Chapter 3: Haruhi

A few minutes after Haruhi's phone call with Jaehee, a plan to return the device to its proper owner had been concocted. Haruhi hadn't contributed that much to the chatroom so far, content to let the boys talk amongst themselves while Jaehee made arrangements. The girl did, however, read every single message in order to figure out just what type of people she was interacting with.

Zen, Haruhi quickly realized, reminded her of a certain blonde-haired, self-proclaimed "king" of the Host Club. It was uncanny how similar the cheesy phrases Zen wrote were to some of the things she heard nearly every day in school. Needless to say, Haruhi did not dignify any of these pink-up lines with a response.

Yoosung, meanwhile, seemed like the opposite of Zen- bizarrely innocent, especially if his claim of being twenty-one was true. However, just because he appeared not to understand anything suggestive certainly didn't mean he was unaware of the true meaning behind these things. Honey was actually pretty observant, too, despite his childlike demeanor, and Haruhi had a feeling that Yoosung might be a similar sort of person.

And then, there was 707. Whereas Zen and Yoosung were pretty easy to figure out, Haruhi couldn't quite tell what Seven's personality was. He was definitely clever, Haruhi had to give him that- at least, most of the time. Yet, she couldn't get the sudden change in his demeanor from when she first joined the chatroom to now out of her mind.

However, just when Haruhi decided that she might as well start asking her own questions, Jaehee chimed back in.

Jaehee: Ok, I got it sorted out with Seven. Mia is bad with directions, so I doubt she'd be able to find you, Haruhi.

Jaehee: So, you can meet us at the house Seven and Mia are staying at; it's 5 minutes by bus, and you know the area better than we do.

Yoosung: Ooh can we come too? :D

ZEN: Yeah, I want to meet Haruhi~

Jaehee: ...I can't stop you, but I wouldn't want her to be overwhelmed

Haruhi: I really don't care, as long as I know where I'm going

She certainly didn't want to go on a wild goose chase and end up in an unfamiliar location. However, Jaehee had a point: Haruhi definitely knew the surrounding area within a five-minute driving range. 707 sent an address, and then an accompanying message:

707: don't worry, the house itself is super safe

707: I'm not there right now but i'll be back soon

ZEN: I'm on the way now, if she gets there before u, seven ;)

707: dude, keep it in ur pants lol

Yoosung: omg seven XD

ZEN: What? I like meeting new people

Yoosung: especially ladies...

ZEN: and ur any different?

Yoosung: ...

Yoosung: .

Haruhi: um

Haruhi: I'm still here, you know...

The brunette sighed. It seemed like she would have to meet all of them face-to-face. Well, as long as Zen didn't try anything physical, she'd be fine.

And if he does try something, Haruhi mentally resolved, I'm going to kick him in a very unfortunate place.

Jaehee: Haruhi, I'll get there as fast as I can...

Jaehee: Mr. Han is in a meeting, so I have to wait for him... but he should be done soon

Haruhi: Mr. Han?

ZEN: Jumin Han

ZEN: rich son of a company CEO

ZEN: typical jerkwad

Yoosung: i thought u were on better terms?

707: i don't think they'll ever be super close, lol

ZEN: just because I don't hate him with a passion anymore doesn't mean I have to actually LIKE him

Jaehee: they've never really gotten along, don't be concerned, Haruhi

Haruhi: Oh, I wasn't; I know all different kinds of rich people...

707: ooh, are u super rich, too? :D

Yoosung: yeah, tell us about yourself!

707: wow

707: Well, I guess you'd HAVE to be rich to go to Ouran Academy..

Yoosung: private school?

707: Yah

707: oh wait, ur on a scholarship... so you're super smart! XD

Haruhi's throat instantly ran dry while, conversely, her palms began to sweat. Hesitantly, she typed:

Haruhi: How did you know that?

707: ...oops lol

707: sorry to freak u out

Yoosung: Seven's a professional hacker

Yoosung: he can find info about anyone anywhere

Haruhi: but I only gave u my first name...

707: and u mentioned that you lived within walking distance of the store

707: it wasn't hard to triangulate your location using the gps of Mia's phone, then I looked for people named "Haruhi" living within the area and found someone within your suspected age range~

707: not hard to figure out lol

The brunette couldn't type a response right away because of the shaking in her hands. She'd heard of hackers, of course, and what they could do, but all of that sounded like something out of a sci-fi novel... something that she'd never have to experience in real life. But now, this person knew everything about her just by tracking her location.

The implications of that were absolutely terrifying.

Jaehee: Haruhi?

Jaehee: please don't be worried; Seven is a good person and wouldn't use your information for anything

Haruhi: why would you do that?

707: ?

Haruhi: why would you look up my info?

ZEN: ooh, I think you've made her mad...

Instead of a typed response, the phone in Haruhi's hand rang once again. This time, none other than 707 himself was on the other end of the line.

"Hey," he said when Haruhi accepted the call. "Nice to meet you!"

Just like Jaehee, Seven also spoke in Japanese, although his accent was nearly flawless. Haruhi wondered for a moment how long he'd been studying the language, before realizing that, frankly, she didn't care.

"So, uh... sorry for hacking into your personal information," the boy continued. He sounded sincere, but Haruhi couldn't help but feel like he was smiling on the other end of the phone call. Instantly, her concern turned into anger.

"You can't just do that to people!" she exclaimed. It took a lot for her to become so upset that she raised her voice, especially after suffering through the Host Club's antics for nearly half a year, but this scenario had already passed that threshold. "You have to ask their consent first before you look up stuff about them!"

"That's very true," Seven relented, before adding, "However... what if someone's a bad guy?"

"...What?"

"Do you think they'd give their consent to look up their personal information?"

"No, obviously not, but-"

"Then I feel like I'd rather check first, just to be safe!" Seven paused, as if giving Haruhi a moment to catch up with his warped logic. "Oh, not that I'm saying I thought you were a bad guy; I know you're totally harmless! It's just a habit nowadays, haha... God Seven always has to be vigilant!"

"...What the hell are you talking about?!" Haruhi exclaimed after a brief silence. This boy was a strange one, that's for sure.

"Never mind," Seven laughed to himself. "I meant to say, 'sorry for hacking into your life without asking.' I swear that I'm not going to do anything with your information."

"Whether I believe you or not, you can't just do that, Seven..." The girl paused, frowning. "...What's your real name? If I'm going to meet you all in person, I don't want to call you by your online aliases..."

"I have a lot of different names," the boy responded cryptically. "But the one I've been using with the RFA recently is Saeyoung."

"Saeyoung," Haruhi repeated. "Okay. Thank you for telling me."

"Of course. Oh! Haruhi, can you see the bus stop near you?

"Um... yes?"

"Awesome; there's a bus coming in about one and a half minutes. Take it and get off at the third stop, then you'll be at the house!"

"How did you-" The brunette didn't even need to finish that sentence. She knew exactly how. "...Never mind. Are you sure that's going to be the right bus?"

"Yup! You can call Jaehee and confirm it, if you don't trust me."

"No, I believe you," Haruhi responded with a sigh. As strange as he was, Saeyoung really didn't seem like a bad person. Plus, Jaehee had vouched for him, which was a good sign.

"Great; sorry again for hacking into your life!" Seven said, laughing. "I'll be on the way over in a few minutes. See you soon!"

Before she could say goodbye, the phone call clicked off and Haruhi was left with the noise of the chatroom notifications once again. Then, a louder, mechanical noise prompted her to jump off of the park bench and rush to the bus stop, groceries still in hand.

Wondering why this couldn't have just been a normal Saturday afternoon, she got on the bus and prayed that her cold groceries lasted until she got home.