MC jumped up, the wet cloth falling from her forehead, and grabbed V by the shirt to pull him closer so that her eyes were mere centimeters away from his. "You're telling me I was trapped in that hell for over two years?! And not one of you spineless, good-for-nothing pieces of shit came to get me?!" Her eyes darkened in anger while she shook him with every word. She wants nothing more than to tear off his shirt and- and- MC stopped her thoughts there, focusing only on her anger and not how she could feel his breath on her lips, or how he still smelled like firewood and dark chocolate even after all these years. "I hate you…" her voice lower as she leaned in closer. "I hate you so much right now…"

V's eyes drooped as he looked down at MC's lips. They were so close when he spoke their lips brushed, "I think… I can live with that…" he closed the distance to take her lips into his own. MC earnestly kissed him back, pulling him closer by his shirt. She had to admit, letting out her frustrations into a lip-bruising kiss probably was not the smartest thing to do, but it did feel so good. Her contract mark burned like someone was holding a lit match to it but at the moment all it did was make her want to kiss him more. She tilted back pulling V with her until her back hit the soft bed. V was leaning so his forehead touched her's and he suddenly pulled back from the heat of her skin. "Jihyun…" she whined.

"MC, I can't do this…" he placed his hands on hers, which was still holding on to his shirt. The touch sent a shock up to her contract mark, which made her jolt in surprise. "You still have a fever, you're not in your right mind…" he picked up the cloth from where it fell from her head and dampened it again in the bowl of water on her bedside table. He placed it back on her forehead and she let out a sigh.

"Jihyun," she said as her eyes began to water, "My feelings for you never changed... Even when you were engaged to Rika, I think I still loved you… I'm just hurt that you never…" she sniffled as a few tears ran down her feverish cheeks. "I'm hurt that you never considered my feelings when you broke off our engagement…" unlike herself, she continued to ramble on, "I know that you were in love and that's a beautiful thing but you gave me no warning and no time to recover before you flaunted your lovely fiancee in front of me. I'm sorry." MC wiped away her tears. "I'm sorry… Since we were kids I had always thought we would get married and I guess I got attached to that idea. I got selfish and- and- I―hic―I started to hate you and her. You two looked so happy t-together and I felt miserable b-because my parents h-had practically―hic―sold me off to the first suitor with a lot of m-money… I had to get away from y-you two and the only way t-to do so was to a-actually―hic―leave. I should have been there for you when she passed, I'm so s-s-sorry!" Her spiel was all over the place and ended in her sniveling and sobbing like a child that just had its favorite toy taken away.

V hugged her tightly, and MC continued to sob, getting her tears all over the shoulder of his shirt. He pulled away and wiped away some of her tears, before kissing her cheek. "MC, you don't need to apologize to me. I should have been mindful of your feelings. I'm glad you told me, even if it did take a really bad fever to do so… Just rest, and don't worry about anything other than getting better, okay?" She nodded and settled back down. Her eyes closed and in no-time, she was asleep once again.

V sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, turning slightly to look down at MC. Jumin walked in with a fresh bowl of water and a new cloth. He pulled the other cloth from her forehead and replaced it with the other one. No words were exchanged between the two men until Jumin had finished. "You know, you don't have to sit by her side the whole time. I can take care of her," Jumin said, leaning against the bed frame with his arms crossed.

V looked up at him, his face a mask of indifference. "I know. That doesn't comfort me any, considering I know what you are." Jumin's eyes widened in surprise, the settled in gruff indifference as well. To be fair, the demon thought to himself as he looked at the sleeping form of his master, I wasn't exactly discreet about anything. The shoulder of her nightgown had fallen, and the top of her mark was peaking out. It glowed dimly when Jumin looked at it and got duller when V placed his hand on MC's. Jumin's eyes narrowed at the hand that was on MC's before walking out of the room.

After a series of really odd fever dreams, MC finally opened her eyes to the glare of sunlight filtering in through the window. She rolled over and saw V sitting on the edge of her bed, on her side, leaning against the bedpost.

"Jihyun!" she said, then realized his eyes were closed. She smiled to herself and sat up, resting her hand on his shoulder to shake him. "Jihyun, wake up…" V jumped, his eyes wide as he looked down at MC. He sighed in relief when he saw her, and smiled.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. She nodded, yawning and pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Jihyun you can lay down in one of the guest rooms if you need to sleep…," she said.

V shrugged and reached out, lightly ghosting his knuckles over her cheek. "I didn't want you to leave my sights. I was really worried about you, you know…"

MC looked guilty when he said that and looked down at the blanket she had clenched in his hands. "I'm sorry… I, um, if it makes you feel any better I had some time to think one of the times I was awake and… Well, I think I can forgive you… I don't think I was ever really mad and you in the first place…"

V's face brightened up immediately. "Really?" He grabbed her hands, pulling them up to his lips, placing a kiss on both of them. "I'm so happy. It hurt to think you were upset with me, I'm glad we're working past that…"

MC blushed, and pulled her hands out of his. "I-I said I think I can… Do-don't make such a big deal out of it…" MC looked away, her face burning.

He opened his mouth to retort, a smug grin already adorning his features when Jumin walked in. "My lady, you're awake. I've prepared a bath for you."

MC nodded and stood up on shaky legs. "I'll be back in a little bit, Jihyun," she said to the green-haired man. V nodded and sat back. "You can take a nap in here if you'd like."

"Thank you, MC," he said, smiling at her as she walked out.

MC and Jumin walked to the bathroom and he helped her disrobe and get into the bathtub. She sat back and sighed, smiling as the heat of the water made its way through her muscles to help her to relax. The demon gave her a very thorough scrubbing and after he had rinsed her off and pulled her out of the bath to wrap her in a thick bath robe, Jumin rubbed her shoulders for a moment, his fingers ghosting down to brush over her collarbones. She shivered as his touch cooled the heat of the contract mark. MC bit her lip and closed her eyes. Jumin's hands continued inching down until he was mostly only rubbing the contract mark, making MC's eyes clench tighter, and her legs press together as her heat throbbed. "MC…" Jumin said in that deep, unforgettable voice. "Your contract mark has gotten dim, once again. Would you mind if I took some time to… brighten it?"

MC shook her head. "No, I don't mind at all."

Jumin sat her down on a cushioned stool off to the side of the bathroom and kneeled in front of her, untying her bathrobe to let it fall open. Jumin held her sides and trailed kisses up to her collarbone to start marking her again. His tongue darted out to circle the mark before sucking on it and nipping at it. His hand slowly moved up and he brushed his thumbs over her stiff nipples. MC let out a soft gasp and pressed her thighs together even harder while she felt an unfamiliar heat pool to her center. Jumin's other hand traveled up to her other breast to give it a small squeeze.

He gave her mark one last little bite before he moved his head down to kiss her nipple instead, then flicked it with his tongue. MC moaned softly and threaded her fingers through his hair. He was making her feel things she had never felt before. Never been allowed to feel before. His lips were somehow cold and hot at the same time as they attached to her nipple and she felt herself panting.

MC tightened her grip in his hair when he softly bit her nipple, and she pulled his head up. His eyes were dark and clouded with lust, and she was sure her's were too. "I hate the way he looks at you," Jumin growled and pulled her closer and kissed her much like the way she had with kissed V not too long ago. It was a fast, lip biting, teeth clashing kind of kiss that left both parties breathless.

Jumin pulled away and looked up at her. She was panting, her eyes were dark, and her cheeks were a bright shade of red. She was giving him that wanton look again, and this time he couldn't resist.

He kissed her neck in all the places he knew she would like, and his hand moved down to part her legs. MC shook her head. "Wait, Jumin, no…" she gasped out as she felt his hand slip between her legs. Her eyes snapped open and she roughly pushed him away, her brain taking over and for a second his face looked just like Saeran's. "No, no, no," she repeated, closing her eyes tightly and covering them with her hands. "I'm sorry, you just… I'm sorry…"

Jumin moved her hands and brushed away the tears that began falling from her closed eyes. "It's okay, I understand," he rubbed her back and fixed her robe. "Let's just get you dressed."

MC nodded and he helped her up. Her legs were shaking and he had to hold on to her to get her to her wardrobe.

He dressed her in a red and pink afternoon dress and they walked back to the master bedroom where V was still taking a nap. MC smiled at him and gave him a small kiss on the temple before walking out.

MC took her book out to the garden to read while she waited for Jumin to finish lunch. Soon after settling down, she was joined by V.

"You should have woken me when you finished with your bath. You probably got lonely out here by yourself…" V said after he had sat down.

She smiled at him and said in a faux dramatic accent, "Oh no, how could I be lonely with the memory of your soft touches to keep me company?" She held a straight face for a total of 10 seconds before bursting into laughter, V following suit. She wiped her tears and smiled. "It's been awhile since I've been able to laugh like this… With you…"

V smiled and pecked her cheek. "Yeah, I've really missed it. I've missed you."

MC nodded, her face turning serious. "I… I really fucked up, Jihyun… I shouldn't have exploded like that… The day you visited me, or the day Saeyoung visited me. I don't know what had come over me then, at one moment I was almost happy to see you, then I felt my stomach drop and all I felt was pure rage. I should have controlled my anger…" MC looked up at V, her eyes showing how truly apologetic she was. "Could you ever forgive me?"

V nodded slowly at first, then moved his chair closer to hers and embraced her. "Of course I can. We've been friends for the better part of 25 years. This wasn't our first major fight, and I'm sure it won't be the last. I… love you, MC." V leaned in and kissed her gently, their lips just barely touching. MC leaned in to deepen the kiss, her lips slowly moving against his. This kiss was nothing like her first two, this one leaving her breathless in a different sort of way. His lips were so hot against her's and she wrapped her arms around him, her fingers getting tangled in his soft hair. They had to pull apart when air became a necessity but kept their foreheads pressed together. They stared longingly into each other's eyes and MC pecked Jihyun's lips one last time before pulling apart completely.

"Jihyun, I love you too," she said, smiling at him.

"I love you more," he said back. They both chuckled at the reference to something they used to do as kids.

"Well, I love you most."