Night-Owl Romance

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Chapter 14: Encounter with a Shooting Star

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"Yo! Hurry up, we have to move now or we won't have enough time to come back to class."

"Okay, okay, I'm on it... Guys, seriously! Wait up a second, the vending machine still has my juice trapped inside!"

"For f**k's sake, man... just give it a swift kick, will ya?!", the voice on the other line thundered with irritation while the panting blonde continued to struggle with the heavy apparatus. He attempted to use full force, aiming repeatedly at one spot on the machinery in the hopes of shaking it really good, but... his muscles weren't functioning at maximum capacity!

'Aye... I'm so thirsty...' His mood had yet to significantly improve since yesterday's tragicevents, Yoosung unable to find the strength to enjoy the game anymore. He was continuously stressing over the troll issue, those bastards who abused his popularity on the LOLOL server. They managed to steal his identity and dupe people under his name. 'This was defamation of character and slander!' The young student narrowly avoided a ban strike thanks to his guild mates and other top tier players who came to repel such false claims, thus preventing the GMs from doing anything irreparable to the account.

'Like deleting it... *shudders*'

Shooting Star'stainted honor, however, could never be redeemed regardless of the truth out in the open. The forums were filled with players dissing on his character and hating him.

'So upsetting!'

"Tch...", the boy's brows furrowed, soon giving up this meaningless quest – there was no victory in sight, only frustrations being added to an already huge pile. Yoosung had to part ways with this vending machine bottle thief, hurrying towards the exit. His gaming buddies had been roaming around the massive entrance lobby for over 10 minutes by now, sick and tired from having to wait for the blonde. They had also been pondering whether to leave him behind... or not!

Yoosung was too slow for today's Arcade Extravaganza, did he even want to go out with them?!

"Sorry, sorry, sorry~!", he chanted out of breathe, stopping for a few seconds to inhale fresh cold air. It was chilly indoors, burying his head in a warm, fuzzy cap.

"Took you long enough.", one of his mates complained feeling particularly edge, more than he normally would be. The guy smacked Yoosung across his back when he walked closer. "Ashi!", it was pretty painful, skin pulsating minutes later.

"Such a lousy dongsaeng..."

"Don't mind him, Star. His girlfriend finally dumped his sorry arse, ha ha~!"

"Shut it or you'll be eating mud outside...", he muttered through clenched teeth, hands turning into fists.

"Heh...", Yoosung faintly smiled at their verbal exchange. Deep down though, he was not feeling sorry for his friend's misery. The guy had never kept a date around for too long, neglecting her on a constant basis as games always came first in his life whereas the relationship had a much lower priority. Lower than it should anyway.

'If she doesn't get I need space from time to time, I don't need such a pain... =.='

"...", the blonde's smile faltered, moving his eyes away towards the floor as he became lost in his own mind, imagining... how nice it would be to have his friend's success with girls... how he would react, had he been lucky enough to have a girl wanting to date him?

Yoosung would do the opposite compared to his unappreciative friend.

He would move mountains just to make his beloved happy and would prove his love for her endlessly, even quitting LOLOL if he were ever asked to~! Yes... he would commit such a huge sacrifice just to demonstrate to her how dedicated the blonde could be in matters of love; albeit... inexperienced love.

Yoosung would do anything... anything asked by her, because...

Because...

He hated isolation...

Yoosung was so lonely by himself here...

Every single day, he returns from classes to an empty, messy room, no one to greet him with a smile, no one to brighten up the shitty day he might have had at class... no one to stop him from succumbing into darker and darker thoughts while the unexpected LOLOL maintenances brought him back to the harshness of reality. Yoosung dreaded those hours in the night for his mind would wonder back to his cousin who had been taken so cruelly from this world.

Rika.

She used to be the one he looked up to the most, his role model in life and the reason he felt invincible during his younger years. Even when Yoosung doubted himself, especially before important, life-changing exams, Rika would always know how to cheer him up and give him the proper advice and the courage he needed most in order to surpass the challenges he was facing. She was his bright, shining star.

Rika...

His most cherished person in the world... Yoosung loved her so deeply that he couldn't stop crying for weeks after V had shared with him the awful news of her passing. Two years later, tears still sprung out of his eyes, upset by the outcome he wished he could have changed if only he'd been at her side...

However, nobody can defeat death.

If only...

If only he could find someone like her... his heart would need nothing more to become content.

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"Yoosong! It's an emergency and only you can help me!"

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Yoosung's eyes darted open, his heart beat quickening.

MC's voice suddenly echoed in his ears...

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~oOo~

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"WOAH!", one of Yoosung's mates had caught the flushed boy's attention with that sudden screech. Everyone glanced towards the guy tentatively as though he had some loose wiring in his mental vault. 'What was up with him...?'

"Look over there...", he fidgeted, nervously finger-poking towards the curtain walls leading to the outdoors.

"Don't they remind you of those dudes from the X game on Z-box?!"

"Get outta here.", the dumped friend hissed from irritation, calming down his erratic breathing. He loathed jump-scares! Yoosung, however, raised a questioning brow as he shifted his attention towards the entrance, experiencing a slight shock. He wasn't a fan of the Z-box stuff so he did not know much about games there, but... "Ooo!", he might know what his friend had meant!

He noticed an odd group of individuals who had waltzed into the lobby, unfazed by the entrance security or barriers put in there for some reason. They were dressed in identical black uniforms, military in a way – either that or something similar for certainty. It reminded Yoosung of those people in foreign movies, secret agents or high ranking detectives – highly intimidating fellows despite their eyes hidden underneath darkened frames.

He was stuck, frozen on the spot...

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They were heading towards them!

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Everything stilled in the air surrounding them, sound as well. The large men nearly brushed passed the blonde and his friends whose mouths were hanging towards the floor. Yoosung observed that one of them had his glasses removed, revealing unnaturally golden eyes that appeared quite feral. Dangerous. He remained at the back, turning his head around to view the crowd's behavior. Suddenly, his gaze landed on the blonde, briefly shifting his expression into a smirk.

"Should be around here... I won't stay in there long!"

A sharp iciness travelled up Yoosung's back at the sound of that female voice. If the boy didn't know any better, he would have assumed- "Alright.", golden eyes averted his gaze back towards his mission. "I'll follow you."

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*FLASH BLITZ*

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The crowd became so fascinated by these strange men, some brave folks managing to overcome their initial shock as they brought out their cameras and phones. Countless flashes illuminated the hallway which alerted these men and the girl whom they were shielding. She immediately brought her hands towards her face, rushing towards one of the smaller hallways with the men following diligently and protectively.

'Bodyguards?', Yoosung questioned curiously. Still... as strange as this entire thing was, the girl definitely knew her way around the place – the administrative zone was clustered along that path she took. Some people followed their trails; his friends followed too, wanting to bring Yoosung along on the pretext of doing a real life hunting quest~!

"Heh... I'll pass~!", he smiled dejected, not interest in being that creepy and follow strangers. The blonde leaned against the nearest pillar, using this break to enter the MysMe app. "Nobody is online...", he thumbed through his contact list and stopped at a name.

"MC...", he mumbled softly, suddenly having a thought. Yoosung wanted to hear her voice~! But... she cancelled the call rapidly, the boy quite distressed over the matter and pouting upset, wondering whether she was avoiding him or... was she only busy?

'Yeah, probably busy with the party planning~!', he hoped, keeping up a cheerful front until his eyes grazed passed Zen's name, a spike launching into his heart as he remembered the chat conversations from the other day. Out of all the R.F.A. members, MC was the most talkative when the actor was online compared to the rest of them. Yoosung couldn't even find the will to finish their chat from last night.

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Yoosung disliked this dark feeling engulfing him... : /

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~oOo~

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The girl should have known how terrible of an idea this was, doubts forming from the start. The meeting with Assistant Lee had brought in the spotlight a reality she'd long dreaded to confront and the e-mail only intensified the importance of it. There was no other way to say it – either she contemplated re-enrolment more seriously or she could give it all up, kicking away any second chances.

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Forever a SKY disgrace...

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The university's towering figure had been fairly visible from outside the art shop, feeling the pit inside her stomach widening. Normally, Mina would have shrugged it off, not wishing to step anywhere near the place for she wasn't mentally prepared to face the past... an excuse, the coordinator realized she could no longer use without actual life-altering consequences.

The new semester would begin in a couple of months so whether she chose to re-enroll or not... the procedure was a tedious one and she was wise to acknowledge the lengthy process. 'Better be safe than sorry~!', she thought, attempting to find positives in this story.

She failed the moment Hyeri's figure popped in front of her eyes as she stopped walking. Her image was still haunting to this day and doubts crept at her chest. Mina was visibly hesitating... was this a choice she really wanted to make?

Returning to SKY.

"MC, where to next?", Jisoo's voice rang towards her – it was right then when Mina realized that she did not have to do this alone anymore. Go to university that is. Despite her grievances with these unnaturally dashing and powerful men, their presence gave Mina a semblance of peace, not having to be afraid of the unknown.

Pun intended.

'With the Dandelion Brigade, this should go smoothly~!', the girl thought encouraged.

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It all came crashing down when she'd failed to realize in a timely manner how well they stood out in a crowd. Any crowd. The university too. And in the online age, standing out in public meant that there was a high possibility to be immortalized on someone's photograph. Mina hid her face the best way she could, running towards the registration office with Jisoo on her trails, who did not lose sight of the girl for a single second. The other guards remained behind to contain the wave of students, too curious about the Dandelion Brigade to their liking.

While waiting for the papers and the following procedure discussions, Mina wondered whether she should have just thoroughly researched this enrolment process at home, considering the chaos ensuing outside. Any puzzling questions she may have had could have been easily answered by e-mail, no? 'Why can't I make good decisions...?', she chewed onto her lower lip, staring at the desk in front of her intensively. Mina was jumpy, the sudden phone ring from her pockets causing her to yelp and nearly lose her leg power. She cancelled the call without a second thought, the name not even registering in her mind.

*pats*

Mina's body jolted at the soft touch on her shoulders. "You're too tense... Relax.", the male next to her whispered. "You're the one who wanted us to come here."

"Wanted... is not the word I'd use.", she mumbled irritated, nonetheless gently pushing away his hand. She didn't want him to become the aim of her frustrations. Plus, the guard was probably showing concern because of his job, Jumin probably instructing him to be extra nice and careful with her – he was the brigade's leader after all.

'Jisoo didn't have to...'

The secretary brought the documents before the conversation continued, dropping the papers on her desk. "Mina Choi, please take a seat and we shall begin."

"Yes...", Mina clumsily took the pen while reading through the documents. She would sometimes glance towards the woman who was in an unusually good mood considering her foul moodiness when the girl had barged in unannounced. The secretary would have kicked her out without mistake before her eyes had set on Jisoo's figure, his presence silencing the woman entirely. Thanks to him, the woman's angry expression morphed into an almost sickly angelic glow, having no issue with the guard tagging along Mina.

He pretended to be her relative~!

The coordinator's mouth crumbled down in a wtf moment. "It's no problem, sir~!", the woman grinned too sweetly at the bodyguard who returned an enchanting smirk while Mina's nerves shattered. Anyway... twenty minutes later, this ordealwas finally over, the secretary offering more than enough details that were nightmare inducing to the young coordinator.

Jisoo intervened, promising a nice coffee for the hardworking lady's kind help. "O-Oh my... I couldn't accept!", she fawned, failing to keep a professional stance while the guard pressed the sweet attitude on her. Mina was beyond lost at their exchange at this point, the flirting too obvious to ignore – however, she wasn't going to question it or protest his shameless actions for the enrolment process was going on so smoothly! No hiccups and the lady even patiently explained things to Mina and helped her fill up the forms properly when she had doubts of the information required to be written down.

Watching the glowing talkative raven besides her, Mina couldn't help but be reminded of Zen as their personalities blended together so much until she couldn't distinguish between the two, the girl's cheeks gaining a rosier tint. She imagined that Jisoo was not the one by her side now – but the silver haired actor.

And she couldn't prevent a sweet smile from forming.

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Jisoo noticed.

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"Any further questions you may have or documents required to bring, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone or web address, Miss Choi~!", the woman got up from her seat and slightly bowed to the group which Mina matched in an awkward way as her thoughts went into shambles. Jisoo grabbed a business card from her desk and replied with a huge grin.

"We'll be sure to swiftly call you then!"

"..."

Mina glanced at him when the card ended up in his own pockets where it laid the rest of the road back, no sign of him wanting to give it up.

In the end,

These two weren't the same person.

And the party planner had to make mental notes not to get lost or distracted by anymore handsome features.

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~oOo~

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The road back proved to be quite problematic.

A tall snow white haired man rushed towards them as they left the secretary's office. The crowd had diminished but people were still waiting for the group inside the lobby and had gathered in quite the large numbers – "Far more are waiting outdoors. Jiwoo considers we should announce HQ."

"Damn, it became that serious. Jihae – call for Mr. Kim at once.", Jisoo muttered, agreeing to the plan the moment he looked at the photo the guard had taken of the courtyard.

"Miss Choi.", the raven shot her a serious expression.

"I'm afraid your excursion in the city shall end here."

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~oOo~

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Twenty minutes later and Yoosung's friends had returned from their hunt.

In the meantime, he had found Jaehee online and had been chatting up with the woman for a bit. Her work pile was increasing with every passing hour as Jumin wasn't answering his phone overseas. Chairman Han urgently requested communication with his son and Elizabeth the 3rd was... a permanent mark onto her soul.

"Poor soul...", he giggled at Jaehee, albeit he was genuinely concerned about her well-being. Maybe he should treat her to coffee one of these days when she'd be free from the C&R dungeon! The blonde knew it was her favorite beverage after all~!

'Hmm... Maybe it was MC's too...?'

"Yo, Star! Get ready!", one of the boys called out for the blonde as the strange group of men had made their appearance again, this time almost diving through the lobby and no longer doing a leisurely walk. Yoosung couldn't help being swept away by the crowd's energy and his curiosity, quickly taking a few snapshots himself. He instantly forwarded the pictures to the MysMe chat room, however – Jaehee had already disappeared.

'Ah, what a pain! Jaeheeee-noona, pls come back...', he groaned, wishing he could share what was happening to the members.

Or with MC!

'Yeah... better with MC, at least she'd listen to me!

'Whenever she answered me...'

...

Despite his constant ranting, she at least bothered to listen to his troubles until the end...

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*sigh...*

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*BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ*

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As Yoosung was restlessly typing on the app's interface, he heard familiar sound alerts that were coming from the group. It was suspicious... The boy stood on his tippy-toes, his neck hurting from how much he tried stretching his body to see pass this unraveling chaos gravitating around these men and the woman they were shielding.

"Ngh...", Yoosung didn't manage to perfectly catch her face in the photo due to the hood blocking most of her features or the men in black suits who had created an impenetrable wall around the female. The aura they were sending off was so dangerous, so lethal! Far different than the calm they initially had.

'Stay away!'

These people didn't need to communicate the message loudly for the students to understand the threat, a lot backing away in fear. Yoosung gulped and shuddered under this heavy atmosphere, unable to take deep breaths – he managed one more secret shot before regrouping with his class mates.

They were 40 minutes late for the Arcade Extravaganzza, aigoo!

"Meh, it's useless to go now...", his dumped friend muttered annoyed, flipping through his photo gallery. "Not even a shitty picture turned out well! Waste of time, I say..."

The blonde agreed as they all compared their pictures. However... one of his friends had caught whiff of the girl's right eye, the rest of her features covered by her hands. Honey brown color. Another had a video and they heard her speak in it.

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"So many people... why are there so many people?!"

"Oh my god(E)!"

"Stay closer to me, Miss Choi, and don't linger behind.", the raven added.

"Y-Yes..."

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Yoosung's eyes beamed. "Can you send that to me?!", he blurted out to his mate who was impressed by the blonde's high pitched voice. Oh, now he was interested! "Shush...", he answered while transferring the video through GreenTooth. He carefully listened to the recording again and the girl's voice.

"No way..."

Her korean didn't sound perfect, carrying a slight foreign accent... and that sudden English phrase.

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'Nah... It couldn't be~!'

'MC would have messaged me if she were here at SKY~!'

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He was certain about it!

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~oOo~

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Their ride didn't take long to arrive.

This Mr. Kim must have some mad driving skills to be able to traverse the city in such a short time frame. He'd arrived suspiciously fast too.

'Was the driver secretly following us this whole time...?', Mina wondered, unsure how to feel about this info. Her eyes had travelled across the courtyard, landing upon the large crowd that had been gathered in front of the university's gates. "This is bad...", she whispered, biting her lower lip tensely but quickly noticed that none shared her worried mood.

The Dandelion Brigade was somehow relieved at the sight.

Their calmness ignited confusion from her part. "Relax, miss Choi. Such a situation can be easily contained. I expected something far more dire but this group is manageable with our current numbers.", the leader admitted happily, smirking to keep her emotions at ease. Even so, deep down he knew best than to lower down his guard. It only took one individual to transform a peaceful crowd into an unstable force of resistance.

Celebrities were catalysts for chaos.

These unexpected visitors patiently waited for the group to come out of the building, boiling in these theories regarding this mysterious woman. One glance was all it took for the symphony of cameras blitzes to begin – the closer they were to the gate, the worse it got for Mina, the party planner pressing her hands on top of her face. She was beyond words at the crazy situation, unable to comprehend how such a misunderstanding could happen in the first place.

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'I mean... Why would anyone believe I'm someone of great importance,

just by being surrounded by security personnel in black attire -

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Dammit...

It's not farfetched to think like that at all!

Ack!

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Why didn't they wear regular clothing?!'()

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To make matters worse, Mina's heart fell into the pit of her stomach when she realized that only Jiyeon remained by her side. The orange haired guard was grinning widely, amazed by this numerous turnout. "And imagine that it's been half an hour since entering SKY! Brilliant!"

The guy even started doing photos with his own camera, aiming it towards the crowd.

'W-Was he really e-e-enjoying this?!', Mina thought feeling livid. Such laidback attitude was stressing her out.

The other four team members went to create a corridor for the duo to safely walk towards the car, getting back up from three other men who had arrived with the company car. Initially, it was a bit of struggle but the Brigade had managed a terrific job; in mere seconds, Mina had launched inside the car's backseat, head first and -*BANG*

'Nobody had better seen that. Or heard...', the young girl winced, rubbing her pulsating forehead while she hauled herself upright. She was greatly thankful for the dark ashy windows this car had installed for no one could see the model's interior whereas she had no issue viewing the outside world.

Of course, she had no wish to peak outside.

All Mina wanted now was to get to Rika's apartment as fast as possible, cry for a bit...

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Fine, a lot of bit...

And then start working on Assistant Lee's assignment which was due in... *checks phone*

"..."

She shouldn't have looked for there were missing calls again... ;===;

Mina forgot to turn the sound back on after finishing the job in the registration office. ;===;

"Ma~~~n! You're so popular, miss Choi!", Jiyeon exclaimed right into the flushed face of Mina whose eyes were twitching at his sentence. He was thumbing the screen through his own device and sorted the memories of today's mission. "I don't want to be popular!", she childishly hissed, the guard raising his eye brows surprised at her cold reaction.

"Why not~?", he smiled sweetly, tilting his head sideways and inching closer to her figure. Mina pushed her body backwards until it got pressed into the opposite car door, uncomfortable by this utter lack of space between them.

"W-Well-", she stuttered, however, before she managed to formulate an appropriate comeback, the door behind suddenly clicked open and she nearly fell out of the car. A strong grip latched onto her arms and prevented this accident. "Easy there, lovely miss.", the girl's vision was dipped in gold, Mina quickly hiding her face behind trembling hands after she witnessed the horror. Jisoo's expression was dangerous, his snicker making Jiyeon's gesture appear innocent in nature. The raven had taken the empty spot, squeezing the girl into the middle seat alongside Jiyeon on her left.

"T-The others?!", she asked as the driver had already pressed the start button and was preparing to move the vehicle. "They can walk~~~!", Jisoo answered with a wink, the orange head agreeing to that statement and hiding a yawn behind his gloved hand. None showed any signs of remorse, not even the leader.

"... Wow."

Mina appeared dejected at the thought, furrowing her eye brows. 'Betrayal!' – the word was plastered across her features without mercy, giving away her inner sour mood. Both men blinked a few times and then stared at each other before they puffed into heartfelt chuckles filling up the moving vehicle. "Ma~~~~n, you really so gullible!", Jiyeon pointed it out without remorse, the coordinator feeling like she had just received a harsh slap.

*confused expression*

"So sad...", the raven sighed depressed.

"Yup~!", Jiyeon added, revealing how the others have joined a different company car, heading to HQ while they were bringing the coordinator to the rendezvous location.

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They were unaware of the car tailing them.