A/N: Hello guys! I haven't posted anything in awhile because I've had things going on but I've wanted to write this fic for months and I'm finally started! This chapter is mostly an intro to set the premise and situation. Let me know what you guys think so far! I'll try to reply to your comments because I really appreciate them! Thank you! 3
Chapter 1
There are two ways to know who your soulmate is, though some argued only one way to be sure. When Saeyoung was born, he had the initials of his soulmate imprinted on the back of his right shoulder, as most people did. But as he grew older he began to bitterly pray that he would never meet his soulmate. That he would never have to reject and loose her, or him, and that he could live in the ignorance and isolation of never knowing who they were.
He didn't want them, couldn't want them, and that was something he had accepted long before deciding he was going to be a hacker. He couldn't bring someone into his situation, he wasn't safe, and if he ever had the misfortune of meeting the person who was inevitable a part of him, he hoped they'd understand. Or better yet, he hoped they'd never know who he was.
The first way people discovered who their soulmate was was by finding the person who's initials matched the ones tattooed behind their shoulder, and whom had their initials ingrained on them in return. Saeyoung believed the possibility of someone discovering he was their soulmate that way was rather easy to avoid. He treated his baptismal name, Luciel, as his real name so no one would know his real initials. Ironically enough his hacker name, like his birth name, started with an "S", but very few people believed Seven was his actual name.
The second, and arguably more reliable, way people learned who their soulmate was is by hearing their voice. This only worked for roughly half the population however, for only one of the soul mates felt the instant connection when they heard the other voice. This troubled Saeyoung, he couldn't be certain that he would be the one to feel the connection the first time they spoke, assuming they met at all. But he hoped that fate would work in his favor, even if it was in the cruelest twisted ways as these.
Seven sat at his desk, engulfed in his well-worn jacket and leaning back against the familiar leather seat. He loosely payed attention to the chat that was taking place within the RFA's chatroom, not wanting to miss the opportunity to socialize with the other members. It was rare for all of the member to be online so he was pleasantly surprised, even if Jaehee didn't say much. Yoosung began complaining about failing his midterms and Seven didn't hesitate to seize the opportunity to tease him. He was enjoying taking a break from the seemingly never-ending work he had and almost didn't notice when the foreign letters lit up across the screen.
MC has entered the chatroom
"That's odd," he muttered to himself. He frowned for a moment before informing the other members that seemed oblivious. He began searching for the IP address of the hacker, at least he assumed that's what they were. A slight twinge of panic settled in his stomach at the idea of someone hacking into the RFA's information. The chatroom should have enough security around it that someone couldn't easily gain access to it, and he didn't understand why someone would want to interfere with the chatroom now. It had been almost a year since they hosted a party, he couldn't imagine what the hacker hoped to accomplish.
MC: Hello…
Seven raised his eyebrows in mild surprise at how passive and tentative the message felt. He stopped paying much attention as the other members began bombarding the hacker with questions. He traced the IP back to Rika's apartment and frowned in confusion, double checking before alerting the members of his discovery. They promptly freaked out and the chatroom erupted into chaos.
He watched with amusement as they threatened and flirted with the unknown intruder, sending his own commentary in occasional small messages. He was more focused on finding out who this intruder was, and decided to tap into the CCTV camera installed in Rika's apartment.
"Cute," he observed absentmindedly as the image of a young, confused looking women standing awkwardly in the center of the apartment filled one of his computer screens. Seven cross referenced her username and face and did a quick background check on her. She seemed harmless, and a bit naive considering she so easily trusted strangers from online.
He watched as Zen and Yoosung thoroughly introduced themselves and he gave his own vague introduction. He then continued to introduce Jaehee and Jumin as well, much to the laters annoyance. Seven called V and gave him a quick update and let him know the information he'd found on MC and that the information he didn't have on Unknown, which wasn't really any information at all.
V suggested inviting MC to join the RFA, asking Seven if he thought she would be capable and willing to help them organize parties and handle possible guests. Seven was slightly taken aback at the idea of someone taking over Rika's job, especially so suddenly, but he wasn't against it. He told V it was worth the try, especially since she already had access to the chatroom and the members seemed to like her.
After hanging up, V joined the chatroom and presented his offer to MC. The member were as surprised as Seven was, but their trust for V, and probably desperation to hold parties again, was powerful and they accepted his decision. Jumin going so far as to directly ask her himself, which worked considering she agreed with a "this could be fun."
Jaehee was the only one who expressed any concern or disapproval, which was largely ignored by the other members. And after it was officially decided MC would be a member of the RFA, the chatroom quickly disbanded, becoming as quiet as it would usually be. Seven was left with the task of discovering who this "Unknown" was and what their intention was. But first he needed to figure out how they got access to the RFA's information, including the address and passcode to Rika's apartment.
He looked for any weak spots in their security. He was sure he had everything covered but it couldn't hurt to double check. He felt an unfamiliar spark of anxiety settle in his stomach and he found himself repeating MC's name under his breathe. His eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"MC," he whispered to himself, fingers still working against his keyboard, "Why does that sound so familiar?" His hand slipped as he typed in a code and he cursed under his breathe at the mistake. It was rare for him to mess up while typing and he quickly deleted and retyped the line.
He struggled to find any new information and sighed in frustration. After a few more unsuccessful attempts he switched to a different computer screen, brining up the information he had found on MC.
His eyes wandered over the words, it was fairly basic information, and he already had it mostly memorized. It was a fairly basic list of facts, her birthday, education, work experience, phone number, blood type… well maybe it wasn't quite that basic for an average person, but he was a hacker after all.
Seven pulled up her social media accounts, scrolling lazily through her Facebook. It was mostly out of boredom and curiosity, and he reasoned to himself that it might help him get a sense of who she was. He reviewed her posts and comments, smirking in amusement at some of her more snide remarks, but she seemed like caring and sweet person, definitely someone the RFA would benefit from. She also seemed rather social and well spoken which would most likely help her in handling party guests. Seven clicked on her photo's, scrolling absentmindedly. He had to admit he found her rather attractive, not that it mattered.
He came across a picture of her at the beach and his heart dropped to his stomach. She was sitting on top of a towel, her back to the camera and her torso twisting so she could look over her shoulder to smile at whomever was taking the photo. She was wearing a strapless dress with her hair was pulled into a loose bun. He thought she looked beautiful but that wasn't what was bothering him. His eyes focused on the back of her right shoulder, where the letters SC were undeniable marked into her skin.
He let out a nervous laugh as he realized why the name felt so familiar. MC were the initials he had imprinted on his shoulder, the initials he'd spent so much of his life ignoring. Seven felt himself slip into a brief spiral of panic as his mind raced to come up with solutions. He could feel his pulse increasing rapidly before his mind could catch up to him. He sighed as the realization that he was being ridiculous came over him. There were thousands of people with the same initials as him and MC, the chances that this stranger was his soulmate were slim, if not impossible. He silently chastised himself for his excitability and removed all traces of her from his computer screen.
He tried to return to his hacking attempts in hopes of finding out who Unknown was but his mind didn't seem to want to cooperate. As Seven typed in various codes and looked for possible access points in his system he couldn't stop himself from wondering about the possibility, no matter how small it may be, that the newest member of the RFA was his soulmate. He knew ultimately it shouldn't matter. He also knew he would eventually have to hear her voice, and it would lessen his anxiety to just call her now to find out if his suspicions were accurate, which was nearly impossible considering they weren't even reasonable. But talking to her was… risky.
On the off chance that she was his soulmate and some twisted cruel stroke of misfortune brought her to the RFA, there was the possibility that she would be the one to feel the connection, and that made Seven a bit nervous. He knew inevitably he'd have to talk to her eventually, and it may be easier to handle the situation now considering he could easily deny her access to the RFA chatroom before the other members got too attached to her. He created the app and it wouldn't be difficult at all to make it impossible for her to use it. She didn't know his real name, she would only know his initials and that wouldn't help much if she ever attempted to find him again. The fact that she knew he was a member of the RFA made him unhappy, but he shouldn't change that now. It would be a bit cruel to deny her so harshly, but he wouldn't have much of a choice. Seven let out an exasperated sigh and dialed MC's phone number, which he already had memorized. He didn't even realize he was holding his breathe until she answered the phone.
"Hello?" MC's voice came through his speaker, sounding soft and tentative like he imagined the first message she sent to RFA chatroom would've sounded. The second he heard he voice, he felt the whole world stop.
He'd heard stories about the first time people heard their soul mates voice; how their hearts would beat impossibly fast, their stomachs would drop to their feet, their breathe caught in there throats as their lungs forgot how to work, and the entire world spun around much to quickly while simultaneously standing perfectly still. He'd heard about the draw, the connection, the undeniable love and need to be close to and care for this person. He had heard stories about the powerful wave of emotions that crashed over you as you experienced love to a degree you never wanted to. He had heard stories, many in fact, but none of them had done this feeling justice. He expected to feel love for the person that was his soulmate, but he had never expected it to feel like this.
"Hello?" her voice came again, a bit more confident this time and Seven had to bite his tongue to stop himself from blurting out something stupid and impulsive.
"MC! This is Secret Agent Seven Zero Seven. I just wanted to call and make sure I had your number right. And welcome you to the RFA, of course." He spoke quickly, feeling like he was tripping over his own words in a desperate attempt to get them out and end this conversation as quickly as possible.
She giggled softly and oh god how was it even possible to feel this way about someone you hardly knew. He felt his heart lurch at the sound and he felt desperate to hear it again. "Hi, Seven!" she said with a smile in her voice and Seven was sure she was trying to kill him on purpose, "Thank you, you all seem so nice. I'm actually really excited to get to know you all better. I hope I can be of benefit to the RFA."
Seven couldn't help but chuckle as he heard slight nervousness creeping up into her voice and he wondered how she could not be of benefit to the RFA when she was already so willing to help. "I'm sure you will be, you've already done a lot by agreeing to help us host parties again. But I can't stay on the phone for long! I have to return back to work and save the world of binary numbers! I'll see you in the chatroom!" Seven hung up the phone before she had the chance to respond.
He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, a mixture of disbelief and frustration clouding his expression. He could feel tears form in his eyes and he growled in frustration. This was ridiculous, he hadn't cried since… in years. "Why?" he breathed, closing his eyes, "Just fucking why?"