Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Hey Babe, I’m heading off to class!” Min-Jae waved at her boyfriend who was rolling cigarettes at the coffee table.

“Don’t come back late.” Was all he said, not even looking up at her.

“Class goes until 10:10. I’ll be back as soon as I can after that!”

She was closing the door when she would swear he’d cursed at her. She knew he wanted her to move to online classes so she didn’t need to leave the house, but she was starting to feel smothered. She knew he loved her, but it was a little much.

Min-Jae didn’t have very many friends here, or really at all, having been shuffled between family members since her mom died, and then coming back to Korea for university. She was just grateful to finally be an adult and able to make choices for herself. Meeting Lee had been a godsend, she’d moved in with him when she started college, and their love was like a dream. Until it wasn’t. She could really use a girlfriend to vent to about her boyfriend and his possessive streak. That always seemed to be the fix in the books she read.

“Early as usual.” The TA commented, practically deadpan, as Min was the first one into the lecture hall after the previous class let out. His look was definitely notable, with his green-blue eyes and bleached hair.

“Better here than at home.” Min said absentmindedly and settled into her front-and-center lecture seat. Once she was ready to take notes, a full 27 minutes before class was due to begin, she opened her book. Min tended to get lost in her fiction, and didn’t pay any mind to the concerned and somehow intrigued look the TA gave her at what she’d said.

Class was class. Programming class was usually learning a lot of concepts and hoping you could remember what you needed when you were actually in front of a computer. Today was the day they got to learn who they were grouped with for their final project, and then spend half the class getting started. She was excited, and hoped she got someone who complimented her style. Maybe she’d even get one of the other girls in her class. Sure, there were only three of them out of the hundred-something students in the lecture, but there was a chance fortune would smile on her for once.

Alas, when the group assignments went up on the projector, not only was she not with another girl, but she didn’t even recognize the names of the two partners she’d gotten. Well, they should be able to find her, she was a girl after all. Down the row to her left, she heard a sharp intake of breath, and laughter.

“Good thing you’re smart, Dae, we got a girl.” One boy said.

“Too bad you’re dumb, then? Besides, it’s the mixed girl. She likes writing tests, we’re golden.” The other, presumably Dae, said.

Her group mates included a Daeseong and a Ryung… she’d just pretend she hadn’t heard them and wait for them to come to her. It would be less than 30 seconds before a shadow fell over her notebook.

“Hey, I’m Dae, this is Ryung. You’re in our group.” She looked up and put on a smile. Ryung looked like a punk, but Dae looked like your classic nerd, with messy hair and thick glasses.

“Hi, I’m Min-Jae.”

“Yeah, we know.”

They laughed, and Min was sure this group was going to be fine. Especially because these two were already friends, and given what she’d overheard, they seemed to be willing to let her work her way.

The rest of class went surprisingly well, they had a plan for their project worked out and had exchanged contact info with little difficulty. It wasn’t until she saw others packing up that she realized class was over. It was already 10:15. If she didn’t hurry, she was going to miss the late train home, and she didn’t have the cash for a taxi on her. Min cursed.

“Sorry boys, I need to run or I’m going to miss my train, and gods help me if I’m late.” She shuffled her things into her bag as fast as her hands would move, and willed herself to stop shaking.

Ryung reached out and grabbed her arm. “Min-Jae, it’s raining. We drove, can we drive you home?”

She stopped to consider. “Y’all live together?”

Dae snickered, repeating ‘y’all’ under his breath.

Ryung blushed. “Yeah, well, we’re dating, so.”

Oh. OH. They were gay. That explained so much. And Lee couldn’t even be mad at her for getting in a car with other guys then!

“I.. You know, I think that’s a sweet offer, but I don’t live close and..” Min just trailed off, worry knitting her brows together.

“Nah, it’s good. I like driving, and Dae’s just gonna sleep in the car even if we go straight home. He’s like a toddler.”

“Am not!”

“Mmhmm, honey.” Ryung said, and she laughed at their dynamic.

Dae paused, and looked at her as if in a new light.

“Wait a second. Min, you just got told we’re gay and didn’t even react? Are you a robot?”

She felt herself blush.

“It’s not that, it’s just that your friendship made so much more sense. You’re closer than just nerd bros. And I’m not a robot.”

“Wait are you saying we’re obvious?”

She shook her head. “Nah. Just fun. But.. Can we go? I don’t want to get yelled at if I get home too late.”

“You still live with your parents?”

“Oh, no, my boyfriend. He’s just protective.”

As expected, they laughed it off, and went off to the car.

The TA, however, was watching the exchange with narrowed eyes.

She got out of the car, trading spaces with the sleepy Dae who’d been curled up in the back seat.

“Thanks for the ride guys! I can’t believe you live so close!”

Dae yawned, and reflexively moved to give her a hug, as if they were old friends, not classmates. She knew he was still half asleep, so she just accepted the gesture. She needed friends, and she was perfectly happy making friends with her actual classmates.

She made sure Dae buckled up before Ryung drove off, and then turned to head inside. Lee was waiting for her just inside the front door, and he was livid.

“Min.” His tone was ominous. “Who. The Fuck. Was That.”

That was the first night he hit her.

It wasn’t the last.

Min avoided answering the text messages from Ryung and Dae any time Lee was in the room. Which was most of the time. As much as she wanted to respond to them, Lee was constantly glaring every time her phone went off, and she didn’t want to provoke him. She got her work done, but he’d been badgering her to skip class and stay home with him. She knew that she had to make an exit from this situation. She wasn’t strong enough to fight him off, but she had to be strong enough to get out before it got worse.

Tonight was her final presentation. She was really glad there wasn’t an exam for this class, because she never would have been able to focus enough to study. This was perfect. Lee couldn’t convince her to stay home, and she’d have to have her laptop even though she usually preferred to leave it at home. Decision made, she grabbed her makeup and did the best cover-up job she could do with her limited supplies. She felt like a primary schooler who got into her mother’s makeup, but at least she didn’t look as much of a mess as she felt like she was. She tried to act casual as she slipped her laptop, the little bag that held her switch and its charger, and her textbook into her bag. Luckily, as long as she was in sight of Lee he didn’t seem to care what she did. Unluckily, all of her usual overnight items were not in line of sight. She’d just have to get them some other time. Hoisting her bag up over her shoulder, she stepped out into the living room, calling out as she reached the door.

“Lee, I’m going to class.”

“Again?”

“Yes, It’s Tuesday..”

“No.”

“I have to present my final project tonight. I’m going.”

“Fine.”

Min was sure he hadn’t spoken more than one word at a time to her in the last week, despite her being barely out of his sight, let alone out of the house. It was unnerving. Before he changed his mind, she stepped out the door and shut it carefully behind her.

Once she got outside, she started walking purposefully but unhurriedly towards the train station. Lee had gone from problematic to unreasonable to terrifying in swift succession. The chance of him chasing after her and dragging her back home… best not to think about it. As she rounded a corner out of sight of home, she stopped walking and leaned against the cool brick wall of the building. Min closed her eyes, and tried to calm herself down. Think logically, Min-Jae.

A car horn honking startled her out of her thoughts with an embarrassing squeak.

“Yo, Min.”

Her head snapped up and she saw Ryung leaning out of the passenger seat of their little car.

“Want a ride?”

She glanced back in the direction of her house, and nodded. She didn’t trust her voice, she was too close to tears.

Ryung jumped out of the car and tipped the seat forward. He’d clearly been intending to give her shotgun, but she ducked into the tiny back seat before he could.

“Hey! I was gonna be all chivalrous! You let Dae do it!”

Min laughed, the tightness in her chest loosening just a touch.

“I have to keep you awake most nights, and Dae goes to sleep! I’m short, let me hide back here.”

She hadn’t considered the words before they left her mouth, but hiding was exactly what she wanted.

“So, gonna tell us why you’ve been basically ignoring us? You did your work. You obviously don’t hate us. At least, I don’t think so. Dae does.”

Min bit her lip. She couldn’t tell them about Lee. She needed to keep everyone else out of it.

“Oh. Um.” Good start there, Min. “I had a lot of homework so wasn’t really looking at my phone. I meant to text y’all more, I swear.”

The pause from the front seat was slightly longer than she was comfortable with, but then Dae spoke up.

“I don’t think you’re telling us everything, but then, you’ve only known us for a little while. But, we like you, Min, you’re neat. So stop being such a mouse and share.”

“But also, we know a thing or two about not wanting to tell everyone everything. Secrets suck, but sometimes they’re necessary.” Ryung added.

Min managed to choke out a thank you, but then spent the next few minutes wrapped up in her own thoughts. These guys were cool, and nice, and not a threat or a problem, which was good. But it was also bad because she didn’t want to get them hurt if Lee started to make an issue when she didn’t come home. Where was she going to stay, though? If she checked into a hotel, he’d be able to find her. She shook her head, and put on a smile. She had a presentation to give, and talking at people was something she did well. (Not to them, just at them. Talking to people was scary.)

Class went well. Their project was was well received. Dae and Ryung had decided a while back to scoot down the row and sit next to her in the center, which had been comforting these past few weeks. They’d been good friends even though she barely knew them.

With presentations and no lectures, class let out about fifteen minutes early, so Min started to pack up to go catch the train. Then, she remembered that she wasn’t catching the train, but also that she didn’t want her new friends to know what was going on, and if they tried to give her a ride home again, they were sure to figure it out. With one last glance at her space to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, Min headed for the door.

She got about two steps away from her chair and Ryung had reached out to grab her wrist. She winced and tried to pull away, and he let go instantly.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have touched you like that, are you okay?” he said, concerned.

Min shook her head, and nodded, and then shrugged. Was she okay? She wasn’t sure.

“Let’s try that again. Can I take your hands?” Ryung was determined to do things the right way, even though he’d managed to get her to stop walking away.

Min managed to get herself to nod slightly, and Dae looked on in concern as Ryung reached out again and took her hands.

“Hey there, Min. Snap out of it. Talk to us. We can’t be your gay best friends if you won’t talk to us.” Ryung said, and she laughed; a harsh joyless sound.

“You don’t want to be friends with me, I’ll just bring you trouble.” She said, but didn’t meet their eyes. She could feel her eyes start to tear up, and she willed them to be dry with every fiber of her being. She couldn’t cry here, in front of them. They’d know.

“Bullshit.” Ryung said, but Dae seemed to catch something he didn’t.

“Min. You’re wearing makeup. And long sleeves. We’re not as dumb as you think we are. Okay, maybe Ryung is.” He said, quietly but bluntly.

Ryung made a sound that was somewhere between confused and offended. “So what if she wore makeup? We had a presentation. Also don’t you always wear that hoodie, Min?”

Ryung had taken exactly the bait she hoped that they both would, but as usual, Dae was smarter than his partner.

Maybe telling them was a good idea? No. No, she had to keep them out of it.

“It’s my favorite hoodie, so obviously I wear it constantly. I wash it a lot though. It’s clean.” She still couldn’t look up at them, but she knew Dae was watching her. “I’m fine, Dae, really .” Min said, and tried to put on a smile.

“Okay then, push up your hoodie sleeve.”

She froze, then tried to take a step back, and Ryung let go of her hands. “Min?”

She sighed. “I’m gonna miss my train.”

“We drive home together. We’ll even drop you at the train station like the last couple times if you’re worried about… anything.” Dae said, and nodded his head towards her arm.

Min sighed, dejected. Of course they were too nice to just let this go. Of course. After looking around to make sure that the class was empty or at least no one was watching them, she set her bag down. She couldn’t roll up her sleeves though, because it hurt too much. So, she shrugged out of her hoodie, feeling like she was taking off her last piece of armor. She’d have worn a shirt with longer sleeves if she’d thought she might be taking her hoodie off, but she wanted to be able to keep it on, so she was just wearing a sleeveless camisole, which made everything so much more obvious.

She knew what she looked like. She was prepared for a reaction, but not the one she got. Ryung just froze, and Dae gasped before getting up and coming to wrap her in a hug.

“Holy shit, Min-Jae.” Ryung managed to spit out.

“Now I know why you were being such a mouse in the car.” Dae, next to her ear, added softly.

Not only was there bruising along her wrist, but what looked for all the world like a distinct handprint shaped bruise on her upper arm and a few smaller bruises that were healing faster than the big ones. Around her shoulder were some clear burns in various states of healing. There were also some cuts - small, but aggressive. All of this combined meant she looked like a kaleidoscope of regret.

Neither of her new friends said anything, but Dae’s careful hug sent tears streaming down her cheeks, washing away streaks of her carefully (if amateurishly) applied makeup.

“Let’s go get a coffee. I know a place that’s still busy at this time of night. Let’s go talk, and calm down and figure things out, okay?”

Min shook her head. “I can’t get you guys involved. You’re too nice. Too good. He… he might… I don’t know. It’s dangerous.”

Ryung almost barked a laugh. “I’m dangerous too. Let’s see him try it.”

Dae looked over the rims of his glasses at his partner. “Not helping, Ryung.” Letting go of Min, he took a step back. “But please, Min. Coffee? We’re keeping the TA from locking up.”

Min’s eyes snapped up to the place the TA usually sat at that point. He was watching them with a concerned look on his face. She might even say he looked angry.

“Shit.” She said, reflexively. “Okay, coffee.”

She put her hoodie back on over her shame, and picked up her bag, wincing slightly at the weight of it. “I wonder when he’ll notice that all of my devices are missing.” She said quietly, and allowed herself to be herded out of the auditorium.

Of course, her TA was waiting for them to leave, but if any of them had looked back, they’d have seen not impatience, concern, or anger on his face. In fact, he looked like a cat who just caught a bird.

Chapter Text

Coffee was nice. The shop that Dae knew of was actually rather busy even after their night class, and Min was excited to be able to order whatever she wanted without needing to worry about what Lee would say about it.

She explained, once they all had coffee and had claimed one of the cute little booths that really should only have held two but seemed to hold the three of them just fine since Dae and Ryung were practically in each others’ laps anyway. She told them about how he’d been more and more possessive, and what happened after she got dropped off that first week. She knew they probably assumed, but she wanted to make sure they didn’t decide it was safe to stay friends with her.

“You don’t think you’re going to scare us off, do you?” Ryung said, and Dae laughed.

She blushed. They probably couldn’t tell through the bad makeup though.

“Seriously, he’s just a bully. Guys like him don’t deserve fun people like you.” Dae said, and Ryung nodded.

“You two are really perfect for each other, you know that? I’m Jealous.” She said, meaning every word of it.

“If you’re that jealous, you should come home with us tonight.” Ryung said, waggling his eyebrows at her.

Min choked on her coffee. “What?!” she said, after she managed to get her breath.

“I’m joking! Well, mostly. I think you should come crash on our couch tonight, and we can try and find you someplace less scandalous in the morning. Do you have classes tomorrow?”

“Oh, no. I just have the one class this semester, because Lee said…”

Just then, the lights flickered twice, like a call for the end of intermission at the theater.

“Oof. We’re gonna have to unpack that one, sweetie, but not right now. Ryung, go get the car. I’m going to hit the restroom, and then we should head home. Shop’ll close in another fifteen minutes, and I don’t want to become a hassle for the staff.”

Min nodded, and volunteered to bus their dishes. Ryung saluted and headed out towards the parking garage across the street. Dae headed off to the restroom.

As she took the dishes over to the bins set up for just that purpose, she almost ran into a woman who was heading out with a fresh coffee at this hour.

“Oh! I’m sorry ma’am!” she said, noticing the professional dress of the woman with short brown hair, glasses, and a perpetually put-upon look on her face. She was actually really pretty.

The woman turned to her with a smile, and shook her head.

“Not a problem. I should have been watching where I was walking.”

“Me too! Um. Have a good night!” She was blushing again. Cute woman at coffee shop who she would never see again just smiled and nodded before heading on her way.

Behind her, Dae cleared his throat obnoxiously. Min whirled around to look at him, realizing he was laughing at her.

“Dae, do you know her?”

“Already on the rebound? I didn’t realize you played the whole field there, Min.”

“Oh! That’s not… I…” she hadn’t really thought about it. She just figured that’s why he was laughing.

“Well, she’s at the coffee shop right at close every time I’m here that late, getting more caffeine than any one person should have in a week. Her coffee comes up for ‘Jaehee’. That’s all I know. We can come here more so you can ask her for her number though, if you want.”

Min blushed and shook her head. She was planning on ghosting her boyfriend of 2 years. She shouldn’t even be thinking about a relationship, or even friendships, if she was being honest.

Just then, they saw Ryung pull up outside, and waved at the barista before heading out.

Ryung and Dae had a cute little one bedroom apartment. It was within a ten minute walk of home.. No, of Lee’s house. That made her really uncomfortable, and more determined to find someplace else to stay after tonight.

She was curled up on the couch, thinking about what she was going to do tomorrow, when she heard the unmistakable tones of LOLOL coming from the bedroom. She bounced off the couch and walked the few steps to lean on the doorway where she could see Ryung’s desk. Yep. LOLOL.

“Zombie event starts in about two hours.” She said nonchalantly, and Ryung startled so hard that his headphones fell off his ears.

“You know about LOLOL?!” he said, and then whipped back around to his screen and smashed more buttons. “Sorry, Sorry.” He said into his mic as he resettled his headphones.

“Have a friend from class crashing over and I think she plays too.”

“No she is not my girlfriend.”

“No, you can’t have her number.”

Min covered her mouth to avoid cackling. This was why she wasn’t in a guild. It was easier if people thought she was a guy. Well, that and the fact that if she had been in a guild, Lee would probably have kept her from playing… ugh. At least he hated gaming. She could have that as a refuge.

“OMG JUST KILL THE MONSTER YOU SCRUBS.”

Min peeked further into the room to see Dae with an eye mask on, dead asleep. How could he sleep through this? She got close enough behind Ryung to see his username, “BatRyung”, and then said, hopefully quietly enough that his mic wouldn’t pick it up,

“What server are you on?”

Ryung glanced at her and smirked “Shooting Star.”

Her eyes lit up, and she practically flounced out of the room, pulling her laptop out of her bag and booting it up. She plugged her headphones in, but wouldn’t be able to chat. No headset mic. That was still back at… nevermind.

A few clicks later, she was in. Thank goodness she got their wifi password before Dae crashed. Ryung wasn’t going to be able to help with that mid-game. A few more judicious clicks, and she’d pulled up the rank list, and found Mr. BatRyung chilling at a cool 22nd. Top 25 was nothing to sneeze at. Meanwhile she’d slipped to 18th after taking a week off and she hated it. If there was one thing that taking a single class had done for her, it was give her more time to hone her skills. And with the semester officially done for her as of tonight, she had more time to play. And find a job. And a place to live. And sanity. No. That could wait for morning. Nighttime was LOLOL time.

She pulled up chat, and send a message off to Ryung, who seemed to still be in the middle of whatever epic monster murder he’d been working on when she’d startled him.

Foxfyre: Yo, Ryung. It me, Min.

BatRyung: You’re trolling.

Foxfyre: Nah, I’m couch surfing though.

Moments later, Ryung came out of his room in a huff.

“You’re Foxfyre?! Next thing you’re going to tell me your stupid ex is Hacker God.”

She shook her head. “He hates games of all types.”

Ryung winced at her tone. “Sorry Min, I didn’t mean to bring him up.”

“Nah. I keep doing it in my head anyway. It’s fine. I’ve got friends, and LOLOL. Go back to your guild before they kick you for AFKing. We can chat and not keep Dae up more than we have to.”

“He can sleep through the apocalypse, but you’re not wrong about my guild!” he was already darting back to his computer.

BatRyung added you as a friend.

You added BatRyung to your friends list.

 

BatRyung: So Foxfyre, huh? You got that legacy skin, or?

Foxfyre: I’ve actually had this name longer than that skin has existed.

BatRyung: Fake.

Foxfyre: Check my stats, doubter.

BatRyung: How are you only 18th?

Foxfyre: Haven’t been able to play for more than a week.

Foxfyre: Just you wait, I’m on summer break now. Gonna take down Hacker God.

BatRyung: Not possible. Superman Yoosung has been 2nd for ages and hasn’t managed to dethrone him. I think he’s actually hacking to get #1.

Foxfyre: Nah, last reset he wasn’t even on the board for the first 12 hours. Neither was Superman Yoosung. I had first for a glorious three of those hours.

BatRyung: Somehow I feel like my masculinity is being threatened here.

Foxfyre: You have that?

BatRyung: Rude. And here I loaned you my couch.

BatRyung: Boss time, chat more later.

Foxfyre: It’s late, I’m gonna try to sleep. Good luck!

Foxfyre has logged out.

Min laughed softly to herself, and shut her laptop. It was after one in the morning, and Dae had said he worked early. Better that she got some sleep since she knew she’d be waking up at every little sound between now and then.

Morning came just as early as Min had feared. Her phone had overheated at some point in the night trying to keep up with the angry messages and relentless calls from Lee. She left it turned off, but packed up her laptop and cords and things so that when Dae was awake she’d be ready to go, and out of his way.

When Dae came sneaking out of the bedroom, Min turned and waved. She’d already folded up the throw blanket and settled into the couch, playing a game on her switch. Dae returned her wave and smiled, then beckoned her into the kitchen. As he started making coffee, he pointed out the location of bowls and cereal.

Min perched at the little island and munched on the granola she’d chosen.

“I hope Ryung didn’t keep you awake with his LOLOL habit.” Dae said, sipping his coffee.

“Oh, no. I play too, so I just trolled him. It was great.” She smiled, remembering his reaction.

“Oh. Well! Good. Are you in his guild?”

“I don’t guilds. Girls plus Games equal Even Stupider Boys.”

“Oof, fair enough.”

“Who knows, though, I have all summer to game, maybe I’ll start my own guild once I knock Hacker God off his pedestal.”

Dae chuckled. “You really are two of a kind.”

“I’m so glad I met y’all. I’ll try to find a place today so I’m not riling him up by being in the same room.”

“You’ll keep in touch once you do, though, right?”

She opened her mouth to give a noncommittal answer, still determined to keep them out of trouble, when there was a loud pounding on the door. Dae looked at her, at the door, and back at her.

She was terrified. It was just after 6. Who could possibly be making that kind of racket?

“Open up, bastards, I know you have my girlfriend.”

She froze. Lee?! How had he found them?

Dae whispered “Closet past Ryung. Go. Wake him. Now.” He pushed her shoulder, unintentionally finding a bruise. Well, it wasn’t like he could have not found one, but the pain reminded her why she absolutely did not want to be found. She grabbed her bag on her way past the couch, thanking past-Min for the foresight to pack her things away. She swung the bedroom door half-closed as she went through it, and went to wake Ryung, but he was already awake and had the closet door open for her.

“That Asshole. I swear to god, Min…”

She shushed him, and tucked herself and her backpack into the closet, sinking all the way to the back of it, and letting the clothes on hangars hide as much of her as she could.

Out in the main room she heard Dae open the door.

“Hi, uh, I don’t know what you need at 6am on a Wednesday, but can it wait until a more civilized hour?” Dae said, and the irritation in his voice was perfect for someone not awake enough for this situation.

“I know that slut Min-Jae from your college is here. It’s the only place she could be.”

She winced. Slut? Really? She hadn’t even been willing to sleep with him, what made him think she was sleeping with anyone at all? Ugh. She’d made the right decision to get out, but now she’d gotten her only friends tied up in it too.

“Oh, that mixed girl, right?” she heard Dae say, and she’d never been happier to have something that made people remember her. “She left class early yesterday, something about being sick and going home.”

“She didn’t come home. I know you’re fucking her, so just give her back, and there won’t be any trouble.”

Seriously?! She was so upset she was shaking. She hadn’t even had the chance to wash yesterday’s makeup off, and now she was making more tear tracks through it.

Then she heard the bedroom door squeak open, and covered her mouth with both hands. She’d thought Lee was walking right to her, but then she heard Ryung’s voice too clearly for him to be far away.

“Baaaaaaabe. You were supposed to come back to bed, I wasn’t finished— Oh, who’s this?”

Wait. Did Ryung just imply that he and Dae had been… oh dear.

“Ryung, seriously?! What did I tell you about leaving the bedroom without at least a robe on? Common decency!”

WAIT. He was naked?!

She heard some rustling, and then heard the bedroom door latch shut. Muffled past it she heard Ryung again.

“Sorry babe. Didn’t expect company. What’s he looking for? Homework help?”

She heard glassware clink in the kitchen, and wondered what Lee was thinking.

“He’s looking for that mixed girl from our class. Thinks she’s here. Which she’s not.”

She heard a loud sound, ceramic shattering, and curses from multiple voices.

“Hey now, no need to go breaking my home. If we see the mixed girl we’ll send her home, okay? Is there a number she should call, or?”

“Ragh, you….”

“And that’s when the cops showed up?” Min was still shaking, and not certain she really should be out in the open.

“Yeah, Ms. Keung from a few doors down called them when he started banging on the door. She’s… a busybody, but in the best neighborly way. She makes us cookies.”

“They showed up right after he put that hole in the door.” Ryung added.

“What broke?” Any question at all to keep her from thinking about what might have happened.

“Oh. I dropped the mug I was holding when he did that. Got startled.” Ryung said, and then sighed. “I liked that mug.”

“Better the mug than your face, Ryung. Seriously, naked?!”

“It worked though.”

“Did it?”

“Guarantee you he had zero interest in checking out our bedroom for hiding mice.”

She shivered.

“Y’all keep calling me a mouse, what’s with that?” It’s not that she wanted to change the subject, but…. She really wanted to change the subject.

Dae grinned. “It’s just a nickname. I guess you’re just small, and you don’t talk a lot, and you’re cute? Also when you pull your hair back it looks like a long tail, since it’s so long?”

She smiled. “I like it. Can we just call me mouse from now on? Then if he’s listening somehow he won’t know you know where I end up? I thought to keep you out of it, but it’s way too late for that now.”

“Sure, mouse.”

Chapter Text

With Dae at work and Ryung in class, Mouse was at loose ends. She knew she needed to find a place to stay, even Dae and Ryung were having to consider moving for safety. And so she found herself in the student center lounge, scrolling through apartment ads on her laptop and trying not to check over her shoulder constantly for Lee. She’d had no luck, and was pinching the bridge of her nose to try and relieve some of the eyestrain stress when her phone buzzed on the table.

Curious and concerned, she looked down at the message; it was an automated share message from a messenger app, it said “Daeseong has invited you to join Mystic Messenger - come chat with your friends in our secure app!” and a download link.

Well, chatting with her new friends and their other friends was probably a more sane way to pass time. Why not? She could always delete it if it was a bother. Besides, Ryung would nag her endlessly if she didn’t join. She clicked the download link and waited for the app to install. The publisher was listed as someone called RFA. She’d have to look them up later, but so far everything seemed fine.

She booted the app, and entered her name as “Mouse”, picked one of her favorite picrews as her avatar, and confirmed her telephone number and email address. Once that was done, the first thing that happened was a weird glitch-looking screen and a chat popping up. Huh. Must be a tutorial. Nerds.

Unknown: …Hello…?

Mouse: ?

Unknown: Can you see this?

Mouse: Yes, I can.

Unknown: …Finally connected. Thank god.

Unknown: It’s not everyday you get a text from a stranger.

Unknown: I’m a bit flustered myself. I found a smartphone at the subway station but all it ha was this messenger app.

Unknown: I want to find the owner, but I don’t see any contact info or call records…

Unknown: I’ve been sending messages with this app but no reply…

Unknown: All I see is an address and some important-looking numbers saved in notes.

Unknown: I’d like to go there myself but I’m currently abroad…

Mouse: First, who are you?

Unknown: Me? Oh sorry. I didn’t even introduce myself.

Unknown: I’m just… a student studying abroad. I’m Korean.

Unknown: I could tell you my name, but it doesn’t really matter.

Mouse: It matters to me!

Unknown: um.

Unknown: You won’t find me on any search engines. ^^;

Unknown: I know you’re surprised to have someone suddenly pop up and ask you a favor like this, but I really need your help. You’re the only one who’s even responded.

Mouse: Hang on a second, I have a text I need to answer.

A text had come in from Ryung, and whatever Unknown’s deal was, her new friends came first.

Ryung: Hey, did you see the news? Looks like you’re going to get a short reprieve, Lee got booked for assaulting an officer.

He’d sent a link to the article, and she felt her shoulders relax a bit. She hadn’t realized just how tense she was until that moment.

Mouse: Thanks Ryung, that is… such a relief. I’m gonna go check out some places, let me know when you’re done with class.

Ryung: Aww, you changed your outgoing name to Mouse. I love it. Class is starting, text you again soon.

Mouse: Just for you two! Bye for now!

Well. Maybe she could help this poor Unknown person find the phone’s owner or whatever, now that she was sure it wasn’t just Lee pulling some spy crap. Not that he was cunning enough for that, but… well, how much did she actually know the guy, anymore?

She switched back into the messenger, expecting to see more messages from Unknown, but was surprised.

Unknown: Sure, I can wait. It’s not like I have anyone else I can ask for help.

Mouse: Hey, I’m back. How can I help?

Unknown: OMG really? I was so sure you were ghosting me and I’d be back to square one.

Unknown: The only thing I can think of is to have you go to the address in the phone and leave a note for whoever is there. I think these numbers are like a keycode or something.

Mouse: Okay, that sounds fair but also sketchy af.

Unknown: I looked up the street view, it’s an apartment in downtown, on like the 14th floor. Looks safe? There are cameras and stuff in the hall and elevator.

Unknown: Please?

A maps link popped up with the address of the place in question. She looked it over, and was surprised that it matched up exactly with what they were saying. Maybe this really was just a lost phone situation?

Mouse: That’s actually not that far from where I am. But if I get bad vibes I am out of there in a second.

Unknown: Legit. Thank you for doing this, and trusting me. I know how hard it is these days, but I just can’t not help whoever’s phone this is.

Unknown: Let me know when you get there, ok?

Mouse: Will do. I’m walking, so it’ll be a bit.

Part of the “it’ll be a bit” was that she needed to pack up her laptop and hit the restroom before taking a relatively long walk into downtown. But, that was way too much information to share with random chat person. She couldn’t seem to get to any other chats than the one with Unknown. She’d have to ask Dae to give her a quick walkthrough after he was off work. Normally tech just clicked for her, but this time, not so much. Still not feeling 100% safe from Lee and his influence, Mouse took a couple quick screenshots of the chat with Unknown, just in case.

Getting to the apartment was simple. It really was a safe looking area, and the building itself was one of the luxury apartment buildings that had been built sometime in the last five or six years. As she walked down the hall toward the unit in question she realized that all of the doors were code locks, not a key to be found.

On the door of the apartment in question, there was a place to tap a keycard, a number pad, and an engraving on the handle that said “R.F.A.”. Huh, that was the company that made the app, if she was remembering right. Neat, they must have their hand in a lot of tech work.

She pulled the messenger back up, and let Unknown know that she’d arrived.

Mouse: Hey, I found it.

Unknown: Are you there? ^^ See, Nothing Strange.

Unknown: Is there a password lock on the door?

Mouse: Hmm. Don’t see one.

She laughed to herself. Probably not the nicest choice to troll some rando who was just trying to help reunite lost technology with its owner, but she could never help this urge.

Unknown: That’s strange.

Unknown: There’s really nothing?

Unknown: But I have this password, I was sure…

Mouse: JK. There’s totally a code lock. I was just messing with you.

Unknown: Haha, nice. You’re pretty funny.

Unknown: I’ll send you what I think is the password then.

The password popped into the chat, but Mouse paused.

Mouse: Shouldn’t I like, knock or something?

Unknown: Oh, of course. Silly me, I wasn’t even thinking.

She reached out and knocked on the door, solid and loud. After a good minute, she was pretty sure no one was going to answer the door.

Mouse: I don’t think anyone’s inside.

Mouse: I’m still nervous about entering someone else’s apartment though. Breaking and Entering is not really my deal.

Unknown: Is it breaking if the code works? Just try it, please? For me?

Mouse sighed, and input the code that Unknown had sent. The door chirped a friendly tone, and opened without issue.

Mouse: Well, the door’s open now. The code worked.

Unknown: Good. Why don’t you go inside?

Mouse: Can I just enter some stranger’s house?

Unknown: You can just leave a note with my info so they can contact me, okay?

Unknown: If something happens, you can just show my messages. That’ll do.

Mouse paused, and pointedly took another screenshot.

Mouse: Then… Alright.

Unknown: Th

Unknown: ank

Unknown: you~

Mouse stepped inside the apartment, and closed the door behind her on reflex. Couldn’t have someone following her into some poor phoneless rando’s apartment.

She pulled out a piece of paper from her bag, and sat down at the desk to write a note. But when she looked back at the messenger, she was met with something unexpected.

Unknown has left the chatroom.

Wait, what? They left? But she didn’t even have their information!! Ugh. Maybe they just lost service. Still, she shouldn’t linger. She sighed, and started to write a note anyway, explaining the situation, apologizing for being in their space without permission, and giving her contact information, since she might be able to talk to that Unknown again.

While she was writing, her phone made an unbelievable modem-tone sound from the 1990s, and she looked back at it to see it glitch out and then dump her into an active chatroom. She just stared at the messages popping up, slightly terrified at the noise her phone had just made, in addition to the fact that she was suddenly in a chat room with like five other people, none of whom had names she recognized.

She watched the chat go by, getting slightly more relaxed as she saw some banter about tests and playing LOLOL all night.. That was her usual type of people at least. But these names, they were serious trolls to name themselves a number, or a concept, or even pretending to be the director of a huge company. She wondered which one was Dae and which was Ryung, or if they were even in the chat right now, what with work and class going on.

Oh. Oh no. They noticed her.

707: Think someone entered the chat room;;

Jumin Han: Mouse…?

Zen: Wtf. How did it get in here?

707: Hacker!

Yoosung★: Hacker!? Therae’s a hacker in ouer room1!!

Yoosung★: Sevnee do somethign!!

Zen: Hey, typos. -_-;;

This was not good. I mean, it wasn’t bad, like, she was invited here, but also so much attention was scary. They seemed to think she shouldn’t be here. Maybe this Seven or 707 or whatever was Dae? Ugh, but if so why did he think she was a hacker. And why didn’t they know she was coming? Well. Might as well exist.

Mouse: Hello…

Her comment set off more of a panic than she was expecting, but one message in particular stuck out.

Jaehee Kang: How did you find out about this place? Where did you download the application?

Jaehee? Huh, why did that name sound familiar?

707: Oh… ^^; Wait.

707: Just found something. This is weird.

Zen: Stop stalling and tell us.

707: I traced the IP…

707: It’s from Rika’s Apartment.

Yoosung★: Rika’s Apartment?

Jaehee Kang: The location is not revealed. I know it to be classified.

707: Anyways, someone must have broken into her apartment.

707: It talked just now, so it must be a person ^^;

Okay. Okay, she had to fix this somehow. Yeah, this was definitely illegal entry but she didn’t break in. She used the code that Unknown gave her. Gah. How gullible was she? She looked back down at the chat which was still scrolling by at a decent clip.

Jaehee Kang: I assume it was a break in.

Jaehee Kang: Username “Mouse”, I recommend that you confess.

Zen: Jaehee, would you voluntarily confess everything if it were you?

Jaehee Kang: No, but it is good to ask first.

707: lolol

Jumin Han: Quit shitting around.

Jumin Han: Mouse… Who are you?

Mouse: I’m just Mouse. Also I am very confused.

There. That was enough, right? Maybe they would explain.

Zen: It might be a girl.

707: That’s sexist lol. U should watch what u say now that ur a famous actor.

Zen: I’m not famous;; just a bit recognizable.

Yoosung★: Nah~ Look at the youtube hits.

Zen: Dude. Stawp;;

707: lolol

Jaehee Kang: That video is still excellent no matter how many times I watch it.

Well, they were being chatty with each other still, so maybe she wasn’t in too much trouble. Wait a minute. Zen. Youtube. “Famous”. Was he that stage actor? The hot one? Oh jeez. How did Dae and/or Ryung know them?

While she was thinking about it, they continued chattering until they realized she wasn’t saying anything again.

Jumin Han: Hey. Don’t get distracted.

Yoosung★: Oh, right. Username Mouse…

Jaehee Kang: …An abrupt stranger.

707: My hands r shaking as I hack.

Jumin Han: Who are you? Reveal yourself right now.

Yoosung★: Yeees! Who are u?!

Zen: Use proper english please.

707: If it doesn’t say anything more I’ll hack in and find out.

Zen: …Maybe one of my fans?

Jumin Han: 

Mouse: I said. I’m just mouse, ok? Who are y’all, and what even is this place?

There. She asked. She said. She wasn’t about to give them her real name. It would sound fake anyway, since she shared parts of their names, but they could be different Hanja… no, that was too much thinking.

707: Lol so awkward. I thought it was a computer talking.

Zen: Seems more normal than I thought.

Yoosung★: What were you thinking?

Zen: …Nothing~ Nothing.

Yoosung★: Should we… introduce ourselves?

Jumin Han: Are you serious?

Jaehee Kang: I think it is a bit too early for that.

Zen: Hi. I’m Zen. (24 yrs old) Musical actor… Don’t look me up on the internet. It’s embarrassing.

She started to type something along the lines of “too late” but then he posted a selfie and she thought she might implode.

Zen:

Yoosung★: Zen, you are so brave! Omg… a photo too.

Mouse: Oh, heck. It is actually you. I’m just going to go hide under a rock now.

Without really thinking about it, she grabbed her phone and literally curled up in the spot underneath the desk she’d been sitting at. Small spaces always seemed safer to her anyway.

707: Lolol see, famous.

707: My nickname’s 707. Real name’s a secret.

707: FYI, Zen’s real name is Hyun Ryu. In case you needed more proof he’s famous.

Zen: Your name’s a secret but not mine?

707: You don’t care anyways, lol.

707: Just remember me as the 22yr old young hacker.

Mouse: Old young? ^^;

707: lolol ya

Yoosung★: I’m Yoosung Kim! I’m a college student, 21 years old.

Yoosung★:

Oh, okay good, they aren’t all that much older than her. It was seeming less likely they were Dae and Ryung’s friends though. Yoosung’s picture was heckin cute though. Wait, was he wearing a LOLOL button?! Oh jeez. Also that blonde hair.. He looked vaguely familiar. Maybe he went to their school?

Jumin Han: I don’t know why everybody’s introducing themselves. You don’t even know who that person is.

707: So warm and fuzzy here.

Zen: lol. Seven, you don’t have any selfies to show?

707: Nothing recent.

707: Oh, and also!

707: Jumin’s the heir of a pretty famous corporation and Jaehee is his assistant. 27 and 26 yrs old respectively.

707: You have a better sense of who we are now, Mouse?

Mouse: Oh dang. And here I thought it was someone pretending to be him using his name as a username. Is there a rock under this rock that I can hide under?

707: More like an avalanche now, with all those rocks.

Yoosung★: lol. Crushed.

707:

Mouse pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. Jumin Han? Actual Jumin Han? The media made him out to be mean and terrifying. And now he seemed… Well, mean and terrifying about her knowing who he was. Despite using his name. She looked back down at her phone and was distracted immediately by the cute cat picture. Also.. That was Jumin Han? He looked much less mean than all the pictures in the media. Also attractive. What was this, a messenger only for cuties? What was she even doing here.

Mouse: Aww! What an adorable cat! Her name is just perfect!

Jumin Han:

Jumin proceeded to harass Seven about bothering his cat, and shared a security cam shot of Seven doing exactly that. It was grainy and black and white, but she was going to have to go ahead and add Seven to the cuties list. Now she just needed to see a picture of Jaehee and she’d know for sure that none of these people were her friends.

707: My precious privacy!

Mouse: Caught red-handed!

She thought, then, that she might be in the clear. But trust the Corporate Director’s assistant to keep a gaggle of mid-20s boys on track.

Jaehee Kang: I suggest that we take care of this stranger.

Jaehee Kang: Could it be that we have a security breach?

Zen: True. Mouse, how did you get in here?

Yoosung★: Is it really in Rika’s apartment?

707: Yup. It’s for sure…

707: How did it get the apartment password?!

Well. Time to come clean then. She’d been going to tell them everything earlier, but they got distracted and she also got distracted. How long had she even been here at this point?

Mouse: I’m not an it. I’m a person. Sheesh. At least use They or something.

Mouse: Anyway, I’m flustered too, under all these rocks. I was connected to a messenger app, and then a stranger who was going by “Unknown” or I guess maybe they didn’t have a username. They sent me the address.

Surely that would be enough information? She’d tell them everything if she had to, but this whole situation had gone from weird to scary. And her real life was scary enough. At least if this location was supposed to be classified there was probably no way Lee could find her here.

Jumin Han: Chatting with a stranger…

Jumin Han: How naive.

Zen: So cute lol

Zen: Went to an address from a chatting app lolol

Yoosung★: Don’t listen to strangers~ The world is dangerous.

Jaehee Kang: I agree.

707: Wait.

Every time Seven said wait, it was bad for her. Mouse tensed and waited for his next message to make her want to hide even more.

707: Do u have that person’s username or chat record?

Ugh. She’d already said that the username was “Unknown”, but whatever.

Mouse: The chat record got deleted but I took some screenshots earlier when I was nervous.

707: Good Mouse. *patpat*

Mouse: Let me just figure out how to send them or whatever.

707: No need. I’ll just get them off your phone.

GAH.

Mouse: Gah! Creepy!

707: That’s me. Creeper Seven. Gonna explode. Don’t worry, I’m only taking screenshots that are associated with the app~ your secret photos are safe.

A couple of seconds later she watched the screenshots pop up for a brief second, and then one of seven’s emoji - the one with the shining glasses - popped up, and then she was back looking at the chat, where everyone was considering if Unknown was also a hacker. She had to admit that it was likely, given the weird modem tones and stuff. It was beyond her. She just liked to make stuff, and was still in school after all.

707: Hey, Mouse. Looking at the SSs. So it looks like he told you the password for the door lock, too?

Mouse: Ya. I know nothing.

Jumin Han: …Ya?

Zen: Cute lol

Yoosung★: but how did you end up chatting with them in the first place?

Jaehee Kang: Mouse, you are quite strange as well. Where did you download this messenger app?

Zen: Wait, do you think this person’s a creep? No way.

Well, since Dae sent it…. Maybe Seven needed to see that text too? Mouse pulled up her text app, but the text was gone. Deleted. What the heck?!

Mouse: Okay, this is sketch af and I’m not into it. One of my classmates sent me a link to a messenger app that they use, so I could chat with them over break. That text? It had the link to this app. Also, it’s not in my text log anymore. I know, it sounds fake, but. I just wanted to chat with friends. They call me Mouse, that’s why that’s my name here.

707: That’s a lot to unpack.

707: Anyways.

707: I should trace the person who distributed the app.

Jumin Han: If what it is saying is true…

Mouse: Not an it.

Jaehee Kang: I think it would be a good idea to contact V.

707: Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.

Wait. V? There were more of them??

Mouse: Who’s V? Also just to make sure I really am in the wrong place, none of you know Dae and Ryung, right? Cute gay couple? College age?

Silence followed for a moment before messages started to come in again.

Zen: V is basically our boss.

707: Evil mastermind.

Jumin Han: …or not. He’s the person who has control over this chat room and the organization we’re in.

Jumin Han: I hope V comes and takes care of all this.

Zen: V’s too busy these days to come chat… we’ll get to talk to him because of this~

Yoosung★: We’re all busy. I don’t like that V’s the only one not coming.

Jaehee Kang: V should know that Mouse is here so let’s just wait.

Jaehee Kang: Seven, are you calling him?

707: Ya.

Yoosung★: But shouldn’t we tell Mouse what this chatroom is for first?

Yoosung★: They have to know how serious it is that they’re here!

Jumin Han: What’s more serious is that it is in Rika’s apartment.

Jaehee Kang: I am always ready to call the police.

Zen: They’re not an it, Jumin.

Yoosung★: Jaehee’s scary T_T

Jumin Han: Until we figure out who Mouse is, I don’t want to reveal anything.

Jaehee Kang: I agree.

That was entirely fair. It’s not like she was telling them why she was willing to follow a stranger’s directions or why she was even still in the apartment instead of leaving right away like she intended. She felt safer curled up under this desk than she had in weeks.

707: Wecan

707: Sorry

707: callingvandtypingwithonehand

Yoosung★: Type after you finish the call.

707: lookedintoownerofdevice

707: she’scutelol

Yoosung★: You did a background check on her? So Mouse is definitely a girl?

Her blood ran cold. It was that easy to find information on her? No wonder Lee somehow knew to look for her at the boys’ apartment. Was he going to find her here, too? She didn’t know who these people were, as a group at least, but even so she didn’t want to get them caught up in her issues. Well, first, deal with the problem right in front of her.

Mouse: Where did you get that info!?

Zen: He’s a hacker. He probably found your fb page already.

Mouse: Don’t have one.

Yoosung★: 

707: insta tho ^^;

707: probs tiktok.

Jumin Han: What? It’s really a girl?

707: Ya.

Zen: Show me a photo.

Mouse: NO. Please.

707: Nope~

707: How dare you try to violate someone’s privacy like that?

Then, Seven posted a photo. Initially, she was in a panic that he’d actually posted a photo of her, but then she was taken aback by more different information.

707:

That was where she knew Jaehee’s name from!!!

That was the woman she’d run into at the coffee shop last night. Dae had said that her coffee was always called for “Jaehee”. Oh jeez. And the chat, of course, got confused too. She didn’t look at all like Jaehee. Jaehee was gorgeous. She could feel herself blushing again, remembering the bright smile the woman had given her. 26, then, Seven had said? That seemed about right. They were apologizing for not recognizing her photo.

Mouse: Jaehee, those glasses are super cute.

Jaehee: Okay. Mouse is a girl.

V has entered the chat.

V: Okay, I’m here.

Everyone greeted V, and she could tell this group really was tight knit. How was a mouse like her ever going to find friends this good? Right now all she could do was try to find someplace to hole up until Lee gave up on her. She might even need to transfer back to the US to get away from him. It all seemed like too much. She put it out of her mind, and turned back to the chat that was going full speed without her.

It looked like the only person who even knew where this place was other than her, the boss, and that Unknown was Seven, who set the tech up. And they weren’t going to let any of the rest of them know where it was either. That seemed… really safe, actually. She wished she had a place like this, safe from even her friends.

V: Only Luciel and I know the address.

V: I repeat, since the information must be protected, please do not attempt to find the apartment.

V: Do not ask Mouse about it and Mouse, please do not reveal the address.

Wait, who the heck?

Mouse: Luciel?

Zen: That’s 707’s real name. ‘Luciel Choi’.

707: 

Oh man, Zen must be getting a kick out of getting to real-name 707 after the same had been done to him. Nerds. Seven just left an emoji of himself smiling, so it must be fine.

Yoosung★: What do we do about her apartment? Can Mouse stay there?

V: First… No one here is going to go to Rika’s apartment, right?

Wow. He wasn’t kidding about keeping these documents secure.

Jumin Han: Yeah yeah. You can stop explaining. Classified information. Got it.

Jumin Han: But it is a mystery how a complete stranger could end up there.

V: If it’s someone who knows the password…

V: It might be someone Rika trusted.

707: So then that “Unknown” person knew Rika?

707: I can’t believe she trusted someone more than V.

Yoosung★: I don’t believe that. She couldn’t have trusted anyone more than us.

Zen: That is… a bit surprising.

V: It’s hard to believe myself… but we shouldn’t assume that we knew everything about Rika. She had a deep world of her own.

Jumin Han: …Anyways, V, Continue.

V: If I am right.

V: Mouse being at her apartment right now…

V: Rika must have wanted that.

Jumin Han: Rika called in a complete stranger from up in the sky?

V: I’m not saying Mouse specifically, I just mean that maybe Rika wanted someone to do the work that she did before. At the place where she worked before.

The chat… well, exploded is probably the best word for it. It was already fast, but now she felt like she was in a popular streamer’s chatroom, with the messages blurring by faster than she could read them. Then she saw her name again, and tried to catch up.

707: Mouse must be going crazy with how things are going rn lol

Yoosung★: I think I’m going crazy. I can’t believe there was something I didn’t know about Rika.

Zen: Yeah, you two were super close.

Jumin Han: Not as close as V was.

Yoosung★: …

Zen: Jumin you jerk, how could you be so harsh on Yoosung;;

Mouse: I just came here to help find the owner of a lost phone… What is even happening anymore…

707: Owner of the phone? Lol you were phished.

So it sounded like she was led here. Someone definitely wanted her to be in this apartment. And while on the one hand that was somewhat terrifying, because what reason did they have for that? On the other hand it was comforting, because this place felt so much safer than literally anywhere else right now. She knew they were going to have to try and verify everything she’d said. She was hoping that the screenshots she took would help, and thanked her foresight. That fear of getting into trouble and having someone yell at her was actually useful for once.

V: Let’s just do this. If Mouse is not to be trusted, we can deal with it then.

707: Now then~

707: Shouldn’t we explain to Mouse about Rika and the RFA?

Mouse: RFA? That’s who the ‘distributor’ on the app was.

707: Rude. It should have said God Seven.

Mouse: What?

707: Nevermind.

They explained, about Rika, about how the RFA was her group that hosted parties for charity. She got to see a picture of Rika, and then they dropped the piece of information that cleared up so many things - Rika had died a year and a half ago. This was a dead woman’s apartment. No wonder no one was expecting someone to be here. If anything they probably thought she was Rika’s ghost for a good minute there.

Yoosung★: I can’t imagine someone else taking over what Rika did.

Zen: But if we continue on like this, there’s no need for the party or our organization to continue.

Jumin Han: We don’t even know who she is though.

Zen: Just the fact that she’s in this chatroom makes me trust her a bit though;;

Jumin Han: Not because Mouse is a girl?

V: Listen, I know this is confusing, but maybe Mouse was chosen by Rika.

V: Luciel will look into that person called “Unknown”.

V: So for now, please just believe in me, and wait.

707: I guess you’re busy right now. Ur replies are really late.

V: Yeah, I have to leave shortly.

V: Mouse, everything that you have to do… will be linked with this app installed on your phone.

V: Seven can tell you the details.

He had to leave? The guy that owned this place? And there was confidential stuff. Shoot! She needed to ask questions, and fast.

Mouse: Wait, V. Pleas.e

Zen: Haha, typos.

V: Yes, Mouse?

Mouse: Can I.. Stay here? At this apartment? Obviously I’m here and it’s sketchy and I know y’all can’t trust me yet. But if I just stay here, if you find out I’m actually a problem at least you won’t have to come find me? I was actually… apartment hunting… when this happened. I mean I wouldn’t be here all the time because I promised to do dinner with some friends tonight but otherwise I’m really a hermit and.. Yeah.

Yeah. Stop babbling, Mouse. While true, it was best not to share a lot of info. And this place was nice, if a bit eerie.

Yoosung★: Whoa, Mouse types like the wind.

707: She’s got hacker blood, I bet.

707: 

V: That seems reasonable. It’s not in use otherwise. If something is locked, leave it alone. It would not be good if the alarm goes off. Otherwise, please feel free to make yourself at home. It’s probably dusty.

V: I should get going. Jumin, handle things for me.

Jumin Han: Alright. Assistant Kang, please summarize things for Mouse, if you will.

V has left the chatroom.

The explanation took ages, but Mouse learned a lot about the RFA, and actually they seemed like nice people.

Jumin Han: Mouse. All we are trying to do is host parties, raise funds, gather people.. Things like that. Our organization has done a lot of good so far.

Jumin Han: …you will never regret joining.

Zen: If you join the organization, we’ll be able to talk more. Not every day we meet a pretty girl.

707: How do you know she’s pretty? I didn’t even send the photo.

Zen: Send the photo.

707: No.

Zen: Damn.

She laughed as they went off on yet another tangent. Let them think she was pretty. That was fine. Her picrew was cute enough.

Jumin Han: So, Mouse. Will you join the RFA?

Mouse: Alright, it looks fun. I’ll give it a go.

It’s not like she had much else to do anyway, and she’d still have plenty of time for games.

Yoosung★: That’s a fast decision.

Jumin Han: Ha. I like it.

Jaehee Kang: I wonder if you have thought this through.

Zen: Welcome, Mouse. Oi, Seven. Register her info asap.

707: Ya. I have to register her before she changes her mind.

Yoosung★: Even the processing is fast…

Yoosung★: Mouse must be a positive person, seeing that she made her decision so fast.

Jaehee Kang: She may not be a careful person.

Mouse: I followed some stranger’s advice to go to a random apartment and now I’m living here for a bit? I think careful is probably pretty far outside of a description of me.

707: lol self burn

707: Okay, I’ve registered her as a member!

707: lol we don’t need your signature or anything.

Seven left then, to do “real work” whatever that meant. Everyone left her nice messages of welcome and logged out, and suddenly she was alone in the chat room. It seemed too quiet. The messenger had a real home screen now, and access to the chatroom, and an email thing, just like they’d said it would. She had a message from V already? What did he say…

V: As far as rent goes - do your best to take over what Rika did, and we’ll call it good. I was paying for the place whether or not you were staying there.

Mouse felt like her eyes were going to bug out of her head. What the heck? Basically rent free, she just had to field emails and convince people to come to a big ol fancy party? Text was her medium of choice, those folks were going to love to come to this party, and she got to live here in exchange. Too good to be true, but she was not going to look this gift horse in the mouth.

Her phone buzzed, and for a second she thought it’d be the RFA again, but it was Ryung.

Ryung: Hey mouse! I’m free! You free? Any luck?

Oof. How was she going to explain any of this? What would make Ryung believe her? Oh! Jaehee. That was a good excuse.

Mouse: Yeah, actually I ran into the gal that I met by…running into her… at the coffee shop last night. They needed someone to basically be caretaker for an apartment that’s the office space for a charity that runs parties, so if I do things like accept packages and keep the place clean, I can stay there.

Ryung: Too good to be true. What’s the catch?

Mouse: I can’t tell anyone where it is.

Ryung: Hell of a catch. Also, sketchy.

Mouse: Yeah, but I’m not a prisoner, I can totes come hang with y’all since it’s not too far from campus, and it’s got really good internet, so not only will it be somewhere Lee probably can’t find me, but I can just play games and keep a clean place clean. I could probably even do it over the school year, too. Summer Break’s a trial run.

Ryung: Awesome! Wanna meet at the coffee shop in a little while? Dae should be done with work in like an hour.

Mouse: Sure! Maybe I can get y’all to drive me somewhere I can shop for some basics? I didn’t get to pack things like my toothbrush, and… I really… need to brush my teeth.

Ryung: lol yeah. See you soon.

Chapter Text

Mouse looked up as Dae arrived with their most recent round of coffee. Her phone had been full of RFA chatter since lunchtime, but she’d been mostly keeping herself busy playing LOLOL with Ryung while Dae worked on homework.

“I still think it’s cheating that you don’t actually have any final exams, Mouse.” Dae said bitterly.

“Hey, just wait for next semester when I get to go back to the huge credit loads I prefer. This semester literally hurt with only one class.” She said, sipping her ridiculously sweet mocha.

“Mouse, you got whipped cream on your nose.” Ryung said, and she blushed and wiped it off.

“Just makes her look more like a mouse, Ryung.”

“Accurate, especially with that hood up.”

Mouse looked over at her phone and realized she was getting a phone call. From a number she didn’t know. She accepted the call, and tentatively answered. She could see Ryung and Dae tense at her body language, and then relax when they saw her do the same.

“Hello?”

“Hello, this is Jaehee Kang, it is nice to hear your voice.”

“Oh, Jaehee! Hello!”

“So this is Mouse? Good. Seven gave me your number.”

“Of course he did. Freakin’ hacker. It’s fine. I would have given it to you if you asked.”

“Are you, by chance, a fan of coffee?”

“Oh! I am!”

What a non sequitur, though! Speaking of coffee, Mouse took a sip of her mocha, being careful not to get any whipped cream on her or her phone this time.

“Since I cannot come to the apartment, I thought that I might invite you out for coffee so that we could meet in person.”

“I’m actually out for coffee with some friends on campus currently.”

“Not still at the apartment?”

“Nope! Had plans to spend time with actual people for once.”

Mouse didn’t know why, but she really liked talking to Jaehee. Her voice was so calming.

“I too frequent a coffee establishment on the university campus. I wonder if we’ve ever encountered each other. Wouldn’t that just be kismet.”

Mouse laughed. How could she tell Jaehee that she’d literally run into her the night before? She couldn’t.

“That would be amazing, if true.”

Just then, she heard the girl at the counter call a coffee order for Jaehee, and her eyes snapped up immediately to the counter, her amber-lensed gaming glasses bouncing precariously on her face. For a brief moment, she caught the eye of the woman from last night… Jaehee.. Who was definitely on her phone. She tore her eyes away, knowing that she was probably showing her startle and panic all over her face.

“My friends are giving me the glare of death for being on my phone. Can I call you later?”

“That will be unnecessary, but you are entirely welcome to, if you’d like.”

Mouse quickly ended the call, her cheeks bright pink, and Ryung took no time at all to start grilling her.

“Who was that? Are you on the rebound already?”

Dae laughed, and contributed his own teasing.

“Same one as last night, hm?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. It was just about work..”

And then, her careful little Jenga tower collapsed, as someone stopped next to their table.

“Excuse me, Miss Mouse and company? May I join you?” Jaehee said, and when she looked up, she could swear she saw the woman’s glasses glinting just like in Mouse’s favorite anime.

Ryung looked from Mouse to Jaehee and back to Mouse.

Dae did as he usually did, and took point.

“Of course, Miss Jaehee, isn’t it? You’re here often.” He gestured to the chair next to Mouse, and Jaehee politely sat, setting her coffee primly in front of her.

“I didn’t expect to run into you.” Mouse said, quietly.

“Again?” Dae said, and winked at her. He really had no idea the mess he was making her.

Jaehee gave him a quizzical look, and he gestured at Mouse.

“I, um, literally ran into you here last night.” She said, and took her hood down and her glasses off so Jaehee could see her face properly.

Jaehee startled just slightly, and Mouse felt herself blush. Point made, she put her hood back up, and her glasses back on. Lee hated when she wore her hood up, so she really hoped it would help obfuscate her if he or his minions were around.

“How about that. It was more of a mutual collision, though, if I’m being fair, Mouse.” She pursed her lips for a moment, and seemed to make a decision.

“You’re wearing the same clothes as last night.”

Mouse looked away, grimacing.

“That I am.”

“Pull an all-nighter studying, or something more fun?” Wait. She thought..!!

Mouse blushed and shook her head. “Just crashed away from home. Which.. I guess.. I’ll be doing a lot more now. Or should I say at a new home?”

Jaehee smiled, but didn’t push.

“Oh! Introductions! Shoot!” Mouse smacked herself in the forehead with her palm, and winced at her poor choice.

“Dae, Ryung, this is Jaehee, she’s part of that charity group I’m working with starting today. Jaehee, these are Daeseong and Ryung, the friends I mentioned earlier.”

They exchanged greetings, and then Jaehee’s phone rang.

“Oh. It’s Mr. Han. Sorry for the short conversation, boys. Mouse, I will talk to you later, I have to hurry to a meeting.”

“Say hello for me?” she said instinctively, and Jaehee laughed before standing and starting to walk away and answer her call. They could hear the beginning of it, fading out as she got further from them.

“Yes Mr. Han. Mhm. Just getting coffee with Mouse. Of course, she sends her regards.”

Mouse laughed awkwardly.

“Sends my regards. Yes. Because he wouldn’t accept it if Jaehee told him ‘she says hi’.”

Ryung, who had said nothing, broke out of his stupor.

“Mouse. That's Jaehee Kang. Chief Assistant to Jumin Han of C&R?! Are you working for C&R?”

“No, no, I work for a charity group now. Not C&R. It’s just happens to be something Jaehee and Mr. Han are in. Wait, you know her?”

“Well, no, I know of her. And him. Because my dad’s company works with C&R a lot. Apparently that Mr. Han is a handful.”

Mouse laughed. “Actually, I got to talk to him earlier. He likes cats.”

She opened her phone and pulled up the picture of him with Elizabeth the 3rd, and showed it to the boys.

“Don’t tell anyone I said this but - he’s so much more handsome when he smiles.” She said, a wicked grin on her face.

Dae just shook his head, and Ryung laughed outright.

A few hours later, they headed out to do the shopping Mouse had requested.

Once Mouse was securely settled in the back seat, Dae clicked the passenger seat back into place, and then froze.

“Shit, I left my bag at the coffee shop.”

“Run get it. We’ll wait.” Ryung said, getting into the driver's seat.

“Okay,” he said, already heading off. “Back ASAP!”

Ryung settled into his seat, and handed his backpack back to Mouse, who set it on the seat next to her. She should probably check on the messenger, just in case.

As she unlocked her phone, it started to ring. Caller ID Identified the caller as coming from C&R.. Oh. Jaehee?

“Hello, this is Mouse.” She said, cordially.

“This is Jumin Han.” The voice on the other end of the line said.  “I received your regards from my assistant. You must be glad to talk to me, but there’s really nothing to be glad of. I called you only because I wished to hear our new recruit’s voice. Nothing more.”

“Oh! It is good to hear from you, Mr. Han! It was so nice to see Jaehee this afternoon!”

“Ugh. You’re not my assistant. Call me Jumin, please.”

“Oh, alright Jumin!” Mouse said brightly.

She hated calling people formal names, they always felt way too stiff. She blamed growing up overseas. She looked at Ryung, who because of the relative silence of the parking ramp could hear her entire conversation. He waggled his eyebrows at her and she had to stifle a laugh.

“I have nothing else to speak of, but I will take just one question. Ask me if you have any.”

Mouse couldn’t resist being her bratty self.

“How does my voice sound?” she asked.

“You want a review on your voice from me?”

“Well, it’s why you called, isn’t it?”

Ryung mouthed O.M.G. at her, and she grinned at him. They really hadn’t gotten to see her silly bratty side, given everything that was going on. But she felt like things were looking up, and let herself be a little freer.

“I didn’t want to touch on such details…. I’ll give it a try if you wish, however. So speak again, slowly.”

Mouse made a face. What should she say? Aha.

“Ju - min - Han. Like this?”

“I didn’t expect you to say my name. You’re quite bold for a newcomer. That was a bit of a surprise.”

She chuckled quietly, but waited to say anything so she didn’t interrupt him. She’d asked just to be bratty, but now she really wanted to know.

“But that doesn’t matter. And here’s my review.”

Mouse blinked as he went into detail describing the voices he typically heard at work, and how much he disliked them. She didn’t retain very much of that. But her brattiness bit back when he got to hers.

“But your voice is very fine. I like it. I wouldn’t deny hearing your voice for some more. I’d say it is as pleasurable as Elizabeth the 3rd’s voice.”

“That’s your cat, right?” she asked, smirking.

“You should be happy. That is the best compliment I can offer you.”

Mouse could feel herself blushing all the way to the tips of her ears.

“Uh, um. Thanks, Jumin.”

“And I believe one question is enough.” 

Dae got into the car about then, and Ryung put a finger to his lips and tipped his head at the back seat. Dae, of course, looked back at her quizzically, and so she was left with no option other than to be even more of a brat.

“What are you doing right now?”

“I’m on my way home. I said only one question, but you ask another one as if this was your first. But I’ll answer it, since I am relatively free at the moment. This won’t happen again, however.”

Dae and Ryung were texting back and forth, and Dae’s eyes just kept getting wider.

“Didn’t you already answer it?”

“Not in its entirety. And that is three, Mouse.”

She wasn’t sure if he was amused or angry. It didn’t seem like he did the whole emotions thing. Was he a robot?

“Oh.. Yeah, you’re right.” She said, still trying to read him.

“I’m on my way home. I’d like to see Elizabeth the 3rd as soon as possible.”

“That’s your cute kitty, right?”

“You are correct. Four.”

“A four-for-one deal! That’s me, bargain-hunter Mouse.”

“Four for one would be accurate if I get to ask you a question in return.”

“Oh! That’s basically true. And you did answer questions for me, so I am entirely happy to answer one or two or four for you as well.”

“But not three, I see. Hmm. The question I want to ask is impolite. I will have to consider another.”

“How about you take an IOU then, and ask me when you think of something else.”

“I am amenable to this. Ah, I have arrived at home. I will call you later, then.”

“It was great to hear your voice, Jumin. I look forward to your questions.”

“I’d say the same. I think it’s the first time that time passed so quickly while talking with someone on the phone. Now, I really must hang up. I’ll call you when I have the chance. Excuse me.”

He hung up before she could say goodbye.

She took her phone down from her ear and fanned her hands at her face. She was blushing.

Dae and Ryung exchanged looks, and then Dae turned to her, managing to deadpan the first half of his sentence before basically exploding;

“You were just flirting with C&R DIRECTOR JUMIN HAN.”

“Uh.. That was flirting?”

Ryung facepalmed. “You’re hopeless, you know that?”

“I hate to say it but this level of naivety might explain why you ended up having a long relationship with a dumpster fire like Lee.” Dae said.

“Hey, Dae, be nice.” Ryung said, as he started the car.

“You’re right, Ryung! Dumpster fires are so much better than him.” Dae said, and Mouse couldn’t help but laugh.

As they pulled out of the parking garage, Mouse thought she caught a glimpse of Lee by the elevator, staring daggers her direction. She didn’t want to scare her friends, so she kept it to herself. By the time she looked back to make sure she wasn’t crazy, he was gone.

Chapter Text

Mouse punched in the code to the apartment, got in, and then shut the door.

I am going to make a mess of this fancy place just by existing. Ughhh, but I need a shower. I’ll clean up after.

She’d convinced the boys to drop her at the nearest train station since she wasn’t allowed to tell anyone where the apartment was, but shopping for enough necessities to survive in a new place meant carrying more things than she was used to. And then it had started to rain. She slipped off her sneakers and walked across the apartment until she saw the bathroom door. Oh lord, it had a soaking tub. Shower was right out, she was having a bath.

She turned on the water, and went back to the pile of packages at the door to gather the things that belonged in the bathroom, as well as pajamas. Sure, sure, it wasn’t dinnertime even, but there was really no reason to put on daytime clothes since she wasn’t going anywhere else. Man, she was tired already though.

Ughhh stupid nerdy noodle arms. Oh yeah, I should check on the messenger…

Mouse pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened the messenger. Oh, she’d missed a bit while she was walking from the station back to the apartment. Looks like Zen was also displeased with the weather, but he was… interested in seeing how she was doing? Huh. Weird. No one was in the chatroom now, but she’d keep her phone by her while she soaked just in case someone came on. They were letting her stay here, she wanted to be available to them.

Sure enough as soon as she’d settled into hot water, Seven popped into the chatroom. Looked like he was really bored at work. She couldn’t really commiserate.. But then he started talking about Rika, and the person who led her to the apartment.

707: Thinking about this makes me sad.

Mouse: Sorry, Seven. I don’t mean to remind of sad things.

707:

Then seven posted a picture of an.. Angel? Blonde like the photos they’d shared of Rika, but those eyes…

Mouse: Oh wow, such a beautiful angel.

707: That is a photo of me! Lololololol

Mouse: I thought so! You’re a cosplay nerd!

707: Guilty as charged. Take me away!

707: r u smiling at my photo tho?

707: I hope u r ^^

Mouse: Yes, and laughing. You make a convincing woman!

707: 

707: Anyways, I’m continuing the research on the person who led you to Rika’s apartment. V did order me to, but what I’m worried about…

707: is the possibility that u r in danger.

Mouse sat up. Danger? And she was being an idiot and taking a bath? She was safe from Lee, sure, but apparently the RFA had its own issues.

Mouse: So, not the right time to take a bath, then?

707: Oh. +.+ Um. Not imminent danger?

707: I could just be overreacting. But if that ‘Unknown’ person is not somehow related to Rika, then it means a third party knows information about the RFA and ur location.

707: So if anything happens…

707: Please come to this chatroom.

Oh, was that it? That was fine. But also, she no longer felt comfortable being in the bath. Time to finish up and start pajama-gaming.

Mouse: Okay, I will.

707: ^^

707: Even though I can’t be the knight in shining armor to protect u

707: I want to be able to tell the knight who the villain is.

Mouse: Aw, so sweet! <3

707: lolol ya

707: I think I have to peace out now.

Mouse: ok~ I should probably finish my bath and do something productive anyway. Thanks for making sure I’m safe!

707: I’m the one to thank u for listening to me!

707: 

707 has left the chatroom.

Yep. Time to leave the bath. Past time. Especially because she didn’t put the groceries away.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

“Yeah, yeah, timer, I hear you just a sec.”

Mouse was tipped over behind the couch plugging in a power strip so she could charge all her devices and plug in her laptop at the desk. She’d gotten all of her things put away, and put some pizza rolls in the oven. It was time to do some gaming. She was sure Ryung was already impatiently waiting in LOLOL even though it was only 6:45.

A minute later, she had a plate full of pizza rolls, a quiet oven timer, and a glass full of Dr. Pepper and ice.

The next minute past that, she was logging into LOLOL to a flurry of messages from Ryung.

BatRyung: You got home safe?

Foxfyre: Yep, and I took a bath, and made pizza rolls!

BatRyung: Ooh, living the life!

Mouse laughed, and scanned the online list as she always did, for the people above her in the rankings. And so, she was watching when Superman Yoosung logged in. She hadn’t considered the name, it was pretty common, but what were the chances that the cute college boy in the RFA actually played LOLOL? What if he went to her college? Well, she could at least be gutsy and see if he’d accept a friend request.

You have requested to be friends with Superman Yoosung.

There. Step 1: Don’t be quite so damn shy. Hey wait. Step 2: Don’t be selectively not shy.

You have requested to be friends with Hacker God.

Mouse cackled, and went down the rest of the top 25.

Foxfyre: I just sent friend requests to the rest of the top 25.

BatRyung: Are you crazy?!

Foxfyre: Objectively, no. Subjectively, yes.

BatRyung: Uh, okay then. Tell me if any of them respond.

Mouse glanced over at the chat room and realized that she’d missed Jumin and Zen having a talk about her? Oh. Also Rika. Man, that woman must have been amazing. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to live up to that, but.

Superman Yoosung has accepted your friend request.

Mouse froze and stared at her screen. OMG. She wanted to immediately talk to the #2 on her server, but…. What if he was an ass?

Foxfyre: #2 just accepted. What do I do?! This was supposed to be an exercise in futility!

BatRyung: Uh. Talk to him?

Foxfyre: dnfouwbsglksfg

Foxfyre: seriously? Do I just say “Hi, I am coming for your position, wanna kill an epic monster?”

BatRyung: Well, I mean, we are short a couple for the raid at 7.

Foxfyre: Were you counting me? I’m not in your guild.

BatRyung: Duh. Hey, did you want to join our guild?

Foxfyre: Can I get away without using voice chat?

BatRyung: Mmmm.... Welll.....

Foxfyre: So that’s a no, then. You sure you want me there at 7?

BatRyung: Imagine them trying to turn down the #18 player.

Foxfyre: 16.

BatRyung: What?

Foxfyre: I did some PvP earlier.

BatRyung: Gah! How?! Seriously Mouse you are terrifying.

Foxfyre: Not like Mr. #2 who’s now on my friends list.

BatRyung: #2 in the friends list maybe but I better be #1!

Foxfyre: Don’t let Dae read you saying that!

BatRyung: You know what I mean, Mouse!

Of course she knew what he meant. But it was super fun to tease her new friends about, well, anything. She hadn't had real friends in a long time. At least not since meeting Lee... 

Superman Yoosung has invited you to chat.

Superman Yoosung: Hello there, fellow high ranking player.

Foxfyre: Oh! Hello there, #2!

Superman Yoosung: I’ll be #1 soon, I’m certain. Hacker God hasn’t been online in ages.

Foxfyre: My friends think he hacked his way to #1. Which if so, makes you the real #1.

Superman Yoosung: Aw, that’s such a cute thought! But no. I am #2 until I earn #1.

Foxfyre: If you catch Hacker God online, you should duel him. I bet he’s rusty.

Superman Yoosung: lolol ya

Mouse paused. That “lolol ya” like sure it was common, but… no. She was overthinking it. This was her game. Her escape from anything else.

Foxfyre: Hey so my friend’s guild is going epic monster hunting in a couple minutes. You interested?

Superman Yoosung: Hmm. Maybe? I’m not really focusing very well today.

Foxfyre: Oh, really? You can just tell me no, I can accept it, I promise.

Superman Yoosung: Ask me again if they still need people when they start? I don’t really need anything, but I don’t feel like doing anything else either.

Foxfyre: k. Oh! Thanks for accepting my friend request.

Superman Yoosung: Can’t have too many friends.

Foxfyre: I mean, you totally can. What if you had so many friends you couldn’t tell them apart?

Superman Yoosung: I would consider myself blessed.

Mouse laughed. Okay, this guy didn’t suck. Yet. Lee had seemed nice too. A few pizza rolls and a lot of waiting impatiently for people to filter in for the raid later, Mouse decided that waiting sucked.

Foxfyre has created the group “Dethrone Hacker God”

Foxfyre has added BatRyung to the group.

Foxfyre has added Superman Yoosung to the group.

Foxfyre: Hey y’all. I realized being a go-between sucked.

Foxfyre: BatRyung, meet Superman Yoosung. Superman Yoosung, plz meet my buddy BatRyung, he’s my contact with that guild that’s got openings.

BatRyung: omg Mouse warn me before you throw me in a room with #2.

Superman Yoosung: ooh, a group chat. Hey~

Superman Yoosung: Aren’t you also in the top 25??

Foxfyre: Friends in high places, that’s me.

BatRyung: Nothing like #2. Also lololol this room name

Superman Yoosung: No one’s beaten Hacker God. It’s not possible.

Foxfyre: Last reset I got to spend a good few hours on top. You were there for a bit too.

Superman Yoosung: What?!

Foxfyre: Be nice and I might even share screenshots.

Superman Yoosung: omg omg omg plz

BatRyung: omg the #2 is a normal person

BatRyung: oh hey, we’re starting, y’all in?

Foxfyre: You know it. I can’t wait to get shit in chat for not being in voice.

Superman Yoosung: You don’t voice?

Foxfyre: Not usually.

Superman Yoosung: Really? Sad, I wanted to make more friends.

BatRyung: Mouse doesn’t deal well with idiots.

Superman Yoosung: I’m not an idiot!

BatRyung: I didn’t mean that, just.. Lots of us LOLOL players are.

Superman Yoosung: That’s true. Maybe sometime we can do a small group thing and you’ll voice with just a few of us.

Foxfyre: That might not suck. But it’ll have to wait until I can replace my headset. My laptop mic is crackly robot garbage.

BatRyung: Are you getting paid properly at that new job, Mouse?

BatRyung: Shoot, sorry, probably should have saved that for private chat.

Foxfyre: lol probably. I’ll tell you later.

Superman Yoosung: Aw, you know each other IRL?

BatRyung: Yeah, classmates.

Superman Yoosung: oh no high schoolers.

BatRyung: nah, college.

Superman Yoosung: so you get it when I complain about finals?

Foxfyre: LOL finals what even are those

Foxfyre: poor bastards

BatRyung: Hey you still owe me for that final project. ^_~

BatRyung: invites going out. Let me know if you need me to resend or summon.

Four hours and endless shit in chat about her lack of presence in the voice channel later, Mouse was exhausted. She’d been glancing at the chatroom, but hadn’t wanted to participate too much because she was gaming and her responses would have been short and full of typos. Mouse stretched, and felt the vertebrae in her back pop. Man, she hoped that the bed here was better than the couch she slept on last night. It was probably a princess worthy pillowtop snugglefest though, if everything else in this apartment meant anything.

Foxfyre: Heading to bed, nerds. Good luck on the next round, I have to get some sleep.

BatRyung: Call me tomorrow, k?

Foxfyre: can’t I just text?

BatRyung: ughhh ok.

Superman Yoosung: omg cute~

Superman Yoosung: are u 2 dating?

BatRyung: I don’t think my boyfriend will like that. He says g’night, Mouse.

BatRyung: Well, he did like an hour ago.

Foxfyre: lol the only person who ever wanted to date me made Dumpster Fires look like nice people, if you ask BatRyung’s bf

BatRyung: omg that was hilarious

Foxfyre: that whole conversation was an entire time.

Foxfyre: ok ok ok ok ok

Foxfyre: going.

Mouse shut off her laptop and headed towards bed. She moved her phone charger over to the bedside table, and set herself an alarm for nine in the morning. Not that she didn’t want to sleep in, but she was here, she should at least try and be around for the morning people chats and stuff. Besides, she could do some freelancing and make enough for a new headset, if she tried hard enough.

Once she was curled up in bed, she pulled up the chatroom. No one was there yet, but she figured she could hang out with it open while she settled in and let herself get sleepy. She should be exhausted. Physically, she sure was. But mentally she was all over the place.

Just as she was starting to get lost in her own thoughts, the chatroom wasn’t as lonely.

Yoosung★ has entered the chatroom.

Yoosung★: Yo, Mouse!

Mouse: Hey, it’s Yoosung!

Yoosung★: It me!

Yoosung★: I can’t believe I’m talking to the new member~

Yoosung★: I still feel dazed. I can’t even focus on gaming today.

Yoosung★: I have so much on my mind because of you…

Mouse: Whoa, you game?

Mouse: Sorry, sorry. Not the takeaway there.

Mouse: You can’t focus because of me?

Yoosung★: Games are life. Ok, Game. Just LOLOL.

Yoosung★: Do you game?

Mouse: Um.. Yeah.

Mouse: I hope I’m not a problem for you. I promise, I’ll do my very best!

Yoosung★: Oh! I don’t want you to feel burdened!

Man.. He might actually be Superman Yoosung. Shooooot. Time to change the subject.

Mouse: If you can’t focus, why not try some exercise? Exercise always helps me sleep.

Yoosung★: Exercise…

Yoosung★: 

Yoosung★: Someday I will.

Yoosung★: …

Yoosung★: Should I get a gym membership too?

Yoosung★: Zen has such a good body.

Yoosung★: I’m jealous

Yoosung★: I feel like he’s from a different planet.

Yoosung★:

Mouse blinked at the picture of a Zorro poster from when Zen was in it. Stunned. That was the same poster she had up on her wall before Lee tore it apart in a fit of… Lee. Wait. Shit. That.. Was her photo.

Mouse: Where did you get that photo?

Yoosung★: Got it from Zen’s fan blog lolol

Oh, okay. Sure. She’d definitely submitted it to that one Zens-fan-blog on tumblr or whatever it was. She had been so proud of having one of the real posters, and now she’s just even more sad that Lee happened to it.

Mouse: I can’t believe I am going to say this, but…

Mouse: Aww yeah~ Eye candy lol

Yoosung★: lolol I know right?

Yoosung★: Zen’s the perfect guy.

Mouse: I used to have that poster on my wall.

Yoosung★: Oh, for real?

Mouse: I could swear that picture you grabbed was my old room.

Yoosung★: Now I look creepy. I’m so glad Seven’s not here to notice.

Mouse: You’re not creepy. There’s nothing identifying in that photo, and besides, I could be wrong. It’s been awhile since I thought about it.

Yoosung★: Oh ok

Yoosung★: Even if I did exercise though I don’t think it’d help me sleep.

Yoosung★: It might be because I’m a coward and I want to feel Rika through you.

Mouse: I don’t even know Rika though, so like…

Yoosung★: I know, I just

Yoosung★: I still don’t know what I feel.

Yoosung★: I feel so complicated.

Mouse wanted to stop him. Feelings sucked and were hard and she didn’t want to think about the person who used to live in this apartment having taken her own life. It seemed like no one really knew what happened except V, who wasn’t telling. And while that made living here a whole lot more creepy, it was a lot better than having to sleep on a couch or deal with Lee finding her. Ugh, Lee. She didn’t want to think about him either.

A quick glance at her phone told her it’d gotten even later while they were chatting. She should probably stop this poor puppy full of anxiety before he spiraled himself into a panic attack or something.

Mouse: Don’t let it stress you out. I just kinda fell into this whole thing. It makes sense for everything to be confusing. Sleep on it, ok?

Yoosung★: Even tomorrow… you could leave Rika’s apartment…

Yoosung★: Delete this app

Yoosung★: and never talk to us again

Yoosung★: I would really miss you if that happens.

Yoosung★: Please… don’t abandon us.

Mouse: I won’t.

Mouse: Besides. Seven would find me. Or Jaehee would. Jumin probably has contacts too. So I guess y’all are stuck with me anyway.

Yoosung★: ^^

Yoosung★: Thank you.

Yoosung★: I hope you come here often to chat.

Yoosung★: I’m going to take your advice and go for a walk.

Yoosung★: There’s not much to see around my apt

Yoosung★: But I like the cold at night.

Mouse: Be careful, ok? ^^

Yoosung★: Yup! I will.

Yoosung★ has left the chatroom.

Mouse logged out of the chatroom and set her phone aside. Honestly, this could be going so much worse. She really lucked out finding the RFA. Who was Unknown, anyway? Was it possible that they led her here to help her, actually? It didn’t seem right, but V thought that this was what Rika would have wanted. Maybe V was Unknown, and just pretending not to be? But he said he didn’t know the door password. Ugh, this hurt to think about. Sleep first, existential thought second. Or never.

Chapter Text

When the alarm went off at 9am, it woke Mouse with a start.  She’d been having a dream about running from Lee, and it was a little much.  Even though she’d taken a bath the night before, she hauled herself out of the bed and went and stood under the shower until she felt like a person again. Nightmares already sucked, why did life have to go and add something else for her to be terrified of?

Once dry and dressed, (don’t get her started on her wardrobe, she was on a budget, ok?)  Mouse grabbed her phone and checked the chat to see if she had missed any early risers.

Oh. Jaehee got stuck with Jumin’s cat? Rude!  Like, Elly was such a cute cat, but still! Cats can fend for themselves, Jumin. Mouse could guarantee a man with money like that had a maid who could feed and water the cat while he was off on a business trip.

Zen, being all proud of his fan letters. Gosh. Did he keep all of them? Would he find the one she sent back when he did that weird hot pepper drug musical?

And Yoosung…. Wow, that omurice looked problematic. But also delicious? Maybe she should eat something. But… She really should send some supportive texts to these people, since the messenger app let her do that.

Mouse flopped down on the couch, and pulled up the text message interface.

Mouse > Jaehee Kang: Morning Jaehee!  I think you’re a real saint for taking care of Jumin’s cat.

Okay, Jaehee, check.

Mouse > Jumin Han: Good morning Jumin! I saw that I missed you in the chat while I was asleep and I wanted to make sure to greet you properly!

Jumin, handled.

Mouse > Zen: Good morning, Zen! I hope rehearsals go well today!

Zen, subtly flirted with? Maybe? What even was flirting?

Mouse > Yoosung★:  How was your walk? You got home safe cause I saw your omurice! It looked yummy, if a bit of a mess.

Yoosung, teased.

Mouse > 707: Beep boop apartment mouse pinging Seven-Zero-Seven.

She really wanted to get to know Seven.  His profile picture was heckin cute, and hacking was at the very least related to her degree plans, it’d be fun to get to know someone who knew more about computers than she did. 

Texts sent, she wandered into the kitchen and looked at the options she’d brought home yesterday. Nothing looked good. At all. Well, no one was going to get on her case about not eating now that she wasn’t stuck at home with Lee, so maybe skipping breakfast this once wouldn’t be too bad.  But she needed tea.  Thankfully, Rika had a nice tea kettle, so soon she had a steaming cup of green tea, and a pile of incoming texts to reply to.

Jaehee Kang > Mouse: I do not mind the cat so much as I mind the amount she sheds on my things.

Mouse > Jaehee Kang: Maybe you should just tell him to give you a key and when he needs to leave you can take care of her and let her leave her mess in the space she’s used to? I’d offer, but… the whole apartment thing.

Seriously, that cat was such a cutie.

Jumin Han > Mouse: And a good morning to you as well. I trust you’ve eaten breakfast?

OMG universe! What did I just say about no one nagging me to eat? 

Mouse > Jumin Han: Not yet, I’m starting with tea and hoping I get hungrier.

Nothing for it but to be honest. She hadn’t found the security cameras yet, but she knew they had to be here. It’s why she changed in the bathroom. No one had security cams in the bathroom, that was just gross.

Zen > Mouse: Thank you, Mouse! I’ll rehearse with our new member in mind!

Zen > Mouse: 

Mouse > Zen: Aww, that’s sweet! I wish I could watch you rehearse, I love your acting!

Maybe that was a little much, but even Jaehee admitted to being a fan so it wasn’t too weird. Probably. Maybe.

Yoosung★ > Mouse: I did get home safe! And it was good.. Usually it looks better but not this time. I wanted you to see that I could cook!

Mouse > Yoosung★: Oh, I want to have you cook for me sometime! Maybe we can cook together. I’m no good at it though. I can make tea and bake pizza rolls though!

Honesty was the best policy. Didn’t want them thinking she was good at more things and tacking them on to the nebulous “convince people to come to this charity party” job she already had.

707 > Mouse: 404, awake Seven not found.

Mouse > 707: Wouldn’t that be a 504 timeout error then? I think Seven is actually there. ^^;

Haha! Nerd jokes.  Mouse looked where she thought a camera would be if she had been the one to set them up, and did finger guns in its general direction. Almost instantly, her phone buzzed again.  Seems like someone other than Mouse was a fast typist.

707 > Mouse: Finger guns? Really?

Mouse > 707: !! Caught you looking!

Well, that was one camera located.  One place she should be sure to be out of sight of before changing.  She made a face at the camera, and then decided she should probably eat something. At least so she didn't have to lie to Jumin next time he asked, she got up to put together a bowl of cereal. Reeses Puffs with Vanilla Almond Milk.  She wasn’t lactose intolerant or anything, but she’d taught herself to drink almond milk because Lee wouldn’t touch it even if it was the last liquid on the planet, which meant there was always some protein at hand.

Ugh, why did she have to go and think of that asshole. Ruined a perfectly good morning.  She was still nervous to go out alone, just in case he was waiting like he was at the parking garage the last time she’d been on campus.  It was probably fine, he probably realized she was never coming back, but the logic didn’t help her anxiety one bit.

Having finished her cereal while thinking about her idiot ex, Mouse flopped down on the couch and checked the messenger. Maybe someone was there.   She didn’t really want to start in on LOLOL this early in her day, but she hadn’t started to do the RFA job yet because they didn't have a party date set yet and no one had emailed.

Nope, chat was still empty.  So, she had a conversation with herself.

Mouse: Hello, empty chat.

Mouse: I didn’t realize that an empty chat could feel so lonely when I didn’t even have anyone to chat with two days ago.

Mouse: I was hoping to chat with someone, or maybe get started on whatever my job is now, y’know, earn my keep or whatever.

Mouse: Well, too bad. Y’all missed out on some good Mouse chatting.

Mouse: I’m just going to be playing LOLOL for awhile, so if you need me for anything at all, just text or call, I’m interruptable.

Man, that was the loneliest thing she’d ever done. Well, LOLOL was calling, best to log in.

Mouse was broken from her gaming focus by her phone vibrating against the desk. She looked over at it, and grinned. Zen was calling her? Silly thespian. She reached out and picked it up.

“Hello, Lovely Zen!”

“L-Lovely?! Did I call the right person? This is Mouse, right?”

“Haha ya. You got me.”

“Oh. Oh good. I was worried I called someone else.”

“Got a girlfriend on speed dial who calls you lovely?”

“Uh, no… no girlfriend.”

“Oh, did I hit a sore spot? Must be hard dating when you’re famous.”

“I’m not famous!! Anyway, this isn’t why I called you. I like talking about me, but I wanted to make sure that you’re doing okay, after staying in Rika’s apartment all night.  We can’t know where you are, but we’re still concerned.”

“Is that the royal We?”

“Well no, me and Yoosung were talking about you earlier.”

“Oh, well, I’m flattered. I’m fine. The apartment is lovely. The internet’s pretty good, too.”

“That’s good to hear. I really wish we knew where you were so we could hang out.”

“I don’t know if I’m cool enough to hang out with you, Zen.”

“What do you mean? We hang out on the messenger all the time.”

“Yeah, but be seen in public with me? Your poor reputation.”

“Well, Seven thinks you’re cute, so it couldn’t be that bad for me.”

“. . .”

Mouse felt like her brain had stalled, and was sputtering in an attempt to restart.

“OMG are you blushing over there?”

“I.. Uh.. My game is calling.” 

She hung up on him. Why did she hang up the phone? Seven thought she was cute, and Zen trusted his opinion on this? Did that mean Zen thought she was cute? Oh no. Oh no no no. She’d just gotten out of a relationship, she could not start flirting with two hot guys she hadn’t met in person. She drank a swallow of her soda, and sighed when her phone, still in her hand, started to ring again.  Without looking at it, she swiped to accept and held it up to her ear.

“Listen, I’m sorry I…”

“Oh, so now you’re sorry, Min-Jae?” Lee’s voice purred out angrily from her phone.

“Shit.” She said, unthinkingly, feeling a chill run down her spine.

“That’s right. You’re in the shit now. You better come home.”

“I’m not coming back, Lee.”

“That’s what you think, Min.”

“I won’t let you hurt me again. We’re done. We’ve been done since you laid a single hand on me.”

“That right? Then how come we had such good sex this past week, little Min?”

“We didn’t do anything. You took what you wanted and didn’t care.”

“Like you did when you walked out?”

“I’m done talking about this, Lee.”

“Well, I’m not.”

“Too bad.”

Mouse hung up the phone, and regretted not having any way of slamming a handset down like they did on TV. It would have been more satisfying.  She resisted (just barely) throwing her phone across the room, because she wouldn’t be able to do the job that got her this apartment if she broke her phone. Sighing, she pulled up the contact for Lee, and changed the ring tone to the ‘Red Alert’ tone from Star Trek.  That way she’d have a clue if he called again.

Of course, it immediately started blaring its alert.  

It didn’t stop after a single call.

She felt like it went on for hours.

She didn’t dare pick her phone back up in case she accidentally answered it.

When it finally stopped, Mouse realized that she had curled up on the couch hugging her knees to her chest, head on her knees, hood up and hiding her face.  When she put her hood down and looked out at the universe again, she realized everything was blurry.  Weird. She didn’t need glasses.  A few owlish blinks and she’d managed to clear most of the residual tears from her eyes. She sniffed a couple of times before grabbing her phone.  Compulsively she counted the number of times he’d called in a row. 73. 73 times. He had to know the effect he had on her at this point. He had to know what he was doing. So why? What had she ever done to him? They’d been dating for two years, and he hadn’t shown any of this until now. 

She pulled up the messenger app, meaning to text Zen and let him know she was sorry for hanging up on him.  She wasn’t expecting the pile of texts she had waiting, and the chat logs of chats she’d missed.

Zen > Mouse: You hung up on me! Rude! You ok?

Zen > Mouse: Did I upset you? I was just teasing.

Zen > Mouse: 

Zen > Mouse: Okay, I know I did something wrong. Please forgive me.

Zen > Mouse: Are you okay? Did something happen?

Zen > Mouse: Mouse??

Yoosung★ > Mouse: Hey, Zen said you were playing LOLOL so I was wondering what server you play on

Yoosung★ > Mouse: You must be focusing! Well, I’m on Shooting Star, as Superman Yoosung, if you want to play together ever.

Yoosung★ > Mouse: Unless you don’t want to play together?

Yoosung★ > Mouse: 

Yoosung★ > Mouse: Zen says you’re not responding to him either, are you ok?

Yoosung★ > Mouse: Please text me when you are okay?

Jaehee Kang > Mouse: Hello! Are you available to grab coffee?

Jaehee Kang > Mouse: Are you busy? My break is over, maybe we can grab coffee tomorrow.

Jumin Han > Mouse: Hello. I would like to call you, are you available?

707 > Mouse: Squeak! Squeak squeak!

707 > Mouse: Zen said he broke you, are you broken?

707 > Mouse: 

707 > Mouse: Ctrl-Alt-Del?

707 > Mouse: Alt-F4?

707 > Mouse: Alt-Tab?

707 > Mouse: Shift-Tab?

707 > Mouse: Abort, Retry, Fail?

707 > Mouse: We both know I can see you, so answer my texts.

707 > Mouse: Why is your phone going straight to voicemail? I can see that it’s still powered on.

707 > Mouse: Um. Why is your phone making the Red Alert sound? Is there a problem?

707 > Mouse: Mouse, you’re scaring me.

707 > Mouse: 

707 > Mouse: Clearly you’re not okay. Please, please please start being okay. I’m concerned.

Mouse sighed, and ran her fingers through her hair. Well. Did she read the chatrooms, or respond? She wanted to be informed, but she could feel the worry in the words, especially Seven’s. Guess it was time to text everyone the same thing.

Mouse > Zen: I’m sorry for hanging up on you. I just got flustered, and then some… things happened. Not your fault. I’ll catch up on chat in a minute.

Mouse > Yoosung★: omg sorry Yoosung, I got caught up in some RL crap and wasn’t paying attention to texts. Give me a couple minutes to get everything settled out and make sure Seven’s not going to send a cat army after me and I’ll talk LOLOL with you until I die. <3

Oops. She put a heart on that.  Oh well. He was heckin cute too. And she needed something to make her smile.

Mouse > Jaehee: Hey there, you. Sorry I missed your break, had some real life things to handle. I’d be happy to grab coffee tomorrow, I was planning to be on campus anyway!

Mouse > Jumin: Sorry, I was unavailable. Do you still need to talk? If now is bad we can schedule something so we don’t continue missing each other.

Mouse > 707: Hey. Um. I’m still not ok, but I’m ok enough. Trying to respond to people. Will explain once I am caught up on the non-Red Alert related backlog.

By the time she got done with all those texts, she didn’t want to care about anything else, but she needed to eat something. Instant Noodles. Yes. That was edible. Mouse put water in the kettle and started it heating, then pulled up the chat log to see what she’d missed.  It looked like Zen and Yoosung had been talking about her being non-responsive and then V came, and started talking about how guests had started calling him about the party, even though they’d only just decided to have one and hadn’t yet set a date. The thought that whoever led her here had deeper motivations than.. Well, she had no idea what their motivations were.  It concerned her. Apparently not as much as it did Zen and V, but still.  It felt like she was perhaps “Out of the Frying Pan, into the Fire” as her grade school teachers liked to say.  Sure, Lee was bad. (Stop thinking about Lee, Mouse.) But whatever was going on now with the RFA was also scary.

No one else had said anything, and Mouse realized that the kettle had clicked to proclaim itself hot.  She poured water over her late lunch noodles, and checked her text log to see if she’d gotten any more response to her apologies for disappearing. Obviously, she had.

707 > Mouse: I’m here if you want to talk about anything, Miss Mouse. You don’t have to though. Don’t want to pressure you. Do want to know what the hell that red alert was for, scared the shit out of me.

Yoosung★ > Mouse: Oh, a heart! <3 There, I sent one back.  I’ll be around whenever you want to play LOLOL, I don’t have anything else going on but games as usual tonight.

Zen > Mouse: Some things? Now I’m curious. Also did you see what V said? Please be safe.

Jumin > Mouse: No need. I was calling on Assistant Kang’s behalf and she no longer needs to hear from you.

Jaehee > Mouse: Tomorrow sounds good! I’ll let you know as soon as I know when my break will be and we can meet up then.

Mouse sighed, and stirred up her noodles. What she wanted to do was go curl up in bed and cry. But she knew Seven would be upset if she did that, and very likely also Zen and Yoosung.

So, she closed her laptop and settled with her phone and her soup at the desk.

Mouse > Zen: My ex called right after I hung up on you. Thought it was you, so I picked up right away. Bad choice. That’s all.

Mouse > Yoosung★: You’re too sweet, Yoosung! I’m apologizing to Zen and Seven for ignoring them too, but then I can play. We’re totally already friends on LOLOL though ;) I thought Superman Yoosung would be you, and I was totes right.

Mouse > 707: It’s a lot to unpack. And it’s still very.. Present. Not that I want to think of you watching me all the time in cameras, but… how much have you noticed?

She sent the last message and sighed. She wanted to tell someone. She couldn’t tell Dae and Ryung everything because, to be honest, they’d known each other only a little longer than she’d known the RFA folks. And they would want to talk about this face to face, and she just didn’t feel strong enough for that.

And then her phone rang.

Chapter Text

Mouse looked at her phone with its totally normal ringtone. Oh, it was Seven. Thank god.

“Seven, hi.”

“Mouse, hi.”

“So, um, what’s up?”

“Well, you asked me a loaded question, and I decided that I didn’t want it to be awkward texts constantly, so I decided to just call because that at least has tone if not body language.”

“Oh. Makes sense. I just hate phone calls.”

“Calling people sucks. Calling you sucks less.”

“Aw, cute. Anyway, so, my question. What have you seen while ostensibly checking up on me with your at least one camera?”

The pause was palpable.

“I wanted to make a joke about seeing you naked. I had it all prepared in my head but I can’t do it. I can’t make you feel unsafe there. I’ve seen you in your pajamas though. You don’t look so hot, Mouse.  Bruises, Burns, and I’m pretty sure some cuts that might scar. What the fuck are you mixed up in?”

“Scar? Ugh. It’s so hard to handle the shoulder ones.”

“It is. Lower back ones are too. Want to tell me about it?”

She winced. She didn’t. She did. She was alone in this and there was nothing he could do to help.

“You don’t have to tell me, Mouse. I can almost feel your fear from here.”

Mouse shook her head, but she knew he couldn’t hear that.

“No, I want to. But you’re right that I’m scared.”

“I promise to believe you and not to judge you.”

“Thanks. Um. Where to start…”

“Don’t start at the beginning. I have a feeling that’s a lot farther back than will help right now.”

Mouse chuckled at that. How had he known she was going to start with losing her parents? Oh well.

“So, just the super recent then. Um, so I have been basically a loner for the last half a dozen years. Two years ago when I moved here to live with family, I met this guy, and we hit it off, and then we started living together. Things were going great. Sure, he had some possessive habits, but I got used to them.”

“Possessive doesn’t leave colors behind.”

“Yeah that’s a lot newer. Um. So it came to a head this semester when he basically bullied me into only taking one class because he couldn’t bear to be apart for longer than that. I knew it was a problem, and I’d resolved to get my credit load back on schedule starting this fall, even if it meant fighting.  But then, things went from uncomfortable to untenable.”

Seven made concerned sounds, but didn’t interrupt her train of thought, so she just let the words spill out unchecked.  She hadn’t meant to tell him everything but he just felt like the right person to trust with this.

“So, when we got our group assignments for our final project, I got put together with a couple of guys that I didn’t know at the time, but quickly became good friends, even though I basically had no other friends. They didn’t care that I was a mixed girl in my major, they just cared that I did good work. And they weren’t trying to get in my pants either, because they were dating each other. Perfect storm, really.  Anyway, we got so into project planning that I missed the last train home, so they drove me home. Lee.. That’s my ex.. Took offense to me being in a car with two other guys. He wouldn’t listen to reason, and.. Well, that started the physical stuff.”

She’d wanted to say ‘and that’s when he put his cigarette out in my shoulder’ or ‘and that’s when he refused to let me out of his sight even long enough to shower’ or even ‘did you notice this bruise on my arm is a handprint? I am morbidly obsessed.’ But she couldn’t manage any of that.  Saying it out loud made it real.  At some point, she’d started crying.

“I knew that I had to be better than TV heroines. I had to get out, and not look back. So when it was time for my final class of the semester, I packed my tech into my backpack and walked away. He wanted to stop me from leaving, and if he’d known that I didn’t intend to come home, I would never have gotten out the door.”

She could hear Seven breathing but he wasn’t saying anything. What if he thought she was a terrible person? What if she was a terrible person? She could feel herself choking up on tears, but made herself continue.

“I was just going to pull an all-nighter somewhere on campus, honestly I hadn’t thought it through at all, but I hadn’t taken into account my classmates turned friends who drove me home after class. Ryung grabbed my wrist. He didn’t know I was hurt, I had my hoodie on for a reason. Anyway, they’re good friends, and they let me crash their couch that night.”

“There’s more to this story, though. There’s the day you joined us, and whatever happened today.”

Mouse nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. She kept doing that.

“The morning after I crashed on Dae’s couch, Lee showed up at their door at 6am, screaming and demanding they hand me over. They hid me in the closet before they opened the door, he had no reason to even think I was there, but he was really aggressive. Then he punched a hole in their front door, and just then the police showed up and witnessed him doing it, so they took him in. Then we tried to go about our day, the guys to their finals and me to trying to find a new place to live.”

“He punched their door? What the fuck, dude, you’re not The Hulk.”

“Ugh, right? Anyway basically right after we got to campus the Unknown dude sent me a text masquerading as Dae inviting me to this messenger, and the rest is history.”

“No wonder you followed his directions. What did you have to lose? My god, Mouse, that is one hell of a time. How does that tie into today?”

“Yeah. So then today was just bad timing I guess.”

“How so?”

“Well, I was on the phone with Zen, and he said something that flustered me and I hung up on him.”

“LOL OMG you hung up on Zen? His poor ego.”

“It needed deflating so it could survive his narcissism longer.”

“Ya. Anyway, so then?”

“So then my phone rang again right away and I thought it was Zen calling back, so I answered it right away and instead of saying ‘Hello’ I said ‘I’m sorry’ and.. It was Lee.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

“So we argued which was expected but he threw some things in my face that I had been trying to block out, and I told him we were done talking, and I just stopped being a person, I managed to change his ring tone to the red alert sound, but then he just started calling again and never stopped. I just curled up on the couch until it stopped, I have no idea how long it was but I didn’t dare even touch my phone because I’m a klutz and I would have answered it somehow. I just couldn’t.. I just..”

She trailed off, trying to choke back the sobs so Seven couldn’t hear them.

Seven spoke then, but it was like his voice was a full octave lower than usual.

“Mouse. You are so damn strong.”

So much for not letting him notice that she was crying.

“I’m not. I get my friends in trouble, everyone around me dies or leaves, and I’m left with people who just want to use me or hurt me. The RFA deserves so much better.”

“No, it doesn’t. You’re amazing, and gorgeous, and funny, and everything the RFA needs.”

Mouse blushed, and choked on her tears trying not to laugh.

“If I follow my trends, I should hang up on you.”

“What?! Why hang up on God Seven?”

“Well, I hung up on Zen because he told me you thought I was cute. And then you just said I was gorgeous, so my brain train is trying to derail catastrophically right now.”

“Zen what?!”

“Yeah. He wanted to meet up and I was worried about ruining his reputation and he said that you thought I was cute so I couldn’t do that much harm or something.”

“He’s gonna pay for telling you that.”

“But you just said…”

“Shhh. Pretend you heard nothing.”

“Yeah, probably for the best.”

“You gonna be ok, lil Mouse?”

“Probably, someday. I think I’m gonna hold together at least enough to play some LOLOL with Yoosung. He seemed excited earlier.”

“LOLOL huh… well, don’t forget about poor God Seven trying to catch a hacker, ok?”

“I won’t. I’ll keep the messenger up.”

“Good girl~”

“Bye, Seven.”

“Bye, Mousey~”

Seven was such a good.  A good what was still the question, but nonetheless a good. Ugh. Her ramen got cold while she was talking. She made a point to finish it anyway.

Mouse looked at the messenger like she promised Seven she would, but no one was online. But then, she realized she’d missed a flurry of texts from Yoosung when she was on the phone with Seven.

Yoosung > Mouse: We’re already friends?!

Yoosung > Mouse: How long have I known you and not known it was you?

Yoosung > Mouse: Did I offend you somehow?

Yoosung > Mouse: Oh wait you said you were talking to Zen and Seven and you’re not in the messenger, so clearly you’re on the phone.  I’ll just get on LOLOL and wait for you.

She steepled her fingers together as she laughed her best evil laugh. Gosh, Yoosung was so fun to tease. Well, subterfuge over, time to go blow his mind.

When Mouse logged into LOLOL, she waited to see if Yoosung would immediately pop up and accuse her of being Mouse.  She scrolled back through the group chat with Ryung and noticed that he’d actually called her by name a couple of times. If Yoosung was paying attention, or went back and checked the log, he’d know that too.

When he didn’t pop up to talk to her, she hesitated to reach out to him. What if he was upset with her? Would he be more upset if she didn’t? Probably.

Foxfyre: Hey, instead of Superman Yoosung, can I call you something like Cutie Yoosung?

Superman Yoosung: Cutie?

Foxfyre: Yep. Because you’re cute.

Superman Yoosung: You mean my avatar?

Foxfyre: No, your cute blonde hair and purple eyes.

Superman Yoosung: Uh, you’re..

Foxfyre: Mouse, obviously.

Superman Yoosung: WAIT OMG YOU ARE MOUSE

Foxfyre: Good job, you figured me out!

Superman Yoosung: but you want to call me cutie?

Foxfyre: Well, I mean, mostly I wanted to try and sound like creeper seven, but also you’re cute, so.

Superman Yoosung: Normally men don’t like being called cute, but when you say it…

Foxfyre: <3

Superman Yoosung: I need to apologize to you, Mouse.

Foxfyre: Apologize? What for? Did I do something?

Superman Yoosung: No, no, I did. When you said you played LOLOL I assumed you were a noob and that I was gonna have to carry you, but you’re not. You’re amazing. How did you even climb another two spots today?

Foxfyre: I only fell to 18 because of.. Problems. 14 still feels like trash. I want my #7 back. Lucky 7. Oh lol I just realized. Seven.

Superman Yoosung: You've been #7 so long I was sure I was going to find out you were actually Luciel.

Foxfyre: haha I can just imagine. But! I’m totes gonna catch you, and then take down Hacker God.

Superman Yoosung: I still think that’s impossible, I’ve basically never seen him online.

Mouse noticed another message blinking to gain her attention at the bottom of the LOLOL Launcher. (LOLOLL?) Oh dear. Was it really from Hacker God?

Hacker God has accepted your friend request

Hacker God: Hey mouse

Hacker God: Heard you were talkin smack.

Foxfyre: That’s right. Coming for your spot.

Foxfyre: Wait a minute. Why did you call me mouse?

Hacker God: I knew it was you!! Haha! God Seven knows all.

Foxfyre: Wait. What?! SEVEN?!

Mouse pushed her gaming glasses up her face and imagined them flashing in the light. This would not stand. Yoosung had to explain why he was keeping the fact that Hacker God was Seven from her. Especially after they just joked about her usually being #7! How absolute dare!

Foxfyre has created the room “RFA Gamers Anony-mouse”

Foxfyre has added Superman Yoosung to the room.

Foxfyre has added Hacker God to the room

Foxfyre: Okay, so I didn’t tell Yoosung I was me BUT

Foxfyre: How come you didn’t tell me that Hacker God was SEVEN?!?!

Superman Yoosung: WHAT

Hacker God: omg caps

Hacker God: Yoosung, I taught you to play LOLOL how could you not know this was me?

Hacker God: And Mouse, I did tell you. When I logged in. Just now.

Superman Yoosung: no, but WHAT?!

Hacker God: lolol

Foxfyre: lolol indeed. But also. Dang, yo.

Superman Yoosung: We need to get together and do a big LAN party.

Foxfyre: Party at Seven’s place!

Hacker God: After the real party.

Foxfyre: Aww.

Hacker God: We should totes play now though

Superman Yoosung: Voice chat!

Foxfyre: I can’t. :( No headset.

Hacker God: What happened to your headset?

Foxfyre: Lee happened.

Superman Yoosung: Who’s Lee?

Hacker God: We’re not talking about him today.

Superman Yoosung: Okaaay? Well how do we get Mouse a headset?

Foxfyre: I just need to buy one.

Hacker God: As if! I bet Yoosung has a spare.

Foxfyre: But I can’t tell him where the apartment is.

Superman Yoosung: You could come to me though! Or we could meet on campus? Jaehee told me that you go where I go!

Foxfyre: I suppose I could do that, maybe see my boys before I meet you, or get a coffee or something. That won’t help us right now though.

Hacker God: I just got a call from work so I have to go now anyway.

Superman Yoosung: Oh, ok bye Seven.

Foxfyre: Bye Seven!

Mouse sighed.  #1 and #2, and now she was working with them. How weird was this universe? Oh, her private message with Seven was blinking again, had he sent her something separate from the group chat?

Hacker God: Bye, gorgeous ^_~ Don’t compulsively hang up on Yoosung!

Mouse felt herself blush, and flipped off the living room camera. Seven, that jerk! She shook her head and looked back down at her chat with just Yoosung.

Foxfyre: Ready to go kill some things?

Superman Yoosung: Very yes. But you’re going to come meet me on campus after my final tomorrow, right?

Foxfyre: OMG Yes, of course! I cannot wait to actually get to meet you. I was sure I was going to have to wait until the party, and I just can’t handle waiting some nebulous amount of time!

Superman Yoosung: I hope V sets a date soon. I'm looking up potential guests!

Foxfyre: I'm so nervous that I will do a bad job! Let's go find an epic monster to kill so I can stop using my brain for thinking.

Chapter Text

Mouse sat up in bed and stretched. She’d spent part of her time last night figuring out where all of the cameras were. Seven had made it clear that he checked on her regularly, so she wanted to make sure she knew what he could see. She was sure she’d missed at least one, because Seven had told her she’d found them all, but this was one case where ignorance might actually be bliss. Her vermillion-haired creeper in mind, Mouse saluted the bedroom camera.

She had plans to get coffee with Dae and Ryung before their morning final, and then she was meeting up with Yoosung when he was done with his last final, and then they were doing lunch at a nebulous ‘somewhere’. Which probably meant he hadn’t decided, but that was fine. There was a short gap between finishing coffee time and meeting Yoosung, which was a perfect amount of time to walk from the coffee shop to the building where Yoosung's final was being held.

All of that walking and nebulous meal planning meant she needed to get something solid for breakfast into her system before she headed out for coffee. Might be an egg toast kind of morning. Gotta get that protein just in case lunch with Yoosung turned into a production. Mouse bounced out of bed, and grabbed her phone off the nightstand. She practically danced her way into the kitchen, loading up the chatroom as she went. Oh hey, Seven was in the chat.

707: Pulled

707: an

707: all

707: nighter

707: T_T

707: So tired T_T

Mouse: Are you ok?

Poor tired Seven. Mouse yawned in sympathy and pulled her breakfast materials out of the fridge. Oh, Seven responded.

707: Nope.

707: Not ok at all T_T

707: Still have my eyes open!

707: Sooooo tiredddddd!

707: T_T

707: I have so much work these days…

707: Why are there more people asking hackers to do background checks on others?

Mouse: Feel like people trust others less and less these days T_T Such a cruel world!!

She put the fire under the pan, and dropped a pat of butter in. She followed it with bread and egg, and then looked back at the messenger, to see that Seven had left a ton more messages, this time about the party? Sheesh. Hacker boy typed as fast as she did.

707: Ya.

707: Agreed.

707: What’s happening to this world…

707: …

707: But u can trust me >_<

707: U can trust Seven!

707: I’m sure the wolrd is only getting more chaotic!

707: In this putrid world.

707: RFA party remains as the sole emblem of elegance, beauty, and charity…

707: When will it be…

707: It’s already been three days since u entered the group.

707: but V still hasn’t set the date.

707: Even I’m starting to get frustrated now….

707: I should talk to V…

Mouse: Seems like you two talk often. He must really trust you.

She finished typing her message, and flipped her egg toast. When she looked back down at the phone there was another deluge of messages from Seven.

707: Well… We are close, lol

707: But to be honest,

707: Luciel=V’s SLAVE

707: It’s true.

707: Something like

707: a lone hunter in a dark world

707: who has complete faith in V!

707: >_<

707: A soap opera of love and hate!!

707: But

707: even if we don’t get to hold the party

707: it’s enough for me to just chat with you like this!!!

707: >_<

Mouse: I just wanna hang out with you too! Life is hard T_T

Really, it was true.  She’d agreed to do the party because it gave her a safe place to stay away from Lee. And she’d met so many great new friends, cute boys who she’d really like to get to know better. She knew that she was probably going to get shit for rebounding from Lee, but.. It’d been so long since she’d actually felt happy. But, which one? She should probably make sure to meet them all before leading any of them on. Not that she had any idea if they were interested back, but… nope. Don’t want to think about this. 

Oh shoot, her toast!  Mouse flipped her toast out onto the waiting plate moments before it burned, and pulled up a stool at the counter to read the next wall of text from friend Seven.

707: I’d like to too

707: but I have so much work T_T

707: I wanna play!

707: In my next life,

707: I wanna be born as a cat…

707: Make a living with my sibling cats

707: and just live a happy life

707: without getting help from the mother cat!! Lol

707: Man~

707: It’s so fun talking to you! >.<

707: Every time I log into the messenger,

707: my heart races a bit.

707: I wanna get to know u better

707: lolol

Mouse: But don’t you already know everything about me?

She knew he’d done a background check on her, and had looked up photos of her, and the like. Maybe he wanted to know about things that weren’t online, though.  He did also already know about her issues with Lee, and if he still wanted to know… maybe just maybe she could spend more time with Seven someday.

707: Ya.

707: …

707: I mean, no. Nope.

707: …

707: Gahh! Don’t ask me things like that!

707: Even if I know some things about u,

707: I’ve never met u in person so I’m really curious lol

707: Whenever the chatroom’s open,

707: I get excited

707: thinking about whether or not u’ll be there lol

707: lol

707: What should I compare this feeling to? Lol

707: Probably the combination of Dr Pepper and Honey Buddha Chips. Lol

Mouse paused at that comparison, and took another bite of her breakfast. That was all Seven ate and drank. His favorite things. Did he mean he thought of chatting with her as his favorite thing, or like it was everything he wanted? Oh jeez. He was probably just deflecting, she’d better respond.

Mouse: Oooh so cool! lol You’re so on point!

707: Right? Right?/

707: >_<

707: It’s my favorite combination!!

707: Yum yum!

707: YUM

707: yum

707: Yum lol

In the middle of the yum-train he’d sent a cute selfie with a wink, a kissy face, and a bag of honey buddha chips. Despite her earlier internal monologue, Mouse couldn’t help but imagine herself being the real target of that face, and blushed. She shoved the last bite of her toast in her face, and then typed the silliest thing she could think of to break the mood. At least, her mood. Who knows what silliness would do to Seven.

Mouse: I wanna have Honey Buddha Chips and Doctor Pepper for breakfast too! Lol

707: It’s true that they’re good,

707: but nope.

707: u should eat good things.  I’m already kinda ruined,

707: but no need for u to go down the same path. Lol

707: To conclude, you can never skip breakfast!

707: 

707: I hope you don’t eat too many snacks. Lol

Mouse: I’m a gamer college student. My life is snacks.

707: Not as much as mine! I have boxes of Honey Buddha Chips!

Mouse:  Really? Wow, so jelly!

707: lolololol

707: Now that I’ve had my breakfast

707: I’m gonna go to the world of dreams.

707: Zzz

Mouse: Sleep tight ^^

707: You too!

707: You can dream about me.

707: Special guest 707 as the main lead.

707: >_<

707: Laterz

707 has left the chatroom.

That was… a time. Dream of him? Likely. Mouse really hoped that he fell asleep quickly. Maybe dream of her, too. Mouse reached to leave the chat, and just before she did so, Zen popped in.

Zen has joined the chatroom.

Zen: Oh man! That Seven and his chips.

Zen: So bad for his skin.

Zen: I on the other hand have gorgeous skin

Zen: Which brings me to my good news

Zen: Drumroll please!

Mouse: Hi Zen! *drumrolls*

Zen: I have a photoshoot for my new role! It’s on Yoosung’s campus!

Zen: I should do lunch with the kid.

Mouse: OMG ZEN

Zen: Are you excited to hear about how good I am?

Mouse: that was a little much but

Mouse: I am going to be on Yoosung’s campus today too.. Cause it’s also mine, and I’m gonna hang out with Yoosung after his last final today.

Zen: . . .

Zen: It must be fate. We shall have to meet, Mouse.

Zen: 

Mouse: That’d be super sweet! Not that I know what we’re doing for lunch, but if you’re going to be there too Yoosung will probably decide faster. ^^

Zen: I should make sure he wasn’t planning anything that it’d be a problem to add me to.

Mouse: I gotta head to the shower so I can get to campus on time.

Zen: Shower?! +.+ I’m already on my way to my shoot or… nevermind.

Mouse: I don’t think I want to know what you were just thinking there. Bye!

Mouse has left the chatroom.

That Zen. Sheesh. 

Mouse tugged her hoodie sleeves down further, sure that she was showing marks she’d prefer not to. She was really hoping that Yoosung wouldn’t notice.  Coffee with Dae and Ryung had been good, but she couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched the whole time. She kept her concerns to herself, because she didn’t want to worry Dae & Ryung who had already been worried and bothered so much on her behalf.

The walk from the coffee shop to outside the building where she’d wait for Yoosung was short, but she definitely felt the imaginary eyes on her much harder.  It was probably nothing, Lee wouldn’t be looking for her on campus when he knew she didn’t have any more classes and he’d made damn sure she wouldn’t be staying with Dae & Ryung.

This was one of her favorite places to sit on campus where there was a nice rock to sit on that was out of the way, and she could see the entire entrance area for the Chemistry building that Yoosung was supposed to be coming out of.  She had probably ten minutes to soak up some sun before she would be ambushed by a cute blond.

And so, despite her earlier misgivings, Mouse let her guard down and shut her eyes to enjoy the Vitamin-D providing solar energy.  She started to hear movement around her, and was surprised that people were getting done with their final already.  She opened her eyes, everything around her appearing blue after the red of her eyelids, and looked for Yoosung. He didn’t know what she looked like, after all.  He knew to expect her hoodie with the mouse ears, but that was it.  She hopped up off the rock and started walking towards the doors, pulling her hood up so the ears were visible. So focused on looking for Yoosung, Mouse missed the person walking up to her until it was too late to change direction.

“Hey, little bitch. Found you.”

Mouse finally understood what it meant for someone’s blood to run cold.

“Lee.”

“Min-Jae.”

“I’m not interested in whatever you have to say.”

“Oh, I know. You didn’t ignore me for hours yesterday just to care now.”

“Good. So leave me alone.”

“Oh, no. Did you think you’d get away with leaving that easily?”

She could see his face now, and she did not like what she saw. Nor did she like the fact that he seemed to be backing her toward a wall, and she didn’t see a way out of the situation. She hadn’t been expecting him to pull anything in public other than making a scene, this was just.. Something.. Else. She pulled out her phone and pulled up the contacts for dialing, and hit one at random.  She didn’t get a chance to put it up to her ear before Lee smacked it out of her hand and sent it skittering across the concrete.

“Lee, don’t do this. We’re in public.”

“Oh, I don’t care. You’re going to answer for what you’ve done.”

“What I’ve done?”

“Oh yes.”

He was close enough now to reach her, and pushed her into the wall she’d been trapped against, hard enough that her head bounced off the brick. Now I know what people mean when they say they see stars she thought, and blinked back the pain. She wouldn’t give him the pleasure of seeing her react. Not here, not in public, on the campus she attended, where a guy she liked was going to be looking for her. Any minute now...

Chapter Text

Yoosung was impatient.  He knew he was supposed to be focusing on this final, but Mouse was coming to meet him. Mouse! And Zen was going to join them after his shoot.  When he finally had an answer on every question, he called it good and turned in his test to the TA at the front of the class, and went looking for Mouse.  She was supposed to be wearing a mouse hoodie, and it was warm today, so he hoped she was actually wearing it.

He stepped out into the sun and saw something he wasn’t expecting.  Some guy was harassing a girl in broad daylight.  He saw her head bounce off the wall, and his eyes were immediately drawn to her hood, with its cute ears.

Cute mouse ears.

Oh, fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck.

That was blood, on the bricks.

Mouse's blood.

She was bleeding.

Who was that and why were they bothering his Mouse?

Wait. Seven had texted him to remind him to make sure she was safe because he still hadn’t caught the hacker. Was this the hacker, or someone the hacker sent? He looked strong.

Suddenly, Yoosung wasn’t sure what to do. He couldn’t take on this guy without backup, he didn’t have backup, and the only person he knew nearby was in the middle of a photo shoot.  

So he did everything he could do. He called Zen.

“Yoosung, we’re wrapping, I’ll be there when I can.”

“Zen, I need help. The cat caught our mouse.”

“What? Is this code?”

“Yes. No. Zen, there’s some dude hurting mouse and I can’t help and I don’t know what to do!”

“You’re where we were going to meet, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Stay put, I’ll be right there.”

Oh. He hung up.

Yoosung looked back up to mouse, and saw more violence than should happen to anyone ever, especially in public, and especially to a girl he liked. Why was this happening? He knew Zen told him to stay put, but how could he face Mouse if he just let her get hit like that? He took two steps forward and then his phone was ringing again. It was… Seven?

“Seven, I can’t talk right now, it’s bad.”

“Where’s Mouse?”

“She came to see me but some guy is…”

“Shit.”

“Do you know something, Seven?”

“Don’t let him touch her.”

“Too late.”

“Don’t let them leave. Don’t let her out of your sight. I’m sending the cops your way for an assault in progress.”

“I need to help her!”

“Yoosung, she will not be happy if you get hurt too.”

“Okay but…”

“Be a good puppy and listen to God Seven.”

“Puppy?”

“Yes. Fetch her phone, I think it’s on the ground nearby.”

“Oh.. Ok.”

“Call me when she’s safe, I gotta...  Definitely not hack things.”

“Ok Seven.”

Yoosung looked at the ground around the altercation and saw a phone laying a good ways away from the pair. How had her phone ended up so far away from her, and how had Seven known about it?  How did Seven know about any of this? 

Alright, phone: Found. 

Next task, getting to it without somehow catching the attention of Mouse's assailant. Seriously, what the heck was this guy's deal? How could you want to hurt someone as precious and perfect as Mouse?

Yoosung made a careful line around the altercation, keeping his eyes on Mouse the entire time, just in case. Every time one of the man's hands touched Mouse, Yoosung flinched as though it were striking him instead.

Once he got to the phone's approximate location, he looked away from Mouse just long enough to bend down and pick her phone up.  When he looked at the phone, he saw a call to Seven still running. That must be how Seven figured it out.

Wait though, she called Seven at a time like this? When Seven wasn't anywhere nearby, and she knew that he was going to be right here? Even if she didn't think he was capable of stopping this guy, she could have called Zen, or her friends that she had coffee with this morning. 

Why Seven?! No. That wasn't important. What was important was getting her out of this terrifying situation and somewhere safe. 

“Seven if you can hear this, I’ve got her phone.”

“Copy.”

The call ended.

Yoosung was starting to panic.  Mouse hadn’t noticed him as far as he could tell, she seemed to be very focused in trying to talk the man who was hurting her into calming down. She wasn't fighting back, and she was barely even defending herself.  It almost seemed like she felt like she deserved to be hurt.. which was just impossible. No one deserved to be hurt the way she was right now. 

Yoosung considered his options one more time, and started towards the pair again. He was afraid, but better she have support than be alone. How would she feel if she knew he'd just stood there watching as this guy.. ugh! this guy! What the heck!

That is when Zen arrived, at a full sprint, in what can only be described as a purposefully exaggerated sexy pop idol stage costume. That was surprising, but more surprising were the men with professional cameras following him at a similar if less fast sprint.

Zen slid to a stop next to the man and Mouse, calling out to break their concentration. He forcibly inserted his own body between them, taking the man’s next blow that was intended for Mouse. Yoosung heard Mouse's gasp echo his own. Zen never put himself in harm's way.  Sure, he healed like some kind of mutant out of superhero comics, but he never intentionally accepted anything that could hurt his career.

“You can’t just beat on a girl in broad daylight!  Or ever! What are you even thinking! Where’s your sense of honor?”

Zen was livid, and his outburst captured the attention of not only Mouse and her attacker, but Yoosung, the cameramen, and a large number of students nearby, as well. 

Would they think this was all staged?  Yoosung thought, concerned. Mouse's condition didn't look great, her hair matted with blood from the impact with the bricks, and the number of cuts in her clothing from the man's knife.

Wait, he had a knife? When did he get out a knife? How did he miss the knife happening? He was just punching her last time Yoosung had looked.

The man had turned the weight of his scornful gaze onto Zen, who had robbed him of his intended target.

“And what do you get out of protecting a slut like that one, pretty boy? She warm your bed at night? Make you feel like more of a man in that sissy getup?”

Mouse's attacker took a swing at Zen, who blocked the strike.  

Yoosung was frozen in panic again, now with two of the most important people in his life being threatened by the same person.

Did Zen know that the man had a knife? 

What if Zen got hurt?

Why were there cameras?

Yoosung realized none of his questions were important right now, they were just a product of his panic. He had to get Mouse out of harm’s way while Zen was protecting her. That was what he could do.  

Tucking both phones into his hoodie pocket, Yoosung went around behind the two men, and gestured to Mouse, who didn’t look well at all.     

“Mouse, it’s me, Yoosung.  C’mon, let’s get you out of here while Zen has him distracted.”

She turned to him, and the pain he saw in her eyes wasn’t just from the physical, but something seemed to hurt her about seeing him, or maybe Zen, in the midst of this mess.  Yoosung didn’t know what this guy’s deal was, but he knew that he would never forgive him for what he’d done to Mouse. Ever.

Yoosung reached his hand out for her, and she took it.  She gripped his hand tightly, and he could feel her shaking through the contact. Yoosung pulled her close, and led her carefully away from the conflict.  Hopefully the man was focused enough on Zen that they could break his line of sight before he noticed she wasn't there anymore.

They didn’t get particularly far before one of the campus safety officers stopped them.

"No leaving the scene. We have questions."

“You can come with us,” Yoosung said sharply, “But I am taking her to someplace safe from him. Can't you see she's terrified? What kind of safety officer are you?"

The officer looked at Yoosung, then at Mouse, then at the scene they were attempting to flee. Yoosung also turned, because the noise had stopped. No, not stopped, changed.  There were more officers, now holding both Zen and the other man, and a few who had started talking to bystanders. The attacker was struggling, but Zen was just standing still, calm. How could he be so calm?

“Oh.” Yoosung said, relieved. “Maybe leaving is not necessary.”

He turned back to see the officer shining a flashlight at Mouse, who was wincing away from him.

"Hey, what the heck!" Yoosung said, interposing himself between the flashlight and Mouse.  Hadn't she been through enough already?

“She’s going to need to go to the hospital and get checked out, looks to me like she has at least a mild concussion, not to mention the lacerations and probably other things we can't see. That head wound may need stitches.”

“Oh no… We’ll go right away.” Yoosung said, that having been his intent from the moment he'd seen her blood.

“No, we’re going to take her over in an ambulance, she shouldn’t move too much until we’re sure she’s safe.”

“Okay, but I’m going with.”

“We won’t keep you from your sister, kiddo, don’t worry.” The officer said, and Yoosung flushed.  

She wasn’t his sister and he wasn’t a kiddo, but he was not about to tell them any of that, lest they keep him from her side.

“Okay, and the guy with the long white hair is one of ours too. He just stepped in to keep that other guy from hitting her more.”

“We’ll take statements and decide what to do from there.”

“I’m gonna make a quick call, ok Mousey? You stay right here with me, okay?”

Mouse had been staring at basically nothing since Yoosung had taken her away from direct danger. Now, however, she was watching the police team take eyewitness reports and evidence as though it was the best television drama she’d ever seen. In response to his words, she stepped closer to him, mostly hiding behind his back while still watching the proceedings.

Yoosung pulled out his phone and called Seven.

“The police arrived, they are taking statements from people and are getting an ambulance for Mouse because she is showing signs of a concussion and probably needs stitches and I'm sure there's more wrong because she's not talking to me at all."

"Don't let her out of your sight, 'sung, she's in shock for sure."

"Obviously." Yoosung was irritated at the implication that he couldn't take care of Mouse properly. "It Looks like they’re arresting the attacker guy, but apparently Zen's camera crew got enough pictures that the cops are letting him go. That’s what it looks like from here.”

“Yeah, that’s the reports I’m getting.  I hacked Mouse’s medical records to make it say that you and Zen are her brothers. Just a way to get them to let you be with her, she doesn’t have anyone else who would show up.”

"Someone already assumed I was her younger brother so I guess that's at least believable."

"You make a good lil bro."

“Seven, how did you know what was happening?”

“Mouse told me about him yesterday. He’s her ex. That’s as much as I can tell you. She’ll tell you more when she’s ready. But stay with her, I don’t think she’s going to be very okay when this all settles into her brain.”

“Will do. I won’t leave her side unless someone else from the RFA is with her.”

“Good boy.”

“I’m not a puppy!”

“No? But you’re cute like one!”

“Seven, is this any time for jokes?”

“It’s how I stay sane.”

“I guess. Oh, the ambulance is here, I’ll talk to you later.”

Yoosung called out to Zen, who jogged over the few steps to them, his brows knit together in worry.

“I can’t come in the ambulance with you, I have to go back to the studio and change out of my costume.”

“It’s okay, it’ll probably be stitches and tests for the first bit anyway. Seven said to let them know you’re her brother and they’ll let you in.”

“Brothers, huh? Seven’s got some designs, I see.”

“Designs?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Ok. You go, and come soon, okay?”

“I will. Take care of Mouse, Yoosung.”

“I won’t let her down again.”

“You didn’t to start with.” Mouse said softly from behind him, and reached out clumsily to take the hand that she'd dropped when the officer was checking her over.

Yoosung startled, but then laced his fingers with hers, and pulled her gently into a hug. She seemed so small curled up into his arms like this. She'd always seemed so strong and imposing over the messenger.

“Time to go get you all patched up, okay?”

Mouse nodded, and winced at the way it felt.

“Don’t leave me, ok Yoosung? I just found you. I don’t want to lose you, too.”  

She sounded sleepy, and the med techs told Yoosung to keep talking to her so that she didn’t fall asleep. Something about that being extra bad when a concussion was involved.  Yoosung was pretty sure that was outdated advice, but Mouse seemed pleased to be talking to him, so he ran with it.

The entire way to the hospital, Yoosung sat holding Mouse's hand and talking to her about how bad he thought he did on his final. She seemed genuinely interested, but also disappointed. Yeah, he was disappointed too.

Chapter Text

Mouse knew that Yoosung was talking to her, and she knew that her responses were weird, but she wasn’t really present in her body at the moment, and couldn’t help it. It was like everything around her was all floaty, but then also her body felt heavy, like an anchor. She just wanted to sleep so that the pain would go away.

Instead, she got to have the mortifying experience of having the med techs remove her hoodie and react to her kaleidoscope of regret, as she’d begun to call it.  It was really interesting looking at the situation from the outside, watching winces of pain and concern. The hardest part was trying to keep talking to Yoosung when he saw.

“I didn’t want you to know about this.” Mouse heard herself say. Yoosung looked into her eyes, and she felt seen, even though she wasn’t really connected right now.

"How can I take care of you if I don't know, Mouse?" he said, holding her hands tight whenever he could.

The med techs took over asking her questions, and Mouse heard herself answering them, even though she never wanted to say some of them aloud.

“Alright miss, your legal name and date of birth.”

“Min-Jae Ryu, May 18th.”

“And your preferred pronouns and use name?”

“She/Her, Mouse.”

“Alright, Mouse. We need to set up an IV for you. Since your arms are still healing from recent trauma, we’re going to use the back of your hand, that alright?”

“That’s fine.”

“Okay. You can go back to talking to your brother.”

Mouse knew that Yoosung wasn’t her brother, because she didn’t have those, but if the med techs thought that, then she wasn’t going to say anything that would get him taken away from her.

“I’m sorry, Yoosung.” She said, and she meant it, even if she couldn’t seem to connect emotions to words right now.

“What are you sorry for? You don’t need to be sorry, Mouse.” Yoosung said, and seemed to not know what to do with his hands now that they were putting an IV in one of hers.  Instinctively, she reached out to him with her other hand, feeling comforted and somewhat more anchored when he wrapped both of his hands around hers, and brought it to his cheek.

“If I’d known something like this could happen, I could have..”

“No, Yoosung. I didn’t tell you about him, and I never thought this would happen. I thought I was safe. I thought I got away. I let my guard down, this is my fault.”

“Your fault? Injuries like that couldn’t possibly be your fault.”

Mouse felt tears start to fall down her cheeks, but she didn’t know why she was crying.  Was she sad? She didn’t really feel anything right now, except the soft, warm feeling of Yoosung’s cheek against her hand. She couldn’t come up with a logical argument to use against what Yoosung had said, so she just didn’t respond.

Yoosung looked up as Mouse’s doctor came into the room, and followed her out the door when she beckoned.  Outside, she was waiting with Zen and a police officer.

“Alright, with both of you here, let’s clear this up.” The officer said. “We are going to need to get a statement from Miss Ryu, and then assuming it matches what we already know, we should be able to get the paperwork handled for a request for a restraining order against Lee Park.”

Zen nodded, and Yoosung wondered if Mouse had intentionally given Zen’s name as her family name, or if it was just a coincidence that they had the same one.  Given the state Mouse was in, though, it was probably a happy accident.

The doctor cleared her throat.

“I would like to clarify your sister’s condition, but it might be too much for the younger of you. Is it alright to share, or shall I send him back in to sit with her?”

Zen looked at Yoosung, and then back at the doctor.

“Better that he hears it directly, ma’am. He may look like a young teen, but he’s an adult.”

The doctor simply nodded, made sure that the officer was paying attention, and began her explanation.

“Miss Ryu has extensive bruising of varying stages of healing basically from head to toe, excluding her hands and face. There are additionally burn marks from, if I had to guess, cigarettes, and small but somewhat deep lacerations, as if from a pocket knife.”

Yoosung couldn’t stop the sound of his breath hissing in past his teeth at that last bit, and Zen put a hand on his shoulder in comfort. Yoosung couldn’t help but lean against Zen after that, his worry for Mouse making him forget that he and Zen weren’t actually siblings.  Zen seemed content to comfort him, so maybe it was fine. The doctor continued, after making sure they didn’t intend to interrupt.

“Based on the locations, types, and ages of injuries, we’d like to get consent to do a sexual assault kit for Miss Ryu.  Since she is currently not in a state to give consent, as her next of kin, Hyun, we’d like you to fill out some paperwork for us, if you are willing to give your consent.”

Zen, ever the professional actor that he was, didn’t show his surprise at learning he was listed as Mouse's next of kin. He did share the same last name after all, but this must have been Seven’s doing.

“Absolutely. I’m sure it’s something she’d want to have done.”

The chime at the Nurse’s station went off, and the nurse stepped past them into the room, and they could hear a soft conversation before she returned.

“Miss Ryu is awake, and willing to answer any questions, Officer.  She did ask after her brothers, we should endeavor not to leave her alone for the time being.”

The officer nodded, and Yoosung stepped away from Zen. 

“I’ll go sit with her while she answers questions, Zen, you can fill out the paperwork and then come in too?”

Zen nodded, and the doctor took him off to the nurse’s station while Yoosung and the officer entered Mouse’s room.

Mouse froze when she saw the police officer enter the room.  There was no chance of hiding what had happened to her, in fact the medical staff had been very concerned and she was now covered in bandages and hopped up on some kind of pain medication. It made everything feel a bit spinny, but she could mostly think clearly, which was a blessing. She also finally felt like she fit properly in her own skin, but it also hurt, which sucked.

Behind the officer was Yoosung, who was nervous and immediately went around the bed to the chair there where his phone was sitting next to hers on the side table.  When he sat, she reached out to take his hand, which he held between both of his again.

“I’m back, Mouse.”

“Thank you, ‘sung” she said, and was displeased with the slight slur to her words. Hopefully he didn’t mind the nickname. He blushed a little, so maybe it was okay. Her western habits were harder to control when she was like this.

The officer started asking her questions about what had happened with Lee, and she answered everything as truthfully as she could. She’d expected questions about what had happened on campus, but then he also started asking her questions about how long the abuse had been happening, and she looked worriedly at Yoosung from time to time, and  on he would just squeeze her hand and nod at her.  So, despite wanting to keep her new friends from getting entangled with this mess, she answered all of the officer’s questions.

After a little while, Zen also came into the room, and walked around Yoosung to place a hand on her head and ruffle her hair lightly. “Big bro is here now, mouse.” He said, and apologized to the officer for interrupting.

Mouse knew she should feel awkward, but she just felt relief.  Zen had gotten himself hurt to save her, and she would never be able to repay that debt. So let him pet her hair, whatever made him most comfortable.

The officer, having accepted Zen’s presence, started asking harder questions.  As though he’d been waiting for Zen to join them for these.  And so, Mouse had to awkwardly explain everything that Lee had done to her over the past few weeks, in detail, while both Yoosung and Zen listened on in horror.  She had no reason to keep it from the officer. Maybe it would help her never have to see Lee again.  And she didn’t know this officer at all, so it was okay. And Yoosung and Zen deserved to know because they’d helped her when she had needed them the most.  Seven too, if his hacking skills had anything to do with the boys being in her hospital room as her ‘brothers’.

The doctor came in, and said they were ready to do the sexual assault kit, so would they wait outside? Mouse looked startled, and looked at Yoosung instinctively. He nodded, and she looked at Zen, who ruffled her hair again.

“They said it was important and that they needed consent. I gave it, since you were in no state to. You can yell at me later if you want to, okay? I think you need this, Mouse.”

Mouse just smiled wanly at him.

“You did the right thing, and also thank you. For being here. And there.” Her eyes teared up, and she shook her head to clear them. “Go on now, I’ll be fine with the doctor. I’ll see you soon, I’m sure.”

Since it had been some time since she’d been assaulted, and she’d bathed since, there wasn’t a lot to find, but the doctor did make some notes on her chart for some injuries to check in with her usual doctor about after some time.  Also, he talked to Zen and Yoosung in the hall for a bit, within sight of the door, so she thought perhaps there was something he wasn’t telling her that he told them. She’d have to ask later, when they didn’t need to pretend to be family protecting her.

When she woke next, it was from a nightmare - a repeat of the first night Lee had hit her, only this time he didn’t stop. She woke in such a panic that one of the monitors was making a shrill beeping sound as though something had gone very wrong.

From the chair next to her bed, Zen reached out to her.

“It’s okay, Mouse, I’m here.” He’d been going over the script for whatever he was acting in currently, and Mouse could see the concern etched all over his face.

A nurse rushed in and silenced the alarm, checking all of her monitors, and asking if she was alright.

Mouse brushed it off as just a nightmare, and when the nurse offered to bring her some ice chips, she just nodded. She wasn’t thinking of anything, and just staring off into space when the nurse left, but startled slightly when Zen touched her face - he was wiping away the tears she didn’t know she’d shed.

“I’m sorry, Zen.”

“Why are you sorry, babe?”

“You’re stuck staying up with me in a hospital.”

“I’m not stuck. I had to fight Yoosung to make him go home. I chose this.”

“You’re too good to me, you don’t even know—“

Just then the nurse came back with ice chips and interrupted their conversation. Mouse smiled at her as she readjusted some things, and helped mouse sit up so she could have the ice without risk of choking.  On her way out, the nurse paused and said,

“I wish my brothers were as kind as yours, Miss Ryu. They really care about you, you know?”

Mouse blushed and nodded, and the nurse left them be.

Zen smiled at her, that radiant smile she was only used to seeing on stage production DVDs.

“Why are you so good to me, Zen?”

“You’re special.”

“But you literally just met me on a chatroom yesterday. Er.. Two days ago? Something like that.”

“It’s true, but you’ve already brought the RFA together more than we have been since we lost Rika.  And don’t start thinking I’m like Yoosung. You’re not Rika. Answering emails from an apartment she lived in isn’t enough to make you the same person. Besides, Seven was right, you’re beautiful.”

“I can’t hang up on you in real life.”

“Well, you could fall asleep, it’s basically the same thing.”

She laughed. “I don’t want to go back to that place yet, thanks.”

“Well, then I guess you have to accept the compliment.”

“I mean, listen, if you think I’m any synonym of beautiful with this kaleidoscope of regret going on with my body, then I’m afraid of what you’ll think once I’m healthy again.”

“You’ll probably be radiant.”

“Gah, you’re such a flirt, Zen.”

Zen laughed. “I’m an actor. But also, you’re fun to tease.”

“Too bad you can’t do anything about it, big brother.” She winked, and watched him blush.

“I think I’d have to fight off Yoosung and Seven to even have a chance. Good thing I’m the one that works out.”

“Seven will just hack your muscles.”

“Is that a thing?”

“Lol no.”

“Oh, good.”

The laughter and conversation had done Mouse good, and she felt herself drifting off again. Before she fell asleep, she pulled Zen’s hand towards her, and placed a sleepy kiss against his knuckles. “Night again, Zen. Come visit my dreams, k?”

Mouse wasn’t even sure that she’d managed to say any of those words aloud, but if her eyes had been open, she’d have seen a bright blush color Zen’s cheeks.

When Mouse woke up again, Yoosung had replaced Zen by her bedside. She smiled at the blonde, who was watching her intently.

 “I was thinking about what I would do when you woke up and then you woke up! I didn't figure it out yet!”   

Mouse grinned at him, and reached out a hand for his. He took her hand and squeezed.

"Should I go back to sleep? Then you can make a decision."  Her voice sounded rough from sleep, but she didn't care.

Yoosung laughed and shook his head.

"Don't think I can come up with anything better than seeing your smile, anyway."

Mouse smiled again, and Yoosung did too. It was almost saccharine sweet, so moments later when the nurse from the night before and a new doctor walked through the door, they were both relieved.

“Miss Ryu, if you’re feeling well enough, we can discharge you after we take your vitals again.”

Mouse blinked. “Already? Oh, I am so glad.”

Yoosung smiled. “Me too! It’s about 10:30, so we can just pick up with yesterday’s lunch plans today.”

The doctor laughed. “Your older brother went to get the car, so why don’t we get you ready to go?”

Yoosung jumped up and grabbed the bag behind him. “We figured you might want.. Something clean to wear, so we asked Jaehee about girl clothes because we’re dumb boys and can’t get into your apartment.”

Mouse laughed, touched by the thought and also by the concept that they asked another girl just in case. She hadn’t thought about the others in the messenger. She hoped they weren’t mad at her for keeping this from them. Well, she’d cross that bridge once she was home.

“Thanks ‘sung, see you in a couple minutes.”

He nodded, and her care team set about getting her ready for discharge.

Half an hour later she was dressed in a cute, soft sundress, with a lightweight cardigan covering her arms.  Her ankles were bare, showing off some of her injuries, but now at least she had a hospital stay and an ‘accident’ to explain them away. When she was wheeled out to the pickup door, Yoosung and Zen were waiting outside the car for her, the car which was flamboyant and way fancier of a car than even Zen could have afforded, she was pretty sure.

“Ooh, brought the luxury out for your little sis, huh?”

“Blame Luciel, he demanded to drive.”

Mouse laughed. “Of course it’s one of his babes. That makes more sense.”

Zen helped her out of the wheelchair, which she was happy to leave because she could walk entirely fine on her own, thank you very much. Silly hospital policy.  She saw Yoosung duck into the back of the car, and realized it was a two-door like Dae and Ryung’s car (if ten times the price tag easily). They must be intending to give her the front seat, which would mean..

Right on cue, Seven bounced out of the driver’s seat, and came around to get the seat set back up after Zen curled up in the back next to Yoosung.  After doing so, he turned around and wrapped his arms around her in a big hug, which she happily returned.

 “Hey there, God Seven. Thanks for picking me up. I’m sure you had a lot of work to do.”

“This is RFA work! But also!”

Mouse saw the mischievous look on his face and just waited for whatever prank he had in mind. She was not expecting the sultry whisper in her ear, the contents of which made her blush a bright red.

As he helped her into the car, Yoosung and Zen demanded to know what he’d said to her.  Mouse just promised to tell them later.

He’d said; “I’m not your brother.”  It wasn’t anything special on its own, that sentence, but the way he’d said it, with his arms around her and his breath in her ear made her think all sorts of things that she could never say out loud.

Chapter Text

Now this was an interesting group. They’d made plans to go out to what was apparently one of Zen’s favorite places to get food if he was on campus for any reason (usually visiting Yoosung, apparently). Conveniently, they also had a number of ‘party rooms’ which were basically just long tables where they could shut the doors and make them more private for birthdays or whatever.

This helped so that at lunch time when there were a whole bunch of hungry college students, Yoosung and Zen had reserved one of these spaces, so the four of them, plus Dae and Ryung who had been texting worriedly since the incident, could sit and have a leisurely meal without a whole bunch of people staring at Mouse’s obvious injuries.

It wasn’t going to help rumors and gossip much that Seven had decided she needed to be carried bridal-style all the way from the roof of the parking garage to the restaurant. She was pretty sure that everyone ever wondered about their relationship, what with two doting guys, one tall, fit, and platinum-haired and one short, scrawny, and bleach blonde, and then the obvious nerd with vermillion hair carrying an obviously-battered soft girl in a sundress.

Dae and Ryung had spotted them from two blocks away, causing the latter to run at them like an idiot and the former to facepalm while walking his normal speed. Ryung skidded to a stop, and said what was possibly the best sentence ever spoken aloud near Mouse in her lifetime.

“I want to hug a mouse without having to bother a red stranger!”

She laughed, and watched Ryung relax, seeing that she wasn’t anything more than embarrassed to be being carried.

“You can hug me at the restaurant, Ryung. I doubt Seven is going to let me go any sooner than that.”

“And have you walk? On the ground?!” Seven said, shocked.

When Dae reached them, and looked at everyone curiously, Mouse laughed.

“I promise to do introductions when we get to the restaurant. I would prefer fewer randos staring at me, please.”

“Sh-should I stop staring?” Yoosung said, blushing.

“Are you a rando?” Mouse said, the snarky winning over the embarrassment.

“…no?” he said, though it sounded more like a question than a statement.

“Then I don’t think you need to stop! Though, do me a favor and don’t walk out into traffic.” Ryung had flung an arm out in front of Yoosung, who promptly ran into it, which was better than a car hitting him. They’d spent enough time at the hospital, thanks.

This caused Zen to laugh at Yoosung’s expense, and as usual the man’s laughter sounded musical, as though he’d trained his laugh to be as gorgeous as his stupid face.

“Zen, could you be anything less than perfect for half a damn hour?” Mouse said, trying to sound menacing and probably failing.

“No, miss Mouse, I am simply too handsome to do anything with half effort.” Zen said, a smirk gracing his face.

Mouse rolled her eyes, but was saved from having to further engage with Mr. Narcissist and his Ego by their arrival at the restaurant.

The host eyed their group, and then said “Ryu, party of 6?”

Zen, who had taken the lead and made the reservation, stepped up and grinned at the host, who recognized him and laughed.

“I should have known you’d bring an eclectic mix of people, Zen.”

“You know it!” Zen said, and based on the blush that covered the boy’s face, Mouse figured he probably had been winked at.

It didn’t take long to get settled in the room, Seven set her down in the head spot of the table, and kissed the top of her head, before sitting down in one of the adjacent chairs. Ryung pointedly took the other spot next to her, putting Dae next to him, Yoosung next to Seven, and Zen at the foot of the table. Once everyone was settled, Ryung immediately popped back up and wrapped Mouse in a big hug, before ruffling her hair. Then he plopped back down and stuck his tongue out at Seven, who waggled his eyebrows in return.

Once they’d gotten drinks, ordered food and were left to their own devices by the waitstaff, Mouse clapped her hands together and immediately felt like a schoolteacher.

“Okay, okay, introductions! I hate them, let’s go.”

“To my right, Ryung and Dae, the best gay couple ever to exist, also my classmates and general saints among men.”

Yoosung clapped, and Seven made wolf-whistle sounds. Zen just looked confused.

“Next up is the Lovely Zen, who spent the entire time I was in the hospital gallantly playing my big brother by virtue of sharing a surname with me. We are entirely unrelated, and even so he took blows for me to keep me from getting more hurt, having never actually seen me before that moment.”

“Then there’s Yoosung, who is heckin cute, and got stuck playing the little brother and making sure I didn’t fall asleep in an ambulance which is probs traumatic, when we were supposed to be getting lunch and gaming all day.”

Yoosung blushed and waved, and Mouse grinned.

“And last but definitely not least, my good friend and definitely not brother Seven, who can probably hack any technology on the planet - but totally never has hacked a single thing in his life - and takes such a personal responsibility for my safety that he literally refused to allow me to walk here from the car.”

Seven grinned and winked at Zen, who looked vaguely irritated. Mouse just laughed.

“And besides that, I prepared some conversation topics so you don’t need to talk about my drama all lunch hour!”

The awkward chuckles made Mouse even happier she’d thought to mention these things. Also, she hadn’t had to arrange to get certain people sat together, they just did it naturally.

“Dae, Zen is in fact the musical actor you’ve been enamored with for the last few years. Zen, Dae knows more about your career than I do. He could probably give Jaehee a run for her money.”

Zen looked surprised and turned to Dae, who started asking him questions about some Jalapeño related piece, which turned into something that made Zen blush and Mouse was glad she had more bombs to drop.

“Ryung here plays LOLOL with me on Shooting Star. Unsurprisingly, his username is BatRyung.” Ryung looked at me like he wondered where I was going with this. I didn’t hesitate to fill him in.

“Ryung, I’d like you to meet my new friends, Yoosung, I mean Superman Yoosung, and Seven, aka Hacker God.”

Ryung had made the mistake of taking a sip of his soda, which almost caused a dramatic spit-take, but he got his hand over his mouth just fast enough, though the soda ended up dripping down his hand anyway.

Seven made finger-guns at Ryung. Yoosung just waved. Ryung looked at me like I’d grown extra heads.

“What did you do, go find a gamer org that needed a girl or something?”

“Nope! Charity work! It’s exactly how I told you.”

Seven nodded. “I bet she’ll invite you to the party, once we’ve set a date.”

“Set a date, that sounds like a wedding.”

“Don’t tempt me, that would be hilarious.” Seven said, and Yoosung elbowed him.

Just then, food arrived, and Mouse happily ate food that was actually seasoned, and not provided with a side of awkward barely-flavored Jell-o. She was perfectly happy to listen to the conversations going on around her, until there was a lull, and Zen looked up at her and said “Wait. Mouse. You’ve met everyone in person but V now, right?”

“Still haven’t met Jumin, but I talked to him on the phone the other day.”

Zen seemed to light up. “That jerk doesn’t deserve your time anyway.” He said, gleefully.

Dae looked at Zen, and then at her and then at Ryung, who laughed aloud.

“Oh man. Mouse. You have to tell these guys about that phone call. It was amazing.”

Mouse blushed, and Seven took the bait Ryung threw out.

“Oh, what did they talk about?”

Mouse shook her head and got redder.

“Mouse, if you don’t share I’m gonna.”

Seven eyed her. “I could just hack the messenger logs and play the audio.”

Mouse looked at him, betrayed. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would, and I still might! But it’d be more fun to hear it from you.”

Mouse sighed, and relayed the story of talking to Jumin and effectively tricking him into answering useless questions and giving her a review on her voice. When she finished her minimal retelling, Dae explained how he’d only gotten to start eavesdropping on the conversation in the middle and how badly she was blushing by the end of it.

“I never in the world thought I would catch our mouse flirting with someone like Jumin freakin Han.”

Zen looked upset. Yoosung looked sad. Seven was laughing so hard he had tears rolling down his face.

“I wasn’t flirting!”

Seven shook his head. “It’s okay. He probably has no idea that anyone could take that conversation as flirting. The man has no emotional intelligence. That’s why it’s so funny.”

Zen stood up and muttered something about needing a cigarette. He got a two steps away before the silence of the room got to him and he turned around. Everyone was staring at Mouse, who had gone white as a sheet and was biting her lip and looking anywhere but at someone’s face.

Zen’s pause broke the silence, and immediately people were talking, trying to calm down Mouse, or telling Zen off for being thoughtless. Zen, for his part walked immediately to Mouse and put his hand on her head to ruffle her hair. When she didn’t shy away from him, he sighed and pet her hair back down where it belonged.

“I’m sorry Mouse. I gotta quit smoking, for you at least. I didn’t mean to scare you, It’s just a habit whenever something happens with or about Jumin, he just riles me up by existing, I guess.”

Mouse nodded, and shook her head. “I shouldn’t react like that. You don’t have to change just for me. But..”

She paused, and tried to put her snarky face back on, which only worked a little, given the tears.

“Zen, are you jealous of Jumin? You can call me anytime. I mean it. I’ll listen to your review of my voice too.”

Zen laughed, and ruffled her hair again.

“Brat.”

Lunch concluded when the boys noticed that Mouse had stopped participating, and had started looking sleepy. Dae and Ryung excused themselves to head home, Yoosung did the same, stopping to give Mouse a hug and an awkward kiss on the forehead.

“We’ll talk on the messenger.” She said, blushing. “Promise. Also LOLOL later. Maybe tomorrow, I might just watch anime and chill. Or sleep, because I'm super tired for some reason.”

Zen and Seven argued over who was paying for lunch, and Zen won because Seven had been driving them around. While Zen paid their bill, Seven and Mouse followed behind. Seven let Mouse take all of three steps before scooping her back up into his arms. Mouse squeaked, just like her namesake, and Seven laughed.

“Seven, how can you carry me long distances and not even seem winded? I’m not light.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not just a hacker. Carrying you is easier than hauling my tech around, usually. Besides, you’re soft.” He squeezed her against his chest and she laughed.

Zen joined them then, and poked Mouse in the nose.

“You know if you let him do that too much, you’ll never be able to do anything for yourself ever again.” Zen said, though he looked more jealous than concerned.

“Sometimes, having someone care is actually better for me than trying to do everything myself, though.” Mouse said, and Zen nodded.

“I can understand that, in theory.” He said, and then went quiet, thinking.

The rest of the walk back to the car was both quiet and uneventful, Mouse having laid her head on Seven’s shoulder and fallen into a light sleep. When they got back to the car, Zen pretended not to notice the light blush on his nerdy friend’s face as he climbed into the back seat of the car, while Seven woke mouse and got her settled into the passenger seat.

“What’s the plan, Seven?” Mouse said, sleepily, once they’d pulled out of the parking garage.

That’s when the boys realized Mouse was blindly trusting them, having no idea what was to happen once she was out of the hospital. Seven shared a look with Zen, both of them feeling especially protective at that point.

“Well.” Zen said from the back seat. “The plan is for Seven to drop me at home, and then take you back to the apartment, since he knows where that is, and can make sure you get back safe and have everything you need at home.”

Seven made an affirmative sound from the driver’s seat, and Mouse nodded.

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. I was just thinking that I doubted Seven wanted me to walk home from the train station, given my having been disallowed to walk more than ten steps in total today.”

“Haha, yeah, I can see that being a trial for Mr. Seven Zero Seven.” Zen said, and reached out to carefully pat Mouse’s shoulder.

The drive to Zen’s was somewhat out of the way from the way back to the apartment, but Mouse knew better than to even mention something like that. Instead, she let sleep take her, since she knew she was probably going to have issues sleeping at night, alone, anyway.

Chapter Text

Mouse woke to Seven carefully shaking her shoulder. They were back at the apartment, in the parking garage she’d never seen because what was having a car, even?

“Mouse, time to wake up.” He said, and she snapped awake. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

Mouse shook her head, and let herself be helped to her feet.

“I know you can walk just fine. And I know you’re probably sick of being coddled. But would you let me carry you again? I couldn’t protect you from getting hurt, and being able to carry you makes me feel like I’m taking care of you somehow. I know it’s selfish.”

Mouse smiled. “You, carrying me, makes you selfish?”

“Yes. You’re an adult. You can do things for yourself. I just..”

Mouse shushed him, and allowed herself to be lifted. All of her things were in a backpack that he slung onto his back before picking her up, swinging the door shut, and locking the car.

To make sure not to run her into any doorways, Seven was carrying her slightly different, so when she decided to lay her head on his shoulder, she was breathing softly against his neck, which she was sure tickled.

“Hey Seven?” she said, in the privacy of the elevator.

“Yeah, Mouse?” Seven said, equally as softly.

“Will you stay with me awhile? I don’t think I’m ready to be alone yet.” Mouse was nervous, and as close as they were, she was sure he could probably tell, but in an unexpectedly gentlemanly fashion, he didn’t mention it.

“Sure. Wanna watch a movie or something?” he said casually, and Mouse smiled.

In the apartment, Mouse took the opportunity to go change into something familiar. Not that the dress was bad, she just needed to feel more like she belonged in her own skin. Especially after a hospital stay. She happily chose her favorite of her lounge clothes - a super comfy tank top and velour track pants. Seriously cliché and oh so 2000s, but sometimes a girl just wanted to wear a snuggly pettable fabric, okay?

Mouse returned to the living room, feeling a little bit more like herself. Seven had grabbed all of the blankets and turned the couch into a nest, as well as pulling up a list of streaming movies to choose from. He’d also made popcorn and gotten them out cans of Dr. Pepper.

“You have all my favorite things now, Mouse, except Honey Buddha chips, but I can make an exception for popcorn.”

“This looks amazing, Seven! So what are we watching?”

“I’ve got a couple of fun options, but if none of them sound good we can find something else.”

Mouse looked at the options he’d picked, and while she’d seen most of them, there was one she hadn’t.

“What’s this moving castle one about?”

“A moving castle.”

“Seven!!”

“Ok ok it’s about magic, and friendship, and the talking fire is my favorite part.”

Mouse laughed. “You should have started with talking fire! I’m in!”

The movie was good. They started out treating the couch like theater seats, with the snacks between them, but that lasted all of ten minutes before Mouse moved things and snuggled into Seven’s shoulder. She’d basically been like that for a majority of her waking time today, and she’d gotten used to it. Seven initially tensed, but then relaxed and draped an arm around her shoulders. When she got scared during suspenseful moments, Seven would pet her hair and help her calm down. When they’d laugh together, it felt like they’d been friends for years.

And then, the credits rolled, and Mouse knew she was supposed to stop leaning on Seven. But she didn’t want to, so she just snuggled closer into his side, and shut her eyes. Seven didn’t seem to complain, he just hugged her shoulders and let her snuggle.  She knew that if he had a problem with it, he'd say something.  Mouse thought she could sit like this forever, and was so glad Seven had agreed to come watch a movie with her.

After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and looked up at Seven, and would swear she saw tears in his eyes. Choosing to give him his privacy, she closed her eyes again, and said,

“We could watch another movie? I never said it wasn’t a double feature…”

Seven chuckled, and she could hear it echo in his chest.

“You know, I don’t think that’s a terrible idea.” He said, “But maybe something more action and less emotional cardio.”

Mouse laughed, and Seven reached to pick up the remote, only to be interrupted by his phone ringing. He looked at his phone, then at mouse, and put a finger to his lips in a “Shh” motion. Then, he answered his phone.

“This is Seven.”

“Seriously, Zero-Seven. You were supposed to be taking a social lunch break. It’s 3:30. Where are you?”

“Just finishing lunch.”

“We have a deadline to meet.”

“I am well aware.”

“So I am expecting you back to work in approximately 5 minutes.”

“It will take me at least 30 to drive safely.”

“Make it 20.”

“Whatever, Vanderwood.”

Seven unceremoniously hung up his phone, and sighed.

“Duty calls, little Mouse.”

“I didn’t realize I was keeping you from work, Seven! I’m sorry.” She really was sorry. She hadn’t been lying that she didn’t want to be alone, but she also didn’t want to be a burden to Seven.

“Work is boring. You are not boring, and you needed me. I like being needed!”

Mouse laughed, and on impulse tickled Seven. She was expecting him to retaliate, or beg for mercy, or not be ticklish. She was not expecting his response to involve swiftly pinning her to the couch with a merciless look in his golden eyes.

“How dare.” He said, menacingly, but then let go just as fast as he’d held her, mirth and panic reaching his eyes.

“Sorry Mouse. Reflexes. I told you it was dangerous to get close to me. I’m an enigma.” He stood up and faced away from her. Mouse stood up in turn, and then promptly fell back onto the couch when her legs betrayed her.

“Seven, it’s okay. I trust you not to hurt me. And it’s my fault for tickling you…” She knew it was true, but she also didn’t want him to be upset with her. When he didn’t respond, she tried a new tactic.

“Luciel…” she said softly, standing carefully this time and putting a hand on his shoulder. He was tense, and she instinctively shifted her hands to massage his shoulders. “Please don’t shut me out. I shouldn’t have tickled you without permission. I of all people should know about personal space. I was just so excited about having a new friend, who liked what I liked, and wanted to spend time with me.”

Seven, as usual, did something she didn’t expect. He spun around and pulled her into a tight hug, her head against his chest. This was one of the perks of being short, she thought. Comfortable hugs.

“My life doesn’t let me have and keep friends, Mouse.” He said, pained. She would have shaken her head if he wasn’t holding her so tightly. She had to use her words.

“No, Seven. Your life may be complicated, but only you get to decide who your friends are. And even if, like you say, you have to disappear someday, why shouldn’t you enjoy what time you have with your friends in the RFA, with me?”

Seven kissed the top of her head, and Mouse felt herself blush.

“You’re such a bad influence, Mouse. You are so sweet and that makes this so much worse.”

Mouse grinned and used one of her favorite bits of referential humor on him.

“Worse… or better?”

“Both.” Seven said, and then his phone started ringing again. “Shit.” He said, and backed off from Mouse.

“Yeah, Vanderwood, I’m on my way.” He said, and then hung back up, and turned to Mouse.

“I better go, Mouse. You should consider getting some rest.”

She nodded. She was sleepy, despite having slept a lot over the past few days. Just then, her phone beeped an alarm. She looked at it skeptically, and then saw that it was a reminder to take her pain meds. The number of emoji included in the message made her immediately think of Yoosung.

“Meds time anyway. Those always knocked me out in the hospital.” She said, and grimaced.

“Ooh, a perfect excuse!” Seven said, and scooped her off of her feet.

“Gah! Seven, warn a girl before you sweep her off her feet!”

“What fun is that? Besides, I’m getting good at this!” he said, and carried her the few steps over to the bed, settling her on it carefully before turning and getting the blankets they’d used for their movie nest, and also her meds and water bottle. He made sure her phone was plugged into the charger, and waited for her to take her pain med before moving to straighten up the rest of the mess they made.

When he turned back, she was snuggled into the blankets with two of her stuffed animals clutched in her arms, thinking about how much she wished she could invite Seven into her bed. But if he wasn’t letting himself handle tickles and real hugs, she knew there was no way anything else was going to happen. Still a girl could dream.

“Too cute.” He said softly, probably thinking Mouse couldn’t hear him.

“Are you sure you can’t stay?” she said just as softly, the reality of being alone hitting her like a brick. She’d always liked being alone before, so this was new and she really didn’t like it.

“I’m sure, Mouse. But maybe sometime I’ll bring my hacking gear and work from here. I bet you could learn a lot from me.”

Mouse smiled, feeling her pain meds start to kick in. “Or I could come to your place and just watch you work like normal. Steal your Honey Buddha chips. Cook you something closer to real food.”

“You just eat pizza rolls.”

“Still more nutritious than just chips.”

“Debatable.”

“If I were less sleepy, I would debate with you.”

“Okay, Mousey, get some sleep. I’ll talk to you on the messenger, okay?”

“Okay Luciel.”

“Good girl.”

Mouse laughed. He liked saying that to her.

Once Seven had departed, Mouse booted up the messenger.

First thing she did was text Seven:

Mouse > 707: Drive safe, please. They’ll wait the extra two minutes so you don’t have to run red lights. ^.~

Then, she checked the rest of her messages.

Yoosung★> Mouse: Hey, did you get home safe? I know sometimes Seven’s driving can be… a time.

Yoosung★> Mouse: You’re not responding. This is good or bad.

Yoosung★> Mouse: Zen says he got home safe and now he thinks Seven is being a problem to you.

Oh. Shoot. She should have told them she was home safe.

Zen > Mouse: Mouse? You get home ok? I don’t know how far it was from my place to the apartment.

Zen > Mouse: After what you just got done going through, Seven better be behaving.

Zen > Mouse: plz text back when you get this.

Yep. Definitely should have texted before the movie. At least there weren’t matching missed calls and texts from Jumin and Jaehee like last time.

Mouse > Zen: Hey, sorry. I was (and am) pretty out of it, and I talked Seven into sitting and watching a movie with me. I should have texted before that, I’m sorry. I’m sleepy from this round of meds, so if I don’t text back, I promise to text back when I wake up.

Mouse > Yoosung★: Hey hon, sorry. I got home safe. I just talked Seven into watching a movie with me and forgot to text. I should have at least gotten on the messenger and effectively group texted. I’m so sorry.

Mouse > Yoosung★: I’m heckin sleepy, so if you don’t hear from me for a bit it’s because I fell asleep, I promise to text when I wake up from this inevitable nap.

She’d better message Seven again so he could calm them down. Surely she could get one more text out before she fell asleep.

Mouse > 707: Zen and Yoosung are worried, can you tell them that I am okay and just dumb about texting? I’m going to sleep for a bit now.

Sure that her messages had gotten across, Mouse let the sleep that came with pain medication sweep her off to a dreamland inevitably filled with weird dreams of talking fire that sounded like Seven.

Seven pulled his car into the bunker garage and checked his text messages. Aw, that Mouse. So cute making sure he drove safe. He always drove safe, that’s what embedded roll cages were for. That second message, though. He laughed loud enough and long enough at it that Vanderwood came out to make sure he hadn’t gone certifiably insane. Seven was still working on being able to breathe again, so he just handed Vanderwood his phone with her last message up.

Mouse > 707: Zensung is a worry, tell them I’m dumb about being text. M’sleep.

Vanderwood didn’t find it funny, just concerning. And, they were upset about Seven being gone all day. A small game of keep-away happened, where Vanderwood refused to give Seven his phone back until it was required for him to log into his work.

Really, Two-Factor authentication was easy for him to get past, but it made a good excuse to get his phone back, and if he wanted to stealth-messenger to make sure Zen and Yoosung didn’t wake MC up with terrified phone calls, he was going to need it.

Also, he had a spare monitor just for keeping the cameras in the apartment on, just in case something happened. He’d never admit it to himself, but he had a vested interest in keeping this misfortunate mouse alive and well, and he still hadn’t had a chance to catch that hacker, and it was really bothering him.

“Hey, Vanderwood, can you get me a Doctor Pepper?”

“No.”

“Pleeeeeease?”

“Are you working?”

“Yes, but I’m distracted by needing my beverage.”

“Fine.”

Seven, having been granted his soda delivery, got to work. Mostly on work. Not that you were allowed to know what his work actually was. But he also got to work placating needy men.

707 has joined the chatroom

Yoosung★ has joined the chatroom

Zen has joined the chatroom

Yoosung★: Seven!! I got a message from Mouse. Are you sure she’s ok? I’m so worried.

Yoosung★: 

Zen: She said you stayed to watch a movie with her.

Zen: Alone in the apartment with Mouse.

Zen: After carrying her around all day.

Zen: You restrained the beast, right Seven?

707: omg lol Mouse is fine.

707: we watched Howl’s Moving Castle.

707: then her meds alarm went off and I sent her to bed and left.

707: there are cameras here. Do you really think if I was going to try anything I’d do it on camera?

Zen: 

Yoosung★: 

707: omg I was joking

707: you already know I’m forever alone, so.

707: don’t worry I didn’t make moves on your precious Mouse.

707: I did get hugs though!

707: 

Zen: If I’ve learned anything it’s that Mouse likes hugs more than we expect, having grown up overseas.

Yoosung★: Mouse gives good hugs.

707: She does!!!

Jaehee Kang has joined the chatroom

707: Jaehee!!

Jaehee Kang: How’s Mouse? She doing ok after yesterday? Even Mr. Han was worried.

Zen: She’s recovering. Did you know what was going on with her, Jaehee? She looks.. Bad.

Yoosung★: She always seemed so cheerful in the messenger and on LOLOL, I had no idea.

Jaehee Kang: I had my suspicions, when I met her for coffee yesterday she had her hood up and yellow glasses on, and gave off the kind of sneaky feeling I usually only get from Luciel.

707: I’m sneaky.

707: 

Jumin Han has joined the chatroom.

Jumin Han: Mouse. I heard about what happened.

Jumin Han: Are you pressing charges?

Zen: Dude. Mouse isn’t here.

707: lololol

Jumin Han: Where is Mouse?

Yoosung★: Based on the text she sent me, if I understood what she meant, probably sleeping.

Jumin Han: It is not even dinner hour, how is she sleeping?

707: Drugs.

Zen: Pain drugs.

Yoosung★: Because drugs.

Jaehee Kang: I presume they gave her some kind of narcotic pain medication.

Jumin Han: I see.

Jumin Han: Do any of you know-it-alls have information as to whether she intends to press charges?

Jaehee Kang: I do not believe she will.

Zen: Yeah, she said she just wanted to forget it ever happened. She helped me do the initial paperwork for a restraining order, though.

Jumin Han: Why you?

707: Because Zen is her next of kin, duh.

707: 

Jumin Han: Explain yourself, Zen, Luciel.

Yoosung★: Seven hacked her medical records and made it say that Zen and I were her brothers so we could be with her at the hospital.

Zen: She may as well be family, with a surname like Ryu after all.

Zen: Just not… close family. For reasons.

707: And you were lecturing me about the beast.

Zen: Well yeah, you were the one alone with her in the apartment for hours.

707: Two hours. We were watching a movie. There are cameras and she is injured.

Zen: Methinks he doth protest too much.

Yoosung★: Was that a quote from something?

Jaehee Kang: Shakespeare, almost.

Jumin Han: I was saying.

Jumin Han: If she wants to press charges. I will supply the lawyer. She needs the very best.

Jaehee Kang: She will need support if it comes to that.

Jumin Han: Zen, will the police be contacting you or her with their findings?

Zen: Presumably both, but they do have her preference noted that I be her contact.

Jumin Han: Understood. You will tell me when they reach out to you, yes?

Zen: Was that a request or a demand?

Jumin Han: It is irrelevant as long as I receive the information in a timely manner.

Yoosung★: I feel like this is Mouse’s decision, but I hope she decides to go through with it. It’s a criminal thing so she doesn’t need to be there unless they want to make her testify, right? That’s what happens on TV anyway.

Jumin Han: It will very much depend on the legal counsel, but if this is what she wants to do, we will support her in whatever way we can.

Jaehee Kang: I’m glad to see the RFA come together to protect and avenge one of their own. We do things for outside organizations and people all the time, I was worried we might overlook one of our own.

707: Jaehee, you’re not one to trust so easily. I was certain you’d be against helping so much.

Jaehee Kang: Her circumstances of arriving in the RFA were suspicious, yes. And while I think it’s possible that the ‘Unknown’ person intends to use her to harm us in some way, this would not be that way. This has been going on far longer than she has been with us.

Yoosung★: And besides, she’s family now. In some systems, legally! We can’t just not help.

Zen: Yoosung got it in one, there.

707: It’s more simple than that for me. She’s good people. When she smiles, you all smile.

707: So then, she has to smile more.

Yoosung★: Yeah, exactly, Seven!

Jumin Han: Jaehee, we have a meeting.

Jaehee Kang: Yes, Mr. Han.

Jumin Han: Zen, remember to send the reports as soon as possible.

Jumin Han has left the chatroom

Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom

Zen: That jerk. Can’t even wait for an ok.

Yoosung★: I think I’m gonna go play some LOLOL so I can stop worrying about Mouse.

Yoosung★ has left the chatroom.

707: I have to work. Vanderwood is giving me the stink eye.

Zen: Isn’t that your maid?

707: ya lol

707 has left the chatroom.

Zen: When you eventually read this later, Mouse, message me ok?

Zen has left the chatroom.

Chapter Text

Mouse woke up to her phone ringing. Hadn’t she put it on silent? It wasn’t the red alert sound, though, so it had to be okay.

She grabbed her phone and looked at it. Oh, it was Yoosung. She really should set specific ringtones for all of the RFA. Then she wouldn’t even need to look at the caller ID.

Shoot. Phone calls were for answering.

“Hello?” she said sleepily into her phone.

“Mouse? It’s Yoosung. Did I wake you? I didn’t mean to wake you, I just figured it was time for more meds and I knew you probably hadn’t eaten anything yet.”

“Oh, wow, is it that late already?”

“Yeah, it’s about nine.”

“I should get up. But this bed is so comfy.”

“Can I.. Can I ask? Was everything really okay with Seven?”

“Oh yeah, he makes a good movie pillow.”

“Pillow??”

“Yeah. I leaned on him. Do you make a good movie pillow?”

“!!!”

Mouse didn't know what sound one would make when they were surprised, but she liked to imagine the tone from Metal Gear Solid where Snake got noticed. 

“You there, ‘sung?”

“Y-yeah. I don’t know if I make a good movie pillow, no one has laid on me before.”

“Oh man. I love watching movies with people. Especially when I can get snuggles out of the deal.”

Mouse sniffed as she realized she was crying.

“Mouse? Are you okay? I can hear you crying.”

“I just realized how much I missed hugs and snuggles. Lee was never really interested in that, and after awhile it was scary just to be in the same room with him.”

“Oh, wow, no wonder you let Seven carry you places today.”

“He needed that too, I think. He felt guilty for letting me get hurt, even though it wasn’t his fault at all.”

“I feel guilty too. I couldn’t help at all. Zen at least took some hits for you, but me.. I was useless.”

“No, ‘sung! You weren’t useless! You kept me sane. Knowing you would find me kept me from giving in even before Zen showed up. I knew you were there. I saw you. Your cute blonde hair. Worried, on the phone being my savior. I just wanted to run to you, but I couldn’t.”

“Aw, Mouse. You should… get out of bed and eat something.”

That didn't seem to be what he was going to say, but Mouse wasn't in any mood to be a brat and risk pushing him away.

“Do I have to get off the phone?”

“No. But. I know Zen wants to hear from you too.”

“Do three-ways exist?”

She heard Yoosung sputter on the other side of the phone and wondered if she sounded old by asking something like that. Eventually he responded.

“You mean, like, conference calls?”

OH. He thought she meant… OH.

“Yeah, phone calls. Multiple people. Like voice chat but on a phone.. Which is… voice… chat.”

“I think so? Ugh, why hasn’t Seven made a voice chat feature yet? Let me see if I can figure this out.”

Mouse made a positive sound, then busied herself by taking some pizza pockets out of the freezer, and starting them in the microwave.

And then the phone call disconnected. Mouse looked at her phone and stuck her tongue out at it, before setting it on the counter and getting herself a soda to go with her entirely healthy late dinner. Obviously it was Dr. Pepper. What else would it even be?

Then, she and her phone and her dinner joined her computer at the desk.

When her phone rang a minute later, it said it was Zen calling. So, in true referential humor fashion, she answered her phone the way she had the last time Zen called her.

“Hello, Lovely Zen~”

She heard multiple laughs, and then;

Seven: “The part of Lovely Zen is being played by regular Zen, with understudies Yoosung and Seven.”

Mouse paused. That was Seven's voice.

Mouse: “Wait, so Yoosung failed at a three-way but now I get a four-way somehow?”

Mouse would swear she could have heard a pin drop after that comment. Naive Yoosung, however, came to the rescue.

Yoosung: “Ya, we asked Seven to help and this is what happened.”

Mouse: “So, now I have all my boys.”

Seven: “Well, you’re missing Jumin. And Jaehee’s not a boy.”

Mouse: “Jumin’s not mine though. And you are right about Jaehee. Definitely not a boy.”

Seven: "Yet."

Yoosung: "Wait, Yet about Jumin being Mouse's or Jaehee being a boy?"

Zen: "Neither."

Seven: "The former, though if Jaehee ended up being trans I'd support it."

Mouse: "Oh my god. Seriously, you two."

Zen: “I don’t think I’m drunk enough for this.”

Mouse: “I can’t drink because pain meds so you could have a beer in my honor.”

Zen: “Gonna do that, then.”

Seven: “Mouse, you drink?”

Mouse: “No, but shh Zen doesn’t need to know that. Let him pretend he's drinking for two.”

Zen: “I can hear you.”

Mouse: “Shhhhhhhh.”

Yoosung: “Can we get back to that part where we’re your boys?”

Mouse: "Definitely my boys. Consider the mess that is this phone call."

Seven: “I’m a boy. Don’t make me prove it.”

Zen: “Please don’t.”

Mouse aspirated her soda, the fizzy caramel liquid making its escape through her nose via her poor sinuses.

Yoosung: "Mouse are you okay? That sound was terrifying."

Seven: "Cameras suggest she just shot Dr. Pepper out of her nose."

Mouse: "Hate. So. Much."

Zen: "I'm sorry, Mouse! Forgive me!"

Yoosung: "Oh no that is the worst feeling ever. Sorry Mouse! Forgive Zen!"

Seven: "Don't forgive Zen. Get revenge. Make him shoot beer out of his nose."

Zen: "Again... please don't."

Yoosung: (in his best Jumin impression voice) "I was saying."

Everyone broke out laughing, and then there was the sound Zen made.

Mouse: "Was that the sound I made?"

Seven: "Yours was cuter, but... yeah."

Yoosung: "While poor Zen cleans up his beer mess, Mouse, can you please let me in on the whole why we're your boys thing?"

Seven: "I admit to being curious how Mouse will explain her way out of this conundrum."

Mouse: “Well, Yoosung is my LOLOL boy and honorary little brother. Seven is my guardian angel boy who watches over me from afar. Literally. And Zen. Lovely Zen~ He’s my protector boy, honorary big brother, and police-report wrangler. See? All my boys.”

Zen: “Have you read chat yet?”

Mouse: “No, ‘sung called and woke me up and bullied me until I got out of bed, and I made dinner while he had accidentally hung up on me, and now I’m talking to all of you.”

Seven: “Well Jumin wants to get you a lawyer so you can press charges, which could make him your responsibility boy? Your legal boy? Uh… your sugar daddy because he’ll pay for things?”

Yoosung: “Hard pass on that last one, Seven. That’s too much.”

Zen: “yeah, no.”

Mouse: “Daddies aren’t boys anyway, they’re daddies.”

Seven: “Can’t fault that narcotic logic.”

Mouse: “Jaehee is best coffee girl though.”

Yoosung: “She does like her coffee.”

Mouse could tell that the boys were amused by her behavior, and much like when alcohol was involved, she was not a fan. She wasn't that hurt, so she should be able to get by with just ibuprofen, right?

Mouse: “Can I.. Not.. Take more of these meds?”

Zen: “Abrupt topic shift. Yes, Mouse, you can skip the meds. You can take less of the meds. Whatever makes you most comfortable, okay?”

Yoosung: “Yeah, what big brother Zen says.”

Mouse: “I just hate feeling like I’m missing everything, and sometimes the words I say are not the words I mean and it’s gross and I hate it.”

Seven: “Mouse, have you ever been on heavy pain meds before this?”

Mouse: “Nope! I never get hurt. And if I do it’s just like, a sprain or whatever, and it heals right away.”

Zen: “Ooh, a monster healer just like me.”

Yoosung: “No one is like you, Zen. Remember that time you broke your ankle and it literally healed in just two days? You’re just impossible.”

Mouse laughed, she loved talking to these guys. They made even her concern over pain meds seem like an everyday occurrence, and kept her from being too uncomfortable.

Yoosung: “So, Mouse, I wanted you to tell Zen and Seven what you told me earlier. About movie things.”

Mouse took another bite of her dinner and another sip of her soda, and thought about it.

Zen: “Seven, were you lying about being a gentleman?!”

Seven: “I was a perfect gentleman!”

Yoosung: "Well, except for being, how did Mouse put it, the best at movie snuggles?"

Zen: "What?!"

Mouse: "That's not what I said! I said he made a snuggly movie pillow. The best."

Yoosung: "How is that different?"

Zen: "I don't think that sounds gentlemanly."

Seven: "Hey, she leaned on me, I just made sure she was comfortable."

Mouse: “Seven was literally everything I could have wanted in a movie buddy, don’t make him out to be the bad guy.”

Seven: “See?”

Mouse: “Shh. What I said to Yoosung was the truth though.. I miss being touched. Not like, dirty or anything please don’t think I mean anything weird, it’s just I grew up overseas and hugs and stuff were normal, and I really just miss being able to pile too many people onto a couch to snuggle and watch a movie. So getting to lean on Seven for a whole movie was.. Better than I have felt in my heart in years. Actual years. And I just.. I want to get together with all of you and watch movies or play games or just.. Get hugs.”

She stopped to take a breath, and maybe let them respond.

Seven: “I didn’t realize it was that big of a deal to you, Mouse.”

Zen: “Oh, so that’s probably why you let Seven carry you everywhere today. I thought you would’ve complained more.”

Yoosung: “That’s what I said, Zen!”

Seven: “I feel less bad for needing to protect you now, Mouse. I was so sure I was being selfish, even after you yelled at me for feeling that way.”

Mouse: “I just need... people. And I feel really weird about how needy I’m being and how attached I am to you all after two days and..”

And she was crying again.

Seven: “Mouse, I can hear you crying, quit it.”

Yoosung: “Oh no don’t cry!!!”

Zen: “Crying is a legit emotion and you are valid, Mouse, but also it makes me want to hug you and I can’t so… feel better?”

Mouse just smiled through her tears.

Mouse: “I know we’re supposed to be planning a big charity party, and we don’t even know the date for it yet but... I hate being alone. Can we plan a movie night? Or a game night? Or something? Either Seven can pick me up, or I… I can… meet you all somewhere not here and then we can go a place?”

Yoosung: “My apartment is tiny, but we could make a blanket and pillow nest.”

Zen: “I have a big enough couch for four, but are you sure you want to go any place alone?”

Seven: “I don’t want Vanderwood getting a look at your face or they might decide— nevermind. Zen’s house sounds good, but when? I’d have to make sure to get all my work done fast so I don’t get shit for leaving again.”

Mouse: “Um. Well, it’s Friday today, right? Seven do you get a weekend? Or Zen? I know Yoosung just finished his finals like me.”

Yoosung: "This cheater didn't even get finals."

Zen: “I have rehearsals until late starting Monday.”

Seven: “If I work all day tomorrow I could probably get all of Sunday… Shut up Vanderwood. Stay out of my personal life…. Yes, I get a personal life! No, you can't come along!”

Mouse stifled her laugh. Poor Seven. Maybe someday his work would calm down long enough that he'd let her meet Vanderwood.  It was obvious that they weren't just a maid from the UK. At least, it was obvious to Mouse.

Mouse: “So… Sunday? Zen’s house? As early as everyone is awake until as late as Seven can stay before taking me home?”

Yoosung: “I’m supposed to have a raid on Sunday, but I’ll skip it for you, Mouse.”

Zen: “I don’t have anything else going, but I’ll need to grocery shop.”

Yoosung: “I can cook!! Mouse can help!”

Mouse: “I think I can burn water, my dude.”

Zen: “Don’t burn my apartment down.”

Mouse: “Oh but wait! I can make pizza though! Like, dough-from-a-can and piling toppings on it, but it’s still better than delivery!”

Seven: “I want to eat something Mouse cooks!”

Zen: “We could do that, and get goldfish-shaped breads for lunch from the guy down the street!”

Yoosung: “Won’t Jaehee have a fit about a girl coming to your apartment, Zen?”

Zen: “That’s possible. Jaehee does worry about my reputation, which is sweet of her.”

Mouse: “Oh.. Is it a problem if I go to your apartment?”

Seven: “Nah, she’ll be arriving with me, and people will obviously think she’s my girl. I'll make it really  obvious.”

There were sounds of objection from the other two, and Mouse decided they meant that Jaehee would be envious, so clearly inviting her was the fix for that problem.

Mouse: “We could invite Jaehee, then she wouldn't be envious?”

Zen: “She probably has to work, but we can try. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but what about Mr. Trustfund Kid?”

Seven: “That feels like a crowd.”

Yoosung: “I thought three was a crowd?”

Mouse: “No, three is the absolute minimum. As in three people for me to snuggle. I don’t even know how we’re going to manage it.”

Zen: “Carefully.”

Yoosung: “By taking turns, obviously.”

Seven: “We won’t.”

Mouse couldn't help but laugh as they all spoke simultaneously, and then sighed happily.

Mouse: “I’m so excited to see you all again. I hope Jaehee can come too. Also I would love to see Jumin act like a normal person and not like Mr. Business.”

Everyone laughed, but Zen seemed a little less excited about the concept of Jumin existing than everyone else. That tracked though, they didn’t get along very well.

Seven: “Shoot. I gotta go work if we wanna do this group snuggle date. And if I hang up the whole call goes. Mouse, go read chat. Zen, drink some water. Yoosung… probably also drink some water.”

Mouse: “Seven, eat something other than Honey Buddha chips.”

Seven: “Yes, Dear~”

Zen: “Ugh, ok, bye.”

Yoosung: “Bye~!”

After everyone had hung up, Mouse pulled up the messenger to go read chat, and laughed as she got three texts from the boys simultaneously:

Yoosung★> Mouse: Did seven say date?!

Zen > Mouse: Seven called it a date. Now, it’s a date. ^.~

707 > Mouse: Do you think they noticed that I said the word “date”? Are they flustered?

All she could do was laugh and make finger-guns at the cameras. Seven was a grade-A troll.

Chapter Text

707 > Mouse: I’m almost there, should I park or are you gonna meet me downstairs?

Mouse > 707: I’m currently trying to decide what to wear and am also terrified of opening the door, what do you think?

707 > Mouse: Parking, See you in 5ish.

Mouse was standing in the bedroom, staring into the closet at the few pieces of clothes she owned at this point. She knew she wanted to wear something relatively comfy since she was going to be sitting with/on people all day, but her options while limited were all pretty comfy. She had cute leggings and a long top, she had the dress from Jaehee via Jumin, she had her ubiquitous jeans/hoodie combo.. Wait, no hoodie.. That was gone. Ok so not jeans…

She heard the telltale beeps of the lock, and then the door opening. She stuck her head out the bedroom door to see Seven pretending to sneak in.

“Seven you brat! I can see you! Come help me pick something cute to wear.”

“What, for our date?” he said, prancing across the room towards her.

“Yes. Clearly. My date with three attractive men all at once.”

“You think I’m attractive?”

“I have eyes, Luciel.”

She turned to look at him, and realized he was bright red, all the way to the tips of his ears.

“What? Where’s that confident Seven attitude.”

Seven turned his back on her and managed to choke out a few words.

“With your clothes.”

Mouse tipped her head to the side in confusion and then realized she was still in her pajamas, which due to an unfortunate soda spill during gaming was… a flimsy tank top and underwear.

She was practically naked, in her bedroom, with a boy she just called attractive.

It was Mouse’s turn to blush.

“Oh. Oh gosh. Sorry Seven! Oh no.” She grabbed her robe off the back of the door and tied the sash around her waist.

“Are you decent yet?”

“Yes.”

“Good, because I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Or a nosebleed.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Don’t invite me into your bedroom when you’re half-naked!”

“…okay.”

She felt terrible. She’d been making jokes about dating and wasn’t wearing much, and that was patently unkind, given how Seven had been so sweet to her since she’d joined the RFA.

“But you’re decent now so I can hug you.” He turned back around and took two big steps toward her so he could wrap her up in a big hug, which she returned, mentally cataloging what still hurt. It’d been a couple days, but luckily she hadn’t needed the pain medication past the first day.

“So yeah. Um. Will you help me pick something cute?”

“Mouse, it’s you. Those two will be drooling over your cuteness in seconds regardless of what you wear. I do suggest wearing more than you greeted me in, though, because I do actually want to watch movies today.”

Mouse was still blushing and at this rate was unlikely to stop doing so. Agonizing wasn’t getting her anywhere, so she picked a pair of cropped leggings (they had lace at the bottom. Cute and comfy!) and a sleeveless top with a swing-hem that made her feel pretty, but was made out of the most touchable fabric ever. She retreated into the bathroom to get changed.

“Hey Seven?”

“Yeah Mouse?”

“Can I wear your hoodie?”

“My hoodie?!”

“Um.. Yeah. Cause mine got taken for evidence or whatever and I don’t think I can handle the curious stares of bare arms in the outdoors, and I don’t want random paparazzi deciding that Zen’s the one that hurt me or something. I’ll give it back, I swear. Just for the time we are outside, ok?”

She came out of the bathroom, running a brush through her long hair, and pulling it back into a messy bun with a bright orange scrunchie.

Seven stood up and removed his hoodie, holding it out to her like a gentleman might hold out a lady’s jacket. Well, it was exactly like that, actually. She slipped her arms into it, and then laughed as Seven used the excuse to hug her from behind.

“Can we watch action and scary things today?”

“Heck yeah, adrenaline rush.”

“Good! I want to see Yoosung hide behind Zen at scary parts.”

“We have to take pictures. Surreptitiously.”

“Exactly.”

They shared a high-five, and headed out.

Zen was pacing. It was only 10am but he’d gotten up and cleaned the apartment already, and he’d gone to the store for snacks and also for real food, and then he’d gotten all of the blankets and pillows he owned into the living room. His couch was actually a futon, and he was considering the possibility of changing it to bed-mode so they could sprawl out on it, but he didn’t want to make it awkward.

Ugh! He was over-thinking this, but ever since Seven had uttered the word “date” in relation to their movie day, he wanted it to be perfect for Mouse. He knew she was going through some things, but he was also falling for her. Hard.

Yoosung was ready to go. He had hauled all of his extra blankets and pillows down to the front door of his apartment, and when Seven pulled up (in a different car than they’d taken from the Hospital to lunch, even), he picked up his giant pile of fluffy things, and was surprised to see that Mouse was shifting to the back seat of Seven’s car (which already contained a number of things) and holding her hands out to take things from him.

“Morning Cutie Yoosung!” she chimed, and he blushed. He handed her things, and then once she was settled, completely engulfed in blankets, he clicked the seat into place and got in.

“Morning Mouse! Hi Seven! Where’s your hoodie?” it was weird to see Seven without his usual hoodie. He seemed to just be wearing a black tank today.

“Mouse.” Was all he said, as he was already driving again. If Yoosung wasn’t mistaken, he was blushing. So instead of asking again, he twisted around in his seat to look at Mouse, who was, in fact, wearing Seven’s hoodie. He narrowed his eyes a bit as a surge of jealousy he wasn’t expecting hit him. Was Seven getting ahead of them? Were they already on a sharing-clothes basis?

Mouse appeared to read his mind.

“I just didn’t want anyone to see all of my scars while we’re out today, just in case it could come back and hurt Zen’s reputation somehow. And my hoodie got claimed as evidence, and I haven’t been out to replace it yet.”

Yoosung let the breath he was holding go.

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“Yeah, it does, also I feel oddly exposed.” Seven said, not taking his eyes off the road.

“Fair trade then.” Mouse said, her cheeks coloring as she remembered her earlier state of dress.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yoosung said, as he settled back to facing forward.

“Oh, Mouse was just still in her pajamas when I arrived this morning, and I teased her about it. This is just her way of getting revenge I think.”

“Aw! I’m jealous. I bet Mouse’s pajamas are really cute.”

Seven laughed. “Yep! They sure are!”

Mouse just sighed, grateful for Seven not telling Yoosung just how nonexistent her pajamas had been this morning.

Getting to Zen’s place from Yoosung’s didn’t take all that long, even obeying speed limits and stopping at red lights. Seven had practice with this route, he was usually the one driving these two about to whatever mischief the three of them got up to.

He wasn’t expecting the conversation about the hoodie to turn into Yoosung pushing for their next party to be a pajama party plus sleepover. It did sound like fun, but also he just wanted to survive this day first, thanks.

And besides that, watching Mouse happily walk about wearing his hoodie made him proud and comfortable in a way he didn’t really know how to handle. He’d joked about her arriving with him meaning that any errant gossip photographers would just assume they were together. He didn’t realize just how much he yearned for that to be true, even though he knew that romance and relationships were something he was never going to be allowed to have, least of all with someone as good as Mouse.

When they knocked on Zen’s door, he pulled it open almost instantly, startling Yoosung by pulling him into a hug and spinning him around. Seven just laughed, assuming he’d meant to do that to Mouse, but being even more surprised when mouse got a gentle hug, and Zen even pulled him in for a hug.

“I’m glad you’re all here, and I’m glad you brought more blankets and pillows because I was thinking I did not have near enough for a nest.”

Yoosung beamed. “You’re welcome! I figured we’d want all the comfy options possible.”

Zen, meanwhile, was eyeing Seven’s state of dress. “I see Mouse laid claim to your hoodie.”

Seven grinned. “She did!!! But we’re here now, so I should be able to steal it back, since it was just for when we were going to be visible to outdoor humans. Right mouse?”

Mouse had flopped down on the couch, taking up all of the space. “What? Well, yeah, I mean, I might give it back if you ask nice, but it’s so comfy! Also, I found my spot, where are y’all sitting?”

Yoosung eyed her, eyed the couch, eyed the floor, and then looked at Zen like he was waiting for permission. Seven wasn’t about to wait. He prowled right over to the couch and pushed Mouse over until there was space for him also to lay down.

“You stole my hoodie, now you have to share your couch space.”

“Seven! You’re squishing me!”

“Squishing? You ain’t seen nothin yet!” He shifted closer to her, and she made an indignant squeak that Seven wished he’d somehow gotten a recording of.

Unbeknownst to the couch duo, Zen had snuck up behind Seven, and grabbed the edge of the couch, tipping it up and pulling so that it flattened out into the bed-shape instead of the couch-shape. This action, of course, rolled Seven right on top of Mouse, face-to-face.

Mouse blushed bright red, and Seven shifted to try and get up.

“Take that, computer nerds!” Zen said in his best triumphant tone.

Mouse went from embarrassed to evil in too quick of a flash for Seven to react. In seconds, she had her arms around him.

“I got him! Tickles time!!” she said, and it took even less time for Zen and Yoosung to join the kerfuffle.

Seven tried to squirm and get away, but Mouse just wrapped her legs around his and refused to allow him to move. His mind moved at a mile a minute to try and get out of the situation, and the only thing he could think of was to turn the tables. So, relying on the fact that she’d wrapped herself around him to hold him down, he rocked sharply sideways, and rolled them over so that she was on top of him instead, grabbing hold of her hands as she reacted to the sudden change in gravity.

“Revenge!” He said, as Yoosung and Zen made short work of shifting targets.

After some time, they were all exhausted from their impromptu tickle fight, laying haphazardly in a pile on the futon and breathing like they’d just run a marathon.

Zen stood up and went into the kitchen to get them all water. When he returned, Yoosung was tossing pillows and blankets at the futon, and Seven was catching them and putting them perfect places. Mouse was just watching, her eyes half-closed in a way that made her look simultaneously sleepy and sultry. Zen was not immune to her charms. He handed her a glass of water, setting the other two on the end table before folding himself into a cross-legged sitting position in the middle of the nest and grabbing the remote.

“So, what should we watch first?” he asked, flipping through his streaming services.

Yoosung, of course, piped up with some cute animated options and romance options.

Seven interjected with his horror movies of choice, and Zen just sighed.

Mouse decided this was the perfect time to exercise her right as the instigator for this movie marathon.

“We should watch that one action flick where someone kills that guy’s dog and he goes ballistic on them.”

“OH YES.” Seven said, and clapped his hands. “Ron Wick!”

Zen looked at Mouse like she’d sprouted a third eye. “Action movies?”

Mouse grinned. “Can’t a girl like getting a little action?” She winked. He was done for.

Yoosung blushed. Seven pretended not to react. Zen just ruffled her hair in retaliation.

The movie was good. Yoosung cried about the dog dying, and Zen had to pet his hair until he calmed down, reminding him that it was just a movie and the dog was alive and well. He even went so far as to pull up proof from the internet that the dog was fine. Seven, of course, took this opportunity to snuggle up to Mouse, who wasn’t complaining, that’s what she was here for, after all.

After the first movie they took a walk outside down to the goldfish-shaped bread vendor, who seemed to be trying to figure out how this group of people worked out.

“Hey Zen, brought your friends this time?”

“I did! We’re having a movie day, and I keep telling them about your bread, so here we are!”

The vendor grinned, and started setting up to make some fresh goldfish-shaped bread just for them. He described their choices for filling options, and Mouse knew immediately what kind she expected Seven to get - one of the specials was “Honey Butter Fish” and true to form, he got ten of them. Zen got kimchee filled fish, and Yoosung teased him for it, but then got standard red bean paste ones. Mouse could not decide between her favorite custard filled option, the chocolate cream cheese option, and the pizza filling option. In the end, she got 15, 5 of each. The vendor was so amused that the smallest of them was ordering the most food, he actually gave them four extra fish, for “dessert” - as long as Zen promised to share their thoughts, since it was a new flavor combination he was trying out.

They took their massive fish haul back to Zen’s apartment, and shared among each other all the flavors. Yoosung was particularly interested in Mouse’s pizza fish, and she was all too happy to share. They took some good pictures of all their fish for Zen’s insta, and Mouse took a sneaky video of Seven eating the bellies of his fish family to upload onto her tiktok later, when he couldn’t see her do it.

The special dessert fish turned out to be filled with cinnamon streusel and cream cheese, and the outsides dusted in cinnamon sugar. Mouse was immediately addicted, and Zen took pictures of the faces she made so he could show the vendor next time he went out there.

They argued, mouths full of delicious street fish, about what movie to watch next. Zen wanted a comedy, Seven was still pushing for Horror, and Yoosung just didn’t want to watch another dog die. Eventually Seven suggested House in the Woods, and when Zen heard who had directed it, he decided to give it a shot. Mouse just giggled, and Seven gave her a wide-eyed stare, not having realized that she’d seen it already.
“What? I watched it by myself and I was scared out of my mind. It’ll be so nice to watch it when I can cling to someone.” She said, and winked at Seven.

Zen reached out and pulled her into his side, causing her to squeak.

“Oh, heck no. You don’t get to cling to Seven this movie! He stole you while I was petting Yoosung last movie!”

Mouse laughed, not sorry in the least, and squirmed a little to settle herself, completely unaware of the difficulties this presented her movie partners. Zen was blushing, Yoosung was trying not to stare, and Seven was pouting.

“Yoosung, if Zen gets to snuggle Mouse for the scary movie, you best come over here so you have someone to cling to when the scary gets to be too much.”

Yoosung laughed, but scooted over to Seven’s other side, everyone shifting to make space, but not too much space, because they’d learned that Mouse needed to be within reaching range of everyone just in case. So even though she was snuggled up to Zen, Seven could still pet her hair, and Yoosung could be reached if she turned towards Seven a little. It was perfect, and that just meant when they inevitably curled up with some romance or drama after dinner, Yoosung would get the romance snuggles, and he was all for that. Maybe she’d even let him be the little spoon for that.

After the movie, Zen was still being baffled by the twists, and Yoosung was confused as to what was going to happen to the world, and Seven kept trying to convince them that there was a sequel, which, frankly, was impossible.

Mouse excused herself to go use the restroom, which provided the perfect time for the boys to have a stare-down and realize they needed to have a candid discussion about where they each stood in regards to Mouse, before she was forced to make a decision that none of them would be happy with.

“Not here.” Yoosung said, suddenly the voice of reason.

“Later. Texts or voice or something. Not the messenger.” Zen agreed.

Seven sighed. This was going to suck. “Understood.”

Mouse, returning from the restroom, eyed her boys carefully.

“Y’all look serious, what’s up?”

Zen and Yoosung just looked guilty, but Seven, of course had them covered.

“We were talking about the future and emotions and stuff.”

With the incredulous looks that Zen and Yoosung threw him, Mouse had a feeling he just dropped a truth bomb, but decided to do what she thought he expected of her instead.

“Yeah, right. Boys? Talk about feelings? You could have at least tried to come up with a more convincing lie.”

The relief she felt off of all three of them was amusing. Clearly she, too, was going to have to do some thinking about her feelings if all three boys were actually communicating about it. Damn. She’d been hoping to put off any potential drama, even just self-inflicted drama, for a little longer. Her bruises still hadn’t healed. Emotional or physical ones.

“Okay, okay, we were talking about the hacker, and how I have yet to find him.”

“Oh, see, now that’s more likely. Don’t worry about it the rest of today, okay? It’s movie day, and I'm safe here with y'all”

Yoosung tried to cover his mouth when he giggled over her use of y'all, but Zen didn't even try to hide his laugh.

Chapter Text

Yoosung hadn’t been able to pay attention to the movie at all. They’d put on one of Zen’s favorite heist movies, which they’d all seen, because without Mouse snuggled up, none of them expected to be able to pay attention to the movie.  True to expectation, of course, all Yoosung could think about was Mouse.  He hadn’t gotten to snuggle her the way he wanted - curled up in her lap - but he was going to get that chance after dinner. But he had spent part of a movie petting her hair, and honestly just being around her was amazing.  He’d thought lunch on campus was nice, but this was literally the best time he’d ever had just hanging out and watching movies.  He stole a glance back at her, while she was chopping up pizza toppings. Oh. That meant there were probably going to be vegetables on the pizza. Well, if Mouse was making it, he probably would be able to eat them.

The whole situation made him hesitate, though.  Because he wasn’t unhappy when he wasn’t the one giving Mouse the most snuggles.  When they’d watched the cabin movie, he’d been snuggled up to Seven, just barely in hair-petting reach of Mouse, but for some reason he was still happy.  Even Zen was good at snuggles. Why hadn’t they started doing this sooner? It took adding Mouse to the group to give them someone to be protective of for something like this to work out. It would be better with Jaehee and Jumin, even if Zen didn’t agree. Jaehee was friendly and soft, and Jumin was… okay, so the opposite would be cold and hard, but Yoosung didn’t want to think of him like a tween movie vampire, so Jumin was just Jumin. He’d sit in the middle and begrudgingly allow a snuggle to occur near him, but secretly he’d love it, especially if someone leaned on him, or Mouse decided to use him as a movie pillow.

Zen was quietly seething and trying to get through it. Yes, movie day was a great idea, and he absolutely did love that Mouse had happily snuggled up to him for an entire movie, leaving the other two boys to just be within arm’s reach.  He’d wanted to kiss her, but he knew that even if it would have been something she wanted this soon after getting out of an abusive situation, It likely would have ended up awkward and unsatisfying for both of them with the other two here.

He wasn’t sure what it was that was making him so angry. Sure, Seven had gotten to watch a movie alone with her, but he hadn’t done anything but let her lean on him, and he’d been carrying her all day, even let her fall asleep on his shoulder mid-walk, and though Zen had wished it was he who got to carry Mouse, he couldn’t say that she didn’t trust them all that far.

Oh. Shit. He was jealous. But how could he not be jealous? Here was the cutest possible girl - no, the most attractive woman - he’d met in years, and she was constantly in the company of at least two other guys whenever he got to see her.  For some reason, she just drew him in like a magnet. So much so that he’d put himself in harm’s way mid shoot to save her from further harm.  

Oh. The shoot director was actually calling him. Zen excused himself to his bedroom to take the call, waving off Yoosung asking if he needed to pause the movie.

“This is Zen.”

“Zen! We sent a release request to your email. We want to use some photos that have your sister in the background.”

“Some of the ones from the attack, yeah?”

“Yeah, they’re perfect for what we need.”

“Will she get paid for her likeness?”

There was a pause on the line, and Zen rolled his eyes.  He was so glad they decided to ask him and not go to her directly, not that they had any way of getting ahold of her.

“I will talk to the Editor. They may have other conditions.”

“Send the contract to my email, I will discuss it with her so that she understands it, and send it back signed.”

“We’ll call again if we have any further questions.”

“Understood. Have a good night, director.”

Something about having professional photos with Mouse made him feel good. He hoped she was willing to let them use the photos. He’d have to talk to her about it later. Not today though. Today was for snuggles.

When he emerged from his room, Mouse was giving him a look from the kitchen. He walked through and ruffled her hair.

“Work stuff. Nothing stressful. I’ll tell you later.”

She nodded, which he assumed meant she understood that it was routine or whatever, but really he was just glad that he’d gotten to touch her hair again. It was so soft! And long, like his, but so much softer and… girlier.

When he plopped back down on the couch, Seven was glaring at him, and he felt his phone buzz.

707 > Zen: What was that about? You looked pensive.

Zen > 707: Director wanted Mouse to sign a release sight-unseen for some of the photos they took on campus.

707 > Zen: She doesn’t know that, does she?

Zen > 707: Not yet. I countered by asking what they were planning to pay her for them. I didn’t have to mention hazard pay, but I most definitely will if they try to low-ball her.

707 > Zen: Make sure she doesn’t get forced into agreeing. That’s some scary shit to have be public.

Zen > 707: Director said he had to talk to the editor, so my guess is they’ll want her to come in for a real shoot, too. Which probably means more camera time and money for me. I promise she will know 100% of everything before I even let her state an opinion.  Personally, I’d rather they just paid her to retake the shots when she’s not actually scared.

Yoosung > Zen: She’s going to notice you texting.

Yoosung > 707: Don’t make Mouse worry with your back-and-forth.

Seven reached out and tickled Yoosung, who squeaked, causing Mouse to laugh from the kitchen.

“He earned it!” Seven said, and the boys all laughed. 

Seven wasn’t entirely sure what was going on with Zen, even despite the call with the director. It was probably that he was jealous. He’d shown his jealousy when Mouse’s friends were telling them the story of her first call with Jumin, but had turned abruptly away from his coping habits in order to comfort her.  It was clear the narcissist was in love with her already. And if what he was saying from the shoot director was true, she might be able to do some modeling to pay for her school, which would make her very happy, but also make her feel indebted to Zen, or likely better, connected to him more than just by the RFA.

And then Yoosung. That boy fell head over heels for her the moment she mentioned playing LOLOL, and then all over again when he realized she didn’t suck at it. He was an open book, and a good puppy.  It’s what Seven loved about him, really. He’d do just about anything for someone he loved. It’s why Rika’s death had shaken him so badly.  Seven hadn’t seen him this happy since right after the RFA’s first party. He’d even been talking with Mouse about what classes they were going to register for next semester - entirely different majors, but they’d been trying to make their schedules match so they had time to study together.

And Jumin was obviously interested in her.  He probably didn’t even know that he was interested in her, because of the way he was about women.  Seven liked to joke that he was probably gay, but honestly it was just that he was emotionally constipated.  He didn’t know how to handle emotions, really.  But the fact that he’d engaged the family lawyers to the extent he had, even before getting her consent… Yeah. He had it bad for her.

And then there was Jaehee.  She’d found Mouse before any of them.  And it was clear she was protective of the girl.  He was really surprised that she wasn’t here making sure that none of them put any moves on her mouse. Like, Mouse called them her boys, but he knew she didn’t mean it in quite the way that Jaehee meant it.  As much as Jumin being gay was a rumor, it was basically a given that Jaehee wasn’t interested in dating. She was effectively married to her work, given the amount of it she had to do, even when Jumin wasn’t making up cat businesses.

But.. Then there was poor Seven Zero Seven. Or Luciel, maybe.  He’d been trying to pretend that he didn’t see her the way the others so obviously saw her.  He knew that if he tried, even a little, to think of her as more than a coworker, Vanderwood would sniff out his rule-breaking, and either disappear him, or attempt to disappear Mouse or even the whole RFA.  Seven wasn’t allowed to have anything so nice as real friends, or family, or heavens forbid romance.  If he was allowed, he might have corrupted Yoosung a long time ago. But that was neither here nor there. He knew full well that he was in love with Mouse.  She laughed at his jokes, appreciated his snack sensibilities, and she smelled so good all the time, he just wanted to bury his face in her hair and breathe her in. But he couldn’t. Not just to protect himself, but to protect her, and the rest of the RFA.

Seven knew it was going to be hard to argue with Vanderwood about this, they seemed to easily catch onto whatever Seven didn’t want them to, and then call and yell at him about it.  Hell, Seven expected to get a call today of all days even though he’d officially taken it as a personal holiday and not just ditched like he usually did. As much as he wanted Mouse to choose him, he really wanted her not to. Because he was going to have to tell her no. And probably be an ass about it, because she was too caring and understanding to let him just say no. He was not looking forward to going from Seven the sweet caring nerd who carries his girl everywhere to Luciel the asshole who refuses to even listen to a girl speaking to him ever. His favorite. At least for tonight, he was going to get in every snuggle possible with Mouse, while there was still a chance to pretend they could have something together. Later, or maybe tomorrow, he’d have a nice long talk with Zen and Yoosung and fail to bow out of the cockfight that was brewing. Let them think he was still a threat. Then they’d actually work for her affection.

Distracted from his thoughts by his phone for a split second, there was a message from his neighborhood friend Tom.

Tom > Luciel: Out with my polycule! Karaoke night! You should join us!

There was a photo of half a dozen decently attractive people completely sloshed at a Karaoke bar. That was multiple things that he was not interested in dealing with: A whole bunch of strangers dating each other in intricate patterns too complex for the human eye to follow, Karaoke, and copious amounts of alcohol.

Luciel > Tom: No thanks, Movie night with the theatre nerds!

He snapped a discreet picture of Yoosung leaning on Zen’s shoulder and Mouse turned away in the kitchen, her long brown hair reaching to the curve of her hips the only defining feature notable on the camera.

Tom > Luciel: Is that a girl?! Also did Yoosung and Zen finally get together?

Luciel > Tom: Gossip later. Don’t want the girl to notice I’m not watching the movie like I’m supposed to be.

Tom > Luciel: WAIT IT REALLY IS A GIRL? If Zensung is a thing does that mean you’re dating the girl?  Her hair is too long for it to be Jaehee.

Seven shut his screen off, determined to ignore Tom and his habits of being a gossipy bitch.

Jumin was pacing.  No one was in the messenger, Luciel had not been responding to his messages, Zen just sent him an infuriating photo of himself and Yoosung sitting way too close for polite company. Mouse was not responding either, though she was probably sleeping her medication-sleep, given what she’d been like yesterday.

He shouldn’t be so worried. She was either in the apartment safe, or with Luciel who was entirely capable of handling whatever problems might arise, chagrined as he was to admit it.  But, he couldn’t help it.  Something about that girl made him want to wrap her up in a blanket and hold her until the world stopped spinning.  Just to protect her, and keep the world from doing anything at all to harm his precious Mouse.

No. She was not his. She was the RFA’s, and V had suggested that he might take an interest in protecting her from the amorous interests of the other RFA members, but she was a grown woman and could make her own choices.  To top it off, she had just been through trauma that would likely keep her from being interested in anything of the sort for a long time. V showing any interest in her wellbeing after she had been unceremoniously dumped into their midst just made Jumin more uncomfortable.  At this point he was certain that Mouse had no part in whatever was making him feel uncomfortable about the situation. He did feel a need to protect her, but not from the RFA.

Jumin sipped his drink, staring at the large orb of ice in the glass as though it might melt just by his look. Finally, He could wait no longer and pulled out his phone. Luciel would answer for Mouse’s silence, either by explaining her location, or confirming via the cameras that she was safe and asleep. Maybe then he could set aside the worry buzzing in his veins and enjoy the rest of his evening with Elizabeth the 3rd.

Chapter Text

Mouse was bustling around Zen’s kitchen, fully in sight of the living room where the boys were watching a heist flick, which had been Zen’s choice. Yoosung was in the middle, and if Mouse had to say anything, it was that the three of them looked so happy to be hanging out, and if she didn’t know better she might feel unwanted.  But she’d bullied Zen into letting her make them dinner, and so she was watching movie three of four from the kitchen.  Honestly, she’d told them that she couldn’t cook, but she loved pizza more than basically any other food on the planet, so she’d gotten good at timings and topping combinations for store-bought pizza dough.  It was only sort-of cooking, but it was still tastier than any of the different pizza brands that Yoosung could rattle off like a proud grandmother rattles off her grandchildren’s names.

When the pizza dough went into the oven for its first bake, Mouse organized all the toppings, knowing full well there were going to be more vegetables on these pizzas than the three of them combined would normally eat in a week. (No, Seven, the potato part of Honey Buddha chips do not count!)

Crust came out, toppings were added, and pizzas went back in. Now, she had some time to sit down. She’d seen this movie, but she was also starting to feel a bit buzzy, like she’d been alone for too long, even though they were in the room. Maybe she could go curl up behind them and not interrupt. She eyed the space behind them in the nest, but they were leaning on the giant pillow structure, and the only space in the nest was between them and the TV.

While she was contemplating, Yoosung had turned to look at her from where he was leaning on Zen’s shoulder, seemingly seeing her hesitation.  He quietly nodded his head towards the space in front of him, and Mouse nodded, but was still hesitant.  She wasn’t expecting him to steal the remote from Zen and pause the movie in response to her not moving.

“Mouse, come sit with us while the pizza bakes.” He called, gesturing again to the space in front of them.

Mouse had frozen when the movie paused. These were her friends, they cared for her. It wasn’t a burden to want their attention, and they weren’t going to hurt her just for existing.  When Zen held out a hand in her direction, not beckoning, just offering, she took a few steps forward until she could reach him. She half-expected that once she took his hand, he’d pull her in, but instead he just guided her around the side table and into the nest, like a prince escorting a princess.

She didn’t remember how she’d gotten from walking around to the front of the couch to curled up across their laps with Zen petting her hair, Yoosung practically hugging her around the middle, and Seven claiming her legs, lightly petting her skin (but carefully not tickling her lest she accidentally kick him). It was comforting, and no one said anything. Then the oven timer went off, and she quietly cursed.  Yoosung went off to take the pizzas out without being asked to do so, and Seven was accosted by his phone ringing.

 
Mouse sat up, not sure what to do with herself with 2/3 of her warmth suddenly moved to other tasks.  She looked at Zen, expecting him to also head to do some task or another, and there he was, again, just holding his arms out to her.   Touch-starved as she was, even after two movies, she curled up into Zen’s lap, and he just held her, no funny business, no expectations, just hugs.
Seven wasn’t trying to be quiet with his phone call, and Mouse, ever curious, could not help but eavesdrop.

“Yes, Jumin, Mouse is safe.”

…

“We’re at Zen’s apartment.”

…

“That sound is Yoosung taking the pizza out of the oven.”

…

“No, it is not frozen, Mouse made it from scratch.”

…

“Are you jealous? I didn’t know corporate heirs even ate pizza.”

…

“You do remember that you were invited?”

…

“Yes, Zen even said you were welcome.”

…

“We did invite Jaehee, but she said that you had too much going on so she had too much work to do.”

…

“You’re still welcome to come for the last movie of the night.”

…

“It’s Yoosung’s choice, so it’s probably a romcom.”

…

“Suit yourself!”

…

“Bye, Jumin.”

After Seven hung up, Mouse felt warmth against her back as Seven had wrapped himself around her other side and also Zen.  Not a minute later, she felt her hair get ruffled, and then Seven shifted and she was the center of a group hug.

“You all are too good to me.” Mouse said, her voice muffled against Zen’s chest.

“Nonsense.” Zen said.

“I’d say that you’re too good to us.” Yoosung said.

Seven just kissed the top of her head. She felt herself blush, and was glad her face was hidden.

After what seemed both like a millisecond and an eternity, Yoosung became the voice of reason.

“We should probably eat the pizzas before they get cold. It would be a tragedy to waste Mouse’s hard work.”

Mouse laughed.

“I wouldn’t call it hard work. I rolled out dough and put stuff on it.”

“But—“

She laughed. “It still tastes amazing, though. Let’s eat, boys.”

After they’d had their fill of pizza and finished the movie that had been paused for mouse-snuggling, it was time for Yoosung’s movie choice.

“Wait, The Princess Bride? Really?” Seven said, a look of glee on his face.

“Yeah, I thought of the best romance I could think of because I wanted to make sure Mouse was comfortable, and this is it.”

Yoosung looked very determined. Zen looked confused, Seven was still very excited-looking.

“I have not seen this.” Zen said, looking between their reactions with mild concern.

“It’s iconic!” Seven said, and Zen sighed. He’d liked the other movies he hadn’t picked, this should be no different.

“As you wish.” Mouse said, and ruffled Yoosung’s hair. Princess Bride was iconic. She was still confused that Zen hadn’t seen it, but then, she’d grown up stateside, so maybe his experience was different.

Mouse looked between her movie companions, and then looked to Yoosung.

“Well, Yoosung, it’s your turn to decide how the snuggle pile works, so..” She gestured at the nest of pillows and blankets, and Yoosung gave her a look that she couldn’t decipher.

“I have an idea that feels both greedy and not greedy. Can I… use your lap?”

Mouse tipped her head at that. “Depends on how you mean, but organize us, let’s see. If it’s terrible, we’ll adjust.”

In the end, Mouse was sitting between Zen and Seven, and Yoosung was sitting between her legs leaning back on her chest. She ruffled his hair, and he tipped his head back so he could look at her.

“I like being a little spoon.” He said, awkwardly, and she smiled.

“This works super well, though, ‘sung. I get everyone this way. And  I can be a brat.” She smooched him on the forehead, and gestured at the TV. 

“Let’s show Zen what he’s been missing in cult classic Romance.”

About 20 minutes into the movie, there was a knock at the door. Zen looked at the pile of nerds in his living room, and paused the movie. 

“I wonder who that is.” He said, and went to the door.

As he opened the door, his face went from curious to joyful, and he swung the door wide.

Jaehee walked in, and it was obvious she was nervous. 

“Am I too late? I brought ice cream.”

Zen smiled, and shut the door behind her. 

“You’re not too late, we’ve just started The Princess Bride.”

Mouse smiled at her, but was in no place to get up from leaning on Seven and being leaned on by Yoosung. 

“Hi Jaehee!”

“Oh!” Jaehee said, taking in the situation. “You look comfortable.”

Zen took the ice cream from Jaehee and tucked it in the freezer.

Mouse just smiled. “I am comfortable! My right side is cold now though. Did you know that Zen has never seen The Princess Bride?”

Jaehee’s eyes went wide and she looked at Zen. “Inconceivable!”

Mouse expected Seven to pipe up, but he did not. Yoosung did.

“I do not think that word means what you think it means.”

Everyone but Zen laughed, and Jaehee patted him on the shoulder in consolation.

Zen looked at the one open spot in the pile, and considered Jaehee’s generally traditional habits, and decided that deciding for her was bad.

“Jaehee, where do you want to sit? There are chairs, but it’d be a bit sad to leave you out of the huddle, you know?”

Mouse watched Jaehee ponder, and then make a decision.

“Well, if I’m welcome in the blanket huddle, I’m good with wherever. It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to watch a movie around people. It’s usually just me and my collection of musical DVDs.”

Mouse looked at Zen, who nodded, so she decided to be bold on Jaehee’s behalf.

“Jaehee, come sit by me!” she patted the spot Zen had previously vacated.

Jaehee did as she was requested, and when Zen was pondering where to sit, Yoosung stood up. 

“If I shift to leaning on both Mouse and Seven, then Zen can sit next to me, as long as Jaehee’s good with being leaned on!”

“You sure, ‘sung?” 

“Yep! Seven is also comfortable.”

Mouse looked at Seven and decided not to say anything about the light blush coloring his cheeks.

Jaehee was amenable to being leaned on, and so they settled in to finish the movie, only taking a break around the appearance of the Rodents of Unusual Size (ROUSes!) to get dessert and resettle.

Mouse knew when people eventually broke apart to head home she’d be freezing, but she was going to just soak up everyone else’s warmth in the mean time.

Mouse woke up to someone gently shaking her shoulder. 

She blinked her eyes owlishly, and turned to see who was shaking her. It was Jaehee!

“Oh. I fell asleep.” She said, embarrassed.

“It’s okay, I’m just heading out so I wanted to say goodbye.”

“Jaehee?”

“Yes, Mouse?”

“Can I have a hug before you go?”

“A... hug? Of course, Mouse.”

Mouse moved to stand up, but Jaehee instead leaned over and hugged her. 

“Thanks, Jaehee. You’re the best.”

Jaehee blushed. “That is hardly true.”

Mouse smiled, and shook her head.

“One of the best, then. That better?”

“That seems more fair.”

“Talk to you on the messenger tomorrow?”

“Yes. I will likely also see you in person, assuming you will be coming to Mr. Han’s office to discuss fallout from your recent negative experience.”

Mouse paused, but nodded. “Yeah. I am, I guess. I know that’s what you all would prefer. It’ll be nice to have you there to help anchor me, anyway.”

“That is what an assistant is for.”

“You may be Jumin’s assistant, Jaehee, but you’re my friend.”

Jaehee smiled, but didn’t say anything else on the subject, just “You can go back to your nap, if you want, Mouse.”

That, of course, was when Mouse realized that her pillow wasn’t a pillow, but was Seven. She blushed, and met his eye, and he just smiled. She hadn’t known him long, but she never thought he’d be the type to stay still this long.

“What time is it?” she said, as she heard the door click shut behind Jaehee.

“About 9:30.” Seven said. “You really only slept through about the last half-hour of the movie, and then just enough past it for Jaehee and Yoosung to do the dishes from dinner.

“You just sat here with me?”

“Sure, I had one hand for my phone.”

Mouse allowed herself to be pulled back tight against his side, a clear indication as to why he only had one hand for phone purposes. She glanced at his phone, and saw that he was in the chatroom, just in time to see V log in.

“Oh hey, it’s V.” She said, sleepily, as Yoosung came to lay his head in her lap, and Zen quietly tucked a blanket against her side and then sat down to also look at his phone.

“Maybe he’s got a party date finally.” Yoosung said, and Mouse considered getting her phone out before she realized that with the other three in chat it wasn’t like she was going to miss anything.

Yoosung★ has joined the chatroom

Zen has joined the chatroom

V: Wow, so many of you are here.

Yoosung★: Right? We’re waiting for you to tell us about the party.

V: I was worried no one would be here.

707: It’s V!

V: No Mouse, though.

Zen: Hello, V!

V: Yes, hello.

707: Mouse is kibitzing on chat on my phone.

V: Mouse is with you?

707: Yeah, we had a movie day, she’s half-asleep at the moment, it’s cute.

“Is not.” Mouse said, sleepily.

Zen: Yeah, she just tried to refute that and it was, in fact, cute.

V: Both of you?

Yoosung★: And me! Jaehee was here too, but she just left so is probably driving home at the moment.

Jumin Han has joined the chatroom

Jumin Han: V?

Zen: Jumin was too much of a party pooper to join us though.

Jumin Han: I had work to do.

V: I’m glad that Mouse seems to be doing well here.

V: I heard that the members were starting to get worried about the party… so I had to come.

Jumin Han: I see.

Jumin Han: I’m glad I didn’t miss you, V.

707: So?

707: Did you…

707: Did you set the date?

V: I did.

Yoosung★: Finally. I almost died waiting…

V: I’m sorry for having you wait.

Zen: So when is it?

V: I was thinking about holding it next Sunday. So, a week from today.

V: What do you think?

Mouse blanched. A week? They’d barely started gathering guests, and she had no idea what anyone else did or how the party got set, nothing!  She felt Seven hold her tighter, and Yoosung patted her knee. They must have felt her tense up.

Yoosung★: I’m worried. Can we get everything ready in a week?

Zen: Is that even possible?

V: I think if everyone helps each other.

707: Even still, it’s too soon.

V: It is fairly soon.

V: But since it’s the first time Mouse is holding a party,

V: I thought we should have it small…

Yoosung★: But still…

707: Yeah.

Zen: A week feels too short…

Jumin Han: I am certain you have thought this through, however.

V: Since we don’t have much time left,

V: I hope everyone steps up a bit more,

V: and come up with potential guests for Mouse.

707: Yes, sir!

Yoosung★: Everyone’s been helping Mouse a lot! We’ll do our best!

V: Then good.

V: It’s important that everyone in RFA is safe.

V: Since we still haven’t found out everything about the hacker who led Mouse there…

V: I don’t think we can relax until we know everything for sure.

707: I’m still hunting that hacker! I’m going to find them, and Mouse will be safe, just like everyone else.

V: Luciel… with you and Jumin, I’m sure everything will be fine.

V: I feel safe when I remember that.

Yoosung★: What am I, chopped liver?

Zen: Clearly you and I need protecting, Yoosung.

707: Yoosung and Zen are good protectors too. But they already did the hard work of protecting Mouse when she needed it the most, so it’s Jumin and I who have to do the work now.

Jumin Han: Mouse will be coming to my office tomorrow to meet with the lawyers.  V, I will call you to explain Mouse’s situation.

V: Luciel already explained some of it, but it will be good to get your perspective as well. One of you make sure Mouse knows that she’ll be protected from here out. And thank her for working so hard for the party, and adjusting so quickly to a new situation.

Mouse smiled, and laughed when Zen reached out to ruffle her hair and Yoosung patted her leg.

707: She knows.

V:  Thank you.

V: I should go.

V has left the chatroom.

Jumin Han: Make sure Mouse gets home safe and to bed early, we have a lot of paperwork to do tomorrow.

707: Don’t worry, I’ll be driving her to your office, she’ll be on time and well rested.

Mouse grinned “I promise.” She said, smiling even though Seven couldn’t see her face.

707: She says she promises.

Jumin Han: Good. I must go, Elizabeth the 3rd needs attention.

Jumin Han has left the chatroom.

Zen sneezed. Seven blessed him. Yoosung just stared at him, and Mouse couldn’t help but laugh. He really was allergic to just the mention of a cat.

Zen stood up, and sighed. 

“I hate to be a killjoy, but I have rehearsal in the morning, and if you stay any longer I might not let you leave.” He waggled his eyebrows in Yoosung’s direction, and Yoosung blushed.

“So much for avoiding scandal, Mr. Actor!”

“You’re the one in my home late at night!”

They all laughed, and started to pack up to head out.

As they were putting shoes on, Seven slipped out of his hoodie and held it out for Mouse, just like he had at her apartment.  She slipped into it and then zipped it up. Something about stealing Seven’s hoodie was relaxing in the best way.  Yoosung and Seven started to haul things back out to the car, and Mouse turned to say goodnight to Zen, who pulled her in for a hug.  He was so tall in comparison to her that she felt almost like a child. It was intensely comforting.

“Thanks for a great movie day, Zen.” She said, listening to his heartbeat.

“You’re welcome, miss Mouse. We should make this a regular thing.”

They ended the hug, and Mouse grinned when she looked up at him.

“Yeah, for sure. I have ideas for the perfect couch for long term large group movie times.”

“It’s a big sectional with chaise ends and an ottoman, isn’t it.”

“Yeah, the kind that’s so poofy it’s hard to get back out of. Also makes good crash space for people who don’t want to go home.”

“Unless they want to stay in my bed, that is.” He winked at her, and she blushed.

“I don’t know if your bed is big enough.”

“How many people are you trying to fit?”

“Mouse looked at him, and then at Seven and Yoosung who had just walked back up to the door.

“…Four?” she said, a mischievous look on her face.

Zen blushed, and she counted that as a score for her. She hadn’t gotten to see him blush enough, it was cute.

“Four what?” Yoosung asked, oblivious and naïve as usual.

Chapter Text

Hacker God has added Superman Yoosung to the chat

Hacker God has added Loveliest Zen to the chat

Hacker God: I am lolling so hard over Zen being in a lolol chat

Superman Yoosung: right? lololol

Loveliest Zen: Okay, so will one of you nerds explain why I had to log into this game to talk about entirely normal things that have nothing to do with a game?

Hacker God: Well, we need to talk someplace that Mouse won’t overhear.

Superman Yoosung: And we don’t want to use the messenger because chat logs

Hacker God: And voice is out because I don’t want Vanderwood getting suspicious.

Loveliest Zen: You seriously have to explain your maid to me someday.

Hacker God: I don’t. But I probably will.

Superman Yoosung: So, about Mouse.

Superman Yoosung: I’m in love with her.

Loveliest Zen: She’s definitely going to be my girl.

Hacker God: lolol I think I have dibs

Superman Yoosung: How do you have dibs?

Hacker God: two movie nights in a row. Also I’ve seen her in her underwear.

Loveliest Zen: You WHAT

Loveliest Zen: 

Superman Yoosung: lololol emojis

Superman Yoosung: Seven stop watching her change on camera.

Hacker God: lol no, when I went to pick her up this morning she asked me for outfit help

Hacker God: but she was in her underwear

Hacker God: it was so cute. She turned bright red.

Hacker God: I looked away right away obviously

Loveliest Zen: I should be mad

Loveliest Zen: but I’m just jealous

Loveliest Zen: now but also after she was flirting on the phone with Jumin

Superman Yoosung: She said she wasn’t trying to flirt though

Hacker God: And there’s no way Jumin realized it, even if she’d been trying to.

Superman Yoosung: So.. We’re all in love with Mouse then.

Hacker God: Right to the point there, Yoosung.

Loveliest Zen: Ugh, I can’t believe this.

Loveliest Zen: I finally found a girl that actually makes my heart beat and I have to fight my friends for her.

Superman Yoosung: At least you’ve had girlfriends.

Hacker God: Yeah, Yoosung’s basically a forever-alone.

Superman Yoosung: Seven!!

Hacker God: What, I’m not allowed to have nice things or people, but here I am making a chatroom just so we can talk about feelings.

Loveliest Zen: It doesn’t really matter if we talk about it, though.

Superman Yoosung: What? Obviously it matters!

Superman Yoosung: 

Hacker God: Nah. Zen’s right.

Hacker God: Talking about it really just strokes our own egos.

Loveliest Zen: It’s going to come down to whoever Mouse wants.

Loveliest Zen: We can’t change her mind.

Superman Yoosung: Oh, yeah, I guess that’s true.

Hacker God: What we can do, is be honest with her, and ourselves, and each other.

Loveliest Zen: Seven, your serious side is more than a little creepy.

Superman Yoosung: I kinda like it though.

Hacker God: I’m serious.

Loveliest Zen: We noticed.

Superman Yoosung: Yep.

Loveliest Zen: I’m being honest. I know we’ve known her a couple days, but I honestly feel like I could spend my entire life with her and never be unhappy or bored.

Superman Yoosung: OMG me too, she likes all the things that I like and she is so cute, and soft, and I just want to snuggle her forever.

Loveliest Zen: While the Movie day was fun and all, I really just wanted to kick you all out and keep her for myself.

Superman Yoosung: I don’t mind big snuggle groups. I liked being in a cuddle pile with you too. And Seven, too. It was nice. I get why Mouse wanted to do it.

Loveliest Zen: I… also liked it. But I also like one-on-one time. There’s just something special about cuddling with the girl you like while watching a movie.

Superman Yoosung: I will take your word for it. I haven’t done that ever.

Loveliest Zen: Seven stopped talking.

Hacker God: Yeah. Just trying to figure out how to say things without saying too many things.

Hacker God: You know I do secret hacker shit, right?

Superman Yoosung: That’s literally everything we know.

Loveliest Zen: Emphasis on the secret.

Hacker God: I’m not supposed to have relationships. If it weren’t for V, I wouldn’t even get to stay with the RFA. Meeting new people is frowned upon. Dating is out. Having a real family is impossible. I can't back down about Mouse, but I can't really have her either.

Loveliest Zen:  Shit, that sucks.

Superman Yoosung: You have us though!

Hacker God: Sorry, I didn’t mean this to turn into a pity party for poor seven.

Hacker God: It’s just that I’d give up everything for Mouse. Even my babes.

Loveliest Zen: You love your cars, though.

Superman Yoosung: How could you?!

Hacker God: Simple, really. She makes me smile. Real me. Not Hacker God, not 707, not Luciel Choi. The me that’s underneath all of that. The me that doesn't follow rules like 'no attachments'.

Hacker God: Which is why I thought we should talk. Because it’s just as important to me to keep the both of you around. It won’t mean anything to me if I get the girl but lose my family in the process.

Superman Yoosung: Family?

Superman Yoosung: 

Hacker God: Yeah. I think of y’all as family. Even Jaehee and Jumin. You’re all important to me. So if we let Miss Mouse split us up, because we’re jealous or proud or sad, then was it worth it?

Loveliest Zen: I’m going to be jealous. I don’t know how to not be jealous. It’s like it’s what my blood is made of.

Superman Yoosung: I am willing to just be around Mouse. I get you, Seven. Like, I have my mom and dad, but I barely talk to them. Not like I talk with you all. I promise I won’t suddenly disappear if she doesn’t choose me.

Loveliest Zen: I.. It might take me a bit to get over how I feel if she doesn’t choose me. But I’ll try. I won’t shut you out, Seven. I already ran away from one family, I don’t have the balls to do it again.

Superman Yoosung: Did we consider that Mouse might not choose one of us?

Superman Yoosung: Like what if she picks Jumin? Or V? Or doesn’t like guys at all?

Loveliest Zen: She did say some sweet things to Jaehee earlier.

Hacker God: I never considered that.

Hacker God: 

Loveliest Zen: As long as she doesn’t pick that jerk.

Superman Yoosung: Jumin doesn’t like dating

Hacker God: I think he might be gay. Which like, good for him.

Loveliest Zen:  

Loveliest Zen: lol

Superman Yoosung: Ok but also like, what if she can’t pick?

Hacker God: How do you mean?

Superman Yoosung: There’s this couple in our guild who actually see other people outside their couple.

Loveliest Zen: Like swingers?

Superman Yoosung: 

Superman Yoosung: No, like, actual dating, or at least they say.

Loveliest Zen: That sounds…

Loveliest Zen: 

Hacker God: I’ve heard of a thing like that.

Hacker God: My friend Tom is part of what he calls a “polycule” and like, it sounds like a handful of people basically all dating each other.

Superman Yoosung: Yeah, Bladebreaker called it Poly or something too.

Loveliest Zen: omg how do you not be jealous the whole time?

Superman Yoosung: I dunno guys, I feel like I’d just be happier if my partner was happy.

Superman Yoosung: like, if I started dating mouse, but she got another boyfriend, she could be off seeing them while I was playing lolol and like, it would be great because she’d be happy and I’d be having fun and not feeling like I’m ignoring her.

Hacker God: lololol she’d want to be playing too

Loveliest Zen: I don’t feel like she’d go for something like that. Especially not so soon after the whole thing with Lee.

Loveliest Zen: I honestly don’t expect she’ll feel comfortable with anything more than group snuggles anytime soon.

Hacker God: That’s fair. No matter who spends time with her, we’ll need to make sure she’s doing okay all the time.

Superman Yoosung: I don’t know about it taking her a long time. I don’t think she really had anything good with that Lee guy. And she was really snuggly today. Like… really.

Loveliest Zen: Whoa, Yoosung, did Mouse get handsy with you?

Hacker God: Why did you keep this juicy information from us?

Superman Yoosung: No, no, nothing like that!

Superman Yoosung: Just that when she hugged me goodbye, I would swear to you that she nuzzled into my neck and made a like, happy hum sound.

Hacker God: So that’s why you blushed!!

Hacker God: I thought you were having impure thoughts and I was right.

Loveliest Zen: She hummed?! Why didn’t she nuzzle me?

Hacker God: It’s because Yoosung is short.

Hacker God: I’m tall enough that she snuggles into my chest, and you’re even taller yet.

Hacker God: But Yoosung-y is all short so it’s easier for her to do that.

Superman Yoosung: Also she was sleepy sheepy so like, don’t read into it ok?

Loveliest Zen: But now I want her to do that to me.

Loveliest Zen: Rragh I’m so jealous!!

Loveliest Zen: How is something like that happening supposed to make me happier?

Hacker God: Well maybe if you were also dating her, and Yoosung telling you about it reminded you of that kind of time you already had?

Superman Yoosung: Yeah, I think it actually makes sense to be jealous at first, because it’s something we want but haven’t had or can’t have.

Superman Yoosung: Like when Seven got to have a movie day with Mouse after lunch on Friday, we were both jealous, right? But now that we’ve all had movie day with mouse, we can think back on our snuggles and be happy because Mouse is happy?

Loveliest Zen: Logically that makes sense. It doesn’t feel like it should make sense.

Hacker God: True that.  We’re still getting ahead of ourselves, though, we have no idea what Mouse is thinking.

Superman Yoosung: I don’t want to ask her though.

Superman Yoosung: Waiting is hard, but making her uncomfortable or unhappy is not on my list of things to do literally ever.

Loveliest Zen: Seconded. But how do we keep from pressuring her accidentally?

Hacker God: Hm. How about if any of us learn anything, we can share it?

Hacker God: Y’know, kiss and tell?

Hacker God: 

Superman Yoosung: kisses!?

Superman Yoosung:

Loveliest Zen: It’s a figure of speech, Yoosung!

Hacker God: Anyway, so we can talk about things if they happen? Or if Mouse wants to talk we can try and include each other in the conversation if that’s an option?

Superman Yoosung: Yeah if she wants to talk here I can just make a chatroom like this and add you both.

Loveliest Zen: I never thought I would stay logged into this game.

Hacker God: True that, just don’t add her to this conversation because she could read the backlog.

Superman Yoosung: 

Superman Yoosung: no please

Loveliest Zen: ok I have to go sleep or the director will kill me.

Superman Yoosung: my guild is calling!

Hacker God: My… maid… is calling!

Loveliest Zen left the chatroom

Hacker God left the chatroom

Superman Yoosung: Bye… I guess…

Chapter Text

Mouse woke the next morning, lonely.  She knew that Seven was due to pick her up around 8am, they were going to get drive-through coffee and then head to Jumin’s office. Her alarm was set for 7:30, but it hadn’t gone off yet. She looked at her phone and saw that it was only 7:15, and so hauled herself out of bed.

She checked the messenger compulsively now, first thing on waking and last thing before sleeping, as well as between everything else she was doing. There was always some conversation going on, this morning there was a back and forth between Zen and Jumin about cats, and just now, Jaehee and Yoosung were discussing the movies they’d watched yesterday.  Mouse wanted in on that one.

Mouse has joined the chatroom.

Yoosung★: Morning miss Mouse!

Jaehee Kang: Good morning!

Mouse: Hi! Y’all were talking about yesterday!

Yoosung★: Yeah! It was such a good time, we want to schedule to do it again so that Jaehee can pick something, and we can get Jumin to come too.

Mouse: Oh wow, epic snuggle pile.

Jaehee Kang: Jumin will never agree.

Mouse: Aw. I bet his taste in movies is shocking. It would be so fun.

Yoosung★: Exactly! Mouse understands.

Jaehee Kang: Movie day with my boss though. I am not certain that I could have fun in such a situation.

Mouse: I’m sure you can. We’ll just tease him until he’s a person, that’s all. Put you on opposite ends of the couch, it’ll be great.

Jaehee Kang: I am hesitant.

Jaehee Kang: We can talk more of this later, I must head to the office so that I can be there when you arrive, Mouse.

Yoosung★: I’m due for some LOLOL time, gotta keep working on beating Seven and keeping my spot out of Mouse’s clutches!

Mouse: Summer break, good for gaming and boss wrangling, apparently.

Jaehee Kang: Boss wrangling. I like it. See you soon, Mouse.

Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom

Yoosung★ has left the chatroom.

Seven arrived fifteen minutes early.

707 > Mouse: I’m early. Sorry! Should I park?

Mouse > 707: Nah, I woke up early too! omw

Mouse slid into the passenger seat of yet a different car.

“You really love cars, don’t you?”

This one was a sleek silver.

“I do. I named this one Mouse a long time ago, I love her best. And then you showed up named Mouse. Coincidence? Fate? Who knows. Oh hey, there’s a new Mouse-ear hoodie for you on the back seat.”

Mouse reached back and grabbed the hoodie, immediately putting it on. It was so soft, it was almost like a hug. She blushed. He wasn’t saying he loved her, but it felt like it none the less.

“Ooh, why are you blushing?”

“Something about a hot guy telling me that his favorite car and I are connected by destiny, and also replacing my most important piece of clothing?”

Seven paused, and she wondered if she had been a little too much there. She called Yoosung a cutie, and referred to Zen as lovely all the time. Seven was hot.  She really wanted to use the word ‘sexy’ for the alliteration, but she’d decided to wind it back a tick. Maybe she hadn’t pulled back far enough.

“I didn’t want you to steal my hoodie again today, is all. Also, did you just call me hot?” he said, after a moment.

“Was it too much? You’re heckin attractive, Seven.” She said, looking at her sleeve-covered hands, out the window, anywhere but at the driver.

“No one thinks that.”

“I do.”

“You shouldn’t. It’s not safe to think of me that way.”

“You.. Don’t want me to?”

“It’s not safe. With my job? I might have to disappear at any time.”

“I can still remember you even if you have to leave. It doesn’t make you less attractive.”

He said something under his breath as he pulled into a coffee shop parking lot. He didn’t say anything as they ordered coffee, or while they were waiting for coffee, or even once they'd left the coffee shop.

Mouse was worried. She really liked Seven, and she didn’t want to mess things up.  She also had no idea how to handle feelings, especially not while she was still dealing with the backlash of Lee. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Seven’s phone ringing.

“This is Luciel.”

…

“We’re already on our way.”

…

“No, that’s out of the question.”

…

“Understood.”

He hung up, and Mouse had to bite her lip so that she wouldn’t ask something she shouldn’t. She returned to looking out the window and thinking about how she might have messed up one of the best friendships she’d ever had, with one misplaced adjective.

“Mouse.”  Seven broke the silence once they had parked in the parking garage attached to C&R.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, and instead looked down at her hands.

“Please look at me, Mouse.” He said, and she blinked back the tears that were starting to form, and turned to look at him. She was unprepared for whatever he had to say, and she knew it.

“Lee is out on bail.” he said, quietly.

She froze, the tears falling down her face the only movement in the car. She’d been expecting something about their abortive conversation earlier, not something this heavy. That was heavy enough, and now it was like the world was trying to depress her.

“We’ve warned Yoosung to be careful, not that we think Lee will recognize him. Dae and Ryung have likewise been warned.  Zen was the first to know, he called Jumin, who has sent a few bodyguards to his rehearsal space, and Zen will be going to sleep on Yoosung’s couch for awhile. He hates it, but that’s what he gets for making his address public for fan letters.”

Mouse just nodded.

“I was going to just drop you off today, but I don’t think that’s safe anymore. Are you okay with me sitting in on your meetings today? I want to make sure you’re as safe as possible.”

Mouse didn’t think she was going to be capable of offering any words, so she just nodded, and wiped away her tears with her new hoodie sleeves. Seven didn’t say a word, he just came and opened her car door like a gentleman, then took the drink carrier from her. 

“Let’s go deliver coffees to our friends, and put some plans into place to keep you safe, okay?”

Mouse trailed slightly behind Seven as he led the way into C&R’s building, and then into the elevator that would take them impossibly high into the sky. She was scared, again, about so many things.

She wasn’t sure exactly how she was going to cope with all of this.  Without thinking, she leaned her forehead into Seven’s back when the elevator door closed. He didn’t move, and she didn’t know whether to be relieved or upset.  In the end, her brain chose to be both.

When they exited the elevator, Jaehee was waiting for them. Seven handed her the drinks, then turned and pulled Mouse into a hug. She hadn’t been expecting a hug, she’d been expecting him to be all cold, harsh business as he had been since they stopped to get coffee. The surprise shook the tears loose, and the next thing she knew she was crying, leaving tear stains in Seven’s shirt. She couldn’t stop, and he just held her. After a little while, Jaehee cleared her throat, and Seven took her hand and led her into the conference room that Jumin had set up. She didn’t know when the drinks got passed out, but apparently her silly names for people worked. 

The cups had been labeled ‘Angel’, ‘Boss’, ‘Bestie’, and ‘Critter’.  They contained a salted caramel mocha, unadulterated cold brew, a cinnamon latte with an extra shot of espresso, and a matcha latte, respectively.

Mouse sipped her drink, which was at best tea-adjacent, and waited while Jumin got the lawyers, and the lawyers introduced themselves. She wasn’t really excited about this part, and she was even less sure how she was supposed to have survived this without Seven’s comforting presence, sitting close and fingers of their free hands laced together. It confused her based on his reactions to their impromptu car conversation, but she let herself stop worrying that she’d ruined their friendship, and tried to focus on getting her life in order.

Mouse had forgotten, over the course of just a few days, that these people who were going out of their way to help her didn’t even know her given name. Seven did, he’d hacked her identity the day she’d stumbled into their lives. 

“Miss Mouse, while we appreciate your desire for anonymity, we’re going to need your legal name for any litigation paperwork.”

She nodded, and started to talk, but nothing happened. She cleared her throat, and tried again.

“Min-Jae Ryu.” She said, and tried to pretend that Jumin and Jaehee’s startled reactions didn’t bother her. What if they knew something about her that even she didn’t know?

“Good, that matches the medical records, college records, apartment lease, and the statements from the accused.”

She nodded. It had better, it was her name after all. Wait. 

“You have my apartment lease?”

“Yes, we’re going to request that the lease be broken without penalty, and your belongings be returned to you.”

“I don’t need the things. Nor do I want them. They will only give me bad memories.”

“We can request monetary compensation, then.”

“That’s not necessary.”

The lawyer started to comment, but Jumin held out a hand.

“On the contrary, we must assure the judge that you are taking this situation seriously. You are important to us, therefore we are handling this appropriately.” He said, and all she could really do was nod.

It had been hours since they started. Mouse was trying to pay attention, but legalese wasn’t her first language. Heck, it wasn’t even her third language. Legalese in Korean was just right out.

The entire time, Seven had stayed by her side, holding her hand. She didn’t know when she started to lean on his shoulder, but he even put up with that. She’d been crying, too, so his shoulder was damp, too. Forget Angel, Luciel really was a saint.  Just when she thought she was going to lose her mind, Jaehee looked down at her phone, then stood up.

“Please forgive me for interrupting, but we will need to adjourn for another appointment soon. Is there anything else you specifically need from Miss Ryu at this time?”

The lawyers did not, in fact, need her input further, having had her sign papers and agree to them setting up dates and notifying her.  She didn’t even have to tell them she was unavailable prior to the RFA party, Jumin made it clear that they were not to schedule anything other than the restraining order hearing prior to the party, and that as soon as was reasonably possible.

When the lawyers had left, Jumin came around the table to stand next to Mouse’s chair, and held out  a hand to her.  She saw his expression tighten slightly when he saw her hand held tightly in Seven’s, but chose not to think too much of it. She turned to Seven, as if to ask his permission, and he let go of her hand and gave her knee a slight squeeze of encouragement. She took Jumin’s hand, and he helped her to her feet, and then asked a question that surprised everyone, possibly even himself.

“May I hug you? You seem to need it.”

She blinked a few times, but then nodded, and was pulled into a tight embrace, with her arms pinned between them. The epitome of receiving a hug and not being able to hug back.  Mouse willed herself not to cry. Seven would put up with tear stains, but she did not think that Jumin would appreciate it. After a brief moment, he released her, and Jaehee came over to also give a hug, though she was allowed to hug Jaehee back, at least.

“You have another appointment?” Mouse said, and tipped her head quizzically at Jaehee and Jumin.

Jaehee smiled, and Mouse sensed a bit of schadenfreude behind her smile.

“We do. You two included. Lunch reservation.”

Jumin grimaced.

Mouse looked at Seven, who shrugged. He didn’t know either?

“Do I want to go to this appointment?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes. The food will be excellent.” Jumin said, and Mouse knew that there was more to it.

Jaehee, realizing Jumin wasn’t about to clear up the confusion, explained.

“Mr. Chairman expressed concern about Jumin’s use of the family lawyers for an extra-familial task. When the situation was explained to him, he requested that he be allowed to have lunch with you. This requires Jumin, who having explained you as an acquaintance of mine as well, now requires me to attend. You, obviously, are the entire point of the meal, and Luciel…”

“Will not be letting Mouse out of my sight today.”

“That.”

Mouse paused. “I can’t afford wherever you eat.”

Jumin looked at her as if she was a complete idiot.

“You don’t actually expect to pay for a lunch you are being told to attend?”

“Well, I can’t just assume someone else is going to pay for me.”

“My father is buying lunch.”

“Understood. I am under dressed.”

How many more excuses could she come up with to get out of this lunch?

“Yes, a stop to get the both of you acceptable attire is part of the schedule.”

“I also can’t afford that.” Mouse said.

“I’m not buying a suit.” Seven added.

“Mouse’s impending attire is a gift from me for allowing me to handle the litigation in regards to her safety. Luciel, you may not be buying a suit, but I will buy you one. You have to live up to Miss Mouse here.”

Mouse looked at Jaehee with her best “please help” eyes. Jaehee just shook her head.

“There’s no getting out of this, you two. But if you keep stalling, you’ll run out of time to have any input at all in your attire.”

Seven looked at Mouse and raised an eyebrow. 

Mouse sighed.

“Okay, fine.”

Mouse looked at herself in the mirror of the dressing room, and at the wounds up and down her arms.  The bruises were mostly fading, but the sleeveless dresses they’d chosen for her were not something she could ever go out in public wearing.  She couldn’t even get herself to leave the dressing room. The stylist looked irritated, because she had finally settled on a dress but still wouldn’t show anyone. The one she had on now was the best of them, a high-collared silk dress with an empire waist and a very lightweight skirt that was pleated and full of volume until past her knees. It was wine colored on top and black for the skirt. She felt beautiful, but the cuts and burns and bruises just made her look like a broken doll. They were fading, but not fast enough. Seven knew what her shame looked like, and Jaehee had an idea, but Jumin hadn’t seen it, and she needed him to not have his mental image of her tarnished. She didn’t know why it mattered so much to her, but it did.

“Mouse, care to show us?” Jaehee’s voice.

She paused, but decided honesty was best. “I can’t. It shows too much.”

Jumin’s voice, then; “The skirt is longer than the one in Jaehee’s usual suit, how can it show too much?”

Mouse paused, but Jaehee came to her rescue. “Mouse, it’s the sleeves, right? What if I found you a long sleeved cardigan, or perhaps a bolero?”

Mouse nodded, and belatedly realized Jaehee couldn’t see her nod. 

“That could work.”

“I know just the thing.” The stylist said, and looked relieved, then ducked out of the fitting room. Mouse made sure to stay out of sight of the open crack of the door.

A moment later, she heard Jumin’s voice, and Seven’s, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She stood and looked in the mirror, thinking about what the dress would look like if she didn’t have all of the marks that she had. 

Another few minutes passed, and then there was a knock at the door, followed by the stylist, and also Jaehee.  Mouse tried to hide, but there was nothing to hide behind.  Jaehee just hugged her gently.

“The dress looks stunning on you.” She said, and the stylist held up a cropped jacket in the same black silk as the skirt, with long slightly-belled sleeves that mirrored the cut of the skirt.

“If I’d known you were a modest type, I probably would have brought this initially. I’m sorry, miss, my instructions had been youthful and modern." She seemed chagrined.

Mouse smiled at the woman, who despite her irritation had taken none of it out on Mouse.

“Actually, your ideas were perfect, I just have these extenuating circumstances right now.”

The stylist nodded, and Jaehee smiled. 

“The jacket is perfect! Shoes, and then we should head to lunch.”

“Oh, Shoes.” Her skate shoes would definitely not cut it for this dress.

“We have some options. Flats and kitten heels.” The stylist said, and held up a few styles. 

Mouse picked a nice set of strappy sandals that she thought she might actually wear otherwise.  Best not to waste Jumin’s money if she didn’t have to. This dress… maybe she’d wear it again for the party.  She didn’t want to think of the price tag, but she’d had to, and it was more than she’d ever spent on anything, not even her prom dress. The shoes cost about what the entirety of her prom outfit had cost combined.

Mouse stepped out of the dressing room, and Jaehee followed behind her, with a bag containing Mouse’s previous clothes, shoes, and bag.  They’d had her hair and makeup done before they’d chosen clothing, so she was entirely prepared for lunch.  She felt expensive.  And, she felt like Jumin deserved to introduce her as a friend, which was important to her. He’d done so much for her, she couldn’t stand it if he went out of his way to help and was shamed by her appearance. That’s why the jacket mattered so much. It wasn’t that she didn’t want him to see her this way, it was that she didn’t want him to be seen with her this way.

She didn’t spot Jumin and Seven right away when exiting the dressing room, but they spotted her. Jumin’s low whistle followed by slow applause from Seven actually startled her. She looked to the sound of the noise, and impulsively did a little twirl.  That’s when she saw what Seven was wearing, and she put both hands up in front of her face.  She knew that if she were an anime character, she’d have had hearts in her eyes. She walked quickly over to him, and then did a circle around him.

“Seven, you look sharp.”  She reached out and touched the material of his jacket, delighting in the texture of it.

“I think the subtle pinstripes of my vest match your top.” He said, eyeing her.

“Oh my goodness.” She said, agreeing completely.

Seven grinned, and looked at Jumin.

“You sly dog.”

Jumin just smiled slightly, and Mouse hadn’t seen a look that confident in a long time. What was he up to?

Chapter Text

When they entered the restaurant, Mouse expected to feel overdressed.  In fact, she felt almost drab in comparison to other tables that included women.  A lot of people here were having business lunches, but she was actually glad she’d let them style her. She’d have stuck out in a bad way, if she hadn’t.  However, she felt oddly exposed, none the less.
Seven must have sensed her concern, because he reached out silently and took her hand.  She laced her fingers through his, and let him lead. If he was willing to take her hand in public, she was not going to turn down the comfort of touch, even if it might be misleading in regards to their relationship. 

Mouse still had very western ideas as to what was appropriate, but she worked hard to understand the comparatively conservative views on displays of affection and the like so she didn’t make a nuisance of herself. And it wasn’t that she didn’t want to have the kind of relationship with Seven that would allow him to hold her hand in public without fear of repercussions, but it seemed likely given the tense conversation in the car this morning that he wasn’t interested in such a relationship with her. 

When they reached the table, Mr. Chairman was already waiting for them, with a beautiful woman that looked familiar to Mouse, but in that way that all pretty people tended to look familiar after awhile. Maybe she was an actress or something? He stood to greet them, and then watched with careful eyes as Seven helped Mouse into her chair while Jumin likewise held Jaehee’s chair for her while she sat.  The men then took their places on either side of the two women, who had been seated next to each other, on the far side of the table from Jumin’s father.  Logically, Mouse knew that this was because Jumin had mentioned that she was a friend of Jaehee’s, and while Mouse felt safe between Jaehee and Seven, having Jumin a further distance away troubled her for reasons she couldn’t put words on.

“You must be Miss Kang’s friend.” 

She nodded, not trusting her voice.

“How interesting. Did you meet Luciel through Miss Kang, or the other way around?”

Mouse smiled. This was a question she could be honest about. She didn’t trust her voice, so she spoke quietly.

“I met Jaehee first, we bonded over our love of coffee.” She turned slightly to smile at Jaehee, who smiled in return.

“You need not be so quiet, Miss Ryu.” 

Mouse blinked. He knew her name? Of course, Jumin or Jaehee likely gave it to him.

“Oh. Um.” She really had nothing to say to that.

Seven reached out at that point, and took her hand in his, hidden beneath the table. He flashed her a quiet, supportive smile.

“Father.” Jumin said. “Miss Ryu is shy, and has just been through a rather trying ordeal. Must you interrogate her in public?”

The woman with Mr. Chairman looked shocked at Jumin’s words, but as this was the Jumin she’d come to know, Mouse wasn’t surprised at all. Jumin was fiercely protective when he cared about something, and Mouse had learned, if only truly today, that she was one of the things in his life he cared about.  Perhaps it was just because she was doing Rika’s work in the RFA, but she was quietly flattered anyway.

“Jumin, it’s fine.” She said, before Mr. Chairman could say anything in response to his son.

The man in question smiled, noting the interaction between her and his son, and cast a curious look at Seven.

“I’m sorry if you feel pressured by my questions, Miss Ryu. Let us order, and then we can continue our conversation over a glass of wine?”

It hadn’t been a question, so much as a deflection. Mouse considered wine for a moment, knowing that none of them knew of her secret love of sparkling moscato, the one alcohol she’d ever enjoyed. But she shook her head. No alcohol this soon after a concussion, even a mild one. It just wasn’t a good idea for her poor brain, after all.
 Resigned to sticking to sparkling water (which was nice to have over still any day), Mouse perused the menu.  Nothing had a price listed next to it, and that of course reminded her of something her friends back home used to say. If it doesn’t have a price tag, you can’t afford it.

They weren’t wrong, but Mouse also knew that Jumin could totally afford this lunch without even blinking. She looked down the menu and paused. She needed to choose multiple courses. She hadn’t seen anything this extravagant choice-wise since watching Hell’s Kitchen on television.  She also didn’t know a lot of the fancier food words, and was suddenly grateful that she didn’t have any food allergies. Well, not serious ones anyway. She knew to stay away from fish most days, because her stomach didn’t like to process it. But it wouldn’t kill her, just make her mildly uncomfortable.

She glanced at Seven, who had an unidentifiable look on his face as he also perused the menu.  Reflexively, she leaned over and whispered into his ear.

“I can’t decide, everything sounds good, what do I do?”

She heard him chuckle softly, and then he offered her an option she hadn’t considered.

“Why don’t we pick different things, and we can share bites? Then we get to try more things.”

She grinned, then.

“Luciel, dear, you are perfection. You know that right?”

He blushed, and turned to look at her, and she would swear his eyes had hearts in them.

If it wasn’t for Jumin pointedly clearing his throat, they might have forgotten that they weren’t alone.

Luciel looked up at Jumin, appropriately chagrined.

“My apologies, Jumin. We forget how to act, sometimes, when we’re together.”

Jaehee interjected, perfection as usual.

“My dear friend is still working on overcoming some of her habits from overseas. I half expect her to put her elbows on the table.”

Mouse would swear that Jaehee’s glasses flashed, and she ducked her head. “I’m sorry.”

Mr. Chairman’s laugh, echoed in an almost obviously saccharine fashion by his arm candy, brought her back to reality.

“Young people these days. Jumin, I am pleased with your choice of company of late.”

“Father, it is just the RFA.”

“Yes, and they have been dear friends to you.  Tell me, is Jaehee’s friend to be the new party planner, then?”

Mouse nodded, and spoke up for herself.

“I am. I’ll be doing my absolute best for the RFA, and its members.” She could be more confident about this, because it didn’t have anything to do with her personal drama. Mouse smiled, thinking about the warm family she’d gained that day that she’d been led unceremoniously into an abandoned apartment. 

She could have been dead, or kidnapped, or in some kind of cult. Instead, she got to meet the RFA, and felt like an actual princess. At least, when her past wasn’t rearing its ugly head. Stupid Lee and his stupid issues.

The wait staff came then to refresh their drinks and take their orders.  Seven listened very carefully to the selections she made, and made sure not to repeat anything. When the waitstaff left, she made sure to catch his eye and smile. They were going to have a delicious shared lunch.

Seven, to his credit, had been very quiet and polite, and hadn’t even had his phone out at all, not even sneakily in his lap. When he caught her smile, she saw mischief in his eyes, and wondered what he was up to.  She didn’t get long to wonder, however, as Mr. Chairman went right back into conversation mode the minute the wait staff had cleared polite conversation range.

“Good choices, I think you will all be pleased with your meal. Now, back to the topic at hand.  Should I be expecting to see your faces in the papers, due to this recent application of the family lawyers, then?”

Mouse blanched, having forgotten for a moment why it was that Jumin’s father had wanted to meet her. She’d been caught up enjoying lunch with her friends, which was honestly probably the intent of the sudden question.

Jumin shook his head. 

“No, I will see to it that she remains as anonymous as possible in this situation. No one’s traumas deserve to be tabloid fodder, least of all an assault victim. No damage will come to the family or the company from this matter.”

Mouse felt stripped bare under the gaze that Mr. Chairman levelled her direction after Jumin’s comment.  She felt, in that moment, that he was considering her choice of attire and in fact even her general demeanor differently now than he had when she first arrived.  She sincerely hoped his was not the type with the morbid curiosity that would make him request the removal of her jacket.  The carefully concealed bruising on her face was bad enough. He didn’t need to see anything else.

“I don’t mean to be a bother, sir. If I had my way, none of this would have happened.” She was back to talking about her own issues, which meant she was back to sounding much more like the mouse that coined her nickname.

“Likewise, the only other RFA members involved were Yoosung and Zen, who if anything, would be marked her saviors in the situation. The paperwork has all been completed. If you have any questions about getting to know Miss Ryu, I’m sure she’d welcome those, but I would like to keep the dark topic from staining our lunch further.” Cold, calculating Jumin to the rescue.

As if he could feel her tension and anxiety building again, Seven reached out and placed a hand lightly on her leg. Her knee had been bouncing and she had not realized it.  She stilled, and placed her hand on his lest he think the touch was unwelcome.

“Ah.” Mr. Chairman said, and then smiled at the woman with him. “I will consider what else I might like to learn about. In the meantime, Jumin…”
The father and son got started talking about something more in depth and business related, and things seemed more like a normal business lunch, until the first course appeared in front of them.  Mouse had gotten a wild mushroom risotto, and Seven had chosen a scallop dish.

The conversation had quieted excepting small side discussions as people ate their first courses. Mr. Han and his date were chatting quietly about their plans for after lunch. Jaehee was briefing Jumin on their afternoon schedule.  Neither of these things were engrossing for any of the parties involved. 

Because of this, everyone noticed when Seven carefully cut a piece of scallop, and fed it to Mouse.  Mouse hadn’t thought anything of it, it was what they’d discussed, sharing their meals, and it was something they’d done at lunch on campus, and sharing food was just such a normal part of her life now. In return, she offered him a bite of her risotto, which he happily took. 

“Mushrooms.” He said, once he’d taken a sip of his water.

“Well, yeah. They’re delicious.” She said, and took another small bite of her dish.  It wasn’t a lot of food, for which she was grateful, because taking home leftovers just wasn’t a thing here.

“I’m still not sold on the whole vegetables being edible thing.” He said, and offered her another bite of scallop.

She took it, of course, the scallops were amazing.

“Luciel, it’s not fair of me to eat your food if you don’t want more of mine.”

“Who said I didn’t?” he said, and teasingly stole another bite.

She laughed, and they settled into a sort of routine, completely oblivious to the reactions of their lunch companions.

Eventually, the meal was complete, and they were left sitting around the table sipping coffee, conversation having turned to plans for the rest of the day, when Mr. Chairman’s date spoke up.

“Miss Ryu, I was hoping to ask you where you got that lovely ensemble you’re wearing today.” She said, and the way Jaehee stiffened, she was sure she’d missed something in the way the question was phrased.

Mouse knew that whatever she said would probably get twisted, so she said as little as possible.

“Oh, it was a gift.” She said, putting a smile on her face.  She had years of practice faking smiles while getting bounced between family members, this was nothing.

“Why did you need a gift to wear to such a simple lunch?”

At this, Jumin turned to pin his father with a glare. Mouse didn’t look at Mr. Chairman to see his response, but considered her words carefully.

“It was not a gift to wear to lunch, I simply chose it because it fit my requirements for the day.”

“You’re a college student, are you not? On Scholarship, if I recall correctly. What made you choose to dress like a matron, you’ve still got the beauty of youth, after all.”

“That is a rather personal question, Miss. I would prefer not to discuss something so delicate in a public place.” Mouse knew that wasn’t necessarily the right thing to say, but she disliked the woman’s tone, and she really hated being talked down to.

The woman’s eyes narrowed at her careful deflection of the question.  She’d spent a good part of the morning getting taught by Jumin’s lawyers about what kinds of things she should avoid discussing before the court date, and her living situation was most definitely one of those.  Jaehee seemed relieved that she had at least retained part of the information.

“Oh, but Miss Ryu, if Hyun is indeed your older brother, certainly you have enough money to afford something as simple as a new dress for lunch with someone so important as Mr. Chairman.”

Seven stiffened at this, and stood, abruptly.

“That is absolutely enough. I will not allow you to belittle her in my presence.” He held a hand out to help Mouse out of her chair, which she happily accepted.

“Thank you, Misters Han, for the delightful lunch. My lady and I will be departing.” 

Seven was practically vibrating with anger. 

Mouse collected her handbag from the back of her chair and allowed herself to be led from the restaurant.  She would apologize to Jaehee and Jumin later. Seven clearly needed to be done being on display. She wasn’t sure exactly what had set him off, but she also didn’t want to be there anymore, so she was fine with it.

Chapter Text

The car ride back to the apartment was tensely quiet. Mouse knew she should ask Seven what was up, but she was afraid to make him more angry. So instead, she pulled out her phone and loaded the messenger.

Mouse has joined the chatroom.

Zen: Mouse! Are you ok? How was lunch?

Yoosung★: We heard from Jaehee that Mr. Chairman’s girlfriend was rude to you?

Mouse: She asked a couple pointed questions at the end about my clothes, and then she said something about Zen, and my living situation? I don’t even know why Seven got so mad about it. I was weirded out, though.

Zen: She was probably trying to make you look like a gold digger, or worse.

Mouse: Oh. Oh, that makes sense. But shouldn’t that have made Jumin mad since he’s the one that bought me the outfit?

Mouse: Seriously, these shoes are cute and comfy but cost more than literally every piece of clothes I own otherwise combined.

Yoosung★: Rich people.

Zen: Yeah. Jumin was probably seething. He just doesn’t show emotions.

Mouse: I had a really good lunch though, before that happened! Seven and I shared food, so I got to try all sorts of fancy rich people things. This just in: Caviar is disgusting.

Yoosung★: Jaehee said you made a really cute couple.

Yoosung★: I’m trying not to be jealous.

Zen: I’m failing at that.

Mouse: Couple?! I mean.. Our outfits looked really good together?

Zen: Mouse, you’re mixed right? 

Yoosung★: Zen, that’s rude. Also unrelated?

Zen: No, it’s related. Slightly rude, but hopefully not offensively so.

Mouse: Yeah, I’m mixed. I grew up stateside.

Zen: Yeah. That’s what I thought.

Zen: Feeding bites of food is definitely an engaged/newlywed behavior.

Mouse: . . . . 

Mouse: Why don’t I have emojis of my face yet?

Mouse: Oh, we’re home. Gonna nag Seven about emotes. Back later.

Mouse has left the chatroom.

Once they’d parked in the apartment’s assigned underground space, Seven sighed dramatically. Mouse looked towards him curiously, hoping that he’d say something. Anything.

“You’re typing away on your phone, but we’re sitting here in silence. I’m sorry, Mouse.”

“Why are you sorry? Everything is my fault. Literally all of it. Anything that could be wrong right now is my fault.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is.  Do you have to work today?”

“No. I need to look for the hacker but I’m between contracts right now.”

“Come upstairs? I want to change into something that doesn’t cost more money than I’ve ever had in my life.”

There was a long pause, and she felt him about to say no, so she cut him off.

“Please? I don’t want to be alone, I’m still scared that Lee will find me somehow, and I feel like if you leave now, you might disappear and I’d never see you again and I can’t handle that.”

“You make a very convincing argument.”

“I have Doctor Pepper.”

“You had me at please.”

“Oooh, old movie references. C’mon. Let’s go turn into nerds again, this whole wearing silk thing is getting old fast.”

Getting upstairs was easy.  

Letting Seven use the bathroom to change first was fine, she managed to take off her shoes, and the jacket, and was trying to turn herself into some kind of contortionist to reach the clasp and zipper at the back of her dress.

It wasn’t working.

When Seven emerged in his usual hoodie ensemble, Mouse made a pathetic squeak sound from the bedroom, and he called out to her.

“Do I want to know?”

“Seven!! Halp… I can’t get my dress unzipped.”

She felt rather than heard him come up behind her, carefully moving her hair so he could undo the hook, and lower the zipper at the back of her dress.  She held the dress to her front so that she didn’t accidentally flash him, and turned around to see that he was looking away from her, a bright blush on his cheeks.

“Seven, you’re sweet. You’ve accidentally seen me in so much less.”

“Accidentally is different than being a creeper.”

Mouse made a cheesy explosion sound, and shooed Seven out of the room so she could change.  On the one hand, she hadn’t forgotten that there was a camera, but since Seven was here right now she wasn’t actually worried about him watching her change. For half a second, she considered that she might actually like it if he did, but she squashed that thought flat fast. He didn’t like her that way, no matter what her instincts or the other RFA boys said. She wanted to keep him as a friend, so she needed to respect that boundary.

She slipped into her one pair of velvety lounge pants and a tank top. She was going to have to dig through the bag of what she was wearing earlier to get her hoodie, but that would wait. She was warm, and Seven knew what her shame looked like already.

When she slid the bedroom door open, Seven had ensconced himself on the couch, typing away on his phone, Dr. Pepper in hand. Feeling like they needed something to break the ice, she walked over and stole the can out of his hand long enough to take a sip before handing it back.

“Hey now, you can’t just steal a guy’s soda without asking!”

“Would it still be stealing if I asked?”

“If I said no, it would.”

“But if you said no, I wouldn’t do it.”

“And that is what makes you better than most people, Mouse.”

Mouse made a face and tried to steal the can to take another sip.  Seven was too fast, of course. Mouse knew if she pushed it, it would end with soda everywhere, and Mouse wasn’t about that life. So she ended up just getting her own can of soda before settling in next to him on the couch. Close enough that their knees touched, but not so close that she felt like she was pushing his personal bubble unreasonably.  She needed touch. He needed space. It was a delicate balance.

“Hey Mouse, Jaehee and Jumin are in the messenger.”

"I probably should apologize or something."

Seven made a noncommittal noise.

“Let me pull it up.”

Mouse has joined the chatroom

Jumin Han: Mouse. Is everything alright?

Mouse: …yes?

Jaehee Kang: You left so suddenly, we were concerned.

Jumin Han: Father’s girlfriend was out of line. I am sorry.

707: I was impolite too. Feel free to say sorry for me or tell them I’m a loser or whatever.

Jaehee Kang: You were within expected reactions, Luciel.

Mouse: Thank you again for the pretty clothes.  Do you think it would be an acceptable outfit for the party next weekend?

Jumin Han: Yes.

Jumin Han: 

707: k cool I’ll wear my new stuff too.

Jaehee Kang: I approve.

Jaehee Kang: 

Mouse: Zen and Yoosung seem to think that Seven and I were acting all couple-y? Can one of you explain? I feel like my upbringing left me ill prepared for fancy lunch etiquette.

707: I was being silly.

Jumin Han: You were laying the cute on a little thick.

Jaehee Kang: It was very heartwarming. I felt healed, a bit.

Mouse blushed and glanced at Seven, who had his mischievous grin plastered on his face.

Mouse: Well, at least now there aren’t rumors about you having a girlfriend-scandal?

Jumin Han: My father certainly seems disappointed that I was unable to keep you out of Luciel’s clutches.

707: Out of my clutches? You make me sound like a villain!

707: not sure that’s wrong

707: but still

707: 

Mouse: Hey Seven, when do I get emojis of my face? Everyone’s seen my face in person now except V.

707: oooh right! 

707: something to do to distract me from that hacker.

707: I’m gonna go work on those.

707 has left the chatroom

Jumin Han: Ah, he left. Assistant Kang, we have another meeting now, correct?

Jaehee Kang: Yes. I will get the paperwork and meet you in the conference room.

Jumin Han: Be safe, Mouse. We will talk later.

Jaehee Kang: Talk to you later, Mouse.

Mouse: Bye~! Have a good meeting!

Jumin Han has left the chatroom

Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom

Mouse has left the chatroom

Mouse set her phone aside, and stretched her arms above her her head before leaning her head on Seven’s shoulder. 

“Ugh. Everything sucks.”

There was a beat where she thought Seven wasn’t going to respond.

“Hey Mouse. Can we talk about what you said in the car?”

“Oh.” She blushed, and was grateful to be half-buried in his shoulder. “Which thing? I said a lot of things. I talk.”

“The part where you want to claim everything is your fault.”

“Oh. Well that’s because it is.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Great. Tell me a thing that’s wrong right now that’s not my fault.”

“There’s a hacker messing with the RFA.”

“Yeah. Without me, you wouldn’t have a hacker problem.”

“No. The hacker is at fault for all of this. If you weren’t here, we wouldn’t know there was a hacker problem and it would be worse instead of better.”

Mouse pursed her lips. She wanted to argue, but he wasn’t wrong. She didn’t know anything about the RFA before she got led here by the hacker, so it really could have been anyone, not her.

“Okay, Point to Seven.”

“Next then. The problem with Lee.”

“I don’t even know how you could think that wasn’t my fault. If I had been smarter, or something, you would never have encountered him, I would have never had the problem that was him in my life, and all of you would be so much safer.”

“Mouse you realize that’s literally the definition of victim blaming, right?”

“Well, okay, but…”

“No 'but's! You are not to blame for your abusive asshole ex!” 

“But…”

“What did I just say ?!” 

Mouse quieted. It still felt like her fault. There was logic to what he was saying, though.

“I accept your logic. It still feels like my fault though.”

Seven wrapped an arm around her shoulder and carefully hugged her to his side.

“Emotions suck.” He said.

“Seconded.” She smiled, just a little.

“So what else is wrong that you want to claim fault for?”

Oh. Well. This one really was her fault.

“The thing we are very awkwardly not talking about ever. You know, this guy who drives me around and protects me from scary exes and comforts me and is always available when I am not okay, and who feeds me bites of his way too expensive lunch in public in front of our friends and their family. How this guy I mentioned is stunningly attractive and would prefer I not say that, and is definitely not interested in me even though he’s really good to me.  That thing. That is my fault because if I wasn’t such an emotional train wreck of a person and could keep my feelings to myself I wouldn’t be ruining the best friendship I have ever had with this stupid run on sentence. I’m ruining everything with a misplaced adjective.”

Seven didn’t say anything, and the silence made Mouse try and figure out anything else she could say, because she felt like she was going to fall into the void that was the silence.

“I’m sorry.” She said, pulling away from him and standing up. She took two steps towards the kitchen and stopped. She had nowhere to go, and running away from this conversation wasn’t going to make it go away or get better somehow. Mouse crossed her arms over her chest, facing away from him. Tears were falling down her face and she couldn’t do anything about it. She didn’t want him to see. Even now she cared too much about what he thought of her.

“I shouldn’t have said any of that. I should have just let it be. I should have just been content with having you in my life. I’ve never been good at talking to people or making friends. I always had to move before I really made any lasting relationships. It’s why Lee happened. He actually cared enough to stick with me, and I was just so desperate for anyone to care that I didn’t look before I leaped.”

She knew her shoulders were shaking slightly, but hopefully Seven wouldn’t notice. Her fingernails were digging tiny crescents into the skin of her forearms, and it hurt but it kept her grounded.

“I know I’m the problem here. I just.. I love too easily and I don’t know how to dial it back.  Movie day with you and Zen and ‘Sung was literally the best day I have ever had in my whole life. I want every day to be like that. After I lost my parents, I would go months without getting a hug of any kind. I haven’t gotten to actually snuggle in years. Lee hated all of that, and I thought I was just weird for wanting human contact. He.. He didn’t even kiss me until after he started hurting me. Like only if I was in pain was I worth anything.”

“Mouse…” She heard Seven get up from the couch, but couldn’t make herself turn to face him, couldn’t stop the words that were pouring out of her mouth.

“I’m just garbage, Seven. I’m literally the worst. I spent so long by myself that I’m greedy now. I want to spend so much time with everyone in the RFA. I want to help ‘Sung beat you in LOLOL. I want to rehearse silly musical lines with Zen. I want to make ridiculous coffees with Jaehee, and snuggle Jumin’s fancy cat. I want to learn how to hack so we can be an unstoppable duo. I want to see all of your smiles and hug you through all your frowns. I want more lunches where people think we’re a couple because we do cute things like feed each other and wear coordinating outfits and hold hands in public. I want to kiss your stupid face. No, not just yours. Everyone’s stupid faces. All of you. Not just any one of you. I want to fall asleep on your shoulder again, or just in a big cuddle pile like during movie day, or just not all by myself. I finally feel like I belong somewhere and I’m so broken that I don’t know how to be a normal person who wants normal things. I can’t even choose one person to love, I just love all of you and I’m stuck and I’m broken and I can’t, I just can’t. I don’t even know why you let me in the RFA. I don’t deserve to be here, I don’t deserve everything you’ve done for me, I-“

Seven grabbed her shoulder tighter than he had previously and spun her around. Mouse winced reflexively in preparation for a blow that never came.  She cracked her eyes open, and blinked away her tears to see Seven standing there also crying. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close.

“You’re not garbage, and you’re not broken, and you’re not a problem.” He said softly into her hair. “We’ve all got baggage. Every single one of us. Hell, I can’t even share my real name with people.”

He pulled away just far enough that he could look at her face.  When she didn’t look up at him, he gently tipped her chin up so she had to meet his eyes.

“I told you this morning in the car, when you called me hot, that it wasn’t safe to call me that. But you made a good point. I can’t control how you feel about me, or how you think about me, or what goes on in that smart brain of yours.” Seven said, softly. “All I can do is listen to my heart.”

She looked at him as though he had just spoken in some other language.

“Seven…?”

“Shh.” He said, and then he was kissing her. Soft, and delicate, like she might break if he pushed too hard. Warm, and thoughtful, and caring.

When he pulled away, she felt fresh tears streaming down her cheeks.

Chapter Text

Seven reached out and wiped the tears from Mouse’s cheeks. 

“Was that okay?” he said softly, and she nodded.

“Then.. Why are you crying more? I don’t want to make you cry.”

Mouse tried to put a smile on her face, for him.  She was still trying to figure out what was even going on in her brain, but she was also the happiest she had been in… well, possibly ever. She knew that it wasn’t her best attempt at a smile, but she also knew it was important to at least try not to look miserable after the guy you’re interested in kisses you for the first time. OH RIGHT. He kissed her.

“Would you believe me if I told you that these tears were happy ones?”

“If your smile didn’t look fake, maybe.” He said, and turned to pick up her soda from the desk.  Before he handed it to her, he stole a sip.

“Hey! Thief!”

“Only taking back what you stole from me!”

“Is that how it is?” Mouse said, and this time her smile reached her eyes.

“Obviously, yes. Now drink some of that. Crying always makes my throat tight, and makes talking suck, and I think we’ve got some more talking to do. Hopefully not more crying, but brains are dumb.”
Mouse obediently took a sip of her soda, and then set it back on the desk. She knew he was watching her, so when she turned back to him and he started to say something, she let the mischief win.

“Shh.” She said, and stood on her tiptoes so she could be tall enough to kiss him.

When they parted again, he looked her in the eye, the question unspoken.

“What? I was just taking back what you stole from me.” She said, and winked.

He sighed, blushing, and led her back over to where they’d been sitting on the couch.

Seven sat on the couch, and Mouse sprawled out next to him, with her head pillowed on his leg so that she could look up at him while they talked. Seven was looking at her with a combination of amused and curious.

“What?” she said, trying to get him to explain the look in his eyes.

“Oh. I just realized you’re wearing the same thing you were last time we hung out together.”

Mouse laughed. Sure enough. 2000s track pants and all. 

“The dangers of having like 3 outfits.” She said, smirking.

“Well, you have four now, and one of them is fancy.”

“Too fancy. At least I don’t need to wear jeans to the party now.”

“Yeah, true that.”

There was a pause then, while Mouse tried to figure out what to say.

“I’m sorry I got… extra, there.” She said, really unsure what to do about her giant breakdown of a rant. 

Seven shrugged. “I don’t mind listening to you, Mouse. I meant what I said, you know? We’re all carrying around way too much baggage.  There isn’t a single person in the RFA who’s ‘normal’ anyway.”

“So should we talk about the elephant in the room first?”

“Wait, there’s an elephant?”

Mouse speared him with a look.

“It’s hard. I shouldn’t even be here right now, with this cute girl, who I can’t stop thinking about kissing again.” He said, finally.

“Shouldn’t is a word choice.  Not can’t, or don’t want to. I know this morning you told me it wasn’t safe for me to even find you attractive.”

“Not safe, and not relatable, even.  You’re calling me attractive, compared to Zen, and Jumin, and heck even Yoosung.”

“Yep. Zen is very nice to look at. Jumin is classic sexy. I don’t think there’s anyone in this world quite as cute as ‘sung. But you? Seven, no, Luciel. Shit, whatever name you like best, just tell me, I’ll use it, since you can’t tell me your real name for reasons.”

“I like when you call me Seven because sometimes you call me God Seven.”

“Sometimes I call you in exasperation. God, Seven!”

“That too. I could- nevermind.”

“Nevermind nothing. Put a pin in whatever that thought was and we’ll come back to it.” She winked.

He blushed.

“Anyway. Seven, dear, you’re my type. Head to toe. The hair, the glasses, the eyes. The way you feel when I hug you.  How your hand fits in mine.  Your height, compared to mine.”

“Just tall enough that if I hold you from behind, I can rest my chin on the top of your head.”

“Yes, exactly! You should do that more. It makes me feel safe.”

“Ooh, now we’re getting somewhere with the being open and talking thing.”

“But… there’s so much I love about everyone, Seven. I could stay in the moment where you kissed me forever. It’s obvious how much I care about you, I hope.”

Seven nodded, and she continued.

“But I care about ‘Sung, too. I want to curl up and do homework while we listen to cheesy pop music and ignore the world.  I want to go to one of Zen’s musicals, and get to meet him backstage and make his fangirls jealous, because he’s talking to me.  I want to crack Jumin’s shell far enough that he admits when he’s happy, or sad, and lets me hug him back.  I want to take Jaehee out somewhere extra fancy for coffee and then say all of the sweet things so that I can see her blush like she did the first time I ever met her.”

Seven’s face initially clouded over when she mentioned wanting to be with Yoosung, like she was turning him down even while laying in his lap. But then she started talking about Zen, and his expression moved slowly into curiosity, and then she added Jumin, and she watched his eyes widen, and then narrow. He was getting harder to read, so she wasn’t prepared for the immediate spark of interest that mentioning Jaehee added.

“Mouse, are you bi, then?”

Mouse paused. “Yeah. Is that a problem?”

Seven immediately shook his head.

“No. Nope. Not a problem. That would be hypocritical of me.”

“Hypocritical, hm? Does that make you also Bi? Or Pan? Or… are you actually gay except for kisses?!”

Seven blushed. “No, I.. I guess I’m bi? I mean, I haven’t really thought about it because I never thought I’d ever really be with anyone, because of work and… reasons.”

Mouse squeezed his hand, which was resting with her own on her stomach.

“Labels suck.” She said, trying to make sure he understood that she didn’t need him to know.

“Accurate.”

“Besides, there are no right answers about things like that. They change.”

“True. But.. Mouse, can I ask you something, about how you feel about everyone?”

“Sure.. Just.. Don’t ask me to pick cause I can’t yet. It hurts too much.”

“No.. I won’t. Because.. What you said earlier. That you love everyone…”

“Yes, that includes you.”

He blushed bright red, and cleared his throat.

“That.. That’s not what I meant, but.. I’m glad. I never thought I’d be talking about any of this. You make me do so much thinking. Do you know what Polyamory is?”

Mouse paused, and mouthed the word a couple of times, considering.

“Okay, I’m a nerd enough to figure out that it’s something about love, and… sides? Like a polygon. But otherwise, no?”

Seven nodded. 

“I guess I kind of figured that, given what you were saying earlier. I would have thought you’d at least have heard of it, growing up in the states and being an internet nerd.”

Mouse shrugged. “Apparently I just missed that part of my netizen education.”

“Never say netizen again.”

“Yes, sir.”

Seven laughed at that. 

“Good. I hate that word. Anyway, so Polyamory, which people tend to just call “Poly” is, to put it simply, not being monogamous. Multiple partners.”

“That sounds.. Like cheating?”

“Cheating is sleeping with multiple people, sure. But cheating implies betrayal, and deception. But, what if you talked about your relationships like an adult?  Say person A wants to date person B, but person B is already dating person C, and person A is dating person D.  If they just go for it without talking, that’s cheating. But if they all sit down and talk about what a relationship for A and B would look like, and come up with rules and boundaries and things that are acceptable to all four of them, then persons A and B could date, and each still have their other relationships.”

Mouse paused, and considered.

“That sounds surprisingly straightforward.  Why do people cheat then?”

“Because for some reason people think communicating is hard and they’d rather be a complete douche than talk. But also, because sometimes we act impulsively and have regrets later.”

“You mean like you kissing me earlier?”

“No! Well, I mean kinda? But no.  Sure, I kissed you impulsively. I should have asked first, especially with what you’re dealing with right now. But I don’t have any regrets.  But what if you were dating one of those guys from lunch?”

Mouse started to interject that they were gay, but Seven shushed her.

“Shh. I know, impossible because gay. Bear with the metaphor.  What if you and Ryung were more than just LOLOL friends? And I kissed you, impulsively. And you liked it. Were you cheating?”

Mouse paused. “I feel like this is a trick question.”

“That’s because it is. It all depends on what metaphor-you and Ryung had agreed on. If you’d agreed not to kiss other people, then there’s a problem, and the only solution is honesty.  But, if you had agreed to talk before kissing other people, it comes down to the same thing - an honest discussion.  And, if you had discussed that you could be kissing friends with anyone as long as you made sure that he was okay with them before sleeping together, then there’s no issue, unless you hauled me right off to the bedroom without talking to him first.”

Mouse laughed at the concept of her hauling anyone to a bedroom ever.

“Okay, so basically it sounds like Poly is just like the New Game+ of normal relationships.  It’s harder because there are more things you need to communicate about, and more people you need to make sure to be treating properly and doing right by.”

“Yeah, you got it. Poly’s the easy term. It can be hard to handle sometimes, especially with more conservative minded people, because you’ll often get questions about what the difference between poly and swingers or orgies are.”

“I feel like orgies would require literal stacks of permission slips.”

Seven laughed at that. It even took him a minute to be able to breathe.

“So poly. It’s not just like, having an open relationship where you can sleep around, or whatever. It’s meant to be something where you’re really committed to multiple people. Not just for kisses, or for sex, or whatever your coffee with Jaehee turns into when the mugs are empty, but the kind of thing where you actually have a meaningful relationship with multiple people. It involves lots of talking, and making sure everyone’s feelings are taken into account. But you seem pretty good at talking, so... I think you could handle it.”

“So, are you poly then, Seven? You seem to know a lot about it.”

Seven blushed, and refused to meet her eye for a moment before he got his giant pile of awkward under control.

“Mouse, this may be hard for you to believe, but.. I’ve never had a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Or a nonbinary datefriend.”

Mouse froze. 

“Seven… was that your first kiss?”  

She didn’t mean it to come out that way. She meant to ask it more delicately. But she was shocked, Seven was just so amazing, how had he never had a relationship?

He was blushing, and not looking at her again.

“I’m going to take this awkward silence for a yes. Seven, sweetie, how are you such an amazing kisser with no practice?”

“I’m a what?”

“You’re going to make me say it again?”

“Yes.”

“You’re an amazing kisser, Seven. Just the sweet soft delicate kiss, you had me melting. I’ve never had a kiss that good. Never. Not that I have that much experience, but…”

“Um.”

“Yep. Amazing. God Seven wins again.”

He smiled then, and ruffled her hair.

“But if you’ve never… how do you know so much about Polyamory?”

“Well, for one I read a lot. For another, my friend Tom is poly and talks about it too much, so I got to ask all the awkward questions when no one could hear me.”

“You have friends?!” Mouse said, teasingly.

Seven laughed bitterly. “Just Tom. We should invite him to the party.”

Mouse nodded. “Yeah, definitely. I want to kiss your face where he can see it so you can be proud.”

Seven looked down at her.

“You want to kiss my face again?”

“More times than I can count. And I can count pretty high, I’m good at math.”

“What about… everyone else?”

“I want to kiss them too, but you got to me first, mister Seven.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, if I want to try and kiss everyone, it sounds like I am going to need to figure out this poly thing.  But. It’s about communication, right?”

Seven nodded, not seeing where she was going with this train of thought.

“Well. I mean. I like kissing you. And I want to do more of it.” Her face was bright red. 

“Yes?”

“Is that a question or an agreement?” she said, sitting up so she could look him in the eye and not all upside-down.

He leaned towards her and kissed her forehead. “Both.”

“Okay, so… are you okay with the idea of me kissing other people?”

“Yes. Anytime you want. But I think you skipped something.”

She froze. Had she done something wrong?

Seven smiled, obviously trying to put her at ease.

“Hey, this one I can do for you, but you’ll have to do the rest yourself, okay?”

Mouse nodded, hoping she hadn’t done something unforgivable. This whole thing was new to her.

“Mouse, will you be my girlfriend?”

Mouse felt herself go pale and then immediately flush. Oh. Right. You’re supposed to discuss with your partner(s) about seeing other people. But Seven was just a friend that she’d kissed. Who was asking her not out on a date, but to be his for real girlfriend.

“Are you.. Are you sure you want me?”  She hadn’t meant to say it like that, but there she was, with her kaleidoscope of regret in full view, tear stains ruining the weirdly professional makeup, and her hair in some serious disarray from the updo that the stylist had done before lunch.

“Mouse. I carried you literally everywhere a few days ago.”

“Out of misplaced guilt.”

“I wish I could even claim that. I was just being greedy. I wanted to touch you, and I knew you’d never choose me. I knew I couldn’t let you choose me. And everyone else seemed to be ok with it, so…”

Mouse smiled.

“Ryung was not.”

“Well, Ryung is gay, so he can deal.”

Mouse laughed then, her eyes squeezed shut imagining Seven actually saying that to his face. When she opened her eyes again, Seven’s face was surprisingly serious.

“I mean it, Mouse. I’m not supposed to ask. I’m not supposed to get attached to anyone. If I do, I’m supposed to get disappeared. But I won’t let them separate us. I love you, Mouse. Don’t leave me hanging. Please, be my girlfriend?”

Okay, so she’d been throwing the whole love concept around all afternoon, but she was not expecting to hear those words from Seven. Not after their conversation this morning. Not after the way he wasn’t willing to even let her think of him as hot. She couldn't ignore the weight of what he was saying, or the emotion behind it. Clearly, he meant it, and it really hit home for her. But she couldn’t just let him off easy.

“On one condition.” Mouse said, mischief lighting her eyes.

Seven paused, hesitating.

“…what condition?”

“You have to kiss me again.” Mouse said, and completely failed to hide her laughter.

Seven, however, grinned like he’d just hacked a bank.

“Come here, you.”

He reached out pulled her up into his lap, so that she was facing him, and then kissed her on the tip of her nose.

“That doesn’t count!”

“But it was a kiss!”

Mouse sat back, and realized she was straddling his lap. Nope. Not thinking about that right now.

“Was it?”

“…yes?”

“Prove it.”

“Make me.”

“Well, I mean, if you don’t want a girlfriend…”

Mouse was prepared for him to kiss her. She was not, however, prepared for her own reaction as Seven wrapped one arm around her back and used his other hand to pull her head against his, crashing their lips together. He really was an exceptional kisser.

After what felt like an eternity, Seven broke the kiss, and leaned his forehead back against hers.

“So, that’s a yes, then?”

“Yes.”

Chapter Text

Mouse looked at Seven and bit her lip.  What her body wanted right now was to take him to bed. Her heart was entirely on board. Her brain was hesitant.  Her only experience with sex had been traumatic. And he didn’t have any experience at all.  What if she ruined it for him, or…

“What are you thinking, Mouse?” Seven asked, hands having come to rest naturally on her hips, his head slightly tilted as he watched her think.

“Lots of things. Mostly, that I don’t want to disappoint you.” That was the truth of it. Not enough information or explanation, but the bare truth of it.

“How could you possibly disappoint me, when just sitting here with you like this is more than I ever thought I would be able to have in my entire life?” Seven was serious. He meant every word of it.

Mouse leaned forward into his chest, burying her face in the curve of his neck and shoulder. 

“Because.” She said. “I want more than kisses.”

She wasn’t sure he’d be able to hear her, muffled as her voice was, quietly as she’d said it.  The way he held her tighter, though, implied that he at least understood her intent.

“Well, how about we practice talking about it? Since we’re gonna have to do that. About each other. And other people. And to other people, about each other.”

Mouse made a sound of quiet agreement, her face still muffled in his shoulder. 

Seven stood unexpectedly, and Mouse squeaked in surprise, instinctively wrapping her legs around his waist so she didn’t fall.

Seven made a sound that Mouse did not know how to interpret, and then said, very carefully, “Not disappointing so far.”

He carried her over to the bed, and set her down carefully. Mouse could tell he was worried, so refused to let go of him when he tried to pull away, causing him to lose his balance and fall forward onto her. This of course was hilarious, and the two of them found themselves laughing so hard that the tension of the unknown broke, and allowed them to find a comfortable snuggle position without the weight of anticipation making them awkward.

Once the laughter subsided, though, the awkward came back and hit them full force.

“So..” Mouse started.

“Do you..” Seven also started, at the same time.

“Go ahead.” They said at the same time, and then laughed.

“I don’t know where to start.” Mouse said, before Seven could demand she talk first. There. She’d talked first and made him have to say what he was going to say. Success. Or so she thought.

Seven, of course, paused before saying anything, which made Mouse pick her head up to look at him.

He was biting his lip, and there were tears in his eyes.

Mouse sat up, and pulled Seven into a sitting position as well.

“Seven. Babe. What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

“That’s just it, right? We want to talk about these things. But I don’t know how to talk about something I’ve only dreamed of. I already have more than I ever thought I’d get in my entire life. And now, here’s this miracle of a girl who wants to not only do more, but be more, and I have no idea how to handle myself.”

“I think you’re doing a great job so far. You make me feel special, Seven. You’ve helped me so much just today, just talking, and seeing what it is about each other that is worth loving. You know, all of it.”

“Sure, but I want more of you, too. I want to explore every inch of you, try things I’ve only heard about thanks to the internet. But then.. You’ve been through so much. I don’t want to do something that makes you uncomfortable, or reminds you of what he did to you.”

“I want to explore you, too, Seven. Yeah, I’m scared. Sure, all of my experiences are negative, but you realize that only means there’s nowhere to go but up, right? I don’t know that I won’t get triggered, or scared. But I didn’t have a problem when you kissed me, and I feel safe when you’re holding me close.”

“I don’t want to hurt you. What if I hurt you?”

“Then you’ll apologize, and we’ll talk about it. That’s the plan, right? Talk about everything even if it’s uncomfortable and awkward? You know, like this?”

Mouse shifted so she could put her arms around Seven.

“I’m excited, Seven. I want to see where things go, and I want to learn about how being with someone is supposed to feel. I’m scared, but I’m okay being scared, because I have you.”

“But I don’t know anything. I literally just got to have my first kiss, Mouse. I’m going to be a complete idiot about this.”

“You think I have a ton more experience, don’t you?”

“How could you not? You’re gorgeous, and confident, and… you’re just you. Everyone loves you, Mouse, there’s no way you’re like me.”

“Here, let me give you a rundown of my copious amounts of experience, then.”

Seven knew, from her tone, that he was not going to like what he heard. He didn’t expect the reason, though.

“I’ve had kisses with a total of three people, if you don’t include kisses on the cheek, or fake kisses in school plays. But only if you also include being kissed. If you only include kisses I’ve initiated… well, there’s just the one, you were here for it.”

Seven blinked, and started to say something, but she held up a hand to shush him.

“Further than kisses, I have been groped by countless men on the subway, and my date to senior prom. My only real relationship… well, you know how that went, right? Lee didn’t even have any interest in kissing me unless he was already hurting me, and don’t get me started on how anything past kissing went with that dumpster fire of a human.”

Seven reached out and grabbed the hand that she’d held up to stop him from interrupting.

“I’m sorry.” He said, the sincerity bleeding from his words. “I didn’t mean to imply anything, Mouse. I guess I’m just nervous. I don’t want to be like.. Well, I guess like everyone else you’ve had any experience with.”

“Seven, I want to be with you. That alone makes you better than anyone else.”

“I think we might both be afraid of the same things. Doesn’t that make us painfully normal?”

“Normal is overrated.”

Mouse laughed, and then paused.

“I think… it might actually be better if we stop trying to talk about every theoretical situation.”

“How would that be better?”

She didn’t really have the words for what she was trying to imply. 

“Well, what about talking about things.. As they happen?” Damn inexperience.

The look on her face must have given her away, because suddenly Seven blushed, and then took off his hoodie and tossed it to the side of the bed, then made a motion across his lips to imply zipping them up and then threw the imaginary key off in the same direction as his hoodie.

Mouse pushed him back so he was laying down again, and then straddled his lap like they had been sitting on the couch. 

Seven just watched her, uncertain of what she was thinking or what to do with his hands at this point. He could tell she was nervous too, by the way her hands were slightly shaking, and the way she was biting her lower lip. He took in a sharp breath when she slid her fingers under the hem of his shirt, running them along his skin, with just enough pressure to keep it from tickling him.

“You’re all muscles under here. How did I not notice this during our tickle fights?”

“I didn’t want you to notice. I’m supposed to be the silly hacker boy. Zen’s the muscles.”

“Pfft. You’re clearly so much more than just a hacker, Seven.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Hackers don’t talk about disappearing and not getting to have family.”

“They don’t? The internet has betrayed me!”

Mouse laughed, and couldn’t help but tickle him. 

“You’re such a brat, Seven.”

Mouse had been expecting his usual reaction when she tickled him, so she wasn’t surprised when he moved like a blur, but she was surprised to find herself not pinned by the wrists as usual, but instead simply pinned under his weight, with his breath in her ear.

“Now, now, Mousey. I don’t think I’m the brat here. You’re the one who tickled me after all.” 

His hot breath in her ear made her react instinctively, a soft sigh escaping her lips, and her hips rolling up slightly against his.

“Besides, aren’t we supposed to be done with the talking?”

Seven captured her mouth with his own, foregoing his previous soft kisses for something more aggressive, and she found herself lost in the pressure of his lips and the determined exploration of his tongue along her own.

When they finally broke for air, Mouse found herself giggling. She hadn’t expected to feel this kind of joy just from some kisses, and it made her want to explore more of him. When he sat up a little to look her in the eye, Mouse took the opportunity to pull the hem of his shirt up, determined to get access to more of his skin.  Seven caught her meaning, and removed the offending garment, a light blush coloring his cheeks.

“Okay, I was absolutely right this morning. You are hot, Seven. I mean, Damn.”

She ran her hands up his chest, and then lightly ran her nails down his back as she pulled him in for another kiss. He obliged, but shorter this time, as he pulled away to watch her expressions as he slipped his own hands under her shirt to feel her skin.

“You’re so soft. I want to see more of you.”

A little voice in the back of her head made her worry that he’d balk when he saw her marks, and it must have shown in her eyes, because Seven laid a gentle kiss on her forehead, and added;

“But only if it’s okay. Bruises or not, you’re you, and you’re gorgeous.”

Mouse nodded, and sat up a little to make it easier to remove her shirt. Seven, despite his proclaimed inexperience, had no problems unhooking her bra as well, though he’d blame that ability on the finicky nature of cosplay costumes. His gasp as he tossed her shed garments over in the same direction as his shirt had gone made her worry for a brief second, which passed as Seven shifted to start placing delicate kisses on each and every bruise, burn, cut, and scar on her exposed skin. Some of the places were more sensitive than others, and she bit her lip to hold back the soft sounds that she was making in reaction to his lips on her skin.

“You don’t have to be quiet, Mouse.” He said, and grinned, running a thumb along her lip to convince her to stop biting it.

“But, I..”

“Shh. I like the sounds you make.” He said, and as if to punctuate his point, he stopped avoiding the obvious, and started to run his tongue in circles around her nipple, his hand coming up to pinch and tease at the other.

The sound that escaped her lips at this action seemed to just spur him on, and Mouse let herself get lost in the way he was making her feel. But then, he stopped, and her eyes flickered open and met his.  Seven’s hands had found the waistband of her pants, and his eyes were asking if it was okay to take them off. 

Mouse wanted nothing more than for him to take all of her at that point, but nothing can quite stop her snarky side, not even lust. She shook her head just a little, enough for him to sit back with some concern that he’d asked for too much written on his face.

“You first.” She said, surprised at how husky her voice sounded.

Seven looked startled, a little, but stood up to unfasten his jeans and let them fall to the floor. It was obvious, even through his underwear, just how much he was enjoying their time together. As he slipped out of his last piece of clothing under her watchful eye, Mouse found herself humming a little in appreciation. His body was truly stunning. As much as she didn’t want to play the comparison game, she was pretty sure that he put Lee to shame in every possible way.

She stood up next to him, and slipped her bottoms off of her hips as well, somewhat self-conscious, but then he’d already seen her in just her underwear. He knew where her scars were.  She hooked her thumbs into the elastic of her underwear, but before she could remove them, Seven had claimed her hands and pulled her into a hug.

“You’re so soft and beautiful, Mouse.” He said, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, enjoying the way his skin felt against her own. After just a few heartbeats, he let go, and looked her in the eye, blushing again, or maybe just still.

“I want to try something, do you trust me?”

Mouse was curious, because of course she trusted him.  But she just nodded.

“Can you… say it?”

“Of course I trust you, Seven.”

“Okay, then, um, sit down?”

Mouse did as she was told, and sat on the edge of the bed, giggling a little bit as she remembered that her feet didn’t reach the floor when she sat like this.  Seven reached out and slid her panties off carefully, and set them on the night stand rather than just tossing them in the clothes pile.

When Seven knelt on the floor in front of her, Mouse blinked at him. What was he up to?

“You might want to lay back, or at least lean on your hands. For balance.” He said, then positioned himself so her legs were resting on his shoulders.

Was he going to—

Mouse gasped as Seven’s tongue slipped between her folds, carefully tasting and exploring her most sensitive area.  When he found her clit, she failed to hold back the moan of sheer pleasure that he was causing.  He was clearly having fun with this, as every now and again a small hum would escape him, sending a delicate vibration along her nerve endings which made her feel even better.

Every time she thought she was getting used to the way he was making her feel, he would shift, and do something slightly different, and the feeling would build. She wasn’t sure how exactly any of this was supposed to feel, but they felt so amazing, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to hold off the climax she was building towards for much longer.

“Seven.. I’m going to…” In the back of her head, she realized that her voice sounded much higher in pitch than she was used to.  As she said those last words, Seven quickly slid two fingers inside of her, and aggressively teased her clit, throwing her screaming over the edge into bliss. Her walls squeezed hard against his fingers even while she flooded with juices,  and her thighs kept his head pinned against her until she relaxed.

Once free again, Seven wiped his face and fingers on the nearest piece of discarded clothing, and then swiveled her legs so she was entirely laying on the bed, before returning to pinning her to the bed, how they had been before they stopped to remove the rest of their clothes.

“That was fun.” He said, and kissed her cheek.

“Fun?! That was phenomenal.” She giggled, and caught his mouth with her own to kiss him properly. There was no mistaking the fact that he was incredibly interested in continuing this line of exploration, if the feeling of his length pressing into her hip was any indication.  She rolled her hips up into him, a smirk on her face as he took a slow, shuddering breath.

“Well, now you can’t say you don’t find me attractive.”

“You’re right about that.” Seven said, and shifted his hips against her own, making her moan softly.

Seven smiled, clearly pleased that something so simple could get that kind of reaction out of her. But then he froze for half a second. Just long enough for Mouse to realize something wasn’t right.

“Seven, what’s wrong?”

“Just thinking… Mouse.. Do you have any condoms?”

She paused, and realized she had never thought about it. “I do not.”

Seven laughed ruefully. “And here I thought the trope of always carrying a condom in your wallet was stupid.”

Mouse laughed too, and hugged him to her. “I don’t know, Seven, it’s actually kindof sexier to know that you weren’t expecting to get any.”

Seven grimaced. “Well, I’m certainly not now!”

Mouse poked him in the nose. “Don’t you worry, God Seven. Your Mouse won’t leave you wanting.”

She felt him twitch against her when she used his favorite nickname.

“Can I… return the favor you paid me?”

Seven made a sound low in his throat, and then rolled them over so that she was laying on top of him instead.

“Mouse, you can do anything you want to me. Have your way with me.”

She grinned.  She wasn’t sure if it would be as good as how he’d made her feel, but her traitor hormones had been wanting to do this specific thing since he’d carried her back into her apartment after her hospital stay, and now she got to.

Mouse slowly moved down his body, leaving a trail of kisses and soft touches in her wake. She couldn’t get enough of the fact that she had a hot, naked Seven in her bed. The sounds he made as she touched him just made her want to touch him more. So, when she reached his cock and paused to make sure he was still okay with her actions, she was surprised to find he went completely silent.  She glanced up at him, and he seemed to be holding his breath, waiting to see what she would do.  The sweet care and anticipation in his eyes cleared up any worry she might have been having.

Slowly, teasingly, she explored the taste of him, enjoying the way his unique scent was more concentrated here.  She tried to take more of him into her mouth each pass, but found her limit sooner than she expected, catching her gag reflex and having to back off for a moment.  Seven pet her hair, and she met his eyes before she returned to her ministrations.   She liked to watch him while she tasted him, to see one of his hands bunched up in the sheets, and the other tangled in her hair.

She felt him start to tense up, and he managed to choke out a few words to tell her he was close. She hadn’t considered, at that point, if she intended to swallow, or let him make a mess of her. In the moment, she knew that she wanted him to feel amazing, and she wasn’t ready to be done with him yet. Mouse tipped her head back and looked him in the eye, and got to watch as his the tension of his release swept through him, his moans echoing off the sparse walls of the apartment bedroom.

Mouse swallowed, wiping the little bit that escaped from the edge of her lip.  She wanted to ask what he thought, or if it was good, but instead just curled up next to him while he came down from his high.  She realized she was starting to drift off to sleep when he turned and kissed her hair.

“Nap time for cute mice and Saeyoungs.” He said softly, and reached out to pull one of her soft blankets over them both.

Chapter Text

Mouse woke up to a phone ring she didn’t recognize. She reached out for her phone, and found, instead of her phone or night stand, skin.

Her eyes flew open. How long had she been asleep? What time was it? She saw Seven staring irritatedly at his phone.

“Sorry love.” He said, and pet her hair. “That’s Vanderwood’s ring. She’s probably pissed that I’m not home yet. Let me call her, and then we can talk a little before I go?”

Mouse stretched. “What time is it?”

Seven looked at his phone. “Would you believe it’s around 6pm?”

“Aw, it’s not 7:07?”

“Nope. It’s 6:06 now though - your time.”

“I’m 606?”

“Yeah, to match my 707.”

“I like it. But.. What error am I, then?”

“That’s for me to know, and you to look up on the internet compulsively once I’ve headed home.”

“Omg so true.”

“Ok, shh, let me call Vanderwood.”

He didn’t even bother to sit up or away from her, just put his phone to his ear.

“Zero Seven, you’re late.”

“How can I be late when we were between jobs?”

“We have a job. You’ve ignored me for hours.”

“Yep, cause it’s my day off.”

“So your day off includes seducing trauma victims on camera?”

Mouse was snuggled too close to Seven not to hear the commentary coming from his phone. They both froze and looked in the direction they knew the camera was located.

“Yes.” Seven said. “And your day off includes watching security camera footage for free?”

“If only you remembered to shut off your monitors this morning, I never would have been subjected to such a sight.”

“Mhm. Sure, Vanderwood.”

“Well, leave your conquest and get back soon, we have work to do, and you’ve been sleeping through the best part of the day.”

“I’ll be there soon. Don’t push me.”

Seven hung up the phone, and set it back on the night stand.

There was a pause, a silence between them. Mouse was trying to figure out how she felt about someone having seen even part of their antics. First, she felt like she should probably be upset that someone saw her being that level of intimate, but she really didn’t. It was actually a bit of a turn on actually, she was going to have to unpack that later. Second, she felt like it was as much her fault as Seven’s because she knew full well how many cameras were in this apartment, even before she started having feelings for Seven. Third, she was worried that Seven wouldn’t want to continue anything with her after that, even though he was the one that actually got the guts to ask her out. There were probably more things she was thinking of that she needed to think out, but Seven got words before she did. 

“Mouse, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I never thought about the cameras still being up. I didn’t think Vanderwood would be waiting for me and checking my computer, I never meant for this to-”

Seven’s apology was cut off by Mouse kissing him.

The minute the words ‘I’m Sorry’ left his lips, Mouse knew he was trying to take the blame for that entire situation.  She knew it, and she was right, too. She also knew that moving to squelch his apology would cause the blanket to fall, and give the camera another good view, so while she was kissing him, she flipped off the camera. Then, she pulled away and looked him in the eye.

“Seven. There’s a lot to unpack about this entire situation. I have been awake for less than five minutes, and have had thirty entire seconds to think about it. But I know a few things. First, this is not your fault any more than it is mine. We are consenting adults who both knew there were cameras here long before we got started. Second, you having the cameras on to watch over me, while it could be creepy, has literally saved my life. And I have to admit that it’s really comforting to know someone’s with me even when I have to be alone.”

“You’re never going to be alone again, unless you want to be.”

Mouse could tell that Seven was serious, and squeezed his hand.

“At least until this Lee thing is figured out, I don’t think I’m going to want to be. Also I’m an extrovert so being alone just sucks. And then there’s the whole wanting to date everyone in the RFA thing…”

“Yeah… that’s going to be a rough road for you, but I’m here to help.  I just… Jumin doesn’t like women. I half-think he’s actually gay. No one knows what Jaehee is interested in. Zen hates Jumin with the burning fiery passion of a thousand suns, which may just mean he wants to sleep with him, but given how jealous he was when he learned of you even accidentally flirting with Jumin at lunch the other day, I don’t think that’s going to resolve anytime soon.”

Mouse laughed.  She didn’t particularly think he was wrong about any of that.

“You didn’t mention Yoosung, though.” She said, curiously.

“Yoosung is an adorable puppy who would cut off his legs if he thought it would give him a chance to spend more time with you. Doubly so now that he’s learned you’re as good as him at LOLOL.”

“Why do you say that as though it’s a problem?”

“Because he’ll agree to anything you ask him for.”

“Do you not want me to like Yoosung?”

Seven went quiet, and then shook his head.

“That’s not it. I really want you and Yoosung to be together. I just… ugh.”

“Come on, Seven. This is that whole talking thing we’re doing, remember? I want to be with you, which means I need to know how you feel about things.”

Seven pulled her close again so he could whisper in her ear.

“I want to kiss him first. I think I’m just jealous that I’ve known him longer but haven’t had the guts to make a move. Because of my shouldn'ts.”

Mouse shivered when she felt his breath against her ear, and then again at his words.

“Ooh. I get it. And I think I understand why you whispered it, too.  You have my blessing. I’d love to be there for it, though. To see his face.”

Seven grinned like he just won the lottery.

“I knew you were going to be good for me!”

Mouse laughed, and gently prodded him out of the bed. “Okay, sexy Seven, let’s get moving before Vanderwood posts our sex tape on the internet in retaliation.”

“She wouldn’t dare.”

“Really?”

“Ok, ok, I’m moving.”

Mouse sighed, and leaned back against the headrest in Seven’s passenger seat.

“Why, exactly, am I going back to C&R?”

“Because I have to go work, which is not safe to take you to, and especially after our long discussion this afternoon, I am not about to leave you alone with only cameras as company.”

“Okay, but why C&R?”

“Jumin’s still working. Which means Jaehee is still working. Which means even if Jumin is too busy to care, Jaehee will keep you company and you won’t be alone. Besides, Jumin has bodyguards.”

“And I assume not Yoosung’s place because you can’t be there to kiss him first?”

“Mouse, you can’t just say that out loud!!”

“Can, and did. Am I wrong?”

“Well, actually, it’s because Zen is also there, and between the two of them I know they’re gonna ask awkward questions about today and I don’t want you to have to field poly questions all by yourself the first time. But yeah also because I don’t want to risk you hurting him just so I can kiss him first.”

“I wouldn’t… no, I might, not intentionally, but that boy thought I was telling him not to stare when I was complaining about randos on campus last week.”

“See? You get it.”

“So… Jumin then. Maybe he’ll take me to see Elly.”

“Omg you have to take pictures if he does because I want to see Elly!!”

“I’m so glad you call her Elly too. I thought I was going to get flayed alive when I called her that the first time.”

“Jumin probably thought I put you up to it. Elizabeth the 3rd is such a stuffy name.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t like Elly as a nickname. I’ll have to suggest some other ones.”

“Ok, but do it in chat so I can see his brain explode, okay??”

“You got it, babe.”

Seven grinned at her, and reached over to squeeze her knee before returning his attention to the road.

Mouse sat In quiet contemplation for a bit, and then asked the question that was on her mind.

“Is there anything you would prefer I not talk to Jumin about, or do with/around him?”

The pause from Seven was just long enough for Mouse to start getting worried.

“Not particularly?” he finally said, and she could tell he was still trying to think about it.

“Does it help if I say I’m not interested in having sex with anyone until they’ve had an in-person chat with my boyfriend about rules?”

She blushed at her own wording, and could tell that Seven was also blushing.

“I still can’t get over the fact that you’re my girlfriend now.”

“Tell me about it. As recently as this morning I thought you were never going to talk to me again.”

“As recently as this morning I was a giant idiot who didn’t think he was allowed to be happy.”

“Well, now I can call you hot and you won’t get mad at me, so I think it’s progress.”

“Yes. Progress.” He was still blushing.

“Anything else, though? What if he magically starts having emotions?”

“Listen, if Jumin Han suddenly thaws just by spending some time with you, run with it. I trust that you love me, and I know that your ideal end goal is to be in at least a kissing relationship with everyone in the RFA except for V, and you’ve already set yourself a sharper boundary about physical things than I was going to, so I honestly don’t think I’ll be upset. As long as you’re willing to tell me all about whatever happens next time we’re together, or in text or phone or whatever.”

“That is surprisingly more open than I expected you to be. And I am totally fine with telling you all about whatever shenaniganry happens, because honestly the whole thing with the camera earlier made me realize something.”

“Oh, what did you learn from my handler being a voyeur?”

Seven parked the car in the same place he had when they’d come here this morning.

Mouse blushed, and tried to stall. “Uh.. Well.”

“Out with it, we’re almost there and I don’t want to talk about this in the elevator.”

“I got really turned on thinking that someone was watching us.”

“Reaaaaally now.”

“Seven!”

“I learned something today too.”

“Other than that your girlfriend is an exhibitionist?”

“Yeah. I learned that if I tell you something right when you’re falling asleep, you don’t remember it.”

With that, he got out of the car, leaving her to hurry and catch up to him.

“Seven!!”

She reached out and caught his hand in hers, and he slowed down to her pace.

“What did you say?”

“Oh, nothing important. I called you cute.”

“I can’t hang up on you in real life.”

“Does falling asleep count as hanging up on consciousness?”

“That… is really deep.”

“But that’s not all I said, Mouse. I told you my real name.”

“You what?!?  Tell me again!”

“Nope. It was a moment of weakness.”

Mouse was practically vibrating trying to remember back to what he’d said. She couldn’t. She remembered getting sleepy, remembering him saying something softly to her, and covering them with a blanket. He'd said his given name? The one he said he couldn't tell anyone? How unfair was that?

"Seven, please?"

"Well, you'll just have to earn it again, won't you?"

"Is that a bribe?"

The elevator door opened onto Jumin's office floor, and Seven grinned at Jaehee.

"Hello, Jaehee! I have brought you a delivery! Or, well, for Jumin, but he's probably going to make you babysit anyway."

"I'm not an object! Or a child!"

"No? Wait, let me check just to make sure."

He spun her around and kissed her soundly on the lips, before stepping back into the now-closing elevator.

"Oh! You're a person after all! Have fun, Mouse!"

Mouse knew she was blushing too much, but she turned to face Jaehee anyway, who was also flushed, with both hands covering her mouth in response to Seven's exit. Jumin, also, was standing in his office doorway with a single eyebrow raised, before disappearing back into his office and shutting the door quietly.

Mouse felt like she was in trouble, and had no idea why.

Chapter Text

Zen sighed, and waited impatiently as one of the bodyguards knocked on Yoosung's door.  Why couldn't he knock? This wasn't as big a deal as everyone wanted to make it out to be. Yeah, Lee was on bail, but even that jerk wasn't stupid enough to attack him in public.  And he sure wouldn't be in Yoosung's tiny college apartment.

The door swung open to reveal Yoosung already in his pajamas (maybe even still in his pajamas, it was summer break, technically), with a can of soda in his hand.  He seemed startled to see the bodyguards until he saw Zen's shock of white hair in the midst of them.

"Oh hey Zen! Come in!" Yoosung said, beckoning to him.

Thankfully, the bodyguards stayed outside. The minute the door shut behind him, Zen leaned on it, exhausted, letting his eyes drift shut.  He heard the sound of Yoosung's can hitting the desk, and he figured the boy had gone back to his game.  So when he felt Yoosung's arms wrap around his waist, he was surprised.

"Yoosung?" he asked, petting his head softly. "What's up?"

"I was worried! I know you rehearse late, but when Jumin told me you were coming to stay here I thought he meant right away, and I just couldn't help but worry."

Zen smiled, and hugged Yoosung back.

"You're a good kid, you know that?"

"Hey! I'm only three years younger than you, you know."

"I know, I know. I just feel like I need to protect you, is all, and here you are worrying about protecting me."

"Well, I mean, yeah." Yoosung said, and Zen couldn't help but notice the slight blush to his cheeks when he pulled away.

"So, are you in the middle of a LOLOL game, or what?"

"Oh, no, I was just finishing one when you got here, so I'm free now. I was thinking about ordering a pizza for dinner. But then I couldn't help but think about the pizzas that Mouse made, and lost my taste for delivery, so. Is there anything you want? I know there are a lot of decent places that deliver because campus."

Zen paused and thought about it.

"There's a cute banh mi place on campus, right? Do they deliver?"

"They do! OMG that sounds so good right now."

"Sweet. I brought beer."

"Banh mi and Beer. Yeah, that sounds like a good night. You want to watch a movie or something? I know we've done that a lot lately because Mouse, but.."

"We could also play a game. Maybe one of your shooters, like Convex Legends?"

Yoosung grinned, and Zen knew he'd hit a home run with that suggestion.

"If you're game to game I'm game." Yoosung said, and pulled up the restaurant website.

Forty-some minutes later, they were situated on the couch, controllers in hand, playing shooter games, eating food, and drinking.  Zen knew Yoosung didn't drink much, because he sipped carefully at his beer, whereas Zen drank it like water.

"Ugh, out of ammo again."

"Don't die, there's a supply drop in the next building."

"Cover me, I'm going for it."

"Zen, watch out, there's a grenade!"

Zen watched in horror as his and Yoosung's characters got blown into gory bits all over his screen. 

"Shit. Sorry dude."

"Nah, it's ok, we did a ton better that time."

"Practice makes perfect! That's why I'm so good at acting."

Zen grinned at Yoosung, and was surprised to see the slight flush on the boy's cheeks. Might be time for water. His can was empty, and he stood up to clean up the mess from their dinner and drinks, because he knew if he didn't, he'd end up doing it in the morning and feeling like garbage.  While he was up, he grabbed a couple bottles of water out of the fridge, and brought one back to Yoosung.

"Water time."

"Oh, thanks dude!" Yoosung said, and obediently drank from his water.

"You want to play another round, or something else?"

"We should totally play Wyvern Era, it's got such a good character creator, we could probably spend the rest of the night with you just making a character as handsome as you are."

"I'm not sure a game's art could live up to my charming looks, but I can definitely give it a shot."

"You'd be surprised, compared to Convex Legends, Wyvern Era's graphics are like a masterpiece."

"Well, bring on this masterpiece of character creation!"

Three hours later, Yoosung is curled up half-in Zen's lap, Zen still working on perfecting his game self portrait. Yoosung yawns, which causes Zen to yawn, and they look at each other and laugh. Being the elder here, Zen figured he'd best be the responsible one.

"I suppose we should probably go to sleep, huh?"

Yoosung looked disappointed at Zen's suggestion.

"I mean, yeah, probably."

Yoosung started to shift to get up, but Zen stopped him.

"Hey, 'sung, are you ok?"

Yoosung shrugged, in that way that clearly meant "no, but I want to seem like I'm fine."

Zen reached out and pulled the boy all the way into his lap, and hugged him.

"You might only be my little brother according to Mouse's legal records, but you're still my family. Talk to me. The world is scary right now, and all we have is each other."

Yoosung made a sound that Zen could not identify, so he just hugged him tighter.

"I mean it. Talk to me. If you can't make words right now, squeeze my arm or something."

Yoosung didn't say anything or react for a full minute, but Zen refused to let him go.  Eventually, he started to relax, and squeezed Zen's arm.  Zen had been working on controlling his own breathing in that time, because Yoosung being broken was making his brain think a panic attack sounded pretty good right about then.

"You're not okay either." Yoosung finally said, accusingly.

"No. I'm not. I'm a mess."

"What am I good for, Zen? All I do is play games and- and pretend I want to be in college. I hate my classes. I was excited to be a vet when Rika was encouraging me, but now.. I don't want to see hurting animals every day. I want to do something that makes people happy. I want to make Mouse happy, but I couldn't even stop her from getting hurt even- even when she was coming to see me on campus. But I don't know how- how to change my major, what to- to change it to. I'm scared that I'll disappear."

The last word came out half-choked, the tears Yoosung was shedding started hitting Zen's arms, but neither of them moved.  Finally, Zen came up with some words for Yoosung. He wasn't sure they'd help, but he had to try.

"Yoosung, you say you want to do something that makes people happy. I know it's not what you meant, but you make the RFA happy every single time you open your mouth. You're the sunshine for all of us, even when we tease you for gaming all the time, you're making us smile. I know it's true for me, and also true for Seven.  And honestly, I think you're probably Mouse's top choice out of all of us. She was practically purring when you curled up in her lap last night. Even Jaehee asked me if you two were dating. And I am super jealous, even though I got my fair share of Mouse time."

"But you saved her from Lee. All I did was pick up her phone and stand there like an idiot."

"No. You called me, and communicated with Seven, and kept her from feeling alone.  If you hadn't called me, I would never have gotten there before something unfixable happened. If you hadn't worked with Seven, we'd have had to leave her all alone at the hospital because her records would have shown her lack of kin. And standing there like an idiot? You're a cute blonde in a sea of mostly dark-haired people. You were very likely a beacon of light and hope for the girl."

"But..."

"Don't let society's bullshit ideas about what a hero is make you feel bad. You did really good. We did really good.  Hell, if you want to look at it that way, all I did was stand there for my photographers. I've taken worse hits on stage than that asshole was throwing. I got paid to look like a hero in front of the girl I like. You did all the heavy lifting there."

"Zen. Why is the world stupid?"

Yoosung's plaintive question made Zen laugh, and he leaned his forehead on Yoosung's shoulder.

"If I knew that, I'd be richer than Jumin."

"Sorry for being... this." Yoosung said, unsure how to handle his pile of sadness.

Zen ruffled Yoosung's hair, and sighed.

"It was nothing, kiddo. In return, next time I have a panic attack you have to help me calm down."

"Don't call me kiddo. Also.. You have panic attacks?"

"Yeah, remember that time last party where some girl basically backed me into the bar, and V came over and whisked me away?"

"Oh, I remember that. She was really drunk, Jumin escorted her out and got her a taxi."

"Yeah. I.. Don't deal well with pushy women like that, and I panicked. It was like I couldn't breathe, or think, or move on my own.  If V hadn't been there... it would have been very bad."

"So, you're saying, if you ever look like you disconnected from the game - erm, real world - I should take you somewhere quiet and talk to you?"

"Yeah, basically.  Talk me through breathing, maybe, and make sure people don't start asking me questions. If it gets really bad, I've always got this..."

Zen reached to the chain around his neck and pulled out the silver cylinder that hung from it. He showed Yoosung how it twisted open, and dumped out a couple of very small pills.

"What are those?"

"These are a medication from my doctor that will help calm a panic attack in progress. A full pint of water and one of these can pull me back, after a few minutes, and let me regain some semblance of sanity."

He carefully returned the little pills to their vial, closed the vial, and dropped it back down his shirt.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Zen."

"Of course, babe." He said, without thinking, planting a kiss in Yoosung's hair.

"Lol Zen you're tired."

"That is very true. We should go to bed. Or, well, you should go to bed because this couch is my bed now."

Yoosung stilled for a moment, and turned around to look at Zen.

"You should take my bed, Zen. You're tall, and my couch is not built for tall men to sleep on. It's barely big enough for me to sleep on, but better me than you."

"Oh, 'Sung. I can't take your bed from you."

"Sure you can! I said it's okay. It's probably not as comfy as yours would have been anyway."

"You'll be uncomfortable here though."

"So? Then we're both a little uncomfortable, and it's fair."

"Your gaming sensibilities are going to be the death of me. Why don't you try being a pro gamer?"

"My mom would never allow it."

"Well, you have all summer, why not try real hard this summer to get somewhere, and give yourself some leverage when it comes time for fall?"

"Mm, that could work, maybe."

"Okay, think on it. We should sleep."

Yoosung got up and busied himself getting blankets and pillows for the couch. Zen looked at his friend, and at his friend's bed, and sighed.

"Yoosung." He said, steeling himself against the inevitable response.

"Yeah, Zen?"

"Sleep with me."

Yoosung's eyes got round as saucers.

"Wh-what?!"

Zen realized what he'd said, how he'd said it, and blushed.

"Shit. Sorry. I just meant literally, not like, sex."

Yoosung covered his mouth when he laughed awkwardly.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume, I just..."

"Yeah, I'm a flirt by nature, Now we're both sorry, so let me try again.  Why don't we share the bed? We already did some snuggling for movie day, and I trust you, and since I'm being honest, I really don't want to sleep alone when I don't have to."

"Nightmares."  Yoosung said, without even needing to look at him.

"Got it in one. So.. Join me? For some good ol platonic brotherly sleeping in a twin bed?"

Yoosung paused before he replied, like he was trying to choose his words carefully.

"Nah. That would be uncomfortable and trying desperately not to touch ever. How about some shiny new friends who snuggle making the best of a shitty situation in a twin bed?"

For a moment, Zen thought Yoosung was turning him down. Then, he heard the rest of the sentence, and wondered if there was more to what Yoosung was saying than he was letting on.  Nope. Best not to think about that. Let the beast keep sleeping.

"Great. But I'm the big spoon."

"Do you really think I'd argue? I made Mouse snuggle me on movie day, not vice versa."

They got snuggled into the bed, and turned off the lights. There was a little bit of silence and awkwardness as they settled, Zen with one arm draped over Yoosung's middle, his breath ruffling the blonde's hair.

"You really think I could get into pro gaming?"

"I do. You're #2 on your server and people look up to you."

"I don't even know how to get my name out there, though."

"I bet Mouse would help."

"You bet a lot on Mouse."

"Yeah, we've known her less than a week and the entire RFA wants to get in bed with her."

"Maybe not Jaehee."

"Jaehee met her in person before we did."

"Shit. Maybe Jaehee."

"Right?"

"This is dream fodder, you know."

"Oh, believe me, I know. Remember how we snuggled for your movie? You in her lap, me snuggled up against her back and her curled up on Seven?"

"How can I forget the best two hours of my life?"

"Now imagine not one of us was wearing a stitch of clothes."

Zen had to focus on his breathing so that he didn't make it awkwardly obvious how hot movie day had made him. The way Yoosung tensed, he guessed the same struggle was likely happening with his snuggle partner as well.

"Sweet dreams, Yoosung." Zen purred, and let himself drift off to dreamland.

Chapter Text

 Mouse was at a loss. Seven had kissed her, sure, but in front of Jumin and Jaehee, with one of his hands firmly planted on her butt. Seven. Seriously. They could see your hands. And the look on Jumin’s face wasn’t upset, it wasn’t disappointed, it was curious? Bemused? It wasn’t directly amused, either.

“Um. Hi.” Mouse said awkwardly to Jaehee.

“Yes, hello.” Jaehee said, her color slowly returning to normal.

“So, that happened. Um. I wanted to apologize for walking out on lunch. You know, in person.”

“It’s fine, Mouse. You’ve apologized plenty.”

Mouse just nodded. She was really at a loss.

Jumin’s voice carried from inside his office.

“Come where I can see you.”

Mouse froze as a chill ran down her back.

“You should go talk to Jumin. Maybe you can convince him to take you to his place to meet the cat, and then I can finish things and go home before midnight.” Jaehee said, breaking whatever was holding Mouse.

“Yes, of course. I’ll do that, then.” Mouse said, her voice sounding foreign even to herself. She headed towards where Jumin had gone, and almost walked into the door to his office before she remembered it was closed. Why was she being such a zombie?

She knocked, lightly, before reaching for the handle. Jumin didn’t say anything, so he either didn’t hear her tentative knock, or didn’t care. She opened the door, then shut it again, and stood just inside it, looking at the floor.

Mouse felt like a marionette. The longer she stood there, the less she felt there. But she hated it. She wanted to see Jumin, to talk to him, to chat with Jaehee, maybe meet a cat. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t even move. She heard Jumin say something, and walk towards her. When she didn’t react, he got louder, and faster, and it was like someone cut her strings. She was curled in a ball with her back against the wall before he could even get to her. She heard herself saying the words “No, no please, not again.” On repeat, even though she willed herself to stop, it was as though she had no control. Jumin reached out a hand to calm her, and when he touched her, she froze. She even tried to hold her breath, until spots formed in her vision and her survival instincts kicked in, forcing her to take a gasping breath. Jumin was talking to her, but she couldn’t make sense of the words he was saying. After what was either seconds or an eternity, Jumin picked her up, and carried her over to a couch, where he carefully set her down, and then moved to an adjacent chair. She'd fought him the entire way, even landing a stray blow to what she thought had to be his jawline. Jaehee came in with a glass of water, and went around the couch to stand out of Mouse’s view.

Moments later, a calm voice spoke behind her, Jaehee’s. Mouse couldn’t focus on the words, but she knew Jaehee was asking her something. She felt herself nod, and then felt the soft feeling of someone brushing her hair. Something that no one had done for her since her mother, when she was very little. Mouse swore, then, that she could hear her mother’s voice, telling her that she had to take care of her hair, because it was so soft and beautiful, and how much she had always wanted long hair like this. After an unknown amount of time, Mouse realized she was crying. She could feel the hot tears running down her face, and her ragged breaths. Another span of time, and she heard Jumin, quietly talking to her about his day, and his plans to take her to meet Elizabeth. When she thought she might have any semblance of control of herself again, she reached a hand out in the direction of Jumin’s knee that she could see without moving her head. Immediately, his hands caught hers. 

“Mouse?”

“Can… I have some water? Please?”

Jumin stood, picked something up, and sat next to her, putting a glass in her line of sight.

Mouse took the water and took a careful sip - sparkling. The tears started again, but this time, for a different reason.

“You remembered.”

“Jaehee remembered. I am merely here.”

“Thank you, Jaehee.”

She’d had sparkling water at the fancy lunch - and hadn’t touched the still water in front of her, even when her sparkling was completely empty. Seven had offered her a sip of his lemonade, which she took, but she never once sipped at the still water. And Jaehee had remembered something that small.

“It’s nothing, Mouse.”

“It’s not. It’s not n-nothing, Jaehee. It’s everything. It’s something simple that literally no one has ever cared about for my entire life, and here, I’m all broken, and you still remembered. I just…”

Jaehee was still running a brush through her hair, quietly.

“You’re welcome, then. Better?”

Mouse made a sound of agreement, and took another sip of water. She handed the glass back to Jumin, and after she heard it click softly onto a coaster, she looked up at him.

“I’m sorry, Jumin. I didn’t mean to disrupt your work. Or hit you. Or...” She said, when she met his eye.

His eyes creased slightly at her words.

“You’re apologizing to me?” He was stunned.

“Yes, sir.” She said, and averted her eyes again. Had that not been right?

“Mouse, please look at me again.” He said. “If you will. If not, that’s also fine.”

He was giving her a choice?

Mouse turned to look at him again, and Jaehee stopped brushing her hair, and started braiding it.

When she’d met Jumin’s eye again, he smiled at her.

“Thank you. And you’re forgiven for interrupting my work with your panic attack, that I caused.”

“No, you.. I..”

“Mouse. You are not to blame for your trauma.”

She paused. That was an entirely logical statement. From Mr. Logic Himself.

“Okay. I still feel bad.”

“That is normal. Sorry, you’re normal.”

“Seven said none of us were normal.”

“Okay, I suppose he has a point. You are normal, if the entire field of reference is the RFA.”

She laughed then, and Jaehee walked around the couch, sitting in the seat Jumin vacated.

“Are you feeling better?”

Mouse nodded. “I’m still sorry.”

Jumin reached out and stroked her hair, now in a french braid that still reached most of the way down her back.

“How about this, if you’re still this easy to break a year from now, then you can apologize.”

Mouse thought about it, and hadn’t responded when Jaehee added her thoughts.

“It hasn’t been a week since you got free of him, Mouse. You’re allowed to be afraid still. Just remember that you’re one of us now, and we’ll protect you.”

Mouse nodded, and wiped the tears off of her cheeks.

“Okay. I’ll try.”

Jumin smiled, still petting her hair. 

“Assistant Kang, you did a wonderful job with Mouse’s hair.”

“I wouldn’t say wonderful,” Jaehee replied, “But it’s definitely contained for now.”

“It is definitely good for petting. Soft, like Elizabeth the 3rd.”

Mouse smiled. Somehow being treated like his cat made her feel extra special.

“Can I.. ask you for a favor, Jumin?”

“Anything.”

“Will you take me home so I can pet Elizabeth?”

“I offered you anything, and what you want is to pet my cat?”

“Yes. She’s the most important person in your world, and you’re being so sweet to me, I want to make sure she gets love too.”

Jumin coughed lightly, and stood, offering a hand to her.

“Then, let us go home, so that you can pass my love on to my cat.”

Jaehee stifled a laugh at his choice of words, and Jumin addressed his assistant as well.

“Assistant Kang, you may have the rest of the night off. Nothing is urgent, and I heard you talking about getting a copy of a new musical in the mail today.”

Jaehee said her thanks, and left almost immediately, just in case he changed his mind.

“Mouse, if you’ll wait here while I get my briefcase?”

Mouse nodded, and didn’t move a single inch while Jumin walked over to his desk to retrieve his things. He returned to her, and offered her his arm to escort her to the elevator, and then into the back of the car waiting to take them to his residence. He greeted Driver Kim as though he was family, introducing Mouse to him as he helped her into the back seat. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you, miss Mouse, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Driver Kim said, and then shut the door, leaving them alone in the back of the car.

Mouse didn’t say anything to Jumin, she just leaned against his shoulder for the entire ride. She needed touch, but she didn’t think it would be appropriate to hold his hand, even in the privacy of his car. Jumin was a much more conservative person than Seven. She could talk more when cat snuggles were a thing and she wasn’t invading his personal space.
—
Mouse hadn’t been paying attention to the path that they drove, and when Driver Kim helped her out of the car, she found herself glad that she was with Jumin, because otherwise she might have been seriously afraid. She didn’t know where she was, and something felt wrong. Jumin seemed to catch onto her fear, and offered his arm to her, rather than touching her first.
Mouse wasn’t for the gallantry right now. She wanted to get inside, away from whatever threat was making her feel like her hair was standing on end. Instead of taking his arm, Mouse grabbed his hand. Jumin looked at her, startled at both her forwardness and the fact that she was shaking. 

“I’ve got you. Don’t worry, we’ll be inside soon.” 

His words validated her fear, and helped her calm down. With her hand securely in his, he started walking purposefully toward the elevator, and she did her best to keep up.

Nothing happened on their way to the elevator, and when it arrived, the bodyguards confirmed it was empty, and bade them enter. As they were entering the elevator, the sounds of a ruckus picked up behind them. Sounds of surprise, and pain, and impact. Jumin pulled her close once he turned around, keeping her from doing the same.

“How long are you going to keep protecting that slut, business boy? You can’t keep her from me forever, no matter how much you paid for her.”

The voiced chilled her. How had Lee found her, this fast? She looked up into Jumin’s eyes, to realize that he actually looked worried as the doors of the elevator slid closed. Her vision started to fray at the edges, and she squeaked out a few words before it went black completely.

“Hide me. Please.”

Jumin paced while he waited for anyone at all to join the chatroom. He’d texted everyone, but it was late, and he wasn’t sure he’d get through to everyone.

707 has joined the chatroom

Jaehee Kang has joined the chatroom

V has joined the chatroom

Yoosung★ has joined the chatroom

Jumin Han: Thank you for coming so late, everyone. Yoosung, have you heard from Zen? He should be at your apartment.

Yoosung★: He’s here, we’d just gone to bed when you messaged, I’ll wake him if need be, but he looked so tired, I’d rather not.

707: Aw, how cute. You should take a pic of him sprawled out on your tiny couch.

Yoosung★: Nah, he’s sleeping in my bed because he’s so tall.

Jaehee Kang: 

Jaehee Kang: Oh. I shouldn’t be like this.

V: You all are nicely spirited tonight. Jumin, you said something about an urgent matter?

Jumin Han: Mouse and I were accosted by Lee this evening. We are fine, but Driver Kim was injured.

Jaehee Kang: Not Driver Kim!

Yoosung★: OMG how is Mouse, are you ok? Driver Kim wasn’t hurt bad, was he?

707: 

Jumin Han: He will be fine, I have been informed that he has simply sprained his wrist. I have given him time off to heal, his son will be driving for me in the interim, though he did say he planned to ride along to make sure his son did the job properly, so I will at least be able to inform you of his healing progress.

707: If only Zen could loan his monster healing abilities.

Yoosung★: Right?

707: Stupid work!

707: If I hadn’t had to work, she would never have been there and Driver Kim would be unharmed!

Jaehee Kang: Why isn’t Mouse in the chat? Are you being truthful that she is well?

Jumin Han: Mouse fainted. Neither she nor I were touched, only Driver Kim who was pushed, and the bodyguards who restrained him.

707: Where is Mouse now?

Jumin Han: She is currently resting in my guest room, where I am sitting watching her, and Elizabeth the 3rd is napping on her chest.

Jumin shared an unexpectedly sharp photo of mouse and Elizabeth the 3rd. 

707: Of course my Elly would take care of my Mouse.

Jumin Han: Neither of them are yours.

707: 

Yoosung★: She called us “her boys” yesterday! So that makes her our Mouse, right?

V: This entire conversation is unexpected.

Jaehee Kang: Mr. Han, please be prepared that Mouse may not want to stay there when she wakes.

Jumin Han: Why would she object? She requested to come meet Elizabeth the 3rd.

Jaehee Kang: Her experiences with us today have been on the whole unpleasant. I would not be surprised if she would prefer the company of Yoosung and Zen if she cannot be with Luciel.

707: “on the whole unpleasant” sounds bigger than just Lee showing up.

V: I concur.

Jumin Han: I made a mistake.

Yoosung★: WHAT DID YOU DO?!

Yoosung★: 

707: 

Jaehee Kang: 

Jaehee Kang: Mr. Han, please allow me.

Jumin Han: Yes, Assistant Kang, please go ahead.

Jaehee Kang: Mr. Han claims to have made a mistake, but that’s taking too much blame. He asked Mouse to come into his office, and something about the combination of words and actions involved in going to his office triggered her PTSD. I don’t want to say too much more for her privacy’s sake.

Jumin Han: I should have known better.

Jumin Han: The blame rests with me.

707: Uh, no.

707: The blame is all on Lee. You did not know that she would be triggered by that, and you took care of her, so I know she wouldn’t blame you either.

707: I just went over this with her earlier - she definitely thinks everything is her fault.

707: Aside from that, I don’t think Mouse will want to run when she wakes. She’s strong.

707: Also I know that she also loves cats almost as much as you do, so letting her pet Elly will go a long way towards calming her down.

Jumin Han: Elizabeth the 3rd refuses to leave her. I even tried to entice her away with treats and toys. 

Jumin Han: If I were not so concerned for Mouse's well-being, I might even feel... betrayed.

Jaehee Kang: Next time you have to leave on a business trip, you should have Mouse stay at your penthouse and take care of Elizabeth the 3rd.

Jumin Han: That is not a terrible idea.

Yoosung★: I wonder how many new pictures of Elizabeth the 3rd we’d get if Mouse watched her. So many!

707: Maybe I’d get to see enough of Elly that I wouldn’t have to break in to play with her.

Jumin Han: Stay away from Elizabeth the 3rd.

707: So, what is the plan for Mouse now?

Jumin Han: When she wakes, I will make sure she is happy and has everything she needs.

Jumin Han: We will spend time as she wishes.

Jumin Han: She will likely want to come in the messenger and talk to you all, so be sure to stop in if you see her on.

Jumin Han: I am going to go prepare tea now.

Jaehee Kang: Goodnight, Mr. Han.

707: Bye~ Yoosung, say goodnight to Zen, or good morning, I guess, when he wakes up.

V: Goodnight, everyone.

V has left the chatroom

Jumin Han has left the chatroom

Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom

707 has left the chatroom

Yoosung★: Feel better soon, Mouse! We miss you!

Yoosung★ has left the chatroom.

Unknown: ted_so# *long

Unknown: !lo# $wai_—

Unknown: …

Unknown: %wated_I@m

Unknown: .

Unknown: - - - - - - - - -

Unknown: I am

Unknown: going to

Unknown: corrupt you

Chapter Text

Mouse woke to the feeling of something heavy on her chest. She reached up a hand to figure out what was going on, and was met with a soft fluff, and the cutest possible meow.
She cracked open her eyes to see a white floof with bright blue eyes staring at her.

“Oh, hello Miss Elizabeth the 3rd. How are you?”

“Meow!”

Elizabeth the 3rd jumped off of her chest, and ran out of the room.

Mouse sat up, and looked around the room, with its dim lights and rich appointments. One wall of the room was curved, and made entirely of windows, though the blinds were closed. Ah. Jumin’s place, probably.  Sure, that made sense, she’d been at his office, then they’d come home - erm, to his home. But why was she lying down? And where was her bag? Where was Jumin for that matter?

Mouse got up and went to the doorway, and peeked out into the darkened apartment. Okay, bedrooms on either side of this door, though both dark. In the distance, she heard the dulcet tones of a tea kettle, and made her way towards what she expected to be the kitchen.

Quiet as her namesake, she watched, amused, as she was following Elizabeth the 3rd as though she was a guide cat. When she reached the entrance to the kitchen (She wanted to say the doorway, but the apartment had such an open floor plan, it was more like “that place where one could see into the kitchen”), she paused, not wanting to startle Jumin, or intrude on the space he was occupying.

 Elizabeth the 3rd, of course, had no such concerns, walking right up to her owner.

“Meow!”

Jumin looked down at his cat, and the smile that lit his face melted Mouse’s heart. The man really did love his cat.

“Hello there, Miss Elizabeth. Did you miss me, or did you give up on catching that Mouse?”

“Meow!”

Jumin looked up and caught Mouse’s eye, and she was disappointed to see the warm smile replaced with cool concern.

“Aha, it is in fact the latter. Hello, Mouse. How are you feeling?”

“Confused. Thirsty?” She trusted Jumin, so she told him the truth.

Jumin smiled, and opened the refrigerator to retrieve a bottle of sparkling water, which  he poured into a crystal glass and handed to her.  Mouse took a seat at the kitchen island, and sipped at her water.

“The confusion I should also be able to help. You fainted in the elevator. I carried you from the elevator to my guest room.”

“You carried me?” Mouse was just going to not think about that fainting part.

“Correct.”

“You carried me?”

“Is there something objectionable in that statement?”

“No… I just figured you would have one of your bodyguards do it.”

“I did not think you would appreciate a stranger’s hands on you, even for such a purpose.”

Mouse felt her eyes tear up.

“Jumin, you are too good to me.”

“Untrue. I have done the bare minimum.”

Mouse disagreed with that, but whatever helped him sleep at night, she guessed.

“May I know where my bag is? I’d like to check the messenger.”

“Always working, are you? No wonder Assistant Kang has taken such a liking to you.”

“Oh. I think that’s the coffee.” Mouse blushed a little, happy to know that Jaehee liked her.

Jumin made a small sound of agreement.

“Do you take anything in your tea?”

“Um, what kind of tea?” She asked. It really depended on the kind.

“Oh, it’s a bit of an odd one. It’s burnt rice flavored. Much lower class than the rest of my tea choices, however it is unique and delicate, I like it for nighttime.”

“Oh, is that the Crust of Overcooked Rice tea?”

“It is, you know it?”

“My friend Dae is also a fan of it. I’ll take it plain, thank you.”

“Certainly.” Jumin turned and placed an oversized mug of tea in front of her. She’d been expecting delicate china, so she was surprised.

“Delicate China is for guests. You may be here for the first time, but you’re family, and deserve a reasonable serving of tea.”

It was like he had read her mind. But then, she never had a good poker face. Mouse paused with her mug halfway to her lips.

“I’m family?”

“Yes. You joined the RFA, which would make you important on its own. But I have taken a liking to you, your strength in the middle of this crisis, your determination to take on a role in an organization you knew nothing about a week ago, and your ability to bring everyone back together when we’d been fractured for the last 18 months. All of these things endear you to me, and I find myself feeling rather protective.”

Jumin hadn’t forgotten her request about the location of her things, and set her bag down on the stool between them. 

“I told the messenger the details of what occurred. You were only sleeping for about twenty minutes.”

“Thank you, Jumin. You know, you really aren’t as cold as they tease you for being.”

He simply shook his head and did not respond.

Mouse decided to let it go, and pulled up the messenger while she sipped her tea.  Reading over the chat amused her. She had a feeling that there was more to Zen sleeping in Yoosung’s bed, because if nothing else the actor would have tried to complain about the swap. She resigned herself to asking Yoosung next time they were in LOLOL together.  Or maybe she’d text Zen and tease him.  She was heartened to know that V had even come to the chat. Aw, Yoosung missed her. She’d only seen him yesterday. Dork.  But then, when it looked like the chatroom should have closed, there were more messages.

“What the actual fuck?” she said, forgetting her location, and her company, snapping a few screenshots of the messages at the end of the chatroom.

‘Mouse?” Jumin had moved to behind her, and was looking over her shoulder.

“Unknown was in the chat? Knows what’s going on then. Oh no. Oh gosh.” Was Lee working with Unknown? Were her problems connected in some way?  I am going to corrupt you. What did that even mean? Was she safe? Mouse didn’t feel like she was going to be safe ever again. She felt the panic start to hit.

She felt Jumin’s hand land softly on her shoulder, and she leaned back against him.  His touch was grounding. She heard a phone ring, and then heard (and felt) Jumin speaking.

“Come on, Luciel, pick up the phone.”

“Mr. Director! Is she awake?”

“We have a problem, Luciel.”

“What happened? Is Mouse okay?”

“Check the log of the last chat. We had an intruder. Mouse just discovered the messages when she was reading back over our conversation.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Um. Can Mouse stay with you tonight? I was going to ask you to take her back to the apartment, but I don’t think that’s safe.”

Mouse had been starting to relax away from the red edge of panic, leaning on Jumin and hearing Seven’s smooth voice over the phone. Despite that, she tensed at those words, and hoped Jumin didn’t notice.

He did, of course, notice. She was leaning on him.

“I’m not sure she wants to do that, Luciel.”

“Are you a danger to her, Jumin?”

“I don’t believe so, but she’s leaning against me right now and just tensed up at your words.”

“Let me talk to her, please.”

Jumin hit the speaker button, and set his phone on the counter.

“You’re on speaker.”

“Mouse?”

“Yeah, babe?” she said, without thinking. Seven chuckled slightly.

“Rough day today, huh?”

“Mhm. I took screenshots of the unknown text in case it just came to me. You can take them.” She wasn’t built for this many emotions in a single day.

“I will. Thanks.”

“The apartment isn’t safe anymore?”

“Jumin has extra rooms. Stay with him. I know Lee found you with him, but his penthouse is still the safest place for you, 80 floors up and all.” 

Shit. She’d managed to block out Lee’s appearance in the parking ramp, but that was no longer true. She was too tired to have another panic attack, but she could feel it eating away at the edges. It made her feel so empty.

“My new home already isn’t safe anymore. I don’t want to be lonely.” She said, softly. Not sure if the phone would pick it up, not comfortable being so vulnerable around Jumin yet, even though he’d seen her at her absolute worst already today.

There was a pause where she thought maybe the speaker really hadn’t picked it up.  Jumin cleared his throat and started to say something, but Seven cut him off.

“I heard her. Mouse, may I have your permission to talk with Jumin about things?”

The way he said it, Jumin tipped his head to the side, betraying curiosity.

“Mhm.” She said, and hoped it was enough of an affirmative to count as permission.

“This is not a good venue for long discussion. Let’s go sit in the living room, Mouse. Seven, we’re moving locations, give me two minutes and I’ll call you back.”

“Gotcha.”

Mouse had finished her tea, the warmth a good defense against the cold that wanted to seep in. Instead of requesting more tea, she asked Jumin for a blanket. He gave her a look that she couldn’t easily decipher, and then showed her that the plush ottoman she was admiring actually opened to reveal a stack of incredibly soft-looking blankets. She picked one, while he settled on the end of the couch. 

Mouse looked at him, and at the rest of the couch, and moved one of the throw pillows to right next to his hip, and then curled up on what remained of the couch. Once she was settled, Elizabeth the 3rd jumped up and curled up on her hip, purring so loud she could feel it.

Jumin put his phone to his ear, and then started calmly petting Mouse’s hair as he would pet Elizabeth the 3rd.

“Jumin! I’m following traces of that hacker even as we speak!”

Mouse found that she liked being petted. And that she could still hear Seven from Jumin’s phone call just fine.

“Luciel, you’re off speaker now, so if you need to hear Mouse, let me know.” 

“No problem - I can probably hear her even without speaker, she’s right next to you, right?”

“Do you have some sort of superhuman hearing?”

“No. Just pattern recognition. Mouse is there. Mouse isn’t doing well. Those two things means Mouse is going to be trying to be close to you without pressuring you.”

“Pressuring me how? She’s laying on the couch next to me with Elizabeth the 3rd. Her hair is soft.”

“Elly’s or Mouse’s? Nevermind, that’s irrelevant because the answer is both.”

“Correct. Now, you had something you received permission to discuss with me?”

“Yes. To put this as simply as I can, Mouse is touch starved. And has been since childhood. Until she met Dae and Ryung, and very soon after the RFA, the only touch she’d gotten after the age of eight was either clinical or abusive.”

Jumin let his eyes wander over Mouse, noting that he’d never seen her without long sleeves, despite the summer heat.

“To add to that everything that’s been going on lately-“

“Okay, let’s put a pause on that.” Jumin interrupted, surprising himself as well as Seven. “I know her situation, and I know that today hasn’t been good for her.”

Seven sighed, and she could hear the click-clack of his mechanical keyboard, but he didn’t interrupt.

Jumin continued, “Suffice it to say that leaving Mouse alone is bad for more reasons than we probably have figured out yet, because trouble comes in threes. That aside, if she’s here with me, why would she be lonely? I am here, and so is Elizabeth the 3rd.”

“Because if she’s not getting touch, she may as well be alone.”

Mouse caught the affection and protective tone to Seven’s voice, and noticed that she was leaking tears.  Maybe listening to this phone call was a bad idea.  She burrowed a little further under the soft blanket, and tried to focus on her breathing.

“Alright, that follows from known data.” Jumin said, and a pause followed as he carefully considered his next words. 

“What is your relationship to each other?” Jumin finally asked into the silence. It was a bold question, but one that required an answer to explain more of the situation.

“We’re dating.” Seven said it plainly, but Jumin could hear the truth to it.

“Were you dating at lunch?” Jumin carefully schooled his emotions. He wanted to lash out, but he couldn’t do that with Mouse here. How had his carefully planned deflection of his father’s girlfriend’s curiosity lost him the chance at the first woman who even deserved a second look?

“We were not. It’s very new.”

“Damn it all, Luciel. Always one step ahead of the rest of us, aren’t you?”

“No, Mouse is. This was her move, not mine. She’s amazing. She’s also asleep.”

Jumin looked down at Mouse, who was in fact, asleep.

“She was awake like ten seconds ago, how could you tell?”

“She didn’t make an audible reaction to you asking that or your response to the news. Also she falls asleep at the drop of a hat.”

“I see.”

“Jumin, take her to bed with you. Just literally. Not euphemisms for sex. She has really bad nightmares and will literally have a panic attack if she wakes up alone.”

“She woke up alone while I was making tea.”

“I bet she had Elly.”

“More like Elizabeth the 3rd had her. Cat catches Mouse.”

“Cat touch is still touch. She wasn’t alone, but I bet she went looking for you immediately.”

“She did.”

“I think it’ll be awhile before she’s going to feel safe alone at all.”

“It may be a lot longer before any of us feel safe with her being alone.” Jumin agreed.

“Regardless, I want you to seriously consider my request.”

“Fair, but are you sure you want your brand new girlfriend sleeping in bed with another man, regardless of my opinions on the matter?”

“Mouse has enough affection for both of us and then some. And I will honestly sleep best knowing that she’s safe in someone’s arms. If you doubt me, ask her yourself.”

“This is not the kind of attitude I anticipated from you, Luciel.”

“I never expected to be asking someone to even platonically sleep with someone else.”

“Understandable, this is an interesting situation. I never expected to meet a woman who didn’t care about my money.” Jumin hoped he’d made his intentions clear through his words.

“Yes, well, I never anticipated having Mouse in my life either. I’m not supposed to have nice things, remember?” Seven heard, and understood, and approved of Jumin’s intentions.

“Well, now you have Mouse, who clearly loves you, so no disappearing.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Not acceptable. Do my best. Or Mouse’s. Yours is lackluster.”

“Now that was rude! I always do my best!”

Jumin chuckled, but didn’t point out that his rebuttal didn’t actually refute Jumin’s point.

“I’m going to wake her and make sure sleeping in my bed is what she wants. You should get some sleep too, Luciel.”

“Not going to. Gotta find that hacker.”

“Okay, do that then. I’ll make sure she reaches out to you in the morning.”

“Thanks, Jumin.”

“Good night, Luciel.”

Mouse startled awake when Elizabeth the 3rd launched off of her hip as though it were a trampoline.

“Oh. I fell asleep. Sorry, Jumin. Done talking to Seven?”

“Yes, and it’s alright, Mouse. Luciel asked me to invite you to sleep in my bed tonight.”

“I thought he might, given what you were talking about. What are your opinions on the matter?” She was so incredibly nervous at the situation, she was sure he could see her trembling.

“I believe it would be beneficial to you. Your presence will not be unwelcome, in fact I would consider it a service you were instead providing me, as I have no experience sharing a bed as an adult. I promise to be a perfect gentleman.”

“I trust you, Jumin. If you wanted to, you could have made all of today a living hell. Instead, you took care of me, even while I wasn’t being a person.”

He smiled at her, then, warm like he’d smiled at Elizabeth the 3rd earlier. She liked that smile. She’d have to figure out what she could do to see it more.

“Will you walk, or shall I carry you?”

“I can walk. You’ve done enough work for me today.”

When she was actually in his bedroom, Mouse found herself even more nervous, if still sleepy. She didn’t have pajamas of any variety, and jeans were just not comfortable to sleep in. So either she slept in her underwear, or.. She didn’t even know.  While contemplating this state of affairs, Jumin had clearly also been considering the same, and handed her a pair of pinstriped pajama pants and a long-sleeved pajama top.

“I knew you wouldn’t have brought a nightgown, so I got out an extra set of pajamas. Let me know if they won’t do, I can have something procured for you if need be.”

Oh, right. Rich boy. Seriously. Procured?

“This is good. I don’t think I’ll wear the top, though. I don’t sleep well with sleeves.”

“Ah. I just assumed, as I’ve never seen you without long sleeves. Would you prefer a sleeveless? I have those.”

“Yes please.” She said quietly, and watched as he replaced the long sleeved top in a drawer in the closet, and from a different drawer removed a sleep top, sans sleeves.

“I will look away so you can change.” He said, and walked to the window, phone in hand, seemingly looking over emails.

Mouse took no time to shimmy out of her jeans and into the pajama pants, grateful for the soft fabric not irritating any of her injuries. She took her hoodie off, and even though Jumin wasn’t looking, made a point of turning her back to him when she changed shirts. When she was pajama clad, she cleared her throat so she could make words and tell Jumin he could turn, but the sound of her clearing her throat got his attention.  When his eyes hit her, he immediately dropped his phone, which bounced almost comically against the floor as he eyed her up and down.

If she’d been anyone else, even a different version of herself in this situation, she might have thought he was stunned by her looks, but she knew better. This was the first time he’d gotten a look at her arms.

“Ah, yes.” She said ruefully. 

“Mouse, Christ.” He said, walking over to her and carefully running his fingers over some of the darker spots. 

“Please enjoy the view that I like to call my kaleidoscope of regret.”

“You let me hug you when you’re covered in all of this?”

“You never hurt me. Of course I let you hug me.”

He stilled his hands, and took a step back.

“I should have asked before I touched.”

“No, it’s okay. It actually felt nice.” She was blushing.

Jumin’s face went through some interesting acrobatics as he tried to consider how anything could feel nice when it was that injured.

“Shall we adjourn to sleep, then?” he said, covering his concern with brusque efficiency.

Mouse nodded, and he helped her into bed, then got in on his usual side, and turned out the lights.

“I can feel how tense you are from here, Mouse.”

“I don’t want to bother your sleep, I’ll try not to be tense, I know you have to work tomorrow.”

“Mouse. Look at me.”

“Jumin?” She turned so she could see his face, mostly shapeless in the dark.

“If you were going to be fine just laying all the way over there not even looking at me, Seven wouldn’t have negotiated for you to be in this bed with me.”

“I don’t want to be a bother.”

“You aren’t, I promise. Please, come over here.” His tone was plaintive, but also brooked no argument.

Mouse couldn’t turn down that tone of voice, and to be honest, she didn’t want to. She wanted to kiss this man who was so sweet and caring behind his harsh façade.  She scooted over on the bed until she was nestled up against his chest in true small spoon style, her head pillowed on his arm.

“Okay but if you get uncomfortable, make me move off your arm. Even if you have to wake me.”

Jumin kissed the top of her head, and chuckled.

“Alright, I promise.”

His chuckled turned into a full laugh a moment later when Elizabeth the 3rd decided she wanted to be part of the snuggling as well, and settled herself across both of their hips.

Mouse sighed, happy to be in Jumin’s arms with his cat holding her down. As sleep claimed her, she thought he said something else, but she didn’t hear what it was. She’d have to ask in the morning.

Chapter Text

(Ding-dong)

“Who is it?” Jumin’s voice, irritated at the sound of the bell.

Someone else was here. That was the first thing that Mouse thought of when daylight streaming through the windows woke her. She started to panic, forgetting where she was or how she’d gotten there, but a soft meow and loud purring woke her far enough to reality. Elizabeth the 3rd was curled up on her stomach, purring.  She heard the arguing get closer - that was Jumin’s voice for sure - and shut her eyes again. Let him still think she was asleep. She wanted to figure out who was here before she had to admit to existing.

“Jumin…?”

Mouse heard a woman’s voice, and her blood froze. Was Jumin seeing someone? And he still held her close for her sanity?  How could he have allowed this to happen? How could she? Ruining someone else’s relationship was literally the last thing on earth that she wanted to do. Elizabeth shifted and started kneading, and Mouse forced herself to calm down. Elizabeth was right. Just because a woman had spoken doesn’t mean they’re in a relationship. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Jumin had maids, too, she remembered him talking about them in the messenger.

“Hello, Surprise! I came to surprise you~ haha!”

The woman’s voice said, and Mouse still wasn’t sure how to take it. Pretending to be asleep was the best choice she ever made.

“Oh. You must be the maid.” Jumin’s voice then. He did not seem pleased, in fact he seemed irritated, if one sentence was anything to go by.  The maid. Right. Okay. Mouse focused on controlling her breathing so that she looked asleep, in case they looked in here.

“I did want to say hello to you after Yoosung said… but you must make an appointment.”

“What?” The woman sounded upset.

“My assistant will contact you. We can schedule to meet then. Please excuse me.”

“Jumin! I’m Sarah… you didn’t hear?”

Wait, hear what? Their voices kept getting louder, and Mouse couldn’t tell if they were getting closer, or if she was just agitating Jumin enough that he didn’t regulate his volume.

“You’re not Sunja Kim, the maid?”

“…I’m Sarah. You must not have heard.”

“Pardon me, but no I haven’t.” Mouse knew that tone. Jumin was legitimately angry. “The security guards just let you in?”

“Yes, I mentioned Mr. Chairman and they opened the door for me~ haha.”

“…Mr. Chairman?”

“Well, if you haven’t heard about me, I’ll have to explain~ Let me introduce myself! Nice to meet you, Jumin!”

There was a pocket of silence big enough to hide an entire sports stadium before she continued.

“I met your father yesterday… and he said he would like for us to get engaged~!”

“…”

“I thought you already knew about it…”

“…”

“I came to say hello. Now that we’ve met, I look forward to getting to know you.” 

Her tone was dripping with cheap Hollywood seduction and Mouse was not into it.  She knew, however, that if she made even a single sound, this was likely to go poorly. What was Jumin thinking? Letting Mouse stay in his bed with this looming, she worried about his state of mind. Jumin wasn’t a big fan of women in general. She was sure he thought of her as a little sister, or something akin to an assistant like Jaehee.

“I was a bit worried that we haven’t met before we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.”

“…”

“I only know about you from newspaper articles.”

Then you don’t actually know Jumin Han at all, “Sarah”. Mouse thought, uncharitably. Also, Jumin wasn’t saying anything at all, which was causing Mouse’s anxiety to run wild. Well, if they came in here, maybe she could fake a nightmare. She sure couldn’t hide her breathing or the tears on her cheeks, even though Elizabeth was purring enough to mimic a boat engine.

“But seeing you in person makes me feel relieved.” Sarah said, and Mouse wondered if she was looking at the facial expressions of the man she was speaking to.  Sure, they were subtle, but she bet that he had on the face that made his lawyers shut up when they saw it.

“You’re handsome~ Seem to have a nice body~” Sarah was shameless. Mouse felt gross listening to her.

"..."

“This suit fits you perfectly… It’s custom made, right? Right up my alley!” 

Well, at least he got dressed before he got accosted by a woman in the privacy of his own home.

She heard Jumin move, basically just outside the bedroom door, and a small gasp from presumably Sarah.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t like anyone touching me.” Jumin said, sharply.

Mouse wasn’t sure that was entirely the truth, he seemed to hug her readily enough, but maybe her situation made her safer than others.

Sarah, however, seemed to be made of another kind of stuff entirely.

“Oh… Of-of course! I understand. We can get to know each other gradually.”

Another pause, and hopefully a pivot away from the bedroom hall.

“A businessman has to be decisive, but I guess you have no problem with that.”

“…”

“I understand that you are a bit flustered… It’s because you didn’t talk to your father yet, I assume?”

“…” Still no responses from Jumin.

“She said such nice things about you.”

“She?” Surprise from Jumin.

“Glam Choi! I heard that you and your friends had lunch with her and Mr. Chairman yesterday.” Sarah said, her voice back to saccharine sweetness.

“…”

“Something about your father wanting to meet your newlywed friends?”

Newlywed Friends? I suppose Seven and I were a little bit forward at lunch, for Seoul…

“Your father is such a generous man to have bought them lunch as a wedding gift! Hahaha! I am almost jealous~”

“I haven’t heard anything about you, so we’ll have to postpone this meeting.” Pure businessman Jumin was back.  Mouse imagined this was how he would have sounded if she’d joined the RFA in person and not by messenger. He seemed so much warmer by default now.

“Sorry, but I have another meeting I must attend.” Jumin said, coldly.

“Oh! Shall I go with you? I have to go meet your father.” Sarah was smooth, that was for certain.

“No, thank you.”

“I-I see. You still seem a bit shy…”

“Oh, right. Can you tell me which security guard let you in?” Mouse knew that tone, too. Someone was about to lose their job over this. What if she’d been related to the hacker, or Lee? Jumin could have been hurt, or killed. What were they thinking? Likewise, what was she thinking hiding in the bedroom instead of supporting him? Oh, right, panic and being held down by a cat.

“Security guard?” Oh good, Sarah was playing dumb now.

“Yes, I would like to know what he looks like.”

“Is that important right now? Our future is what matters now.”

“It is important.”

“…I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

“I see.” Mouse thought that if she opened her eyes she’d be able to see the penthouse frosting over from the ice in Jumin’s tone.

“And also, one more crucial point.” Jumin again. “I already have a life companion.”

“What?”

“You can find the exit on your own. Or you can ask the security guard that let you in to take you home. And make sure to tell him to contact me.”
She heard heels stomp across the floor, and then the door slam. Elizabeth the 3rd jumped off of her, off the bed, and ran out into the living room. Without the weight of another living being on her, Mouse turned onto her side and curled up, the tears she’d been trying to stall coming back full force.  Why was she crying? Everything was alright. She hadn’t made a problem for Jumin yet, and she had even felt safe until the doorbell rang.

Moments later, the bedroom door flew open, and Jumin was beside her.

“You’re awake, Mouse. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to leave you alone for waking, I was hoping Elizabeth would stay with you while I dealt with a problem.”

Mouse opened her teary eyes and looked at him. He’d crawled into bed in his immaculate suit, and shifted her so her head was in his lap and he could pet her hair.  It didn’t take her long to stop crying, but the shaking took longer. 

“So how much of that train wreck did you overhear?” he asked, when he felt like she might be able to formulate a response.

“All of it, I think. Unless you did more talking, but it sounded like she was mostly talking to herself.”

“She was. I don’t think I’d have been able to say anything if I’d wanted to. Which I didn’t.”

“So… Engagement?”

“No. Absolutely not. I have Elizabeth the 3rd.”

“I thought that was what you meant when you said you already had a life companion.”

Speak of the devil… Elizabeth had climbed back onto the bed and was now attempting to lick the salt tears off of Mouse’s face.

“Mouse…”

“Yes, Jumin?”

“I’d like to offer you a job.”

“A job?”

“Yes. Something that would legitimize your presence in my home at odd hours, so that you could feel safe here, but for transparency, also so that people do not get the wrong idea about our relationship.”

“Thank you for being so kind to me, Jumin. If there’s actually something I can do to help you, I’d be grateful to do so, but I refuse to be paid more than the work I actually do.”

“I have a good idea for someone as tied into the modern internet as you are. How would you feel about being my social media manager? Mostly you’d get to post photos of Elizabeth the 3rd, and we could make you her semi-official cat nanny for when I have meetings that I must travel for. I know Assistant Kang would be pleased to be free of her, as much as I cannot understand the words.”

Mouse grinned. “You know I love cats.”

Jumin nodded. “And I know that you’ll keep Luciel from abusing my poor girl.”

Mouse laughed. “I will make sure he only gives her the most love ever, and none of the discomfort.”

They shared a laugh, and Jumin looked at his watch. 

“Ah, I must get going soon. Will you dress and join me?”

Mouse paused. “I only have the clothes I wore yesterday, will that be a problem?”

“Not in the slightest, actually. I had Jaehee stop and pick up some things before work, she should be here shortly.”

The doorbell rang, like magic, before the sound of a lock turning was heard.  Jumin slipped back out of bed, and walked purposefully towards the door. 

“Ah, Assistant Kang. What a pleasure seeing you this morning.”

There was an awkward pause, and then she heard Jaehee carefully say something very quietly, which made Jumin laugh.

“No, no. Just that the first woman to walk through those doors seemed to think she owned the place. Or would.  Someone father’s current woman wants him to arrange a marriage with.”

“Arranged Marriage? Seriously? He sees how you treat women, right?”

Mouse got out of bed, and wandered to the bedroom door.

“Morning Jaehee.” She said sleepily, wiping the dregs of tears off of her face.

“Ah, good morning Mouse!” She noted that Jumin was dressed and Mouse was barely awake, and considered the state of all three bedrooms in a single glance.

“Would the fact that Mouse slept with you last night and was clearly asleep when your first caller arrived have anything to do with the fact that you look like you could level a large town with a single glare?”

“Imagine the scandal.”

“Well - Sorry Mouse - it would make a sensational story for you to be sleeping with someone else’s wife.”

“Hey, we’re not married.”

“No, but the media rarely cares about truths, and someone has spread the tale that your lunch with Mr. Chairman was about your and Luciel’s wedding plans. Unfortunately our choice to match your attire and the adorable way the two of you interact lent a lot of credence to the supposed story.” Jaehee said, and slipped out of her shoes.

“Jaehee, can you bring Mouse with you to the office? We have some paperwork to do, and I need to call Luciel about the hacker and make sure Yoosung and Zen are still on board for taking over Mouse Babysitting this evening.” Jumin had already gotten his shoes on when Jaehee casually pointed out that his suit was rumpled, and Mouse got to witness the glory that was Jumin Han blushing. He removed his shoes, hustled Jaehee and Mouse into the guest room she’d woken in the night before, and slammed his bedroom door.

For her part, Jaehee couldn’t stop laughing, and Mouse just took the bags from the woman and then hugged her until she could stop laughing. They could hear, through the expensively-insulated walls, the sound of Jumin complaining about having to choose another tie. Something about once a day being hard enough.  Mouse’s eyes lit up, and she whispered to Jaehee;
“Watch this closely.”

Mouse walked back to Jumin’s bedroom door, and knocked carefully.

“Excuse me, um, Jumin?” she put on her best cute anime voice for this, Jaehee better appreciate it.

“Yes, Mouse?” came from the other side of the door, and she blushed. This was to make him blush, darn it all!

“Do you need help choosing a tie?”

“Christ, yes.” The door flew open to Jumin with his entire everything in disarray, who then gestured at the tie rack in the closet. Mouse looked at the massive collection, carefully organized by material, color, and pattern.

“Wow, Everyone must gift you with ties all the time for you to have this many nice ones.”

“Yes. Please never gift me a tie. Or socks. Also, I wore a blue tie yesterday, so something different.”

Mouse let her eyes rake over him and the replacement suit he’d chosen for today. He’d lost the pinstripes, having settled for simple black, with a crisp white shirt. Good. She could choose something interesting. But not too interesting, because he was in a mood today, and she didn’t want to give anyone the wrong idea.

“Hmmm…” she said, weighing her options. She caught Jaehee’s eye in the mirror, the woman trying her hardest not to laugh aloud at the state Jumin allowed himself to be seen in, or the blush that had taken over his face.

“This one, I think. Let me check the blacks.” She pulled a tie off the rack, at first it looked black, but at certain angles you could see the flash of gold as a very subtle horizontal swirl-like wave had been woven through the tie in metallic gold.

When she held the tie up to his jacket, the blacks matched perfectly, and Jumin appraised her choice, finding it acceptable. She left him to put the tie on, having noticed tie bars and cufflinks also neatly organized.  He’d had silver before, and that just wouldn’t do with the new tie choice. She had no idea how one wore the accessories, but she was pretty sure that Jumin was a grown man and could dress himself.

Ah yes, gold hexagon cufflinks and a simple gold tie bar with a honey bee stamped into it.  She turned just as he was settling his tie, and offered him the shinies she’d chosen. Once he’d handled the cufflinks and tie bar, which definitely did different things than she was expecting, and was settling his jacket again, she unleashed her secret weapon.

“You look simply stunning, dear!” Mouse said,  She put both hands on his shoulders to steady herself, then bounced up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Have a good day at work today!” She said, before bouncing back off to “her” room, where Jaehee was leaning against the closet with both hands over her mouth. Mouse made a point of looking through the bags that Jaehee brought, being entirely too flattered to find that they were not outrageously expensive items, and that Jaehee had thought to include undergarments. She’d have to ask later how Jaehee knew her sizes.

After a solid thirty seconds of silence, they heard Jumin clear his throat, and then saw him walk past the doorway. 

“Don’t take too much longer, Assistant Kang. We have a lot of work to do today.”

“Yes, remember that you have dinner with your father tonight.”

“I do. Unfortunately, now I know what it’s about.”

Chapter Text

Mouse fidgeted. Jaehee had gotten her some really nice mid-range clothes, and she still felt like she was dressed up, even though she was wearing jeans and a blouse, and still her mouse hoodie.  Jaehee was excited to see that she was wearing the sandals that they’d gotten her to wear to lunch on Monday.

“Well, if I’m going to wear them all day for the party, I have to get used to them. Otherwise it’ll just be a tragedy.”

“How are we doing on party guests, by the way? I know we talked you through how it worked, but I don’t think any of us have thought to check in with you since you started.”  Jaehee was tapping away at her phone while she talked, the two of them in the back of the car on their way to meet Jumin at C&R as required.

“Oh. Let me check. I’ve got… 24 RSVPS yes, and two maybes, and I haven’t been to the apartment in approximately 12 hours.”

“Not bad for a few days work! Great job, Mouse!”

Mouse preened under the praise.

“Really, it seemed silly to me that y’all couldn’t manage this without Rika. At least until I learned how the tech worked, what with none of you except Mr. Overworked Hacker himself knowing where the apartment even was. The job itself is relatively straightforward. I think Yoosung would actually be good at it.”

Jaehee smiled at that. “Yoosung is opening up again thanks to you. I think you being around the RFA has been very good for all of us.”

Jaehee reached out and took Mouse’s hand in her own. Mouse, of course, blushed furiously.

“Oh. You’re all red. Is this not okay? Seven and Jumin both told me that you needed contact with people more than you were willing to ask for.”

“Oh. No, it’s fine. I like it. I’m… just blushing. Pretty girl. Holding my hand.”

“Mouse, I daresay you were more eloquent after Luciel kissed you in the middle of Mr. Han’s office.”

“This is harder.”

“In a bad way? I can stop.” Jaehee moved to take her hand away again, and Mouse held tight.

“No, please. I like this. It’s just hard to talk about.”

“You don’t need to talk about it! We’re friends. If you feel like it some day, then do. Otherwise, don’t.”

“Jaehee, you are a literal saint and I love you. Thank you.”

Jaehee grinned, and then sighed as they pulled into the parking garage.

“Time to go be an adult. You make me feel like a teenager again.”

“It’s because I look like I’m twelve, isn’t it.”

“You don’t look twelve. But it’s likely because you make me smile.”

“Aww~ Jaehee you’re the best. You make me smile too. Now let’s go drink bad coffee and sign a contract that basically means no more Jumin Han hugs because I bet he writes that by default into everything.”

They laughed all the way to the elevator.

Mouse was reading through the contract a second time when Jumin entered his office.  She was sitting in the same place she’d been the previous evening when she had her attack, and Jumin immediately turned around to get a glass of sparkling water for her, without thinking.  He in fact did not even notice the stares he got for doing something himself. Jaehee did, and she just shrugged when coworkers met her eye questioningly.  Of course Jaehee knew who the water was for and likely what caused him to get it, and what caused him not to ask her. But also she knew Mouse was fine, she was in fact sitting in that spot in order to erase the bad memory from it so she would hopefully not have secondhand trauma from the space, since the attack had been so bad.

When Jumin walked in with the water, swinging the door shut behind him, he expected her to be startled. Instead, Mouse looked up at him and smiled before setting the contract aside and going to see if she could con a hug out of him. There was nothing in the contract about anything relationship based, which meant that hugs should still be on the table and if other things eventually happened once the world calmed down a tick, it wouldn’t jeopardize her neat new job.

“Mr. Han!” she chirped, deciding to start formal.

“I may be planning to employ you but you will note that nowhere in your contract does it state our personal relationship should change.”

“You’re totally right! That means I can continue being a brat!”

She saw something she hadn’t seen before flash in Jumin’s eyes. She kinda liked it, but it was also slightly scary. Maybe something to consider in the future.

“You could, or, you could get the hug you obviously want.”

“Am I that transparent?”

“You have been sitting in here alone for thirty minutes.”

“Has it been that long?”

“Are your fingertips buzzing?”

“How did you know about that?”

“Luciel. Would you like me to have Jaehee come in instead?”

“No.”

Jumin walked over and wrapped his arms around her. 

“You’re so much fun to hug. You just melt.”

“Don’t give a girl ideas, Jumin.”

“Oh, you mean like you gave me this morning with your cute domestic ploys?”

“Hey, that tie looks really good. I did a good job.”

“You chose well. But you know that’s not what I meant.”

Mouse blushed. She was sure he meant the kiss on the cheek.

“You earned that!” Yep, that was her story and she was sticking to it.

“I want to ask what I could possibly have done to earn my friend’s girlfriend teasing me that early in the morning. But I will refrain from doing so, because I believe that it would hinder the rest of today’s work. Rest assured, you and he and I will be talking about your behavior choices over dinner some day soon.”

Mouse grinned. Jumin knew what he wanted, apparently, and it might just include her.  It was such a drastic change from needing to hit the other boys over the head with her flirting. But, she couldn’t stop being a brat.

“Take too long and it might turn into a full blown group chat.”

“I was warned about this as well.”

“What? When?!”

“This morning, when I left you with Jaehee, Luciel called me to check in because you had yet to text, and I asked questions that I was too tired to consider last night.”

“Of course he called you. He sent me two dozen texts, so I’m not surprised. And I know he’ll tell me whatever he told you, even if I have to tickle it out of him. So you don’t need to share and risk being overheard.”

He let her go then, and she gestured to the contract.

“I still think it’s too much money.”

“Mouse. I pay my maid more than that. This is as low as I will make it. It is less than your time is worth, but I am taking into account your wishes that the access to my space has barter worth to you.”

“Jumin, you’re paying me to hang out with you and take pictures of your cat.”

“Yes. And I’m paying you to be safe and have a place where you can feel safe, and actually make use of said space.”

“Mmm, fair. You’re paying me to be less of a stubborn brat than I usually am.”

“You begin to understand.”

He handed her a pen, which she couldn’t help but notice had diamonds embedded in the barrel. So freakin' bougie, Jumin.

“Sign that, and you become my personal Social Media Coordinator. Personal, you’ll note that C&R has no involvement in this contract. This should keep my father from noticing you too closely. You’re just his type.”

Mouse shuddered just a little bit. 

“Jumin. As much as you interest me, your father does not. Additionally his current girlfriend makes me want to die inside, and I do not wish to be compared with her, thanks.”

“You don’t know how much of a relief that is to hear, though you didn’t need to tell me any of it.”

“Yes. I did. Because you needed to hear it. Especially after this morning.”

She handed him the signed contract, and he signed his sections with the same pen.

Then, he handed her a little keyring with a fob on it. 

“Man, modern keys are weird.”

“Technology, Mouse. You are going to school for it.”

Mouse wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her level for another hug. She didn’t need to, but it made it a lot easier to whisper in his ear.

“Even if all I ever do is get hugs from you for the rest of my life, it is still important for you to know how I feel. Because despite how cold you are on the outside, on the inside you’re warm and sweet and caring. Don’t let shitty people take that away from you, ok?”

When she let him go, he looked at her a little wild-eyed, and then adjusted his tie, and his facial expression with it.

“Well then. Thanks for being willing to sign something with your legal name on it. Oh. Right. I brought you a glass of water.”

Mouse looked at the sparkling water he’d walked in with, and fell on it like a woman who had never had water in her life.

“Jumin, you are seriously the best. How many times am I going to have to tell you this?”

“Hmm. At least one more.”

There was a knock on the door, and after Jumin told them to come in, Jaehee strode in with a pile of papers she set on Jumin’s desk, and then turned to face them. Mouse was standing there with an empty glass and no idea where to put it.

“We’ve got a meeting in about 5 minutes, Mr. Han. I assume the contract is in good order?”

“Yes, we’re done here.”

“Mouse, a driver is waiting to take you to Yoosung’s apartment. I can see you to the car before the meeting if we go now.”

Mouse nodded. “I’m ready, but where do I put this?” Jaehee took the glass from her hands, and then pointedly handed it to Jumin.  Mouse stifled a laugh and grabbed her bag, putting the key Jumin had given her in the safe zipping inner pocket.

“Jumin, good luck today, and you’ll text to let me know how things go?”

“Of course. Have a good day.”

“I will.”

Jaehee took her to the car, where she saw both Driver Kim and Driver Kim the younger waiting. When she got in the car, Driver Kim greeted her warmly, and rolled down the tinted partition to chat with her during the drive, it still being morning rush hour.  Mouse was grateful to talk to him, she apologized about his wrist being hurt, and he brushed it off as being glad he got between the man and his target. She spent most of the ride texting with Yoosung, sounded like she was just going to miss Zen going off to rehearsal, but time with just Yoosung sounded nice. Even though she’d promised Seven that she wouldn’t spoil his kiss plans. Yoosung was too hesitant to do anything anyway, she knew the first move was going to have to be hers. And after the last 24 hours, she was content with snuggles and gaming, thanks.

When they pulled up in front of Yoosung’s building, Driver Kim got out and opened her door. Mouse grinned at him, and once he’d shut her door, hugged him. 

“I know you hate when I thank you, but you’ve been a great help throughout the last few days. You even got injured because of me. The least I can do is give you a hug.”

“You’ve been good for Young Mr. Han. I haven’t seen him smile this much in… years, if ever. Just keep being yourself, and it’ll be more than enough thanks.” He couldn’t hide his surprise, but he was also amused at his son glaring daggers at him from the other side of the car.

“I shouldn’t keep you, I’m sure Jumin or Jaehee will need you two before too long.”

“Yes, but we’re to stay here until your host retrieves you.”

“Oh, right!” Mouse turned towards the building and saw Yoosung jogging towards them from the door.

“Hi Driver Kim!” Yoosung said, grinning.

“Speak of the devil…” Mouse said quietly, causing Driver Kim to laugh.

“I’m here, Mouse! Let’s go eat lunch!”

“Thanks!” Mouse said, and waved to the Kims as she was hauled off towards the building by an overexcited Yoosung.

“Sung, cutie, slow down!”

Yoosung slowed down, but only a little, until they got back to his apartment.

Once they were back in his apartment with the door shut behind them, Mouse set her things down, and politely took off her shoes.  When she looked up, Yoosung was bouncing on his toes waiting for her hands to be free.  A moment later, he grabbed her hand again, and dragged her over to his tiny kitchen counter.

“I made omurice for lunch!”

Mouse was expecting the catastrophic failure of a food that he’d posted to the messenger before.

The omurice in front of her was perfect.

“Omg ‘sung, you are a blessing.”

“Nope! I’m just me.”

Mouse laughed. “Learn to take a compliment!”

“Nope!”

She mock growled, and moved to tickle him, but he caught her hands before she could connect.

“Food first. Tickles later. Or never. Just not until food at least.”

Mouse relented, and hopped up on the stool that Yoosung held for her.

Before she started lunch, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and took a picture of the lunch set out for her, to share with the messenger. Then, even before posting the picture she took a bite of the food Yoosung had made for her. 

“Mgd sss dllcs.” Oh my god, this is delicious.

“Chew. Swallow. Then talk.” Yoosung said, adopting his best mothering tone.

“OMG this is delicious!” Mouse reiterated, once she had done as she was bade.

She took another bite, and then pulled up the messenger on her phone. Oh hey, it was a party in the chat already.

Mouse has joined the chatroom

Jumin Han: Mouse, I take it your presence in the chat means that you have arrived.

Mouse: Yep, I am totally arrived, and now it’s time for lunch!

Mouse posted the picture of their lunch.

707: Mouse, did you cook?

Jaehee Kang: Omurice! Delicious.

Mouse: Actually, no. Yoosung did!

Yoosung★ has joined the chat.

Yoosung★: My omurice! See! I told you I could cook!

707: What, really? Does it taste okay? You’re not poisoned?

Mouse: It’s so good, I got yelled at for talking with my mouth full.

Zen: 

Jumin Han: I don’t want to know why that deserved a wink.

Jaehee Kang: Well…

Yoosung★: Because we don’t yell at mouse. But also she deserved it.

Yoosung★: 

Zen: Yes. That. Clearly.

707: 

Mouse: I have to decide if I’m accepting Yoosung’s proposal of a Tetris match. Not sure he’s ready for my skills. But you can’t mistake the tetraminos on that omurice for anything but an invitation.

Jaehee Kang: You’d better. Because if you let me play, you’ll never see me again. Or your precious ego.

Mouse: That sounds like a challenge, Ma’am.

707: ohhh snap, brought out the formalities.

Mouse: Anyway, does anyone need anything? Remember to send me guests if you need me to do my job when I get back to the apartment!

707: I need a hug!

Mouse: Well hurry up and finish work and come get one then!

Jumin Han: No, just go eat your lunch, Mouse.

Zen: Ya, I gotta get back to rehearsal. Break’s over.

Mouse: Ok, bye y’all.

Zen has left the chatroom.

Mouse has left the chatroom.

Hours had passed. They’d played a lot of Tetris, and Yoosung had tried every excuse under the sun except accusing her of cheating. Alas, he could never seem to beat her.

“Okay, ‘Sung, seriously. You keep saying that you’re better at PuyoPuyo than Tetris. I have both. Let’s try playing on my switch?”

“Yeah, okay. Watch you turn out to be better at it than me still.” Yoosung looked somewhat depressed, and Mouse leaned her head on his shoulder.

“You should have done your research before you challenged me to Tetris.”

“What, are you known on the internet or something?”

“I’m sure Seven could have dug up some dirt if you asked him.”

“That seems like cheating, somehow.”

They got resettled with Mouse’s switch where they could both see, and it did not take long to prove that Yoosung was in fact the superior PuyoPuyo player. He beat her every single game.  Mouse knew how Yoosung felt.

“Oh my god I am so sorry for being such a murderous ass, Sung.”

“It’s okay, Mousey. I just slaughtered you in return.”

“Now we’re a pile of death. I want a nap.”

“Me too. We could nap here, or my bed is just right over there.”

“Are you asking me to go to bed with you?”

“N-no! Just nap!”

Yoosung’s face was a glorious shade of red.

“Sung, I was teasing. You know how I like to snuggle.”

“Yeah. Are you sure it’s ok?”

“We should set an alarm so we don’t sleep through dinner. Imagine the look on Seven’s face.”

“I would like to not imagine it.”

“So… an hour?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Then you can coach me through some LOLOL matches.”

“What are you talking about, me coaching you, Mister #2!”

“You have barely played and you’re sitting at #7, ma’am.”

“Yes. I have claimed Seven.”

She blushed, and Yoosung just laughed at her.

She meant exactly what she said, and later when they shared stories with Yoosung, he was going to think back to this moment and be so mad at her and it was so worth it.

Naptime with Yoosung should have been an hour of solid sleep.  Should have been, because she was curled up against Yoosung’s side with her head pillowed on his chest. Warm, snuggly. He fell asleep almost instantly once they had a timer set. Mouse, however, found herself thinking in circles about everything that had happened.  She felt for all the world like she was being watched at all times. She knew that Lee was back in custody again after the run-in at Jumin’s building last night, but something still seemed off.  Was it the hacker making her uncomfortable? She was curled up to nap with the cutest possible boy on campus, but she couldn’t relax.  She shivered, not sure if she was cold or just uncomfortable in her skin.

She picked her head up to see where she might reach a blanket from, and Yoosung whispered in her ear.

“Are you cold, Mousey?”

She turned to look him in the eye and nodded.

“Okay, let me fix it.” He sat up, and she shifted to allow him to do so.  He grabbed a blanket from the foot of the bed, and then wrapped it around her and used it to pull her back into her snuggle spot.

“Yes please.” She said, and he hugged her tight.

“Now sleep. I promised you a nap full of snuggles.”

Mouse didn’t think she’d be able to sleep. 

But the warmth of the blanket was nice, and it had picked up a scent from.. Was that Zen?

“Yoosung, you had Zen in your bed.” She said, sleepily.

She felt him tense.

“Not judging, he’s snuggly.” She said, to forestall any worry he might have.

“Oh. Yeah. Last night. I was anxious and he doesn’t like sleeping alone I guess. Snuggles were had.”

“So you’re saying while everyone but Zen and I were in the messenger being worried, he was all snuggled up to you and sleeping like a baby?”

“Yes. Also he was dreaming about you I think.”

“How do you know?”

“Uh… no reason.”

Mouse thought she might be able to guess the reason, but she was also guessing that Zen wasn’t dreaming about her. Or at least, not just about her.

“Sometimes, we just know things. It’s nice to think that. Do you dream of me?”

“Yeah, usually.”

“Oh.” She hadn’t been expecting him to be so honest.

“Do you dream of me? It’s okay if you don’t!”

“Lately I’ve mostly been having nightmares, but while I was in the hospital I dreamed that you flew in like literal superman and flew away with me.”

Yoosung started petting her hair, and it was calming.

“Sleep, Mousey. Dream of me more.”

“Aww, ok.” She said, and obediently closed her eyes, enjoying the snuggles and the odd confluence of boy-scent-she-liked.

Chapter Text

“Do you like the wine? I know today’s dinner wasn’t planned early enough.”

Jumin’s father seemed to be trying to placate his son, but in reality, Jumin had other things on his mind.

“It’s a bit bitter today. It was very sudden. My assistant had to rearrange my schedule.”

“I thought so. But I have something very important to tell you.”

Jumin looked to the woman at the table, who was grinning like a cat who was delivered a saucer of cream.  This is the woman from yesterday, that had been saying such nasty things to poor Mouse.

She looked him in the eye, and he suppressed a shudder.

“Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule, Jumin.”

“Of course.” Jumin said, fully in professional mode, despite this being a supposed family dinner. “Go ahead.”

“I haven’t told you yet, but Glam here and I are seriously considering getting married. I wanted to hear your opinion and have you two meet again.”

Glam chimed in. “Good to see you again. I look forward to getting to know you.”

“The same here. I see.”

“I’ve been separated from your mother for more than two years.  I plan to end that relationship as soon as I can now, and I hope you are okay with that. I must be one ugly man to get ready for my third marriage, but I wanted to make sure you are okay.”

Glam, again. “What do you mean ugly~ You’re the best looking man I know.”

Jumin’s father laughed at this.

Jumin, having considered his response to this for the last two years, needed no time to think about it.

“She’s not even my biological mother. And I doubt your third marriage will be any more special. Just do as you please, I don’t mind as long as it doesn’t affect the company.”

“Oh my~ You really are an adult, Jumin. Maybe because you take after your father? Hahaha!” Glam cooed, then laughed, and Jumin pushed down the nausea her tone made him feel.

“This is my second marriage too.” She continued. “That seems to help us get along better~!”

“Everyone is bound to make mistakes.” Mr. Chairman added. “Sometimes you don’t meet the good stuff until later."

“My first husband was a businessman, but experience really is everything. His business crashed and I entered the entertainment world to make a living for my daughter and me. You can’t succeed in business without having all of the experience your father here has.”

“I normally don’t like to hear about people in your past, but you manage to make everything sound pleasing.” Mr Chairman said, and then gave Glam a kiss on the cheek. Jumin wanted to leave.

“Haha~ Do I?” The tone of voice she used reminded Jumin of a fake version of the cute tone Mouse had used when she picked out his tie that morning, and he found himself petting the fabric while he thought of her, and tried to string words together into sentences that would get him out of this disaster faster.

“Your relationship has nothing to do with me. But I’m worried C&R’s stock prices will go down because of this. This country is still conservative. And this is your third marriage with a celebrity. I expect many rumors to get around. And if you get a divorce with my stepmother, you will have to end relationships with businesses from her side of the family.”

“You still don’t know how big our company is?” Mr. Chairman responded dismissively. “C&R will not fall over that easily. Your mother’s connections are a very small part of our company. We will soon rise back up even if we do see trouble. Since many people will have lots to lose if we fall.”

“That’s true, but for some time, conservative investors will be disappointed and leave. I will have to prepare for the worst and work on next year’s agenda harder.”

“Oh my~” Glam smiled her fake smile and batted her eyelashes at Mr. Chairman. “How lucky you are to have such a passionate son~!”

“Haha, I am very lucky, also since I have a beautiful woman by my side.”

“Oh gosh~ Don’t be like this again. I keep blushing!”

“I just don’t want to waste that pretty face.” Mr. Chairman replied.

Jumin wanted to note that she wasn’t blushing, but kept his observations to himself.

“Father, if you have any new business items in mind, please tell me.”

“Oh right. I forgot about that. I have no doubt for a minute that C&R will continue to soar. But there is a limit to how much we can expand on our own.”

Jumin made a questioning sound, and Mr. Chairman continued his train of thought.

“So I was thinking what it would be like for you to consider getting engaged to one of Glam’s students. If you marry Sarah, her student, we’ll be able to buy her business ‘Sugar Round’ at a much lower price.”

“Sarah…? That’s the name of the woman who visited my house this morning. So you sent her. I wondered how she knew where I live, and what time of day I would be home.”

“What do you think of her?”

Glam answered for him. “She’s gorgeous, isn’t she? Hahaha!”

“…I didn’t look properly. I wish you wouldn’t send anyone to my house without warning me, especially in the morning. You know that I am dealing with a sensitive legal issue, and you should have known that Driver Kim was injured when our friend’s assailant came after her while I was taking her home last night.”

“You must have been surprised… I understand. First meetings are always awkward.”

“But first… I’ve never even heard of that company. And what exactly do you mean by ‘cheaper’?”

“It’s a new company so of course you haven’t heard about it. It’s still a small food company, but we can expand it if we take over.”

“It’s worth about 3 million, but we can buy it for 2 million if you two get married. And you both can work on building the business!”

Jumin was pretty sure if she said it was worth 3 million it was definitely not, but he tried to trust her, for his father’s sake.

“Expanding an already existing business is much more cost effective than starting a new project.” Mr. Chairman added.

“It’s still small, but Sugar Round has been gaining a good reputation in the industry. And you will be able to give it wings and make it fly! Of course, you are his son, so it’s bound to succeed! Hahaha.”

Jumin thought she sounded like a villain. His father saw her differently.

“Haha~ You’re putting me up on a pedestal again. How selfish of you to have both the looks and eloquence.”

“I’m only speaking the truth~ Sarah is still young but she’s very capable, smart, and pretty. There can’t be anything more perfect than two capable people promising marriage and growing their company together! Hahaha!”

“I apologize to interfere,” Jumin said coldly. “But I refuse.”

“Refuse?” Mr. Chairman was taken aback.

“I’m sure it’s because you haven’t talked to her properly, but once you do, you’ll love her.”

“If you have an ounce of gratitude about working in my company, shouldn’t you at least consider the marriage partner I’ve selected for you?”

Jumin forced his face to remain calm, though his insides were boiling.

“I have no thoughts on marriage.”

“I see that, but it’s common among people like us to marry for the company’s growth. As easy as it was for you to obtain your position, you have to yield your decisions on some things.”

“You are so right. Yes, Jumin. We all have to help each other! At least have tea with Sarah. I’ll arrange it.”

“Yes, that’s a good idea.”

Jumin sighed.

“You’re the one who told me that you would treat me like any other executive if my performances damage the company. But my department has been showing twice the revenue of others. I’m sorry, but I think I’m doing enough for the company.”

“I feel very sad to hear that.  I am very happy to have met a beautiful woman like Glam here. But you seem to be so against meeting women.”

“This marriage seems to be arranged by Glam here, more than you.”

“She is an amazing woman. A smart woman like her wouldn’t just choose anyone as your future bride.”

“Several times you’ve become blind to the physical beauty of women and made business mistakes. But this is the worst one.”

“The worst?”

“Please excuse me. Hope you enjoy your dinner.”

As Jumin rose to leave, he heard his father apologize to Glam, and then he heard Glam say something he had to pretend not to hear.

“But… apparently, Jumin already has a woman in mind… Have you heard?”

“I’ve heard rumors, but I’ve never seen nor heard Jumin meeting any girl other than the very obviously spoken for one from yesterday’s lunch. It’s probably just a rumor. Don’t worry about it.”

When Jumin got to the car, he told Assistant Driver Kim (and Driver Kim in the passenger seat) to drive him around a bit, he needed to think. He looked some things up on the internet, and then when his patience failed him, pulled up the messenger. Zen and Mouse were having a chat about Zen’s most recent rehearsal. Mouse saw him first.

Jumin Han has joined the chatroom

Mouse: Jumin!!! How was dinner?

Jumin: I haven’t eaten. I just left my father at the restaurant.

Zen: 

Zen: You didn’t eat there?

Jumin Han: I wanted to ask something.

Zen: ? ? To me?

Jumin Han: No, to Mouse.

Zen: 

Jumin Han: What do you think of a father who’s tied up his son and the company in a little package

Jumin Han: and is planning to hand it over to his fiance’s student?

Mouse: What are you talking about? Did something happen at dinner?

Jumin Han: Yes, it did.

Zen: 

Zen: Don’t tell me Mr. Han…

Jumin Han: He’s now completely blinded by a woman

Jumin Han: and is selling off his son along with the company’s reputation.

Jumin Han: He’s unbelievable.

Jumin Han: I knew that his judgment gets clouded in front of women,

Jumin Han: but this is the absolute worst out of all his mistakes.

Zen: Dude;;

Zen: Explain what’s going on.

Zen: Your father’s really getting married? ;;

Zen: 

Jumin Han: Yes. That woman named Glam Choi is my father’s fiance.

Zen: Well;; I kind of expected that.

Zen: So then his fiance’s student is Glam Choi’s student?

Jumin Han: …I’ll explain it to you if you want.

Jumin Han: Sugar Round is a complete no-name.

Zen: !?;;;

Zen: 

Zen: What are you talking about?

Mouse: Jumin. Being so hostile isn’t like you. Are you okay?

Jumin Han: I don’t mean to be hostile. I admit I am upset. But there is no other way to put it.

Jumin Han: I really haven’t heard of the name.

Jumin Han: Anyways, the company’s CEO is the student of my father’s girlfriend.

Zen: So?

Jumin Han: My father wants me to marry her and have our company purchase Sugar Round.

Zen: Uhm…

Mouse: I’m going to risk sounding like a complete idiot here, but if you marry someone, don’t your assets get joined? Wouldn’t it become your business by default then?

Jumin Han: That’s a western mentality, unfortunately. Things are more familially tied here than marriage tied.

Mouse: Yep. Mouse; business idiot. Thanks, Jumin.

Jumin Han: But he’s trying to do what a normal businessman would never do.

Jumin Han: How blind do you have to be to suggest that to his son?

Mouse: Jumin. Calm down first. Think about this objectively, or you’ll make a mistake you’ll regret.

Zen: Yeah. Listen to our little voice of reason.

Mouse: Man, I wish I had my emojis so I could make dots at you, Zen.

Zen: I can’t wait to see them! Seven better hurry.

Jumin Han: Yes, sorry Mouse. I lost myself there for a moment.

Jumin Han: …

Jaehee Kang has entered the chatroom

Jaehee Kang: Here you are.

Mouse: Jaehee, did you have dinner?

Jaehee Kang: No.

Jaehee Kang: This is not the time…

Jaehee Kang: 

Jaehee Kang: Mr. Han…

Jaehee Kang: You left in the middle of dinner

Jaehee Kang: and you’re not answering your calls;;

Jaehee Kang: We’re in a bit of a tricky situation here.

Mouse: Jumin, you ignored Jaehee’s calls? What if it was something serious? What if she was in trouble? What if the Hacker or Lee got to her?

Jumin Han: I was unaware that I missed calls. It must have been while I was researching Sugar Round.

Jumin Han: I apologize, Jaehee.

Zen: Whoa this dude just apologized in public.

Zen: 

Jaehee Kang: I understand how you feel, but Mr. Chairman is fairly angry.

Jumin Han: I don’t want to talk to my father for awhile.

Jumin Han: I shouldn’t contact him until he gets his womanizing habits out of the way.

Jumin Han: At the same time, I should remember to prepare for C&R stock prices to drop because of his divorce.

Jumin Han: Gather the board of directors tomorrow.

Jaehee Kang: Tomorrow!?

Jumin Han: Yes. I’m leaving now.

Jumin Han: I don’t like that Mouse has to see this.

Jumin Han has left the chatroom.

Zen: He left.

Zen: Wow…

Mouse: I think Jumin’s really stressed out right now… I’m worried.  And this after he’s been so kind to me. I feel terrible. Is there anything I can do?

Zen: He seems off today. Really strange. I was going to tease Mouse because she stayed at his place last night and now he’s different, but I can’t do that.

Jaehee Kang: I’m sure he feels very complicated now that he has to think about the company and marriage.

Zen: …

Zen: I never thought I’d say this

Zen: but no wonder he’s pissed.

Zen: 

Zen: That dude works his ass off.

Jaehee Kang: Yes… He knows everything that goes on in his company.

Jaehee Kang: It’s not my place to say this, but I do think Mr. Chairman is going overboard with this plan.

Jaehee Kang: Do you think I should be worried…?

Mouse: I mean, I am.  Since you’re basically always by his side, Jaehee, will you take good care of him for me? I mean, just in general. I’ll treat you to coffee whenever I can.

Jaehee Kang: Yes, I will. And you don’t need to treat me to coffee, Mouse. But come out to coffee with me and we’ll call it even.

Mouse: If you say that’s enough, I will take your word for it.

Jaehee Kang: Jumin doesn’t tend to be comforted by words alone, but for whatever reason he seems to be open to whatever you have to say, Mouse.

Jaehee Kang: Ah. I must go, I have many calls to make tonight.

Mouse: Make sure to eat something for dinner Jaehee! Work is easier when you’ve got calories to burn!

Jaehee Kang has left the chatroom

Zen: I don’t really like that Glam woman…;;

Zen: I feel like she is hiding something up her sleeve.

Zen: She’s making Jumin marry one of her students right after getting engaged? ;;;

Mouse: She was a complete jerk to me at lunch yesterday, too. 

Mouse: I can almost guarantee you the entire point of that lunch was to make sure Jumin and I weren’t an item. 

Mouse: And so what if we were?! 

Mouse: Ugh! If I’d known they were planning this mess I’d have convinced Jumin to take me as arm candy.

Zen: Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have cute blackmail pictures of you and Seven being stupid adorable together.

Mouse: There are pictures?!

Zen: 

Mouse: I want to see them so bad!

Zen: First you gotta post that vid you took on Sunday to your tiktok. 

Mouse: omg I forgot about that I am so gonna do it right now

Mouse: oh hey Yoosung says hi.

Zen: hi ‘Sung!!!!

Mouse: Ugh, you know what I just realized?

Zen: You were enrolled for a second class this semester but never went to it once?

Mouse: Nightmare fuel!!!

Mouse: insert shock emoji here. Lolol

Mouse: With all of Jumin’s lady drama, we don’t know anything about what’s going on with the hacker.

Zen: I should be like “Oh no, now everyone’s got more drama than I do,” but instead I think I’m just gonna post more selfies.

Mouse: omg send some spicy ones.

Zen: Seven told me I have to keep the chat PG-13 for baby Yoosung.

Mouse: texts exist.

Zen: Ooh, you’re evil.

Mouse: … Seveeeeen! Wheeeeere are my Emojis?

707 has joined the chatroom

707: Whyyyyyyyy do you need to know?

Zen: Ok, that was creepily timed.

Mouse: God Seven! Where are my emoji?!

707: Not done yet. I mean, some of them are. Here, like this one:

707: 

Mouse: Yes, I feel that way about my emojis not being ready.

Zen: Aw, mouse is cute!!

707: Oi, Mousey, are you and Cutie Yoosung ready for dinner? Zen, howboutchu?

Zen: Born ready, I’m actually chilling down the street from the restaurant.

Mouse: ‘Sung’s just about done with this match. You on the way?

707: Yep

707: 

707 has left the chatroom

Mouse: I better go make sure Yoosung doesn’t start another round.

Zen: See you soon, gorgeous!

Mouse: Bye, Lovely Zen~!

Zen has left the chatroom

Mouse has left the chatroom

Chapter Text

There was a knock at the door, and Yoosung stopped putting his shoes on to hobble over to the door with one shoe on and one off.  He swung the door open to admit Seven, who eyed Yoosung in amusement.

“Not quite ready to go, eh?”

“You were closer than we thought!” Mouse said, and smiled at Seven. She’d missed him. But, that was also her cue.

“Oh shoot. I need to hit the restroom before we go. I’ll be quick I promise!”  She ducked into the bathroom and shut the door, covering her mouth to muffle her inevitable giggles. Yoosung’s walls were nowhere near as well insulated as Jumin’s, so she could hear their entire conversation. After a minute she opened the door as quietly as possible and peeked out. She knew a kiss was coming and she wanted to see it. They were close together, trying to talk quietly and utterly failing. Yoosung because he was excited, Seven because he knew Mouse was listening.

“You got to nap with Mouse? Aw! And all I got was a kiss!” Seven, of course, unapologetically trolling.

“Mouse kissed you?! I’m so jealous! What was it like?” Oh, Yoosung.

“You’re curious?”

“Well.. Yeah, obviously…”

Seven leaned in and kissed Yoosung soundly on the lips.  Mouse wondered if she’d had the same shocked expression when he’d kissed her.  Then she wondered if the living room camera had recorded it.

After that brief moment of shock, it looked to Mouse like Yoosung actually leaned into the kiss, and Seven brought his hand up to run through Yoosung’s hair. Oh no, this was going to go all kinds of places that all resolved into late for dinner if she didn’t inject a sense of awkward. Luckily, she was good at being awkward.

“Oh damn, save some for me, you two.” She said, just loud enough to be heard.

Yoosung, predictably, pulled away from Seven so fast he would have hit the ground if Seven hadn’t caught his arm.

“Oh. Mouse. I. Um…” Yoosung clearly didn’t know what to say, because he didn’t know what he was feeling.

Seven was actually quiet, too.

“That was incredibly hot, and I’m not even kidding. I’m sorry for interrupting, I just didn’t want to be late for dinner.”

Seven smiled, and beckoned Mouse over, tipping his head at Yoosung who was still standing there in a bit of shock.

“Hey, sweetie.” She said to Yoosung, and pulled him into a hug. “It’s stunning when Seven kisses you unexpectedly, isn’t it. I had a similar experience.”

Yoosung said something so quietly into her shoulder that she didn’t hear it.

“Sorry ‘Sung, can you say that again?”

Yoosung stepped back from her hug, and nodded.

“I really liked it. Which I don’t think is fair to Seven, cause you probably meant it as a joke, right?”

“Not at all. Mouse actually gave me the courage to try. Since I couldn’t figure out how to tell you with words.  I’ve known you since the start of the RFA, Yoosung. I’ve wanted to kiss you basically forever. But, you always talk about getting a girlfriend, so I didn’t think you’d go for it, and I wanted to give you an out, so.. Jokes. That’s all I am, jokes and code.”

Yoosung hugged Seven, who hugged back.

“We can keep talking about this in the car, if you boys want. Hell, we can talk about this forever, so far as I’m concerned. I just know that Zen is waiting. Also this provides so many great ways to pull a joke on Zen, too.”

“That’s my girl!” Seven said, and ruffled her hair.

Yoosung laughed. “This is weird.”

Mouse nodded, and took his hand. “Weird doesn’t begin to cover it.”

Seven took her other hand, and they had an awkward trying to get out the door as a chain of three people moment before they broke it up.

“OMG we’re nerds.” Mouse said, and followed Seven to his car, Yoosung not far behind.

“So what you’re saying is basically Mouse loves all of us and we’re just gonna figure out how willing we all are to share Mouse?”

“Yeah.” Mouse said, “But there are others of you who I think need to work out their own boundaries too. You know, like the two cuties I’m in a car with. Don’t think I didn’t notice how much you were both into that.”

“You noticed?” 

Mouse swore she could feel Yoosung blushing even though he was in the back seat.

“How could I not?”

“Also, yeah, I’d like to do that again, Yoosung.” Seven said bluntly from the driver’s seat.

“Oh. M-me too.” Yoosung responded.

“Well, to make it very clear, Seven has permission to do as much or as little with you as you’re both comfortable with. I will not be upset. I will probably ask one or both of you for details.”

“Damn, Mouse. You thought about this, huh?”

“Yeah, well, I took a nap with ‘sung earlier and his bed smelled like Zen, so… I might have been thinking things I had no business thinking about.”

“Yoosung, did you and Zen…” Seven couldn’t even finish the sentence before both Yoosung and Mouse cut him off

“Not like that!”

“No, we just slept in the same bed for snuggle reasons, like movie day!”

They all laughed, and Mouse was glad to see Yoosung loosening up a bit.

“Hey, Sung, I know my western sensibilities can be a little… forward. Tell me if it’s too much, okay?” Mouse didn’t want to make him feel like he was being forced to talk about and do things he wasn’t ready for. Peer pressure was no joke.

“Oh. It’s not too much. I just… went from thinking I’d never get a girlfriend to liking this girl but also being interested in my best friends, and then getting my first kiss with the guy I like? Kinda… a lot, you know?”

“Believe me, I know. Yesterday was a freakin rollercoaster ride.”

“What else happened yesterday?”

Seven, of course, had to even the score seeing as Mouse had outed the Zensung snugglefest.

“Mouse slept with Jumin last night.”

“Slept with?!”

“See, you jumped to the same conclusion I did!  No, just snuggles. Jumin still doesn’t emotions properly unless it’s about Elly.”

“Oh. Oh I should have figured that.”

“Don’t worry about it, even Jumin wasn’t sure that it was okay, apparently he and Seven had a talk.” Mouse said, amused.

“Yep! And again this morning.”

“Sorry for not texting right away.” Mouse said, chagrined.

“Nah, turns out you had a good reason.”

“I can’t wait to troll Zen. How are we doing this, by the way?”

“Oh, well, you see, I had this idea…”

Things were always slightly more terrifying when Seven had ideas…

Dinner with the boys was a very different experience than lunch with Jumin’s father. Seven led them to a busy area of town, and then to a basement doorway off an alley. It was strange to Mouse, having spent the majority of her time on campus or near the apartment she’d shared with Lee. This area reminded her of the cyberpunk stories she loved, and she definitely wasn’t expecting to discover a cute little Italian restaurant here.

Zen was waiting inside, and the waitress he was talking to was blushing bright red. Of course. Zen had a way with the ladies. Mouse looked at Seven who winked at her, encouraging her to enact stage one of the plan. Mouse bounced up to him and grabbed his hand.

“Zenny! We’re here!” Mouse had put on her cute voice, the same one she’d used to tease Jumin that morning. Zen would be extra disappointed when he learned that, but she wasn’t sorry.

“Oh, Hey Mouse!!” He said, not missing a beat. Those acting skills, though.

“Hey Zen!” Seven said cheerfully, and Zen quietly took in the three of them, and grinned.

“Binna, this is my sister and her friends that I was mentioning would be joining me.” 

“Ah!” she said, shifting almost instantly from not looking at Mouse to inspecting her closely. “Let me show you to your table.”

Once they were seated in one of the cozy booths in back - Mouse next to Zen but on the inside, and Yoosung next to Seven but also on the inside -  Zen hugged Mouse to his side.

“Man, Binna’s going to tease me forever now, Mouse! Also good to see you, babe.”

“Binna was the hostess, right? Why’s she going to tease you?” Mouse said, half paying attention while she focused on reading the menu.

“Because you just came in and claimed me like we’re dating.”

Mouse blinked. Here we go, stage two. She was blushing, and she knew that he could tell.

“You introduced me as your sister though! Also, do you come here that often?”

“Oh, no, but Binna’s an actress! I work with her sometimes on stage.”

“Oh, that’s marvelous! I still don’t know why she’d tease you, since I’m your sister.”

“Do sisters usually flounce in and hold their brothers hands?”

“Sure they do, I literally just did.”

Seven was hiding behind his menu laughing. Yoosung was just staring.

Zen leaned down so he could whisper in her ear.

“But you’re not actually my sister, Mouse.”

She was flustered, of course. His eyes flicked to hers and then back at his menu.

“Well, I’m sorry if I got too clingy.”  She said, sitting up straight in her own space.

She knew she was supposed to tease him more, but she was worried he was actually upset.  Maybe she’d done something actually wrong? Was it the nickname?

Zen turned to her, and opened his mouth to say something else, but then their waitress came by to take their drink order. Mouse had barely even looked at the menu, and she looked at Seven for help. Seven smiled, and ordered her drink for her. Something soda, so she knew she’d like it. She wasn’t picky if it had bubbles.

Once the waitress left again, Mouse was carefully studying the menu trying to figure out what she wanted. She loved Italian food, so when Seven had suggested it, she was so excited. But there were so many good-seeming options. 

“Seven…” Mouse said, “I can’t pick.”

All three of them turned to look at her simultaneously.

“I know, darlin. You want me to pick something?” Zen’s gaze switched to Seven at the use of a pet name.

“Sure, but you’re too far away to share with.”

“Okay, well, we can just switch plates halfway through.”

“Or you could pick the best thing on your first try and I’ll never share again.”

“Woman, you are breaking my heart.”

Mouse laughed. She’d forgotten her anxiety about being too clingy for Zen, and leaned on his shoulder again.

“Bluh, hungry mouse is hungry. Seven just pick something.”

“As you wish, Mousey.”

Sometimes having someone else make decisions for you was nice. Especially when they weren’t life-altering decisions.

Their drinks arrived, and Mouse discovered that what Seven had ordered for her was called an “Italian Soda”, which was basically a flavor syrup mixed with soda water. And this place made their own syrups, so what she had was a Blackberry Lavender soda. It was weirdly good.

Mouse made happy sounds about her drink, which got her teased by Zen.

“What, it’s freakin delicious! Seven, you’re a genius.”

Yoosung, realizing he’d been far too quiet, decided that stage two had failed and it was time for stage three.

“Oh hey, Zen, Mouse knows we slept together.” 

Mouse smirked. Nailed the wording there, Yoosung. Good job.

Zen was blushing. “We just snuggled though, Mouse. How did you figure that out?”

“Well… his bed smelled like you. It was comforting.”

Seven was giving her a look. They hadn’t talked about the comforting part.

“Wait, you could tell?” he paused. “Double wait, you were in bed with Yoosung?!”

Yoosung blushed. Mouse hadn’t stopped blushing. Only Seven wasn’t, and that was extra funny to him.

“Well, yeah. I was sleepy and couches aren’t comfy so we took a nap. But I was cold, and then the blanket smelled like you.”

“Oh, you took a nap. Okay. I went like a mile too far with that thought.”

“I don’t blame you, Yoosung’s word choice was amazing for putting wrong thoughts in your mind.”

“I mean, incorrect thoughts, yes. Wrong is subjective.” Seven said.

Mouse nodded. “Yeah, you mean like how you got Yoosung earlier?”

Zen laughed. “Man, Yoosung, Seven pranks you too much, you should be much less trusting of Mr. Hacker over there.”

Yoosung was still bright red. Poor guy. “Oh. Well. This one wasn’t bad though. You should totally try it on Zen.”

Seven grinned. “Yeah, but maybe later. Don’t want to hurt his reputation in public.”

Mouse smiled. “Don’t you have something to tell him, anyway?”

Yoosung laughed. “True. Seven has some tales he should be telling.”

Zen basically speared Seven with a look.

Seven did not keep him waiting.

“Per our agreement, I am supposed to tell you if anything happened with Mouse.”

Mouse blinked. “There was an agreement?”

Yoosung looked embarrassed. “Oh, shoot. We maybe should have told Mouse that part…”

Mouse shook her head. “Nah, don’t feel bad about it, Yoosung. Whatever it was, I’m sure you actually were thinking in my best interest.”

Zen piped up. “I’m a jealous asshole, and I wanted to know about all the things I was supposed to be jealous about.”

Mouse pivoted in the booth seat to look at him,  pulling one knee up onto the seat.

“Zenny. Were you jealous when Ryung and Dae were teasing me about my apparently flirty phone call with Jumin?”

Seven and Yoosung stared at her abrupt change of subject. Zen seemed unsurprised by the question.

“Very.” He said, honestly. “That jerk has everything he could ever want, and wouldn’t understand perfection if it fell in his lap. Which, you effectively fell in our lap, Mouse.”

“Sometimes literally.” Yoosung added.

“I am a klutz, it’s true.” Mouse said, jokingly.

“Anyway, back to Seven dishing out the TMI?” Zen said, tone full of mischief.

Seven looked at Yoosung, and then at Mouse, and smiled. “Mouse and I kissed.”

Zen turned to look at Mouse, who was grinning. So was Yoosung, and she knew that it was for a very different reason.  She nudged his foot with her own under the table, and they shared a moment. Seven really was a good kisser, was the thing.

Zen looked back at Seven, wondering if there was more to be said.

“You can tell there’s more, huh?” Seven said, and Zen nodded.

“That’s as much as I shared with Yoosung, because I hate repeating myself.” Seven said.

“Well, I can input some into your ‘things other people have gotten away with in regards to mouse’ file.” Mouse said, and everyone looked her direction.

“Well, nothing Seven doesn’t know already.” She said, and was sure that he just relaxed a tick. Of course he knew everything.

“Let’s see. I’ve snuggled with everyone.  Well, not V, but I’m not actually certain y’all didn’t just make him up.”

“He’s real.” They all said, in a bit of a deadpan chorus which was eerie.

“Okay, so if I say everyone, I mean everyone not-V.” Mouse said, covering her bases.

“Even Jumin?” Zen said warily.

“Yep. He took care of me last night after an epic PTSD meltdown, I slept in his bed because I wasn’t safe to be by myself.” Zen looked even less pleased at this news.

“Stop having those.” Yoosung said, disappointedly.

“I wish it were that easy!!”

“Okay, okay, fair. What else?” Yoosung asked, trying to keep her on track, and derail Zen’s irritation.

“So lets see, I’ve been completely alone with everyone except Zen.”

Zen pouted. “That means I’m next, right?” 

“As long as I don’t ruin your career, yes, Zen, you can have alone time with me.”

“Might not ruin my career, but might ruin your reputation.”

“I think my reputation is irrelevant, if I’m being honest. Happiness is more important than reputation.”

Yoosung piped up at the perfect moment, breaking their back and forth just in time for food to arrive.

“How can you two talk about this so casually?” he’d said, and they all laughed as plates were set in front of them.

“It’s a family thing.” Mouse said, smirking.

“My little sister is a brat.” Zen agreed.

Seven just about died laughing, and the waitress gave him a look. 

“Sorry, I just haven’t gotten to spend enough time with these two together. They are a riot!”

The waitress smiled her “ah yes, weirdo customers” smile, and headed off to keep working.

Mouse looked at the plate in front of her. It was green with more green even the pasta was green.

“Holy Green, Batman.”

“Actually, I’m Superman.” Yoosung said. Seven elbowed him.

“It’s spinach angel hair pasta with a pesto cream sauce and broccoli.” Seven said. “It’s actually called ‘The Green’”.

Mouse took a bite of her dinner, and was pleasantly surprised. This was the best cooked pasta she’d found since moving to Seoul. And it was delicious. 

“Oh no. Seven, I’m dumping you for this pasta.”

“You better not! I got you that pasta!”

Mouse knew her mouth was full. She knew she was going to get in trouble, but she just couldn’t help it. “Llv mm nvn” I love you, Seven.

“Oh, my heart. Next time say that without your mouth full, ok?” He’d understood her. Zen and Yoosung were just staring between them.

Zen eyed Seven. “The next thing you were going to tell me was that you two are dating, then?” He seemed angry.

Mouse busied herself eating her dinner. Zen’s jealousy was palpable. It was hard not to react inappropriately.

“I was, in fact.” Seven said. “Mouse took the reins, and I wanted to let her lead as long as she was comfortable.”

There was a pause where the waitress came by to refill their drinks, and everyone was busily eating their food. It always amused Mouse just how fast these boys ate in comparison to her.

Mouse spoke up, hoping to calm the jealousy that was still radiating off of Zen. 

“So, the relationship thing.  I started trying to negotiate with Seven about getting to kiss everyone, and he pointed out that I skipped the whole dating step, and, well, now we’re dating.”

Yoosung had been listening, obviously. “Everyone?!”

Mouse looked at him and winked. “Yes, with the previous limits on everyone that I already mentioned. But only if they want to be kissed.”

“You mean I could have been kissing you this afternoon?!” Yoosung looked disappointed.

“Well, no.” Mouse said. “Because Seven helped me figure out how I could continue being a person, He basically got to be first boyfriend. Cause he asked first, but also because he was willing to help me figure out sharing and getting all of the people I want in my life. Which meant I have been working out with him our rules on how I can approach all of you.”

“What Mouse isn’t telling you, ‘Sung, is that I asked her if I could be first. To kiss you that is.” Seven said, surprisingly shyly.

Zen looked at Yoosung, and at Seven, and then at Mouse, who was grinning.

“It was so hard not to give it away.”

“Wait, so Seven and Yoosung…”

“Yeah. It was nice.” Yoosung said, and Seven ruffled his hair.

“We didn’t take a lot of time to talk about… consequences. We figured that could wait until after dinner, at home with pints of ice cream.” Mouse said. 

“And fewer other people.” Seven said.

Zen had turned to Mouse. “Any more bombshells to drop now that you’ve cleaned your plate?”

Mouse blushed, and looked at Seven, who nodded.

“Yes. But not in public.” She said, and that was when Yoosung knocked over his soda glass, right into her lap.

Chapter Text

One giant mess and a slightly awkwardly damp drive back to Zen’s apartment later, Mouse was standing in Zen’s bedroom, waiting while he dug through his laundry for something she could borrow.
In the living room, Yoosung and Seven were arguing comically loudly about what movie to watch. 

Mouse knew there would be more talking than watching of anything, but she appreciated their attempt at giving her some privacy with Zen.  She wanted to shut the door, but her heart was beating too fast, and she knew it would just end badly. Zen was upset, and she knew it was her fault. He was also trying to hide it from her, probably to keep her from having the exact reaction she was having right now. She took off her hoodie and set it on the bed, taking a step towards him in doing so.

“Zen…” she started, as he turned to face her.

He was holding a pair of joggers and a workout top. She could just imagine him running in the park in them. He held them out to her, and as she took them, he started for the door.

“Stay. Please.” She said. It might have been too soft for him to hear her, but he stilled before he reached the doorway.

“You should change, or you’ll get cold.” He said it, but he didn’t move.

“So don’t look at me. I mean, you can, if you want. You’ve seen my marks. I do not want to be alone. Not even a little. Please. I’ll hurry.” 

She turned from him, and started taking off her damp jeans, probably the worst task known to humankind. She made an irritated sound in the back of her throat. Dang fancy jeans hugged her curves so well but that made them so much more difficult to take off. So focused on the task, she didn’t notice that Zen had stepped up behind her until his hands were on her hips.

“If I try to be polite, can I help you get out of these? Your little frustrated sounds are killing me.” The last two words came out as more of a growl, and Mouse couldn’t help but lean into him a little bit.

“What about if you don’t try to be polite?”

“Then it’ll probably be easier to get you out of them.”

“And into yours?”

“Be careful what you wish for, Mouse.” He said, right into her ear, and then shifted his hands up to her waist, and then slid them down her hips, this time on the inside of her jeans, helping her shimmy out of the irritatingly clingy denim. Once free of her jeans, Mouse immediately moved to put the joggers on, but was stopped by Zen's hand. 

"You need to rinse off some of the sticky from your legs, or it's going to be uncomfortable."

He shooed her towards the bathroom, and she went where she was directed, using the damp washcloth she was offered to remove most of the soda residue from her legs before slipping into the joggers. It wasn't that Zen was wrong, she just wanted to keep from making him too uncomfortable.

When she left the bathroom, she eyed Zen again. His cheeks were pink, and his hands were very carefully clasped in front of him. Trying and failing to hide his obvious reactions to having his hands on her skin, and to see her in her underwear for longer than a glimpse.

"Sorry for taking so long. Hand me the top?"

“Yeah, no problem. Cute underwear, by the way.” He handed her the top he'd found for her, and made a point of looking away.

“Thanks!” Mouse said, as she slipped out of the blouse and turned her back to him to also rid herself of her bra. “Jaehee picked them out for me.”

She slipped the workout top over her head, and reached for her hoodie.

“Men's clothes really leave nothing to the imagination.” Zen said, smiling.

“Well, a bra hides just as much as it enhances, really.” Mouse said, sliding her sleeves into her new-but-familiar hoodie.

“I thought I understood women’s undergarments, but clearly I did not.” He said, a smile finally gracing his face again.

“Hey Zen… before we go out there, can I say one thing?”

He stilled again and nodded.

“I’m sorry you found out about any of this jokingly. I feel really terrible about hurting your feelings in any way. Because I also love you. You’re so important to me, and I’ve only known you for a few days.”

Zen scooped her into a hug, holding her tight.

“You are the sweetest girl, Mouse. None of us deserve you.”

“You do, though. Because I’m a lot less exciting than you’re hyping me up to be.”

“I highly doubt that.” Zen said, and then held her at arms-length and stared her in the eye.

Mouse smiled at him, wondering what he was thinking. He tipped his head slightly as if in question, and her breath caught in her throat. Was he… she nodded. Just a little, just in case he wasn’t asking…

The tiniest hint of permission was all he needed - Zen tipped her chin up and kissed her. His kiss was aggressive, taking what he wanted, but giving just as much back. Mouse felt like she was on fire, and then he’d pulled away. Her heart was racing. Did that really just happen?  

The wolf-like grin on Zen’s face told her it definitely did just happen.

The sudden applause from the doorway told them both that they’d had an audience.  Mouse spun around, hands on her hips.

“Rude!” she said to the two boys in the hall, who hustled back to the living room.  Mouse turned around to see Zen looking slightly less confident.

“It’s okay, Zen. You knew they were there, right?”

He nodded, and she beckoned him closer.  He came within whisper range, and instead of whispering in his ear, she instead gave him a quick kiss of her own. Nothing to write home about, but enough that he shouldn’t think she was upset at all.

“You have my permission to be possessive tonight.” She said, and tapped him on the nose.

“Seven deserves to be jealous for getting a head start, and I have a feeling Yoosung’s going to be the one most available to hang out, so he can be patient awhile longer.”

Zen cleared his throat, and then took her hand. “Okay, Babe.” He said, and all-but dragged her out to the couch where the other two were waiting to be scolded.

Mouse laughed outright when she saw them.

“You thought I’d yell at you?”

“Yes.” Yoosung said, without a hint of sarcasm.

“No, but Zen might.” Seven said, also very seriously.

Zen grinned. Two could play Seven’s game.

He tipped his head at Mouse the same way he had in the bedroom, and she nodded more clearly this time. This kiss was just as energetic as the first, but it lasted a lot longer, and ended with his hands tangled in her hair.  She was giggling when they finally split. 

“Not going to yell at you.” Zen said. “I knew you were there, remember?”

Seven grinned, and Yoosung looked confused. “I’m not in trouble?”

“No, ‘Sung.” Mouse said, and pet his hair. “Seven might have told you I would be mad to troll you.”

“Yeah, I did. Got me there. Mouse likes to be watched.”

She blushed bright red. She knew there were going to be no secrets here, especially after tonight’s talk, but that was a big chunk of information.

“I want to know how you know that.” Zen said, sitting between the two on the couch and then pulling Mouse into his lap, where she made a point of shifting until she was both sure she was comfortable, but also sure that Zen was… less comfortable.

“Storytime?” Yoosung said, practically bouncing.

Mouse nodded to Seven. “Truth. Small embellishments that don’t make me look like an idiot or a whore are acceptable.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted her, and then launched into the story of their bedroom escapades. The only embellishments he added were to make her seem less nervous than she was, and he smoothed over the awkward condom conversation, which was a relief.

She was still bright red by the time he was done telling the story of their afternoon romp.  But Yoosung was even more red, and Zen had been obviously interested the entire time. Obviously in a way that was only obvious to the girl on his lap, but that was enough.

“So. That happened.” She said, matter-of-factly.

“Okay, but we’re missing a piece. How did you find out that Mouse likes to be watched?”

Seven, who clearly was less into it than she was, took his turn in the awkward chair, because Mouse was not about to let this one go.

“Oh, well, see, all of the talking turned kissing turned sexy-times happened at the apartment. You know, the apartment. With all the surveillance cameras.”

“Okay, but…”

“So I was an idiot and left the surveillance screens up when I left yesterday morning, and Vanderwood called because work happened even though it was supposed to be my day off, and, well, it was real obvious where I was and what I’d been doing…”  Seven looked embarrassed.

“Why was your maid looking at your computer…?” Yoosung was confused.

Zen sighed. “So, Vanderwood. Not your maid?”

Seven laughed evilly. “Well, I mean, they clean my place, so technically yes, but they’re more… my handler. For work. Please pretend you don’t know that.” 

Mouse nodded. “We’re all going to have to do a lot of pretending for Seven, guys. He wasn’t supposed to fall in love, and he’s gone and done it a couple times at least here.”

“Wait, a couple times?” Yoosung was confused and quietly hopeful but trying not to make a big deal out of it. Mouse just giggled in response, and Seven slowly got up, walked over to Yoosung, and pulled him into a kiss. 

“Duh. Obviously I love you.” Seven said, and then calmly walked back to his spot on the couch, and settled back into it.

“Gah! So cute! I’m dying!” Mouse said, and pretended to faint into Zen’s shoulder.

“Quick, Zen! True Love’s Kiss: Go!” Seven said, in full Defender of Justice mode.

“Oh no, save Mouse!” Yoosung said, handily playing the terrified passerby.

Mouse felt warm hands tip her head up and soft lips on her own, delicate, like a fairytale prince. She fluttered her eyes open, trying to hide how stunned she was at the difference in kisses. When he pulled away, Zen winked at her.

“So delicate, I feel healed somehow.” She said.

“OMG stop quoting Jaehee it’s weird.” Seven replied.

Mouse laughed, but she couldn’t help the tears that started trailing down her cheeks.

“Whoa whoa whoa, Mouse, it’s ok.” Yoosung said, petting her hair.

Zen looked at her carefully, and seemed to come to the same conclusion Seven had, as they spoke simultaneously.

Seven said “She’s happy.”

While Zen said “She’ll be fine.”

Mouse smiled. “I have cried more in the last week than I think I have in the last ten years combined. These ones are okay though. Relief, I think.”

Yoosung didn’t stop petting her hair, and she didn’t mind.

“So now that our dirty laundry is properly aired, I should explain what caused this tangled web of kisses, probably.  Zen, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to go sit on Seven, or the floor, so I can see your face. Seven knows all this mess, but you don’t.”

Initially, Zen pulled her closer, and she expected him to say no, but after a moment he kissed her cheek and pushed her gently towards Seven.

“But only because you’re sweet.”

Seven laughed and nuzzled her neck as she settled. “It’ll be okay, Babe. I promise.”

Mouse hummed in response, and then started to explain. She started with the bits about her family life, and how the only person who ever even showed interest was Lee, and they know how that turned out.  But then she met the RFA, and how between giving her a place to feel safe, and then literally saving her life in multiple ways, she finally felt like she had a family. She explained how Seven had reacted negatively to her flirting with him, to which he tried to interject more apologies and she shushed him. It made sense once he explained how his life was supposed to go.

“But then I lost my mind a little bit and started babbling about how I was ruining one of my only friendships with a single misplaced adjective, and went on to say in front of him that I wanted to kiss his stupid face. But not just his face. Everyone’s. Assuming they want me to. I want to have a life that has all of you in it, in every way you want to be.”

“Everyone.”

“Yep.”

“Even Jumin.” Zen said, quietly.

“If he ever has enough emotions to ask, yes.” Mouse said. “No first moves for me, there.”

Yoosung covered his mouth, and Zen just grumbled.

“I don’t know if it’s the mixed bits of me or what, but.. I fall in love easily. And hard. I thought I was cursed, honestly until I blurted all of this out to Seven, I didn’t even know that “and” was an option. I thought I was going to be forced to pick one of you and break my own heart many times over. But then we talked about Poly for a long time, and I said some pretty shitty things until I understood it. But honestly… I feel like it’s the only way for me to be happy.”

Zen grimaced slightly, but contributed something that made Mouse feel better.

“Yeah, well, we talked about how to handle the fact that we were all in love with you, and how it was going to come down to your choice regardless of whatever we wanted. But ‘Sung has some guild people who are poly, and Seven’s friend Tom is, so we talked about it, and I too was a complete ass until they explained. But, we were pretty sure you weren’t even going to think about anything more than platonic cuddling for a long while yet.”

Mouse smiled. “Well that explains why you guys aren’t freaking out more. Sorry I was too fast…”

They all made vehement sounds of disagreement at her apology.

“Yeah, well. We’re stubborn. And Zen is the most Stubborn of all of us.” Yoosung said, and poked Zen in the side, earning him a look.

“Anyway, so. Seven and I are dating. That’s not changing. But we have very few rules with each other.  Basically, we have our own version of your kiss and tell pact, and I have my own personal rule that if one of us wants to go farther than kissing, in person conversations of all three of us are required. That way everyone is safe, and my over-trusting habits don’t land me with someone who’ll hurt me like Lee did.  I honestly don’t think I’m going to need anyone more than the people you know I’m interested in already, but it seemed better to have more concrete rules.”

“So by your personal rule do you mean it only applies to you?” Zen was trying to wrap his mind around it.

Mouse started to answer, but Seven beat her to it. 

“No, she means that it was a rule she chose for herself, but it applies to both of us.”

“Yeah. I word it that way because otherwise I feel like I’m making Seven look possessive.”

“Exactly. Also, this counts as our conversation, so if you two are comfortable talking about your end goals with me or my girlfriend, now’s a great time.” Seven winked at Yoosung and grinned at Zen.

Mouse could feel the sudden awkwardness take over the room, and decided to go first.

“Hey, so you don’t need to feel awkward or anything, here’s where I’m at. I want some one on one time with each of you, to the limits you’re comfortable with. So… don’t think you’re somehow going to ask me for something I don’t want with you. Yeah, it might take me some time to not be nervous about things. I still think I’m going to be a massive disappointment to all of you. But.. I want that closeness. If you’ll help me work up to it. And ideally, I’d love to have the same set of rules with the both of you that I do with Seven.”

Zen sighed. “I am resigned to sharing. Yoosung thinks that I’ll eventually stop being jealous and instead just be happy because you are happy. I was dubious, but even now I can kind of see it. I really want you back in my lap. But knowing how nice it was to have you here, I can see how happy Seven is. And that makes me happy too. So maybe it’s possible for me to stop being a pile of jealous. Eventually.”

Seven laughed. “Okay, so that’s Zen handled, but what about Cutie Yoosung?”

Yoosung smiled. “I’m terrified!” He said, entirely too cheerfully. “I mean, first I get to take a nap curled up with the nerd girl of my dreams, and then one of my two best friends kisses me and tells me he loves me.  I think I know how you feel, Mouse. How am I even going to live up to this?”

Mouse smiled “We try our best. That’s all we can do.”

Zen sighed. “Seven, I just realized I have been mad at you for probably the nicest thing you’ve ever done for me.”

Seven made a confused sound, and Zen sighed again. “You hacked things to make Mouse legal siblings with both me and Yoosung.  Now, she can stay at either of our places late at night or even overnight, and if the media looks into our claims of siblinghood, it’s on record.”

Mouse blinked. “I don’t think he thought that far ahead.”

Seven giggled. Mouse loved when he giggled, it meant mischief was afoot. 

“I didn’t. That is just convenient. I just wanted a way for you to be able to go to the hospital with her, and damned if I was making you a married couple.”

Mouse had not even considered the husband option. 

“Oh.” She said, “I think I am happier with this outcome.”

Zen was nodding, and so was Yoosung.

“I think none of us want to force anything on you ever, Mouse. Being family was probably the safest for all of us.” Zen said.

Seven had shifted from amused to serious, which also meant a tenseness that Mouse could feel, and she shifted so she could see his face. “Seven, what’s up?”

“I’ve been trying to keep this about you, but I can’t hold it in anymore.  Mouse, can I have permission to see Yoosung? More than just that kiss?”

“Of course, love, if he’ll have you. You’ll have to ask him, though.”

Yoosung wasted no time piping up from the other side of the couch. “I’m game. I think. I’m nervous. But excited?”

Mouse grinned, and Seven was practically vibrating with joy.

“This is the best day ever.” He said, and Mouse just laughed. She was nervous about having talked to Zen and Yoosung about all of this. Neither of them had said anything, really. What if they weren’t actually interested now that the info was on the table?

“Okay, y’all are stressing Mouse out enough. Make some declarations or something, sheesh.”

Zen laughed. “I thought I kinda did already. But I like official, I guess. Hey Mouse, will you go out with me?”

Mouse grinned. “Yes, but only officially in private so you can keep up the sister ruse. Also? There’s one condition.”

Zen paused. “What condition?”

Seven chuckled. “Same condition?”

Mouse grinned. “You know it.” She said to Seven, and then to Zen, “You have to kiss me again.”

Zen pulled her back into his lap and kissed her gently, like she might break, and then spun her around to face Yoosung.

Yoosung blushed. “Me too? I’d like to find out what having a girlfriend is like. Since I get to find out what a boyfriend is like. Y’know, for science. And also because I love you, Mouse.”

Mouse smiled. “You’ll probably see me the most anyway, given these two’s work schedules.”

Yoosung smiled. “Will you date me, Mousey?”

Mouse clapped excitedly. “I would love to. But there’s one condition, Yoosung.”

Yoosung grinned, and waited. He knew, but he wanted to make her say it.

Mouse smirked. “You have to kiss me. And make it good, you know how high Seven set that bar already.” She winked, and within seconds Yoosung was inviting her into his lap and once she’d shifted over, was kissing her, very very tentatively. But he took the initiative, and that’s what Mouse needed from him.

“Well.” She said once she could breathe again. “I’m 3/5 of the way to my happy ending. Is that a passing grade?”

Seven laughed. “Well, if the text messages I’ve been getting from Jumin for the last ten minutes mean anything.. You’re probably closer to 4/5.”

Mouse paused and stared at Seven. 

“What did he send you?!”

Chapter Text

In the end, Seven refused to share the texts he’d gotten from Jumin, using privacy as an excuse. Mouse was suspicious, but in the end she knew that it would turn out fine, Jumin probably just was being Mr. No Emotions and Seven didn’t want to translate. Besides, they were working really hard at communication.

After a few more minutes of awkward discussions, Seven looked at Mouse who was sleepily curled up in Zen’s lap. He met her eye, and she saw a glint there that she had seen but once before. She smirked, and shut her eyes. He had a plan he wanted to set in motion, and she was going to run with it, whatever it was.  Trust really felt nice.

“Okay, I should probably take ‘Sung home.” Seven said, wrapping his arm around the blonde’s shoulders.

Mouse caught the omission of her name, and figured out the game.

She pouted, actually sticking her bottom lip out. “I don’t wanna go home yet. It’s lonely.”

Seven sighed and shook his head. “Too bad, Mousey, I have to get back to working. No rest for the wicked.”

Mouse sighed and snuggled into Zen’s chest. “Five more minutes?”

Zen’s arms tightened around her, and she thought maybe he’d caught on.

“She could just stay here, you know.” Zen said.

Mouse had shut her eyes, willing the boys to make these decisions for her.  She knew that when Seven said he wanted to take Yoosung home, he meant for makeouts. At least. So he was really banking on Zen’s jealous streak to make him want to keep her here.

She heard some shifting, and then a tap on her shoulder.  She blinked her eyes open and found Yoosung’s face inches from hers.

“I’m gonna kiss you now.” He said, and then gave her a cute peck on the lips.

Zen laughed, and Yoosung blushed. “You have fun with Zen, Mouse, and I’ll see you tomorrow I think, ok sweetie?”

Mouse grinned. “Okay, ‘Sung.”

Seven was getting his shoes on. “Mouse, I want a real hug before we go, c’mere.”

Mouse unfolded from Zen’s lap and bounced over to Seven. She was so freakin nervous to stay the night with Zen.  Seven pulled her in for a long, soft kiss, and then hugged her tight. 

“You are shaking like a leaf, sweetie.” He said quietly. “Is this really okay?”

He was giving her an out, but she trusted Zen. It would be fine. “It’ll be fine. It’s just like when I told you I was worried about disappointing you.”

They separated, and Yoosung stole a hug from her as well. “Since you’re up.” He said, and winked.

As the two headed out to Seven’s car, Mouse called after them to have fun, and be good, then shut and locked the door.  When she turned back to the couch where Zen should have been sitting, she found that he’d walked up behind her while she was saying goodbye to her other boys.

He put his hand against the door, next to her head, and looked down at her. “They left you all alone with me.”

Mouse smiled, the shy side of her coming out in force. “Yeah, convenient side effect of Seven wanting to take Yoosung to bed, I think.”

“And if I want to do the same?” Zen said, which gave Mouse a deflection point, but also the giggles.

“You want to take Yoosung to bed? I thought you already did that.”

The confused and then embarrassed look on his face was priceless.  Sure, she’d broken the mood with her brattiness, but she had a feeling he was more than capable of coping. He’d known Seven for years, after all. 

Once he realized she was being a brat, she ducked out from under his arm and took an entire two steps away from him before he caught her by the waist. When he touched her, she froze.  She’d wanted to play, but this was hitting super hard suddenly. Zen was not blind to the change in atmosphere, and immediately let her go.

“Mouse, I’m sorry.” He said, softly. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, and turned to face him. Her eyes were watering, but she’d managed to keep the tears from falling.

“Ugh, I hate being so broken.” She said, and rubbed at her eyes. “That should have been fun.”

“Maybe someday, it will be.” Zen said, and invited her into his arms for a hug, holding her close when she stepped into his arms.

“You’re having a bit of emotional whiplash these days, Babe. It’s no surprise that your brain and your body aren’t necessarily listening to your heart well enough.”

“It’s so frustrating. Finally I get to be with you and I’m being all easily triggered and so completely scared.”

“Are you afraid of me, Mouse?” Zen said, trying not to sound hurt.

“N-no! Not of you. Well, maybe when I freeze up, for an instant yeah. But I’m mostly scared of ruining this. Of messing up so bad you change your mind.” Mouse knew her anxiety was making her chattier, but she couldn’t help it. It was important to share these things. Better blurting it out than bottling it up.

“I will not change my mind, Mouse.  I thought I lost every chance I might have to be with you when you showed up on Sunday in Seven’s hoodie. Now I find out I can really be with you, and be happy, if I can just learn to share and not be jealous.”

“You can be jealous, Zen, as long as you don’t act like an asshole about it.” Mouse said.

Zen looked at her “You don’t mind me being jealous?”

“Well, being jealous means you’re thinking of me, and wishing you were getting to do what other people are doing, instead of them.  Maybe you could try thinking of it as being envious?  So like, you envy them because you want to be the one kissing me or whatever, but you don’t want them not to be kissing me.”

“Oh, so you mean like the ‘yes, and’ idea for improv.  Yes, it is good that you get kisses from Seven. And I also want to kiss you.”

“Yes. Envy is like Yes, And instead of the No, but of Jealousy. I like that!” Mouse laughed, and Zen looked down at her and smiled.

“I’m still intrigued by you not minding me being jealous, or envious, though. Can you explain? I would have thought you’d be upset or worried.”

Mouse took his hand, and led him over to the couch so they could sit down. “You were feeling jealous of Seven when you, um, helped me change clothes, right?”

“Yes…” Zen wasn’t sure where she was going with this.

“Well, I actually kinda liked it. The way you were acting. It made me feel.. Ugh, how do I put words on this?”

“Try talking around it instead of trying to name it.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea.”

“Of course it is, I’m an actor.”

“Zen, seriously. Share some of that confidence please.”

 “Okay, but remember you asked for it.”

He leaned over and kissed her, and Mouse was again struck by the difference in kisses between her boys. Zen’s really did have a confidence to them that the other two were lacking.

“Thanks!” She said, and grinned, and Zen blushed. She loved to see that delicate pink against his pale skin. He really was extremely attractive. And hers.

“So, gonna try some more words?”

“Um. Sure. So…” She stopped to think about it. How could she possibly explain… maybe like this? “Well, I should start with saying sorry for the fact that I’m likely to react in all kinds of stupid ways about all of this because I have very minimal experience, the vast majority of which was…not good. Intentionally bad. Painful.”

Zen just nodded, encouraging her to go on.

“Well, so earlier when we were together in your room, I was so worried that I’d upset you. That you were jealous to the point of angry. But then when you suddenly held my hips, it was a real turn on to know just how much you wanted me. The positive aggression, the power of it. That growl to your tone. Knowing that you could take anything you wanted of me, but that you also wouldn’t without my express permission. Which is a good thing, but also a bad thing.”

Mouse noticed that Zen’s hands were gripped tight into the couch cushions, and he was very carefully not looking at her. 

“Zen? Did I say something wrong?”

He shook his head, but didn’t elaborate past saying “Go ahead, keep explaining. I want to hear all of it.”

Mouse was concerned, but she did trust him, so she figured she may as well do as he asked.

“Well, it’s just that my brain is messed up. You’ve grabbed my hips twice today, and I had very different reactions each time, and I don’t know what the difference was.  The first time, in the bedroom, I wanted nothing more than for you to help me out of my stupid jeans and then also out of everything else. But I knew we had to talk first, so I tried to hide all of that. It was a difficult moment.  But then just a little bit ago, you basically did the same thing, and I was totally into it, until I very wasn’t. So, I… I really want you to be able to be however you want with me, but I’m afraid that I might freeze up minute to minute, with no idea what changed.”

Zen met her eyes. “Damn. I did not expect you to say all of that.”

Mouse blinked. “Sorry?”

“No, no, don’t apologize. You’re just so sexy to me right now, It’s harder to contain the beast than I expected.”

Mouse blushed. “Oh.”

“But Mouse, I think I might be able to tell you the difference about freezing and not freezing, at least this time.  I can demonstrate, if you stand up?”

He stood up and held out a hand for her to do the same. She stood up, and he turned her away from him, the way she had been both times earlier. After a moment, he put his hands on her hips, not even gently, and pulled her into him.  Mouse felt like she was going to melt, and bit her lip to stifle the sound she made.  Zen’s voice in her ear made her shiver.

“The difference was the second time you were running away from me. Even jokingly, it’s very different than when you’re standing still.”

He sat back down on the couch, pulling her with him onto his lap.

“I’m seriously going to squish you forever if you keep this up.”

“I’ll cope somehow.” He said, and kissed her cheek.

“So, you’re saying that it’s more about the mood than the specific action?”

“Yeah, I think so. Even playfully being afraid makes different chemicals happen, right?”

“Okay, I can see it. Then I just need to be careful. But I’m sure it’ll happen when I’m not expecting it, too.”

“Well, not that I want to think about this too much, but how did you handle it while you and Seven were…”

“Oh. It didn’t happen then.”

“You got lucky getting lucky, huh?”

“Well, given how we’ve been thinking around it, it’s probably because I’d never gotten… or given… any of that before. So nothing bad for my brain to reference?”

“Okay, pump the brakes a second. How have you never… Mouse, can I ask you something sensitive?”

“Zen. We’re dating. I want to sleep with you. Sensitive or not, I will answer any question you are willing to ask.”

“Was your first time with Lee?”

Mouse felt a shiver run down her spine. She was only able to get out a little bit of volume. “I mean… yeah, technically.”  She’d had a feeling that was what he’d wanted to ask, and she was afraid that he was not going to be interested after learning the answer.

“Was… any of it consensual, ever?”

“No.” That came out with a violent anger, and Zen hugged her shoulders

“Sorry, Babe. Sorry. I just… and then you and Seven didn’t go farther?”

“No condoms. It was a near thing. Also really awkward and funny when we realized neither of us were prepared for that situation because neither of us ever expected to get together, even though we both wanted to.”

“I am fighting with myself right now. Because I’d really love to show you how enjoyable it can be with a partner who actually cares about you. But I don’t want to push you. The last thing I want is to scare you, or give you a bad time with a panic attack. Believe me, I get panic attacks I know how bad they can be."

"You get panic attacks?” Mouse was surprised.

"Yeah." Zen said, but brushed it off. "Anyway, I'm entirely fine with just snuggling. I get alone time with my new girlfriend, so I'm happy either way. I want it to be entirely your choice."

“What if I told you that I really want to? With you. Now. Not just because of hormones and chemicals and shit, but because you treat me like a princess, and I feel like even if I did have a problem and panic or freeze or something entirely new and problematic, you could help me through it, and we'd still have a good time.”

Zen made a low sound in his throat that sounded almost like a growl. It made her shiver.

“Mouse, permission to take you to bed and stay there until morning?”

“Permission granted, Zen.”

Chapter Text

There they were, in Zen’s bedroom, and Mouse didn’t know what to do next. This whole situation was still so new to her. Even Seven had carried her into the bedroom, and they hadn’t really been using their brains by that point.

Zen hugged her, and asked her a question that made her shiver. “Do you trust me?”

Mouse laughed. “Of course I do. I’m alone with you in your bedroom waiting impatiently for the beast to breach containment.”

Zen’s response was a bit of a growl, and then Mouse was… moving? Flying?! Her back bounced against the softness of Zen’s bed, and she realized what had happened. He’d thrown her onto the bed. Yeah, that was unexpected, but she couldn’t stop herself from giggling. It had been fun. Wait. I’m throwable? The back of her mind asked. She banished that thought for later.

“Eyes over here, Princess.” Zen’s voice was coming from the side of the bed. She looked where she was requested to look, and was greeted with the sight of a very handsome man removing his extraneous clothes. You know, all of them. 

“Mm, I could watch this all day.” Mouse said, tipping onto her side and resting her head on her hand. 

“Too bad for you I’m out of clothes.” Zen said, and crawled into the bed. “Now it’s your turn.”

He hooked his fingers under her top, and pulled it over her head. With a smirk, he slid both of his hands down her hips, the joggers much easier to remove than the damp jeans from earlier.
“What about these?” he asked, running a finger delicately along the waistband of her underwear. “Now, or later?”

“Now is good.” Mouse said, and lifted her hips a touch to help him out.

Zen had sat back on his heels, and was just watching her.  Mouse started to feel a bit awkward. As if he could sense it, Zen laid down next to her, and started petting her skin - and he had such a thoughtful look on his face, she just couldn’t stay quiet.

“What are you thinking about, Zenny?” she asked, softly, not wanting to break whatever spell the quiet was holding for them.

“I should be thinking about how I’m lucky, and about how impossible this is, something like that, right? I’m not, I’m thinking about all of your little scars and bruises.” He watched her shrink in on herself a little, and he stilled his hand on her hip.

“Not in a bad way. These are battle scars. Every single one of them broke you down so you could build up stronger. But also, none of them were what you wanted. None of these marks were your choice, none of them brought you joy, only pain, and shame.  I want to give you marks. From me. That you’ll enjoy getting. But I don’t want you to connect them with the marks borne of pain, you know?”

Mouse paused. She’d honestly never considered marks that didn’t hurt her. Intentional marks? 

“You don’t have to, Mouse.”

Mouse looked at Zen, considered how he’d thought of her, how happy he was just to look at her, how much more she knew he wanted, but would wait forever to get until she was ready, even if forever was never.

“I have a spot you could mark.. If you’re careful.” She said, softly. 

Zen paused and looked at her. “Why careful?”

Mouse tipped her head back and exposed her neck. Other than the bruises still fading from god-knows-what along her collarbone, it was smooth and pale.

“He never wanted to hurt my voice.”

“Is that why you’re quiet sometimes?”

“It was the only way I had to fight back.”

“And you’re inviting me to leave an incredibly obvious mark? You know your hoodie won’t cover that.”

“Makeup works wonders on some things.” She said. “I’ve gotten pretty good at it lately.”

The way she said such heart wrenching things with a smooth tone tore at him.

“Mouse, you’re so strong, you know that?”

“People tell me that, but I’m still healing.”

“You’re incredible. I promise to be careful.. Especially because I know you’re really sensitive there, too.”

He nuzzled into her neck, and flicked his tongue out to taste her skin, the slight salt of her sweat and sweetness that was just Mouse.  The way she breathed in sharply spurred him on, and Mouse found herself lost in the sensation of Zen leaving his mark on her, unaware of the sounds she was making in response to his efforts.  Zen was clearly aware of her, however, and once he seemed satisfied with his attentions on her neck, he shifted to kissing his way down her chest, alternating kisses and tiny bites that left her breathless. 

After what felt like an eternity, Mouse reached out and caressed Zen’s hair, trying to get his attention.

“Zen…”  she said, softly, and he shifted up so he was looking her in the eye.

“Yes, Princess?” He said, enjoying the way her skin felt against his.

“Kiss me?” She asked, quietly, and he was all too happy to oblige.

Mouse should have felt trapped, with Zen basically laying on top of her, propped up on his forearms on either side of her head. She didn’t, instead she felt safe, and wanted.  Zen’s patience seemed to be waning, as he deepened their kiss, and shifted his knee up between her legs. Mouse found herself instinctively grinding against him, some part of her subconscious embarrassed at the sounds she was making. 

“Princess, I don’t think I can wait much longer with you sounding like that.”

Mouse half opened her eyes to look at him, and bit her lip. He made a growl that she had never heard before, and rolled off of her to pull open the drawer of his bedside table. His practiced ease of slipping the condom on was oddly comforting. Mouse knew she was expected to be concerned about what that meant for his experience levels compared to hers, but she wasn’t.

When he returned to her, he settled between her legs, and that was the moment it started to fall apart. Mouse felt herself freeze, and she saw the moment Zen noticed, because his mouth formed a thin line, and he immediately moved to lay next to her on the bed.

Mouse managed to choke out an apology, which Zen immediately shushed.

“Mouse, do you want to stop?” he said, making a point not to touch her or to rush her decision.

“No, I don’t want to stop. I really want to do this. With you. Right now. My body is a traitor.” She sighed, and turned to face him.  

Zen nodded, and then laid flat on the bed, beckoning.

“Why don’t you try taking the reins?” he said, holding his arms out for her.

Mouse giggled, she’d never even considered… wow, she really was naïve wasn’t she?

“I don’t know what I’m doing, but I can try?”  She sat up, and he reached out and picked her up by her waist, settling her on top of him.  Mouse was blushing, and put her hands on either side of Zen’s head, leaning down to kiss him.

“You can’t lead when I’m up here, can you?”  It was a completely innocent question, but the look on Zen’s face when she said it told her immediately that she was incorrect in her assumption.

“I can lead with you up there. Do you think you will be okay if I do?”

“I’ve never… anything like this. I think it’ll be fine.” Her voice dropped to an almost whisper, and she added “I want you so bad I’m going to lose my mind.”

Mouse was getting used to the little growl that Zen did when he was extremely turned on. She liked it. A lot. This time, however, his hands had gone to her hips, which were slightly suspended because she was leaning forward.

“I can be in charge from here, Mouse. But there’s one thing that only you can do.”

Mouse tipped her head curiously at him, and he slipped one hand down to position himself at her entrance.

“You’ll need to take me. At your own pace. I need you to control the first time, so you can get used to me, and so I don’t hurt you.  You have all the control up there, and I won’t push you. Literally or figuratively.”  To demonstrate his point, he took his hands off her hips, and was surprised when she made a sad squeak sound.

“Balance me? I don’t want to hurt you… also it’s really hot to have your hands there.”

She had expected him to put his hands right back on her hips, but he did not. Instead, he slid his hands slowly up her thighs and into place, teasingly.

“As you wish, Princess.” He said, and winked.  Darn actor picked up movie references real fast.

Mouse reached back to make sure she wasn’t going to hurt him when she moved, and then shifted her hips down onto him, slowly, carefully. She stopped every so often when it became too much, or to breathe, and once even just to tease him because she could feel him twitching inside of her, and his fingertips were digging into her hips as he tried to keep his word not to guide her.  She knew the sounds she was making were louder than she’d like, but all it took was Zen telling her how hot he thought it was once for her to stop trying to mute herself. 

“Fuck.” Zen said, as she settled, “You feel so good.”

“I concur. This is... definitely... worth the wait. Mmph!” The last being caused by Zen shifting his hand forward to graze along her clit.

“You like that, huh? Let’s try this, then.” He said, and rolled his hips up against her, pressing deeper and then backing off.

“More please.” She said, and looked at him with wide eyes.  After that, it was a rush of motion, breathing, noise. At one point, Zen could see she was getting tired wrapped his arms around her and flipped her onto her back, watching for any signs of panic. To his relief, there were none. In fact, her response was to wrap her legs around his waist, and pull him down to kiss her.  The new angle did her in, however, and she came screaming around him not a minute later, and Zen struggled to keep a solid rhythm as his own release followed not long after.

Careful not to crush her, Zen removed himself to the bathroom to clean up, and left Mouse alone with her thoughts for just a few moments.  He was washing his hands, having intended to clean up, and then help her do the same, but when he turned the water off and turned to dry his hands, what he heard had him running back to the bedroom. Mouse had curled onto her side, and was muffling her sobs in his pillow.

“Mouse, are you okay? What did I do? What can I do?”  He sat on the edge of the bed and pet her hair, confused when she shook her head.  

After a minute of trying to calm down, she attempted the difficult challenge that was words.

“S-sorry Zen. You didn’t.. Not your fault. Just… emotions suck.”

Zen stood, and held a hand out to her, hoping she’d take it.

“Let’s go take a shower. Maybe warm water will help you relax. I won’t leave you alone again. I knew better, that was my fault.”

“It sh-should have been fine. I could see you.” She took his hand, and he pulled her into a hug.

“Luckily for you,  this apartment has a really nice master bathroom. Part of why I picked it, actually. It’s half-basement so no one wants it, but they tried to make it more appealing by adding a fancy bathroom. I mean seriously, what one bedroom apartment has two bathrooms at this price point? Oh yeah. Mine.”

Mouse laughed, and allowed herself to be led into a beautiful shower stall,  Zen liked his showers hot, just like she did.

“Mmm. My favorite. Just this side of scalding.” She stood under the water, and felt some of her tension wash away with the sweat.

“You too, huh? I don’t understand lukewarm shower people.”

“Me either.” She said, and stepped far enough out of the water so she could admire his form. She realized he was doing the same to her when he commented.

“You’re so pretty, Mouse.”

“I dare say you’re impossibly handsome. How many goats did you have to sacrifice to get this body?” She ran her hands down his chest, as he laughed, and then pulled her into a kiss under the water. Which seemed sexy, until they remembered that breathing was required.

Zen made a point of washing Mouse’s hair for her, commenting the whole time about how amazed he was at the length and body of it.  Refusing to be outdone, Mouse did the same for Zen, with no small amount of teasing when they moved to washing the rest of each other.

Chapter Text

Finally, they were clean, dry, pajama-clad and back in the living room, Mouse sitting on the end of the couch turned so that Zen could stand behind her and comb out her hair.

“This is… really nice of you, Zenny.” She said, softly.

“What, combing out your hair? I made an absolute mess of it, it’s the least I can do.”

“Well, yeah. It’s just really soothing. Minus the part where there are tangles.”

“Oh, so you don’t like when I pull your hair?”

There was a longer pause than he was expecting, and when he stepped around to look at her face, Mouse was bright red.

“I take it you do, then.” He tugged gently on her hair to make her tip her head back, and gave her a gentle kiss.

Knowing he needed a response, Mouse just said “Mhm.”

“I’ll remember that for next time.” He said, and went back to combing through her hair.

“Jaehee did this for me, too.” She said, softly.

“Oh, when was that?”

Mouse wracked her brain. Oh. “Yesterday evening, after Seven dropped me off at C&R. I told you that I had a PTSD attack?”

Zen nodded. “Yeah.”

“Jumin sat and talked to me about, well I think it was whatever came to mind, but when I managed to stop dissociating he was talking about his childhood and V, and Jaehee was brushing my hair.”

“Oh, that was sweet of her. I wonder what made her think of that.”

“No idea. When I thanked her, she shrugged it off.”

“Maybe she always wanted to brush your hair? It is gorgeous.”

“Aww, thanks, Zen.  I’ve kept it long since I was little, that’s how my mom liked it.”

“Well, I for one love it. Especially when it’s all splayed out on my pillow.”

“Zen!” she swatted at his hand. “Seriously. You’re incorrigible!”

“Hey, I have to say these things about my girl while I can. You’re someone else’s girl in public, you know?”

“Yeah, but I’m your sister. You can literally take me everywhere, even places that your girlfriend might be frowned upon.”

“Oh, now who’s being naughty?!”

Mouse blushed bright red. “I didn’t even— that’s not what I— Zen!”

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Zen, not even setting down the comb, walked to the door and opened it. He seemed surprised, then stepped back to admit two police officers, and an angry looking woman, who on sight of Mouse, seemed to get angrier before blurting out

“And who is she?!”

Mouse didn’t know what was going on, nor did she recognize the woman who was calling her out, but she didn’t like the situation, and pulled her legs up onto the couch and hugged her knees. She looked at Zen, who seemed tense. 

“Before you start whatever this is, may my sister remove herself? She is delicate and recovering from something serious right now.” Zen said, calmly.

The police officers responded amicably enough to the request, but Mouse was not about to leave the living room. She shook her head at him, but refused to speak. Something very wrong was happening and she was not about to leave Zen to whatever it was.

“Mouse, please.”

She shook her head.

“Min-Jae. Please. Don’t make me ask a third time.”

Oh. What. He just used her given name. He must know something. How good of an actress am I?

“Hyuuun! You are the worst!” she stuck her tongue out at him and then ran off to the bedroom, Zen calling out behind her to shut the door, so she slammed the door behind her for effect.

Whatever they were talking about behind that door was animated, but quiet. Mouse was scared. And the door was shut. Zen would not have asked her to shut the door unnecessarily.  Mouse could tell she was coming apart at the seams very quickly, so grabbed her phone and pulled up the messenger to try and stall the panic attack she could feel bubbling at the edges of her vision.

Mouse has joined the chatroom
Mouse: Anyone here?
Mouse: Anyone?
707 has joined the chatroom
707: 
707: Hey Mouse! Having a good night?
Mouse: Seven omg help
Mouse: please I am alone and it is scary
707: Where is Zen? What happened?!
Mouse: He was combing my hair and then some angry woman I don’t know showed up at the door with two police officers
707: 
707: police? What the heck.
Mouse: Zen invoked big brother rights and called my real name and sent me to the bedroom and told me to shut the door
Mouse: I think they’re arguing, it’s animated.
Mouse: I am fizzy at the edges. Pleas.e Do somethign.,
707: Shit.
707: Mouse, hang in there.
707: Mouse, are you ok?
707: Mouse?!
707: Fuck.
707 has left the chatroom.

Jumin looked down at his phone, which was notifying him of a call from Luciel. He sighed, but accepted the call.

“Yes, Luciel? I was about to head home for some time with Elizabeth.”

“Mouse is in trouble. I think Zen is too.”

“What happened?”

“Cops and some chick showed up at Zen’s place unexpectedly, it’s just Mouse and Zen there right now. She said some things in chat before she stopped responding, I think she’s having a panic attack. Zen might know what’s up, because he made her go into his room and shut the door. I think she’s panicked because she’s alone, but it could be something else.”

“Luciel. Calm down. Find out why the cops are there. I’ll be going with bodyguards, since I am the closest.”

“Are you still at the office?”

“I was. Now I am in my car.”

“Oh. I never thought your workaholic nature would be such a blessing.”

“Ha. Yes, well.”

“Call me when you hear anything. Please.”

“I will.”

Jumin was pulling up in front of Zen’s apartment when his phone rang again. 

“Luciel?”

“Someone submitted a police report that he was kidnapping women.”

“And they listened?”

“Apparently there was a supposed victim named. Mouse.”

“I see.”

“Are they still there?”

“It seems so. I must go.”

“I’ll keep an eye on things from here.”

Jumin exited his car and strode up to the entrance of Zen’s apartment, flanked by bodyguards.

“Hyun.” He said, catching Zen’s attention from where he stood just inside the door.

“Mr. Han. A surprise to see you this evening.”

“I came to check on your sister, what is the meaning of this?”

Zen looked to the police officers, who started speaking before Zen could.

“Mr. Ryu has been accused of kidnapping young women for nefarious purposes. Even as we came to speak with him, he sent one such young woman to the bedroom, where she has locked the door and is not responding.”

Jumin was unimpressed. “May I attempt to speak with her? The young woman in question is probably Hyun’s younger sister, Min-Jae, who is currently in his care after a domestic issue currently under litigation. She is mentally unstable, and I am concerned for her well-being.”

With Zen and the police officers was a woman who looked irritated, and tired. Jumin realized he had been impolite, and nodded to her.

“My apologies, Ma’am, I failed to introduce myself properly. I am Jumin Han, and you are?”

“Darae Park. Landlady for this building and the two south of it.”

“This must be a difficult situation for you, I shall endeavor to have it resolved forthwith.”

The woman just nodded, and Jumin turned to the officers to confirm his permission to enter the residence. He didn’t want to make more trouble for Zen in an attempt to get him out of this misguided mess.

“Go ahead, Mr. Han. We would like to speak with her at her earliest convenience, and if you can get her to unlock the door, that would make everything run more smoothly.”

“Given the closed door, she is probably in no state to talk, but I will endeavor to assist in any way I can.”

“Jumin.” Zen said, as he turned to walk off. Jumin turned to him, and Zen held out the comb he’d been using on Mouse’s hair. “This should help calm her if you need it.”

“Thank you, Hyun.” Jumin said, and tucked the comb into his breast pocket.

Jumin strode into the apartment, directly to the closed bedroom door, and spoke sternly, as if he were irritated with the door itself.

“Min-Jae, it is Jumin Han. If you can hear me, please unlock the door so I can help you.”

Jumin heard a slight shuffling, and a click.  The officer who’d been standing at the door previously moved to open it, but Jumin held out a hand to stop him.

“Please. I will leave the door open, but allow me to go first. She can be a danger to herself in this kind of situation.” 

The officer looked dubious, but allowed Jumin to open the door and enter. True to his word, Jumin opened the door to its full allowance, and left it open.  He discovered Mouse hiding, curled up into a little ball on the far side of the bed, shaking and crying as she had been in his office only one day before.

“Oh, my dear. You deserve so much better than this. Can you stand?” Mouse didn’t respond, but held out a hand, which he took to assist her to her feet.

Jumin guided her by hand to the bench in front of Zen’s vanity, and started combing her hair. It was awkward for him at first, because he’d never done anything of the like on hair any longer than his own, and her hair was damp and a mess of tangles, for multiple reasons he didn’t want to think about.

Eventually, the officer who was watching from the doorway came in and tried to talk to Mouse, and she didn’t react one bit. Jumin just kept brushing her hair, but started speaking to her to try and coax her out of whatever fresh hell her mind had conjured for her.

“Mouse, dear, there is someone who needs to talk to you. They want to make sure everything’s all right with you and Hyun. I’m concerned too, you know.”

After a bit, Mouse hiccupped, and Jumin looked at the officer who was waiting suprisingly patiently.

“Can you go retrieve a sparkling water from the fridge? Please? She will need it if you want to speak with her.”

The officer nodded, walking off to do as Jumin bid him, returning with a can of cold sparkling water, which he reflexively attempted to hand to Mouse. Jumin moved to intercept, but was surprised when Mouse reached for it herself. A minor improvement, but then, it had only been a day. 

She opened the can, paused, then took a sip. Jumin kept combing through her hair, even though he’d gotten the majority of the tangles out already.

“Mouse, how are you feeling?”

“Shitty.” She said, without filter.

“Yeah, I bet. There are some officers who’d like to ask you some questions to clear up a misunderstanding, do you think you can answer them?”

Mouse started to nod, but remembered Jumin was combing her hair.

“Yeah.” She said, and took another sip of water, then set the can aside on the vanity.

The officer who’d brought the water beckoned to the outside crowd, and the landlady, Zen, and another officer came in the room. When Mouse saw Zen, she visibly relaxed. Jumin could only take this as a good sign, and offered the comb back to him. Zen shook his head. “You can keep at it. I want to stay where she can see me.”  Zen crouched down by the vanity, and Mouse set down her water so she could pet his hair.

“Long hair runs in the family, I see.” The landlady said, giving Zen a wan smile.

“Our mother liked it long, so we’ve just always kept it that way.” Mouse said, softly.

This got a real smile out of the woman, clearly a mother in her own right.

“Alright, Miss Ryu, we have just a couple questions for you, and we’ll leave you be.”

“Ask as many as you want. I’m sorry for not being sociable right away.”

“Alright - first, are you or have you ever been held under duress by Mr. Hyun Ryu?”

“No, never. Hyun’s my brother, he’s letting me stay here for the summer between semesters so I can recover from.. My incident.”

Jumin had never heard Mouse call her abuse that before, but to be fair, she was also sitting here basically being interrogated in one of the safest places she had, with her wounds bared to the world, so he really had no basis to go off of as to what she’d say.

“Can you tell us about your incident?” Both Jumin and Zen felt Mouse tense, and Jumin cleared his throat.

“Her incident is currently in litigation and she has been advised to say as little as possible. I can answer questions on that for you, if you’d like, but I’d prefer to keep her out of it, for her safety and stability, if at all possible.”

“Understood - in fact, if there’s a police case, you can simply give us the case number and spare that discussion.” The officer said, surprisingly understanding.

Zen squeezed Mouse’s knee and got up.

“I have copies of the report that should have the case number on it, let me get that.”

One of the officers followed Zen to the filing cabinet in the living room, taking notes from the papers he pulled out.

The questioning officer, while Zen was out of the room, asked the question Jumin had been expecting.

“Miss, while he’s not here - you feel safe, correct? You have some obvious injuries, some newer than others. I’d like to confirm that you feel safe here.”

Mouse nodded without even the slightest hesitation.

“I am perfectly safe here. Or, well, I was until you all showed up. These are all related to my Incident. Hyun is the best big brother I could ever have asked for. I love him.” There was no denying the depth of feeling in those last three words. Jumin smiled to hide his jealousy, and wondered how Luciel felt about the weight in those words. He’d have to ask later.

“Well. Can’t argue with that, can I?” the officer said, chuckling.  Zen came back, and Jumin again attempted to hand him the comb, which this time he took, sensing more to the action than simply an offer.

Jumin looked to the officers, then.

“I have some questions about the report filed against Mr. Ryu, can we talk in the other room?”

“Of course.”  

Zen eyed Jumin, but stayed with Mouse when they left the room. 

Once clear of the bedroom and mostly out of easy earshot, Jumin turned to the officers and the landlady. 

“You have the report information for Miss Ryu’s incident. Hyun stepped in between Miss Ryu and her attacker. Additionally, he is a known musical actor, and his address is readily available, as you probably noticed. I have my suspicions that this complaint was levelled against him in an effort to harm him for keeping his sister safe, and to remove her from her protector.”

“That’s a serious accusation, Mr. Han.”

“I am aware. I am also aware of the situation these two are in, as Miss Ryu’s case is being handled by my personal legal team.”

“And what relation does the Ryu family have with you?”

“They and I are members of the same charity organization, known as the RFA.”

“Oh, hey! That was the party the department got invited to a couple years back, right?”