❤︎ Day 16 - 07:04 AM ❤︎

POV: 707 Mode

Seven awoke to the sound of a mug connecting with hardwood and slowly opened his eyes. Blond hair was tickling his throat, a clear sign that Yoosung had gotten up sometime last night and moved to Seven's lap. Automatically pulling the boy closer, Seven savored the quiet noise he made, accompanied by the feeling of hands tightening their grip on his jacket. So cute! Looking to the side, he noticed an impatient looking Jumin standing next to the table, a cup of coffee in one hand to accompany the one he'd already set down.

"Hey, Mista Trust Fund Kid, how does it feel getting a taste of what Jaehee's life was like?" Had he been a little more awake, he probably would've registered Jumin's expression becoming just the slightest bit pinched, but as it was, he didn't. Holding on to Yoosung with one arm, Seven reached for the mug and downed half the contents, the strong flavor of black coffee immediately perking him up the moment it hit his tongue. "So, we both know you're not here for pleasantries. What's up?" Letting a bit of his true persona bleed through, he set the cup down and moved to straighten his glasses, which had been knocked askew while he was sleeping.

"I just came in to check on your progress. Everyone is quite on edge about your findings after all." Jumin may have looked like he had the emotional capacity of a calculator, but Seven knew this was his own special way of showing he cared.

"Actually, something pretty interesting came up last night, let me just-" He carefully maneuvered Yoosung's head onto his shoulder and tried not to giggle when the smaller boy's soft breaths started hitting his neck. Reaching around the blond in his arms, Seven brought the console out of sleep mode and signed in before pulling up the photo that had been taken last night. "Here we go! I found her!" Jumin leaned over to look at the screen and his eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

"Luciel this is...great news." Was it just him, or did Jumin sound a little impressed? "I should tell the others." Wait, no, bad idea.

"H-hold on a second! I just got a shot of her from a traffic cam, so I don't actually know where she's staying yet. I've almost got the location security down if you give me a few more hours-!" After all this time, Seven still rambled when he was nervous, but he could see the understanding on Jumin's face. After placing the other cup of still-warm coffee on the table, he turned to leave but stopped at the door.

"I know we're placing most of our expectations on your shoulders, Luciel, but you're the only one who can do this. Please do not let us down." Seven watched him walk away and tried not to feel intimidated. He'd done harder things than this before! Finding a party planner who faked her death and may or may not have been kidnapped? Easy peasy! No problem for him!

Even with his self-reassurances, he still couldn't help the light tremors in his hands as he moved to type. There was a shifting movement in his lap and he froze before grinning and wrapping his arms around the smaller body currently situated on top of his legs.

"Sneaky sneaky, Yoosung! How long have you been awake, cutie?" He could feel a smile against his neck as his boyfriend blindly grasped for his cup of coffee before Seven picked it up and handed it to him. Sitting up in his lap, Yoosung took a sip of the bitter liquid, grimaced, and then continued to drink until some semblance of alertness returned to his eyes.

"Long enough. Jumin shouldn't pressure you so much when you've already done a lot to help." Seven reclined in the chair, causing Yoosung to pitch forward with him, resulting in their foreheads knocking together. After a shared groan of pain and subsequent laughter at the situation, Seven pulled his adorable boyfriend in for a quick chaste kiss.

"You might be right, but so is he. I'm the only one in the RFA with the skills to find Zai. We have no one else to turn to." Yoosung dropped his head against Seven's shoulder while his arms slipped beneath his jacket to wrap around his middle.

"As long as you don't forget that you can only do so much. No one is expecting you to be perfect." Seven could feel himself getting lighter, like he might float off earth at this rate. Yoosung always knew what to say to make him feel better. "Plus, I'm here to help too, so you don't have to do everything alone!" Smiling, he leaned down to nuzzle into bright gold strands before gently extracting himself from his boyfriend's grip.

"Thank you! I can do anything when I've got my cutie here supporting me! But first-!" He gave his foot an experimental wiggle and cringed hard when he felt his entire leg burst into static. "Please get off of me, I might be awake right now, but my legs are definitely still asleep." Yoosung scrambled to remove his weight off of his boyfriend while the latter tried to ignore how uncomfortable he was.

"Sorry, sorry!" They were definitely sleeping in a bed next time.

❤︎ Day 16 - 07:49 AM ❤︎

POV: ZEN Mode

Although he'd never admit it out loud, Zen was thankful that Jumin had let him and Jaehee stay overnight in his penthouse. The man might have had over eight guest bedrooms, but it was still nice, not having to drive back home after the news of Zai's confirmed survival hit them full force. Both he and Jaehee had been rather unstable for the rest of the day and had decided to turn in early. Now the sun was barely peeking through the windows, and Jaehee was still asleep. She looked more relaxed now than she had in days, and Zen knew that he owed that to both Jumin and Seven. One day, he promised himself, he would pay them back. Soon, Jaehee started moving in his arms and Zen moved forward to lightly kiss her brow.

"Morning, Beautiful." Even when still half asleep, Jaehee could still turn the most endearing shade of red whenever he complimented her. His heart soared. "Have a nice rest?" Her eyes fluttered open before closing once more and burrowing further into his embrace.

"Too early...phone calls...no coffee..." Zen tried not to laugh as he pulled the covers up to cover Jaehee's shoulders, before delicately extracting himself from the bed.

"Be back in a bit." He called out lightly so he wouldn't wake her further as he slipped past the door so he could get dressed. Jaehee might have gotten up early due to work before, but was definitely not a morning person.

Once fully dressed and caffeinated, Zen returned with another mug of coffee and a plate of food (courtesy of Jumin's private chefs) for Jaehee. His girlfriend was already sitting up in bed and using her phone by the time he got back and noticeably brightened once she noticed what he was holding.

"For you, my lady." Gently setting them down on the side table closest to her, he grinned as she leaned upward so he could kiss her cheek. His grin widened at the little gasp she made when he decided to go for her lips instead. "Miss me?" Circling the bed and sitting down next to her, he noticed she was responding to her emails regarding the cafe, which was set aside in favor of the breakfast he'd brought her.

"Of course. Thank you for getting this for me." Zen knew Jaehee was very unused to accepting gifts or even affection from others and he was glad that Zai would be back with them soon, because, as much as he loved Jaehee, he knew that he couldn't provide that same kind of endless optimism that awoke the self-confidence in their mutual girlfriend. She had been working so hard lately and he was incredibly proud of her.

Although they'd known each other for a while due to their involvement in the RFA, Zen had never noticed just how strong Jaehee was until Zai brought it up to his attention. She was always handling Jumin's various, and often ludicrous, requests, plus balancing her work for both the fundraising association and her own job while still finding the time to be there as a support for the rest of the members. Truly, Jaehee deserved more credit than she earned, and Zen wanted to be there to see her succeed. She was older than him, yes, but that didn't mean he couldn't help her stand up when she needed him!

While trapped in his own thoughts, he didn't notice Jaehee watching him with a fond look on her face. While taking another sip of her coffee, she wondered how she'd gotten so lucky in life.

"For some reason, I feel like today is going to be a good day." Zen jolted lightly and turned her way.

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know, just a feeling."

❤︎ Day 16 - 08:21 AM ❤︎

It had been a while since Zai had woken up early, but even though she'd got up before the sun had been able to breach the tree-cover, Saeran was already up and commandeering her laptop from his spot at the kitchen island. She knew he noticed when she'd slid into the room because he had sent her a quick look of acknowledgment before lowering his head once more to focus on the screen. It wasn't until she pulled her seat up next to him and slid a mug of his favorite tea in his direction that he responded more actively. She made a small noise of surprise as he pressed his lips against her jaw before taking a sip of the drink.

"So, what are you working on?" When she leaned over to look at the computer screen, it was covered with rows of colored text. "Coding?" Glancing at Saeran in surprise, she saw him tense up and tried not to think of any bad reasons for why he would be using her laptop to hack. He gave her a withering look but relaxed once he realized she wasn't going to jump to any conclusions until he'd explained himself.

"Uh, kind of?" He typed in a few more lines before pushing the device aside and lifting his mug back up to his face. "I set up some rudimentary defenses on the house's network the other day when you first gave me the laptop, I was just checking on them." Looking to the side, she noticed him rubbing his wrist where that ridiculous spiked bracelet of his once was. "You didn't think I was doing something illegal did you?" Zai balked.

"Oh! No no no! I just-" Frowning, she tried to find a way to correct her assumption. "I don't understand any of that technical stuff, so I can't really tell what you're doing. I trust you not to do anything too terrible." Was that better?

"Nothing too terrible, huh?" Zai turned even paler.

"I didn't mean-! I know you'd never- stop that! You're messing with me!" Saeran had started grinning in the middle of her babbling and now she was lightly shoving his face away while he held in his laughter.

"Oh no...you're living along with a scary hacker...how terrifying."

"Your sense of humor is atrocious."

"Sorry, clown was my second career choice"

"What was the first one?"

"Master of sarcasm." Zai was trying not to giggle but Saeran's deadpan expression was making it really difficult. Unfortunately, the atmosphere was ruined when notification noises started coming from her laptop. Pulling it back in front of him, Saeran stared at the screen critically. "Well, that's weird." Letting out a breath to try and regain some normalcy, Zai leaned over to his side.

"What's weird?" She couldn't understand anything on the screen, but she trusted Saeran to tell her what was happening.

"Someone's apparently been trying to break into the network since yesterday. The diagnostics just caught them, but they haven't been making very much progress." He narrowed his eyes at the screen and Zai was almost scared by how wrong the expression looked on his usually calm face. "Still, that means someone's gotten on our trail. I might be able to hold them off for a while, but this laptop isn't really geared for work like this. They'll find us eventually." Zai's heart skipped a beat as she felt something like terror settle in her chest while she tried to steady her breathing.

"You...you don't think it's the RFA is it?" Although she wanted to see them, Zen and Jaehee and everyone else, again, the very thought of being confronted by them was almost enough to make her lungs stop functioning entirely. "Seven is a hacker, he could probably break through in a few hours if he wanted to. Oh no, ahaha ha..." Zai felt like everything was spiraling out of control as the world shifted and then she was being held by a pair of strong arms, looking up into Saeran's concerned and panicked eyes while he scanned her face.

"Z-Zai!? Are you okay?" She smiled blearily at him.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault. Jamming must have dialed one of the RFA members when he grabbed my phone yesterday." The tears started flowing almost immediately afterward as she clutched desperately at Saeran's shirt, searching for something to ground her. "I can't- I can't do anything right! I can't even protect the people I love from myself! It's my fault they got hurt in the first place! Why do they want me back so badly!? I hurt them, I hurt them!" She was outright sobbing now, big fat tears rolling down her face. Saeran had no idea what to do in this situation, so he just settled for holding and listening to the girl currently curled up against him on the kitchen floor while trying his best to ignore the parallels this situation had with another one of their conversations.

"I-I wish I could tell them everything, but who knows if they'll even believe me! I did so many terrible things that they can't remember. I don't deserve their love. They don't deserve someone as awful as I am-"

- POV: Saeran Mode -

Saeran snapped.

Lightly gripping the side of her face, he pulled her up to lock eyes with him.

"Shut up! What are you saying? I haven't heard someone spout this much nonsense since Rika!" That got the desired effect.

"Don't compare me to her!" Zai snapped back, a fierce expression on her face like he'd never seen. "I'm nothing like her at all! She didn't...She didn't care about them like I do. She didn't love them like I do!" Her tears hadn't stopped falling from her eyes, but at least she wasn't making such self-depreciating statements anymore. "Rika wanted to use them, I had to do what I did for their sakes. Even if- even if it hurt!" He had to admit, she was pretty when full of righteous anger.

"Yes, exactly. You had to do those things in order to keep them all safe. You told me you made mistakes, but that means you didn't repeat them again, right" She nodded wordlessly in response. "So everything you did before helped to prepare you for what's happened now. If you didn't take those routes before, maybe things might now have turned out the way they did." He pressed his forehead to hers and closed his eyes as his mind flew back to when she'd started crying the moment she realized just what had happened to him at Mint Eye. "Maybe I...wouldn't even be here." He felt her freeze in his grasp as his hands moved down to wrap around her middle.

"Listen, I know it's only been a few days, but I...I-!" He was choking on his own words. Stupid, stupid!

"Zai!" Screaming was how he'd gotten his emotions out in the past, so why not now? "Zai I love you okay!?" He felt like his heart was going to stop, but there it was, and now everything was out in the open. "You- you were the first person besides Saeyoung who actually cared about me, and you didn't even know me, not really. I...I tried to kill you! More than once! I can't believe you'd forgive me for that!" If it had been him in her place, he sure wouldn't have.

"Please, please don't regret what you've done. If not for their sake, then at least for mine." He tried to express as much love as possible in his eyes as he looked at her. "You saved me, Zai. Without you, I might still be back in that place, working for that woman, hating my brother and not having anything. No hope, no future, just a lifetime of servitude. You freed me from that place, and you didn't even ask me to repay you for it." He felt her hand unclasp from the front of his shirt to wipe the moisture away from his cheek. Shoot, was he crying too now? He nearly broke then and there, but he couldn't, not when Zai was indisposed like this.

"I'm not asking you to return my feelings, and I know we talked about this, but please let me be selfish this once." He buried his face in the crook of her neck and felt her arms reach around to hold him as well so they were embracing each other. "No matter what happens, with the RFA or anything else, I'll do my best to look out for you like you did for me. Whatever comes next, we can handle it together, alright?" He nearly held his breath as he waited for her reply. After a few seconds, he started getting nervous, but his worries were blown away by her enthusiastic response.

"O-okay...okay! Saeran, Saeran I love you too, thank you for staying, thank you for trusting me and believing in me." She was still crying, but from her tone of voice, he could infer that they were happy tears instead of 'my life is ending' tears. "Thank you so much, I love you, please hold me a little longer?" He had no problem with that request.

"Sure, whatever you need." He felt soft lips again his collarbone and tightened his grip around her just a little.

There was nothing he wouldn't do for this girl.