"Escher, do you think you could take these over to that table?"

Escher hurried to take the large baskets of puff pastries from her friend Jaehee Kang. They were in the midst of preparing for an elegant charity gala, and Jaehee had shouldered a disproportionate amount of responsibility in organizing the event. Escher was eager to alleviate Jaehee's burden in any way she could, but she just didn't have much experience with this sort of thing. Fortunately, she didn't need experience to carry baskets of gougères across the event hall.

Escher had spent a good half hour tailing Jaehee, making sure she wasn't trying to do everything on her own. It was a shame they didn't have much time to talk, because this was Escher's first time meeting Jaehee in person. In fact, they had only actually known each other for eleven days, and the circumstances under which they had met were very odd indeed.

Eleven days ago, Escher had been minding her own business when she received a message from a stranger through a suspicious messenger app that had been downloaded onto her phone. The individual messaging her (his username was simply "Unknown") had been just as suspicious, claiming that he had found a phone with the same strange app on it, and that he wished to locate the owner of the phone. He told Escher that he was a student studying abroad, and that he suspected that the owner of the phone might be at the only address he'd found in the phone's address book. He had imploringly requested that Escher investigate the address in his stead, and, though there was obviously something off about the whole encounter, Escher had been too curious to refuse.

Half expecting the shady "Unknown" character to be awaiting her at the specified address, Escher arrived at a password lock-protected apartment unit. She knocked, but there was no answer. Unknown gave her the password to get in and Escher had hesitated. There was definitely something dubious about this interaction, and she had no idea what would be behind that door. If she hadn't brought a heavy-duty stun gun with her, she probably would have turned around right then.

The unit was a small studio space, and there was no one else in sight. Escher had stepped slowly into the apartment, scanning the area cautiously and checking the bathroom for anything out-of-place before she finally closed the apartment door behind her.

She had first intended to leave a note explaining why she was there, as Unknown had suggested, but she had suddenly began receiving several notifications from her phone. The strange app had connected her to a private chatroom where five users appeared to be active. Escher had watched their exchanged curiously. They hadn't noticed her lurking right away, but eventually they had noticed that another user had joined them and began commenting on her presence, accusing her of hacking into their private app. The one with the username "707" managed to trace her IP address with absurd ease, determining that she was in the apartment of their late colleague and friend: a woman they called "Rika." Escher patiently explained herself, completely understanding of their skepticism. After all, she didn't fully trust the situation either.

Ultimately, a user named "V" had been consulted. This man was, apparently, the leader of the organization, for when he suggested Escher stay and assume the mantle of their late associate, the others fell in line without much hesitation. Escher herself didn't understand his reasoning, but it was apparently decided that Escher was in charge of wrangling guests for a fancy charity ball.

Escher had rarely found herself in a stranger situation. Still, she had always been the impulsive type, which was how she had ended up in South Korea in the first place. Escher was from the United States originally, and though there were quite a lot of things she had yet to acclimate herself to, she didn't think this sort of thing was normal, even in Korea…

But she went with it. She joined their strange fundraising organization, the so-called R.F.A., and moved into the late Rika's apartment, the location of which was "classified" for some unclear reason. She continued correspondence with the other R.F.A. members via the specialized messenger app that was, incidentally, tailor-made for this purpose by 707 (or "Seven") himself. Seven, a hacker and computer genius, began investigating Unknown to try to figure out why she had been led to the apartment. Occasionally, the members would call or text her as well, and she gradually became accustomed to interacting with most of them on a daily basis. But, even as Escher grew more and more fond of various members of the R.F.A., her suspicion toward V grew. Most of the other members seemed to follow him implicitly, excepting the youngest of the group, a college student named Yoosung who seemed to hold a bit of a grudge against V.

Escher didn't know what to make of V, really. The others all occasionally complained that V was not around as much as he ought to be, or that he was notoriously difficult to reach in general. Escher could be understanding of this behavior, especially after it was revealed to her that Rika had been his fiancé before she killed herself. Escher had no way of knowing what that was like, and she wasn't prepared to judge someone in V's shoes for being elusive. The problem was, he wasn't just elusive. He also continued to make strange decisions on behalf of the group without explaining his reasoning. Escher couldn't help mistrusting an organization leader who was so secretive.

In fact, it was V's decision to host the gala so unreasonably soon after Escher had joined their ranks, and the days leading up to the event had been a hectic scramble to assemble guests, gather auction pieces and to prepare an elegant party for their distinguished patrons.

And so, here they were, Escher and Jaehee, running around an event hall with fancy French cheesy bread. Escher could barely see in front of her as she crossed the marble-tiled floor toward the table displaying various hors d'oeuvres, and she narrowly missed running into another worker, catching sight of their shoes at the last minute and expertly side-stepping out of their way.

"I can help you with those, miss," a voice offered politely as Escher paused to adjust her grip on the baskets.

"I think I've got it, actually."

"Here, allow me—"

Once he'd taken a basket off Escher's hands, she could see his face clearly, and she nearly dropped the remaining basket. It was Yoosung! He smiled at her sweetly and her heart seemed to melt. Somehow he managed to be even cuter in person!

"Careful, miss," he spoke kindly before cocking his head slightly. "Have we met?"

That's right! He didn't recognize her. The only members of the R.F.A. who knew what she looked like were Seven, Jaehee and Jumin Han.

"N-no," Escher answered hurriedly, wondering what she should do with this golden opportunity as she followed him to the refreshment table.

"Well, my name is Yoosung," he introduced himself after setting the basket carefully atop the elegantly embroidered table linen. "I'm one of the hosts. What brings you to the R.F.A. Gala?"

Escher dropped her basket unceremoniously beside his. "I'm, uh—I'm a volunteer!" she improvised. "Well, a volunteer and guest! See, I'm with the, um… the Society for the Unionizing of Vandals, or the S.U.V. for short, which is funny because, well, we specialize in vandalizing S.U.V.s!"

Yoosung blinked in apparent confusion. "Really? I've never heard of—did you say vandals' union?"

Escher nodded fervently. "A labor union is necessary to protect the rights and interests of vandals, after all."

Escher struggled to suppress a smile as Yoosung's look of confusion intensified. "Sorry, I… I don't mean to be rude, but… isn't vandalism a… a crime?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes, but someone has to do it, don't they?" Escher replied with a smile. Yoosung smiled back, though he now looked slightly concerned. "By the way, do you mind if I vandalize this venue a little before the party? It's a bit lackluster as it is, don't you think?"

"Uh…"

"Escher, can you help me with these lights?"

Jaehee had joined them, a heavy-looking stage light in her arms.

"Escher?" Yoosung repeated, looking around the event hall excitedly before looking back at Escher and putting two-and-two together. "You don't mean—?"

"You caught me," she said, grinning sheepishly.

"Oh my—Escher!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide. "You never told me you were in a vandals' union!"

"Vandals' union?" a familiar voice chimed in. "What a great idea! I should join a hackers' union!"

"Seven!" Escher said excitedly as the red-headed genius approached them. "God Seven, Defender of the Defendedless, Protector of the Not-Protected, Savior of the Unsaved Word Documents—!"

"Do you require assistance, fair damsel?" Seven prompted in an amused voice.

"Help Jaehee with the lights, will you?"

"Please," Jaehee pleaded, and Seven rushed to assist her, leaving Escher and Yoosung alone once more.

"Wait a minute!" Yoosung exclaimed suddenly. "There is no vandals' union, is there?!"

Escher laughed, pulling Yoosung into an impulsive hug. "I'm so happy to finally meet you in person!" she spoke fondly.

"If you're trying to make me jealous, it's working," a melodic voice spoke just as Escher released Yoosung. "Do I get a hug as well?"

Escher's eyes found the fiery crimson of Zen's eyes when she turned to locate the source of the request. "Zen!" Escher cried enthusiastically before wrapping her arms tightly around the muscular torso of the musical actor. He let out a small utterance of surprise that told Escher that he had not expected Escher to grant his playful request, but he returned her embrace nonetheless.

"Excuse me," Jaehee interrupted testily, "but I don't think it's prudent for you to engage in such an inappropriate display of affection in the middle of the event hall before the party is due to start."

Escher released Zen quickly, blushing. Zen was also blushing, though he seemed quite pleased in spite of Jaehee's reprimand. Jaehee's arms were crossed and her expression was sour as her eyes darted between the two of them. Escher quickly volunteered to assist her with her next task.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "It's just, I'm from the United States. Hugging friends it's sort of habitual for me. I hugged you too, remember?"

"Yes, but I am a woman," Jaehee replied stiffly. "It's quite different. And you should apologize to Zen, not me. It's his reputation that will suffer should your reckless behavior cause a scandal."

"I'll be more careful, I promise. I won't hug the guys anymore."

"Wait!" Seven interjected, causing Escher to jump; she hadn't noticed him listening. "You mean I'm the only one who doesn't get a hug?!"

"Seven, I…" Escher trialed off. She knew he was only exaggerating his disappointment for the sake of dramatic effect, Escher couldn't help feeling sad at the sight of his crestfallen expression. "I can't, it's… it's not appropriate."

They both looked forlornly back at Jaehee, who sighed exasperatedly. "I suppose it hardly matters if you hug Seven as well," she conceded. "I wouldn't necessarily classify him as human, let alone as a human male, so…"

Escher brightened and threw herself at Seven, who caught her in his open arms before nuzzling against her neck and shoulder fondly.

"I changed my mind," Jaehee said, watching them with distaste. "That's obscene."

They weren't listening. They had begun twirling around the event hall like unruly children you wouldn't want to bring anyplace nice. And then, somehow, their twirling turned into a graceful waltz when the string quartet began practicing their performance for the evening's festivities.

"I didn't know you could waltz!" Escher spoke as they glided across the marble floor in triple time.

"Ballroom dancing was part of my physical training for my job," Seven explained, twirling Escher so that her skirt fluttered delicately. "I'm more surprised that you know how to waltz."

Escher returned to Seven's arms, her hand resting gently on his shoulder. "My high school English teacher taught our whole class," she said. "She thought it might be useful someday."

"Has it been useful?"

"Not until this precise moment."

Seven released Escher abruptly. "I'm sure the handsome corporate heir knows how to waltz as well," he said in a rush as he stepped backward.

Escher frowned. "Jumin? Why are you bringing up Jumin all of a sudden?"

"Escher…"

Jumin Han had approached them. Seven looked uncharacteristically serious as he cast a meaningful look at Escher.

"Hello, Mister Han," Escher greeted him with an awkward sort of curtsey while avoiding direct eye-contact with the dark-haired director of the C&R corporation.

"There's no need to be so formal, Escher," Jumin spoke softly. "It's not as though we're mere colleagues."

He was not wrong. In the short time that they had known one another, Escher had come to know Jumin rather more intimately than the others, which was rather more intimately than she would have liked to know him.

"May I speak with you privately?"

Escher looked around. Seven still hovered awkwardly off to the side, as if awaiting her direction. Reluctantly, she nodded at him and said, "You can go." Seven cast a last dubious look at Jumin, but left them alone as instructed.

"I just wanted to say," Jumin spoke once Seven was comfortably out of earshot, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable, and I'm sorry for insisting you stay with me."

Escher did not reply right away. She had gone to Jumin's penthouse apartment after his cat, Elizabeth III, had run away. She hadn't thought anything of it at the time. After all, he was her friend, and he was in considerable distress. She had no idea she might be giving him the wrong impression about her feelings toward him, and she certainly hadn't expected him to use her as a replacement for his beloved cat, to all but force her to stay with him in his apartment, or to confess his supposed "love" for her.

"Jumin…" she spoke uncertainly, "I know you were upset about Elizabeth III, but I'm a human being…"

"I realize that. That's why I had to apologize again, and-and I hope this doesn't mean we're not still… friends."

Escher hesitated a moment before replying, "I… I do still care about you…"

"That's a relief," said Jumin with a warm smile.

Escher felt heat rise in her cheeks. "I-I need to-to go to the bathroom!" she exclaimed. She turned and walked in long strides across the event hall until she reached a short hallway leading to the womens' bathroom.

"Escher?" Jaehee's voice caused her to jump slightly. "Are you all right? What's going on?"

"Jumin," Escher answered breathlessly. "He just got here."

"Oh. Should I…?"

"No, it's okay."

All the animosity Jaehee had been projecting minutes ago had vanished, and she now surveyed Escher with nothing but concern in her expression. "The first guests will be arriving soon. Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready for this."