Night-Owl Romance
.
Note: A transition chapter ~~~ If anyone there is feeling lonely at times, remember, it's never too late to meet people you can connect with~! Whether online or offline, there will always be someone who will like you enough to see as friend – with, your oddities included.
.
.
Chapter 12: Friend and Foes
.
.
"I don't have any friends ^^."
.
The moment Zen's eyes scanned the sentence, his heightened mood instantly faded away, darting up from his bed in sitting position. MC... didn't have any friends? For some reason, it was hard to fully believe in the truthfulness of such words. It was impossible... even if you weren't the most popular kid at school there had to be somebody around whom one could have a friendship with or... something deeper. As hurling as the thought was, MC didn't appear to be the type who couldn't be liked by people.
Zen was certain about it, feeling it deep in his guts.
In just one day, the girl had managed to shift the hearts of everyone in the R.F.A. – the actor noticed a change in the dynamics of the members since her arrival.
A change for the better...
Since Rika's death, the chat room had lost its lifeline, being left to wither and die out – little by little. Daily chat rooms had been replaced with weekly ones... and then monthly rooms... and then once every few months one member would pop out as activity on the MysMe app would be decreasing substantially. Not long ago Zen had even pondered whether to keep the app installed into his phone or not considering it was eating up precious memory space that he could be using for important matters.
'Like more photographs for his acting portfolio! Or selfies for the fans~!' *too lazy to download in computer*
He didn't delete it in the end for the sake of his shared past with V. Zen had kept the app. But... usually, they'd communicate on the phone, not through online means. Thus, the silver haired male mostly used the app for self promotion or to offer Jaehee new show dates, maybe discounts too – apparently, she was a rather big fan of his which he never got used to hearing. Like... really, an employee working under the trust fund kid, to have such impeccable taste in musicals?
'It was outlandish!'
Occasionally, he'd find Seven or Yoosung to chat with but it was tiresome to be alone with them... the hacker brought him constant headaches with his weird sense of humor and invasions of privacy while the blonde kid... his LOLOL raids were irritating. Yoosung was always neglecting the chat rooms during his gaming hours, the actor spurting monologues which garnered no feedback. Furthermore, whenever the boy answered back, it was difficult to read through his illegible typos. To top it all, in the rare instances he'd find Jumin logged on, Zen could not manage to last longer than a few minutes alone with the guy, leaving in a shittier mood than before.
'Dying conversations...'
'All of them!'
Socializing with the members was seriously not what was keeping Zen around. He truly hoped they would restart the parties soon, having them like in the past – many of the actor's sponsors from these events had left for other, more popular acts.
His connections were dying out...
Unfortunately, the R.F.A. wasn't doing anything as an organization anymore. It became a remnant of Rika's work, one which V decided to leave in the dust, a rather thick layer covering it. Grief took its toll on the poor guy. Years later and V had still not recovered, Zen able to tell from the photographer's voice – there was no way the actor could complain about the lack of R.F.A. activities. And V wasn't the only one who had forgone through changes. Yoosung's personality shifted 180 degrees, his appearance drastically altered to closely resemble Rika's, despite his dongsaeng denying it – he only dyed it to have more success with women!
It was sad, really.
Hopeless...
...
Until...
A miracle happened.
Without warning, MC had bulldozed into their lives.
.
'Yesterday marked the first time V had logged into MysMe in over 6whole months.'
'Also, the first time in nearly 2 years, they would be holding another party.'
.
Zen was so thankful, regardless the circumstances which allowed this miracle to happen.
He was thankful for MC staying with them, more than she could imagine, feeling like he was already owing a lot to the girl by just accepting to work her hardest for such an event. Zen wanted to make her stay more tolerable so whenever he would sense her sadness, the actor's urge was to erase it any way possible. If MC truly believed she had no friends, then...
.
"You have a friend in me~! ^.~"
.
~oOo~
.
Mina's expression softened, a shy smile peaking across her features.
The actor had a way to impact people using few words to achieve this, conflicting emotions battling inside her heart. 'Did he really mean what he wrote...?' She was actually scared to ask, not wishing to hear him joke about it or taking that back. The party planner had the conversation hanging there for a while, eventually, more lines accompanying the phrase...
However, the more it spread in the chat room, the more sweat drops formed across her forehead – destroying the sweet moment.
.
"You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles
From your nice and warm bed
You just remember what your most handsome friend said
MC, you've got a friend in me~~~~!"
.
The words were copied from that kid's movie, the one with the toys moving around and wrecking a house or... something along those lines. Mina had been forced to watch it, over, and over, and over again because it was Mirae's favorite. The little one would, otherwise, cry whenever Mina suggested alternatives that she felt were good enough as well. No. It had to be that one. What's more, Mirae would always tune her wobbly noises to the rhythm of this particular song from the movie.
"..."
The nostalgia train hit Mina without mercy.
"Guess you'll have to do then... since you're so persistent about it. Friend.", she joked, sniffing out loud and hoping Zen wasn't going to take any offense. And he didn't, his whining proving he was still in the playful spectrum.
"Don't know why I was expecting a different reaction." *defeated emoji* "So cold!"
"You'll get used to it. Friend~~~~!"¸ the girl typed his new title more evidently, squeaking a giggle at his comeback. The actor just now realized he had given her the tools to be, as one called, friendzoned.
Huge mistake!
"Too late~~~ No turning back, Friend~!"
Their talk soon ended, the actor noticing the late hour of the night. He had to get ready for new rehearsals tomorrow, with costumes fitting this time. "I'll send a picture if you want. ^.~"
"I'm sure you will regardless of my answer. Friend~!"
*defeated emoji* "Just for that, I'll send you more than one picture!"
"Gosh...", the girl shook her head, rubbing her tired, moist eyes.
.
Zen had logged out.
.
Putting away the phone, Mina's attention returned to the scribbled pages which had been scattered across the table, being reminded once more of the grueling task in front of her. The break was over and, in spite of her slightly shaken figure, the girl continued to persevere throughout the night, remaining awake for as long as it was physically possible. She drank a couple of Dr. Penny in order to get momentary energy boosts, focusing all of her power in remembering essential details that would prove helpful in completing Assistant Lee's assignment, with the best results possible.
Mina was diligently taking notes, highlighting certain phrases, here and there, and slowly building up scenarios. The images were rather foggy, the perfect one still out of reach, the girl managing to only grasp its surface. The play's core message had yet been dived into properly... Still, Mina wrote down ideas on paper whenever something of interest popped inside her head – words, sentiments, phrases, doodles. Most got scribbled over after future revisions since they had been lacking that one thing to fully show the potential this story held, the visual impact portraying the emotional surges rushing through her bloodstream.
Few words had remained underlined, Mina keeping them as foundation stones for her work...
...
This play was an entire roller coaster.
It had everything Mina liked and disliked in its progression. Even though it wasn't original or unique in themes, sometimes predictable, the characters made it memorable by bringing out ranges of emotions from the readers. At least from Mina, anyway – happiness, sadness, anxiety, fear, angst, panic, joy, warmth, hope, love. As a reader, you were tossed in both edges of the emotional spectrum, no chance to take in a breather and recover. The safe moments were a stepping stone for endless tragedy, foreshadowing a not-so-happy ending.
The author's cruelty shined best in such moments.
When things turned sweetest in the world, that's when the blade struck its deepest, as the protagonists' red threats of faith got severed through unholy magic, never to be relinked again – ultimately, a victory of the scorned antagonistwho had been successful in her revenge, regardless of the price that was paid.
Death...
The epilogue was taunting, holding its grounds for a sliver of hope that things could change, if not in the current life time, then in the next one or further in the future. The curse shall not be eternal, an idea best evident in the last page, where the broken threats of faith were slowly regenerating, the edges seeking for the each other's end in order to become one – as if the lovers' wish to meet was stronger than time, constantly praying for their fated meeting, inching closer and closer to their goal with each new rebirth...
Never giving up.
.
~oOo~
.
.
*RING RING RING RING*
.
.
~oOo~
.
"Ngh...", the low groan echoed in the apartment but could not match the intensity of that endless, annoying ringing of the phone. It hadn't been long since she had closed her eyelids, intention being to momentarily rest her burning eyes when... she blacked out entirely. The girl questioned the purpose of the bed-couch in this room since the table was alarmingly close to becoming an actual substitute for one.
Against her will... (ಥ﹏ಥ)
Mina had been owned, physically, the exhaustion catching up to her in shaking waves. As a result of such carelessness, the planner's stomach began protesting in extremely painful ways, churning her insides to the point she had to rush to the bathroom, kneeling besides the toilet bowl.
Her skin was layered in thin traces of sweat, brushing the back of her hand against her mouth and coughing intensely.
...
The girl returned in the room after a while, picking up the phone noting the caller had been none other than Yoosung. It was around 7:25 in the morning. "Not even two hours of sleep...", Mina sighed softly, her energy reserves nearly rock bottom. Despite her unwillingness, she gathered up her remaining strength and dialed the blonde back.
"MC~~~~! Good morning~!"
"...", the phone nearly slipped from her feeble grip, Mina narrowing her eyes from the shrieking pain. Her sanity was faltering, especially after realizing Yoosung's main concern for reaching out to the girl – at such an ungodly hour – was to chat about his breakfast and problems he had with cooking it. Scratching the top of her trembling head, the girl faked a cheerful voice.
"I'm not used to eating omurice but I would pick the curry one out of all choices."
It resulted in Yoosung complaining about the assortments found inside the SKY cafeteria. Their version was so incredibly bad, the ingredients used making it taste like crumbled newspaper. Despite her foul mood, the girl couldn't help but groan herself at the memory of the low-quality foods cooked there for students. "Oh my god(E). Yes! It tasted so bad, I couldn't eat anything for the rest of the day!", she absent mindedly replied, the blonde picking it up without hesitation. Yoosung expressed extreme shock, yelling in the classroom.
"YOU'VE ATTENDED SKY?!"
It made for a deeply embarrassing moment, lots of classmates moving sideways from the Star.
"Aaaa...", Mina blinked a couple of times, words choking inside her throat. The tongue slip was just too hard to mask with a good lie, her brain failing to function at proper capacity, due to the sickness she felt. She wasn't fast enough to come up with any excuse... *deep sigh*
"Let's say that it had been a fairly short visit there.", Mina answered, with a semblance of truth. A semester in SKY felt like a visit – albeit a traumatizing one. Naturally, Yoosung wanted to hear all about her experience there, not picking up the distaste in her voice. The student didn't hide his disappointment when she chose to withhold such precious information.
Yoosung couldn't help becoming jealous, seeing how much info she shared with his hyungs compared to him... "It's not that.", Mina whined, apologetic to have saddened him. But, she had to place certain boundaries on topics she was not comfortable with speaking with strangers. "We didn't really get along well. SKY and I. That's all there is."
She constantly tried backing off from the subject, but...
Dear Yoosung...
Precious child.
He didn't want to take the hint and let it go. (ノಥ益ಥ)ノ
Fortunately, the savior of the coordinator's nerves was, surprisingly, Yoosung's alarm clock, announcing the blonde to get ready or else he would be late for his morning classes. The boy hung up, though not before stressing on his curiosity, wishing to find out more about her experience and major at SKY~! Maybe they had been studying in the same field!
"Ha, ha, ha~!", she giggled nervously, lying they would talk about this later.
...
*deep sigh*
Mina felt sick to her stomach again so she decided to rest some more and- *RING RING RING RING*
.
Well,
That was definitely not going to happen!
.
~oOo~
.
Mina was growing desperate. A few more e-mails were waiting to be dealt with inside the Cheritz inbox, each sounding just as good as their counterparts from the other day. She cupped her mouth with both hands, which were brought in together like a prayer, tapping her foot impatiently as she was sitting on the couch, pondering over her next move. The coordinator had a lengthy shopping list of art supplies and she barely had enough money to buy a few proper art utensils and large format paper. This endeavor would require all her savings emptied for the project to have any chance of succeeding.
'Oh man...'
The art shop she had in mind was located near SKY University, nearly doubling the distance compared to the how far the coffee shop had been yesterday. "It's going to take so many hours.", she mused to herself, peeking inside the MysMe chat rooms.
Jaehee and Jumin were currently online and chatting with each other about... Elizabeth the 3rd's well-being. The woman was worse for wear, holding the cat in her arms for a selfie that her boss had requested due to him dearly missing his feline mistress.
"...", Mina didn't interfere much with their conversation, too busy planning the new strategy for the day. She needed Seven for help since the guy was in charge of security and all the what-nots related to it, but the calls were always picked up by the voice mail. The girl became frustrated to no end. The fourth attempt was the last straw, bringing forth a wave of panic.
'This isn't good.'
Mina would be all-kinds of vulnerable outside by herself, without watchful eyes over her moves – although the hacker did f**k up yesterday. The scare from the other day still lingered. That horrible individual, who pretended to be a poor, defenseless old granny turned out to be a cross-dressing psycho. He could still be lurking around! Maybe he was in connection to that Unknown person...
Or the same individual!
And to top that, Mina still had the stalker issue from before joining the R.F.A., a man who was more than likely to have his lair around the University's vicinity now that the coffee shop was no longer a targeted area due to her getting fired.
Tch...
Either way...
.
All three individuals were potential threats!
.
And Seven wasn't there for Mina...
But...
Jumin was.
...
OwO ;;;
...
Her nerves would be tested to their upmost limit... TwT
