Chapter 18: Family Meeting

I convinced Jaehee that it was in everyone's best interest to call an RFA family meeting about Jumin. At first, she had resisted. She had wanted to "wait it out." But I was adamant and kept pressing. Number one: There was no way I could keep on lying to Zen. Number two: We were out of our league and we needed help. I wasn't leaving that office until Jaehee agreed.

"This problem is bigger than both of us," I said, reaching across the desk to touch her hand. Jaehee took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, and then her temples, for what seemed like several moments. Then, she sighed, and silently, she nodded.

We all met at RFA Headquarters, otherwise known as Rika's old apartment. It was me, Zen, Jaehee, Saeyoung and Lexi Ann, Saeran and Yoosung. We all sat around the big oblong coffee table in the living room with steaming cups of tea and patiently listened while Jaehee relayed the news. She basically recapped what she'd told me over the past twenty-four hours, everything from the photographs of me she found in Jumin's desk to the discovery of the love potion. Yoosung's innocent blue eyes kept getting wider and wider and he kept opening his mouth to speak. Twice, Saeyoung had had to kick him in the shin and give him the look that said not now and save your questions for later.

I'd already told Zen everything, and he was still angry, but relenting. In the end, he'd agreed that yeah, Jumin was RFA family. But he hadn't agreed to anything else. I actually couldn't tell whether he was pissed off at me or not. Right now, we were sitting on the loveseat opposite the couch touching knees and holding hands, but he wouldn't meet my eyes.

"...and so here's where it stands now…" Jaehee was saying. "Mr. Han has retreated to the top floor of his penthouse with Elizabeth the 3rd. He isn't taking any of my calls and he isn't answering his door for anyone."

"He's on lockdown," Lexi-Ann said. "Great."

"I always thought he'd be the type to duck and run," Zen said, hotly. "Well, nobody can hide behind their money and privilege forever…"

"Well, actually…" Yoosung started. Saeyoung gave him another swift kick in the shin. Not a good time, the look said.

"What do we do?" Lexi Ann said. By the tone of her voice, I could sense that she had almost been taken in by Jumin too - but not quite. Aside from his crazy, Jumin had a lot of great attributes, and yeah, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that he had a lot of hot and sexy going on, too. Having this thought, I felt my cheeks burn, and I glanced at Zen to see if he'd noticed. Not at all.

"I say we make him answer for his actions," Zen said. "I'm sure as hell happy to be the first one that goes up there and breaks down the door."

Jaehee held up a hand. "Now Zen," she said. "Just calm down. We all understand why you're upset…"

"Damn right you do!" Zen said. "He tried to drug my girlfriend to get her into his bed… Love potion, my ass! Why the hell is everyone so eager to sugar-coat this?" Delivering this last line, he shot a hot red-eyed glance in my direction. My heart jumped.

"Zen…" Jaehee said.

"Hang on a second," Saeyoung said. Aside from his monitoring of Yoosung, Saeyoung had been quiet for most of the night so far. Now all eyes in the room turned to focus on the redheaded genius. Saeyoung, though he could be wacky, was the smartest person in the room. We all knew that he was our best option here. Saeyoung addressed Zen first.

"Listen, Zen," he said. "Totally get why you're upset, but it's not helping, dude." He leaned forward and put his clasped hands on his knees. "Try to think about this in a different way… If you could get past his money and privilege for just a hot minute you might be able to see that Jumin is a human being that's struggling… can you see that?" Saeyoung locked eyes with his friend. "Man, I know you get that, you really do, yeah?"

Zen rolled his red eyes and sighed. "Damn, Saeyoung," Zen said. "Way to hit me where it hurts."

Saeyoung smiled. "I got your number, fanboy," he said.

"Who you calling 'fanboy'?" Zen said, getting newly riled. "If anyone is anybody's fanboy than it's…"

I squeezed Zen's hand. Please, baby. I thought, picking up his hand and putting it to my lips.

"All I'm saying is the obvious," Saeyoung said, looking at Zen and raising both his hands up in defense. "Zen, be honest, how stoked were you when you realized MC returned your affections, that she had, in fact, chosen you?"

Zen sucked in a breath and bit his lip. "Pretty darn stoked, if I'm being honest," he said.

"And did you ever think or consider, at all, the way the rest of us might be feeling?" Saeyoung said. He looked at Lexi Ann, reached out for her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Sorry, babelious, this was way before you, so please don't fash yourself…"

Lexi Ann looked at me and then down at the floor. I felt my cheeks grow hot. God, had I really held the attention of all of them? I let my eyes dart around the room and considered each of them as individuals. Saeyoung for his wit and rebelliousness. Yoosung for his earnest heart. Zen for his idealistic nature and nurturing of the growth mindset, and, oh, god, we're already getting x-rated here… We'll consider more about Zen then, later...Moving on, Ok, Saeran for his, well I guess, not really Saeran - I really didn't know him all that well...

"All I'm saying," Saeyoung said. "I know what made me feel better…" He cupped Lexi Ann's chin and kissed her on the lips. Then he took a grand moment to survey the room. "All I'm saying," he repeated. "...is that we give Jumin the same chance at true love."

We all looked at each other. Saeyoung had piqued our interest. What, exactly, was he getting at? Surprisingly, Yoosung was the first one to put it into words.

"We bring in another party coordinator," Yoosung said, with the confidence of someone who had studied for the test. "Someone for Jumin…"

The lightbulbs in everyone's heads went off at once.

"Damn…" Zen said.

"Oh my," Jaehee said, putting a hand to her chest and sucking in a breath.

"Well, it'd mean we'd get to have another party," Yoosung said, smiling in an "oh darn" kind of way.

Saeran, who had been sitting silently on a beanbag in the corner, spoke up for the first time. "Are we all forgetting the horribleness that went along with this whole thing? I mean…"

"But that's not an issue anymore," Saeyoung said, cutting him off. "Yeah, you were the hacker, but no offense, why can't we utilize your powers for good?" He looked at me. "MC," he said. "Was being party coordinator for the RFA a bad experience? I mean, are you sorry you got involved?"

I had to look at Zen, and he looked back at me, his red eyes earnest, watchful and waiting. I smiled and squeezed his hand. "God," I said, my eyes shining. "I honestly don't know what I would've ever done had I not accidentally downloaded that app."

Zen leaned forward, cupped my chin and pulled my lips to his. The kiss was a little too long and sweet for an audience, but I didn't mind.

"Jesus!" Saeyoung cried, half-joking, but mostly satisfied that his point had been so perfectly punctuated. "Get a room!"

Jaehee sighed loudly. "OK, Saeyoung," she said. "I think we get your point."

"Seriously," Saeyoung said. "How is this really any different from any dating app out there now, other than this one has a brilliant matchmaker at the helm?" Saeyoung's ginger eyebrows danced mischievously. "I mean, really," he looked at Saeran. "All we have to do is find the perfect woman and reel her in, right?"

"Clearly someone who's into cats…" Zen offered.

"And who knows the difference between stripes and diagonals..." Jaehee added.

Lexi Ann was sitting with her arms wrapped across her chest, clearly cross. "You make it sound like me and MC were just easy bait..."

Saeran's gold eyes flashed. "No," he said, definitively. "It wasn't that way at all, really. You were both..." His gaze flickered back and forth between the anxious faces of me and Lexi Ann. "You were both actually more like... a wish…You see, Rika, the saviour, had simply asked me to divine a way bring RFA members to Mint Eye." Saeran's beautiful eyes closed and opened like a sunset and sunrise respectively. I think I saw a hint of a smile. "It was my idea to summon the perfect girl…" His cheeks blushed for an instant. "Who would've guessed there would be more than one of you?"

"Saeran…" I started, feeling my own cheeks fill with heat. It was hard to believe that this was the same person who threatened me here, in this very apartment, just a short time ago. I sighed, thinking about Jumin and the past few months. If this is true, I thought, then there must be hope for him…

Saeran looked up at me and smiled. "I have to admit I had a hard time letting you go," he said. "I thought you were the one, destined to be mine…" his eyes flickered to Lexi Ann. "But then you showed up…"

"Oooh…" Yoosung sung, seemingly out of nowhere. "Does this mean there's someone out there for me?"

"Absolutely!" Saeran said with assuredness. "If there's someone out there for…"

"Hang on a sec, Searan," Saeyoung said, butting in. "Yoosung, you don't need any kind of 21st century tech to help you get a girl in the sack…"

"Sae-young!" Lexi Ann cried, although I could tell by the blush in her cheeks his words were conjuring some pretty memorable, suggestive images in her own mind.

Yoosung's whole face went red and his mouth started doing that whole opening and closing thing. "But… I… Uh…"

"Look," Saeyoung said, eyeing his girlfriend and correctly redirecting. "Yoosung, my man, you don't need 21st century assistance…"

"I don't?" Yoosung said, his sweet blue eyes popping in surprise.

"No," Saeyoung said. "You just need a little self-direction… I don't know, all the good books these days I think are calling it... 'self-actualization'..."

"Yeah?" Yoosung said. "You mean play LOLOL less?"

Saeyoung chuckled, and we all joined in. "For starters," he said, and then he winked at me. "...and, besides, trust me, I already got a plan in place that is going to make you THE MAN."

"You do?" Yoosung said, clearly interested. "You've got a plan to help get me a girlfriend?"

"Yup," Saeyoung replied, confidently, his gold eyes beaming.

I gave Saeyoung a questioning look and he answered me with something that looked like his sparkly emoji. I smiled to myself. Oh boy, I bet Saeyoung had another one of his crazy plans in the works. I wondered if Yoosung was going to truly benefit from it or not.

Jaehee suddenly clapped her hands. "OK, ok," she said. "I hate to break up the party, but one bachelor at a time. First things first...we must take care of Jumin." Jaehee paused to look us each in the eye, over the rim of her glasses. I was happy to note that she seemed to be getting back to her usual self. "Now, while playing matchmaker is all well and good, it is not going to solve our most immediate problem. Don't forget that Jumin will not come out of his penthouse, which I don't need to tell you is extremely bad for business." She sighed and looked at Saeyoung. "So what do we do about that, genius?"

Saeyoung shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know," he said. "Does that involve a computer or hacking or any of the things in my talent domain? I don't think so."

Then Jaehee turned to me.

"Uh-uh," I said, waving a hand. "Leave me out of it."

Jaehee sighed and gave me a look. "But MC," she said. "It's just that I really think Jumin will talk to you..."

"Look," Zen said, leaning forward. "MC has been through enough. Let me go up there and talk to him." Everyone looked at Zen with doubtful faces. Wasn't that kind of like sending the wolf to Grandma's house?

"Aw come guys," Zen said, holding his hands up and open. "You know I can be reasonable, right? It's not like I'm going to break his legs or anything…" Out of the corner of my eye, I think I caught a sardonic look cross his face. "Although I'd like to…" I heard him say under his breath. "Babe…" I whispered back, reproachfully and squeezed his knee.

"The point is," Zen said addressing the rest of the group. "I can control myself."

Jaehee was still not convinced. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Zen," she said.

"Look," Zen said, explaining. "I know that Jumin and I… our friendship is, uh… complicated… Yes, there's this great animosity between us, but as much as I hate to admit it sometimes, there is also a strong bond there."

I saw heads began to nod around the room. Jaehee's features were starting to soften.

"Remember when I sprained my ankle?" Zen said. "Who came out to find me in my special place? I mean, do any of you - aside from MC here - even know where my special place is?"

"OK, Mr. Persuasive," Saeyoung said. "You've got me convinced. Go out there and bring Daddy home."

"Yes, I agree," Saeran said. "Zen should be the one to go and settle things with Jumin. Meanwhile, my brother and I will get phase two in motion."

"Yeah," Saeyoung smiled. "Operation Cat Lady…"

Well there's nothing like humor to dissolve the remaining tension in a room. At the mention of "Cat Lady" we all went to pieces with laughter. Even Jaehee was hooting and snorting up a storm. When we all finally calmed down, Saeyoung spoke again.

"There's one more thing," he said. "I think this is obvious, but in case it isn't, Jumin can't know that this is a set up." Saeyoung went around the room, locking eyes with each and every one of us. "So as far as you're concerned, this girl is just like any other party coordinator…"

"But wait a minute," I said, furrowing my brow. There was another aspect of this idea I hadn't considered. "What about the real hacker? Won't that mean that we have to pretend the hacker has returned? Won't Jumin have to believe we're in danger again?"

"Yeah," Yoosung said. "What about V? What do we do when he tries to talk to V?"

"He's not going to try to talk to V," Saeyoung said. "V's gone."

Yoosung didn't look convinced.

"Listen," Saeyoung said. "We got it covered. Look, if by some miracle V does show his pretty little head I'll be on him like a fly on butter." He looked at his brother. "Saeran and I already set up a cyber surveillance system just for this purpose, so don't worry."

"Well, what do we do if the real hacker returns?" Lexi Ann said. "I mean, Mint Eye is in the wind now, but Saeran can't remember any one but Rika. How would we even know if they're back if we don't know who they are?"

"Isn't that a risk we run already?" Saeyoung said. "The possibility of the hacker returning is always there, whether we use the idea of the hacker to help Jumin or not."

Suddenly I wasn't feeling super positive about this idea. If the hacker was out there and they found out what we were doing and didn't like it...

"Look," Zen said. "It's our only choice. If we don't find Jumin a girlfriend and he keeps going after mine, I'm going to kill him, end of story."

"Dramatic much, Zen?" Saeyoung said, smirking.

"Yeah," Zen said, smiling and flashing his gorgeous teeth. "I'm an actor." He put a hand on my knee. "The point is, we're doing this."

Outside after the meeting I was in Zen's arms saying good-bye. He was insisting on going to speak to Jumin right away. He was using the excuse that Jaehee needed Jumin back to work as soon as possible, but I knew him better than that. Zen wanted this resolved for himself sooner than later. I also wasn't so sure he wouldn't try to lay in a punch or two.

"Please baby," I said, my hands clutching the sleeves of his leather jacket. "Be careful."

"Babe," Zen said, his eyes searching mine. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hit him or anything." He paused and his brow furrowed. "Although I don't like the feeling that you're worrying for him."

"Lovely Zen," I said coupled with my sweetest smile. "I'm really only worrying for you." I put a hand on his cheek and locked his gaze in mine. "Look, I think I'm finally beginning to understand those first days in the messenger app… I guess I didn't realize that everyone was, well… "

"Some level of in love with you?" He said.

I shrugged and felt my cheeks grow warm and pink. "Well, I wouldn't put it that way..." I said.

"Ok, then," Zen said, smiling. "Some level of 'in like'... We were all some level of 'in like' with you." His arms encircled me tighter around the waist, pulling me closer. "Except me," Zen said, whispering in my ear. "I was always in love with you… from that first moment Seven verified that you were a girl…"

"What?" I said. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Sure it does," he said, his red eyes were smokey and sparkling. "I had a dream about you the night before… I knew you were coming, and when you showed up in the chat room, I knew it had to be you."

"You had a dream about me?" I said. "One of your psychic dreams?"

"Mmmm…" Zen murmured. His face was in my hair, and then on my neck, his warm lips getting lower and lower to that place I liked near my collarbone.

"Oh god..." I murmured back. My legs were getting all weak and tingly and the familiar pulsing ache of the wanting was revving up like an engine between my legs. "Will you tell me about it sometime, your dream that is?"

"Mmmm, I'll do better than that," Zen said, running one of his hands up the length of my body, under my coat, under my shirt. "I'll show you…"

Suddenly there was a very loud honking sound. When Zen and I turned to look, we saw Jaehee hanging out the window of Driver Kim's car.

"Enough already!" She called. "We don't have all night, you know… Zen, you know the later it gets, the less chance Jumin's going to let you in…"

"OK," Zen called back. "One more kiss, princess." He leaned down and put his lips to mine once more.

"Wait," I said, as he started to back away toward his motorcycle. "What I wanted to say before…"

Zen leaned in close so that he could hear me. "What is it, Princess?"

"Well, what I wanted to say was that you were always the One for me, too," I said, squeezing both of his hands in mine. "I mean, like from Day One... It wasn't a dream or anything, but I knew... it was always you." It was true. In the beginning there may have been flirtations and passing attractions with other members, but it had been clear to me from the start that Zen was the One.

Zen smiled and leaned in for another kiss when a loud honk made us both jump.

"I said enough already!" Jaehee's voice boomed from the car.

Thanks (as always) for reading, commenting, reviewing... Feedback is also appreciated. Up next: Zen finally confronts Jumin, written from Zen's POV, me thinks...Stay tuned...