’?” Luciel questioned, before tears began to form in your eyes. You didn’t say the name of the person, because you knew that he would be able to figure it out quickly enough. “Oh…”Jumin waited for you to calm down before he spoke. “So… You do not have a phone. It is a good thing which we came prepared then.” He then pulled something out of his pocket, and held it out for you to take hold of. “V informed us that he hadn’t seen you use a phone whilst you have been here, so I did him the liberty of purchasing one for you to use,” he explained as you began to tear up again, thankfully due to happiness this time.“Seven installed the RFA messenger onto it, so you can chat to all of us whenever! Plus, all of our contact numbers are on it!” Yoosung grinned just as Luciel put on a smirk. Almost as if he was waiting for it, the door then opened and Jaehee stepped inside the room.Jaehee had been the RFA member who you had seen the least of, but you knew that she was typically very busy. Not to mention you had only known her for a few days. “It’s all sorted out,” she smiled, before giving you a small wave and leaving just as quickly as she arrived. With that, Luciel then pressed on the icon for the RFA app.“Finally!” Following that, he smirked as the app properly loaded up. “You should log into the messenger right now! You need to set a username, and then you’re good to go!” He then helped you through the process of getting into the app, and after about two minutes, you found yourself on what seemed to be a menu. “Right then! That button there is the gallery! Any photos we post on the gallery gets put on here, and you can view them at any time!” Luciel pointed at one button, before moving onto another one. “That is the text message feature! You can send texts on an encrypted network only available to RFA members, meaning that the only you and the person you send it to can see it!” Then he moved to the other button on the screen. “And that… is the chatrooms. Everybody can chat on there at any time, and you can see past conversations we’ve had. Press it!”As you carefully rested your phone on your lap, you did as Luciel said. It was annoying that one of your arms was in a sling, because you would have liked to have been able to hold onto the phone. Moments later, Yoosung was sat beside you on the bed, curiously looking at your phone. Jumin was quick to sit himself down in the seat previously taken by Yoosung.
0 chatroom(s) available.
Make a new chatroom?
You looked between the three men with you, and each of them nodded. You then pressed on the option which had popped up on the screen, and bit your lip. Why did they make you do that? Nobody was online, so-
-V has entered the chatroom-
A loud gasp escaped from you then, and Luciel punched the air with a loud cheer. “I knew that Jaehee and Zen wouldn’t fail!” He then punched the arm you were capable of using, before pointing at the phone. “Say hello to him!”
You:
Hello…
V:
Huh?
V:
Oh! Hello. You have the RFA messenger now?
You:
Yes… Jumin just gave me a phone, and Luciel had already put it on.
V:
I’m so happy. That means that we can talk more often.
You:
Yes! I’m so glad about that.
You:
So… You go by V on here? Just like you do when you have those photo exhibitions that you told me about?
V:
Yes, I do.
V:
I’m just wondering… Could I possibly call you?
You:
If you have my number, I guess that you can… But wouldn’t it be a bit rude, with Jumin, Yoosung, and Luciel visiting me?
V:
It’s important. Please? I’m sure that they will understand…
You:
Um, okay. Speak to you in a minute, Jihyun.
-V has left the chatroom-
Moments later, you noticed Yoosung rolling his eyes and standing up. He had read the conversation which you had, seeming as he had been hovering over your shoulder. “I’ve got to go now… Have fun chatting to V,” he muttered, picking up the bag he had brought with him before waving bye to you.“Don’t mind him… He’s had a slight problem with V ever since he started dating Rika a few-” Jumin began, before Luciel quickly jumped up and covered his mouth. Jumin was quick to force the redhead to move his hand after that. “What was that about?”“… I’ll explain outside the room. Let her talk to V over the phone for a while…” Luciel was quick to then drag Jumin out of the room.A faint smile began to form on your face as your phone began to ring, and a picture of V showed up on the screen. Hardly a second passed between the moment you pressed to answer the call and you bringing it up to your ear. “Jihyun!”You heard a quiet laugh down the phone, before he spoke. “Hello… I’m sorry that I’ve not been able to see you for the past few days. I’ve had two things to deal with... I’m on my way to see you now.”“Huh? What do you mean? What have you been having to deal with?”“Well… I had a deal with Jumin. He would get you a phone, but on one condition… That I get surgery to sort my eyes out, because the damage done is fixable…” V fell silent for a moment, before sighing. “That was a few days ago, just after I was told to leave when I last visited you.” You could hear his footsteps after that, so you knew that he was definitely on his way to meet you, as he had said. “Jumin paid for me to have the surgery early the next morning. I was discharged that evening because it was only a quick procedure, and I only had to have a few little check-ups through the day afterwards. So… My eyes are starting to heal now.”“Really?! That’s wonderful!” You then thought about the eye you were blinded in. It’s a shame that it wasn’t reversible damage like his… “I’m happy for you… But what else have you been sorting out? You said that you have been dealing with two things, didn’t you?”V remained silent for a moment, before he sighed. “Don’t kill me for this, but… I asked for Luciel to do a tiny bit of research on you… You’ve recently been evicted from your home, and lost your job, haven’t you?” You bit into your lip in response to that, and nodded. But then you remembered that this was a phone call, so he couldn’t see your physical actions.“Yes…”“Well… I think it will be better if I explain in person. I’ll be there in a-” V fell silent, but you could hear the same thing both outside your room and down the phone. That was definitely Jumin and Luciel trying to have a quiet conversation somewhat unsuccessfully. “I’ll see you in a moment.”After that, V had hung up, and you could just about hear his voice outside the room. But that gave you a short moment to think about what he had said. You were aware that Luciel was a hacker, so he could easily enough find out information about you, but why did V want to know that about you?Slowly the door then opened, and you gave V a gentle smile. He waved hello to you, before sitting down beside you. He wasn’t tripping up over everything as he had done on previous occasions he had visited, not to mention he wasn’t wearing his typical sunglasses, nor did he have his cane. His eyes really had been fixed…V took hold of your hand, before squeezing it slightly. “You know that you’re getting discharged tonight, right?” After that, when he had noticed the surprise on your face, he gave you a smile. “I got told that when I was leaving the other day. Apparently, you’ve been recovering well, and that the doctors see no need to keep you here for any longer… But because you didn’t have anywhere to stay… I wanted to make sure that you had somewhere to go.”You had only been out of the hospital for about two hours, and at present, you were sulking. “You’re doing this on purpose, Jihyun!” You started pouting as you began reaching your arms out for the grinning V from the chair you were sat on. He was just out of your reach, and you were desperate to hug him. “You know that because I’m not in my wheelchair, I can’t get to you!” Then a devious smirk formed on your face, and you then grabbed hold of the arms of the chair and you slowly eased yourself forward.
He looked very cute with such a confused look on his face.
Moments later, you fell onto the ground in a heap, making V gasp and begin to panic. All that you did was grab hold of his ankle with a grin on your face.“Wh- What are you doing?! You might hurt yourself more!” He then went and kneeled down, and moved you so that you were sitting on the floor. “You need to be careful!”“I’ll be careful when I get to do this…” You quickly threw your arms around his neck, seeming as he was now in your reach, and then you kissed his cheek, turning him into a stuttering mess. “Thank you for all of this… I’ve only known you for two months, but the fact that you and your RFA friends went and saved me and gave me new friends, not to mention that you’re letting me live with you… I’m happier than I ever have been…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“You’re going to have to show me some of those photos when you get back, okay~?” You quietly hummed as you rested your head on V’s shoulder. “I’ll have to go with you next time… I’m going to miss you so much, Jihyun!”V turned his head, before planting a small kiss on the top of your head. “Of course…” He then gave off a quiet sigh, and squeezed you a slight bit. “I am going to miss you too. At least we can talk to each other often, through the messenger, calls, texts, and video chats…”“It just won’t be the same as talking to you like this though…”“I… I know… At least it will just be one week that I’ll be on this trip.” V then stepped back, and took hold of your shoulders and smiled. “Call me at any time, okay? I’ll answer your calls no matter what I’m doing, my girlfriend at least deserves that whilst I’m away.” After that, a V took hold of your chin and placed a small kiss against your lips. “If you need anything whilst I’m away, the other RFA members will be able to help you…”You had made quite the mess in the kitchen, after attempting to make yourself some pancakes. Flour was everywhere, egg had somehow managed to get onto the ceiling, and you weren’t even going to ask about how some fruit you had chopped up to serve with it had ended up in your drink of coffee.“Great… I guess that I had better get to cleaning this up…” You then went digging around in the cupboards which you knew had cleaning supplies in, but something began to feel… off.First, you felt a slight bit dizzy – you blamed that on the smell of bleach and disinfectant from inside the cupboard. Following that, when you were in the middle of cleaning the flour-coated surfaces, your head started hurting a bit. That made you get a glass of water, seeming as your coffee definitely wasn’t safe for human consumption by that point.When your head really started to pound, you went and sat down on the sofa and picked up your phone. As much as you wanted to call V, you didn’t want to call him a mere day into his photography trip to say that you weren’t feeling too good. That made you press to open the messenger.Thankfully, V happened to be online on it at that moment in time, alongside Jumin.
V: Oh… Good morning, beautiful. I missed you so much last night…
You: I missed you too, Jihyun…
Jumin Han: How sweet.
Your head still hurt quite a bit, so you quickly lowered your phone’s brightness so that it wasn’t too strenuous on your eyes.
V: The town I’m staying in is quite nice, you know.
V: I’ll have to show everyone some of the photos I’ve taken when I return.
V: I might have to come here again with you by my side though, my love.
Jumin Han: Hmm… Do I see a wedding coming in the future?
V: …
You: …
You: The only wedding I could possibly see happening is between you and Elizabeth, Jumin;;
Jumin Han: They do weddings between humans and cats? Interesting.
Slowly, you forced yourself up to your feet to go looking for some medicine. The sooner that you took some, the sooner this headache would leave you alone. Whilst you went to the cupboard containing the medicine, you continued looking at the conversation happening in the chatroom.
V:
Jumin… She was joking, you do realise that, right?
Jumin Han:
She was?
V:
Anyway, how is everyone?
Jumin Han: I am good. Many of my cat-related projects are coming to a close now, and with the assistance of Zen despite his so-called ‘allergies’, they have made an extraordinary profit.
You rolled your eyes at Jumin’s message, before you leaned against a wall for a moment so that your brief moment of dizziness passed.
V:
And what about you, sweetheart?
You:
My head’s hurting a bit… I’m trying to find some medicine…
V:
What? God… If I were at home, I would have got some for you… You know where the medicine is, right?
You:
Yeah, I know…
V:
If you want me to, I could come home… It’s not too late, you know…
You:
Jihyun, I’ll be fine… You’ve been planning this trip ever since you had the surgery on your eyes! I don’t want you to cut it short for my sake!
Jumin Han:
She has a point, V. Enjoy your trip.
You:
Don’t worry yourself, okay? I’m going to go and take some medicine now, and lie down for a few minutes. Take lots of photos for me!
V:
Okay then… Love you x
You:
~Love you too~ xxx
You hoped that this headache would fade away soon.V brought his camera up to take another photo. The scenery here was so quaint and serene, and he was enjoying taking so many photos of it. It was definitely the sort of place where he wanted to take you. Perhaps another trip was on the cards, with you by his side. Not because of a wedding as Jumin implied though… Neither of you were ready for your relationship to get to that point. He wasn’t ready to have another engagement yet, and this was your first serious relationship. Just dating was good enough for now.Rather than take photos with his camera though, V then pulled out his phone and used that to take a few. He wanted to send them straight to you, so he was going to do that first.‘Love you… I’d love to take you here some day x’ V wrote in his text to you, before sending the photos to you. He hoped that you would see them quickly, because he knew that he would get distracted waiting for a reply if he tried to take photographs with his camera. He was shocked that you called him almost the second that he pressed send. Maybe you were just wanting to hear his voice for the first time in two days.“Jihyun…” Your voice sounded somewhat croaky and weak… That wasn’t good at all. “I… think that I’m coming down with something…”Putting his camera away, not caring if he accidentally caused damage to it, V bit his lip. “Do you want me to come home? I- If you are ill, I don’t want you to be on your own…” It wasn’t as though he was giving you the option – he was going home.“N- No! I… Want you to keep taking photos on y- your trip, okay? If I have to… I’ll see if somebody else in the RFA can help me out f- for a few days, okay?” You then coughed loudly, as though there was something blocking your throat. “I’ll be better when you get home… I promise…”V’s began to walk back to the hotel he was staying at nearby, his pace picking up when the sound of you sniffling went down the phone. “Promise me at least that you won’t push yourself… Stay in bed unless you need to eat or go to the bathroom. Drink lots of water and keep taking medicine, okay?” He sighed, now breaking into a run. He wanted to find out the time for the next plane or train away from here and back home was. After that, he sighed when he noticed that Jumin was now leaving messages for him, and didn’t show any sign of stopping. “I’ll call you back in a few minutes, okay? I need to see what Jumin is trying to call me about… Try and get some rest,” he whispered, before sighing. “I love you.”“I l- love you… I can’t wait to see you in a week… Bye.”With a loud groan, V then pressed Jumin’s name on his contacts list, before bringing his phone back up to his ear. As soon as he heard the phone be answered, he found it hard not to shout because of him only really wanting to be talking to you at this moment in time. “Jumin. Why are you calling me?”“I apologise, V… I was just somewhat concerned because of the way in which your woman was acting in the messenger this morning when you weren’t online,” Jumin stated, before he seemed to be talking to somebody else nearby. V could only guess that it was Jaehee being burdened with some task or another. “Ahem… My apologies for that. Now, what was I saying? Ah, yes. Your lady. I believe that she has contracted something. She was talking of her body aching, head hurting, and of a nauseous feeling which she had to Zen as I logged on.”V fell silent then. She had never mentioned any of that when she was on the phone to him, so he was now desperate to get back to his hotel room and to book any possible ride back home. The more he ran though, the further away the room felt, so he decided that he didn’t have any other options. “Jumin, I need you to do me a favour…. Find out the time and cost for the next journey back home. I need to get back to her… I need to look after her!”“Right, I’ll get-” V bit his lip then. He could tell that his friend was about to get Jaehee to do that for him. “Actually, I shall look for you. I am just as worried about her as you happen to be…” Silence remained as V could hear Jumin, possibly at a computer trying to find out what he had asked for. About two minutes later, Jumin sighed. “Two days you would have to wait, V.”“What?!” Two days?! He didn’t want to have to wait two days to get back to you when you were ill! “I… Damn it…”“V. Would you like me to personally look after her… whilst you are waiting to return?”It felt almost as though alarm bells were ringing in V’s head then, and it was one of two things. The first was Jumin doing something personally, rather than calling for somebody to help him or do it for him. The second was that he was wanting to look after you personally. “J- Jumin, I’m not-““V. She is either left to fend for herself whilst ill, which could make her state worse; or she can have me look after her. Whilst you can’t come back, she needs somebody.”V didn’t want Jumin looking after her… He wanted to look after her.“I… I… God…” V felt… almost jealous that Jumin was able to look after you, but he couldn’t. “Please… Look after her for me…”“I promise, V. I’ll… protect her from catching any more illnesses.”V could feel a slight ache in his chest as he accepted his friend’s proposal… He knew that Jumin had something reminiscent of feelings for you, but that had only come to light after the two of you had officially become a couple. He hoped to god that he wouldn’t damage his friendship because of his jealousy.It was somewhat worrying that since Jumin had offered to look after you two days ago, V hadn’t been able to contact either of you. Your calls went instantly to your voicemail, making him assume that your phone was either turned off or out of power; whereas Jumin’s phone would ring for a few moments before doing the same as yours, meaning that Jumin was likely to be ignoring any calls or wasn’t near it every single time that he called. That just made V rush even more to get home once he had finally returned to the city.He wasn’t too comfortable with you being alone with Jumin whilst you were ill… But he was the one member of the RFA who he could trust enough to look after you, so it wasn’t as though he had much other choice… Luciel, though your best friend in the RFA, could barely take care of himself, let alone somebody else. Jaehee was stressed enough with her work, despite Jumin’s multitude of projects coming to a close. Zen had too many important roles at present, he couldn’t risk losing some of the time he could have spent rehearsing on looking after you. Yoosung was finally making a change in his habits, and was finally starting to get his grades up at school. Jumin was the only person who he knew would be willing to lose some time and would likely be able to get the help needed for you if necessary…“I need to stop feeling like this…” V muttered as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out the keys to the apartment which he shared with you. Slowly, he put it into the lock and turned it, a few different worst-case scenarios of what Jumin could have done to or with you whilst he was gone. He opened the door… It was very dark in the apartment. “I… need to stop feeling jealous like this… Why am I feeling jealous that Jumin looked after her?”And then… he suddenly noticed Jumin step out of the bedroom.“V… You’re finally home.”He looked up at Jumin, and gave him a half-hearted smile. “How is she?”Jumin turned back to the room, before smiling back at him. “She just fell asleep. She’s spoke about you almost non-stop when she wasn’t feeling tired or out of energy,” he began, making V’s eyes widen in surprise. “I believe that when I told her that you were coming home as soon as possible, she cheered up. I had to stop her from getting out of bed because of how excited she seemed…”“Good…” A weight lifted off V’s chest at that. “I’m… so glad.“You’re a lucky man, V… Look after her well.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You could find yourself slowly edging behind V, feeling nothing but relief that somebody had finally been able to do something about the way in which Jumin had been acting. You had been scared, and unable to escape, and now you had your chance for your freedom.At first… You really did feel as though you liked – no, loved – Jumin. But now… You realise that it had just been a fleeting thing. This wasn’t love… Or at least not a healthy love on either end. Sure, you would be willing to spend the rest of your life with Jumin just as he would do the same, but it’s obvious that quite a bit of work was needed.“Jumin, I’m not kidding. If you don’t let her go, I’m going to call the police.” As V spoke, you felt his hand stretch out so that it was held out in front of you. He was acting as a barrier between you and Jumin, thankfully. He turned to face you, before giving you a concerned smile.Jumin sighed deeply, and placed his hand on his forehead as he began to shake his head out of what you assumed was disbelief. “You sound just like Zen.”Following that, you seemed to zone out as you shakily took hold of V’s arm just so you knew that you had some security from the man who had kept you locked up in his penthouse for days. Jaehee had been the one who had asked for you to go there, but she had no idea that any of this would happen… You couldn’t blame her for that. Zen had been the one acting almost like an older brother to you, saying that if you ever felt scared, he would come for you… The most you had been able to do was call him when Jumin wasn’t aware of it. How you wished you could have spared him the worry… Seven… He had been able to locate where the hacker messing with the RFA as working, and had gone to deal with them… You couldn’t thank him enough. And Yoosung… He had been burdened with Jumin’s cat for a few days now, and was doing his best to remain optimistic despite your spiral into fear.Yet… You couldn’t blame Jumin for everything which he did. You too felt as though even though the hacker had been dealt with, there could still be some sort of threat, considering that the party was just one day away. But… It wasn’t right to have you locked up in his penthouse against your will.“Then shall we go?”You snapped back to attention when you felt V’s arm lower, and noticed him looking straight at you. You blinked in confusion, before glancing over at Jumin. He had an apologetic look on his face, and what seemed to be tears in his eyes.Maybe you should stay for a little while longer, and wait for him to-
No.
You weren’t going to let yourself think like that.
No. You were not going to stay here any longer.
“Oh, um… Okay…” You gave Jumin another quick look, before sighing. “We’ll… see each other tomorrow. At the party…”“… Yes…” Jumin then went and picked up Elizabeth, and walked over to the windows of the penthouse. “Call me when you return to Rika’s apartment…” After that, you noticed his eyes diverting away from you and V, a sign that perhaps the two of you should start to leave.Two hours it took for you and V to reach the building with Rika’s apartment, and in that time, you had various different discussions. You discovered that you both possessed similar opinions and ideals, and on top of that, you both had very similar interests. Because of that, the two of you had decided that at some point after the party, you were going to go and meet him following one of his photo exhibitions to talk about these similar interests.However, the pressing matter now was making sure that you got back into Rika’s apartment and that you told Jumin that you were back safe. “I’ll go with you back up to the apartment… It’s been a long time since I last went there, so…” V sighed, looking up at the building longingly. “Not to mention I have a feeling that Jumin would appreciate me accompanying you until you are definitely back inside the apartment. He might ease off from you somewhat, and be a little less overbearing.” You couldn’t help but nod in agreement.Slowly, the two of you made your way over to the elevator, and you half-heartedly pressed the button for it to come to the ground floor. “V… Thank you for walking with me,” you whispered as you both waited, watching as a small smile broke out onto his face.“You’re good company. It was nice to be able to talk to you. I’m honestly not surprised that the other RFA members have taken a liking to you,” V laughed, holding out his arm for you to step into the recently arrived elevator. You couldn’t help but giggle at the way he was acting. “To be quite honest, I should be the one thanking you. You’ve brought everyone together in a way which hasn’t been possible in over two years. And you’ve helped to organise the party, which is very important to us all too.”You got all embarrassed at V’s thanks then, just as you pressed the button which led to the floor holding Rika’s apartment. That was quick to fade though, with the thought of what Jumin would think if he was there with the two of you, seeing you acting like this with his closest friend. He probably would be far from happy.Over the next few minutes, a few more people entered the elevator, and some also left within the time it took to reach the floor which the you and V needed. It felt odd walking out into the silence of the hallway, but it was a nice silence. It felt calm… Absolutely nothing like the atmosphere which you left behind at Jumin’s penthouse.As you began to input the password to enter the apartment, V asked you a quick question. “So, are you looking forward to the party tomorrow?”“Hmm… Yes. I am, actually,” You heard a quiet beep acknowledging that you had put the correct password in, so you walked in with V following you in and closing the door. “I won’t feel so stressed once the part actually begins, and I’ll be able to be much more relaxed around…” You trailed off when you noticed V’s eyes widen from behind his sunglasses, and that made you turn around to see what he was looking at.
Somebody was in the apartment.
“You’re finally here?” The man stood there had what looked like bleached white hair with hints of pink decorating it, and the only way in which you could describe his clothes was like a biker’s outfit, but ‘edgier’, if such a thing were possible. “Of course, I wasn’t expecting for you to have him here with you, but even so… The saviour will be glad.”You could feel the similar protective nature which V had held when Jumin was trying to keep you in the penthouse once more, and yet again, his arm was in front of you. “Saeran…” V knew this person, by the sounds of things. “No way… She didn’t pull you into her cult, did she?”The intruder rolled his eyes, before reaching his hand into his pocket and pulling out what looked like a button to activate something. “If it weren’t for Luciel… No, if it weren’t for you and Saeyoung, I may not have had to come here… But it’s too late now!” This Saeran’s voice sounded almost computer generated, and you were sure that it had something to do with the mask-like thing covering his mouth. “I need to take responsibility for my failures… I don’t deserve happiness.”After that, V took hold of the door handle, and attempted to open it.“Stop!” Before V could do as he wanted, the intruder shoved past his arm and took hold of your arm roughly. “It’s you or her. Only one of you can leave.” His free hand was shaking as his thumb hovered over the button. “My saviour gave me this… One last gift to finish what I started.”Out of fear, you kicked the person holding onto you in the knee, and felt him stumble down to the ground after he had let go of you. V was quick to pull you back after that and throw the door open.“Get out of here quickly. Call Jumin if you can, get him to get you away from here as soon as possible! I’m going to try and get that button away from him…” V seemed rather solemn yet serious as he said that. “Run and call Jumin now!”Before you had the chance to do as V has said, pain ripped through your body… It was instant… But the pain stopped almost as fast. Was this death? Did V and this so-called Saeran feel the same way?...Jumin continued to look out of his window with Elizabeth slowly nestling into his feet a good two hours after V had left, and took you with him. He felt so… lonely. He had quite enjoyed your company in the time which you had been in his penthouse, and only now that he was alone once more that he realised that he needed more than just the company of his cat.After a short while though, he noticed something strange in the distance. There was a lot of helicopters, flashing lights, and sirens… Something bad must have happened. He only assumed that it was just something such as a bank robbery, because that was the sort of scenes he would see in the television dramas which he sometimes watched.Just to be sure though, he sighed and pulled out his phone. You hadn’t called him to say that you had returned to Rika’s apartment yet, so that had him rather worried.After a brief few moments, he brought his phone up to his ear, before listening to the sound of the call connecting.Moments later though, he received a message which sent a shiver up his spine.‘This number has no service or has been disconnected.’Frantically, he went to call V instead.He got the exact same message.Out of fear, Jumin then opened his contact list and searched for Seven, just to ask if he had seen you or V on security tapes around the city. It was a relief for the call to actually go through this time, but it was surprising to have the sound of Seven’s heavy yet shaky breathing down his phone.“J- Jumin…”“Seven. I have a question to ask you.”“I- I think that can wait, Jumin…” Now Jumin could hear tears down the phone. “I- I knew that she was returning to the a- apartment with V… B- But…”“But what, Seven?”“Jumin… Somebody r- remotely activated the special security system minutes after she and V got to the apartment…”“The special security system…”“Y- Yeah…”“But why are you crying, Seven?”“Jumin… The special security system… is a bomb.”“A- A bomb?!” He could feel a strange feeling in his legs after that. Jumin couldn’t keep himself stood up, and he sank down onto the floor. He put together two and two then. The congregation of the emergency services were because of the bomb going off. “Seven… Tell me that they are safe and well. Tell me that the two of them are okay!” “I- I would… But that’s a lie…” Jumin could feel a horrible lump forming in his throat as Seven took a shaky breath. “On the security footage, moments before it activated… V yelled for her to run as fast as she could and to call you. But… Before she could… b- boom,” Seven started bawling in tears then. “ V and MC are dead."
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“This is too cute an opportunity to miss…” You laughed quietly as you pulled out your phone and opened up the camera, before you noticed a little white ball of fluff get right in the middle of the cuteness. There was literally no choice now - you were taking a picture of this. On the sofa in Jumin’s penthouse was the man in question and V, both of which having fell asleep whilst the three of you watched a movie. Initially you were settled between them, but after a while you wormed your way out and left the two of them dozing away. Jumin had ended up falling to the side without your support, meaning that his head was now leaning on V’s shoulder, and… was that a tiny trail of drool escaping V’s lips? But Elizabeth nestling between them just brought the whole thing together. It was just too good to be true.You felt somewhat selfish calling them both your boyfriends, but… That’s just how things were. It had initially started as just you and Jumin together, but after a while, Jumin ended up roping V into joining you both in activities normally done by just couples such as going out for romantic meals, dates, and even being in bed together – not having sex mind you, the thought hadn’t even crossed any of your minds… from what you were aware of. After a while, it just felt natural to have V around the two of you… And then, after careful discussion with Jumin, the two of you eventually asked for V to become part of the relationship.Out of anyone in the RFA, Zen had the biggest reaction. You would frequently get texts such as ‘Be careful, okay?! A young maiden between two wolves can lead to bad things happening!’ Yoosung took a good few weeks to get his head around what had happened. He was fine with you and Jumin together, but the inclusion of V made him realise that even though loss hurts, people eventually move on… this was V moving on from losing Rika. He felt somewhat better thinking that V was dating you and Jumin though, likely because none of you were actually his family.Jaehee had congratulated the three of you, clearly happy for the three of you being open enough to say that there were more than two of you in the relationship, and had honestly been the most supportive friend you ever could have had when it came to little worries within the relationship.And Seven… god, his reaction was… typical for him. He raised an eyebrow at first, before he began to hold back laughter. Now, whenever the three of you were in the messenger together, he’d always type ‘have you all had a threesome yet lololol’. Annoying, but at least V had managed to persuade him to tone it down… sort of.Quite a few good things had come out of this three-way relationship though, such as V finally being persuaded to accept the surgery which could help him to recover his eyesight; Jumin understanding and feeling emotions much more than he previously had done, and you had been able to find some stability in your life.Once you had taken a picture of the sleeping men, you posted it in the messenger for everyone to see, before setting the image as your phone background. It was far too adorable. After that, you noticed Elizabeth looking at you with curious blue eyes, so you smiled and called her over to you and picked her up. “Let’s leave those two alone after we get them a blanket, okay?”All that Elizabeth did after that was meow, and slowly leave the room, likely to curl up into a ball on the bed. You rolled your eyes at the cat, before trying to remember where Jumin said that the spare blankets were inside the penthouse. When you eventually did find the blanket though, you returned to an even better scene than before. V was now lying down on the sofa, and Jumin was lying on him. Both of them had smiles on their faces despite the fact that they were sleeping, and the little snoring sounds which you could hear them both making was just too much.It was definitely time for another photo to be taken.Once you put your phone away, and threw the blanket over the pair, you decided to make your way to bed and leave those two asleep. As expected, Elizabeth was curled up at the foot of the bed, so when you lay down, you did your best to not nudge the sleeping cat. It didn’t take long for you to drift off to sleep.As you slept in bed, that was when V began to stir on the sofa because he could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket. He could also feel a weight on him, and it took a moment for him to open his eyes and see the dark hair belonging to Jumin. He was quick to notice that you weren’t present, so he started moving his knee just to nudge Jumin awake. Normally, all three of you would have fallen asleep together… It wasn’t ever just two out of three of you.Once he had managed to get Jumin to start to wake up, he pulled his phone out and noticed the RFA messenger notifications. V noticed that they had started to become more and more frequent from when you had posted an image, so he just had to see what it was.“Jumin…” He properly sat up once Jumin had started to move, before moving a bit closer to him. “Look at what she posted on the messenger before…” He held his phone out as Jumin rubbed his eyes, before watching his reaction, which happened to be a raised eyebrow.What Jumin said, however… Was a typical Jumin thing. “Hmm… I wonder where Elizabeth 3rd is now…” V sighed at his thought, before taking hold of his hand and pulling him up.“That’s what you’re wondering about? I’m wondering where our significant other happens to be… I think that we should go and find her,” V laughed, lacing his fingers between Jumin’s, and feeling quite proud of himself for turning the dark-haired man’s face red. “And we’ve done this for months now… You still feel embarrassed, Jumin?”Jumin sighed and started walking forward with a brisk pace, pulling V behind him. “Normally she is the one holding our hands… I- I do like this though…” Now V felt really good. He’d never seen Jumin like this before, and he actually kind of wished that you were there to see this… Jumin Han, embarrassed. Amazing.It didn’t take too long for the two of them to reach the bedroom just to see you sprawled across the bed that all three of you were meant to sleep in. Elizabeth was quite comfortably stretched out beside your head, with her tail brushing across your face every so often.Jumin sighed and picked Elizabeth up to put her in her own bed in another room, and whilst he did that, V ended up lying down beside you in the bed. You were so warm, and comfortable… He liked it. It was a warmth which he never felt when he held onto Rika. Entering a relationship with you and Jumin was not one of those decisions which he regretted, because it made his life feel more… fulfilling.Quietly, he moved his arm over you, and felt you almost nestle into his body to make yourself comfortable. He then ended up burying his face into your hair, just to take in the sweet, floral smell which it possessed. It was something almost like… vanilla, he believed.As he did that, you felt yourself wake up, and feeling his arm around you brought a faint smile to your face. Of course, you were horribly tired, so you couldn’t be bothered to turn around to see just whose arm was over you. Rather groggily, you began to talk. “V or Jumin?...”“It’s V…” he mumbled, starting to feel just as tired as you once more. “You’re so warm…”You laughed quietly, before shaking your head. “I think you’re the warm one…” Gently, you took hold of one of his hands. “Where’s Jumin?... I want to hug both of you…” After a few moments, you forced yourself into turning around, and you were met with the half-lidded gaze of V. He really was tired.“I think… he’s putting Elizabeth somewhere else…” V then closed his eyes, and rested his forehead against yours. “He’ll be here soon… I’m going to sleep though…” You nodded in acknowledgement, before closing your own eyes. You were just as tired, unfortunately.Neither of you were able to stay awake long enough to hear Jumin’s return, but he actually felt quite happy seeing you and V holding onto each other as you slept. He had only one thought in his head.
This relationship between the three of you and the happiness which stemmed from it was something that money would never be able to buy. It was perfect.
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“Hey… V? We need some more groceries…” You were digging around the kitchen cupboards, hardly able to find anything to eat besides a few stale slices of bread. “I knew that I should have given the others some money to buy us some food for when we returned from that trip…”For the past five days, you and V had been out of the country visiting England so that he could take some photographs for an upcoming exhibition he was hosting, and also so that the two of you could celebrate the fact that the two of you had actually recently ended up engaged.V looked up from where he was transferring some photographs he had taken from his phone onto his computer, before he noticed that you were grabbing hold of your bag. “Are you going out now?” You gazed back at him when he asked the question, before nodding. “I’ll go with you then… You’re still badly affected by jetlag, I can’t have you falling asleep in the middle of a shop, can I?”Almost as if on cue, you yawned. As soon as he was stood by your side, leaving his phone near the computer, you took hold of his arm and leaned your head on his shoulder. This was perhaps the most stability in your life since… No. You weren’t going to think of that time. As much as it was nice at the time, thinking about it now brought you a pain which you didn’t want to feel again…It took a good ten minutes to reach a store which sold decent food that didn’t consist merely of things such as microwave meals and junk food, and it didn’t take long for you to get a bit too into drooling at ideas of cakes and desserts which you could make with some of the fruit which you had picked up.“Hmm… There’s a punnet of really fresh looking strawberries over there. Mind if I pick them up?” V asked whilst your eyes were looking over a pile of banana bunches. You nodded, before reaching out to pick up the greenest bunch there, intending on letting them ripen at home.“Jihyun, I’m going over to the vegetables now, so be quick in picking anything else you want here!” After that, you began to make your way further down the aisle. Onions were your current priority, considering that you remembered Yoosung sharing his mother’s kimchi recipe on the messenger about a week ago.Whilst V remained looking at the fruit, he began to hear what he assumed was child-like babbling from a nearby aisle. After a while, it ended up turning into the sounds of a child crying for chocolate. It grated on his nerves for a while, and it became even worse when the child and their father ended up turning towards the fruit a few moments later.“But daaaaaad, want chocolate!”“No… Get yourself an apple or something…”“Chocolate! Chocolate!”“How many times do I have to say no?” V could hear the frustration in the man’s voice, before he heard him mumbling something about how the boy ‘got that from his mother’.Just to get away from the noise, V sighed, picked up some berries which he had been looking at, before making his way back over to you whilst you were busy contemplating buying some onions. He was quick to rest his head on your shoulder once he had placed the berries into the basket, and he then wrapped his arms around your stomach. “I think I’m getting a headache…” Once he knew that he had your attention, he continued to speak. “There’s a child screaming for chocolate down the aisle.”You reached your hand up and ruffled V’s hair, before looking back towards where he had come from. “Don’t worry, Jihyun… I’m sure that they’ll calm down-” You squinted a bit, before your eyes grew wide. “Soon…” V gave you a slightly confused look then, before he could feel you shaking slightly in his grasp. “Jihyun… That little boy… He…” As your arm rose a slight bit to point towards the very source of V’s headache, the child looked over in your direction and his eyes lit up. “He’s… m-my son…” You couldn’t see V’s face, but you could feel the shock making him tense up somewhat. After a few moments, the little boy, only three years old at a push, had ran over to you and was giving you perhaps the toothiest grin possible.V could hardly comprehend what was going on. He was shocked, and also… confused. You had never mentioned having a child before… but then again, he was one to speak about keeping secrets.V slowly let go of you when the boy ended up latching onto your leg, and you could feel the tension which the revelation had created in the atmosphere. “Mom! I miss you!” The boy had gone from screaming for chocolate to giggling as he held onto you, and you felt rather… awkward.“I missed you too…” You kneeled down and then pressed a kiss to the top of the child’s head. You could feel V glancing at you out of surprise as you took hold of the boy’s arms. Moments later, you picked him up and turned your head to face your fiancé, whose face clearly showed that he wasn’t sure on exactly what was going on here. “I don’t think I ever spoke about him before… I’m sorry about that. I… I probably should have…” You turned to then look down the aisle, noticing that your ex seemed to be quite relieved at not having your son hovering around him.Surprisingly, you felt your son’s arm stretch out towards V. “Mooooom, who is that?” You turned to face V yet again, and now he had an even more confused look on his face. “Camera!” Your son must have then noticed the camera just sticking out of V’s pocket.Rolling your eyes, you put the little boy down on the floor again, before sighing. “That man is somebody important to me, okay? He’s called Jihyun, but he likes to be called V too. He’s a photographer, so that’s why he has a camera.” After that, you then ruffled the boy’s hair, before sighing. “Come on now… You can see me in about two weeks and I can tell you more then. Go back to your dad, sweetie.” But then, you gasped, remembering V’s previous remark about the headache he was getting from all of the screaming for chocolate. “But make sure that you don’t hassle him for candy, okay? Get yourself something healthy. Mom doesn’t want to see you all chubby when she sees you next, does she?” You laughed, pinching his cheeks before he ran away whilst shouting things such as ‘bye’ and ‘love you, mom!’Whilst that happened, V had begun to glance back at the man who the boy had originally been with. It didn’t take much for him to realise that the man was your ex, and V wasn’t sure on how to feel. Sure, he looked much better than he did… But now that V realised the connection which you previously had with him, he couldn’t help but feel angry at the whole ‘he got that from his mother’ remark. The child was being annoying, as well as loud. You… You weren’t either of those. You were a delight!V also noticed the way in which your shoulders dropped once the boy had run back over to his dad, so that was when he went and took hold of you once more. There was hurt in your eyes, so V pressed a kiss to your cheek just as a reassurance.“You probably have figured out by now… That I used to date him,” you began, looking at your ex before your gaze began moving down to the floor. “We broke up as soon as we found out about our son… As soon as he was born though, a bit of a fight broke out on as to who looks after him. I was still quite unstable from the break up, and look at me now… I’m a mother who can only see her son three times a year, even though I’ve given up so much for him to have a good upbringing…” Tears began to pour down your face then, watching as your son finally went and picked up an apple. “It just makes me feel like I’m a terrible mo-!”V quickly turned you around and covered your lips with his fingers before you ended up in hysterics in the middle of the shop. It probably didn't help that you were tired, but he didn't want to see you upset. “Don’t talk like that…” He pressed your foreheads together, before giving you a smile. “You know… I heard you just then, talking to your son… All that I heard was a good mother, okay?” V then laughed quietly, before closing his eyes. Just hearing the boy shout things such as ‘love you’, and with him listening to everything which you said just proved V’s point. “It was quite surprising to find out that you have a child, but as I said, you are a good mother…”
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As Saeyoung pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead, you squeezed his hands before you both went your own separate ways through the hospital. Saeyoung was set to visit his twin, who was currently being kept admitted here to clear his body of the strange drugs Rika had given to him, as well as to help him become mentally stable. You were there to help keep an eye on V, who was in a bad state still after getting shot by Saeran, on Jumin’s behalf whilst he was occupied with business meetings.Already it had been four months since the entire situation where you had joined the RFA, and just over three months since the incident where V had been shot. Since then, time seemed to go twice as slow as it actually had gone.“It’s about time that you got here...” Jaehee was waiting for you outside the room where V was, and she seemed to have something reminiscent of hope in her eyes. “Mr Han says that he shall be here as soon as his meetings are over, because of what happened around twenty minutes ago, so we don’t need you here for too long today,” she smiled, before placing her hand on the door but not pushing it open just yet. “V has woken up… And he is somewhat dazed. Whilst he was unconscious, Mr Han told the doctors that V was close to blind, and so… they helped to restore his vision to some extent. He’s having to get used to being awake, and being able to see again,” she then gazed at you, before smiling. “So… we might as well get the two of you officially introduced as RFA members, hadn’t we?”After that, she finally opened the door, before gesturing for you to follow her into the room. Sat in the bed there was V, obviously, with bandages covering his stomach and his hair a mess on the top of his head. He was occupied staring at his hands at present, likely still trying to get over the fact that he could actually see. He didn’t seem anything like how he was when you were at the Mint Eye headquarters, if anything, he seemed more… mentally broken.But then again… Who wouldn’t be, after being shot by somebody you had been sworn to protect, but had ended up being brainwashed by your mentally unstable fiancée?“V… You’ve got a visitor,” Jaehee whispered as you remained partially stood behind her. As she spoke, V gazed upwards, his skin somewhat pale and eyes looking lost. Had everything which happened with Rika… caused this? “It’s our new member…”Slowly, V turned to face you, and a faint smile formed on his thin lips. “Hello…” There were hints of what seemed to be pain in his voice, probably because of everything which you and Saeyoung had to go through because of Rika.“Right, Mr Han will be here in about fifteen minutes, his meetings should have finished by now. I shall be waiting near where Saeyoung hopefully is with Saeran, so feel free to seek me out if necessary,” Jaehee stated, her eyes going between both you and V, before she finally left the two of you alone.Putting a smile on your face, you made your way over to V and watched how his eyes followed each and every single movement which you made. You didn’t sit down in one of the seats, instead opting to stand by the window just beside the bed. “You’re looking much better than the past few times where I’ve visited you, V.” It was true, that. Previous times his skin was pale, close to translucent at first, and on top of that, he didn’t have as many bandages around his stomach.V’s brow furrowed in confusion for a moment, before his look softened. “You… visited me whilst I was…?”“Yeah…” You gazed down at the floor, and kicked at a stray flower petal which had fell from the bouquet of flowers next to the bed onto the floor. “I promised Jumin that I’d check on you sometimes, and… Well, last time I went with Saeyoung to see Saeran, I narrowly avoided having a vase threw at me, so… When he visits his brother, I visit you.” After that, you looked back at the man again, and he seemed to be almost shaking.“That’s my fault… I… Should have stopped Rika… I… should have kept an eye on Saeran even longer…” He now had a faint trail of tears falling down his face, and you bit your lip. Gently, you took a tissue out of a box which was on the table beside the bed, before pressing it just underneath his eyes. As you did that, you sat on the bed beside him. “I- I-”You noticed that V was finding it hard not to stop crying even as you did that, so you went and carefully wrapped your arms around him in a loose embrace. “V. Listen to me when I say that this wasn’t your fault,” you whispered into his hair, taking slight notice of the greasiness to it because of the three months it had gone uncleaned. “I honestly believe… That things would have turned out this way no matter what interventions were put into place.” You then looked over at the window as you felt V quivering slightly as you held onto him. “It’s like the sun… Even though it moves across the sky, it always returns to where it was. It’s inevitable.”A heavy silence remained in the room for a good minute or so after that, before you were caught by surprise by the feeling of something against your back. It took a moment to realise that V was returning the hug, but because of how he had become much thinner since he had been shot, you could hardly feel his arms against you.“Have you ate?” V blinked for a moment when you pulled away from him and asked that question, before he shook his head. “Do you want to eat something?” That time, you got a nod in response. “Is there anything that you want in particular? I’ve got a flask of soup in my bag if you want some of that…” After that, V didn’t respond. “V…?”“Something is happening just outside…” He pointed towards the door, before biting down on his lip. “You can hear the shouting, can’t you…?” V kept quiet after that, giving you a moment to listen. “It sounds almost like… Saeyoung.” You could hear your boyfriend’s name be quite a struggle for V to roll of his tongue, likely because of him being there when he decided to go under the alias of Luciel to get rid of Saeyoung.After that, you were the one who stopped giving responses. V had to keep nudging your arm ever so slightly every few moments to stop you from zoning out.
Why did it sound like Saeyoung was yelling from somewhere though?
Before long though, the door to the room opened, and Jumin was stood there with a rather anxious looking Jaehee behind him, and boy, did Jumin look angry. Your answers were quick to be given because of that though.“Reckless… That boy is absolutely reckless…” Jumin muttered, before he made his way to stand beside you. “At least you don’t have her pulling you out of the hospital, V.”V’s face was quite the picture after that – it was one of both confusion and exasperation. There was no doubt that your face was almost the exact same. “Jumin… it’s nice to see you too…”Jaehee tapped on your shoulder after that, and gestured for you to follow her out of the room so that she could tell you something. You were hardly given a chance to say bye to V as you were pulled outside. Moments later, the situation surrounding Saeyoung dragging Saeran straight out of the hospital after talk of having him moved to a psychiatric ward was explained, and you had left to go chasing after your boyfriend and his brother without a moment’s thought.Meanwhile, in V’s hospital room, Jumin and V had just noticed your shadow from the other side of the door quickly rush away.“I… can see why you all opened up to her so fast, Jumin…”“You can?”“Yes… She’s determined to make sure that everybody is happy and safe...” V slowly made himself lie back down, and gazed up at the ceiling. “Saeyoung is the luckiest man in the world to have her…”
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“Not much longer now…” You could hear V whispering down your ear as he continued to lead you forward, his warm breath brushing past your skin and sending shivers down your spine. You had been told by him that he wanted to take you somewhere today, and about twenty or so minutes ago, during a car journey to the mystery location, V had gone and blindfolded you. You had no idea where you were, and V was intent on keeping it completely secret from you.A quiet whine escaped you then, and following that, you could feel V rest his head on your shoulder, before the vibrations of a silent chuckle to himself went through your skin. “This isn’t fair…”“Just trust me, okay? I’ll guide you, just as you helped to guide me…” You felt him position himself behind you then, before he took hold of your hands. You supposed that he had a point – you had helped him whilst he waited for the surgery on his eyes whilst he was temporarily blind… “I’ll be here for you.” His words then made you loosen up somewhat, which brought a different thought to the forefront of your mind.When exactly did you start to tense up?Slowly, V kept you walking forward for about another minute, and then he made you stop. A gentle kiss was placed against your throat from behind, before he let go of you. “We’re here now, my sun…” His fingers trailed down your arm seconds later, but withdrew before he touched your hand.“Can I take the blindfold off then, Jihyun…?”“Ah… I quite like this though...” he mumbled under his breath, probably assuming that you couldn’t hear him. He gasped when he noticed your face heating up, presumably making you blush somewhat. “Could you, um… Keep the blindfold on for a short while?” He finally took hold of you once more, this time placing his hands on your waist from in front of you. “I wouldn’t mind… Making your surprise even more of a mystery to you.”You whimpered then, and you then felt his chin come to rest on top of your head. Slowly you gulped, before pulling your head back slightly and tilting your head upwards slightly, hoping that you were facing his direction. “Jihyun, if this is what you want… then okay. Just… could you continue being my eyes for me? Be my light?”“Of course. I would have it no other way.”V’s hand then slowly made its way to your hand, before you were pulled forward slightly. Following that, you were assisted down onto the ground. There was grass underneath you, so you could only assume that you were in some place filled with nature, perhaps a field or something? Following that, you could feel your shoes removed, exposing your feet to the cool breeze surrounding you both. “Just in front of you is a small body of water. You can put your feet in if you wish.”You nodded, before stretching your right leg out a slight bit, and flinching a slight bit as the freezing cold water touched your heel, and eventually surrounded your foot. V laughed as you did that, before you copied the action with your other foot. It took a moment to get used to it, but eventually, you relaxed.Before long, you heard the sound of to the ground to your left being sat upon, and finally, V’s slim fingers lightly brushed against yours. They were slightly calloused, likely because of how much he dealt with cameras ever since he was a child. If you could recall properly, Jumin had told you that even as children, he hadn’t seen V too far from a camera at any given time. But those fingers… They seemed so nimble. You face instantly heated up when an inappropriate thought suddenly came into your head though.“Hmm… Could you possibly stay like that for a moment?” V then whispered, breaking the silence which remained between you both as he withdrew his fingers from your hand. Moments later, even through the blindfold, you could see the flash of a camera. “You look so wonderful, even with that blindfold on your face… Such a sweet blush…” You could feel his thumb stroke across your cheek. “Those rosy lips…” His thumb stopped moving when it came to rest upon your mouth, applying a tiny bit of pressure to your bottom lip. It perhaps didn’t help that your lips were slightly parted when it came to that, because it honestly made you want to pull him in for a kiss. “And you have such a beautiful, beautiful body…”Slowly, you felt a hand against your shoulder, and push you carefully down onto the ground. What you would give to have your sight right now… The loss of that sense had heightened all of your others, and it seemed quite obvious that V understood that, having lost his vision in the past. The thing is, touch was most definitely the one which had become the most sensitive. Before you knew it, you could feel blades of grass against your ears and arms. Also, because of the position you were in, it felt uncomfortable trying to keep your feet into the water, so you drew your knees up as best as you could. V seemed to be hovering over you at that moment in time, meaning that you wouldn’t be able to move them up much.The blindfold concealed the fact that your eyes had widened over the position which you both were in, and due to the fact that V was now remaining as silent as he could, it felt almost as though he was trying to tease you. A staggered gasp then escaped your mouth, and that was enough to make V laugh very quietly.“Don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything like that. Not out here, anyway,” he mumbled, before pressing a kiss to your forehead. “I may have you pinned to the ground, but there’s no ill intentions behind it, I promise. I just… wanted to take in the view of my wonderful… girlfriend.” The last word seemed caught at the back of his throat, as though he were reluctant to say it, before he made a sound which seemed to indicate that he was duelling with his thoughts.Suddenly, without a moment of hesitation, his lips had caught onto yours, and showed no signs of holding back. You could just about feel his legs at either side of your hips, the material of his trousers rubbing against the skin which had been exposed through your top and sweater riding up just a slight bit. On top of that, his fingers from his left hand seemed to have started to tangle themselves into your hair, whereas his right hand was now resting under the slight arch of your back. This was closer to V than you ever had been before, and despite his previous statement, you wondered if he would keep to his word, because this didn’t really seem to be keeping to it…“Ah, I- I-!“ Moments later, his face separated slightly from yours, and you could feel the heat radiating from his face. He was likely just as flustered as you… “Ah god, I can’t hold back any more… Y- you can take of your blindfold if you answer a question f- for me…” You felt his hand in your hair then move to the back of your head, where the blindfold had been quite loosely tied. “My sun… My love… My precious, my beautiful, my girlfriend, m- my…” He was stammering as he came out with all of the different nicknames he had ever given you, before you heard a sudden gulp. “Can… I add ‘my fiancée’ to that list?... W- Will you… marry me...?”Moments later, you felt the material covering your eyes slip down your face a slight bit, allowing you to see once more. The light from the sun in the background was somewhat blinding, but thankfully, V was just about in the way of most of the light. His eyes were wide, likely through anticipation as he waited for a response from you. On top of that, his teeth were digging into his bottom lip, and his whole face was a light pink shade. Also, his hair was rather dishevelled, as though he had been dragging his hand through it quite a few times as he built up to asking the question.Carefully, you propped yourself up on your elbows, meaning that with the way that V was leaning over you, the two of you were almost pressed together. “You didn’t even need to ask…” Finally, it was your chance to catch him in a surprise kiss, and the muffled gasp which he gave off made you want to grin. “Just say the word, and I’m yours. All yours.” After that, you were finally able to take hold of his shoulders, and were able to carefully remove his jacket from him, considering that you could feel the excessive amount of heat coming from his body.It was fun seeing the tables turned now, with your blush fading as his grew brighter. Of course, taking his jacket off probably put the wrong thoughts into his head as he accidentally had done before, but you weren’t going to push this any further.“Jihyun?”“Y- Yes…?”“Did you bring me out here… Blindfold me… And make me feel good… just so that you could propose to me?”His turquoise eyes were fixed upon yours after that, with him seemingly analysing every action which you had made. After that, he slowly nodded, his uneven breath escaping his slightly parted lips. “Yes, I did… H- Here is important to me, with it being one of the first places I took a photo on my own… I- I liked the idea of having it important to you too…”A slight smirk formed on your face as you pressed your forehead against his, making him lean back a slight bit. “Cute… You’re so cute…”And then… You lost your balance.It was quite a relief that you had removed V’s jacket then, because you both went tumbling into the body of water just behind you both. It was deeper than you were expected, with it going up to your chest.The two of you had startled looks on your faces due to the shock of the contact with the cold water, but in a few moments, you had erupted into laughter. V pulled himself over to the edge of water, before he began to chuckle at your reaction.“Aren’t we lucky I’ve not got the ring out yet…” He whispered once you had calmed down a minutes later, before he sighed. “Ha…” Following that, your drenched bodies were pulled together into a hug, the water surrounding you making your bodies feel somewhat lighter than normal. “I love you…”“I love you too, Jihyun…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“… Follow me for a second,” V whispered, making a quick hand gesture using the hand which wasn’t holding onto his cane to keep him upright. “I want to ask you something, but it’s quite crowded in here… You’ve done very well in inviting the guests by the way, considering that this is only your second party…”It had been about six months since you had joined the RFA due to the hacker, and you had managed to get along with everyone else in the group very well.Yoosung was like a little brother figure to you. You both got along well, and at times, you had to dote over him to make sure that he was eating properly and studying when he had to.Jaehee was like a mother and a sister to you, somebody who you could always confide in and get advice from.Zen was definitely the outgoing older brother sort of person to you, with him being overprotective as hell at times.Jumin was a good friend, who you could go to if all others weren’t available. Also, it was fun to subtly give him hints towards new cat projects whenever Jaehee gave you dodgy pieces of advice, a thing encouraged very much by Seven. He was your absolute best friend in the RFA.Then there was V… He was a very close friend too. You had similar interests, and you could spend hours on a daily basis talking to him about them as a distraction for him from his almost non-existent sight. You actually had accompanied him on one final photography trip a week ago before his eyesight faded for good.Slowly, you and V made your way into a room just to the side of the main room which the party was being held in, reserved exclusively for RFA members. You were half expecting Zen to be hidden away in there because of Jumin bringing Elizabeth to the party, but surprisingly, there was no sign of him. It was just you and V.“So… What is it that you wanted to ask me?” You questioned as you sat down in one of the seats in the room –oh, it was comfortable as comfortable could be- before watching as V sat down in the seat beside yours. “It’s nothing bad, is it?”He laughed, and shook his head. “No… It’s not bad. Far from it…” Following that, he took hold of one of the arms of his sunglasses before pulling them off. “I want to know… Would you be willing to become a permanent fixture in the RFA? Like a spokesperson for us all, if you may. The others members and even a majority of the guests have already expressed eagerness towards you holding a role such as that. I can probably explain more details at a later point, when we don’t have a party to deal with, but… what do you say?”You seemed to freeze when V asked that, words unable to leave your mouth in any sort of coherent manner. The only way in which you could properly react was standing up, and giving V a wide-eyed glance of surprise. It took a lot for you to be able to nod after that, and V smiled as he stood up and took hold of one of your arms to stabilise you. His other hand was, understandably, firmly keeping hold of his cane.“I take that as a yes?”It took a moment for you to be able to get any words to come out of your mouth. “Y- Yeah!” And then, just to show V that you were thankful, you grabbed hold of him around the waist in a somewhat tight hug. You could hear his cane fall down onto the floor after that, and felt the way in which his breath suddenly hitched. What was unexpected was V returning the hug, and resting his chin on the top of your head.The two of you remained embracing for a good few minutes, with Seven walking in at one point to ask V something just for him to turn on his heel and walk straight back out.To say that it felt good holding onto V was an understatement… He was warm, he smelled nice, and you just couldn’t help but feel safe as he kept hold of you. But then… You felt him place a small kiss on your scalp. That action had caught you by surprise, and the corners of your lips turned up slightly.“V…?”“Hmm?”“Do that again…”“What…” V trailed off, before pressing another small kiss to the top of your head. You could feel your cheeks heating up now. “… that?”“Yeah… That feels nice.” By that point, the hug had gone far longer than what would be deemed acceptable for friends, at least in the eyes of everyone you had grew close to over the past few months. “You just… feel nice, V…”To be honest, people had pointed out that the dynamic between the two of you was quite strange, and unlike the relationships which either of you held towards other people. Yoosung even made a point out of mentioning that the two of you seemed even closer than V had been to Rika when he was a relationship with her, and that it was surprising that it was simply just a friendship between the two of you.“Hey… Can I ask you just one more thing?” You tilted your head up somewhat, before giving a small nod to him. “Can… I kiss you somewhere else?”‘Somewhere else’ was so vague, and the thought of what he could have meant made your entire body start to feel as though it were burning up.“Uh, o- okay…”Your heart was racing with anticipation as V loosened his grasp of you, before one of his hands took hold of your chin and pulled you up gently so that you were stood on your toes. After that, your mind went completely blank as you suddenly felt his lips against yours, and you could have sworn that your heart had exploded just through how much it was beating.For what felt like an eternity later, V finally moved back a slight bit, his face looking just as flushed as yours, if not more so. “I- I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t have-!” It was obvious that he was acting without really thinking a few moments ago, if the way his speech was filled with stuttering.“V… You’re cute. There isn’t any need to apologise…” You laughed awkwardly, glancing towards the floor. At least the embarrassment was mutual. “Th- Though… I- I honestly wouldn’t mind doing that again…”“R- Really?”“Mhmm…”“But… B- But whilst we’re here, the party is still g- going on… We should really-!”“Don’t worry… One more kiss, and we can return…”His breathing was heavy as your eyes moved back up to him, and noticed the faint hints of turquoise present in his own. “Okay then… Just one kiss.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
ZEN: We, uh… We have a bit of a problem.Jaehee Kang: What is it?...707: Is this why I noticed you and our new best friend going into hospital over CCTV before?!ZEN: Yeah…V: What’s going on?ZEN: She’s broken her arm…Jaehee Kang: What?!ZEN: She was just keeping me company as I went to buy some lunch at the convenience store near the theatre I’m performing in at the moment…ZEN: But… there was a spillage which nobody had noticed and we didn’t even notice… She slipped in it, and put her arm out to catch herself… I tried to catch her but I slipped too. She… just got off a lot worse.
-707 surprised emoji-
ZEN: I’ll go back on the messenger as soon as her arm’s in a cast later… I need to try and persuade her to calm down.V: Wait!ZEN: ?V: Which hospital are you at?ZEN: I’ll tell you over a text…“Sure, it’s annoying… But it doesn’t hinder what I normally do…” You sighed as you pulled your legs up onto the sofa at your apartment, arm supported in a cast. “I’ve got a laptop to send out any emails for the RFA, and I can type well with my right hand even if it's broken…” As you tilted your head back and waved your left hand about, you heard two synchronised sighs. “And besides that, I don’t have a job, so…”Both V and Zen stood nearby, giving you close to identical looks as if to say ‘Why are you not bothered?! You just broke your arm, for goodness’ sake!’Zen then walked over to you, before poking your head lightly. “What about making food then? I’m not having you not eating because of your arm!” The second which you opened your mouth to respond, Zen continued speaking. “And none of us want you eating take-out food all the time! We’re not having you turn into Seven with his Honey Buddha chips just with take-out instead!”Thankfully, before Zen could rant at you more about how you would take care of yourself whilst your arm is in such a state, one of his current directors called to get him to go to back to the set for a second rehearsal that day. Having just V with you makes the atmosphere a lot less tense…V remained silent for a good moment, before he tapped your shoulder. “Mind if I sit down beside you?” At his question, you slowly swung your legs down, before patting the cushion of the sofa to your right. “Thanks…” Once he was sat down, he then placed his hand on the cast on your right arm. “Does it hurt?”“Not right now… I’m kind of dosed up on painkillers right now, so… It’s just numb,” you began, slowly leaning to the side so that your head was on his shoulder and sighing. “I wish I had the same healing speeds as Zen, it would probably be all fine come tomorrow morning, but… I’ll have to keep my arm like this for a few weeks.”You heard a quiet hum from V then, before he turned his head to look at you. “Do you have any pens anywhere?” His question made a highly confused look develop on your face, but you still pointed over to the desk which was set up in the room, and had a drawer filled with pens. “Mind if I use some of them for now?”“Uh… Okay then. Do you need some paper too?”“No, just the pens,” he stated, standing up and going over to the desk. You heard him dig around for a moment, before you noticed him close the drawer once he had six different coloured pens in his hand. A red one, a green, a turquoise, a yellow, a purple, and a grey one. Weren’t they the colours associated with the RFA members beside yourself? Red was Seven’s signature colour, whereas green was linked to Yoosung. V was the one who had turquoise, and yellow represented Jaehee. Purple was definitely Jumin, whereas grey had connections to Zen. It could have just been coincidence, but you didn’t really care.Quickly, V sat down beside you once more, before smiling. “Pick a colour. The one you like the most.” Because of it being V there with you, you first went for the colour matching his hair and eye colour. “Close your eyes for a moment.”Now even more confused, you did as he said, and just to make sure that you never peeked, you kept your hand in front of your eyes and bit down onto your bottom lip. You could feel him do his best to take hold of the hand partially covered by the cast, before you relaxed somewhat. What would he be doing with that pen?“Just another minute… Let me just do this quickly…” And as he said, a minute later, he carefully removed your hand from your eyes. “There… Like it?” It took a good moment to realise what he meant with his question, and when you did, a faint blush formed on your face.He had written a little message on the cast saying ‘I hope your arm gets better soon! I’ll look after you until it does!’, and drew a quick little flower and a few hearts on your cast.“Oh… V, that’s so sweet…” You were honestly finding it hard to hold back tears after that. “Were you planning to do the same with the other pens?”“Oh… No. I was planning on taking you to see everyone else, and have them write their own messages on it,” he began, before grinning at the gentle hug you had given him. “And then, I’ll take you out for a meal… How does that sound? I think that pizza would be nice, don’t you?”“Ha, it sounds almost like a date.”“Maybe I intend for it to be-” He had an awkward smile and bright red cheeks then, and one of his hands was rubbing the back of his neck as he began to laugh. “I mean-! The others are w- worried about you after they heard about your arm… Th- That’s why!”“Jihyun Kim, you are just too adorable.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
707:
LOLOLOL YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT I JUST FOUND~
You:
?
V:
What is it?
Jaehee Kang:
I’m… concerned.
Yoosung:
This had better not be a trick!!!
Jumin Han:
If you have managed to find a way to get into my penthouse, and take Elizabeth…
ZEN:
Don’t mention that furball!
707:
I wonder how long you’ve managed to keep that secret~
Yoosung:
The suspense is killing me;;;
707:
Somebody
707:
in
707:
this
707:
chatroom
707:
has
707:
a
707:
little
Jaehee Kang:
Keep it to one line, Luciel!
707:
SECRET!
Jumin Han:
Do go on, Luciel.
ZEN:
I’m curious about this…
707:
So… This person in particular has a somewhat well-hidden career as a model… And got quite famous before they suddenly disappeared for a few weeks! Even though they’ve recently re-emerged, when did they disappear from the public eye? Ah, well… I have the answers! When they joined the RFA!
V:
What? The only people here that are well known to the public as a famous figure of sorts are myself, Hyun, and Jumin…
707:
Aaaaaaaand…
-You have left the chatroom-
-707 has posted an image-
707:
Look! It’s your little girlfriend, V~
Jaehee Kang:
She sure is with… A lot of male models in that picture…
Jumin Han:
Interesting…
ZEN:
WOAH, THAT’S HER?! I think my director tried to get me to do a modelling project with her about a year ago! If I’d have known, I would have jumped at the chance!
Yoosung:
… Um… V? You okay?
V:
I…
707:
I’VE FOUND EVEN MORE IMAGES OF HER, GUYS!!!
-707 has posted three images-
-V has left the chatroom-
V sighed as he sat back on the sofa, trying to get his head around the revelation which had just come to light in the messenger. He had been dating you for a good few months now, and he knew that you had a career which you were somewhat secretive about, but he allowed you to keep this secrecy over it. He didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable with explaining if you didn’t want to, seeming as you had extended him the same courtesy in the past.But… A model? Normally people weren’t secretive about those sorts of careers, normally people were open to it, and eager to let people know… So why had you insisted on keeping that on the down-low? You were perhaps one of the most famous models in the country, and not a single person in the RFA knew that she was you!The thing is, that wasn’t even what was bothering him the most. What really bothered him was exactly what Jaehee had pointed out. In each of the images… You were with a lot of male models. Why were you with them? What if something happened whilst you were with them? What if they… tried to take you from him? He had dealt with enough heartbreak for one lifetime with what had happened with Rika, he wasn’t wanting to go through any more…Another thing which didn’t help was that at that very moment… You were working.That meant that you were modelling.You could have been with those men right now…Hastily, V stood up and went to grab hold of his jacket ready to go out. He didn’t want you out there with a job where you had people like that near you without him. He knew that this was a bad sign of jealousy, perhaps also over-protectiveness, and at a push possessive, but… He couldn’t sit still with those sorts of fears in his head.“I’ve left you a note on the fridge with the place I’m working today, okay? See you later, Jihyun!” V remembered those words which you had given to him that morning as his hand came to rest on the door handle of the apartment which the two of you shared. With a sigh, he backtracked to the fridge, before he glanced at the note. The place you had written… It was just down the road from where Rika’s apartment was, and also wasn’t too far from your shared apartment. That… Was quite a relief.It was quite cold outside when V managed to make his way onto the street, a definite sign that it was getting closer to winter now. He didn’t like that you were out modelling when it will start getting darker earlier, as well as it being even colder than usual.As well as that, V wanted to have a word with Luciel at a later point. Why did he find it necessary to point that out in the messenger at a point where both you and himself were online? And it says a lot that he managed to make you quickly log out before he had fully revealed it… That was an obvious sign that you didn’t want people to know about your career yet.God… How he hoped that he could get to you as soon as possible.What surprised him a few minutes later, when he was about half-way to the building which you were working in, a sudden text came through to his phone.‘Jihyun… Can I call you?’He stopped, before leaning against a wall so that he could write a proper reply to you. ‘Yeah… If you want.’Within a matter of seconds, your ringtone was coming out of his phone at a volume louder than he was expecting, but despite that, he was quick to answer it.“Hey… Are you okay?” He asked as soon he heard you mumbling something under your breath. “What’s the matter?”“Just… I’m annoyed at Seven…” You whispered, before there was a shout in the background. To V, it sounded as though you were yelling back about going home, before you returned to the call. “Sorry about that, I was being asked whether I’ve finished for the day or not…”“You don’t have to apologise,” V sighed as he slowly began to walk once more. “I’m just wondering though… Why did you keep your job a secret?” It was a question on his mind, and likely also a current question on the minds of the other RFA members. As long as he got an answer though… he wouldn’t mind.“Oh… Because I wanted to get to know you and everyone else as myself, rather than as my other self… I wanted you to form opinions of me for my true self, and not have any bias based upon who I am in my career.” Then you chuckled quietly. “That, and I’m basically doing what Jumin can’t do. Keeping work and my private life separate.”V nodded despite knowing that you couldn’t see him, before he also laughed at your remark about Jumin. “I understand that...” He then looked ahead of him, before grinning. “Where are you right now?”“Oh, now? I’m just outside the studio I was working in.” V could just about see you down the street, pulling your coat around yourself before kicking at the ground. “I guess you probably want to talk more about my job at home, don’t you…?” As he walked closer to you, he noticed that you had a highly worried look on your face. “Jihyun… Is that what you’re getting at?”Quickly, as soon as he was a few steps away from you, he hung up the call and reached out for your arm. “No. Not if you don’t want to…” You jumped out of surprise, before quickly turning to face him.“Wh- Whoa! Jihyuuuuuuun… You never told me that you were coming, but I’m glad you did…” You smiled, before pushing at his chest a slight bit. “And that was for scaring me.” That was soon followed by you embracing him, and burying your head into his shoulder.He could feel his jealousy over those men you were seen with in those images start to fade then, with him knowing that only he was able to have you like this… Knowing that you were glad to have him there…“Jihyun… I love you.”Finally, after those words, a smile formed on his own face and he returned the hug. “Yeah… And I love you too, my wonderful girlfriend...”After that, you let out a longing sigh. “I’d much rather model for you; you know… You’re a much better photographer than the silly one I have to work with.”“Oh, is that so? Maybe I can find a way to organise that…” He laughed, pressing a kiss to your cheek.
V’s jealousy had definitely gone now.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“I’ll just have… A gingerbread latte, please,” you smiled, before allowing V to make his own drink order and pay for you both. It was your first date together today, after finally (following weeks of being forced by the other RFA members) becoming a couple.V had suggested that you both go to this quaint little café situated on the outskirts of the city, and after looking it up online, you had fell in love with the place. It felt somewhat like an art gallery, with how many pictures and paintings there were within it. It made you wonder if any of the photos inside were his…“Hmm… Why don’t we sit at that little booth table at the back?” V was quick to ask once he had paid, before pointing to where he was speaking about. “It looks very quiet, and it’s private too.”You nodded, before smiling as he took hold of you hand and pulled you to the back of the café. The seats were comfortable too… God, you were glad that he had recommended this place for your date.The only thing is… The date would only go downhill from there.V looked at you for a moment, before sighing. “I… had my first date with Rika here.” Oh. “It’s the entire reason that I know about this place… She was the one who recommended it. I gave her one of my photographs, and in return, I asked to have a coffee date with her…” He rested his head in his hand, as though he was reminiscing over the past.What bothered you was the fact that when he had asked you out, his exact words had been “I’m over Rika now. She’s in the past, and I’m not getting her back. I… want to build a future with you.” What he was saying now… seemed as though it was a contradiction.“Huh… So this place makes you think of Rika?” You asked, just as two cups were places on the table by one of the employees at the café. You thanked them, before pulling the cup with a little gingerbread man on top over to you. “It feels weird talking about her, you know… I never actually knew her, after all.”V nodded, accepting what you had said, before pulling his own drink over to him. He stirred it for a moment, before smiling. “You look really pretty sitting there, you know. Just holding onto your drink like that…” He then watched as your hands shifted a slight bit due to the heat of the cup. “Also, there’s the way in which the lighting reflects off your hair… It makes you seem so bright, like the sun… I’d love it if you were my sun.”
Calling Rika ‘his sun’ was something which Jumin had told you about. For the good part of the two and a half years which Rika was alive and running the RFA, not a day went by without seeing messages such as ‘Hello, my sun.’ in the chatrooms in the RFA app.
You sighed, but still put on a smile. Had he really got over Rika’s death, or was he using you as a way to get all of his Rika-related thoughts out of his head?Slowly, you removed the gingerbread man out of your drink, before taking a small bite out of it. As you did that, V rested his arm on the table, and took hold of your free hand which also happened to be resting on the table. That was nice… It made you relax somewhat.“You know… I wasn’t expecting you to get that drink, you know,” he began to mutter after long, before squeezing your hand gently. “I would have thought that you would have asked for a hot chocolate, you know… But then again, you…” He gazed at the floor, before you tensed up somewhat. He was going to make a comment about Rika probably ordering a hot chocolate when they went there. He had a similar look in his eyes to the other times he had mentioned Rika…“Oh… I really like gingerbread, that’s all, to be honest. One of my grandparents used to bake it a lot when I was a child, and I would always be their taste-tester before they died because of how nice it was… The drink just reminded me of my childhood,” you explained, hoping that bringing up some of your childhood would deter him somewhat from talking about Rika, and make him talk a bit more about himself.V nodded, before he put on a smile. “That reminded me of the time where Rika baked some cakes to take to a homeless shelter with Yoosung a few years ago… Those who ate them said that they were delicious.” He took a sip of his drink, and his smile turned into a grin. “I can imagine you doing such a thing too.”
Oh great. More Rika!
You remained in silence after that, ignoring the heat being radiated by your drink as you gulped it down. He may not have known it, but… He said that he had moved on. It hurt whenever he mentioned Rika. It was almost like an excruciating, crushing pain on your chest. You weren’t Rika… You couldn’t be Rika… It had taken a lot to get that drilled into Yoosung’s head, but were you now having to do that to your new boyfriend?!Slowly, you withdrew your hand which V was holding onto before pulling your phone out underneath the table. You opened up your text messages, before pressing the name of the person who you knew would give you the best advice in the RFA.‘Zen… I want out.’ Quickly, you turned your phone onto silent so that V wouldn’t hear the notification sounds for your texts. He was thankfully oblivious to your phone usage too, as he continued talking. “I’m wondering… Will you try out the hot chocolate next time we come here?”“Um… Okay then, I guess so…” Next time. With the way in which things were going… Hah. Next time.‘You want to stop the date with V? How come?’
‘He’s comparing me to Rika… Over and over… Rika this, Rika that…’
“It’s nice being here with you… I’ve not had company like this in a long time…”“Really? Let me guess… The last time you had somebody with you like this… was when Rika was here.”“Yes, actually…”‘But… I thought that he was over her!’
‘That’s what I thought… And, um… Are you free right now?’
You watched as V began to quicken the pace which he was sipping his drink, and you noticed that he looked so happy as he was. But… you weren’t happy. It was killing you just staying here.‘I’m just resting at my apartment at the moment. How come?’
‘Mind if I come to visit you? I can’t… I can’t stay here for a moment longer.’
‘Okay. If it’s what you think is best…’
With a sigh once you had finished your drink, you stood up, and looked V in the eyes. “I’m sorry… I need to go…” You then diverted your eyes to glance at the door. “V… Ever since we got here, you’ve spoke of nothing but Rika… You’ve been comparing me to Rika… Asking me to do things which make me seem more like Rika! But V… that’s the thing… I’m not her. I never can be, and never will be… So… Maybe it’s not the best time right now for this. You haven’t got over Rika. As much as I really want to be happy with you… I can’t whilst you’re like this…” God, why were you CRYING?! “I’m sorry, V… Let’s just be friends for now… Maybe in the future, things will work out better for us…”V’s eyes were wide with shock as he watched you then leave the café. He stared into the last little bit of his drink, before he felt his own eyes tearing up. “Did… Did I really speak about Rika so much?” He thought back over the date, before he bit his lip. “Oh god, I did… Damn it… She’s right, I- I haven’t got over Rika…” After that, he pulled out his phone, before pressing the name of his top contact to call them.“Jihyun? This is surprising… Weren’t you on a date with-”“Not any more, Jumin… I- I screwed up… I screwed up on an enormous scale…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Thanks for letting me come here, Jumin…” V sighed as he stepped through the door of Jumin’s penthouse, before looking at his friend. “God… She looked really upset when she got up and left, I… I never even realised that I kept comparing her to Rika, let alone that she didn’t like it…”Jumin frowned at seeing V do his best not to cry over what had just happened between him and you, before he pulled out his phone. “Hmm. I would offer you a drink of wine, but I have a feeling that would make you more of a mess than you are now,” he stated, just as he pressed to load up the messenger. “It is a shame, the two of you seemed very good for each other and got along better with each other than anyone else in the RFA.”V nodded, before noticing how Jumin seemed to be writing a message on his phone to somebody. He didn’t know who, but V was sure that the message had something to do with the fact that he was currently at Jumin’s penthouse.“Well… It turns out that she went off to see Zen for some comfort at his apartment after she left. I know where we are going then.”“Where we are-?!”“Shush. I am getting Driver Kim, and we are going to Zen’s apartment right now.”“Jumin, no-!”“You don’t have a choice, V.”You had noticed that after Zen had offered you a drink, he had gone and sat down on the sofa and was on his phone. You weren’t sure on what he was doing, but when you head his phone ring, it was quick to realise that he was on the phone to his director over one of his current roles.Because you couldn’t talk to him to let out your pent up emotions, you sat down at a seat at the table in the room, and opened up the messenger to see if anyone was there for you to talk to. It was a relief to see Jaehee online, considering that she was the other person in the RFA besides Zen who you felt that you could get the best serious emotional support from.
Jaehee Kang:
Oh… Hello. I’m surprised that you’re online right now.
You:
To be honest, I’m surprised too… Hah…
Jaehee Kang:
Wait… Did things not work out on your date with V?
You:
No…
Jaehee Kang:
That’s… That really is a shame. How come?
You:
Rika.
Jaehee Kang:
Rika…? But she’s dead…
You:
Everything was to do with Rika… The café was where he went on his first date with Rika. He said he wanted to call me his sun, like he did Rika. He was surprised that I never got the same drink as Rika… And more… I just… It really upset me, being compared to her, you know?
Jaehee Kang:
Ah… He might have thought that he was over the grief of losing her, but being in a relationship brought it all back… Is that it?
You:
I think so… God, I feel so bad about leaving, but… I couldn’t take any more. My heart couldn’t take any more.
Jaehee Kang:
I understand that… But I’m thinking… Maybe being in a relationship with you is what he needs to get over the pain of his loss. Just as you want to be accepted for who you are, maybe helping him over his grief could do that.
You:
You really think so?...
Jaehee Kang:
Yes.
-Jumin Han has entered the chatroom-
Jumin Han:
Good. You’re here.
Jaehee Kang:
Me, Mr. Han?
Jumin Han:
No.
Jumin Han:
I’ve got an upset V at my penthouse right now.
You:
Is… Is he… okay?
Jumin Han:
I have seen him in much better states. He’s whispering repeatedly that he never realised that he was speaking about Rika so much.
You:
... Jaehee, maybe you are right…
Jumin Han:
Looking at what Assistant Kang said before I entered the chatroom, and judging by the state which V is in, I can’t help but agree.
Jumin Han:
Where are you right now?
You:
I’m at Zen’s apartment at the moment… I asked if I could come here just to calm myself down and for some comfort…
-Jumin Han has left the chatroom-
Jaehee Kang:
You don’t think that… He is going to take V there, do you?
You:
I have a feeling that he will…
As you then said your goodbyes, and left the chatroom, you noticed that Zen was now no longer on his phone, and had walked over to you. He seemed to have been reading the chatroom over your shoulder. “I agree with Jaehee too. But god… that means that I’m agreeing with that jerk for once…” You laughed at what Zen said, before sighing.Because of that chatroom, you had a question in your head which wouldn’t go away unless you asked it. “Zen… Do you think that I was wrong to walk away from V at the café?”“Wrong?” Zen then sat opposite you, his face crumpled due to him being in deep thought. It honestly looked so funny, yet he still managed to look good despite that. “No. I don’t think that you were wrong.” He then noticed your face soften, as though your worries had faded somewhat, before talking a bit more. “It must have felt as though he was trying to use you as a replacement for Rika at the time, and there’s no doubt that would have hurt you more than anything… And when you’re hurt emotionally, it’s quite hard to think logically. So I don’t think that you were wrong, you were just emotional.” He then paused, before smiling. “This relationship isn’t beyond salvageable yet.”For some reason, you felt your cheeks warm up and a small smile form on your face at Zen’s words. That was perhaps the best thing for you to hear at that moment in time.“Ah! And judging by the blush when I mentioned it still being possible to save this relationship, I can tell that you still like him… That’s it, we need to get you and V together, and make you have a second first date!” He stood up, a wide grin on his face then. “If anyone is deserving enough of you, it’s definitely-!” The sound of a loud knock on the door cut Zen off from speaking, and you could now see a smirk on his face. “Let me guess… Jumin and V?”“Oh… yeah. I had almost forgot that they were on their way here.”You hid behind Zen somewhat as he went to answer the door, and you closed your eyes when you heard the door open. Your heart was beating so fast, just because you knew that there was a very high possibility of V being at the other side of the door.After you had heard the door open, you felt Zen’s hand on your arm before he pulled you out. “Hey, jerk. V. I believe I’ve got someone here you’re looking for?”You opened your eyes just to give Zen a look as if to say ‘you’ve got to be kidding me,’ before sighing and finally moving your eyes to look at the two stood just outside. “Hello, Jumin… And it’s nice to see you, Jihyun…” Your eyes were quick to dart away when you noticed V look up from the floor after that.“Zen. Do you mind if I come in for a moment? I must talk to you alone,” Jumin stated just as Zen rolled his eyes and stepped to the side to let him inside. “It will give these two a moment to talk to each other out here too.”You were then quickly pushed out into the cold air of the outside, with the door shutting behind you catching you by surprise. But… That meant that you were now on your own. With V.It seemed that V was trying to say something when you finally brought yourself around into looking at him. His eyes were filled with tears, and his hands were shaking somewhat. “I… I’m sorry…” He then did his best to take hold of your wrist, before he pulled you close to him in a hug. “I really did think that I was over her…”You honestly felt close to crying as you felt him shivering as he kept hold of you. “I’m sorry too… I shouldn’t have left you at the café like that…” Not long after you said that, you returned the hug, warm tears now staining your own cheeks. Also, what Jaehee had said came into your mind. Maybe being in a relationship with you is what he needs to get over the pain of his loss. Just as you want to be accepted for who you are, maybe helping him over his grief could do that. “And… I won’t do it again…” You could feel his arms stiffen in surprise after that. “Zen said… Our relationship isn’t beyond salvageable yet. And… I think so too.”
Just to think… You wouldn’t have been saying any of this if it weren’t for your friends…
“W- Wait, are you saying that… you still want to-!” You cut V short then, as you stood on your toes in his arms, before pressing a small kiss to his lips. His face flushed bright red, and he seemed to start crying even more once you pulled back.“I… I want to be with you. Of course I want to… And I want to be there for you whilst you get over Rika… I won’t leave you again…”V gave off a choked laugh then, before one of his hands cupped your chin and brought you close for another kiss. “Thank you for staying with me…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You could hear the buzz of your phone as the RFA members excitedly spoke in the chatroom about the party which was now approximately two hours away from starting. Of course… You weren’t excited. If anything, you just wanted today to be over with so you could go back to where you belonged…Carefully, you wrapped bandages around your arm as you did every other time that you went out in public, aware that you were bound to be watched by the vile, traitorous one going by the username 707 up until the very moment you stepped into the hall in which the party was being held. You didn’t want him seeing the tattoo which decorated your arm, because of the implications which it held. For that matter… You didn’t want the RFA’s silly leader V seeing the tattoo either.If either of those two did see your tattoo, they’d easily figure out your true affiliations… You weren’t a member of the RFA.
You were a loyal disciple of Mint Eye.
For that matter, your tattoo was identical to that of the person you had worked closest with in order to carry out this secret infiltration of the RFA in order to gather information on the members. Saeran Choi… The poor soul who had been abandoned by his brother, and left behind by their stupid leader… If it weren’t for the Saviour, the unfortunate thing would have died at the hands of his mother.For that matter, the Saviour had taken you in during a time of great need too, at about the same time as Saeran. She had saved you from a life on the streets, and had introduced you to what truly was paradise. For the past four years, she had told you stories of a peaceful world, one which would only be possible if the rest of the world were cleansed of sinners such as Jihyun Kim and Saeyoung Choi.Once the bandages were secured around your arm, you straightened out your dress before picking up your phone and walking over to the door. This was it… In less than two hours, you were to personally meet the RFA members. In six hours, you were to abandon them. Saeran would be coming for you at 4pm, so you had to make sure that the information which you needed on the RFA was safely stored on your phone.As you pushed the door open, you jumped out of your skin at a text arriving on your phone.
‘lololol, I just realised that you don’t even know where the party is being held! V was nearby on his way there, so you can go with him. He’s just outside the apartment building!’
“Oh, you’ve got to be-!” When you realised that you were in earshot of the security cameras in the hallway, and that Seven, Luciel, Saeyoung, or whatever the hell he went by nowadays could have been listening, you walked back into the apartment, pretending that you had forgotten something. Thankfully, you actually had forgot to grab something. Hah, imagine if somebody went into that apartment after you, and found that bag with all of your few belongings to do with Mint Eye in there… The RFA would be able to easily trace you with that stuff.You were quietly grumbling to yourself as you went down to the ground floor in the elevator then, knowing that you had to be careful if you were now being expected to arrive at the party with bloody Jihyun Kim, out of anyone.Once outside, you noticed the man in question. His hair and sunglasses were quite easy to recognise from what the Saviour had showed to you, as well as going off his profile picture within the RFA’s messenger. It seems that he knew what you looked like too, considering that he turned to face you and smiled when he noticed that you had just felt the building.“Hello… It’s strange meeting you in person, after seeing you on the messenger for the past eleven days…” He stated, before holding out his hand. “Anyway… I might as well introduce myself. I’m the leader of the RFA, known as V in the messenger.”You felt awkward as you then introduced yourself, but you were luckily able to conceal that with a smile and the false personality which you had created yourself in the messenger.“Oh yes… Before we go… I need to ask something.” You felt your insides freeze as he asked that. “Have… We met each other before? Or at least seen each other in passing?” That wasn’t a good question. Chances are, on the two of three times he has visited Mint Eye’s castle, he may have seen you from the corner of his eye. “Actually, forget that. I think it’s just because I can’t see properly at the moment, you seem familiar…”
God. That was a narrowly dodged bullet…
“So, um… We should go to the party now, V.”It was quite a bore having to listen to Jumin go on and on about his damn cat whilst you stood with Jaehee and Jumin by the doors… You made a mental note to inform Saeran and the Saviour that it would be best to make Jaehee join Mint Eye first so that you could save her from having to go through such a thing day in, day out.During the time that you welcomed each of the guests, you had been asked the same question at least five times.“Why is your arm bandaged up? Did you hurt it?”Every time, you came up with the same response.
“I hurt it two weeks ago.”
It was a relief that everybody bought it… Though you had your suspicions that you were going to slip up at some point. And why? Jumin, rather than go on about his cat any more, had started asking you about how you had hurt your arm as he offered you a glass of wine.You hadn’t drunk wine before, but he was insisting. For that matter, Jaehee was too. Your only hope was that you didn’t end up drunk, because then you were bound to have a slip of the tongue which would ruin everything, not to mention that you had no idea if you were a lightweight when it came to alcohol… It was one of the few substances which the Saviour hadn’t allowed you to consume.“You know, if your arm is injured, I could pay for some treatment for-!” Jumin had begun to say, but you were quick to cut him off.“Ha… No, it’s not that bad, Jumin… I literally just scraped my arm when I tripped up two weeks ago. I’d rather just-!” You were cut off from speaking as your phone then went off with a text message. “-leave it to recover naturally…” You pulled your phone out, before sighing at what the text from Saeran said.‘I need to call you now about how I’m going to pick you up. We need to get out of there as fast as possible at the chosen time.’“Sorry, Jumin, Jaehee… I’ve got a call which I need to make…” You then smiled at the two with the best fake smile that you could, before slowly walking away. “I can’t leave my friend waiting, I’ve not spoke to them since I joined the RFA after all.”
Which wasn’t a lie, per se.
It took a while to locate a quiet, concealed room within the building, before you pressed to dial Saeran’s number. It felt odd having to dial him instead of one of the RFA members after having no choice but to stop contact with him for all of this time. It rang twice, before you heard him pick up the phone.“It’s about time you called me. The Saviour’s getting impatient, I need to leave in ten minutes to get to you by four,” he sighed, before you heard the scraping of his desk chair’s wheels. “So, what am I doing? Faking a kidnapping at the party, or are you going to come up with an excuse to leave and meet me down one of the nearby alleys afterwards?” As you spoke to Saeran… You weren’t aware of the fact that you were being searched for by one of the RFA members. V, for that matter. He had spoken to all of the other RFA members, and every single one of them had said that they wanted you to become the official party planner for the group. They wanted for you to stay with them. And as V was the leader… He had to be the one who asked for you to stay with them.Of course, that was before he finally found you, and overheard some of your conversation down the phone…“Damn it, I know! I’ll… I’ll be done with the RFA come this afternoon…” You had been pacing up to that point, and V frowned when he heard your words. He wasn’t expecting to see you flinch then, and start shaking. “No! You may be my Saviour, but you can’t make accusations like that! I am not attached to the RFA; my loyalties lie exclusively with Mint Eye!”V stepped into the room then, before he noticed that your shaking had become full on erratic trembling. “Yes, Rika-! I- I mean- Yes, my Saviour… I’ll be ready for when you send him to get me…”
Rika.
It was at that moment which you hung up, and it was also at that moment where V finally walked forward and grabbed hold of your phone from your hand. You shrieked, before turning around in a panic. It was impossible to read his eyes due to his sunglasses, but the way in which his mouth seemed to be hanging open slightly showed disbelief.“Saviour, Mint Eye… You’re one of the people who Rika pulled into her ‘paradise’ dictatorship, aren’t you…?” He straight away questioned, before using his other hand to take hold of your wrist when you tried to back away. “This must be why I believed that you looked familiar before… I must have seen you on one of the many occasions which I’ve gone to persuade Rika to stop this.” His voice was slow and it seemed as though he was taking a moment to comprehend what he had just discovered.“L- Let go of me, you blind man… You’re the worst sinner of them all, that’s what the Saviour says-!”“I am not blind. I can still see somewhat,” V began, just as he then let your phone drop to the floor in order to grab your other arm, which you were using to try and hit his chest to get him to let go of you. “God… Just as I thought that perhaps I could leave the RFA in the hands of the others because they could continue with Jumin as leader, and you as the party planner… Just as I thought that I could give up everything to get Rika to stop…”You stopped thrashing about and trying to hit V when he mentioned giving everything up. Was he really going to such extremes just to stop the Saviour?... Even when you joined paradise, you didn’t have to give everything up… But he was abandoning everything just to try and get rid of all that you currently knew?“Tell me… What did Rika want you to do in the RFA? Was she wanting you to gather information on everyone so that she could bring them into her cult?” V’s grasp of your wrists tightened, but you could feel him shivering almost as he did that. “Please…”After that, his sunglasses slipped off his nose, and hit the floor with a slight clatter. That made your eyes go up to meet his, and… there were tears there. Damn it…The Saviour had warned you about him potentially trying to guilt trip you into seeing his way, but… This felt too genuine to be an act.“The other RFA members… They really like you… It would hurt them too much to see you just disappear after the party… God, even I really like you, and would love to see more of you after today…”His words were making your head hurt… Damn, where did you leave your bag?! It had the medicine which the Saviour told you that you needed in it! “Let go… Let go of me… I- I need-!” It didn’t help that you had started to struggle to escape his grasp once more, and he had decided to pull you in towards him and wrapped his arms around you. “I need the m- medicine-!”“No you don’t… You don’t need those drugs.” He had started whispering into your hair, and was keeping you held firmly against him. “Just take a moment to calm down…”As V held you in place, with you still squirming to get away and grab your phone just to beg for Saeran to hurry up and get you, you couldn’t help but notice… The warmth which his body gave off. You wanted to get away, but it made you want to move closer… What the hell is up with you right now?!Without even realising it, you had stopped struggling, and your head had started to rest on his shoulder… Had he somehow calmed you down?!“Now, please… Hear me out. You don’t have to agree to this, and I will let you go afterwards no matter what your decision,” he stated, his voice somewhat louder and more assertive than it had initially been. “The members of the RFA are not bad people, and I know that behind the drugs which Rika has made you take, you are a good person too. I have already had to lie to them about Rika, and came up with the whole story about her committing suicide… I don’t want to have to do something like that with you too. Please, stay with us longer… Go to hospital, and get help in getting rid of that ‘medicine of salvation’, or whatever she calls it, from your body. I will stay with you no matter what. Get to know the others as yourself, and let them, let me know you for who you truly are.”It was time for you to meet up with Saeran, and the palms of your hands felt sweaty as you waited down the nearby alley. Your headache still persisted, but you were mostly just ignoring it now so it didn’t exactly matter right now.V had given you up to the time that Saeran was meant to come for you to make up your mind, and had backed away from you. By the sounds of things though, he had asked the other RFA members to go to you to say how much they were enjoying the party… That made the decision hard.But now… Your mind was made up. You knew where your loyalties lay.“Good. You’re here… The Saviour was worried that you might not have showed up…”“Honestly, Saeran… Can you really blame her? I’ve been stuck with the RFA for eleven days, not able to contact you until today, with limited supplies of the medicine of salvation…” You rolled your eyes, before reaching into your bag and smirking at him. “Though I got the job done, didn’t I?” You pulled out six files from your bag, each possessing the name of an RFA member.Saeran now had a similar smirk on his face, and he unfolded his arms as his jacket fell down his shoulders. “I’m so glad that you are a member of our paradise… Ha, want a smoke before we head back?”
It had almost slipped your mind that you and Saeran had got into a bad shared habit of smoking over the past two years…
“Couldn’t have asked at a better time…” You laughed, giving off a small sigh as you did so. “I don’t have a lighter though… You got one?”Saeran reached into the pockets of his jeans, before tossing the lighter which he had over to you. “Catch.”After that, you took a bigger sigh as you watched the flame appear after you fiddled with the lighter for a moment… And then you set the files on fire. He hadn’t noticed as he was too busy looking for a cigarette that you had done that, and only became aware of the burning paper when the sound of you running echoed down the alley. Once you were out of sight, you heard his horrified scream… Tears welled up in your eyes, but you knew that if Saeran could see sense… Maybe he would follow you soon. Or maybe… You could work with Saeyoung to show him…You ran back into the party hall, where now, only the RFA members remained gathered together, talking about something… Possibly even you.Quickly you went over to them, tears in your eyes. V looked mildly surprised at you being there, but his surprise turned to one of concern when he noticed the way in which you were shaking.“V… I- I-“ You paused, before taking a deep, shaking breath. “I choose… The RFA,” you whispered, before your hand moved to the bandages covering your arm. “Please… H- Help me… Get rid of the drugs, g- get rid of it all!” And then, you heard a round of gasps as you let the bandages fall, revealing the tattoo which brandished you as a member of Mint Eye. “Help me get rid of this…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
His eyes were hurting so much… What had just happened? First he… He was in his apartment. He knew that for sure. There were some of his framed photographs around him, and… and yes, there was the chair, the sofa, the coffee table… but there was something else there. What was it?“You would give even that up… That is a foolish decision, considering your career.”Give up what? And who was talking, what even is happening?!More pain in his eyes… His vision was turning red too. Blood? No, it couldn’t be… He knew it couldn’t have been!“Oh V… The lengths you’re going for love… It’s actually quite pathetic.” Within moments of that being said, his vision was entirely red. He couldn’t see at all...Nothing but cold was surrounding him as he fell to his knees, feeling nothing but weak and helpless, his body at the whim of anyone and anything around him. Something brushed past his arm as he started shivering, before something warm rested on the top of his head. It was a hand… Somebody was there.It started out as fingers stroking through his hair, but eventually it turned into a thumb stroking his cheek. Another hand did the same motion as he quivered, unsure of who was there and on why they were doing such actions. Slowly, after the thumb stroking had finished… The hands moved to his throat.“It’s so silly, giving up everything for love…” A familiar voice said in quite a hushed tone down his ear, the hot breath tickling at his skin. “It can kill you, Jihyun.”And then the grasp tightened.“R- Ri-!” He couldn’t even get any words out properly due to the constricting feeling around his neck.Then, at the moment where he felt his consciousness began to fade…“Jihyun...? Jihyun, wake up… H- Hey, Jihyun… It’s just a nightmare… P- Please, wake up!”V opened his eyes, which were no longer hurting, the first thing which he noticed was the bright lights of the bedside alarm clock.
3:17 AM.
There was then the feeling of a pair of hands on his arm, and the quiet sound of somebody breathing quite erratically which had caught his attention. He initially flinched, fearing that it was Rika who was there… But then he realised that it wasn’t possible. Rika wasn’t even in the country, she had been sent somewhere far away by Zen and Yoosung for therapy for at least a year…Quietly, he whispered your name, before tears started pouring down his face as he remembered his nightmare. It was Rika who had hurt him, blinded him, almost killed him… But you were with him, had healed him, and had saved him.“Jihyun… You had the nightmare about her again, didn’t you?” You whispered as he turned himself over to see where you were sitting on the bed, still keeping hold of his arm firmly just so that you could ground him to reality. “That’s the third time this week… God, I wish that I could go into your dreams and keep her away from you, but that just sounds childish, doesn’t it…?” You followed that with an awkward laugh, in an attempt to try and lighten the mood in the room.As he continued crying, V moved his head so that it was resting on your lap. Your warmth made him feel safe, and as though he was in heaven after such a horrifying dream.Being as careful as you could, you eased the upset V into a sitting position, before wrapping your arms around him. He appreciated that a lot… You gave him a feeling of comfort which nobody else ever could have… It made him realise what it actually felt like to be loved.After a few minutes of sitting in silence, with you resting your head into his shoulder to calm him down as you embraced him, V eventually stopped crying. He was alive, he was safe. That’s all that he needed right now.“Jihyun… You don’t have to if you don’t want to… But what did she do to you in the nightmare?” As you asked that, V tensed up somewhat. Despite it not actually happening, he could still feel traces of her fingers around his throat… It sent shivers down his spine. “J- Jihyun…?”V brought himself around into hugging you back then, before taking a deep breath as he recalled what had happened. “It… It started as usual…” You nodded as he said that, aware that every time that he had a nightmare surrounding Rika, it would begin with her blinding him. “But this time… She… She…” V couldn’t find the words, so he shakily brought his hands up to his neck and mimicked what had happened to him in his dream. From what you could recall, he had just been hit or had been given verbal abuse in previous nightmares… Being choked was a big push from those two. “B- But… She was talking about the lengths I was going for l- love… A- And saying that it w- was, um… p- pathetic…”By that point, he was in tears once more, so you made sure that you kept hold of him. He needed the security right now, so you intended to give it to him. How had Rika been able to break him like this? The alarm clock was saying that it was just gone 4 in the morning by the time which V had been able to calm himself down mostly, but he was glad that you had stayed awake with him through this, just as you had done the other two times that had happened that week. It made him wonder what he had done to deserve you, and what had made you decide to stay with him.He could clearly see that you were tired in this early-morning light, with the way in which your eyes were slowly drooping and head was nodding forward every once in a while. You weren’t letting yourself sleep for his sake… He found it cute, but at the same time, he didn’t like it.“Come on… We should sleep now,” he finally whispered, lying down and gently pulling you down beside him. “We don’t have anything planned today, so we can sleep in this morning…” He then looked at you, and noticed that you must have been on the verge of sleep moments before, because now, your mouth was open slightly and your eyes were closed. You looked adorable to him in that barely just asleep state…Carefully, V then pressed a kiss against your forehead, before allowing himself to drift off to sleep once more, feeling much safer than he had done before, knowing that you were there beside him.Once more, V was stood near the familiar furniture, and just in front of him, Rika was stood there, arm raised as she went to blind him. Fear began to go through his body, worried about what was going to happen. He braced himself to feel pain, and closed his eyes to see if that would do anything to ease the feeling of the impact…But that never came.When he opened his eyes, the raised arm moved to wrap around his shoulders. And it wasn’t Rika’s arm any longer… It was yours.“I’ll go to any length to show you that you’re loved, Jihyun… Don’t you worry.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You loved storms. There was no real reason behind it, you just did. It had been a habit of yours to just be glued to a window as the rain poured down heavily against a window, watching as lightning struck in the distance. That had been something that you had done ever since you were a child.V, however… He hated them. At first, he had actually been fine with them… But the night where he had first turned blind was a stormy night. Fear had filled his body, and he was terrified that he could have died. It had been that night which had made him go to Jumin, and beg for the eye surgery before his blindness became completely unfixable. Even though he could see again once more… Any storms since then had brought that fear right back to him.And tonight, there just so happened to be a storm...V was busy just adjusting the white balance and light exposure on one of his cameras when the first rumble of thunder happened, but he was quick to shrug it off as a truck moving somewhere a bit too fast outside. With that, he went back to his camera. He brought it up to his eye, before snapping a quick photo of a vase of lilies which he had set up nearby.“Hmm… That’s a bit-!” When he went to mumble about it being hard to make out the differences in some of the flower petals, the room suddenly filled up with a bright light which sent chills down his spine. “No… Not now, please not-!”His camera fell to the floor with a thud as there was more thunder, before he found his arms shaking by his sides. His eyes shot over to the open window, and the sight of the torrential rain hitting it made him turn pale.For a moment, V glanced around the room in search of his phone. He noticed it positioned on a table, so he forced himself to move to the seat near it and sit down. His hands were still shaking, so it was quite difficult for him to be able to open his contacts list for somebody to talk to.Yoosung… Probably wouldn’t pick up. He’s normally playing LOLOL at this time of night. Hyun… probably acting. Jaehee working. Luciel also working. Then there was Jumin… He never answered when there was a storm, he would be too busy providing company for his cat. So… In terms of RFA members, you were the only one who he knew nothing about what you were doing, so you were most likely to be able to talk to him whilst he was panicking.V flinched as the room lit up even more, and he could feel tears welling up in his eyes as he unsteadily tried to use his thumb to press your number in his contacts. You were one of his only hopes during this storm…As usual during a storm, you were sat by your apartment’s window looking out at the storm. The building you lived in was at the outskirts of the city, with your windows overlooking pretty much the entire city too.You had your phone’s camera open, looking out to see if you could get a good image for your phone’s background with the lightning present on it. As some struck near the building which you knew Jaehee would currently be working in, you pressed the button to take the photo. “Huh… That seems pretty cool.” You quickly opened up the image, and set it to be your phone’s background and lock screen.After a moment of deliberating, you had also made up your mind to post it on the RFA messenger. Before you could press the app’s button though… V’s name appeared on your screen as an incoming call.As soon as you answered, you could hear his heavy, ragged breathing down the phone. Typically, Zen would have warned you saying that it bad if you spoke to a man whilst he was breathing like that… But you could also hear the occasional sniffle. It wasn’t… that. “Hello, V… You okay?”There was a silence for a moment, before you heard some thunder from both where you were and also down the phone. V made a sound almost like a whimper, and then… something clicked in your head. He wasn’t breathing properly. He was sniffling, perhaps even crying. He made a seemingly afraid sound when there was thunder.
V was scared of storms.
“V… Talk to me. Are you okay? If you’re not… Talking might be for the best.”Already, you were on your feet and pulling some shoes on, before you then went for a hunt for your coat and an umbrella. If he truly were scared… Company would probably do him some good, and who better than somebody who could cope with storms…?It took a good few moments, but V did eventually reply to you. “I- I- No, I’m not…” He took a deep breath, before there was an outburst of tears. “S- Storms don’t g- go down well with me… N- Not since there was a s- storm when I w- was blind for a short while…”God, it hurt hearing V being like this. Well, if any of your other friends were like this because of something which they were afraid of, you would have felt just as hurt because of that too.One thing which you were glad of though… Your apartment was less than five minutes away from where V lived. It wouldn’t take too long for you to get there to try and comfort him. After a moment, you had pulled your coat on and fastened it, before reaching into your pocket. You had a pair of earphones with a microphone on it for occasions where you needed to call in the rain so that you could keep hold of your umbrella too.“V… If you can bring yourself around into doing this… Find one of your cameras.” Quickly, you grabbed hold of your umbrella once your earphones were sorted out and your phone was safely in your pocket. “Just keep talking to me, okay?”“Right… R- Right…” As you left your apartment building and were running through the rain, V was doing his best to do everything which you asked of him. He pushed himself off his chair slowly, before using his free hand to reach out for the camera which he had dropped as soon as he had realised that this was a storm. “O- Okay… I have my camera… N- Now what…?”“Good. Now… I don’t know if this would help you, but maybe trying to take a photo of the storm might help. I take photos on my phone during storms all of the time, and if you manage to get lightning… It looks pretty magnificent,” you laughed, whilst V was doing his best to hold onto both his camera and phone at the same time. “I’ll show you the image which I took of some lightning which hit near the C&R building before when I get there…”V took a moment to take in what you had just said. Take a photo of the storm. Try and see if you can get lightning in it. But then… What you said last hit him. “W- Wait, you’re coming… H- Here…?!”“Yes. Of course I am! I’m worried about you, so I’m coming to see you to do what I can to help you feel better during the storm!”Tears were forming even faster than they previously had been when he heard that as he moved across the floor to sit near the window with his camera. “Wh- Where are you?”“Just down the road. I’ll be there in a minute, okay?”Hearing that… Made his heart start racing, yet made his mind calm down. But that was only a temporary relief for him as he dropped his camera again and pulled his knees up to his chest. “B- But what if you get hit by the lightning?! O- Or if- If-!”“Jihyun. Calm down. I’ll be indoors in thirty seconds, keep yourself calm… I’m running too, so it might even be less time than that.” He admired how calm you were being able to stay… “Your apartment is on the top floor, isn’t it? Do you still have a password lock for it?”“U- Um…” He couldn’t even think straight as there was a sudden influx of thunder and lightning within a matter of a few moments. “Y- Yeah… I- It’s the same p- password as last time…”He slowly reached out in order to take hold of his camera once more, before he had to wipe his nose with his sleeve due to there being a lack of any tissues near him. A few moments later, his eyes shot wide open as you hung up the call. He found himself start to hyperventilate as there was even more thunder without you being there to talk to, and that was the sight which you were met with as you walked into the apartment.Quickly, you pulled your coat off before discarding it on a chair and making your way over to him. You then went and knelt down, and rested your hands on his knees which were still pulled up to his chest. “V… You don’t need to worry any more. I’m-!”You were suddenly tackled with a teary hug; V’s face quick to bury itself into your shoulder. “Thank you… Th- Thank you, thank you…” He whimpered, relieved that there was somebody with him, right there by his side, to help him through the storm.“Come on… I don’t think my idea of taking photos was my, uh… best idea…” You muttered, making him separate from you somewhat. “You like jigsaw puzzles, don’t you? Why don’t we turn the radio or television on, close the curtains, and we do one of them to pass the time?”He nodded, wiping his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath. “C- Can you stay o- overnight…? J- Just in case the storm lasts l- late into the night…”“Sure… Why not?” You rose to your feet then, before closing the curtains. “Right… Let’s go and find that puzzle, Jihyun.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You winced as you looked at your phone’s weather report, and glanced up at the sky.
Storms from 19:00 onwards until the early hours of the morning.
Almost black clouds, rain… Yep, there was definitely going to be a storm… That meant that you had only one job this evening – visiting V. It had become a common thing over the past few months, you going to his apartment whenever there was a storm, especially as the bad weather and storms became more and more frequent.Quickly, you pulled your phone out before grinning at what appeared on your screen. You were about to call V, but he had conveniently called you. V must have had a similar thought in his mind. “Well well well… If it isn’t Jihyun Kim. Let me guess, you’re wondering when I’m going to get to your apartment seeming as a storm’s brewing?”A quiet chuckle was heard from down the phone, before there was a sigh. “Hah, if it isn’t a bother…” You could hear something like water boiling in the background, and that made you laugh. He’d always prepare with things such as drinks and food on days like this just before the weather took a bad turn if he could. Otherwise, you would just order some food in for him.“I’m only about two minutes away. I was on my way home from work, but I noticed the weather and decided to change route to your place,” you explained before you then heard the first rumble of thunder, and V’s breath catching at the same time. Your pace quickened, and rolled your eyes. Thank god you were on the phone to him though… “Damn it… I’ll be there in one minute, okay?!”“Y- Yeah, okay… I’ll get the d- door open ready…” You then heard V make a few small footsteps, before he took a deep breath. “Do… Do you want a drink…?”“I can make myself one when I get there… You just try and keep yourself calm, V. See you in a minute.”
10:37pm… Far too late to be going home, especially in a storm…
You sighed as you put your phone down, ignoring the masses of texts which you were being sent from Zen about being at V’s apartment at this time of night, as he had done every other time you had done this. After a moment, the persistent vibrating made you turn your phone off completely, before you turned to look at V, who was biting the inside of his cheek through concentration as he looked at the jigsaw puzzle on the table between you both.“I think that there’s a piece or two missing…” He pointed to a gap in the puzzle, before looking up at you with a sigh. “Can you help me look for it…?” In response you nodded, before standing up from your seat and moving to beside him on the sofa to look around there for the pieces. After a few moments, you noticed something just about sticking out from underneath V’s foot, so you laughed as you leaned forward to pick it up. “Is… this your piece?”A sigh escaped V’s lips as you started grinning, before he looked at the puzzle. “It’s the last piece… Do you want to put it-!”Even that sudden crash of thunder was enough to make you jump, and once more, the piece was lost to the floor. V ended up grabbing hold of you tightly, his eyes wide in horror and his body shaking almost violently. As you took a moment to calm yourself down, you went and put your own arms around him.The room filled up with a bright light despite the curtains being closed a few seconds later, and you sighed as you started rubbing his arm gently to try and keep him relaxed. “Come on… Maybe it’s time for us to try and get some sleep… I’m not going to be going home until at least the morning, so…” You rested your head on his shoulder, and you felt his body begin to loosen up and calm down as you did that.It was a relief knowing that the only light which was present in the room was coming from the television, because otherwise, it would have been very difficult for you to fall asleep… And speaking of falling asleep, it didn’t take long for V to drop off in your arms.Not long after that, you found yourself on the verge of sleep. At least you didn’t have to work tomorrow…V opened his eyes to the sound of the news on the television, and also to the sounds of traffic outside. There was no rain… That meant that the storm had passed. That was quite the relief… One thing, however, did shock him.He was lying on the sofa, and you were on top of him with your arms wrapped around one of his own. You looked so delicate and relaxed as you slept, but also as though you would be easily brought out of this sleeping state, so he slowly pulled his arm free, and got up from the sofa.You quietly mumbled something under your breath, and V couldn’t help but laugh to himself at how cute you were as you slept.“Cute?” He blinked for a moment, trying to comprehend what he had just thought. “I… I guess that I do find you cute…” After that, he ventured over to his bedroom, and took hold of a pillow and some of his bedcovers just to make you more comfortable as you lay on the sofa, seeming as he didn’t want to move you or rouse you from your sleep yet.Once he was assured that you were comfortable and warm, he walked across the room and picked up the jigsaw piece which he had dropped due to thunder. He sat down on the chair opposite the sofa, before leaning forward and pressing it into its place in the unfinished puzzle.The thing is, he found it hard to look at the jigsaw in its completed form. His eyes were fixed almost entirely upon you as your fingers dug into the blankets and pulled it up close to your face. “What have I even done to deserve you as a friend?” He laughed awkwardly to himself as he smiled, before he sighed. “I’m so glad that you’ve come to see me when I’ve been having such a difficult time with dealing with storms…” Before he knew it, he was crying. “How… How, how, how…?”“How what, V…?” V talking to himself had been enough to wake you up, so now you were looking at him with half-lidded eyes as you buried yourself even deeper into the blankets, taking in the smell which you associated with V that was embedded into its fibres. “Are you okay?”His eyes shot over to your face, before he shook his head and bit his lip.“V…” You then sat up, before he stood up and covered his face… for some reason. “You’re worrying me, V… What’s the matter?”V didn’t move, and stayed stood where he was with his face concealed. You decided to take matters into your own hands then, and shed the blankets covering you before making your way over to him and revealing his bright red face which was being hidden from you.You were caught by surprise moments later as he took hold of your wrists and noticed his eyes diverting away from you. “I- I-… I think that… I…” Suddenly, he pressed his lips against yours for a moment, before he took a deep breath. “Thank you for being with me whilst I’ve been scared… I love you.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Hey! Hey! Jihyun! Jihyun!” Your arm waved around as you ran over to your friend who was sat on his garden wall with a camera in his hands. “Where’s Jumin? We’re meant to play today, right?!” Your eyes were wide with desperation, looking around desperately for the third member of your little friendship group.
Your turquoise haired friend glanced up and looked around, before he jumped off the wall and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know… I think he’s busy being made to put a bow tie on by one of his nannies…” Jihyun looked at a nearby house, before smirking slightly. “I’ve not seen him wear the cat bow tie we bought him for his birthday, maybe he’ll wear it today!”
Quietly, you giggled at Jihyun, before he put his camera into a bag which was over his shoulders. After that, he grabbed hold of your hand, and ran with you to the house which Jumin lived in. Almost as if on cue, your other friend left his house, a little pout present on his face.
“Ju-min Ha-n!” You grinned as you grabbed hold of his wrist, before V poked at his arm. “You took a long time! What’s going on?”
Jumin mumbled something under his breath, before he then took hold of your hand. “Father… New girlfriend… Icky lady…” He kept mumbling, before he then looked between you both. “You two look like you are boyfriend and girlfriend too…”
You shrieked as Jumin then began smirking, before letting go of their hands and stepping away from them. “Eww! Gross! Jumin’s gross!” For a twelve-year-old with an overly active imagination, such a thought sent shivers down your spine. “I would never do things like kiss Jihyun! That’s disgusting! Plus, my parents always say… um… ‘if you ever get a boyfriend before you’re old enough to get married and have children, he will have to fight us for you’!”
After that, the three of you playfully argued a little more, before you all decided to go to little pond in the middle of the neighbourhood to play for a short while. A majority of it consisted of you teasing Jumin for actually wearing the cat bow tie, whilst Jihyun would start off little games of hide and seek… Which Jumin failed miserably at. At least when he was the seeker, seeming as you and Jihyun would climb up into trees and quietly snicker between yourselves.
Jihyun sighed after about an hour of playing, before sitting down and taking his shoes and socks off, and throwing his feet into the water of the pond. Not long afterwards, Jumin sat down on the grass, careful not to get any dirt on his clothes, considering that he was muddy enough from the games you had been playing. You decided to wade into the water a little bit just to look at some of the plants which were growing in it.
“Jihyun, is that camera new? I haven’t seen you with a camera of your own before,” Jumin asked, curiously looking at the device in your friend’s hand. He had a point, it had been with Jihyun almost all day, and normally his parents would take their own cameras away from him before he would go to play with you and Jumin. “It looks like one of those really expensive new ones.”
“O- Oh… Yes. My parents bought it for me because they were bored of me asking to borrow their cameras…” He then looked at you, before gasping. “I haven’t taken a photo with it yet! I can set it up on a wall, put it on a timer, and take a photo of us! I can print it and then all of us can have a copy of the photo!”
Jihyun was grinning as he held onto three copies of the photo of the three of you, before he held them out so that you and Jumin could take one each. Jumin smiled as he took his copy, and you were grinning widely as you somewhat forcefully took hold of your own.
“We’ll never forget this, will we? We’re going to be best friends forever!” You laughed, before giving Jihyun a hug. “And-! And you’re going to become a famous photographer! And Jumin, you’re gonna be a super cool billionaire in your dad’s business! And I’ll be your pretty best friend who stays with you no matter what! Maybe I’ll be an awesome actress… Or maybe I’ll be working with Jumin! Or I could be helping Jihyun with his photographs!”
Jumin was having to hold back a smirk at your over the top fantasies, and Jihyun started grinning as he put his photo into his pocket.
“I think I’ll have to frame this photo… I’ll have it on the wall of my-!” Jumin fell quiet when there was a shout from nearby, before he gulped. “Isn’t that… Your father…?” He looked at you worriedly, before he started messing with his bow tie. “He sounds angry… That man is scary when he’s angry…”
Jihyun nodded, before he took hold of your hand and gave you a gentle smile. “He can’t be angry with you… We’ve all behaved whilst playing out today… If he shouts at you, we can stop him, can’t we, Jumin?”
“Mhmm…”
With a smile of your own on your face, you pressed a childish kiss to Jihyun’s cheek, surprising him greatly. “We’re gonna be best friends forev-!”
“No you’re not.” Before you could finish your sentence, your father appeared in front of the three of you, looking both exasperated and tired. “You’re… going to have to say goodbye to Jihyun and Jumin. We’re leaving today. We can’t afford to live in this god-forsaken neighbourhood any more, not since we got into a bit of, ah, trouble with money a few months ago...”
Instantly, you felt Jihyun grab hold of you in a hug, looking as though he was trying not to cry at the fact that you were shaking at what your father had just said. “No! She’s not leaving! We- We’re going to be b- best friends forever!” His fingers dug into your back then, and he started copying everything which you had said earlier about him being a photographer, Jumin being a ‘super cool billionaire’, and you being the best friend who would always be with them. “She- She can live with me! I don’t want her to go… Don’t make her…” Jihyun was sniffling, and Jumin also now had hold of you, trying not to cry.
“I am sorry, Jihyun and Jumin… But she’s coming with me now. She needs to pack what she needs…” Your father then pulled you gently out of Jihyun’s grasp, and placed a hand on your shoulder. “Say bye to them, sweetie…”
“N- No…”
“L- Look, I can’t do anything about this! We have to leave today!”
“I don’t wanna…”
“God… Frustrating child. Come on.”
After that day… You never got to see Jihyun or Jumin again.
It had been about eleven days since you had joined the RFA no thanks to a hacker, and you felt excited at knowing just who you were going to meet once inside the party hall. Jihyun would be there, and so would Jumin… In a way, your heart was racing.Upon arrival, you were met by a cheerful Jaehee, who brought you inside the building and introduced you to Yoosung and Zen, who were exactly as you were expecting following the days you had spoken together on the messenger. After a short while of going through introductions, Seven arrived and said his own crazy welcomes… Before he pulled you to a table within the room with a grin on his face.“So… How does it feel, knowing that you’re going to reunite with two of your childhood friends?” He smirked, giving you a thumbs up as he did so. “Oh, and before you ask… I found out when I was doing my background check on you. I kinda noticed you grew up in the same neighbourhood as Jumin and V, and the two of them do speak of an old friend which they remember fondly who was forced away from them every once in a while…”Eyes wide in disbelief, you nodded as he made you aware of his knowledge of your past. “Yeah… I really want to talk to them again, you know… But they probably won’t remember me too well now. We’ve been apart longer than we were together now…”Seven nodded, before burying his head into his hands. “I know… how it feels to be separated from somebody for a long time…” He muttered, looking as though he assumed that you couldn’t hear him. “Anyway!” His demeanour made a quick turnabout then. “Jumin and V are behind that stage over there! I’ll take you to them now!”Before you had a chance to respond, Seven had hold of your wrist and was dragging you towards the place he had just pointed out.
Your heart was racing that much, it felt as though it was about to jump out of your chest. You were so close to meeting your friends who you had been apart from for fifteen years…
Suddenly, he stopped, before laughing. “Hey! Jumin, V, I’ve got somebody here to see you! Our new member, or known better as-! OUCH!” You had dug your elbow into his stomach, and Seven was quick to take the hint and back away, leaving you alone with Jumin and Jihyun.They both said hello to you, and you smiled and nodded. After a few moments of silence, you glanced between the two men in front of you, before laughing quietly. “It’s weird, you know... I never expected that the three of us could be back together like this… Not since…” The memory of being dragged away by your father had been haunting your mind for almost fifteen years, but now… You were close to tears at being reunited.Of course… The two of them didn’t remember. You had changed your name after the death of your father a few years ago, so they wouldn’t recognise it.“I… don’t understand. You know V and myself from somewhere?” Jumin gave you a confused look, before casting a worried glance at Jihyun.You laughed quietly and nodded your head, before pulling out your purse and removing something which meant a lot to you… All three of you.“Recognise this, Jihyun?” You passed it over to him, before sighing. “One of the first photos which you took… The one which you made three copies of on the day which my father pulled me away fifteen years ago…” Following that, you were in tears... For that matter, both Jumin and Jihyun both looked surprised and on the verge of crying too. “I could never forget my two closest childhood friends… ever.”Jihyun whispered your name to himself then, before you found yourself enclosed in a tight hug. “Oh my god… Oh my god… I- I never thought that I’d see you again…” It was odd seeing him so much taller than you now as he hugged you, but that never stopped you from returning the embrace. “I- No, w- we missed you so much…”Jumin nodded, before allowing the somewhat overly-emotional scene between the two of you to continue. After that, he sighed. “… I promised Jihyun a few hours after you had left that I’d wear that cat bow tie again if the three of us ever reunited. I guess that I’ll have to fulfil that promise then…”You laughed quietly, before you stretched your arm out to pull Jumin into the hug too. “I look forward to seeing that, Jumin... Because I’m not leaving this time… I- I’m here to stay…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“But Jihyun-!” Your eyes were welling up with tears as V turned his back to you, shaking as he did so.
“But what…?” He fell silent, before taking a deep breath. “You’ve told me yourself – I’m still not over Rika. I’m still hurt by everything which had happened because of her. I’m a broken man… I can’t make you happy… You’ll honestly be happier with anyone but me.”
“S- So this is it…? We went about keeping this between us and not letting the other RFA members know… And for nothing?” You dug your fingers into the palms of your hands, trying to hold back any more tears. “Fine then. If you… If this makes you happy…”
The next thing which V knew, he heard the door slam shut. You were gone.
“Damn it…”
Three months had passed since the abrupt break-up between you and V, and now, you had finally been able to move on… Zen had been amazing at helping you get back up on your feet, after you had simply told him about having just gone through a rough break-up and having a tough time – not mentioning that it was with V though. He had allowed you to stay at his apartment in the spare room there, had been fun to have a drink with when you needed something to get your mind off things, and most importantly… he had given you all sorts of advice to lift your mood.And though it seemed fast to the other RFA members – they too were aware of the break-up, but were just as unaware of it being with V – Zen had actually asked you to go on a date on him… You accepted.God, were you happy with Zen… Though he wasn’t as well-off with money as, say, Jumin, he would still buy you little treats such as a little cake you had noticed in the window of a bakery. Of course, you liked to repay the favour, particularly in complements because he liked those, especially when they were from you.You were happy with Zen… Just as V had said… ‘You’ll honestly be happier with anyone but me.’Meanwhile… V regretted saying that he realised that he wasn’t ready for a relationship with you. As each day went by, he realised that he was an idiot for saying something like that to you, and that he himself was an idiot for even thinking something like that.Every day, he would open his contact list, before going to your name. He would contemplate calling you, and begging for forgiveness for not thinking what he had said through. He wanted to say that he would do anything to have you back by his side. It was like a never-ending cycle.Until he went onto the messenger that morning…
ZEN:
Hmm~ I’m so excited~
V:
How come, Hyun?
ZEN:
omg, did you not read the chatroom earlier? I’m going on a date later!
Jaehee Kang:
Still, don’t you think that you’re going a little bit fast, ZEN?
Jaehee Kang:
She only broke up with her previous boyfriend three months ago, and she’s only really been with you for the moral support…
ZEN:
Of course not!! She’s excited too, and she mentioned a few days ago about finally feeling ready to move on!
V:
Oh… Are you talking about…
Jaehee Kang:
Our new member? Yes.
ZEN:
Still, I’m wondering… Who was this mystery boyfriend?!
ZEN:
I want to have a word with that dude, upsetting such a sweet young lady!!!! And teach him a lesson on treating a woman right!!!!!!
V:
Hyun… Make sure that she’s happy, okay…?
ZEN:
Huh? Okay then, V! Haha, you never know, we might end up engaged like you and Rika were!
V:
… Yeah…
Just that chatroom had V on the verge of tears. If Hyun even realised that he was the ‘mystery boyfriend’… Well, that would probably be the end of him.Through the course of the day, he would keep getting notifications from the messenger due to the mass of selfies which both you and Zen were posting. You were smiling in all of them, the grin on your face getting wider and wider with each photo taken.Even though V saw Zen as a friend… He couldn’t help but feel jealous and almost hate Zen for making you happy… He felt as though it should have been him who made you happy like that… It was painful for him. So… He decided to do something which he knew would help him calm himself down, and called Jumin. The comfort of talking to his childhood friend was one of the few things which were capable of helping him feel better when things were bad.“V? This is strange, you’ve not called me in a while. How are you?” Jumin sounded somewhat worried, but his tone was very quick to return to normal afterwards. “I hope that you are well?”V sighed, and shook his head, before realising that Jumin wouldn’t even see that action. “Hello, Jumin…” He paused briefly, and then took a deep breath so that he could speak. “No… I’m not feeling that good at the moment. Something… Is just on my mind.”“Ah.” V sat down on his sofa after that, and brought his legs up onto it so that he was lying down whilst on the phone. “I am assuming that you called me because you wanted to speak to somebody about it?”“Pretty much, Jumin…” He tilted his head back, before sighing and closing his eyes. “You… don’t mind, do you?”A heavy silence lingered for a moment, before Jumin finally spoke once more. “You’re a friend, Jihyun. Of course I don’t mind. What is the matter?”“Did you, um… See the chatroom in the messenger before? Where I was talking with Jaehee and Hyun, and Hyun spoke about ‘teaching a lesson’ to the-!”“Mystery boyfriend of our new member who broke up with her suddenly three months ago? Yes, I am aware of that… She has seemed very upset because of that man…” When Jumin said that, V felt his insides start to churn, and his eyes started watering. “V… What about that is bothering you?”V then ran his hands through his hair, and let off a frustrated groan. “I’m jealous of Hyun.” Slowly, V sat up once more, and everything began flooding out. “He’s supported her… He made her happy… She’s enjoying herself… She has a future with him! And I… I don’t have any of that, and I just feel jealous of Hyun for having her by his side, because she’s a wonderful person! And its even worse b- because the person who broke up with her… The person who broke up with her… is… was…” He was now crying, and he could hear Jumin trying to comprehend everything down the line. “Me... It was me.”“Jihyun…” The faint meows of Elizabeth the 3rd were echoing in the background, and you could hear Jumin briefly break off from what he was saying in order to get her to quieten down. “I had my suspicions that it was you, following the way in which you’ve been acting recently… And I don’t know if it’s my place to say this, but… I am sure that you had her best intentions in mind when you did leave her. If that is the case… Even if Zen does find out that it was you behind her upset, he surely cannot stay angry with you for long. I will personally get involved if he takes things too far. And besides… Did you not read the most recent chatroom, V? She said that she and Zen are not what you would call… ‘an item’. There may still be a chance for you yet to apologise and find your way back into her heart.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It felt so nice hugging him when you woke up in the morning… V was almost like a huge stuffed toy, who you could hug and feel greatly comforted by, but you would actually receive a hug back.These little embraces felt so much better on days where neither of you had any jobs or duties which needed you in certain places at certain times, and today was one of such days. He had returned from a fortnight long photography trip which had taken him all around the country the day before, and even though you had a long day of dealing with RFA party invites, most of the night had been so loving and so passionate, it felt like a blur when you thought back on it all.From what you were aware, it was late morning now, perhaps even early afternoon, but even still, the two of you were hugging, refusing to leave the bed.“I love you…” V mumbled into your hair, taking in the fruity scent of the shampoo which you liked using and had missed in the two weeks which he had been gone. “I love you so much, it’s unbelievable... I don’t know how I coped without being able to hold onto you whilst I was away… My heart ached for you so much…”You nodded. “I love you too, Jihyun… You’re the best thing which has ever happened to me since joining the RFA…”But these cuddles which the two of you were sharing felt even more significant for you. There was something which you needed to tell him, but… it was hard to get it into words.How would he take the news which you have for him? It was completely unexpected, and you hadn’t planned on being able to tell him that news at any point soon… But now there wasn’t much of a choice. It was either you tell him… Or Seven. Seven was the only other person who knew the news, because he had been watching over you whilst V was away to keep you safe, because of the lingering threat of hackers and that ‘Mint Eye’ group which Rika was supposedly the leader of.“Hey… Would you like something to eat? I wouldn’t mind making us both some late breakfast…” V eventually whispered, and you nodded quite eagerly. It would allow you a few minutes to bring yourself together and finally tell him…After planting a gentle kiss to your forehead, V ended up getting out of bed and messily pulling a shirt and some trousers on, before making his way to the kitchen from the bedroom. Following that, you slowly sat up and groaned.How on earth were you going to tell him that you were pregnant?! Neither of you had planned for this, nor were you prepared for a child in any way!For a moment, your hand rested on your stomach, before you slowly stood up and grabbed some of your own clothes from the wardrobe and pulled them on. A sweet smell was starting to waft through your shared apartment, so you could tell that V was making something such as pancakes or waffles for you both to eat. Slowly, you grabbed your phone from your bedside table, before opening up the messenger.
707:
lolololol I can’t believe it! Jaehee Kang, getting a holiday?!
707:
‘KAY, WHO KIDNAPPED JUMIN AND REPLACED HIM WITH AN ALINE?!
707:
*ALIEN
Jumin Han:
I am not an alien, Luciel.
Jaehee Kang:
Mr Han was given a brief break by Mr Chairman, to compensate for his own absence for a short while. That is the only reason why I am being permitted to take a holiday.
Jumin Han:
Yes. I intend to spend every moment of this break with Elizabeth the 3rd.
You:
Okay… This isn’t what I expected upon logging in.
707:
Oh!!!! You’re here!!!!
Jumin Han:
Good morning.
Jaehee Kang:
It’s nice to see you. How is it, being able to spend time with your husband again?
Jumin Han:
Oh yes, V returned yesterday evening, didn’t he?
You:
Yeah… It was really nice. And he did, Jumin.
You:
And before you ask, Seven… No… I’ve not had a chance to tell him yet… We only just woke up.
707:
Well, you’d better hurry up, or I’ll ‘accidentally’ send him an image of the notes from your recent visit to the doctor!
Jaehee Kang:
You’re planning on telling V something? And… You went to visit a doctor?
You:
… I’ll tell you all when I’ve been able to tell V… I think he’s finished cooking us something to eat now.
You:
See you all later.
Jumin Han:
Have a good day.
Well, that was just great. Jaehee and Jumin now knew that you were trying to tell V something but there was no doubt that they may start asking Seven about what soon.“I’ve been calling you for a few minutes now… I’ve made us some pancakes to eat.” V appeared in the bedroom doorway, before noticing that you were on your need on the floor, faint trails of tears staining your face. “Oh… God, are you okay?” V quickly went over to you, and kneeled down in front of you. He took holds of the sides of your face, and used his thumbs to wipe your tears. “What’s the matter?”You gave him a smile despite your watery eyes then, before leaning forward and kissing him gently. “Jihyun… I’m okay. We’re both okay…” By ‘we’ though…. You meant yourself and the baby.He seemed quite confused at that, but he nodded anyway. “Yes… We are okay, I think-““No… We are okay.” You took hold of one of his hands, and squeezed it despite you being unable to stop the shaking of your arm. Slowly, you guided his hand to your stomach, before crying even more. “Jihyun… We are okay. When you were gone… I found out that I was pregnant.”V’s eyes widened, before his other hand moved of its own accord to your stomach. “You… You are…” He seemed to be in a state of shock, which is exactly as you had feared. “We… are going to be parents.” Every word he said seemed to be held back by his wavering breathing. “I’m… going to be… a dad.”Suddenly, you were caught in a deep kiss as his fingers gently pressed into your stomach. He was crying just as you were now, and it… upset you, but made you really joyful at the same time.“I tell you what… Let’s go and eat those pancakes before they get cold, and then we should tell everyone this amazing news…” He helped you up to his feet, still not able to hold back his tears. “I know already that you’re going to be a wonderful mother…”A smile formed on your face as you said that, before you threw your arms around his shoulders. “I- I never expected for you to take that news so well… And j- just so that you know, you’re going to be the best father ever, Jihyun…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“You’re coming along really well, Hyun,” V smiled as he leaned forward against a railing, talking to Zen as he quickly made his way off the stage nearby. That was before he began to mess about with the camera which was in his hands. “As you asked, I got quite a lot of images of your rehearsals… They’re all saved in this memory card, so you should be able to put it into your phone and upload them where you want from there.”Zen grinned in response, before he gratefully accepted what V was giving him. “Ah~ You’re the best, V.” After that, he sat down on one of the seats nearby. “I seriously owe you so much, you have no idea. Do you have any idea how many people have approached me recently just to ask me to accept new roles just because they found out that the famous photographer V had been taking photos of me during rehearsals?!”V was quick to follow suit in sitting down, watching as Zen messed about with his phone to check over the photos which had been taken over the past hour, seeming as rehearsals that day had only been short. Whilst he did that, V took out his own phone and noticed a string of text messages which he had received during that short amount of time.‘V! Hey! I’m wondering, do you want to go and visit that new restaurant which opened up near your apartment later? Jaehee sent me a text about it earlier, saying that the food there is really nice and not that expensive!’
‘Oh yeah, I also forgot… Jumin called me before, asking where you were. He said that the doctors have given you the all-clear, and you don’t need to go back for any more check-ups over how your eyes are recovering after the surgery! That’s really good~’
‘Lol, Seven’s really teasing Yoosung in the chatroom at the moment! I’m not even able to get him to calm down! Maybe you can get him to stop?’
‘Wait, I forgot you’re with Zen at the moment. Ignore that last text! Anyway, Jumin’s at the receiving end of the teasing now.’
‘If you finish up with Zen though, I’m at the café near the theatre, the one with the cute little signboard outside with chalk drawings on it showing the special drink available today~ I’ll buy you a drink if you want! Love you x’
V laughed quietly, before tapping Zen’s arm just to show him the goings-on from the past few minutes. The two of them spent the next few minutes checking through the messenger in order to see Seven’s bout of teasing. And of course it was to do with Yoosung failing his classes, and the ambiguity of whether Jumin was gay or not. Those were typical topics which Seven chose, after all…Not long after that, V stood up, and decided to reply to your text messages.‘Ha, I just read through everything what happened on the messenger a moment ago. At least it has calmed down now.’ He paused for a moment once he had sent that one, before he decided to send another one. ‘Are you still at that café? I wouldn’t mind meeting up with you. I’m leaving the theatre in a minute once I know that Zen has definitely got all of the pictures which I took for him on his phone. And I love you too xxx’The responses were almost instantaneous from you.‘Yep, and I’m glad that it’s calm again!’
‘Oh and I’m still at the cafe. I only just got my drink now, so I’m going to be here for quite a while. See you in a few, sweetie!’
From the corner of his eyes, V then noticed that Zen was grinning to himself as he looked at the images which had been taken of him during rehearsal. Perhaps he was even swooning over himself, judging by the faces he was pulling. V took that as him definitely having got the photos, so he simply said bye to him and began to make his way out of the theatre. He had one little thing which he needed to plan out before he met you though, so he took his time as he started walking towards the café… “Hey there, Jihyun!” V stepped through the door, and noticed that you were already waving over to him from a comfortable looking sofa at the back of the café. You had two drinks and two slices of cake on the table in front of you, showing that you had decided to get him something whilst he made his way there. He walked over to the sofa, and gently put his arm around you when he sat down.“Hello… I missed you today,” he whispered, just as you began to rest your head on his shoulder. “I would have preferred staying with you all day, but… I did promise Hyun that I’d take some photos of him… I’m sorry about that.”You told him that there was no need for him to apologise, before you ended up looking at the cakes. “Which one do you want? The chocolate one, or the vanilla one with the icing?” Your eyes then met his, and a gentle smile formed on your face as you kept looking up at him. “I tell you what, I’ll have the vanilla one, and you have the chocolate!” Now with a grin on your face, you took hold of the piece of cake which you had said was V’s. “Open wide, Jihyun~”Surprise filled V’s face when you then held it up in front of him, before he began to laugh quietly to himself as he did as you had asked, and opened his mouth. You fed him some of the cake, and moments later, you both began to laugh quietly as V picked up your cake and began to do the same. It was a childish thing, but the two of you were having a lot of fun. After a while though, V ended up bursting into even more laughter and had to quickly put your cake down before he dropped it, because there was now a big patch of icing on your nose.You were oblivious at first to the icing, until V ended up calming himself down and pressing a kiss to the tip of your nose. The icing then transferred onto his lips, and you were quite panicked as you then went to grab hold of some napkins to quickly wipe your nose down.“Don’t worry… It’s just a bit of cake, okay?” V sighed, watching as you put his cake down before sticking out your tongue. “I think that you look quite cute with cake on you like that… Makes me want to kiss you…” He laughed for one last time, before reaching out for his drink as you pouted at him. “By the way… I’ve got something which I need to ask you…”You raised an eyebrow at him, slightly suspicious because of him saying that so suddenly after laughing at the icing on your face. “And what might that be? You want me to get more icing on my face for you to laugh at?”“No!” V sighed, before taking hold of your hand. “I want to know… What do you think about, um…” You could see that his eyes started diverting away from you, and his face started turning a pink hue. “Well… G- Getting married?”Little did neither of you know was that Zen had also ended up going to the café, just to buy a drink to have on his way back to his apartment. As he waited for his drink, he noticed both you and V together, and the silly antics which the two of you had got up to, and he had also noticed the proposal.Zen was grinning away to himself when he watched your face fill up with slight disbelief, before you ended up hugging V, and pressed a kiss to his lips afterwards.“Hah… So V managed to get himself the princess… He’s so lucky…”“HEY! Are you Zen?! Your drink has been ready for five minutes now, and you’re holding up the queue of other customers…”“O- Oh, I’m sorry about that… I was busy watching my friends… I’ll get going now.” Zen glanced back at you and V one last time, and smiled at you admiring a ring which was now on your finger. “And she’s lucky to have you, V…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“I insist on buying you this dress… It’s your wedding, and to my closest friend, no less. After everything the two of you have been through over the past year, you deserve to have something… extravagant. Something which will make you the most elegant bride ever seen,” Jumin stated, his firm grasp of your wrist refusing to loosen. “Take it as a gift for you.”“But… Jumin…”As you started biting your lip when Jumin pulled out his phone, a gentle hand came to rest on your shoulder. “I’d let him find you a new dress, you know… Mr Han isn’t the sort of person to be dissuaded once his mind is set on something.” Jaehee gave you a calming smile, before leading you away elsewhere. “I’m sorry that your original dress got ruined though… I can’t believe that Luciel was that stupid to bring you your dress whilst his hands were sticky from all of those chips and drinks which he has.” She took a moment to glance at you, before gesturing over to a nearby chair. “Now, why don’t we sort out your hair? There’s not much time left now!”“So… Jumin, Luciel, and Jaehee are with her…” V mumbled quietly, before looking at Zen. “Hyun, I… I’m worried.”Zen rolled his eyes, before putting his arm over V’s shoulders. “You shouldn’t be, you know! This is meant to be one of the best days of your life!” He then paused, and noticed the way in which V was now staring down at the ground. “Or… Are you scared that you’re going to lose her, because of what happened with Rika…?”“This might not be my place to say, but if Rika was here, and wasn’t your fiancée at any point, she probably would have been really happy for you, V.” Yoosung decided to say from the side of the room, walking over to the pair and then putting on a smile. “Rika liked it when you were happy.”“Yeah! Exactly that!” Zen then put his other arm over Yoosung’s shoulders, and started laughing. “And V, I was in the café when you proposed to her, you know. She looked over the moon, and the way in which she threw herself at you for a hug, she seemed absolutely head over heels in love with you! She wants to be with you, and you want to be with her. There isn’t any need to worry whatsoever!”When you and V were finally able to meet up, it was at the altar in the church which you both had decided to get married in. He seemed almost taken aback at your dress, and the blush on his face afterwards made you feel close to sighing with relief. You were actually more than thankful for Jumin deciding to find you a new dress after that.“Y- You look… B- Beyond amazing…” He whispered to you quietly, suddenly reaching out for your hand and squeezing it. It was quite sweaty, so you knew straight away that he was feeling anxious. You were too, obviously, but knowing that it was a mutual feeling actually made you feel so much better.“And you look adorable…”The ceremony actually got disturbed a few times, the first of which being Zen and Seven getting highly emotional together, and a later one being Jumin getting a sudden phone call after realising that he had never turned his phone off. But honestly, you couldn’t have expected anything less from your fellow RFA members.What surprised you though was just how fast time seemed to fly during the wedding though. You went into a slight daze which you were only pulled out of when you were asked something, and eventually by V squeezing your hand ever so slightly, as he wanted to put the wedding ring on your finger. Moments later, you were caught in a gentle kiss, which made your face heat up to the point that you knew that you had become flustered.“So, Mrs Kim… We’re married now,” V laughed quietly, doing his best to hide his own reddened face from the guests as he cupped your cheeks and kept his forehead pressed against your own. “I love you…”“I love you too, Mr Kim…” You laughed, pressing a kiss of your own against his lips. “God, if I knew this time two years ago that I’d be getting married to a cute and wonderful man who just so happened to be a famous photographer, I would have laughed and thought of it as a lie.”“And yet here we are…”“Yep. And I have no regrets in the world… Not even downloading that app and being silly enough to follow a stranger’s instructions to an unknown location, because if I had never done that… We never would have met.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
He was alive, but so was Saeran. V felt guilty that he managed to hold onto his life, and that the bullet which was meant to kill him didn’t do what was intended. It was also a shock for him when you and Saeyoung reached out for him, and attempted to build bridges across the broken relationships and shattered RFA.The only thing which felt good for V is that he no longer held secrets, and had let them all off his chest to the other RFA members. What surprised him when it came to that was it being Yoosung who was first to show any sort of trust. After the revelations surrounding Rika, he wasn’t surprised that V had chosen to keep secrets such as Rika being alive and leader of a religious cult of sorts.
Saeyoung: I think… That we should meet up.
You: Oh! Really?
Saeyoung: You were coming around anyway to help look after Saeran lol
V: Were… you talking to me…?
Saeyoung: Yeah… I still need to talk to you about some stuff, so seeming as Saeran’s being looked after…
V looked at his phone for a moment, and bit his lip. He hadn’t left his apartment ever since his injury from the bullet had recovered and he had been discharged from hospital, so that had been a good few months now. Zen and Yoosung took it in turns to bring him food and other things like soap from the shops which he would always pay them back for, and you as well as Jumin would also visit every once in a while.
Saeyoung:
Hey. V. Are you still there?
You:
V~ Reply if you can~
V:
Oh, sorry… I was thinking to myself.
Saeyoung:
So… Can you come around as soon as possible?
V:
I guess…
“Come on, Saeran… At least try and say hello…” You crouched down in front of Saeran, and looked him straight in the eyes. Straight away, his eyes diverted away from yours, and you sighed. “Please… Just a hello.”“I shot him for no reason… He won’t want me to be around when he speaks to Saeyoung.” He then stood up, and walked over to the window in the room. “I’ll stay in here today.”“And what about if you feel hungry?”“I’ll starve.”“Saeran. Say hello to V, then get something to eat. I know that the thought of seeing V probably will upset you… He’s probably feeling just as upset when it comes to visiting here, after everything which you and Saeyoung had to go through over the past few years…” You placed a hand on Saeran’s shoulder after that, and watched as he winced at the contact. “If not for me… For Saeyoung.” “… Hey.”“… Hello, Saeyoung…” V felt horribly awkward standing just outside Saeyoung and Saeran’s home, especially considering that the sun was extremely bright and that it was his first time in months since he had been anywhere near the former hacker in person. “I…” V also wasn’t expecting to have a breakdown so soon, as he could already feel a cold sweat forming on his body, and tears welling up in his eyes. “I’m so sorry… I- I was such a-!”Suddenly, a pair of hands were on his shoulders, and he noticed Saeyoung looking at him with what seemed to be worry in his eyes. V had only one question in his mind: Why was Saeyoung worried about him? “Come on… You probably should sit down. I was told that you haven’t been outside once since you recovered.”Saeyoung then helped V inside, and once he had been able to calm himself down somewhat, he noticed that you were in the corner of the room, trying to calm a hysterical Saeran down. He was holding onto his arms, and was frantically shaking his head. As well as that, you were doing your best just to talk to him, but he was having none of it.“Um… Don’t mind those two… Saeran’s not been in the best of places for the past week, and she’s been doing her best to look after him…” V slowly nodded in response, before he then noticed Saeyoung allow himself to fall back onto his sofa. “Wanna sit down for a while? I’m okay with it, you know. After the text messages and calls we’ve had over the past few months… I can trust you again, V. You do know that, right?” Most of the day had been spent with V doing his best to keep up with Saeyoung in conversation, but he had to keep going outside for some fresh air to calm down. Saeyoung was actually talking to him like a friend again, which was good… But what was getting to him more was him seeing you doing your best to look after Saeran. When you’d visited him over the past few months, they had been brief, and were often a spur of the moment thing. You would sit with him and have a drink, chatting together, before you’d run off to help look after Saeran…V had thought of himself as broken enough before you got pulled into the RFA by Saeran under Rika’s orders, with him doing his best to keep the secrets which would later harm the RFA to a point where it would almost fall apart at the seams. Seeing Saeran now though… That is what being broken looks like. He wasn’t broken… he felt an idiot. A burden. An annoyance and a flaw in the eyes of everyone around him. Saeran was broken, so he got the help which he needed… He was beyond repair.But he longed for somebody to help him… Somebody to offer him the emotional and physical support which he needed. He felt guilty thinking that, but he couldn’t help but say to himself that he needed it.He felt both guilty, jealous, and desperate to have you look after him in the same way in which you were Saeran.That was a horrible, far-fetched belief for V though. He’d never get it… He didn’t deserve it, like Saeran did. “Saeyoung… Can I have one of your cans of-?” You groaned during one of the moments where V had gone outside for a moment, seeming as you had just spent a good thirty minutes persuading Saeran not to starve himself until V returned home. Now though, you had been able to get Saeran to eat, and now he was actually just playing LOLOL on his laptop online with Yoosung, surprisingly. Saeyoung interrupted you mid-question.“Yeah, sure. But… Come look at this when you’ve finished…” He was sat at his computers, and was watching something unfold on one of his screens. You nodded, before opening the nearby fridge and savouring the ice-cold drink which you were able to pull out. Afterwards, you walked over to Saeyoung and looked at the screen too. “Have you seen this? This is the fifth time in the past two hours he’s done this…”He pointed at a monitor displaying the security footage from just outside the building’s gate, before biting his lip and looking at you. It was V sat on the ground, hands grabbing at his hair as he tried to stop himself… from crying.“God… Saeyoung, do you know what the matter with him is?” Straight away, you were worried about him, seeming as you didn’t have Saeran to fret over at that moment.“Nope… No idea in the slightest… I guess that I could tinker about with the camera’s settings, and get it to pick up more sound to see what he’s saying…” After that, Saeyoung turned to face you with a frown on his face. “But you, missy, need to sit down and take a break. Help yourself to some Honey Buddha Chips to have with your drink, if you want. I’ve got more than enough packets after all.”Casting the occasional glance at Saeyoung’s computers, you then went and sat down on the sofa and slowly sipped at the canned drink. You were really worried about V now… Nobody had mentioned him ever crying or having breakdowns over the past few months. Jumin spent some time with him almost every day, and said that other than V feeling pain in his stomach every so often from his injury, as well as him not leaving his apartment, he seemed fine. He was often in the messenger, and again, he seemed fine…V was not fine.Eventually, you heard the door open, and you became aware of V returning. He didn’t look as though he had been crying, except for the slight reddened tinge to the corners of his eyes. Your attention was quickly moved away moments later though, because you heard Saeyoung quickly jump up from his computers and start calling your name.So that V was out of earshot, he began whispering to you in a nearby room. “I figured it out… I know why V keeps going outside to cry whilst he’s here. I was able to listen to some of what he was saying. About three times, he ended up saying ‘I’m not broken, Saeran is. I don’t need or deserve any of this, Saeran does.’ I… completely forgot that the events which happened a few months must have affected V as much as it did you, me, and Saeran, if not more.”“I feel really bad now…”“Why? You have nothing to feel bad about…”You shook your head almost as soon as he started speaking. “I’ve visited him a few times recently, but I’ve always made the visits short so that I could come here to help you look after Saeran… But… V is on his own most of the time anyway… Saeran at least has you… It makes me feel bad that I’ve been coming here when he’s been needing help too…”Saeyoung sighed, and put his arms around you in a reassuring hug. “I tell you what… I’ll see if I can get Yoosung to help me out with Saeran for the time being. I mean, they’ve recently become LOLOL buddies, haven’t they?” You nodded as you started wiping away the tears which were starting to form in your eyes. “And you… Rather than come here to help Saeran… Go and see V. Be there for him like you have been for Saeran… He deserves it.” V had been able to last another hour visiting before he felt far too overwhelmed and decided to return home. It was also then that you ‘conveniently’ finished looking after Saeran, and decided to go home yourself. As soon as you were outside, you were running as fast as you could to catch up to V. He had been quite surprised when you finally reached him, and took hold of his arm.“Hey there, V… Phew, I’m out of breath…” You quietly laughed, watching as a faint smile cracked on his face at the sight of you laughing like that. “Ah… Wow. Not ran like that in years! Haha…” You leaned forward for a moment when catching your breath, before straightening yourself out and giving him a wide smile. “I decided that I’m going to go back to your apartment with you.”A blank face was present on V then, before it turned to one of shock, and perhaps almost fear too. “M- My apartment? With me…? But… I thought that you were meant to be looking after…”“Yes. To your apartment with you.” You went from holding onto his arm then, to taking hold of his hand. “V… I can imagine that it’s been really hard for you recently. And… I know that you’ve been talking down about yourself, and believing that you don’t need help. Both me and Saeyoung know that now…” You suddenly felt V tense up, and stop walking as you said that. “I don’t like seeing friends talk about themselves like that, nor do I want any of them suffering under a burden which they keep hidden from everyone else. V… I want to be there for you too. Please, let me be there for you too… I’m sorry for not noticing that you needed help earlier.”He was now shaking his head, holding his free hand in front of his eyes. “I… don’t need help… Saeran does… Saeran needs you…”“No, V… You need somebody to help you. And… I want to help you. Okay? You’re a friend, so I’ll always be there to help you.” After that, you let go of his hand, before wrapping them around his neck. “V… I want you to feel safe enough to cry on my shoulder, okay? And it isn’t just me too… Saeyoung was worried about you. For that matter, Saeran was worried about you this morning. Jumin is your childhood friend, I’m sure that you can talk to him too, maybe exchange letters like you did when you were young too. Jaehee and Zen probably would want to do what they can to help you out too, despite their hectic lifestyles… And Yoosung… He trusts you now too. He is one of the best shoulders you can cry on – trust me on that. We’re all here for you… Saeran isn’t the only one who needs somebody… You need support too.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“I’m so glad that we’ve been able to get together this year, Saeyoung and Saeran included!” You smiled, looking at all of the gathered RFA members. You were all having a private RFA party today, Christmas eve, before hosting the actual party with guests which you’ve spent months inviting tomorrow. It had taken a while for everything to get together, but with the help of Jumin, you had been able to get a venue for this private party. Jaehee had assisted in sorting out food and Yoosung the drinks, and Zen had been really useful in getting music organised. V helped with decorating, whilst you spent hours begging the Choi twins just to attend.Jaehee nodded in response to what you had said. “We’ve not been together like this for a while, have we?” She took a sip from the cup of coffee in front of her, and started smiling. “And… I hope that your first Christmas with us is enjoyable, Saeyoung and Saeran.”“Yeah… It’s gonna be enjoyable, alright…” Saeyoung mumbled, before a smirk formed on his face. He obviously had something planned, but you had no idea what. “Anyway, where’s that music which Zen brought?! I want to dance!” Soon enough, everybody was busy doing their own thing at the party. Yoosung, Saeyoung, and Zen were all drinking and wailing out any song which came to their heads. It sounded catastrophic, considering that Yoosung was the only drunk one of the group as Saeyoung was drinking doctor pepper and Zen wasn’t a lightweight when it came to alcohol. At least Zen could sing though…Meanwhile, Saeran was trying out some of the cookies which Jaehee had baked. It looked as though he was asking her for the recipe for them too. You quickly got the picture of Saeran baking, and Saeyoung trying to beg him to make Honey Buddha chips and doctor pepper vital ingredients for them, stuck in your head.Jumin was busy giving odd glances towards the presents which he had received from everyone at the moment. Everyone (except Zen) had decided to get him some sort of cat related product as a joke, meaning that lay out before him were six different presents… Cat ears from you, a cat tie from Jaehee, a cat phone case from Yoosung, a framed photo of Elizabeth the 3rd from V, a scarf covered in cat patterns from Saeran, and there was also a little ribbon with cat paw prints from Saeyoung, specifically for ‘his dear Elly’.Other than that… You and V were sat together at a table, chatting and laughing at the antics of everybody else in the group.“You know… It feels really nice to be together for the first time in a while. Everyone’s been so busy, but at least we’ve been able to spend today together,” You sighed, looking at how happy everyone happened to be together. “Oh! And look, Jumin’s putting the cat case on his phone and is trying out the cat ears!” You were quick to go from sighing to laughing at the sight of that.V nodded in agreement, taking a sip of the drink which he had in his hand. He looked deep in thought about something, so you allowed him to stay in his thoughts for a good few minutes. Little did you know, he was busy thinking about the way in which the room was decorated. It was set out as it was by him intentionally, because he wanted to talk to you in this particular place.Of course, he had no idea if he should just kiss you or not, considering that right above your heads was some mistletoe… He knew for sure that people say that when you are under the mistletoe you kiss, but… How could he do that without making the situation massively awkward for both of you? And what if you didn’t want a kiss? His mind was filled up with far too many questions.“Oh no… Drunk Yoosung is harassing Zen now…” You started to wince at the sight of Yoosung tugging at Zen’s hair, making the actor shout out in pain. “And where’s Saeyoung gone off to? I have no idea…”As you kept speaking, V kept his eyes on you, watching every little movement which you made, and taking a mental note of all of the little hand gestures. The way you’d occasionally puff out your cheeks when something frustrated you, how you’d take some of your hair and twirl it around your fingers when you weren’t sure on what to say, and not to mention the way in which you would stretch out your fingers when you’re deep in thought.“I’m also wondering, V… Um… Do you see me as a friend?”He finally looked you in the eyes after that, and took hold of your hand. It surprised you for sure. “See you as a friend? Well, I really like you, if that means anything…”The pout on your face… was cute. He liked that too. “I asked if you see me as a friend, not if you like me!” You started grumbling then, and began shifting the hand which he was holding onto a slight bit. “It’s okay if you don’t, I mean, I’ve only been in the RFA for a few months, and-““I do see you as a friend.” He was now staring you straight in the eyes, and he seemed almost anxious. “I’d rather not have you as a friend though, because it gives what I want to do right now, and what I’ve been wanting to do ever since you came over here so much more meaning...” You seemed almost hurt as he said that, but your face shifted to a surprised one when you noticed his face… turn bright red.Suddenly, you felt his free hand move to your cheek, and it was only then that you realised your skin was burning. After that… You also realised that his lips were against your own.One thought was in your head now… Holy shit, the leader of the RFA is kissing me, why the hell is he kissing me?!Everyone’s eyes were on you both by the time in which V moved away from you slightly, and you could just tell that you were highly embarrassed at that. “Wh- Why did you-?!” The fact that you could hardly get a coherent sentence out of your mouth was enough to prove that.“Look up,” he whispered against your lips, before he kissed you again quickly and then put on a sweet, innocent smile, as though he hadn’t turned you into a blushing mess in front of the rest of the RFA. Then you looked up, and turned an even brighter red. There was mistletoe… And V had been decorating this place.
He’d planned this out!
A few moments later, both you and V were caught by surprise by Saeyoung bursting out laughing. “Ha! Yes! I knew they’d kiss, so you all had better pay up!”Afterwards, there was a groan from nearby. “We never bet on anything, idiot! I can’t believe I’m related to you…”Soon enough, everything fell to chaos… As expected. You could never assemble all of the RFA members in one place for long without at least one chaotic situation occurring… If it wasn’t Jumin and Zen, it was always something to do with Saeyoung.V had kept hold of your hand during all of this, and after a short while, you felt him stand up. “Let’s get away from this for a while… How about my place?”“Y- Your pl- place…?” He nodded. “O- Okay then…”Of course, there was more conveniently placed mistletoe by the doorway too…
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Still taking photos, as always...” Jumin stated, looking at his childhood friend holding a camera up to his eye so that he could take a few photos. “Since he received the surgery on his eyes, he’s been taking them even more. I wonder why…”“Maybe it’s because he’s scared that something might go wrong with his eyes again at some point… He might believe that there’s a chance that he will turn blind for good.” You sighed, before resting your cheek on your hand. “Anyway… I think that I should be going now, I promised Yoosung and Jaehee that I’d meet them up for a drink of coffee at a new café which opened up near Yoosung’s school!” You then stood up, and began smiling. “See you later, Jumin. Have fun with your camera, V!”After you left Jumin’s penthouse, V ended up sitting down and looking at the photos which he had been taking from by the window with a smile on his face. “I miss taking photos so much… I managed to get a few of Elizabeth the 3rd, and of the recent party we held if you want to have a look at them in a minute. I just need to sort through them first so that I can get rid of the ones which I don’t like…” Jumin nodded, quite willing to look over the photos which V had taken. It took him a good few minutes to get rid of the unwanted photos, but then, V started mumbling to himself. “I think I’ve misplaced my phone… I’ll be back in a few minutes, Jumin.” He ended up leaving the photos on the table…Now Jumin was curious… What had V been taking photographs off recently? He must have taken quite a lot, as he had spent a long time sorting through them. He couldn’t resist having a glance at the photos.There were a good few of Elizabeth – Jumin desperately wanted the one of Elizabeth holding her paw up printed out and made pride of place by the entrance to his penthouse, so that anyone who entered could see the beauty of his dear cat. Perhaps also an extra one to keep at his office too.But besides that… He noticed a recurring theme in the other photographs. You. You were in almost every single photo, and were focussed in as the main subject of them too. Even when the background was intentionally blurred, you were always in focus, and there in crisp, clear detail… There was even quite a few photos taken from when you and V had been spending time together alone – when did that happen? – and he noticed that on the selfies which you and V had taken together… He always had a light blush on his face.Jumin had never seen his childhood friend this close to anyone, not even Rika.
Did… V like you?
With that, Jumin began to have a plan concoct in his head… It was Christmas soon, after all… You were busy eating your breakfast when you ended up hearing your phone start going off in your bedroom. It was rather frustrating because of how repetitive it was, and you groaned when you had to stand up to go and retrieve it because the texts eventually turned into repetitive calls.All that you could do was roll your eyes when the name ‘Jumin Han’ started flashing across the screen of your phone. Reluctantly, you fell back onto your bed and answered the call. “So… What can I do for you today, Jumin…? I was in the middle of eating…”“Oh, my apologies. I never thought that you could have been having your breakfast,” he sighed, before you heard him pause for a moment. “Later today, I am going to be visiting V at his apartment. I want to know if you will be willing to go with me too, because I have seen that the two of you have been getting along quite well recently.” Visiting… V? At his apartment? You’d never actually been there before, because when the two of you did meet up, it had been here at your own apartment… “I guess that I could go, just… I don’t know where he lives. That’s the only problem.”“That is no problem, I shall send you with driver Kim. I cannot go until later, so I need you to go in advance to explain why I will be late. Could you possibly come to the C&R building as soon as you can?” “Fine, fine… I’ll just finish my breakfast and sort myself out. I’ll be there in an hour…”“I’ll have Assistant Kang waiting for you just outside the doors, she can escort you to my office so that I can talk to you when you arrive. See you soon.” You could not believe it… You had arrived at the C&R building, just to have Jumin decide that you needed to wear something ‘prettier’. You thought that you looked pretty damn good in a warm woolly sweater and a pair of jeans, but obviously, Jumin thought otherwise.Then he dropped the bombshell that he had ‘expected something like this to happen’, and revealed that he had decided to buy you a dress to wear anyway that morning. He had you sent off to get changed, and now he was talking to you about going to V’s apartment… finally…“Right… So, I shall have Driver Kim take you to the building which Jihyun lives in. When you arrive there, I shall text you the apartment details so that you go to the correct apartment,” he began, before he started smiling. “I cannot arrive until quite late this afternoon, because I had some meetings which I was reminded of only this morning, and I am unable to reschedule.”“Okay, so… You want me to say that to V when I get there?”“Yes, if possible. I cannot thank you enough for this favour.” He was silent then, before he then opened his mouth as though he had just remembered something. “Oh, and before I forget… I believe that I have an accessory which will go very well with your new dress.” He walked over to his desk, and picked something up. “Hold out your wrist for me… I’ll put it on for you.”“Jumin… That’s a gift bow.”“Ah… I have read an article recently from a reputable news source that with Christmas being nearby, wearing things such as bows has become very popular. I can see the charms to it, it suits you very well…” V had been having quite a lazy day for once, finally taking a break from days and days of taking photographs almost non-stop. He knew that the next day was Christmas, so he decided that he would later have to go and purchase some little gifts for the other RFA members to make up for everything which had happened over the past few months.He wasn’t expecting to suddenly receive a text from Jumin though.‘V, I have found the perfect gift for you. I am sending it to your apartment as we speak.’He stared at his phone for a moment, and sighed. Trust Jumin to do something like that…After taking a moment to think, V then went and called his friend just to ask why he thought of doing something like that. It took a short while for Jumin to answer, but it was a relief to know that he did pick up.“Hello, V. I guess that you are calling to ask what your gift happens to be?”Meanwhile, you had just arrived outside the building, with V being completely oblivious to the fact that Jumin intended to have you be the gift. You said thank you to Jumin’s driver, before going through the building’s main doors. You still felt quite anxious about it being the first time that you had visited V’s apartment, considering that he had always gone to yours in the past.You sent Jumin a text that you had arrived, and though it took a few minutes, he eventually replied.‘Good. And I’ve been able to contact Jihyun, so there isn’t any need for you to explain why I am not arriving yet. And before I forget, here is the floor which he lives on…’Taking a deep breath, you walked into the building, working up all of your courage not to turn around and wait for Jumin to arrive…It was at that same moment where Jumin ended up sending V a text too. ‘You gift shall arrive in a few moments. Go to open your door, and enjoy it.’“Enjoy it…?” V was confused… but needless to say, he did as the text said and went over to the door before opening it. He was highly confused when he noticed you there, but he did notice you flinch because he had opened it before you had even been able to knock. V whispered your name, before rubbing the side of his head in confusion. “But Jumin said…” You were quite worried with the way in which he was talking to himself. “Why… are you here? Jumin said that he had ‘got me a gift’ and was sending it here… I wasn’t expecting to see you…”That confused you. “Jumin said to me that he was going to be coming here later… And that he wanted me to go along to see you too…” It only then sunk in for both of you what Jumin had been planning. “He isn’t coming here, is he?”“And sending you here is what he meant by ‘gift’, isn’t it?”“Well, no wonder he made me wear this silly bow on my wrist…”It felt horribly awkward just standing there now, knowing that the entire reason you were currently at V’s apartment was part of a set-up by Jumin of all people…V sighed after about a minute of silence, before he ended up stepping to the side. “You might as well come in, seeming as you went out of your way to come here… I still wonder why Jumin decided to call you a gift though…”
V:
Jumin Han, I need to have a word with you!
707:
Ooooooohhhhhhhh, what’s going on here? Lololol is there going to be a fight?
You:
He tricked me and V!!!
ZEN:
That Trust Fund Jerk… tricked you both? How?!
You:
He told me that he was meant to be visiting V today, but needed me to go and see him because he was busy and was going to be occupied with meetings until late…
V:
And he said to me that he had got me a gift, and was sending it to my apartment.
707:
OMG JUMIN HAN SET YOU TWO UP
ZEN:
… My god.
V:
I want to talk to him now… I want to ask him why… Not that I don’t mind the company, but… Why?
You:
I wanna know too! He called me whilst I was in the middle of my breakfast this morning just to go through with his little scheme;;
-Jumin Han has entered the chatroom-
707:
ZEN, GET THE POPCORN!!! LOLOLOLOLOL-
Jumin Han:
?
ZEN:
ohohoho, this is going to be fun~
V:
Luciel, Hyun, we’re not wanting to fight Jumin…
Jumin Han:
… What?
You:
Jumin… Why did you send me to V’s apartment, telling us both completely different stories about what was going on?
Jumin Han:
That is simple… A few days ago, V misplaced his phone in my penthouse.
V:
But what about that leads to… this?
Jumin Han:
I was desperate to look at the photographs which you had taken of Elizabeth the 3rd, so whilst you were looking for your phone, I looked though the photos which you left behind.
707:
Hmm… Interesting…
Jumin Han:
Almost every single photo had her in it, V.
Jumin Han:
And in every photo which both of you were in, one or both of you were blushing.
707:
lmao, Jumin Han – director, cat lover, match-maker!
You: W H A T.
ZEN:
Holy crap dude, you’re setting the two of them up?!
Jumin Han:
Put simply… Yes, I was ‘setting them up’.
-You have left the chatroom-
-V has left the chatroom-
ZEN:
Pfft, you’re in trouble now, jerk.
Since the revelation that Jumin had been intending to set you and V up together, you had noticed the photographer just staring at his phone, unable to type in any response to what was going on. Because of that, you quickly logged out of the messenger, and went over to V and turned his phone off. “Hey… Are you okay?”V looked up at you for a moment, before nodding. “Yeah… Just surprised, that’s all. I should have expected Jumin to have done something like look through my photos.”You laughed quietly, nodding in agreement. “Yep. That’s a Jumin thing, alright…” After that, he took hold of your hand, and gave you a gentle smile. “I guess that you’re used to things like that, with him being your childhood friend and all…”“You can say that again. Sometimes, Jumin has my emotions all figured out before I understand them myself, you know. Like here… I think he figured out very quickly that I do really like you, but… After everything which happened with Rika…”“You never knew the right time?”“Exactly…”“Well, I guess that things have worked out in this case because of that… Because I like you too, Jihyun…”“… Jumin was right… You are the perfect gift…” Suddenly, you found yourself being pulled close to V in a gentle embrace. You could tell that he was smiling whilst he hugged you. After a moment, his fingers dug into your back slightly. “And… is it bad that I want this gift to stay with me tonight…?”Now you felt your face heat up when he said that, but nonetheless, you felt happy at this. “Yeah… Okay, if you want me to…”“I’m so glad…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“It’s winter, and all you have are these summer clothes… Not even a coat to keep you warm,” V whispered, placing his jacket around your shoulders before hugging you from behind. “Please, let me get you something warm to wear…” His chin came to rest on your shoulders as you started rubbing your wrist somewhat aggressively, as though you were trying to erase your scars which were there.This was the happiest you had been in years, and you didn’t want to remember those days where you thought that things couldn’t get any worse, and that causing yourself pain and possibly even killing yourself would be a million times better than living your life as though nothing was the matter. God… V had made you so happy.He’d let you join the RFA.He realised that, during the party, you had felt uncomfortable living in Rika’s apartment, so he told you that you didn’t have to go back, and if you had nowhere to go, you could stay with him.He realised that yes, you did have some rather bad days, but he helped you through them. He’d apparently done his best to support Rika through those sorts of days too, so you were relieved as he gave you space when you needed it, and embraced you whenever you wanted to cry.He finally got surgery to help his eyesight recover… Because he wanted to always be there for you, and look after you.Today was the first day he had been allowed out of hospital since the surgery, and the first thing which you did when you noticed him stood outside was hug him. You had shivered, so that had led to the situation where he gave you his jacket.His now bright turquoise eyes looked over you, before he pulled you into a tight embrace. “Come on… We’ll get some hot chocolates whilst we’re out too. Cream and marshmallows if you want too.”If there was anyone who you were happy to call your friend… It was V.“Yeah… Okay then.”You were giggling as you saw V biting his lips, fighting back the urges to pull out his phone and take photograph after photograph of you, to capture your beauty forever. You couldn’t read what was going on inside his head though…He had seen the scars.He noticed the way in which you would rub and rub at them to the point that they were raw, and then stop when you realised that he was facing your general direction. They were a series of pale lines stretching across both wrists, and though they seemed not to be dealing you any physical pain, the emotional pain still lingered around them.He wanted more than anything to ask why you hurt yourself… But not whilst you were happy. He thrived seeing you happy, just as he did Rika. At least this time though… You were making progress. She never did… She made him turn blind, but you opened his eyes.“Hmm… How about we get you this scarf too?”“No, V… I’d say that suits you even more!” You started laughing, before throwing the grey woolly material around his neck. Afterwards, he took hold of the ends of the scarf, before his arms wrapped around you.“Actually… It suits us both, doesn’t it?”That night, you were sat with your head resting on his shoulder, slowly eating some chips which you had bought whilst the two of you were shopping. A film was on TV, and whilst you remained occupied with watching it, V slowly got closer and closer to you. It started with his arm wrapping around your shoulders, and tugging you a slight bit closer to him. You let out a small sigh as he did that.Soon enough, when the chip packet was empty, you hugged him, and moved your head from his shoulder to his chest. He pulled you up onto his knee, and rested his chin on the top of your head.Finally… He took a deep breath and started talking to you. “Hey… I want to know something…” You glanced up at him, before putting on a gentle smile and nodded. “You don’t have to answer this, but…” His grasp of you loosened, before he took hold of your hand. “When… did you do this…? I… noticed them before, and… I’ve just been worried about you since…”Your face fell, and you gazed downward.“I’m sorry, I knew that I shouldn’t have-!”“Don't be sorry, V... I'll tell you, as you out of anyone deserves to know. It was before I joined the RFA...”You explained everything to him. You explained the reasons behind your scars – both the mental and physical ones – before he nodded with understanding, and pressed a gentle kiss on each one on your wrists. Though you were upset talking about them, knowing that V didn’t hate you for it and instead remained supportive and understanding made you feel less shameful about them.Of course, you knew that the pain would be there forever… But he was your pain relief. As long as he was there, it hurt less and less.The night ended with him taking you to bed, and telling you stories. Fun and cheerful ones from the past, ones which had happy endings and brought a smile to your face. After a while, he was lay beside you, pressing gentle kisses to not just your lips, but all over your body. It was during that time where you promised to never add another scar to the ones you had given yourself, and where you allowed him to help you whenever you felt that urge.When the morning came, you had forgotten about the scars, but instead you were focussed completely on the man who had given his body to you, and vice versa. His arms and legs around you gave you a warmth and comfort which you had never felt before.The scars were a part of the past… And you wanted to leave them there.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“I want to take a photo of the stars.”It was a simple request, but one which V was more than willing to help you fulfil. Since you had officially started dating V a good month after the second RFA party which you helped to host, you had taken up the hobby of photography, with him as your mentor once his eyes had been repaired through surgery. You found quite quickly that you loved taking photographs of sceneries and of people, whereas still-life simply was not for you.You absolutely loved capturing the business of the city from your apartment windows, and adored the pictures which you were able to get of leaves falling off the trees in the winter.There was one thing difficult to take a photo of in the city though… And that was the stars. The radiating light of the city at night would always dominate the sky, and if that weren’t the case, there would have been clouds everywhere. You couldn’t win when it came to photos of the stars.So, when you went to V with that request… His eyes lit up, as though they were stars themselves, before he nodded. He said that he would take you to the stars, and help you to capture them within a photo. That, however, was after he asked why you hadn’t taken a photo of yourself then.
V was a suave man, you had to admit… But he was your suave man, and that thought was enough to make your heart pound.
You had almost forgotten about your request until the winter of that year, which is when V approached you with a gentle smile, and wrapped a scarf around your neck. “Are you ready to capture the beauty of the stars?” He whispered down your ear as he made sure that you were warm in his arms. “I’ve found the perfect place for you to take a photo… In the mountains, there is a ridge where you can see the entire city, but can also see the stars clearer than anything. Hyun suggested it to me, as it is where he goes to calm down when things are hectic for him.”You nodded, and V then smiled. That night… He was going to take you to see the stars. Both you and V were huddled up together as you watched the sunset, and seeming as V had smartly decided to bring a flask of hot chocolate with you, you had a cup of hot chocolate in your hands.“It won’t be long now…” You whispered, looking at the camera resting on your lap before bringing your cup up to your lips. V smiled and nodded, before putting his arm around you and pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “I wonder if I’ll capture a shooting star, Jihyun.”“Maybe you will… But I don’t think I’ll be able to point any out, because the brightest star is sat right next to me…”
Such… Such a suave little-
V then delicately kissed you on the lips, before he went to pour himself a hot drink too. You noticed him shiver as he did this though, so carefully, you reached into the bag of other items which the two of you had brought along and pulled out a blanket to wrap around his shoulders so that he didn’t remain cold. You didn’t want him falling ill… V found the sight of you asleep on the bench so endearing, with your scarf pulled up around your mouth, gloved hands held close to your chest, and coats pulled tightly around you. You had fell asleep before the first stars could properly appear, and V felt almost disappointed that you were missing the chance. But you were tired… Excitement for this had been enough to drain you of your energy that day.Carefully, V removed the blanket from over his shoulders, and placed it over you once he had taken hold of your camera. So that you weren’t disheartened over falling asleep, he took a photo of the stars, before then he took a picture of you – the star which his life revolved around.As he decided that it would be best to return home, V packed everything away, but made sure that the camera was secure in your hands as he scooped you up from the bench. It was a shame that you had fallen asleep… But at least there was now an excuse to come out here yet again for a date in the future… Maybe even for many dates to take photos of the stars.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
He’d woken up to a scream. It scared V at first, but as soon as he heard loud sobbing, he knew that he had to see what was going on. He was thankful for what was left of his sight, because otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to go to see what had happened. Quickly, he grabbed hold of his phone before heading in the direction of your crying.After a moment, he found you sat on your bed, tears pouring from your eyes as you held your arms in front of you. You were visibly shaking, and that worried him. “Hey… What’s going on?” Slowly and carefully, he sat down beside you, making you gasp for breath. “What’s the matter?”As soon as his hands came to rest on your shoulders, and pulled you over to his body to hug you, you began to cry even more. “V… I- It is you, right…?” He nodded, but he realised soon enough that you didn’t react to the action. “I can’t see… I- I woke up, and I couldn’t see… Everything is all… Foggy a- and murky, and I can’t see a- anything…”V tensed up. He knew exactly what you had just described, it matched exactly to what he could see from his right eye…“I- I’m scared, V… A- Am I blind…?”“I… think that might be the case… But don’t be scared, okay? I’m going to stay right by your side.” He then looked around, before taking hold of his phone and opening the contacts list. “I’m going to do what I can to help you out, okay?” He started drafting a message to the entire RFA once he had said that.‘New member has woken up blind… Neither of us might be in the messenger for the time being. Hoping that her vision will clear but I have a bad feeling that it’s permanent.’Afterwards, he pulled you in for a hug, and told you that it was okay to cry on him, and that he would always be there for you. Thankfully, you ended up falling asleep in his arms after that, much to V’s relief…“This… is so weird still…” About a week had passed since you had woken up without your sight. It was quite difficult to adjust to, as when you made the effort to get out of bed, you would be tripping over your own feet and falling into things. Not to mention that you felt almost like a burden on V, as he was helping you out with almost everything. Eating, drinking, and even walking around. The only exceptions were when you wanted to shower or get changed, because you would either try and do that yourself or see if Jaehee could help out.“Yeah… I know how you feel. I’ve barely just got vision in my left eye now…” V whispered, running his hands through your hair to neaten it out for you. “Though I want to ask you something…” His hands then took hold of your shoulders, before he turned you around to face him. “Would you like me to get the surgery which Jumin keeps offering on my eyes so that I can help you out more? Your eyes might be impossible to help… But if I can sort my own out before I turn completely blind too… I’ll do it for you.”V then moved his hands to your waist when tears started forming in your eyes, before you nodded. “Please… I’d rather have only one of us blind than both of us, and it’s better if it would be you who can see… I mean, you’re a photographer…” You started laughing despite your tears. “You do kinda need your eyesight…”After then fumbling about for a few moments, you were able to pull your arms around his neck in order to hug him, before you felt him press a kiss to your forehead. “I’ll look after you… I promise that I always will.”As you remained in the apartment which both you and V lived in whilst V was away to have the surgery on his eyes, you had been visited by Seven as he was desperate to talk to you about something.“I made this for you to work alongside your version of the messenger!” You could hear Seven laughing as he quickly put what felt like a bracelet around your wrist. “If there’s a new chatroom or if you’ve got a new message on it, because of it being wirelessly synched up to the messenger, it will vibrate a bit to get your attention, rather than waiting for a pop-up notification on your phone! And I’ve also updated your messenger so that it reads out messages to you in each member’s voice because I may or may not have recorded them when they’ve made calls over the messenger, and on top of that, you just need to use your phone’s microphone to send messages!”“What if I lose my phone though…?” You were holding onto the device as tight as possible in your hand, before you then heard Seven laugh again. “Actually, forget that. I think V will probably make sure that I don’t lose it…” You then laughed yourself, before rubbing your arm. “Speaking of V… When do you think he’ll be back? I miss him…” Seven remained silent then, and it made you feel uneasy because you had no idea if he was still there or not. “S- Seven, please don’t do this to me… P- Please say something…”“Oh… Sorry about that. I got lost in my thoughts for a moment… And as for V, he should be allowed out by now, so why don’t we go and see?” Seven then took hold of your wrist, and made you stand up. That was, however, when you heard what seemed to be a door opening so you tensed up and remained rooted to the spot. “Huh? You okay?”“She’s fine. She probably just heard me opening the door and was confused for a moment…” You could feel the corners of your mouth turn up then as a familiar voice called out. Seven let go of your arm, and after the sound of walking for a few moments, you felt yourself be pulled into a gentle hug. “I take it that you missed me?”All that you could think of was that V felt so warm, and the material of his shirt was almost comforting to rest your hands on. It was a hug which you had missed for the few short days which V had been away, and you could finally feel yourself relaxing now that he was back again.Once you felt V start to relax, you heard what sounded like a door again. “Seven left…”“Yeah… He did. He probably thought that you just needed a bit of company until I got back…” And then, V rested his chin on the top of your head. “So… Now that I’m back… I guess that I’m your eyes, aren’t I? I’ll be your eyes… As long as you keep being my guiding light. I’ll stay with you for as long as you need me…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was a petty reason to have an argument, but it was bound to come up at some point...“Why don’t you get the surgery, Jihyun? It scares me knowing that you’re not going to be able to see soon!” You were sat on V’s lap, hands resting on his cheeks as he did his best to keep his focus on you. “Just how well can you see right now?”He took a deep breath. “A tiny bit through my left eye. But… It doesn’t matter.”“It does matter, Jihyun!” You could feel your eyes starting to well up. “It does… Ask anyone in the RFA! It does matter that you are able to see!” You buried your head into his chest, and you felt him tense up before he started trying to make you sit up properly. “You’re a fucking photographer, V! And you know, about half of the RFA guests attend because they want to buy your photographs! As the RFA’s current party planner, it means a lot to have guests attend! Hell, the same for the rest of the RFA too!”V eventually gave up trying to get you to move, so he went and put one of his arms around you as he felt you quietly cry into his shirt. You then allowed your hands to fall from his face, and you took hold of his other hand and pulled it over to your chest as you continued to sob.“Don’t let yourself turn blind, V… I get that Rika was responsible for this, and you said that you would accept anything that she does to you, but that’s just abusive!”
And you only knew that for one reason… Joining the RFA had managed to help you escape an abusive relationship of your own. Everyone had warned you, but you had ended up dating a horrible person who had hit you if you said or did anything wrong, would stalk you if you left without telling them where you were going. They also forced you to cut off ties with everybody that you knew, and made it so you only had one phone contact – them. You couldn’t even do anything without their explicit permission. The only thing which you could do was ‘sit there and look pretty’, and even then you would be punished for doing that wrong at times.
“Yes, but…”“But what, Jihyun…?” You looked up at him then, and used one of your hands to wipe your tears from your face. “Nobody wants to see you turn blind… We all care about you. I care about you! I never would have said yes to your request to date each other if I didn’t care about you and your wellbeing!”He gave off a quiet groan of frustration then, but his shoulders then drooped. “… God…” He then pulled his arm free from your grasp, and put it up in the air. Of course… That little gesture didn’t go down too well with you.A quiet whimper escaped your lips as you stared at his hands, before you felt your chest start to tighten as you attempted to breathe. Your entire body was shaking, and your mind was going crazy. The last time that anyone – your ex - had brought their hand up like that near you… You had ended up with a partially swollen cheek. You began to feel that pain coming back just thinking about then…In the quietest voice possible, you began to whisper something to V. “P- Please don’t hurt me…”His arm lowered, and moved to rest with his other arm to behind you. You tensed up even more as you started crying even more. “H- Hurt you?! I never would… I promise, I wouldn’t…” He did his best to reassuringly stroke your back, before you noticed that he seemed to be crying. “Wh- what made you think that I- I would hurt you?”Slowly, and at the same time as your body shaking, you buried your head even more into his shirt as you copied what he had done with his hand.“Oh god… I should have thought before I did that…” He pressed a kiss to the top of your head, and you heard a sudden loud sob escape him. “I- I put my arm up in surrender… I was going to say that if you absolutely wanted me to have the surgery, I would… I never would have hurt you, ever!”V remained holding onto you for a good few minutes, whispering quiet apologies to you as he stroked your skin and pressed kisses into your head. He felt horrible for making you feel scared like that, and his heart was pounding, scared that he had done something so bad that you wouldn’t ever want to see him again. “I’m so sorry…”After a while, when your head hurt from the crying but you had been able to calm down, you sat up properly and gave V a smile, ignoring the fact that your eyes were now all red and puffy. “There isn’t any need to be sorry… Ha… I didn’t even realise that anyone lifting their arm would have set me off… S- Stupid ex…”“Wait… Your ex hurt you? That’s why you were scared that I would hurt you?” V looked almost horrified when he asked that, before he ended up grabbing hold of you in another hug. “If I could… I would seriously ask for Luciel to go after that person for you, but… That probably wouldn’t be legal…” He sighed into your shoulder, before tightening his hug. “I won’t ever hurt you.”“I know that you wouldn’t, Jihyun… You’re too gentle with me to do anything like that…”He laughed quietly, stroking his hand through your hair. “So… Back to what we were talking about before. If you’re absolutely insistent on me sorting out my eyesight…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
You had been asked by Jumin to keep an eye on V for a few days. The photographer had recently turned blind, and he had been helping him until an important business trip which meant that not just Jumin, but Jaehee too, had to leave Korea for about a week. Yoosung was too deep in his studies now, and still wasn’t completely trusting of V, so he couldn’t help him out. Zen was being buried in roles, and was busy most of the time. He was out of the question too. Also, Seven had apparently had his phone confiscated by Vanderwood until he did his work… So he was impossible to communicate with.That meant that you were the only person which Jumin could trust enough with V, who would have frequent contact with him…“Hey, are you hungry?”“I… No, I’m not really hungry…” You looked at where V was sat on his sofa, messing about with his phone. He couldn’t use it properly, so he literally was just pressing the buttons and running his fingers across the screen. He had been consistently like this for the three days which you had been helping him out. “I’ll probably eat something later…”“V, it’s evening already… Now, tell me when you last ate? I… Well, nobody… Nobody wants to see you starve yourself to death. You last ate yesterday…” You sighed, sitting down next to him. “I promise, I’ll stop hassling you when you’ve eaten something. Is there anything that you like to eat in particular?”A few moments later, he shook his head, and you couldn’t help but bite your lip.Slowly you shifted so that you were on your knees on the floor in front of him, before cupping his cheeks. “Jihyun… What’s the matter? I know from experience that when people are stressed, they lose their appetite… It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me, but is there something on your mind?” He seemed to freeze at your touch, before the tears started staining his face. You gently stroked your thumb over his tears, before noticing a few markings on his eyelids, as though some force had been applied there in the past. “Does… This have anything to do with how you turned blind?”It took a few moments for him to response, but he ended up nodding before he moved his arms slightly to take hold of your hands. “Y- You feel warm… C- Comforting even,” he whispered, almost as though trying to shift the topic of conversation.“I do? Well, my body is at a wonderful thirty-seven degrees Celsius, so I’d be concerned if I wasn’t warm!” You laughed, earning a quiet laugh from V as he did his best to calm down. “Now, how about we go on a short walk? I wouldn’t mind paying for us to eat out somewhere, or buying take-out for us tonight…”“Okay then… Could you, um… find my cane for me then? I don’t want to be leaning on you all of the time…” It was day five of looking after V, and since the other day, you had taken to adding a slight ‘Seven Zero Seven Flair’ to your conversations. It felt nice seeing him laugh, and he seemed to genuinely be enjoying himself as you joked about. He absolutely loved the moment where you had ended up sending Jumin a chain of texts (he didn’t know that the five texts created the question ‘Does Jumin Han Is Gay?’) which resulted in you receiving a call from Jumin which had him going completely off his head about receiving such texts during an important meeting. You and V ended up in fits of laughter on the sofa after that. Jumin only let you off because you were doing that to cheer V up, thank god…“I don’t believe that I have had a laugh like that in a long time…” V ended up whispering once he had calmed down, rubbing his watering eyes as he did his best to make sure that he was sat carefully on the sofa. “I believe that the last time that I did… Luciel had just discovered memes on the internet, and was spamming the same one over and over again, and his innocence and cheerfulness to do with it was really quite uplifting. There is only so much of longcat that you can take, though…”You laughed quietly at the thought of a young Seven shouting about longcat for a moment, before then taking hold of V’s hand when you noticed he was digging his nails into his thighs. “V? Are you okay?”His eyes grew wide, even though he couldn’t see through them, before shaking his head slowly. “I… just remembered what I’ve done to Luciel… I stole away his chance to be completely free…” Your own eyes widened then, before he stood up, shaking slightly. “Um… I think that I’m going to go to bed… Think about things for a while. I… Uh… F- Feel free to use the guest room if you want to stay tonight…” It was the seventh and final day in which V completely broke down.After what he had said the other day about Seven to you, it had been dwelling on his mind. Yet you never questioned him about it. You simply told him that you were there if he ever wanted to vent out, and you never, ever pressured him. You were a pillar of support for him, and… Something about that made him want to tell you.You weren’t like Rika… Yes, she was sweet, and aimed to do what was best… But something about her was twisted. He vision for the world was twisted. You were… A calming and reassuring presence. You were like the earth beneath his feet. Keeping him supported, not allowing him to fall into nothingness…“Please… help me…” had been the first thing which he whispered to you when you told him that you would be heading home within the hour. “I… I need somebody to t- talk to, and you’re the only person who I feel confident enough to tell…” He had done his best to reach over to you, and as soon as he had hold of your shoulders, he buried his head into the crook of your neck.“V… What’s the matter?” You had been concerned straight away when you felt the tears seeping through your shirt. “I said that I would be always here to listen…”He was a snivelling mess for a few minutes, before he timidly asked if you could sit down with him so that he could explain properly. You took him over to the sofa, and once you were both sat down, his arms wrapped around your stomach as he continued to cry.“I… I don’t want t- the other RFA members to know this… P- Please don’t let them know, I’m begging you…” He whimpered, before his tears became full-blown. “Rika is alive… And she’s in charge of a religious cult called M- Mint Eye which is trying to destroy the RFA...” He whispered, feeling you tense up slightly. V never expected to feel your fingers gently stroking his hair as though to reassure him afterwards. “Th- The hacker who brought you into the RFA is a member of- of that cult… A- And those locked drawers and cupboards in R- Rika’s apartment had documents to do with Mint Eye…”“V… I can see why you wanted to keep that a secret… You’ve been wanting to protect everyone and not allow them to be harmed…” You continued to run your hand through his hair, before taking a deep breath. “But… I’m just wondering… Was it Rika who… hurt your eyes?” A small nod was all that you got in response. “Oh god… Jihyun…” You leaned over to him, and returned the tight embrace which he had you in. “Is it too late to help… restore your sight? You shouldn’t have held onto Rika by allowing yourself to lose your sight…”“I- I don’t think that it’s too l- late…” V then stammered, before he then squeezed you a tiny bit. “B- But I just… I just want this all to stop… I- I want Rika to stop targeting the RFA…” He seemed calmer now that you were holding onto him, despite the amount of stammering increasing. “I… I c- can’t love her any more… I just can’t…”“Jihyun…” You placed your own chin on his shoulder, before taking a deep breath. “Would you like me to stay with you for longer? I’ll stay with you for as long as you want a shoulder to cry on, and somebody to support you…”He nodded slowly, before he then took a deep breath. “I… I want to stay with you… A- And if I do ask Jumin for the eye surgery… And when I d- decide that it would be best to confront Rika t- to get her to stop… C- Can you stay with me through that?” Before you could respond, he then seemed to start panicking. He then took a deep breath to calm himself down though, before he pulled back slightly and moved his hands to cup the sides of your face, before moving himself so that his forehead was pressed against yours. “I… want to stay with you forever… I- I wish I’d met you before I ever met Rika! I- I love you, and r- really want your support a- and to stay with you, b- because you’re the o- only person who I can talk with about th- things like this, and… Y- You just really make me happy because you listen!”Your eyes widened in surprise at that confession, before you laughed quietly. “Jihyun… I promise, I’ll stay with you for as long as you want me to stay… And I’ll always be here to listen to you.” He let out a loud yet happy sob then, before you suddenly found his lips against yours in a chaste kiss. “Would it make a start… If the arrangement where I help you out due to your eyes became more permanent?”“Y- Yes… That would be w- wonderful…”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It seemed to you that V was having a bit of a tough time when it came to adjusting to having his sight once more. He remained silent as he stared out of his – well, your shared – apartment window. You had moved in with him because of the concerns to do with your safety at Rika’s apartment. Little did anyone else know of the relationship developing between the two of you. Nobody was aware of that being the reason behind V turning to Jumin and accepting the offer for surgery on his eyes, and not to mention they were completely oblivious to the blatantly obvious affectionate actions which the two of you did at times. Hand holding, quick kisses on the cheeks, and even the hugs! Perhaps Jaehee and Jumin had noticed them, but they definitely weren’t vocal about it.“Jihyun… I bet that it’s hard adjusting to seeing again, even though you were blind for a short few months…” You muttered as you began to lean against the window ledge beside him. “Jihyun?” You realised that his eyes were closed, and you sighed as you puffed out your cheeks and poked his forehead. “Jih~ yun~ Kim~”“Huh?” You received a blank stare from V, before an awkward smile formed on his face. “I zoned out, didn’t I?”You nodded, and then sighed as you ended up leaning against his arm. “You definitely did… But you seemed quite happy. Is that to do with being able to see again, or something else?”“Well… Knowing that you are here makes me very happy… But also, it feels very cold outside. The sort of cold which makes you feel like seeking warmth. The sort of cold which…” V fell silent, but his hand stretched over to you, and his fingers laced between yours. “Makes me really want to be with you.” For a second day in a row, V was stood by the window once more. His eyes were closed, and a gentle smile was on his face. He seemed much more at peace now than before the RFA party. Maybe it was because you had been the one person which he could speak to about what had actually happened with Rika, and it made him feel more comfortable in your presence.You felt satisfied enough leaving him stood there quietly for a moment as you retreated to the kitchen and grabbed hold of two cups, and poured some milk into a saucepan to heat it up. You then grabbed a few small bars of broken up chocolate in order to melt it into the heating milk, before stirring it gently. As soon as the smell of chocolate began wafting through the air, you turned off the head and poured the hot chocolate into the two cups. Now it was just… Hmm, what would you put on top?Maybe some ice cream…Once you had put a small scoop of ice cream on top of the drinks, and let it melt for a moment, you returned to where V had been standing previously. He had pulled a chair over to the window, and was sitting on it fast asleep. He was making a few quiet sounds in his sleep which was enough to make you giggle, so you placed his drink down on the window ledge before going off to grab a blanket. Once that was over him, you pressed a kiss to his forehead.“Have a good night’s sleep, Jihyun… I guess that making that drink for you now may have been a bit of a waste, but I’ll make you another one in the morning if you want…” After saying that, you went to lie down in bed after finishing your drink, before huddling yourself up under the covers.You fell asleep with the image of V smiling by the window in your mind.A slight shake of your shoulder is what woke you up in the morning, and you could pick up a faint sweet smell as you sat up and rubbed your eyes. V was sat on the bed, with two cups in his hand. “Thank you for that drink last night… I thought that I’d make you a drink this morning in return. I made you a drink of tea… It’s sweet, like you are…” That night, V wasn’t stood by the window.That was because he had took you outside, into the park to have a late night stroll. You both had warm drinks of hot chocolate in your hands from a local coffee shop which was still open at this time.You adored the soft light given off by the lamps scattered around the park, and when you throw in the peace surrounding the park, it felt almost romantic. That was enough to settle a lingering question which had been in your head for a few days now - V was most definitely a romantic person.Soon enough, he sat down on a bench and pulled the scarf which he had on away from his neck, and wrapped it around yours. You leaned against him at you gazed up at the clear yet dark skies, before feeling his arms around you.“You know… There’s an important reason why I wanted to bring you out here tonight…” V eventually whispered, watching as your eyes moved down from the sky to face him. “First of all… It’s cold. Just like the other night. It makes me want to hold onto you for your warmth…”“Like when you held my hand?” V nodded in response to your question, before his head leaned against your own.“Also, I got us both hot chocolates… Just like you made us yesterday. I woke up just after you gave me that blanket, and it was a really nice drink…”“And that’s what made you want to make me a drink this morning…”“Yes. And… I’ve brought you out to the park… Because I want this third night to be significant too,” V smiled, before he pulled you both up to your feet. “I love you.” His forehead pressed against yours, before he gave you a gentle kiss on your lips. “And I want to… And I want to marry you.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Though it may not have seen it at first glance, you were shy, much more timid than the outgoing personalities of the RFA. Zen was like your complete opposite – where he was shining with self-confidence and personality, you had no confidence in yourself, suffered from anxiety, and were much blander than you seemed in the messenger. Even Jumin was much more social than you, and he only went through relationships which he either had cherished for a long time or if it had some sort of benefit to his company.If anyone thought that Yoosung couldn’t take a complement over being called cute, you were worse. If people said that you were smart, you would straight away explain why Jaehee was smarter than you. A sense of humour was completely non-existent for you, especially when compared to Seven.
You were sure that it was the reason behind the RFA tending to make a bit of distance from you at the party.
…For that matter, the only RFA member who willingly approached you was V, and that was after Jumin did a little nudging.
V didn’t want to speak to you, nobody did.
He sat down opposite you at a table, before giving you a soft smile. “Hey there… You’re the new RFA member, aren’t you?” After that, V laughed quietly, and looked around the room. “My sight isn’t that good, but I can tell that you invited a lot of guests to the party… I’m impressed, I honestly am.”Your eyes widened, before you started biting the inside of your cheek. You mumbled a quiet reply, but it’s obvious that he couldn’t hear you so you sighed and repeated yourself. “I- I probably didn’t do a- as good as Rika though…”V fell silent, before he stood up.
What an idiot you were! Talking about his dead lover?! You just fucked up BIG TIME!
“I want to show you something… Take my hand, just so I know that you stay with me, okay?”
Yeah, he’s showing you out of the door, that’s what.
Eventually, V reached the stage which was in the large hall which the party was being held in, before he pulled you behind it. He looked around as though he was making sure that nobody was nearby, before a smile formed on his face. “I want to give you a gift for your hard work since you joined the RFA so abruptly… Honestly, you’ve brought us all together in a way that hasn’t even been possible for so long.”Finally, V let go of your hand, before he went over to a small table and picked something up from it. When he returned, you couldn’t see what he was holding, so that made you feel terrified.
It’s probably a note telling you to leave the RFA!
“Here…” He then took hold of your hand, and placed something into it. You were caught by surprise when you realised… That it was a bunch of flowers. “Lilacs. I thought that they would suit you well, and it seems that they do. Just… let me make one quick adjustment.” He pulled a lone flower out of the bunch, and weaved it into your hair so that the stem was tucked behind your ear. “There. Beautiful…”You were that confused over V acting so nice that you never noticed him pull out his camera, and snap a quick photo of you blushing with the flowers in your hand.
Was there some sort of ulterior motive behind this?!
“This is my favourite photo, you know… I might have to frame it, and set it as my phone wallpaper so that I can see it as much as I can before I turn blind…”“W- Wait, you took a photo?!”V was laughing then, before he placed his hands on your shoulder and gave you perhaps one of the sweetest smiles you had ever seen. And then… he hugged you?“Well, I want to remember what the person who saved the RFA looks like… I can be allowed that, can’t I?”After that, V said that he had to go, because he had an appointment to attend… He left you stood in confusion behind the stage, with nothing but the flowers in your hand and the blush on your face.
That was probably one of the nicest things anyone had done for you though…Did you deserve that though?
V…
Jumin Han: I have not heard from or seen Jihyun since the party… It’s been over a week now…
707: I’ve been trying to call him to talk about the hacker situation too… His phone is completely dead. It’s as though he’s vanished!!!
Yoosung: I don’t like V, but… I hope that he hasn’t gone to join Rika…
Jaehee Kang: ….
ZEN: Damn it, V… If you see this, please, come into the chatroom and talk to us! Let us know that you’re safe!!!
You froze when you read the happenings in the chatroom. V… had vanished….?
Did that mean… You were the last person to actually SEE him…?
Would the RFA hate you, or accuse you for his disappearance?!
That instinctively made you turn to face the lilacs which he had given you at the party, which were still thriving in a vase of water, seemingly just as fresh as the day they were put there. “V…” You then walked over to the flowers, and gazed at them for a moment.
Wait…
What was that?
You had never noticed it before, but there was a small slip of paper taped to one of the lilacs… Carefully, you pulled the flower out, and then gently removed the piece of paper and unravelled it. On it… Was a series of numbers. Or rather, a phone number-!Frantically you grabbed hold of your phone, and pressed the number in, and brought your phone to your ear. It rang for a few moments… And then…“You finally found my new number… I’m so glad... How are you today, beautiful?”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE BUTHOLY SHITV IS GETTING A ROUTEOUR PRECIOUS BOY JIHYUN KIM IS GETTING A ROUTEI FEEL B L E S S E D
If it isn't V I'm so gonna cry because
it's the hair
the room
it's V-
IT MAKES ME FEEL A BIT MORE IN THE MOOD TO WRITE FICS FOR THIS NOW AHHHHHH