Night-Owl Romance

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Chapter 25: Insomniacs Fourth-Warmth

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"Come on, come on. Pick up, pick up, pick up!(E)", Mina was impatiently tapping her nails into the coffee table's wooden surface, growing more desperate with each second passing by.

"No...(E)"

She chewed onto her bottom lip, afraid Seven had already contacted the actor through other means – it would explain why Zen was not answering her after prolong ringing. If her assumptions proved correct then the party planner would never be able to recover from this level of embarrassment. Certain artistic endeavors and curiosities on the pretext of practicing anatomy were just difficult to explain without being perceived as an...

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'Utterly depraved human being. T-T'

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There were things you could talk about with friends – and, then, there were things you only shared with those whom you could entrust with even the most questionable things about you without the fear of being exposed, intensely judged and shamed or, worse, backstabbed with the information. Mina didn't have the latter figured out so her secrets were to be kept in a vault of online anonymity!

It was mind boggling how Seven was already so well versed in Mina's secrets, even discovering the couple of NSFW pieces hidden on a private setting in that account which – honestly – weren't that dirty or raunchy like they all made it seem to be ;====; Of course sensitive parts were noticeable but those weren't her main focus in those. She'd played with the postures after researching professional photographers and real life models who took risky artistic snapshots. She'd keep tweaking the overall composition of the painting with countless additions of objects she'd deem fit like mirrors to play with the perspectives, transparent fabrics to hide and reveal certain parts of the subject's skin and other materials which were adding more flavors to the paintings.

At least that was her main reasoning...

Plus, many of the greatest arts in the world celebrated the human body in its rawest form.

^^;;;;;;

The other reason was that she was indeed a shameless human underneath LOL.

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DAMMIT!

She felt like going crazy, ha ha ha!

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This spread of information had to be prevented by all means inside future chat rooms!

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ZEN WAS NEVER TO LEARN OF MINA CHOI'S GUILTY ARTISTIC PLEASURES!

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(º □ º l|l)/

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*CLICK*

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~oOo~

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"ZEN!"

The screeching blasting through his ears was something the actor had yet once more forgotten to dodge, his headache increasing substantially as a result.

*relieved sigh* "Thank goodness you've answered! I'm so happy!"

"?"

He might have suffered more damage to his eardrums than initially estimated because there was no way the party planner seemed this relieved to have him pick up, not after everything that had happened between them. His heart was racing by her heightened mood, reminiscing of the excitement she'd carried during the first part of that voice mail – "I thought Seven got to you. YES! I wasn't too slow!"– only for his hopes to be trampled all over thanks to this red headed obstacle.

The male's expression sourly changed at the girl's mentioning of the hacker. Why would that bastard come near him after the nasty pranks he keeps pulling on him lately?! It was bad enough he now appeared hugely stupid in the app! And why was that a concern for Mina?He kept pondering about it in silence, leaving the party planner thirsty for replies she was not getting.

The silence from his end was uncharacteristic as frightful deductions were made on her end.

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"Or...(E)"

*soft gasp*

"Was I too late?!"

"Did he contact you?"

"Oh no, w-what did he say?!"

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"Ha, ha, ha!"

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"There's a plausible explanation for everything~!

"I swear!(E)"

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Now the actor's suspicions were on a new time high. Explain what? What was she talking about?! Zen was not able to follow her rambling one bit, expressing it out loud before she continued on stuttering further nonsensical words.

"Oh~ So he didn't send you anything else?"

"Okay.(E)"

"Great.(E)"

"That's perfect~!", she exhaled cheerfully, patting her heated face and making wind with her healthy hand to cool off. However, Zen did not let her slip of tongue go, questions pouring left and right.

"What has Seven done to make you feel so panicked?"

"Shown another one of those depraved images?!", he did not appear too kind with his accusations, his blood boiling at the hacker's inconsiderate actions towards the R.F.A.'s newest member this, no matter how you viewed it, was unacceptable!

"De-Depraved images...", she nervously chuckled with a broken heart, whispering in a low tone that wasn't enough for him to hear. Mina quickly negated his accusations, playing down the issueat it being something really, really silly – and not related to such images one bit, ha ha ha. "So, don't think much about it~~~ Just, don't trust in anything he may say~~~!"

"Hm. I recall warning you the same thing about Seven not long ago.", the actor added, the coordinator's voice – a dying sound as it lowered in tune again. "Yes... yes, you did."

"Anyway!"

"I'll get going, so good ni – "

"Stay.", Zen voice commanded from impulse. The whole fiasco with Seven and the girl's secrecy only encouraged the actor to be stern and press harder for her not ot leave in order to clear up the air between them and become on better terms. He could still recall how easily she had ignored him throughout the day while effortlessly interacting with the others under his presence. He found it incredibly hurtful.

" – ght. Oh?"

"Mina, just stay a little while.", the silver haired male boldly requested, however, judging from her hesitation and past actions, she appeared to be on the verge of disappearing regardless. Maybe if he used a different approach, a harsher one – "A-Ah, I'm a little b-busy right now, so I really n-need to go." – then she wouldn't be coming up with these feeble excuses which were enhancing his headache. And heartache. Zen scratched at his pulsating forehead, trying to keep it together and retain his calm but he couldn't help from becoming frustrated by the girl's inconsiderate attitude towards him.

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"Are you running away from me again?"

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~oOo~

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"Huh?", the girl gasped, her cheerful facade fading at his sudden remark. "You're wrong, I-I'm not –", Mina weakly answered but he had no patience to hear her until the finish.

"You keep acting like this..."

"Be honest with me for a change."

"Are you still upset over how I'd mistakenly yelled at you today?"

"N-No!(E)"

"I understand it was an honest mistake... It doesn't bother me much anymore...", the party planner answered semi-truthfully yet it was not nearly enough to raise Zen's spirits who was tired of stressing over every little detail he may have done to wrong the coordinator – had she been honest, then what exactly was still bothering the girl after his attempts to mend things had been met with this painful silence.

Mina admitted the mix-up wasn't her main issue. "What is it then? If you say you weren't upset because of this mix-up then why had you left our chat so abruptly?"

"I-I really wasn't...", Mina was taken aback by these hard hitting questions that felt very atypical for Zen to focus on while conversing with the girl – usually, he focused on being playful and comforting, any questions posed revealing his simple curiosity about the party planner. And now – he was being very confrontational and would not offer leniency.

"I was busy, like I've already mentioned.", the girl kept chewing on her lips, feeling pressured to a corner that she could not escape from. She hated this dark sensation, trying to deflect the subject and do everything in her power to end this call – the girl finally had time to work on the R.F.A. e-mails and since V had decided on such a quick party date, there was a lot to be researched and dealt with.

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"Even on the messenger, you've been disappearing quite often whenever I was around."

"But were quite active otherwise."

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The girl's eyes briefly widen in shock, soon lowering her head and closing her eyes, wishing the actor hadn't observed such cowardly actions. Shit. Mina tried formulating ideas in her head so she could continue her failed attempt at properly explaining stuff but she took too long to begin and Zen's heavy sigh had reached her ears, the silver haired male painfully realizing once more how he had hit the nail on the spot – he had been purposely being ignored.

"Aigoo, what kind of twisted world is this~~~?"

"To be ignored so cruelly by such a cold girl~~~"

"Are my looks fading into nothingness...?"

"Aigoo, aigoo, aigoo..."

Despite the addition of a comical tone, Zen's words were actually sharp enough to pierce Mina's insides, her panic upgraded towards the next level. The same as her high pitched voice. "Z-Zen!"

"Don't think like that, I'm not igno...ring you!", the intensity of the word faded at the end, the actor's comical side deflating as quickly as it appeared.

Another confirmation by Mina, Zen whispering his sadness out. "Ignored so coldly..."

The coordinator mumbled that it wasn't something she had sought to do on purpose but the actor just gave out an annoyed hiss at her tiresome excuses. Even if some of her interactions online today seemed logical and fit – like in Yoosung's case with the LOLOL game – this still did not bring Zen the emotional comfort he was seeking. It did not explain the true reason he was being dismissed online considering the girl had denied it was linked to the misunderstanding.

The subject was becoming repetitive and tiresome. The information was bugging him, trying to figure out all day long what was going on but failing. "On purpose, not on purpose – Mina, all I am asking from you is honesty and to stop hiding! Seriously, it's incredibly bothersome to think you're lying this openly to my face."

"But I am not –"

"If you're not, then why are you so cold to me?!"

"Is it the theatre visit then?"

"W-Well..."

"Is it that injured hand I've touched...?"

"Did it hurt when I did? I'm sorry about it, if I only knew about your injury at the time..."

"You're upset over that then?"

"N-No! Yes. I mean. No – Zen, I'm trying to –"

"Ashi...", Zen's voice was like a pained whisper, Mina closing in on her next panicked upgrade. To the point she just screamed it all out when the actor used the same tactic as the girl – saying goodbye in a really depressed tone. Feeling too tired for this.

No.

NO!

Mina did not want Zen to start avoiding the girl so she just blurted it out.

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"I WAS SCARED AND EMBARASSED, OKAY?!"

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~oOo~

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Zen was rather knowledgeable and versatile with his social skills, especially when his partner was a female. He could be a real charmer and did not have a lot of mishaps when spending time with them, feeling like he controlled the situation well. The years he had spent in the acting world and the multiple library shelves of books he had skimmed throughout that timeline had the actor prepared for the most different types of characters and personalities, and he could find ways to rather easily interact with others if given time and information to prepare.

Zen could become anything one would want in a discussion partner, a perfect chameleon.

Zen could read a person's likes and dislikes with relative ease...

And he could use the information to his fullest advantage.

Unfortunately, he had not discovered a book or a character that could help him figure out what the hell was happening inside Mina Choi's mind because it was a whirlwind of confusion and convoluted personalities that would clash so often. Zen was lost as to what to say, do, speak, hear, and breathe even when interacting with Mina. Talking to her was sometimes like walking on eggshells, not knowing when that final crack could ruin the peace.

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Scared and embarrassed.

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"What?", that made no sense to him. Scared of what – of him?

"Uuuh..."

"WHY?!", Zen asked obliviously, his hand darting through his head and pulling hard onto his silver roots.It made no sense! Was he not friendly enough towards her? Should he have been nicer...?!

"Should I post more selfies?", he joked.

"PLEASE NO!", she yelled back at his last suggestion, feeling foolish afterwards. "Zen... it's just... well... now you are friendlier than I expect a person to be with me."

"But later on?!"

"Huh?! What do you mean – later on...?", the actor was unsure what Mina was suggesting. However, it had dawned upon him when the girl sighed deeply as the conversation drifted towards an area she really did not want to approach. But... if it made Zen stop feeling like it's his fault, then...

*sigh*

Mina might as well. "You say you'd realized it was me at the theatre... then... you must have seen and met my former classmates and heard their protests after my unexpected arrival..." , she started, the actor projecting the faces of today's audience.

And their slurs.

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Towards Mina.

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She did not linger over the subject for too long – and since Zen demanded honesty from the girl, then she honestly stated that it was not something she openly enjoyed speaking about because it was a chapter of her life that to this day inflicted a lot of pain.

"Jagi..."

"Shush. Don't interrupt."

He wanted to know – so he was going to quietly listen to her!

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The few things Zen had learnt had shed enormous light over the girl and, likewise, had his face carry numerous sentiments during her story. He managed to abide by her request, to keep his mouth shut until the end because if she were to be interrupted – she wouldn't manage to properly communicate her story.

Basically,

Mina was extraordinarily scared of the prospect of her past repeating itself, always happening the moment she felt too comfortable in a social setting and letting her guard down.

The party planner was unsure whether her accent was still very strong or noticeable since she'd been practicing very hard throughout the years but she hadn't grown up in the country, travelling with her mother to many foreign lands and living within these many different cultures as a child. However, there were many cultural differences she wasn't fully made aware of after settling into her mother's hometown which was in a rather conservative type of neighborhood. This included the life of a high school student. Mina knew the curriculum so that part of high school wasn't too difficult to adjust to, the party planner being pretty good at studying, in general.

Bad news came when interacting within the school's social circles.

Mina never truly gave the required importance to the hierarchy system when it came to the student body. She was used to the foreign way of treating seniors – those even one month older than her were treated equally but many took this attitude of hers as arrogance.

As an offense.

Plus, she'd neglected to pay attention to the popularity ranking in that school and act accordingly to those rules.

"Who knew openly approaching certain people was regarded a sin...", her bitterness was overflowing, Zen suppressing comments or words of comfort. He didn't like the direction her story was heading towards... "I was the happiest when I'd finished my studying there and could finally start fresh in SKY~!"

"But, at university, things weren't going great either. I was judged because of the teacher's favoritism over my work while I apparently showed no potential in the class room and workshops. Or that's how it looked to some of the students in my year."

"The ones selected at this specialized art group got highly upset at me after seeing my projects compared to how my portfolio was designed to look."

"And a lot happened due to this large difference."

"A lot of drama."

"So..."

"I can't help wondering – in the R.F.A., when I am going to succeed in pissing you guys off to such an extent that you won't ever wanna have anything to do with me...?"

"So when that misunderstanding today happened, I thought – wow, it took only three days."

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"A personal record."

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"Honestly, I thought the scandal with the C&R security team from yesterday would be the one to seal the deal but Jumin took the scandal so well! I was shocked how he simply shoved it away like unimportant news..."

"So yeah..."

"Now you know why I keep being hesitant."

"I open my heart to people, but they take it away and just throw it to the ground."

"There's only so much rejection I can handle anymore... XD"

"I keep thinking - why do I even bother when the outcome becomes this terrible and beyond my control to fix?"

"Whatever I do or not do – people around me keep disappearing."

"And I can't stop this pattern."

"..."

"...Zen?", Mina asked softly, afraid she had overshared too much information that was of no interest to the silver haired actor. She waited for something, anything, a word, but all she got was – "Wait a second."

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*END CALL*

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~oOo~

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She wanted to bang her head onto the nearest wall with sufficient strength to get a concussion because of the pooling regrets, but as the connection got cut, soon, her inbox began beeping with incoming messages. The girl was unsure what to expect from Zen and was terrified to look at those texts however she was definitely not expecting the amount of spam in there.

Personalized spam.

With,

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Zen's selfies.

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A whole set of them. So many, in fact, she was losing count of the pictures uncovering in front of her eyes, each harboring messages that, for some reason, made her already watery orbs leak out while she was laughing out loud at the ridiculous phrasings written on them. The cringe was real with those sugary verses and Zen's face-stickers decorating them – each one was worse than the previous but at the same time uplifting and... warm.

While swiping through the gallery, the phone suddenly rang with the actor's number and, for the first time in a while, Mina answered without shying away. "Are you crazy?! What is this?!", she scolded him while suppressing laughter, the actor complaining that he had nothing better saved onto his phone...

"Your tastes are too unique. Who dislikes the face of such a miracle of nature?!",Zen was beginning to feel quite overwhelmed by this girl called Mina Choi – he had never met someone like her before! It's as if she wasn't human like the rest of them and from another world!

;===;

"Huh?! That's so silly! I'm not an alien! Don't say it like that..."

On another note, had Zen known the girl was going through so much hardship he would have found better selfies to cheer her up but for the moment, this was all he had fit for the occasion. "Mirror selfies then?", she asked like a moron, quickly slapping a hand over her mouth as she heard the silver haired actor nearly choke on his end and stammer desperately. He immediately thought of the stupid shit he wrote back to Seven in anger.

And Mina w-wanted to s-see such a thing?!

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"Jagi..."

"Jagi...!"

"JAGI!"

"ASHI!"

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"You can't request that from a korean man so bluntly!", Zen was in complete shock, using the discovery of how deep her foreign side ran as a means to give more suitable advice to her sheer bluntness and too-direct courage. Mina rapidly defended her statement by pointing out he could just take them as he normally did.

"Like that gym one! Unless, you normally take them..."

"..."

"Ooooooo...", her teasing realization of Zen's true mirror habit was ruining the actor's calm who hated how his mind instantly went to that instead of his usually, innocent photos. She misunderstood, he misunderstood, everyone misunderstood! – hence, Zen quickly diverted that confession as something he had said for the sole purpose of stopping Seven's rampage, putting an end to those shameless links.

"Shameless...", she repeated the word carrying sweat drops. The drawings weren't that shameless, a lot didn't even have it detailed! But Zen believed Mina was attacking his morals.

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It was purely accidental.

He wasn't a shameless man at all!

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"Su~~~re.", Mina nodded, her tone betraying the true meaning of the word. She agreed with him – accidental slip of truth from his part. "I believe you are indeed a man like that!"

"Ha, ha, ha... Jagi, you're... ha, ha, you're joking, right? ^^;;;;; I mean – "

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"I'm never joking."

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The party planner sharply cut him off as if she were dead serious about it. This resulted in Zen exhaling in extreme pain, having been made KO by Mina. No –his precious and carefully crafted image had been ruined beyond repair! What else must the hacker destroy in his world filled with extreme hardships? What else must wipe away from the perfection of his well sculpted face and beauty? The silver haired actor faked a sobbing cry, dramatically complaining of the unfair destiny revolving around him.

"There, there. If it's any consolation to you, your image had been ruined for me since night one, hour one. ^o^~!", Mina teasingly added but Zen's mood worsened, his pain overflowing. Perhaps, some lying was well intended in conversations with him, the party planner reconsidering doing so instead of plunging him into such deep cold waters!

"Mina be honest, Mina don't be honest – really Zen, you're changing your mind too often about me."

"That's not true! I'm never going to change my mind when it comes to you~ ^^", he rapidly admitted, catching Mina off guard whose voice softened once more. And Zen only continued from there forwards – having a friend in the actor was not something he told lightly. And he was definitely not the type to follow baseless rumors or abandon someone due to things they might have done wrong in the past.

Context was also important, same with intention.

This is why he hadn't abandoned some of the people from his teenage years and many of them had had problems with the law. Zen himself hadn't had a clean past and had run-ins with the local police but he had mostly lived a respectable life, abiding by societal rules and not creating troubles when possible.

"Huh?!", Mina was surprised to hear that, unable to associate the actor with being a petty criminal. Even the forums in his fan cafe did not hint at Zen having a dark past, not one bit. "Most of it is not public knowledge but some information had surfaced here and there."

"I'm not too popular for it to do me much harm and I've already settled matters if those cases would surface in the future."

"Volunteering and other acts of work done to pay my dues for those crimes."

"Woah...", she couldn't snap out of her surprise but Zen did not dwell into any details – if she were curious, he would be willing to share more stories. "Another time, though."

"Okay~!"

"Face-to-face~~~!"

"Ugh...", her reaction made Zen complain. He honestly wasn't that bad, nor dangerous anymore. The actor was completely harmless! "It's not that!", Mina replied, following with hesitation.

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"Do you... "

"Really want to meet me...?"

"After everything I've told you?"

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"Of course~!"

"I would even go as far as to run to Rika's apartment now if it meant I could see you~! ^^"

"N-NOW?!", the girl's eyes widen, gazing at the clock.

"Yes!"

"You're so eager, especially at this hour..."

"Hm? Oh, it's quite late in the night... come to think of it."

"Well, that bastard keeps hiding the address to Rika's place. So you're safe~!"

"Your true nature shines in the dark, Zen...", she clicked her tongue, pretending to fear his intentions underneath the looming night spreading over the city. The silver haired member yelped, immediately blurting out that he did not think of the meeting as anything improper! He wouldn't dare to do anything she wouldn't like or feel comfortable with. No-no-no! -

"Oooooooo... That sounds even scarier..."

"I would bring a movie so we could watch it together~!", he added to his crumbling defense. "Something adventurous, inspirational and amazing to watch~!"

"Like yours truly!"

"Let me guess – one of your musicals?"

"You've read my mind~! Exactly. ^^ There's nothing better running in town nowadays! No other production has such an impeccable human being relishing on the screens! And, as much as it pains me to admit this, it is probably for the best. ^^ Else, this winter might become too stressful for people's own hearts and I can't handle the burden of knowing how I ruined someone's peace of mind with my handsome physique!", the narcissism in Zen was blooming and Mina was groaning in annoyance as a response – however, she secretly welcomed it.

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The air between them had finally settled into a comfortable rhythm.

It felt like the hurdles before had been successfully dealt with.

They were both ok with each other ^^.

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The coordinator was going along the flow, becoming more daring with her jokes as she were fishing for Zen's funny reactions when he was acting silly and over dramatic. The entire phone call was amusing and quite light hearted. ^^ And the night continued with this new, seemingly endless interaction, neither side sensing any intense awkwardness compared to previous days.

When the R.F.A. topic came into view, Mina finally packed up the courage to ask the man for his help, needing Zen's personal information to complete those tests she had received. It was near the midnight hour and a lot of content was still missing and she liked to be done with it soon. "Are you sure you're not the one who'd created this questionnaire? It's so private~~~!", the actor playfully remarked, hinting how Mina was becoming interested in him and hid behind this charade.

The coordinator nearly slashed his ear drums with her high pitched tone and moodiness. "Joking, joking! Ashi... so cold... you're a real ice princess."

Zen complained yet he was more than happy to aid the girl through her newfound torment – actually, he was enjoying it rather too much, stealing from her fun in the end for he had a troublesome habit of derailing off the road, constantly remembering stories or events in between answers. One hour and she had barely gone through half a guest's content.

()

The actor couldn't help himself!

Nostalgia was hitting him hard, many questions from his fanclub's president reminding him of scenes from his rookie days~!

"E-mail!", Mina pointed it out every single time when the actor would derail the story too badly, eventually getting too tired to stop the actor as she allowed him to continue. Zen hoped, deep down, that the party planner was genuinely interested in discovering these things about the actor. And not because of the guests' demands. ^^

The silver haired male did not remember the last time he felt so relaxed, both of them talking for so long that only an audible yawn from the girl's side had put an end to it.

The actor had finally looked at his clock and was instantly sorry!

^^;;;;;

The princess must have gotten too sleepy.

"It's ok, oppa...", Mina replied weakly, eyes already closed and head resting on the table.

"Aigoo...", he whispered fondly. "What am I going to do with you now...?"

"Hm,what d'you me'n...?", the words were too slurred for him to understand, Mina hearing Zen sigh and speak more gently than before.

"Go to bed and I'll send you the rest by morning. Okay? ^^"

"Hn...", she agreed, the heaviness over her body intensifying.

"Jagi? Are you still there?"

"...", Mina couldn't move a muscle anymore, mouth remaining shut.

.

"Tch, I've got carried away so much..."

"Please, forgive me~!"

"Good night, my princess. ^^ Sweet dreams~!"

"And don't you run away from me in there, okay? ^^"

"And just like tonight, in your dreams,

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...

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"Stay with me."

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...

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Overall,

Mina was thankful.

So deeply thankful for how Zen was treating her after those fears had been spilled out loud in uncontrollable waves – though the actor caught merely a glimpse of her struggles through a cracked-open door, he was really understanding and reassuring. Furthermore, he'd worked his magic and talents on making Mina feel... safe.

Included.

Important. ^^

Zen even shared things about himself she had never pictured to be true of the actor, adding more depth and color to his soul and persona which blended beautifully together into a wonderful mixture.

Like his entire being – the actor was wonderful, both in and out.

Zen's words brought in a sensation that Mina was someone special to have around and dear enough to see happy and bright.

.

Mina appreciated Zen a lot for this. ^^

However, she wasn't going to admit it any time soon.

His narcissism would become beyond unstoppable.

Also...

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Zen's warmth was making her heart race too much.

Any more of it and...

...

Mina would be in deep trouble. ^^