Chapter 11
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Rachael had come home to her kitchen in shambles. Frosting, flour and sugar coated her counters along with the two people standing beside them. She noticed a tinge of pink coated their cheeks that didn't look like it had anything to do with frosting. However, for once, she decided to leave well enough alone. It seemed they had had a moment while she had been away and she didn't have the heart to ruin it. Instead, she announced her presence at the archway leading into the kitchen, causing them both to jump. She'd never seen two people separate so quickly. It felt like she was a teacher yelling at a pair of students in the hallway to stop groping at each other.

MC, in a state of panic, insisted a cake monster had tried to attack them while they were baking. Obviously that was the only logical explanation to why her kitchen was a mess. Rachael agreed that it was a foolproof defense and congratulated them on defeating the offending monster for her. Of course, that didn't get them out of helping her clean up its guts. After cake, obviously.

Once every bit of sugar had been scrubbed clean off of the counter tops and floor Rachael led MC into the living room. She told her she had gotten a present for her while she was out. MC was surprised and had a small urge to refuse. Though when she saw what her friend had bought her that urge was suddenly not so small anymore.

A brand new smart phone rested in Rachael's hand as she reached out towards her friend. MC looked mortified. How could she have went out and bought something so expensive out of the blue? Had she been planning this or something? A nagging feeling pulled at MC that that could indeed be the case.

No matter how hard she tried to refuse Rachael wasn't taking it. She insisted that she needed a phone and that it wasn't just for her own benefit. There might be a time where MC would need to get a hold of her and if she didn't have a phone then what would she do? Plus, Rachael had to admit, she was just tired of MC not having one. It was practically an essential nowadays!

With a begrudging sigh MC reached out and took the unwanted present. She felt immensely guilty but there was no other option for her to take. It was true she needed a new phone and that she probably couldn't afford one on her own. That didn't mean that she could find any comfort in her friend buying it for her however. Rachael was too liberal with her money for her own good.

"Did she seriously buy you a whole new phone?" Asked Yoosung as they made their way up to the bedroom. He was in shock.

"Yeah, I can't believe it. She's too much sometimes..." said MC with a sigh.

As they entered the bedroom a familiar dilemma resurfaced. MC stared at the bed, a blush already forming on her cheeks. She could feel the tingling sensation from earlier rise up in her abdomen. Unconsciously she touched her finger to her lips.

"So uh, we should probably get to bed. Don't you have to work tomorrow?" Asked Yoosung as he headed toward the bed. His cheeks were lightly flushed as well but he seemed to be keeping himself rather composed.

"Oh, yeah I do actually. You don't?" She asked, following his lead. It was still embarrassing sharing a bed together even though they had already went through this the previous night. Especially after that kiss...

"No," Yoosung shook his head. "Are you sure you're alright to go back? You don't want to take another day off? I'm sure the manager would understand." He insisted as he pulled up the covers, rolling over to face her. She found she couldn't look him directly in the eye.

"No, I should be okay. Besides I don't want to be in debt to Rachael forever..." she said quietly.

"I know how you feel." Laughed Yoosung. She felt something warm take hold of her hand beneath the covers. MC's blush deepened. "Just as I hope I'll be able to repay you one day."

"Yoosung, you don't need to repay me for anything. I don't want your money..." Said MC, her eyes glancing up into his. He smiled as his hand squeezed her's gently.

"That's not what I mean." He said, stroking her hand with his thumb. "I want to repay you for your kindness, your helpfulness, your generosity... everything. But not with money, with this." He gently pulled her hand above the covers, pressing his lips against it softly. "I promise to repay you with my heart."

MC's cheeks burned as she stared down between them. The bed creaked as Yoosung's weight shifted. A pair of arms hesitantly wrapped around her. MC shivered as Yoosung held her close to his chest. Strangely, as nervous as she was before to be lying next to him, everything seemed to calm down all at once.

A soft heart beat met MC's ears as her head lay against him. She felt safe.

"I... hope this is okay." He said slowly, holding her close.

"Yes," She replied softly, letting out a shaky breath. "This is... nice." He hugged her tighter before relaxing against her. She could practically see his smile in her mind as she nuzzled her face into his chest.

"I'm glad. I wish I could hold you like this forever." He said softly. MC felt her heart skip a beat at his words. "Goodnight, MC. Sweet dreams." A light kiss pressed against the top of her head.

"Goodnight... Yoosung."

The next morning seemed to give way to a new routine among the new members of the household. Rachael had come to knock on their door again, announcing breakfast was ready. MC had opened her eyes groggily with a yawn. She found herself still fully intertwined with her boyfriend and blushed, nudging him awake.

"Hm?" He said sleepily, opening one eye.

"Come on, Yoosung. It's time to get up. Rachael has breakfast ready." Said MC, smiling as she watched him sit up. His bed head was absolute perfection.

"It's morning already...?" He asked with a yawn. As he turned to face her he smiled. "I'm so happy you're the first thing I get to see when I wake up." MC blushed before shoving him in the shoulder. He had been getting exceptionally cheesy lately. Not that she minded, of course.

"Come on, you dork." She laughed. He merely smiled.

Breakfast was even better than the previous morning's. Eggs, hash browns and sausage piled high on their plates. Rachael really did seem grateful to have people to cook for again.

"Wow, Rachael. This is really good!" Said MC enthusiastically as she dug into her plate.

"It's just eggs, MC." Rachael laughed.

"No, she's right. This is really good." Insisted Yoosung, taking a bite out of his sausage. "You're a really good cook!"

"Aw, shucks guys stop you're gonna make me blush." Said Rachael happily.

"I don't understand why they won't let you work in the kitchen back at work." Said MC. "Your food tastes much better than anything they make."

"Wait, why can't she?" Asked Yoosung curiously. Rachael pursed her lips before answering.

"They keep telling me they already have all the spots filled. I don't have the 'qualifications', according to them." She said as she stabbed at her hash browns. MC frowned as she watched her friend.

"Maybe one day they'll let you. If you bug them enough anyway." Suggested MC. She knew it was pointless to say. Her friend had been bugging them about it ever since they started working there.

"Yeah, starting to wonder when enough is gonna come though." Scoffed Rachael. "Oh! Speaking of work, you have to work today don't you MC?"

"Yeah I do, why?" Said MC.

"Perfect! Yoosung and I will drive you up there. We both have the day off, don't we?" Said Rachael happily. Yoosung looked surprised for a moment before nodding.

"Awesome, I had some stuff I wanted to do today. You should come with me Yoosung. It'll give me a chance to get to know you more." She suggested. "Plus, no offense, but we gotta get you some new clothes. It can't be nice wearing the same old thing all the time like that. Did this poor boy not bring a single extra piece of clothing when he came to your house?"

Both MC and Yoosung froze. A flashback from the day Yoosung had first appeared in her old living room flashed before her eyes. The explosion, the confusion, the hairbrush, all of it rushed back to her. How exactly was she going to explain any of this? Yoosung seemed equally at a loss for words beside her. Coming up with a lie as quick as she could, she blurted out the first thing to come to mind.

"He uh, lost his suitcase." She said hurriedly. Both Yoosung and Rachael gave her a strange look. "Yeah uh, he came here by plane. I mean, he is from South Korea after all."

Yoosung's eyes lit up as finally understood her plan.

"Ah, yeah, my stuff got lost in the baggage return. They still haven't contacted me about anything." He said, agreeing with his girlfriend.

"What? That's so messed up! We should call them and complain!" Said Rachael. She seemed to be more upset about this fake story than either Yoosung or MC.

"No!" They both shouted at once. Rachael looked startled.

"Uh, I mean, we already did. There's nothing they could do about it unfortunately. We were planning on getting him more clothes but well, you saw what happened to my place." Said MC delicately. Rachael thought for a moment before replying.

"Well, that does suck. How much did you lose Yoosung? I hope there wasn't anything expensive in there." She said with concern. Yoosung shook his head.

"Nah I just uh, had a couple pairs of clothes and a toothbrush. You know, essentials." He laughed uneasily. Rachael looked at them suspiciously before deciding to drop it.

"Well regardless, you're coming with me. I can't just let you wear the same pair of pant and shirt every single day now can I?" Rachael insisted as she finished up her food.

MC felt strange on the way up to work. She was worried about how Yoosung would fair spending an entire day alone with Rachael. She was certainly a handful, even for her. MC only hoped that Yoosung wouldn't let anything slip about their predicament.

A twinge of guilt stung her insides as she thought back to their earlier conversation. She had said the only thing that made any sense at the time. He was in fact from South Korea. Maybe not their own per se but that was about as close as it mattered. It didn't feel right for her to have lied but she didn't really see any alternative. Rachael would think they were crazy. Anyone would, really.

As they pulled up to the restaurant Rachael and Yoosung turned to look back at her. She had insisted Yoosung sit in the front with her since they were dropping off MC anyway.

"Last chance to ditch work." Rachael said jokingly. MC gave a sarcastic laugh.

"You know me better than that Rachael." She smirked as she unbuckled her seat belt, slipping out of the car.

"Killjoy." Remarked her friend.

"MC! Wait, come here." Said Yoosung urgently. MC raised an eyebrow before circling the car to his window. He shook his head and gestured for her to move closer. As soon as she stepped within distance he leaned out of the window and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Have a lovely day at work." He smiled. MC blushed before giving him a smile.

"Yeah, and have fun hanging out with that monster." She laughed as she headed to the doorway. Yoosung called after her, asking if she really meant what she said. He didn't get his answer.

As MC walked into the familiar backroom she headed towards her locker, fully ready to put up her things for the day. Spotting a dent in the metal stopped her dead in her tracks. A dull ache spread across her forehead as she looked at the damaged locker. It seemed they had replaced the door but thought nothing of fixing any other pieces of damaged property. She shivered, trying to clear her mind of that night. This wasn't going to be a problem for her. She just had to not let it bother her was all. A strange knot formed in her stomach. Perhaps this wasn't going to be as easy as she told herself it would be.

Opening the door to the manager's office, she stepped inside. Paul, her boss, sat at his desk, his face buried in paperwork. He didn't seem to notice her presence.

"Um, Paul?" MC said softly causing the man to jump.

"Oh, oh my goodness MC I forgot you were coming back today! Are you sure you don't need another day off? You look a little rough." He mentioned. MC felt a bit self conscious but brushed it off.

"No uh, I'm okay. I was just coming in to tell you I was back before I headed to the floor." She insisted.

"Alright, if you insist. But if you feel you need an extra break don't be afraid to take a few minutes outside if you need to." He said reassuringly. She thanked him and headed out of the office.

The kitchen seemed so different with the lights back on. She could clearly remember how things had looked the last time she had been there. Dark, blurry, and so very eerie. It took all she had not to stop and look back at the wall she had been held up against only a few days prior. Her heart rate accelerated slightly at the memory and she had to take a deep breath. She was going to be fine.

The spread sheet hung on the wall next to the other pair of kitchen doors leading out to the floor. She just had to take a look at it before she could head out to start her day. But where was her name? It took her a moment to find it hastily penciled in towards the bottom. A scribble halfway down the sheet caught her eye and her insides felt icy.

She could clearly say the name 'Kyle' crossed out in black ink a few spaces above her own. A shiver ran down her spine as another memory involuntarily surfaced. The butcher knife he had held that day, glinting light menacingly swung into her minds eye. She shook her head, trying to clear the unwanted thoughts. A cold hand suddenly clasped around her shoulder as a voice spoke from behind her.

She had never jumped so high in her life. With a scream she smacked the would be attacker with the paper she had been holding as she jumped out of arm's reach. An unfamiliar boy of about eighteen stood dumbstruck in front of her. She gasped before apologizing profusely.

"Oh my goodness I'm so sorry! I-I don't know what came over me!" She said in a panic. He seemed to have finally recovered and waved her off.

"No, it's okay." He said. "I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that. You're MC aren't you? I'm so sorry I scared you I promise I wasn't going to do anything to you."

"How do you know my name?" She asked hesitantly. Who was this guy?

"Geez I feel rude, uh the other waitresses told me about what happened. I figured you must be the girl they were talking about." He admitted, scratching behind his head nervously. MC made a face. "I'm new here. My name's Geoffrey. You can just call me Geoff though. I was supposed to start a couple days ago but... yeah."

"Oh uh, hi then. You said that the others told you about me...?" She asked curiously. The knot in her stomach from before grew tighter.

"Well... they told me about Kyle. I'm sorry, I didn't make you mad or anything did I? Augh I feel like such an ass." Said Geoff, his hands rubbing at his face. MC's face burned slightly at the thought that her coworkers had been gossiping about her. No, that wasn't right, they were just letting the new guy know what happened was all. She didn't need to be so sensitive about it. With a deep breath she shook her head.

"No, no it's fine. Don't worry about it. I'm okay now so everything's cool. Welcome aboard and all that." Said MC. She didn't want to dwell on the incident from before. It was already taking most of her willpower just to ignore the atmosphere of the kitchen itself. Geoff looked relieved.

"Thanks!" Said Geoff cheerfully. He seemed to bounce back fast.

"Well... we should probably get to work then." Said MC awkwardly as she scanned the paper again. She didn't really want to reminisce about her trauma any longer. Geoff nodded and said a polite goodbye before heading over towards the dishwasher. He must be assigned to dish duty because of what happened with Kyle. A shiver rushed through her. She really needed to stop thinking about him. Otherwise she was just going to start making herself feel paranoid.

As she opened the door a familiar face caught her eye briefly from the window. The moment didn't last long as the hooded figure quickly ducked and ran from sight. It had been just long enough, however. She recognized those eyes. An icy sting of fear coarsed through her veins. Those eyes had haunted her dreams since that night. They were his eyes.

Rachael and Yoosung had made their way to one of the closest clothing stores in their area. It hadn't taken long for Rachael to convince Yoosung to just pick a few things. He didn't want to admit it but he was becoming unfortunately used to things like this happening to him. Even so, he vowed to himself that he would repay his two friends. Well, his friend and his girlfriend.

His heart fluttered in his chest as a wave of nervousness washed over him. He couldn't believe how brave he had been the past couple of days. She was driving him absolutely crazy. In probably the best way possible of course. It was still so hard for him to wrap his head around the fact he had actually finally kissed her. She had even kissed him back! A smile pulled at the corners of his lips. He was proud of himself.

Even with how nervous he felt around her, the fact that she seemed even more bashful gave him the courage to take his chances. He wondered what would happen once she finally got accustomed to him. If she suddenly pulled a move on him he wasn't sure if his heart could take it. It would have to stay his little secret how nervous she made him feel all of the time. He actually felt pretty manly and proud with how things were going so far.

"Hey, earth to Blondie you there?" Said Rachael, waving a hand in front of his face. He snapped out of his thoughts as a light flush rose to his cheeks.

"What?" He asked in a dazed voice before shaking his head to clear his mind.

"What the heck was going on in there that you didn't hear me talking to you for the last five minutes?" Nagged Rachael. "You're as bad as MC when she was playing that dumb game."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Yoosung, shifting the bags in his hands as they walked towards the exit of the store.

"The vacant yet pink expression, the inability to somehow notice my presence, both of you are exactly the same." She laughed again.

"Wait no I mean what game are you talking about?" Asked Yoosung curiously. He had a hunch he knew what game she was talking about but his curiosity had gotten the better of him. He wondered if he could get Rachael to tell him more about things MC seemed too tight lipped about.

"Oh, she never told you? I don't know if I should say anything then. It might embarrass her." Said Rachael thoughtfully. Yoosung felt both relieved and upset to hear her say that. He was happy she was a good friend to MC but slightly disappointed that she wouldn't tell him anything.

"You know... you do really remind me of her favorite character though." Said Rachael. She believed this wouldn't be too much information to give away about the game. Her friend could like a character without it necessarily being a dating game right? This shouldn't hurt. Besides, it really was uncanny how much her friend's boyfriend reminded her of that character.

Yoosung's eyes twinkled. Was she talking about him? Had he really been MC's favorite? He knew she had played his route but somehow hearing someone else confirm that he really was her favorite made him feel warm inside. So she really hadn't just been saying it, it was true.

"Really?" He asked, hoping for more.

"Yeah it's actually kind of weird now that I think about it. She was absolutely gaga over this guy and now here you are and I swear you look just like him." She said, a hint of suspicion to her voice. "Is there something weird going on here I don't know about?"

"What? No nothing weird at all." Said Yoosung suddenly worried. Of course, what did he really have to worry about? It's not like he could explain what happened nor would she ever guess it. Who would believe either of them anyway?

"I sure hope not. I mean, MC does like you for more than how you look right? What am I saying, she's not that kind of girl." She said, shaking her head. She looked clearly upset with herself for even suggesting it. "I just hope she's not trying to replace this guy with you is all. You're a real nice guy." Rachael looked at him with concern.

"Wow, uh, thank you." He said sincerely. "And I'm sure it's nothing like that at all. MC likes me for me. And I like her. A lot." He finished with a small smile, letting his eyes wander towards the ground shyly. Rachael snickered.

"You guys have got to quit it with all this cute nonsense you know? You're gonna give me diabetes from all the sweet talk." She laughed.

A sudden ringing caught them both off guard as they reached the car. Rachael made a face before pulling her phone out of her pocket. Why on earth was work calling her right now? Didn't they know she had the day off? She scoffed and slipped the phone back into her pocket.

Without even a second of silence the phone began to ring again. Yoosung heard Rachael curse from the other side of the car as he opened his door. He popped his head around to see what all the fuss was about. Rachael was pulling her phone from her pocket before looking angrily at the screen.

"Augh why are they calling me again?" She scoffed before answering it reluctantly. "What do you want?"

Her face dropped almost immediately to one of concern. She looked almost frightened. Yoosung felt a jolt of panic inside him as he watched her.

"Whoa baby slow down what's wrong?" She said, moving her phone to her other ear. "Who? No you can't be serious! Oh my god okay don't worry MC we'll be right there don't move okay? Did they call someone already? No? Augh those bastards okay don't worry we're just a few streets over we'll be there soon. No no don't cry it's okay. Here, I'll give the phone to your boyfriend. He'll talk to you while we drive up there is that okay? Okay. Yoosung! Take my phone we have to go, right now." She said urgently. Yoosung snatched the phone from her before asking what was going on. Rachael gestured towards her car before hurrying into the driver's seat.

As Yoosung climbed into the passenger seat he pressed the phone to his ear. Harsh sobbing poured from the phone and he felt a sense of panic.

"MC! What's wrong?" He asked worriedly. His grip tightened over the phone.

"I- I saw him." She cried. It sounded like her throat was raw through the constant sobbing.

"Who's him what're you... no! Are you okay?! What happened?" He asked as the car took off, throwing him back into his seat.

"I was, I was clocking in f-for work 'hic' and I got stuck talking t-to someone in the back." She choked out. "And when I went to go ont-to the floor I saw him. Yoosung, I-I saw him outside the window. Kyle was there!"

Yoosung nearly dropped the phone in shock. He couldn't have been there. He had a warrant out for his arrest as they spoke! There was no way he'd be so stupid as to come back to that restaurant. There had to be a different explanation. There just had to be! Deep in his heart though he knew however, that no matter how much he didn't want it to be true, he would never doubt MC. Kyle had been watching her.