"W-what is it that you want to talk to me about?" As Seven refused to join you in the bedroom, you decided to sit on the corridor, directly across from him despite his insistence on moving the conversation to the living room. "Actually, before that... do we have to sit this close together? Not that I complain but..." The hallway was quite cramped, hence the distance between your faces was extremely close. Having your backs against the walls, facing each other, you intentionally squeeze in as close to him as you could. Not that there's a special reason, you just simply wanted to sit next to him, he's warm after all.
"If you're not going to complain, then there's no need to worry about it." You said calmly while casually putting on a coat over your shoulders. Watching him struggled to talk back, then finally gave up was entertaining enough for you to prolong the silence for a while before you started talking.
"You know how I feel about you, right?" There you went, straight to the point, as blunt as you could be. It was probably appropriate to assume Seven was totally thrown off guard by your question and the way you asked it. His long gaze was to make sure he heard it right. Your perfect composure and unchanging expression told him that you were either too shameless or you were incredibly good at concealing your feelings. Well, it could also be both...
"...W-why ar-" Before he got the chance to question, you interrupted him with a finger resting a few centimetres away from his lips. "Just say yes or no. No unnecessary words."
He paused for a few seconds in hesitation before giving you a confirming nod, "Yes..."
"But I don't think you get it." You looked at him, your gaze was too intense it felt like it could pierce right through his heart. "She was just being nice to me. She will soon forget about me after I disappear from her life. She is only interested in the cheerful 707 in the chatroom. She deserves someone better." The more you said, the wider his eyes became. "H-how..? How did you?"
"Sound familiar?" You gave him a cold smile. You hate this bitterness in your heart as you recalled the confession he made while you were pretending to sleep.
"I am a bit hurt when you take my feelings so lightly and irresponsibly..." You intentionally sounded like you were about to cry, just to see him getting flustered at your words. "A-ah... No, I-i didn't mean it that way... I..I.."
"Just joking!" You smiled but your conscience throbbed a little out of guilt. You knew he had a hard time dealing with his own problems. Judging by his excessive defence whenever you tried to get closer, he must not be used to talk about feelings and expose his vulnerability to other people. Suddenly having someone like you being all over him must have put him in confusion and possibly fear. "Don't take it too seriously." You gently stroked his hand to comfort him.
"..." While the stun effect still lasts on Seven, you carried on.
"You know, it is okay to freak out and it is okay to feel defensive. Your reaction is totally normal and understandable. It was my bad, I was being too aggressive and impatient with my methods of approaching you. To be honest, I don't really know how to do this right either, since this is probably the very first time in my life that I actually fought for something I like." You looked at him with the softest smile you have ever given someone and asked. "Do you mind listening to my story?"
"Of course not." He seemed to have loosened up a bit, not even realised that you were still holding onto his big and warm hand.
"I have always been an easy-going child growing up. I ate anything my parents gave me. I took every single class they sent me to. I wore exactly what my sister wore, and I did whatever I was told to do. Because it was convenient. I didn't have to make a choice since they were all made for me. And because I didn't make the choice, if things turn out badly, I didn't have any expectation in the first place anyway." You took a sip of water to clear your throat and continued. "You see, I thought it was the best way to deal with things. There was no risk in anything. I didn't have to worry about upsetting my parents for not doing the things they want, nor did I have to worry about the consequences of the choices I made. But here's the thing, since I never actually made a choice for myself, I don't even know what's it like to want something."
"Is it absurd, when I could discuss with you about environmental problems around the world in Arabic and Russian at the age of 10 and I couldn't answer the question, 'What's your favourite colour?'? I was no more or less of a machine at that point in my life. When I was finally forced to make a decision on what I wanted to do with my life. I once again chose the easy path. Without even thinking about it, I instantly decided to follow my mother career path. Why? Because it was convenient." You signed.
"Seven, if you ever thought that I am a bright lovely innocent girl, please scrap that image out of your head before it hurts you. I am just a twisted, selfish and irresponsible brat who's struggling to even face her own fears and desires. I appreciated that you thought so highly of me, but just like everyone else, I am just mere human. I made mistakes and I am still figuring out what are the right things to do with my life. But the same also applies to you Seven, do realise that you are also human. And that it is okay to make mistakes. Don't be so harsh on yourself." The corridor light was off, but you could still see his golden eyes swimming with emotions under the silver light of the moon. You might look shameless to people at times, but it was definitely not easy for you to show your vulnerable side to others. "Yes, you might have put me in danger by letting me live with a bomb. However, you must also remember that I also made the decision in coming here and stay. You might have known the danger beforehand but it was me who took the risk and put my life on the line."
"What I am trying to say is, stop blaming yourself. About your brother, about me, about everything. Whatever happened, happened. There's no point in beating yourself over it. What you need right now is the courage to move forward and accept bits of help from others. You have Jumin, and the wonderful Jaehee and Zen, and Yoosung as an endless source of entertainment. You are not alone. Oh and don't forget Elly." Totally unexpected, he cracked up at the last name you mentioned.
"Pft! Ha ha ha!" The laughter seemed to have washed the tension away from the conversation. "How can I forget about my lovely Elly? You know what, you are right, I need to straighten up and seriously think about the intruding tactics. I am not gonna go anywhere at this point right?"
"It's not just I , it's we we're talking about here. I might not look persuasive enough but, I am telling you I am not as weak as you think I am. I promise I won't get into your way." You smiled cheekily. "Besides, I also have some business to deal with that Mint Eye organization. Since they have my sister."
