DISCLAIMER: I do not own Mystic Messenger, the universe, or the characters. All belong to Cheritz (even MC; I just used her default design and added to it).
There will be SPOILERS also, mainly for Zen's route and Secret Ends 1 and 2 as well as minimal spoilers for the others. Read at your own discretion. There probably won't be many at the beginning, but further in there will be. I'll be sure to add a spoiler note at the beginning of those chapters.
Lastly, a fair warning. I have read nearly all of the Zen fanfics posted at least 3 times over, and most of them are inspiration for this. If some of them ending up leaning into seeming like they are close to others, I'm sorry, these are my own take on things, but they are purely coincidental.
And without further ado, Life Goes On...
Zen and Suhee arrive at the shooting of Jumin's commercial, and end up unexpectedly meeting someone's relative…
"I am so not looking forward to this…" Zen suddenly uttered with a sigh as he and Suhee made their way to his latest modeling job via taxi.
"You told me that Jumin offered you a job modeling for a teacup company." Suhee said in response with a little concern. "Why didn't you take that one instead?"
"I don't know…" He stared out the window, sounding a bit aggravated, possibly with himself for making the decision to do this.
It then went silent for a while until she suddenly asked out of the blue, "Are you really going to be okay with this? I mean your allergy…"
"I'm going to have to be. I made this commitment, so I have to see it through." He then turned to face her with an expression of worry. "I guess I'm a little apprehensive…You won't laugh or anything if my allergy gets out of hand, will you…?"
"Of course not! Why would you ever think that?"
However, she continued in thought with, 'Besides, I happened to get a cute preview from Luciel that I saved on my phone!'
"It's a part of you, and I love everything about you. You know that." To emphasize her feelings, she reached out to take his hand and squeeze it with reassurance, smiling at him.
He smiled back, intertwining his slender fingers with hers and squeezing back. That's when his gaze wandered to the rather large tote bag at her feet. Knowing by now that his girlfriend was more of a small purse kind of girl, he asked, "What's in that tote you have there, babe?"
There was almost a glint in her eyes as she patted the bag with a victorious smile. "I came prepared for this." she explained, shooting him with a wink which made Zen blush and eyes widen at her sudden change in mood. "I was thinking of your wellbeing, and it's no good going into a job like this without something to help you combat your allergy. So I went ahead and packed everything you'd need to do so!"
Instantly she was brought into a hug as Zen uttered, "Have I told you yet that you're the best girlfriend ever?"
"Many times."
"And I've said it again…I love you Suhee."
"…I love you too, Hyun."
She smiled and blushed, returning the hug. It had taken a while to get used to being loved again, since her breakup with her previous lover. It drove her to leave her hometown, and that's when she happened upon the Messenger app and met Zen along with the RFA. Lots of happenings and feelings came rushing in a whirlwind, and at the end of it she found herself in a relationship with the narcissistic actor with an allergy to cats. She never really expected it to happen, but now that they were together, she felt that they could overcome anything.
After all, in the time from the party to now, he welcomed her into his small but homey apartment, gave up his bed (and smoking) for her, and treated her like a princess in his small kingdom. She had no doubt that he must've been the perfect guy for her, even though things were rushed at the beginning. Now everything was starting to balance out, and she only hoped that compared to those first eleven days things would be at least a little more normal for the couple…
Soon they arrived at their destination, where they found Jaehee waiting to greet them.
"Jaehee! Long time no see!" Suhee greeted her happily with a hug before she could give her greetings.
The two females of RFA became close friends after the party, despite a somewhat rocky start. Suhee had found a fellow woman to talk to, and Jaehee gained a fellow fan to gush about Zen with. Both supported each other, as Suhee was an avid encourager (along with Zen) to Jaehee considering her job, and although Jaehee was against it at first, she came to accept Zen's choice to be with her.
"It's too bad that we don't spend nearly enough time together." Suhee continued while pulling away.
"Yeah, no thanks to the Trust Fund Kid." Zen stated bluntly before taking a look around, seeing the cameramen and such, but not him. "Where is he by the way?"
The assistant paused and then let out a somewhat tired sigh, and then she answered. "He dropped me off here to welcome you two and then left to go get Elizabeth the 3rd for a reshoot we didn't appoint for today. I'm sorry Zen."
"Nah. It's okay. I figured this kind of thing would happen." - he paused, becoming a little proud as he put an arm around Suhee's shoulder - "Besides, thanks to Suhee, I'm prepared for an encounter with that cat…achoo!"
"Maybe not quite yet…" Jaehee smiled while his girlfriend offered a tissue. Something then came to mind. "Oh. By the way, there's an interviewer from a local magazine hoping for you to answer a few inquiries about your life since the incident with Echo Girl. I went ahead and gave them the okay, so they're sending someone here today."
"Okay. Sure. Now if you ladies don't mind, I'll be heading to the changing room to get ready." He announced while accepting the tote offered to him and leaving.
Suhee stayed behind and made small talk with Jaehee about her recent work, and found out that she was working on a report about coffee and cafes and how she was enjoying it immensely. She added how she had taken delight in researching by going to various cafes and told her friend various interesting facts she had found out, but she also had a bad feeling that Jumin was going to have her hand it off to someone to finish in exchange for another one of his hair brained cat-involved ideas. She finished with the fact that he might be attempting to do so soon, as he was sketching up ideas for a cat hotel.
"If that's the case and it does end up happening, maybe you should stand up for yourself and finish the report that you're enjoying." Suhee suggested, giving her friend some well needed encouragement. "Someone else can take care of his crazy cat delusions of grandeur! How about Luciel, for a start?"
"I'm not sure about Luciel, but while I'm hoping that will happen…" Jaehee explained with a bittersweet expression on her face. "Unfortunately you know how Mr. Han is…"
She looked like she was going to say something more, but at that moment the man himself strode into the room quickly with a carrier in his possession. The two women watched him silently as he did so, setting the carrier down and fixing his suit with a look of annoyance before approaching them.
Despite clearly being irritated, he calmly greeted them both with a, "Good morning, Ms. Yun. I trust that Zen is here too?" - she nodded, gesturing to the dressing room so he turned to Jaehee - "And Assistant Kang; is everything ready to go here?"
"Yes, Mr. Han," she replied obediently. "But if I may ask…Is everything okay? You seem a bit…upset."
"Upset would probably be correct, or even irritated." He managed to remain calm as he fixed his tie. "I encountered a hiccup in the hall just now, but I have taken care of it."
"What happened?" Suhee dared to ask.
"Some disheveled woman in a huff wanting…no, demanding an interview." Jumin explained, as Jaehee realized who he was talking about and rushed out of the room with worry. He didn't notice her leave, so he continued his story casually. "She was clearly out of her mind and in such a mess, not to mention she didn't have a badge on her, so I left my bodyguards at the door to prevent her from entering."
"If you would've waited another minute I would've explained things for you Jumin Han." the woman announced while making a beeline for him, badge in hand while Jaehee followed behind.
She looked almost like Suhee, but was taller than her by three inches; standing at five feet and eight inches tall. While they had the same eye color - blue - Suhee had straight brown hair but the woman had wavy light brown hair with a reddish orange tint to it. She was more curvaceous and developed than Suhee, who had hardly any curves or chest to speak of, but Suhee had something that she did not in the form of two beauty marks in the bottom corner of her right eye, one slightly bigger than the other.
The female interviewer then flashed the man her badge. "I was running late. Here's my badge. Can I do my interview now?"
"I'm not in the mood."
"Not with you! With Zen!"
"He's currently in the dressing room getting ready." Suhee answered, and the woman turned her gaze to her.
Eyes widened with recognition. "Suhee! What are you doing here!?"
It was now Suhee's turn to become surprised at the sight before her. "Mira…? Wow I almost didn't recognize you! You changed everything! You look great!"
"And you haven't changed at all!" Mira exclaimed in reply, bringing her into a hug.
Meanwhile Jaehee and Jumin watched the scene unfold before them with clueless looks on their faces. "You two…know each other?" Jaehee voiced the question that had popped instantly into their heads.
"Oh, yes. I briefly talked about her with all of you, and I filled her in a bit with what happened recently." Suhee told them. "This is my older sister, Mira Yun. And Mira, you apparently already know Jumin Han, but this is Jaehee Kang, his assistant."
"It's nice to finally meet you. I have heard so much already and thank you for taking care of my sister." Mira said politely with a nod of her head.
"Oh no. Not at all." Jaehee uttered, slightly shy all of a sudden. "I'm sorry we put her in such a d-." - she stopped herself, noticing that Suhee was shaking her head to signify that she hadn't told her about the dangerous happenings yet - "Ahem…an unpredictable situation, welcoming her to a group full of strangers and asking her to plan a party on top of that…"
"She did rather well too. Surprised all of us by inviting so many guests and making it a huge success." Jumin complemented.
"So…Suhee why are you here anyway? Do you work for Jumin?" Mira asked out of the blue.
"No…" her sister answered, blushing and fiddling with her fingers nervously. "Actually…I'm here with my boyfriend."
The older sister immediately became interested. "Woah really? Who is it then? Jumin?"
"Really Mira? That's your first guess? No, it's not Jumin!"
"Then one of the cameramen?"
"Actually it's…" Suhee started with her real answer slowly, only to be interrupted by Zen who reentered the room wearing his costume for the shoot.
It was a rather flattering light grayish brown and powder blue three piece tail suit, complete with cat ears and a tail that matched his hair color, as well as a short grayish brown top hat with a powder blue ribbon to boot.
"Sorry I've kept you waiting so long, princess! What do you think…?" he started, but trailed off when he became aware of the situation he was walking into. "What's going on?"
Suhee walked up to him and then guided him back to the group by the arm before making the introductions. "Hyun, this is my older sister Mira. And Mira, this is Hyun Ryu…my boyfriend."
There was silence, and then Mira spoke. "Zen…is your boyfriend!?"
…
"Alright Zen, I just have a few more questions…" Mira said intimidatingly when she had finished her preliminary interview. "I just need to know a few more things, but it won't be documented…Is that okay?"
The actor looked a little confused, but agreed nonetheless.
"Good then! Let's get started!" She smiled almost menacingly, and then without any further warning, she started with a rather personal question. "To start, I'd like to know how long my sister has been dating an actor under my nose…"
"…Technically we haven't gone on very many dates. She wants to take things slower now so we're really just together…I'd love to take her out more, but circumstances…" He realized that he was going off on a tangent and cleared his throat nervously. "It's only been a little over six months."
Mira's smirk seemed to grow in response, and Zen was starting to get a little uncomfortable. The next question came as quick as a flash.
"Suhee's favorite color. What is it?"
Zen was suddenly taken aback. "Excuse me. What?"
"What is Suhee's favorite color?"
He calmed down a bit, steeling himself. "It's…It's bright red."
"Okay. And her favorite pastime?"
"Drawing…" He thought for a moment, and then something popped into his head. "Oh, and recently photography. She's pretty good at it. Almost as good as me with my selfies. Want to guess who she likes using as her model?" As he finished, he smirked confidently, and Mira could only give him a deadpanned expression silently.
She continued with her questions, each one getting harder than the last, until the final statement was said…
"Wow. I'm actually impressed that you managed to answer every question correctly. Not every guy has gotten this far." She finished, and just as he was about to make a comment at his victory, she continued. "But I have one final thing to say, and I want you to listen carefully." – she became serious, and he caught on, becoming so as well – "Suhee…went through a lot of heartbreak before she met you. So much so that I've been on guard whenever she happens to meet a new guy who's interested. Now I'm telling you, if you even leave the tiniest fracture on her heart-."
"Okay. I get it now, and I know what Suhee's been through. We've already discussed all that." Zen explained slowly after holding up a hand to stop her. "And I'm going to tell you what I told her then…I have no intention of hurting her whatsoever. She was a stranger to me-to all of us when she joined the messenger. She could've been insensitive and hurtful when I was down and needed the comfort. But she wasn't. She was there for me, and I was there for her. I told her that I would continue to be, no matter what because now that I have her by my side, I'm never going to let her go."
…
"So how did it go?" Suhee asked as they watched the shoot from the sidelines.
"Too well." Mira answered with a pout as she crossed her arms. "I feel betrayed Suhee, knowing that you've found the perfect boyfriend before me!"
"To be honest, I wasn't looking for him. He just waltzed right into my life, although I bet he would tell you otherwise…"
"So lucky…I wish Shin was as attentive and loving as Zen is to you…"
"Hold on…was?" Suhee shot her sister a quizzical look.
"Yeah, I broke up with him. Everything was just going downhill and I was through with it…"
Elizabeth the 3rd happened to be in the immediate area, so Mira started to stroke her, resulting in a resonating purr coming from the cat.
"Oh Mira…"
"Who's cat is this by the way? She's so beautiful and soft. She'd be a perfect playmate for Darcy…" She paused and stroked the cat some more in thought. "I'd even consider going out with her owner because I'm just that desperate…"
"Ah…The owner is actually…"
"What are you doing to my Elizabeth the 3rd?" Jumin suddenly asked from behind the two females.
"In that case then nope!" Mira raised her arms and walked away quickly, leaving a chuckling Suhee and confused Jumin.
'Maybe they could be a perfect match…' Suhee thought, almost mischievously.
BONUS:
"How many times are they going to play this commercial!?" Zen uttered in a huff as the cat food commercial played on the television for the umpteenth time. "The chocolate commercial I did for Valentines was better, even though it was kind of embarrassing…"
"I don't know. I thought you were kind of cute as a cat though." Suhee commented with a smile at her pouting boyfriend. "Cuter than the chocolate one. That one made me kind of uncomfortable…"
"Agreed…" He paused with a small grimace, before turning to her with a bit of a sly smile. "You thought I was cute though? Cute enough to take me home?"
"Of course!"
"Even if I was a ragged stray?"
"Even more so." A thought came to mind. "But considering the situation that's passed; isn't it more appropriate that I'm the stray in this relationship?"
His gaze was torn away from the television and he noticed right away that she was wearing the ears that were a part of his costume. It was odd. He had the urge to sneeze, but since it was Suhee wearing them, it seemed to attract rather than repel.
He sighed and smiled, wrapping his arm around her waist as he said, "Yes, you're my stray kitty and I'm keeping you here forever. ~"
"Meow~"
"Achoo!"
Sorry the chapter's so long. I just wanted a bit of exposition to start. This won't really be the usual story I'm used to writing, as it's a collection of short and long chapters about the happenings after the party. I don't know how far I'm going to go with this, or how many chapters there are going to be. I already have a few scenarios written down, but there are others coming to mind as I write this, so it's mostly a go with the flow kind of story. Submission will be spotty, as I'm currently working on a couple other stories, but I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing my own take on MC's life with Zen.