Author's Notes: V ROUTE V ROUTE V ROUTE YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
Ahem. Anyway, hi! I've been really quiet the last few months, but I have an actual reason that doesn't involve pure laziness (though that's a factor, too)-I'm working on a multi-chaptered fic, and I'm busting my ass off to make it absolutely perfect. However, I had to take a break to celebrate V getting his own route! I'm so proud of him. :')
FYI, I know that what's in this story probably won't fit the actual events in the V route. That's okay, though-I just wanted to write something cute and silly! And let's be honest, the actual V route will probably make me cry like a baby.
"Guys, doesn't MC seem a little… weird to you?"
Jumin, Jaehee, and Zen lifted their heads to see Yoosung pointing towards the newest member of the RFA, who stood on the other side of the room. Since MC was just hanging streamers onto the wall, it took them a bit to realize what Yoosung was referring to; however, once they all listened in closely, they were able to hear the sound of MC humming as she swayed her hips, like she was dying to go dancing. Now, that behavior probably wasn't out of the ordinary for someone as cheerful and happy-go-lucky as MC—the RFA members had been decorating the party room for a while, so it'd be natural for MC to feel a little restless. However, when MC turned around to grab another roll of streamers, they all caught a glimpse of the dreamy expression MC wore, and she looked a little too blissful for someone bored out of her mind.
Jaehee blinked in surprise, and based on the similar reactions from Zen and Jumin, she wasn't the only one who felt that way. After all, MC seemed relatively normal in the chats-a bit too bubbly at times, but she balanced it out by being unfailingly polite, helpful, and charming. Most importantly, she never allowed herself to stray from her duties to the RFA, which was a trait praised by many of its members.
This sort of behavior, however? It was the kind of behavior Seven exhibited, and the last thing the RFA needed was another Seven.
"Is she on drugs?" Jumin, ever the blunt man, asked.
Zen huffed and rolled his eyes. "Wow. Is it that hard for you to recognize happiness when you see it, dude?" He gestured towards MC, but stopped when the woman started to waltz with an invisible partner. "... Okay, that's kinda weird. But I'm sure she has a perfectly good reason to be so happy!"
"If that's the case, I'm glad that MC's so joyful," Jaehee said, re-adjusting her glasses. Did MC just pretend to dip her partner? "Still, I'm a little… confused as to what prompted such… intense feelings."
"Me too!" Yoosung said. He squinted and tilted his head, as if studying a fascinating insect specimen. "I mean… do you think she won the lottery? Is LOLOL having a sale on DLC? Wait, no… I checked this morning, and there's still nothing…"
"'Sup, sluts?" Seven strolled over, loudly munching on a bag of Honey Buddha chips. "What's the buzz?"
"We're just-" Yoosung started to say, but stopped when he saw the chip bag in Seven's hands. "Hey! Where'd you get that?!"
Seven smirked and shoved a chip into his mouth. "Divine intervention." He said mysteriously.
"That doesn't-!" Yoosung's complaint was cut off by Jumin's firm voice.
"That's enough. Seven, you've been keeping tabs on MC, correct?"
"Sure am." Seven replied. "Why?"
"Are you aware of anything that would cause such frank public displays of happiness?" Jumin nodded at MC, who was spinning around like a maniac.
"Hmmm… not that I know of." Surprisingly, Seven adopted a serious facial expression. "Let's see… we're about eight days in, so that means that..." He mumbled some incomprehensible gibberish, tapping his fingers against his chin. Suddenly, he beamed and pumped his fists into the air, which sent his chip bag flying.
"EUREKA! I think, my friends, I have made a dis-cov-ery!" Seven declared, ignoring Yoosung's cry of "FREE HONEY BUDDHA CHIPS!" "If my deductions are correct, I, the great detective 707, believe that our MC… is in love!"
It took a moment for everyone to process Seven's statement. Yoosung took a bit longer than a minute, but to be fair, he was distracted by the Honey Buddha chips scattered on the floor.
"... What." Jumin said.
"WHO!?" Zen immediately went into "big brother" mode, ready to pound some poor sap's face in (hopefully Jumin's).
Jaehee just blinked, confused. "How did you…?"
Yoosung was too busy shoveling Honey Buddha chips into his mouth to respond.
Beaming, Seven pranced over to MC. "Oh, MC~!"
MC jumped, sending her invisible partner flying. "AH!" Once she saw that it was only Seven, she relaxed slightly. "Oh, uh, hi Luciel—I mean, Seven! How're you?"
"I'm goooooood." Seven drawled with a mischievous grin. "But not as happy as you! Who's the lucky guy, MC?"
MC laughed nervously. "W-what do you mean?"
"C'om, everyone knows you have a case of lovesickness!" Seven winked at the others. "Isn't that right, guys?"
There was a pause.
"Uhhh… yeah!" Zen smiled, pretending he knew what was going on.
"... I suppose so." Jaehee said.
"No." Jumin said.
"Mmmphaha." The chips in Yoosung's mouth garbled whatever response he had.
MC laughed, a giddy grin spreading across her face. "Well, if you really wanna know…"
"Spill it, girl!" Seven encouraged, leaning forward.
There was another pause. Instead of responding, MC cleared her throat and stood up straight, clasping her hands in front of her.
What happened next was something no one, not even Seven, expected. After all, who'd think that one of the RFA members would spontaneously break out into song?
"I expect every one of my crowd to make fun of my proud protestations of faith in romance…"
Seven blinked. "Uh… 'scuse me?"
MC gave a dreamy smile.
"And they'll say I'm naïve as a babe to believe every fable I hear from a person in pants…" She sang. As she did so, she began to drift towards the other RFA members, who gaped at her like she'd grown eight heads. Even Yoosung had stopped eating, his opened mouth giving a view of the half-chewed chips he'd been wolfing down.
"Fearlessly, I'll face them and argue their doubts away…" She reached Zen and soothingly patted his head. Zen proceeded to do his best impression of a codfish.
"Loudly, I'll sing about flowers in spring…" MC pretended to hand Jaehee a flower. Jaehee accepted it with a strained smile.
"Flatly, I'll stand on my little flat feet and say…"
Jumin reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, preparing to call the closest mental hospital. Before he even had a chance to turn it on, MC plucked his phone out of his hand and gently placed it on a nearby table.
"... Love is a grand and a beautiful thing!" MC sang, twirling in place. Jumin leaned back to avoid getting smacked in the face by her brown hair.
"Is this from…" Jaehee started to say, only to get interrupted once again.
"I'm not ashamed to reveal...the world famous feelin' I feeeeeeeeel!" As MC belted out those lyrics, it seemed as though her tempo was steadily increasing; even her gently-swaying hips seemed to move faster, affected by the passion in her voice.
"I'm as corny as Kansas in August, I'm as normal as blueberry pie…"
"What does that mean?!" Yoosung, who had finally swallowed the last of his chips, whispered. He remained crouched on the floor, watching MC sing with equal parts fascination and terror. Everyone else was just as baffled as him.
MC didn't seem to care about their lack of response. Instead, she merely lifted her hands to her chest and laid them over her heart, her smile growing wider.
"No more a smart little girl with no heart, I have found me a wonderful guy!"
"WHAT?!" Zen shrieked.
MC ignored him and waltzed away, smiling as brightly as the sun.
"I am in a conventional dither, with a conventional star in my eye… And you will note there's a lump in my throat when I speak of that wonderful guy!" In the midst of her passionate declaration, MC began to skip across the room, clearly caught up in her fantasies of whoever she was singing about.
"I'm as trite and as gay as a daisy in May, a cliché comin' true! I'm bromidic and bright as a moon-happy night, pourin' light on the dewwwww!" She sang, waltzing over to Seven. The hacker, for once in his life, seemed to be at a loss for words.
"I'm as corny as Kansas in August, high as a flag on the Fourth of July!" MC grabbed Seven's hands and started to swing them back and forth. Despite MC's attempt to get him to join in, Seven stood as still as a lamp post and blankly watched MC manhandle his arms. Finally, MC released her hold on him and flounced away, not bothered in the slightest.
"If you'll excuse an expression I use, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love—" MC sang, her voice growing more powerful with each crescendo. "I'm in love with a wonderful guyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"
Reaching the peak of the song, MC threw her hands in the air as she belted out the final note before the dance break. It was actually pretty impressive—even though nobody knew who the hell she was singing about, it was clear she loved him deeply.
Hopefully, the mystery man liked random musical numbers. It'd be a hell of a deal-breaker if he didn't.
As MC began to dance with her invisible partner again, Jumin turned towards the other RFA members.
"Is this something commoners do frequently?" He inquired.
"You mean burst into songs from old American musicals?" Zen grumbled, glaring at him. "No. This is the kind of shit I do at work, not right in the middle of the street."
"Hmmm." Jumin hummed in response. He glanced at MC and did a double take. "Is she… dancing with that coat rack?"
Sure enough, that was exactly what MC was doing. They watched her glide across the floor with the coat rack in her hands, giggling happily.
"Guys, I'm scared," Yoosung whimpered, clinging onto Jaehee. "Please hold me."
Jaehee patted Yoosung's shoulder. "There, there. I recognize this song. She'll be done in a moment or two."
"I'm as trite and as gay as a daisy in May, a cliché comin' true! I'm bromidic and bright as a moon-happy night, pourin' light on the dew!" MC belted out, giving the coat rack one final spin before plunking it back down.
Jaehee sighed in relief. "See? It's almost done. Now, just as long as nobody else joins in…"
Just as she was about to finish her sentence, another voice chimed in, one much deeper than MC's own voice.
"I'm as corny as Kansas in August, high as a flag on the Fourth of July!" Seven sang; apparently, he'd recovered from his shock and reverted back to the lovable, annoying, hyperactive hacker that the RFA knew and tolerated. He linked hands with MC and the two of them spun around, much like how children played "Ring Around the Rosie."
"... You were saying, Assistant Kang?" Jumin said drily. Jaehee was this close to slamming her head against the wall.
"If you'll excuse an expression I use, I'm in love—" MC sang.
"I'm in love—" Seven sang.
"I'm in love—!" MC giggled, giddy with adrenaline and affection towards the man who had her heart.
"I'm in love—!" Seven was just rolling with the punches at this point.
"I'm in love—!"
"I'm in love—!"
"I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love—!" The two of them sang together. They broke the hold they had on each other's hands, which allowed MC to finish the song solo. Grinning brightly, MC turned towards the other RFA members and clasped her hands over her heart.
"I'm in love with a wonderful GUUUUUUUYYYYYYYYYYYY!" She sang triumphantly, holding out the last note as long as possible. Seven slid across the floor on his knees and pretended to play the final notes on an invisible trumpet.
When the musical number finished, the room became dead quiet. The only noise came from MC's pants for air, unused to singing for such long intervals.
"Well," Jumin finally broke the silence. "That method was quite unconventional, and somewhat of a waste of time. Nevertheless, I appreciate that you shared such groundbreaking news with us, MC."
Jaehee nodded. "That was certainly… something."
"Your performance was on par with my abilities!" Zen said, flashing a strained smile. Mentally, he wondered who he had to introduce to his two very close friends, Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Yoosung said nothing, but he did crawl out from his hiding spot underneath the table, which was an action that meant a thousand words.
MC didn't seem to pick up on the feeling of awkwardness pervading the room. She merely grinned and cheerfully said, "Thanks, guys! I've been holding that in for a while, so it's great to just let it all out!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Seven flailed his arms, mouth agape in mock surprise. "You mean to tell me this lucky guy doesn't know you love him?!"
MC blushed, her cheeks turning bright pink. "Er… well, no. B-but it's okay! He's dealing with a lot at the moment, so I don't wanna… spring it on him, ya know?"
Jumin's eye twitched. "We sat through an entire musical number about a man who might not even reciprocate your feelings?"
"Hey!" Zen snapped. "MC's a great girl! If she likes someone, then I'm sure they like her back!"
"Yeah!" Yoosung added. "Besides, MC has good taste, so I bet he's really nice!" He burped and covered his mouth bashfully. "Eheh… sorry. All those chips are repeating on me."
Jaehee sighed. "You really ought to watch what you eat, Yoosung. As for MC…" She turned to MC and gave her a small smile. "I can tell how passionate you are about this mystery man. He'd be lucky to have you."
"Awww!" MC covered her mouth. "Thank you all so much! That's really nice of you to say!"
"Sooooooooo…" Seven playfully grinned at MC and elbowed her. "C'om, spill! Who's this tall, dark, and handsome stranger?"
MC laughed and covered the rest of her face—considering half of it was covered by her bangs, it was an impressive feat. "Hey, like I'd tell—!"
The door to the room opened, then closed.
"Hello?" A familiar deep voice called. "I'm sorry I'm late… traffic was really bad today…"
Everyone turned their heads to look at the newcomer, only to be greeted by the sight of a certain photographer leaning on his cane. V gave a bashful smile to the other RFA members.
"I'm not too late, am I?" He asked.
Before anyone else (probably Yoosung) could respond with a snappy retort, MC spoke up.
"Oh, no!" She said, her voice higher-pitched than usual. She quickly noticed the vocal shift and cleared her throat. "I mean… hi, Jihyun—V! Hi, V!"
Although she fumbled over her words, MC was clearly ecstatic to see V. She seemed to be bouncing in place, smiling so brightly that it practically blinded all the other RFA members. Her cheeks hadn't lost its pink color—if anything, they seemed to have grown darker. Some of the savvier RFA members picked up on those cues, but they tried to reason that it wasn't too unusual.
Then again, after sitting through a musical number, everything else seemed normal in comparison.
Still, there was one thing that caught a certain member's attention.
"... Did you just call V 'Jihyun?'" Jumin asked with a frown.
MC laughed nervously. "W-what? Uh, wow, must've been a slip of the tongue! Man, I-I'm off today!"
Jumin furrowed his brow. "How did you know V's real name? Did Seven tell you?"
Seven gasped. "Me?! I'm innocent!" He exclaimed, pressing a hand over his heart in mock offense.
V's gentle laughter stopped everybody else from hurling accusations at each other.
"Ah, it's fine Jumin. I said she could call me that." V's smile grew more genuine, and MC nearly swooned. "After all, it isn't a secret, right?"
Jumin raised his eyebrow, but he dropped the subject. V was smiling, and Jumin would take whatever snatches of the old V he could get.
"Right," Jumin said, eyeing MC suspiciously. "If you're certain."
"I'm certain." V chuckled. He turned to face the direction MC's voice came from. "MC, I think I remember that you wanted to go over the guest list with me?"
MC's eyes widened. If her cheeks had grown any pinker, she would've been diagnosed with a skin condition.
"O-oh, yeah!" She stammered, bouncing on her toes. Despite her visible nerves, she grinned and nodded. "Yeah! Yeah, no problem, V! Um, I left the binder with the guest list underneath my coat, so I'm, uh, I'm gonna go get it! I'll be back in a sec!"
MC nearly skipped out of the room, looking like a schoolgirl with a crush—
Oh. Oh.
Simultaneously, something clicked in every member of the RFA's heads, and everything suddenly made sense. Well, almost everything. The musical number was something that could never be explained with earth logic.
But in their defense, it wasn't like V and MC's interactions suggested romantic interest from either party. After all, MC just seemed particularly interested in V's health and well-being... and logged into chats whenever V showed up... and would get up at three in the morning just to talk to V... and went out of her way to provide support for V, either by making him laugh or just listening to him speak...
Okay. In hindsight, it was actually really, really obvious.
V blinked and noticed that nobody was speaking and/or arguing with each other. That was all well and good, but dead silence wasn't exactly normal RFA behavior, either. Naturally, V grew concerned.
"Is there something wrong?" He asked. If he'd been able to make out the individual faces of the people in front of him, he would've seen everyone in the room staring at him with a mixture of horror (mostly from Yoosung), shock, awe, and happiness (except from Yoosung).
Seven was the first one to speak. Gulping down the lump in his throat, he walked over to V and gently grasped his arms.
"You're a main character now, dawg." Seven said softly, blinking away tears.
"Luciel? Luciel, are you okay?" Now it was V's turn to be hopelessly confused.
"Yeah!" Seven sniffled. "It's just that… I'm so proud of you, man. You've worked so hard, and now…" He took a deep breath and patted V's arms. "Use your new status wisely, V. You have more power now than ever before."
"What?" V turned pale. "Luciel, how did you—!"
"Trust me, V. A main character always knows." With a bittersweet smile, Seven released his hold on V. "Now, go out there and win their hearts, you beautiful son of a bitch."
V frowned and opened his mouth to question Seven. However, that moment was interrupted by MC sticking her head through the doorway.
"V! Found the guest list! I—" Upon seeing V's troubled expression, MC frowned. "V, are you okay?"
V closed his mouth and forced himself to smile. "Yes, of course, MC." Using his cane to guide himself, V made his way over to MC. "Now, what were you saying about…?"
His voice faded away as they drifted out of the room. The rest of the RFA members sat in silence for a few moments.
"M-MC and V…?" Yoosung whispered, horrified.
"I-I can't believe it…" Zen muttered sadly, gazing at his clenched fists. "Sorry, Rodgers and Hammerstein… I can't punch V, even if men are wolves..."
"I… didn't see it coming." Jaehee admitted.
"I did." Jumin said, a small smile on his lips.
Seven sniffed and rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. "They grow up so fast."
Meanwhile, at Mint Eye's headquarters…
"WHY THE HELL DON'T I HAVE A ROUTE YET?!"