Night-Owl Romance
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Note: Heya guys ^o^
It's been officially over a month since starting a new job, my first one actually. Recently I've welcomed a 4-days resting period because my country's national day had taken place here, so I could work on this chapter in relative peace and stress-less environment. It's not a perfect chapter, probably boring in some bits (many) and need to proof read the ending part, but - OH WELL - it's the best version possible and I'm satisfied with it.
Also, it's been one month painfully overdue. Seriously, I had half the chapter written in early days of November but guess who unexpectedly got a job lightning fast. That's right. I did. *swimming with regret* Also,
3D modelling courses during the weekend so I was a human zombie,
feeling the insomnia my MC did - minus the stalkers.
Anywho, hope you enjoy the chapter. ^o^
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Chapter 37: Insomniacs Sixth: Rekindling
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"Wrong."
A half-assed written e-mail was what Mina had been thoroughly inspecting for a while, twitchy fingers lying on top of the keyboard's backspace. She was preparing to tick off another guest's impossible reply, a pleasing answer having yet to reveal itself underneath her fingertips.
"Everything is wrong..."
*BUZZ*
Nothing was going into the right direction, things progressing far too slowly and were being threatened to be put into reverse. Red was tainting the guests' latest replies, Mina's cheeks drained of color at the appalling sight.
'Thank you for the invitation, but after careful considerations we found it best to dismiss the offer since it does not correlate with our views and current plans.'
*BUZZ*
Stagnation hit the girl like a truck.
*BUZZ*
Mina was unable to channel even a shred of focus into the job, her mind constantly retracing over those fresh and painful moments Zen had so kindly giftedto her.
*BUZZ*
It did not help being bombarded with an array of buzzing alerts flowing out of her phone, which had been haphazardly discarded onto a dead woman's bed and purposely ignored thereafter.
*BUZZ*
One needn't be a genius to figure out the identity of the person desperately trying to contact her. And this thought alone did not do much to improve Mina's situation, but worsen it.
*BUZZ*
Same could be told about her stuffy nose and foggy eyesight, direct consequences of said kind gift.
*BUZZ*
Her fingers trembled.
*BUZZ*
The surroundings of her body trembled badly too and, overall, Mina was in no shape to efficiently perform her R.F.A. tasks. On the contrary, she was doing poorly and risked losing all the hard work she had poured into the party up until now because of the stupid mistakes she was doing with these replies.
*BUZZ*
A slice of good news, though!
Zen had successfully made the girl's nightmare seem like an itchy fairy dust tickling her senses~! Her wish had been fully granted: forgetting the fear brought by that monster lurking within her dreams. But, as always, it was not in the form she had imaged it to come as.
Or had preferred to.
Her wishes never did turn up like intended, time after time, after time, the young one being reminded of this undeniable fact.
*BUZZ*
Nevertheless, it would be quite hard to top the suffering she was experiencing due to the actor's harshness with cutting off all ties with her – until the party,that is. Well, knowing this small detail did little to bring out her optimism and lift up the mood.
An already-fragile friendship broke beyond repair in less than a week, Mina mourning the loss of their wonderful conversations. Whatever the future held, she was bloody certain that nothing would be the same between them from this day forward.
*BUZZ*
Moreover, Mina was convinced she would have burst into a never-ending stream of tears right before logging off the messenger, the coordinator having felt the pressure building up in both her eyes and throat clenching from the aches.
Only a few drops leaked.
'Thankfully...'
Other than that, her cheeks retained a somewhat dryer appearance. That is, until...
*BUZZ*
"Ngh.", Mina grimaced sourly and violently shoved the laptop aside, towering over the coffee table where she rested her defeated body. Soon, she was staring outside the window and gazing at the night's sky, examining those revealing speckles of the cloud-covered moon.
...
...
...
'Quiet.', the troubled youth noted and instantly chewed onto her bottom lip, the girl's hurt suddenly gushing down her cheeks in a thin line.
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Zen had finally given up on contacting the coordinator.
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The enveloping silence was bitterswe– 'No. Just bitter.'
No sweetness had remained.
"Hm.", she sniffed powerfully and a crooked smile graced her lips. Mina believed it to be a funny notion how a person, a complete stranger as a matter of fact, could creep into someone's life at a snap of the fingers and then vanish in the next second, yet the amount of time that had passed was plenty in order to leave behind a memorable presence.
Even if the setting was an online one, Zen's presence had marked her life indefinitely.
She wasn't mentally prepared for their bond's abrupt ending, although – generally – life does not patiently wait for one to feel comfortable enough with these unexpected outcomes. If anything, out of this enraging and stupid conflict with Zen, Mina only wanted to understand the reason it got to such a damaging point. She could obviously ponder herself about the numerous motives that could have easily broken their communication apart, but there were too many popping up.
The party planner was highly aware of her bad habits and traits, voicing them out repeatedly as warnings. However, the silver haired male would always be reassuring and dismiss those silly fears she would harbor, which made his sudden change of heart that much illogical and surprising.
She was unable to shake off the idea that she had done something terrible to disturb Zen by accident. It was especially dreadful to imagine how she might probably never find out the truth –
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"MINA!"
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The young coordinator instinctively yelped due to the alarming scream and tightly clutched her chest with her sensitive hand while smacking a knee into the table's underside. The resulting pain was indescribable, as was Mina's incoming rage at the shameless perpetrator who had somehow managed to disturb the rest of this broken night by accessing her phone. How did he achieve this feat was a mystery to her, but a certain red headed hacker came to mind.
"Mina! Are you there?!"
What's more, this unreliable piece of technological trash was completely unresponsive to her commands and would not shutdown regardless of the buttons that were being pressed.
"Ngh..."
Mina was fed up.
With everything.
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Just because once she had been dangerously fond of him,
It didnot mean she would silently sit and accept the accompanying mockery, too.
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~oOo~
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"The number you have dialed cannot be reached."
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"The number you have dialed cannot be reached."
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"The number you have dialed cannot be reached."
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"I've heard you the first dozen times, you don't need to announce it after every single failed attempt!", Zen spewed angrily through clenched teeth, allowing the annoyed command to slip off his tongue – in vain. You couldn't order a voicemail to stop doing its programmed routine, the same way you couldn't scold this godforsaken wintery season into ending tomorrow and bringing forth those beloved summery days.
"Ashi, my heart..."
The actor could feel the rhythm of his heartbeat increasing substantially, whereas his body heat was decreasing in a similar fashion as it was aided by the chilling wind. Pressing on Mina's icon until his screen was near cracking, the already irritating voicemail which was inundating Zen's ears had gained another layer of terror thanks to Seven's slip-up. After mentioning in passing of the enemy's meddling, the red head had succumbed into the lifeless void of his secret lair and left the poor sap hanging alone with his excruciating thoughts.
Still a hunch, however the actor's instincts had been clearing up the mystery behind Mina's 180-degree changed attitude from that morning. Plus, when directly confronted about her messages, the girl had reacted far too strongly and puzzling for him not to be convinced of a problem at hand.
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Mina hadn't been their author.
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If anything, it seemed like she mistook the lines for something Zen had written himself.
"Aigoo, what a troublesome mess..."
In which case, the culprit must have been that hacker.
Unknown.
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But why?
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"Mina, I know you're angry at me, but please answer...", he softly pleaded to a deafened ear while staring at the same clouded sky she had been earlier, picking up the vagueness of the moon's contour. The actor was restless at the notion that the party planner could be in any danger at the moment. Rika's apartment should have been a bulletproof protective shell. Should have. However, it might not be the safe haven Seven had claimed it to be for Mina – not when such dangers were being attracted to their organization that were bypassing his security measures.
Actually, she hadn't been safe since day one, Zen vividly recollecting the feeling of the girl wearing a wrist cast when they briefly bumped into each other at the theatre. He kept forgetting to bring it up, but he was certain she had been wounded at some point.
His stomach churned sickly.
Seemingly a lifetime had passed while boiling in wait and the results of his quest were a no-show. The male's shivering hands remained strong though, Zen ignoring the stinging bites peppered across his sensitive and reddened skin. His stance was also secure on both feet despite the vicious winds travelling the streets to the point the actor felt his injured leg numbing beyond physical pain, thus quickly becoming a distant concern of his.
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Zen had been a massive fool.
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He should have placed his trust deeper in Mina and realize from the start that he was being duped by an impersonator.
"Come on. Pick up, pick up, pick up!", the frosted male chanted as if in a prayer, where he kept layering over and over countless promises to influence the connection's success. Treating Mina better – would become his top priority. He was that desperate to fix things for his mistake had caused plenty of damage already.
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"Why are you suddenly so cold to me...?"
"I'm trembling from all my joints."
"I find it funny how you're always calling me a cold girl."
"But my actions are virtually harmless compared to this news you've slapped me across the face with."
"How could you so effortlessly want to shun me out?!"
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No wonder her reactions were this volcanic. Zen did not mean to provoke Mina pain and was beating himself up for being so heated and careless with his assumptions. Tch, it was the second time some hugely idiotic misunderstanding happened between them and it bugged him tremendously how easily he fell into those traps.
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'A third time will not happen.'
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He would make sure of it.
"The number you have dialed – "
"– cannot be reached...", Zen exhaled heavily, leaning against the hospital's hardened fence and facing the hard fact. His efforts had been rendered useless and no ulterior solutions were latching onto his tired brain.
"Tch!"
What he wouldn't give up just to hear the coordinator –
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*CLICK*
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– now.
"Ah!"
Crimson eyes opened their widest for Zen was not expecting the connection to finally go through. His voice unleashed like wildfire, however Mina's response had intensified his stomach churns.
"Are you kidding me?!", her usually melodic tune was raspy and laced with sheer anger. "What the hell do you want from me, Zen?! 'Cause you've made yourself perfectly understood inside the chat room!"
"No, you've got it –"
"Oh, jagiya~! You should contact me whenever you're in a pinch and I'll help you~~~!", her voice was mockingly sweet and high pitched, a poor imitation of Zen's. "Oh, on second thought, you should forever STOP in doing so and never talk with me again!"
"Calm-down-calm-down-calm-down and listen –"
"And – cherry on top – you've forced your way into my hacked phone after you had purposely told me not to EVER reach out to you. Why? Because of 'painful interferences' !"
"Painful interferences?!"
"HAH!"
If Zen required further evidence to prove his hunch, then this was it – the girl was definitely not the messages' original author. He was slightly relieved by the news, but quite overwhelmed by the explosiveness behind her power-rant. The actor had barely managed to prevent the incoming outpour of her complaints.
"Mina, I'm – !"
"MAKE UP YOUR MIND! STOP MESSING WITH MY HEAD!", her cracked, raw voice combined with the faint sobbing were the last straw, otherwise Zen suspected he wouldn't have been able to keep his own remorseful emotions in check.
"Mina..."
"Please, Zen... Just leave me alone...!", she feebly begged him.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that."
"Why not?!"
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"Not after I know it was Unkown's doing!"
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~oOo~
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Eventually, the truth of this entire matter had been brought to light and did nothing other than raise numerous other questions. Mina was petrified as she was standing in the middle of Rika's living area for she hadn't been aware of the possibility that her MysMe account could have been compromised to such an extent.
Seven hadn't informed her either, maintaining the secrecy if it weren't for Zen.
"I don't think he knew himself. It's right after I showed him proof that he went missing; maybe investigating."
All the more frightening in the girl's point of view.
If the red head wasn't capable of being in full control of the messenger and block foreign entities into logging in with the members' accounts, then how could he be so certain that nobody would break into this apartment? Should she expect its tight-knit security to malfunction soon?! Mina could not continue this trend of skipping precious sleep hours and hope for the best while the front door would be roughly banged into throughout an entire night! She didn't escape one shit-hole just to fall neck-deep into another!
She sighed with frustration and dropped along the couch, Zen sympathetic with her low feeling.
"Jagi, cheer up~!"
The only positive aspect was that they both managed to patch up the misunderstanding lingering between each other, the party planner regretful of her yelling and full-blown idiocy shown. She had been tired and emotionally ruffled up, not having weighed the info at hand as she should have.
"Sorry, Zen...", she bit her lower lip and wore a defeated expression. "Yo, don't make me upset with that speech!", he playfully threatened, admitting to his own foolishness, so there wasn't a valid reason she should apologize.
They were stupidly similar in that way, Mina thinking amused while listening to his reassurances.
She was thankful that the friendly dynamics were returning, as if nothing had taken place prior to this.
It was odd how a surge of warmth was already spreading inside her body.
Zen...
"However – ", the actor began, pointing out how he would never, in a million years, dare to be that cruel in front of her. Zen promised his unconditional support before and did not back away from his spoken word. Ever. Just in case her messenger got hi-jacked or the other members' were targeted next, she should be aware of this detail. Whatever lied into the future, he would always be on her side.
The R.F.A. would be there, too.
"Although...", he mischievously added. "Tempting as it is, your cute little 'Zen' imitation will surely be missed. I should try to avoid getting onto your bad side, it's scary~!"
"Ja~gi~ya~!", unlike Mina, he mimicked her high pitched tune to a 'T' and with great laughter, bringing forth an annoyed pout on her face.
"Okay, I'm hanging up now – "
"No, no, no, no!", he cleared his throat and dropped the funny act.
"Hmph.", she giggled a bit and smiled.
Genuinely.
"Ashi... really, this hacker situation is getting too complicated! Seven should hurry up and find the guy, it's taking him forever!", he audibly complained and, while the girl quietly agreed with him, she couldn't help but lose focus on the discussion as she picked up sirens flowing loudly into the background. She normally wouldn't have acknowledged the noise since it was a city's norm to sometimes have ambulances run the streets for emergencies. However, these hadn't been a sole event. In the span of perhaps 15 minutes, she must have counted three different occasions which was worryingly in frequency.
"I wish I could be of use, but my hands are tied...", he remarked sadly. "Also, I'm not a tech nerd like Seven is."
"Hey, Zen...?"
"Hm?"
"Where are you now?", she hesitatingly asked and changed the topic, alarm bells setting off for his answer felt incomplete.
And off.
And suspicious.
"Ah! You know, taking a nightly stroll and stretching my limbs~!"
"In the middle of a snow storm...?"
Mina approached the window and shivered just by watching the large snowflakes pile up onto the white landscape. No person would find a stroll in this weather enjoyable unless one was geared up for a mountain excursion. Needless to mention how she was not satisfied with Zen's carefree reply, who was reminiscing those nights he even jogged during minus degree Celsius weather~! Lovely story~! So he claimed. Yet, she could tell that this wasn't such a night for him, the coordinator sensing his poorly-crafted lie.
The coordinator openly expressed her doubts.
"Eh, he... I... You see, it's not exactly... a stroll-stroll... per se."
"Huh?"
"I mean. Yes. Well, you could call it an obligation-stroll."
"Alright, Zen. You obviously don't want to tell me, so I will hang up."
"Harsh!"*sigh* "Alright. Okay. I guess you will find out sooner or later."
"Heck, everybody will."
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He had #!% and was # ^&%# tal.
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"You had what tall? Sorry, I couldn't quite make out the words from all the background –" *END CALL* "-ruckus that's disrupting the..."
"..."
"WOW!", she grimaced with narrowed eyes from Zen's abrupt call ending, until the messenger became active with an opened chat room. And that's when her disappointment turned into pure shock.
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He had a minor accident and was waiting besides the hospital.
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