Chapter 2: The "Party"

A/N: The chapter where we discover MC's whereabouts and why Saeyoung is in big, big trouble.

He ran past the address three times before he finally realized the heavy door with the muffled club music pounding behind it was his destination. The only parking he could find on the city streets was blocks away so he was slightly out of breath when he crossed the threshold, his racing heart and heavy bass of the music combining to make him feel nauseous. Pushing through the throng of people, his eyes scanned the crowd trying to find the figure of his petite girlfriend. Quickly giving up trying to pick out any particular face in the writhing sea of bodies on the dance floor, he moved his attention to the tall tables that surrounded it and finally in the very back he caught a glimpse of snow white hair. He instinctively moved in its direction, frustration growing as the amount of people slowed down his progress.

Finally there was a small break in the crowd and he rushed through it, halting a few feet away from the table where his friends sat, his girlfriend squealing with her eyes squeezed shut as she slammed down a small shot glass. The surface in front of them was littered with empty beer and soju bottles and as he watched, MC poured another shot for Zen and herself.

"Christ," he muttered, relief making his legs weak. When he had been unable to get any other information from the actor other than an address, his mind had played a hundred different scenarios of what could be wrong; this had not been one of them.

Drawing and slowly releasing the first easy breath he'd had since discovering MC was gone, Saeyoung typed out a quick text to his brother letting him know everything was ok. He shoved the phone back in his pocket as he approached the table, taking note of the sparkling pair of cat ears perched on the brunette's head. To his surprise Jumin stood beside MC's chair, his hand resting on the low back of her chair.

"Hey guys," he greeted, practically having to yell over the loud music. His brows furrowed in confusion at the glare Yoosung shot him before turning his head to look at something in the other direction.

"Seven, glad you finally made it," Zen exclaimed, slapping him on the back. "Your girl is completely drunk. You might want to take her home."

"You're drunk," MC answered, pouring herself another drink, managing to spill half of it onto the table. "And I don't feel like going home. I'm perfectly fine and three ahead of you. Are you going to let a girl beat you?"

"Cute ears," Saeyoung commented to his girlfriend, leaning down to give her a quick kiss but drawing back quickly when she turned her head, causing his lips to fall on her cheek.

"Thanks." Raising her eyes to meet his she lifted her glass and poured the liquor in her mouth, her long ponytail brushing Jumin's hand when she tilted her head and swallowed.

Immediately he knew something was very off. There was anger and hurt in her eyes and though he was sure the others hadn't noticed, he could tell she had been crying recently.

"What's wrong," he tried to ask her, reaching out to squeeze her knee. He had never seen her act this way and it was concerning him greatly. She was completely shutting him out and his chest was tight with panic. He was the one she was mad at, that much was clear. Whatever he had managed to screw up was major and his hands shook slightly with the need to fix it.

MC gave a shake of her head and released a puff of laughter. "Now you want to talk me...unbelieveable." To his consternation she poured another drink and downed it quickly, a small shiver passing through her as the liquid rolled down her throat. "Doesn't feel very nice, does it Saeyoung? Or should I call you Seven? Seven Zero Seven? Luciel? All of them are masters of pushing everyone and everything away."

Saeyoung's heart sank at her words. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what he had done. It wasn't his preoccupation earlier that caused this reaction; at least not totally. No, there was something...something huge and to his horror he had no idea what it was. He could feel everyone's eyes on them, watching the argument that he unknowingly walked in on. Leaning closer to MC, he placed his mouth next to her ear so he didn't have to talk quite as loud. He could feel the heat of her skin, her hairline slightly damp from the effects of the alcohol and the dancing she had probably been doing for hours. He closed his eyes for just a moment and inhaled deeply, letting her scent fill his senses.

"Can we go talk, please," he finally asked and retreated, motioning towards the front of the nightclub.

MC shook her head and downed another drink; the fourth she'd had since he arrived. Good god, how much liquor could she hold before she collapsed? Judging by the number of soju bottles she had been at it a while but she was still alert, her eyes shooting daggers at him.

"Sorry," she answered, hopping off the high chair. "Six oh six is currently too busy to talk, but leave a message and I might call you back." She gave his forearm a light tap then grabbed Jumin's hand and pulled him towards the dance floor.

"Come dance with me, oppa."

"I don't dance but if you…" Jumin's voice trailed off as they got further away from the table. The businessman hadn't said a word since Saeyoung had arrived and he was surprised to realize he had forgotten that the other man was there.

His eyes followed the couple as MC led the tall man out into the middle of the dance floor before finally letting go of him. She placed a hand on his shoulder to balance herself and rose up on her toes to say something in his ear causing him to give a short laugh. Saeyoung's face tightened with heat, jealousy exploding throughout his body. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, he took a step, intending to remove MC bodily if she refused to leave when Zen's amused voice drew his attention.

"You've messed up big time," he laughed.

"It would appear so," Saeyoung muttered to himself before raising his voice to be heard over the noise. "Who gave her the ears?"

"Man, those are diamonds. Who do you think gave them to her?"

"Jumin," Saeyoung shook his head in disbelief. "I thought he was in Paris, what is he doing here?"

"Yeah well, when you weren't answering your phone we called him. I'm in no state to take her home and Yoosung doesn't have a car. We thought he could at least have his driver come get her but luckily he had just landed when we reached him," Zen picked up the half full bottle of beer sitting in front of him and took a swig. "He had those with him when he got here. Apparently he had them custom made while he was gone."

Saeyoung grunted, his hands curling into fists in his pockets. Unlike Zen, Jumin's wealth had never bothered Saeyoung. Sure, the rich heir was sometimes disconnected from the realities that his poorer friends lived but it wasn't his fault. They were all really just products of their birth and Jumin had never known anything but privilege. So of course when it came to gifts, he would go over the top. But the fact that the oldest member of their organization had just given his girlfriend essentially a very expensive piece of jewelry was not sitting well with the red headed hacker. Then another thought struck him.

"When the hell did she start calling him oppa?"

Zen shrugged, "Beats me, dude. She's been doing it all night. He doesn't seem to mind."

"I bet he doesn't."

Saeyoung was reeling with the realization that Jumin appeared to be interested in his girlfriend. The older man had never shown any more interest in MC than he did any of the other members. In their chat rooms he didn't tease her any more than the others and certainly less than Zen. He had always thought the actor was the one he had to keep an eye on with his constant flirting and inviting MC to events and outings. Now the most formal and distant of them all was standing stiffly in the middle of a crowded dance floor, arms crossed, amused grin on his face as he watched their guest coordinator dance. Well, dance was a very loose term; she was mainly jumping up and down, waving her arms in the air in time to the music. Saeyoung couldn't help a small smile of amusement to curve his own lips at just how bad a dancer she was.

"You know," Yoosung's voice interrupted his thoughts and he tore his eyes away, giving his friend his full attention. "I've always supported you and MC being together since it was obvious from the start that you guys are soul mates but if you're just going to ignore her and not even acknowledge her birthday then I don't understand why you want her around. I mean, she's really in love with you, Seven, and it's not fair for you to string her along."

Zen nodded in agreement. "I have to second that. All night I've been expecting you to show up with some grand gesture and I think she was too for a while. She kept looking at the door while explaining how busy you've been before she finally gave up. That's when she started with the shots."

Dread filled Saeyoung's chest as he stared at his friends, his eyes darting between them. No, there was no way what he was hearing was accurate. "Wait, no," he said, shaking his head. "Birthday? Her birthday isn't until next week."

Zen stared at him for a moment before bursting into hysterical laughter. "Dude, today is her birthday. Why do you think we're here? MC has been wanting to try this place out for ages. It was her idea to come because she wanted to celebrate."

"No, her birthday isn't until the seventh, today is the third."

"Woooow," Zen blinked in disbelief. "I think staring at a computer screen all day has fried your brain. Today is the seventh, man."

To prove his point he pulled out his phone and showed Saeyoung his lockscreen. Saeyoung quickly pulled out his own phone and groaned when he finally noticed the date. Shit, he thought, finally understanding the predicament he was in.