I'm sorry for not mentioning this sooner. But as the story progresses, there will definitely be more spoilers, particularly for Seven's route, and the After End. Thank you so much, readers, followers, and reviewers! Please enjoy Zen's further descent into madness. (I promise I really like Zen as a character lol).

Disclaimer: I don't own Mystic Messenger. All characters and plot are property of Cheritz.

"Arghhhhh!"

Zen screamed loudly in frustration as he nearly ripped his hair out of his scalp. He'd tried everything to forget what he'd heard tonight. Sit ups. Push ups. Chin ups. Watching Sue Raoul's Drag Race (a secret guilty pleasure). Nothing worked. Every time he tried practicing his lines, or his dance moves, he heard MC's frantic shrieks in his head, along with Yoosung's nonchalant tone as he…

"Ahhhhh, stop!" Zen screamed as he squeezed his head between his palms. "I don't wanna think about this!"

The actor seriously considered his options. He could call MC up and try to… discuss what he'd heard. Maybe he could figure out why she was unhappy in her marriage, and try to fix it somehow.

But then she'll think I'm some kind of sick pervert for listening, he thought with a sinking heart. True, she had butt dialed him first, so it technically wasn't his fault that he'd heard. It was clear that Yoosung and MC believed they were safe from prying eyes (or ears, as was more fitting in this case). Whenever he imagined himself even attempting to bring it up, he felt incredibly flustered.

But Zen couldn't step back and do nothing. That wasn't his style. He had to talk to someone. He considered seeing if they were on the messenger to get to the bottom of all this. But then all of the RFA members would know. It was too embarrassing. Plus, how would that make Saeyoung feel, to find out about his wife's infidelity over the messenger?

He decided to go for a late night run instead. Maybe the cool air would help him forget. He grabbed his phone, quickly changed into some fitness gear, and made his way outside.

The frigid winter air slapped his face as he leaned into the darkness. His footsteps clapped against the pavement, the only sounds in a frosty night. Winter makes me feel so lonely, Zen lamented, but he pushed on. His heart throbbed in his rib cage as his body started to sweat.

His tense muscles started to relax as he lost himself in the rigorous workout. But he wanted to change the song. He quickly switched between apps to choose a new tune, but his fingers slipped. Next thing he knew, Yoosung's profile picture shone up at him as he accidentally made the call to his cell.

"Ahh!" he exclaimed in surprise. The phone slid from his gloved hands and clattered onto the sidewalk. Please don't be cracked, please don't be cracked, he prayed silently as he lunged down to snatch up his phone. Luckily, the smartphone screen had barely a scratch. But it was on speaker phone. And Yoosung's cheerful voice was blaring on the other end.

"Hiya, Zen~! What are you up to?" he chirped happily.

Zen quickly switched the phone from speaker so that he could listen and talk with some semblance of privacy. "'H-Hiya, Zen'? Yah! Don't answer me so cutely," he barked into the phone in between gasps for air. Now that the damage was done, he couldn't do much about it. Sure, he could claim that he'd dialed him by accident (which he had). But that wouldn't solve anything. And the youngest RFA member had answered, so maybe he knew why Zen had called somehow?

"Ouch! My ears!" he cried. "O-Okay, I won't answer so cutely. But I am cute."

"Listen!" he started. Zen straightened up and thought carefully about how to say this tactfully. It probably wasn't any of his business. Actually, he knew it wasn't.

But that didn't matter to him. MC was not only a female, she was an important part of the RFA. And more importantly, she was Saeyoung's wife. And Saeyoung, as childish as he could be with his pranks, was an important person to Zen. This was bigger than all of them. Their marriage was on the line, and it was all Yoosung's fault. The overprotective big brother in Zen just couldn't just let this travesty continue.

"Let me ask you this. Were you with MC tonight? Answer honestly!"

"W-What's it to you if I was with her or not?" he asked defensively.

"Just answer the damn question! Stop deflecting!" Zen cried passionately. He swiped at the sweat on his forehead.

Yoosung sounded almost guilty when he admitted, "W-well… Yes, she was over tonight. What does that matter?" Zen heard the blond's chattering teeth. "It's so cold out here. Why did he want to meet me here?" he mumbled to himself.

"What do you think you were doing to her, you bastard?!"

"I… I just gave her a facial, but I don't know why that's any of your business," he replied sullenly through chattering teeth.

"F-Facial?!" he squawked. He felt all of the blood in his body flood up to his cheeks. "Where did you learn such language, young man? You-You- You nasty dog, Yoosung!"

"What? I don't get it. Why are you so mad? I used to give Rika facials all the time!"

"Oh.. Omigod..." Another unpleasant image filtered through Zen's mind. He shook his head vigorously. "You can't be serious... That's..."

"And I gave MC a pearl necklace. But that was by accident, hehe," he chuckled, embarrassed.

Zen felt himself flush all over. "Wh-Wh-Wha-?!"

"Oh, wait," Yoosung said hastily. "Saeyoung! Over here!" Zen could hear Yoosung shouting to the fellow RFA member.

"Are you seriously being all buddy-buddy with Saeyoung now?! You damn wolf! Well, you can't get away from me that easily," Zen hissed. "I'll wait all night if I have to!"

But Yoosung wasn't listening. He was chatting with Saeyoung instead. Zen shifted from foot to foot on the street corner. His breath came out in clouds in the dark, cold night. He shivered. He wasn't wearing a coat, and now that he wasn't running, he felt even colder. The sweat was practically turning into ice shards on his skin.

Zen didn't want to overhear their conversation, but he had a feeling that if he hung up, Yoosung would just turn off his phone and not answer his phone calls. He felt a gnawing sense of responsibility to school Yoosung on how to respect not only women, but marriage as a whole. He was speaking so boldly, without any shame. That boy has no respect, he thought to himself.

Unfortunately for Zen, his ears couldn't help but stick to the conversation on the other end.

"Saeyoung! I thought you were going to stand me up!"

Saeyoung's playful tone drifted unwillingly through his ears. "Yoosung! How could you think so poorly of me? I'm hurt, honestly."

"Okay, okay! Don't worry about it. Just give it to me."

A powerful sense of déjà vu flowed through Zen, but he brushed it off with a nervous laugh. Saeyoung must've roped Yoosung into one of his hare-brained schemes, he guessed with a pitying shake of his head. Yoosung was just too gullible. He probably deserves it, he couldn't help thinking bitterly, remembering his betrayal.

"Don't say I didn't warn you. It's hard and definitely not for amateurs." Zen could practically hear Saeyoung grinning when he said, "Now, hold onto this."

"Wow. It's so... big," Yoosung breathed. "I didn't expect it to be so, um..."

"It'll fit, I promise. You have to trust me."

"St-Stop teasing me!"

Wh-What the hell is going on? Zen wondered with dread. But he couldn't end the call. He was in a state of shock. Hang up, hang up, he ordered himself. But he was a statue. His blood froze in his veins.

N-No. This can't be. Are Yoosung...? and Saeyoung...? Are they...? Are they?!

"Enough playing. Let's get to business."

"Ow! Ow, Saeyoung! Saeyoung! You're hurting me!"

"I thought you liked pain. Aren't you an M?"

"I don't like that much pain!"

"You can do it! Put your back into it!" Saeyoung yelled between grunts and groans. Yoosung was groaning softly in the background. The sound was ten times more disturbing than the phone call earlier.

"Goddammit!" Zen yelled loudly.

"A-Ah! Z-Zen? You're still there! Ah, shit! I didn't hang up!" To the red-haired hacker, Yoosung called out, "Saeyoung! I can't do it anymore. I'm feeling sore! It's hurting my-!"

The call ended immediately. Zen took a moment to remove his phone from his ear. It was slick with his nervous perspiration.

His body heaved up and down as he struggled for air. Zen placed his hand over his racing heart.

"Oh, God, oh, God," he moaned. "What did I just hear?" His mind flashed to MC. Yoosung was with her intimately, not too long ago. And now he just all of a sudden started playing for the other team? On top of that, Saeyoung and MC were cheating on each other, with the same person? What was going on?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Saeyoung! I can't do it anymore. I'm feeling sore! It's hurting my arms! Grrrr!"

"You have to pull from your legs! Not your back... Aha... Sorry 'bout that, buddy."

"Arghhhh, just help me!"

Saeyoung rushed to Yoosung's back. Reaching his arms around, he grasped the pole and helped Yoosung pull.

"Rrrrrrnnnngggg," came Yoosung's grunt as he leaned back into Saeyoung. Yoosung bit his lip hard, eyebrows stitched together in concentration. Even though it was a freezing night, he was covered in sweat.

Together, Saeyoung and Yoosung pulled against the weight of the object that caught their fishing hook. But the fishing rod slipped from their grasp, and fell into the inky depths of the water.

"Dammit!" Saeyoung and Yoosung cursed simultaneously before falling onto the snow bank behind them. Their chests heaved with the exertion.

"Wow, the stars are pretty tonight," the blond gasped in wonder as he placed his hand over his heart. Above them, tiny pinpricks of light gleamed against the inky sky.

"Yeah," Saeyoung agreed between gasps. "Perfect night to go ice fishing."