With the time to depart creeping closer by the minute, the apartment around them got messier. Seven was opening every drawer and unlocking every locker inside the tiny house, investigating whatever was inside.
With every cabinet that was opened, another pile was made next to it.
As the RFA's hacker was scavenging every corner of the apartment, the guest coordinator stared at him from behind the couch, framed eyes peeking over the furniture his hands holding onto the material on either side of his head.
His gaze followed a book as it was closed and set on top of a pile of others, finished after what looked like a quick skim through.
With the rest of his face pressed against the fabric of the couch, he yawned into it, gaze turning away from the hacker he saw him pick up his phone, turn it around in his hands before setting it back down.
The brunette in a dark colored shirt turned to a table, snatching his brown phone from it and returned to his original position of facing the hacker, eyes only just peeking over the couches back.
Without looking at his phone he pressed on its screen, a soft vibrating coming from it soon after. Putting it to his ear he stared as the other male reached for his phone once again, as he did before, but before he could touch the device, it started to ring in the pattern of a song.
The red head jumped at the unexpected song but quickly composed himself and picked up the phone, putting it to his ear without hesitation.
"You're right behind me… why do you have to be cute and call, come over here and talk to me" MC heard the joyful voice twice, through the phone and through the air. None the less, he responded with a hum.
"What if I don't wanna be cute and talk on the phone, hmm?"
MC lifted his head and rested his chin on the back of the couch, smiling at Seven. He watched as the person in front of him turned around, phone held up with his other hand resting on his leg, he was smiling back at him "You'll always be cute~"
Both laughed for a short while, their fun changing as Seven perked up, stood and bolted into the kitchen.
MC watched him as he returned, one arm behind his back and the other still holding the phone to his ear.
Stepping out of the kitchen, Seven looked nervous, feet shifting on the floor, deep breaths resounding from the phone, flustering MC to a minor extent.
"MC…" He called him "Can we… move this conversation face to face?" But before he could answer, the call ended.
As they put their phones away, Seven slowly walked over to MC, always facing the brunette as he sat on the couch cushion next to him.
"Sorry for running off just now" He looked away, embarrassed "I've been wanting to give you this since we woke up…" Seven remembered that morning, he woke up finding himself trapped, MCs arm wrapped around his waist tight. He tried to break free with out waking the sleeping brunette but failed, they both had a silent breakfast.
Having both hands behind his back, Seven brought them forward, a white cat in his hands, it was the size of a normal cat, but metal. Cupping it in front of himself, he smiled as he displayed it happily.
"Ah! Meowy! You fixed him?" MC smiled with his mouth agape in astonishment, the brief memory of the cat breaking against the desk leg played in his mind for a moment, but was chased away as Seven spoke, head moving in a gentle nod.
"Yes-" He brought it closer to MC, moving it closer to his hands. Hesitantly MC picked up the artificial feline and set it in his lap, staring at it in awe "-I originally intended to give him to you… I'm sorry I broke it"
Setting his hand on the cat's head he watched as its eyes lit up with a dim blue glow, Seven told him it was programmed to act like the 707 from the chatroom with the behavior of a cat as he began to lightly pet it. In other words, Meowy was waking up.
"I made him like 707, always cheerful and joking around" Folding his hand in his lap Seven stared down at the cat as well, watching MCs hand lightly caress the white pseudo-fur he had put on top of its metal body "If anything happens to me… It's my hope that he'll comfort you a bit"
"I… I've never wanted to do something for someone so much… I never thought in my time as an agent, that I'd become so attached to someone… It might be getting repetitive hearing me say this again but… I always thought myself as someone who should be forgotten, thinking it pointless to give someone something to remember me bye"
"But… I'm here, with you, a different person now… hoping to never be forgotten about by you"
"I don't deserve to give you a gift but… if there is a God, I hope he allows me to be a bit selfish, I hope he lets us return safe from this journey"
With a determined nod, MC gave a wide smile "Yes! We'll find the truth and come back safe!"
Seeing MC's new smile, Seven's calm and collected demeanour broke, a smile appearing on his to match "No matter what awaits us, we'll come back safe and sane… and when we come back, I'll do my best at life, I'll protect you and Saeran with everything I have"
As Seven finished speaking, a buzzing like an alarm clock began, startling both out of their infatuated trances.
"Time to leave, meow! Leave meow!"
After a quick snicker from Seven, he patted the cats head, stopping the buzzing "There's the alarm, I set it earlier" The amused hacker watched as the cat's head was once again tapped by a curious hand "I'll tell you how he works as we go if you'd like"
Standing up he raised his arms above his head to stretch, once finished he extended a hand to MC who gratefully took it, using the help to stand.
Taking a quick look around the now cluttered apartment Seven spotted the suit cases next to the apartments computer "All packed I see!" Making his way to the luggage, a cat holding brunette following suit, he picked up both cases.
"I checked the forecast from multiple news sources for where we're going, and a majority said it would be cold" He turned around to MC, holding both cases in his arms almost like they weren't there "Did you pack the clothes I sent you?" With a nod in response, he smiled "Good"
Seven started for the apartments front door but was stopped as his shoulder was tapped. As he turned, one of the two suit cases he was carrying was removed, it now in MCs hand.
"You don't have to carry my things, it'd be too much weight" MC sated, holding his bag in one hand while the cat sat in his other, held close to his chest.
Seven opened his mouth to say something but promptly closed it as MC made a face saying, 'refute it, I dare ya'.
Settling for a nod, he turned back to the front of the apartment "Let's go"
"I'm telling you! It's like that woman hates me!"
"I think you're over reacting to her… I've never seen her glaring at you"
The elevator doors opened with a ding allowing both MC and Seven to exit, as they did the woman they were talking about sat behind the counter of the foyer, and seeing her, Seven watched as her eyes lifted from the pages on the desk and went to him.
Turning back to face MC, he shrugged. The woman's eyes went from Seven to MC during this time, her gaze turning into a glare as she took in his form.
Seeing the appearing gaze, the one glared at pointed at her franticly gaining the red heads attention once more.
As Seven turning check on the woman, she had lowered her head back to her papers. Seeing her not glaring at him, he turned back, and eye brow raised.
"I swear I'm not crazy! She hates me, I don't know why!" he raised both hands up in a surrender fashion, leaving the now wheeling suit case standing beside him.
Smiling like he totally believed him, Seven nodded slowly before gesturing to the building door. Picking up the handle again he followed Seven.
As he was walking to the door he saw the lady looking at him from the corner of her eye, slowing, he raised a finger to her, mouthing a curse before continuing.
Stepping out the door Seven held open for him, he noticed she had a lopsided grin, the same finger held up to him.
Freezing, he stared at her "That's it! Luciel, hold our cat!"
Luckily, before MC could do anything, Seven quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him away, the angry brunette grabbing his case as he was pulled.
The two had now been walking for over 10 minutes, each doing their own thing as they lugged what they had. Seven was looking at his phone, checking nearby cameras for any signs they were being followed while MC looked at the city around them, making the occasional comment about what he saw.
It was still early in the morning, so the sky was in its transition of black to shades of red, the rising suns' warmth not yet at its peak so both were wearing attire to keep warm still. MC had badgered Seven to, if he wouldn't wear something warmer, at least zip up his funky sweater while the brunette had put his beige sweatshirt over his black shirt.
"20% off at… Mallwart, huh, didn't know they had those here" The occupied brunette kept note of the sale, remembering the lack of supplies he left at home, not the apartment, the home left for the apartment.
Seven looked up at the path ahead, searching for a street sign as he did. After finding one he nudged the arm of the man next to him, both turning when he did. It was a system, when Seven needed them to turn and he knew MC was preoccupied, he'd either nudge him to say, 'go right', or tug on the fabric he wore for 'go left'.
"Need soap…" Seven muttered to himself; adding to what was said about the sale, remembering the distinct lack of both dish and human soap in his bunker.
Looking back at the store, MC watched the people inside for a moment before turning to Seven "If you need soap we can go inside"
The red head stayed staring at the camera feed on his device for a moment before registering MC was talking to him. With a confused sound, he turned to the brunette, remembering what he had said.
"Oh, uh, there's some shops on the path we're taking to Saeran, we can stop at those if we need anything …don't think I'm able to return to my bunker anyways…" Seven turned back to his phone, switching the camera it was looking through. It was a camera from the sale store they passed, he could see them just barely.
"Oh? Did something happen?"
At the question, Seven slowed slightly, trying to think of an excuse. He had been able to see that MC was worried since the morning, even the night before so he didn't want to add to that by saying 'My caretaker maid is looking for me to most likely kill me and my home is the first placed he'd look'.
"I left my house a complete mess when I ran over to the apartment and… my maid is probably furious with me, don't want to deal with an angry maid…" Seven glanced up at MC after speaking, gauging his reaction if he believed him. Thankfully it seemed he did as it triggered laughter from the taller male.
"Maybe if you tidied up your workspace every so often you wouldn't have someone chasing you with a broom" The brunette turned to Seven with a 'come on' look "I mean- the past two nights I found you past out in your corner, it was a mess, who can even drink 21 Ph. D Pepper's in 5 hours and not throw up?" He shook his head confused as Seven looked away, embarrassed by his 'drinking problem'.
Clearing his throat, Seven attempted to change the subject "So… we should be at my car in a couple minutes, 5 at most"
Seeing the attempt, MC followed with it, nodding at the statement. He resumed looking around at their surroundings is curiosity.
After the amount of time suggested, Seven drew his attention to a parking lot a block away from them. That was there destination.
Feeling a wave of relief pass over him, MC chuckled at the sight.
Sadly, the relief didn't last long as he felt something- someone, staring at him. His chuckling stopped as the feeling made him shiver lightly, the gaze feeling cold. Looking to Seven, who was occupied muttering about his car to himself, he was not only, not looking at him, but the cold gaze was nothing like Seven's, whose was warm like melted butter…
Slowing down to be behind Seven by a few inches, MC looked around them, eyeing people who were walking on the streets sides. Not seeing anyone staring at them, he begrudgingly let it slide as paranoia only for the cold gaze to return, the feeling giving him a mental frostbite.
Carefully turning to look at where he felt the gaze to originate from, near dead ahead, was a man sitting at a table outside a shop, sipping a drink through a straw.
As though the man noticed him staring, a smirk grew on his face.
MC watched the man as he turned to look at the direction him and Seven were walking, dark mint eyes staring directly at the car Seven pointed out, after a moment of staring at the car his cold gaze returned to MC.
By now, the worried brunette had handed Meowy to Seven and had his phone in hand, blue eyes staring between the screen and the man in disbelief.
Looking back to the dark eyed man, he could see the clothing he was in, the exact clothing the person on his phone was wearing.
A gray under shirt partially revealed by an open red checkered jacket, hints of brown poking out from the edges of the collar. Short gray-blue hair flowing in the slow wind to complete the look.
The man stayed smirking as he nodded, as though somehow confirming what he suspected.
Finally, the man's gaze left him, his head lowering to the table as he presumably began to write something.
As he finished, eyes going back to stare coldly at MC, he nodded and stood up. Taking one last look at MC, the man glanced down at the table before walking off down the street, turning a corner shortly after.
MC considered going to the table to grab whatever the photo man had left for him, at least he though it was for him, but remembered Seven walking beside him, who had also slowed his pace ti match his own seemingly unconsciously.
As the two of them came up to the shop, the table the mat sat at out of arms reach, he sighed in annoyance at his curiosity and tugged on Seven's arm after putting his device away.
Stopping, the red head stopped as well "Huh? Is something wrong MC?" Amber eyes stared up at him in concern.
Shaking his head MC turned to the shop the man left, keeping his eyes on the table "Nothings wrong… just, why don't stop for a minute? Rest up for a few seconds" He turned back to Seven, trying his best to show a tired expression, which wasn't all that hard considering he was already tired having been woken up at 4 in the morning.
Seven looked at him with uncertainty, eyes going between the shop and the car lot not fa away "We're only three minutes away from the car, not even… we can rest inside it"
Unease growing inside him, MC bit his lip, only forcing himself to stop the action, wanting to keep a calm demeanour "Yes, it's not that far but~" He smiled "think about it, what won't we have once we start driving?"
Humming in thought, Seven down at his phone, tapping the screen a few times before looking off to a seemingly random direction "I understand…" He turned to the shop and began walking towards it, MC following behind him nervous.
"Once we start driving, our next stop won't be for another four hours… I guess we could ahem, load off here before leaving… I forgot to at least…"
Stopping next to the table the brunette wanted to be at, Seven set his case besides MC "I'll wait here first"
Crossing his arms over his chest, MC shook his head "Nuh uh, you go first"
Sighing, Seven knew MC wasn't going to listen to any reason he gave, his eyes shining all too much like they did back when he… denied his feeling, unwavering and determined.
"Alright, alright, I'll be back as fast as I can…" He leaned forwards "Do you still have what I gave you…?"
MC smiled and nodded, patting his jeans pocket, feeling the bump on the small taser Seven had practically shoved in his face, and after telling him how it worked, told him to keep it with him.
With a sigh of relief, Seven smiled, feeling more at ease with leaving MC alone, though he still felt nervous, but he had faith the brunette could handle himself.
With a hesitant step, Seven went into the shop, heading towards the restrooms.
Watching as Seven disappeared behind a corner, MC dropped his smile, expelling a breath from within himself.
Quickly, he turned towards the table. On it was a piece of paper slipped underneath an empty glass, as he removed the glass he picked up the ripped paper. Turning it over there was something written on it…
Confused by what was written, he reread the short message- or, request, over and over. But no matter how many times he reread it, he couldn't make sense of it!
"I've returned princess~!"
Surprised at the voice MC yelped and crumpled the paper in his hand, quickly stuffing it in his pocket as he did, turning around once it was gone.
The voice had belonged to Seven, who was grinning at successfully— and unintentionally— scaring him.
Holding his heart, MC took a sharp breath "If I didn't love you, I would kill you right now- my god!" … "And don't call me princess, tomato head!"
Seven ignored the few weirded looks he got as he laughed, amused at how riled he could get his partner, making a note to see how riled he could make him.
Wiping a fake tear from his eye, Seven recomposed himself. "Your turn now"
MC looked at him confused for a moment before remembering the excuse he made "Ah… I don't need to, I… wanted to stop because I remembered you didn't go before we left the apartment" He jabbed a thumb in the general direction of the apartment.
"You noticed that?" Seven asked, shocked "You're more observant that I thought, truly, and you're right, I wanted to look through everything twice before we left so I didn't have a chance"
"Anyways, what were you looking at before I scared ya?" The red head leaned to the side to look behind MC at the table.
"Just wrote something down so I wouldn't forget it" He waved off the question.
Seven seemed to buy it as he nodded and grabbed his case again.
"Well, you ready? Off we go again"
The two finished their longer than expected walk to the red sports car. Once they got to the vehicle, Seven had placed both cases in the trunk before closing it.
As both sat inside the surprisingly cozy car, Seven in the drives seat with MC in passengers, the brunette noted how comfortable the seat was. And with a shutting of the doors, MC rested Meowy on his lap, the robotic cat lowing itself and curling up like an actual cat.
With everything set to go, Seven began driving. Their long ride to Mint Eye, to Saeran, officially starting.
Lush green trees and small patches of brown branches spread as far as could be seen, the newly risen sun shining its clear-yellow glow over the setting.
Though 'as far as could be seen', wasn't that's far considering the trail being driven through was in the middle of a forest. Though that didn't stop the view from being nice, familiar and… repetitive.
The view of a forest was pretty for the first hour of driving, but after over thrice that amount of time, a building would have been a welcomed sight.
But as that wasn't an option at the time, music was the next best thing.
And music was what MC was doing, listening to it that is. Thankfully Seven had an abundance of earbuds in the glove compartment, five pairs are what he found the most recent time he counted them, and he was willing to let him use them after being told about the tragedy, the tragedy of having left his headphone at the apartment…
As he sat in the seat staring out the window he began to feel the now familiar pins and needle creeping through his legs, numbness accompanying its annoying cousin in their quest to make him uncomfortable. After shifting around for the nth time, the feeling dying down as his legs woke up, he let whatever focus he had return to the forest.
And they passed another dead tree (that being the 97th, but who's counting?), he was bored once more with the visuals.
With a low disinterested sigh, he moved away from the window, the feeling of high speed wind against his face lessening he sat back into seat. The back of the seat reclining as he put more force into going into a lying down position.
MC closed his eyes as he cleared his mind, the intention to sleep being the only thing he thought about. He hadn't gotten much sleep the past couple of days, the previous nights reason being that although he was comfortable sleeping beside Seven, it seemed the red head woke up before him, waking him up as he tried getting out of bed, giving him less than 3 hours of rest
The night before that was… an emotional one, it was the night before Seven decided to accept having a future with others, it was also the night he cried himself to sleep… waking up early in the morning didn't help him either.
He was hoping to catch up on at least a couple of hours of lost sleep here, the sound of the gushing wind proving to be sufficient white noise to lull him to sleep.
There wasn't much else he could think about as he felt his mind drift off, sleep over taking him…
…
A quiet sound brought him out of sleep, not too out of it, but enough to notice he was awake… ignoring it, he went back to sleep…
Until the quiet, familiar sound returned, though not as quiet this time. Closing his eyes tighter, he ignored it again, hoping it wouldn't come back until he was unconscious.
Thankfully it didn't return, and he was aloud to drift to sleep.
No it did return.
Eyes shooting open in tired fury he glared at where the sound, the giggling, was coming from. His head turned slowly to Seven, the man was facing him slightly, able to see him through the corner of his eye.
"Giggle one more time and I will make it so you can never giggle again" MC threated with a weak glare, his exhaustion taking over.
From Seven's face it seemed like he was about to laugh but stopped himself, his face turning slightly red from it "Tired MC is scary MC lolol"
"Did you just say 'lolol'…? I- ugh…" MC ran a slow hand over his face, a strained sigh coming from him. In a sudden motion MC removed his hands from his face "Come over here" he waved toward himself, a grin that spelt 'beware' sat on his lips.
The driver took one short glance at the brunette before quickly nopeing the situation, the sudden change in demeanor offsetting him "Why?"
"Come here" The brunettes tone began sickly sweet as he closed his eyes, grin growing dangerously.
Seven chuckled as he tried to focus on the road "Why?" He asked again. But as quickly as MC became creepily sweet in his tone, it disappeared, grin becoming a single line as he returned his head to the seat.
As weird as the situation was, the more he stole glances to the brunette, he had to admit that while tired, he was cute while sleeping. The sudden flop he did falling back into the seat had tilted his head towards him, his hair falling, covering half of his face, a glare from the sun creating a glint on his glasses, illuminating them. Luckily the other half was still visible, Seven found him very cute like that.
But Seven was curious as to why he was acting odd, was it being tired? The 'anger' being very uncharacteristic of the man, not like the rest of his energetic and excited personality, but, in truth, he also found it a bit cute when MC was angry, having to keep himself from 'aweing' at the tired threat.
"You know you are talking right?"
Seven turned to the brunette in surprise before quickly returning his gaze to the road after feeling himself lose grip on the wheel.
Glancing to MC he saw the brunette was still turned towards him, his one visible eye was open into a slit, blue coloring peered out through the suns glare.
"Now I know why people didn't like it when they were told that…" MC muttered to himself, pushing a hand under his glasses to rub at his eye. "To quote what everyone else says when told that, 'If I'm cute when I'm angry, I'm going to be gorgeous in a minute…!'" MC trailed the statement off with a tired laugh, hand dropping to his side as he lulled his head back to its rest.
As much as Seven wanted to tease his sleepy passenger, he could tell he was genuinely tired, the fact he was stuffing himself with energy bars he found in the glove compartment added to that theory…
With MC fast asleep in the passengers' seat, Seven focused on the road ahead, the dirt trail leading straight ahead as it had been for the past hour.
Looking to the GPS he'd set on the dashboard he read they had another 176 km until they reached where they were going, the Mint Eye Head Quarters.
Looking into the rear-view mirror he watched as his car left a trail of dust behind them, covering over half of his view behind them.
With a sigh Seven ran a hand through his hair, thoroughly bored. When he started driving he had a look of determination of his face, but as they drove, it ebbed into a calm smile, which turned into a deadpanned hatred for time and space.
He was starting to regret not making his car not its own small AI, able to drive itself. If he had done that when he first thought of it months ago he would be able to sleep or chat with MC more, he'd even be able to eat without assistance.
As he took a hand off the wheel to turn on the stereo he heard a small ding from his headphones, of which were still around his neck.
Recognizing the ding as from the RFA, he laughed semi hysterically, thankful for something to do besides drive! Piddling with the headphones around his neck, only able to use one hand, he managed to get them into place over his ears.
Tapping the side of his headphones, a small wire came out, he twisted it, so it was in front of his mouth. It was a mic he installed in them, able to do as a mic does and pick up his voice.
"Phone: Enter chatroom: app RFA Messenger"
He spoke into the microphone with a bored tone and after a couple seconds, he heard the familiar background music he made for the messenger. A moment later is disappeared and was replaced with the smooth jazz he'd set to play whenever Jaehee was logged in.
"Jaehee: Luciel, hello. Did you guys leave?" A robotic voice spoke what the message read, telling him who sent it beforehand.
"Yeah, we left a couple of hours ago, still on the road now though… it's really far" He made a small wining noise as he glared at the road ahead.
"Jaehee: I'm glad. I hope you both get there safely"
It turned out Jumin was also in the chatroom, talking about work times and having triple the espresso shots than usual, to which Seven made the joke of 'taking espresso to chase away the depresso', neither of the chatroom participants found it funny.
"Jumin: To state something, I am worried about everyone, though not so much about Zen. A couple selfies and he'll be fine"
"Hmm, Jumin, I think you're wrong about that, it's affecting everyone drastically" Looking back on his past with Zen he knew him to be emotional, beating himself up over failed auditions and even stress eating when he lost three roles in one month. This must be affecting him like it was with everyone else, maybe more, not from knowing V or Rika more, but with how in tune he was with himself.
"Jaehee: Yes, I agree with Luciel, surprisingly. He must really be hurting…
"Jaehee: That reminds me, Luciel, how is MC, considering everything? Or should I call him Mel… We'll have to ask him about that later"
Taking his eyes off the road for a minute he looked at the person in question. He was sleeping, head pressed against the rest behind him, he noticed his lips were moving making him wonder if he spoke in his sleep, that making wonder what he'd say while sleeping.
Looking at the wheel he made sure his hands were firm on it as not to make them swerve. He went back to MC where he noticed his forehead wrinkled, skin bunching up under his curly hair.
He snapped back to the road.
"He's sleeping right now, past out, but with the whole situation? I… can't tell, me and him, we're alike in ways neither of us would like to admit I think"
"Jumin: Can you elaborate?"
"We both want everyone to be happy, he's worried, afraid maybe, but he's not letting it show"
"Jaehee: *Shocked emoji*" The robotic voice spoke what kind of emoji the assistant used… he never said what he made was perfect!
"Jaehee: I never thought to think that'd he be afraid during this, he would usually be the calm one and help us… I guess you can't really tell how a person really feels through a message"
"Jumin: While I amend MC, Mel, for being able to control himself in situations, I know it not to be healthy to do that"
"Jumin: Since we can't talk to him in person yet, I think I speak for the RFA when I say this, talk to him"
Seeing the member in question shift in his seat he reminded himself to talk to the brunette, wanting to know if he was okay and he wasn't, he wanted to help him through it.
"I was already planning on it, but thanks for reminding me" Thinking of what else to say he remembered something MC had said, it was the day before the party, under 24 hours before it started, the event beginning at 8 in the morning. "Right, how's party preparation? Jaehee, did you get the guest list I sent you?"
"Jaehee: Yes, I did, thought it looks incomplete, I looked through all of the chatrooms the past 10 days and the list you provided has less guests than were suggested, and Mel didn't deny any guests"
Seven remembered looking through the list on MC's phone, with the owners' permission, before sending the list to himself via text "He's still waiting for a response from a couple people"
"User 8: Cats take a while to text- not surprisingly"
"User 8: *Disgruntled emoji*
"What the-?" Seven tapped the side of his head phone to make sure they were working properly. After a beep he found they were still working.
"User 8: Oh! I have an emoji!
"Jumin: MC, we were just talking about you"
MC? He turned to the where the member is question was sleeping and saw him staring at a phone, eyes opened partially, not noticing him.
"Jaehee: Talking about good things; Mr. Han, without proper context he might get the wrong idea"
"MC you're awake?!" Seven shouted resulting in it appearing in the chatroom while also getting the brunette's attention.
Looking up at him, he smiled tiredly for a moment before turning into a frown matched with a weak glare "Yes, no thanks to talking" As Seven made a move to apologise MC waved him off "I'm not mad, tired still, yes, but I wasn't completely asleep anyways"
"Jumin: I thought the context of 'only good things' was implied, and if he wanted context he could scroll up and read previous messages"
Not wanting to crash his precious baby, Seven slowed down to a steadier pace so he could look to MC without as much worry, and looking to MC he did, his eyes were dim and narrowed.
"You look worried, is something on your mind?" He was looked at with surprise and confusion "How I know isn't as important as what's up, is something wrong?"
With a small but strained smile MC waved it off "I'm alright, was just thinking about something" He kept the smile and Seven's gaze went from the road to him.
It was obvious for both people that the other didn't believe them, Seven didn't believe that MC was 'alright' with what he was thinking of and it was known to MC his excuse wasn't believed.
"What are you thinking about?" Seven tried to push the subject, genuinely beginning to worry about MC, who had been completely willing to answer any question the day prior.
His smiling softening it grew lopsided as he stared into Seven's eyes "Thinking about what to do when we get with the RFA of course, maybe Jumin will host a party for us with our victorious return!"
Seven watched as MC stared into him with almost pleading eyes, the sight upsetting him but not in an angry way, it saddened him. He wanted to help MC, but he wasn't being allowed to help… Is this how MC felt with him?
Quietly sighing, he dropped the subject, adding onto what MC said "Maybe Jumin will let me pet Elly when we walk down an aisle of Honey Buddha Chips of Ph.D. Pepper cans!" He saw as the smile his partner wore became more genuine.
"Maybe!" He looked down to the robot that was lying in his lap "And maybe Meowy can have a play mate!"
Both their phones buzzed.
"Jaehee: Seven;;; why are you typing a conversation that has no relevance here?" Seven felt his cheeks heat up, forgetting he had Speech to Text turned on with his microphone.
"Jumin: And… I cannot believe I am saying this… but if it will get you both to return safely…"
"Jumin: I will try and convince Elizabeth 3rd to let you hold her, Seven…"
MC looked up from his phone after reading the messages, a silly grin on his face "Oh now we have to return, we can't let you miss an opportunity like this Luciel!"
Nodding enthusiastically, his RFA family giving him yet another reason to come back home. Turing back to the road sped up the car, pushing his baby back to the speed it was at before. Now determined to hug Elly!
MC turned back to his phone letting Seven drive.
707 has left chatroom
Jaehee: Since it is evident you were talking to Luciel and ignoring us
MC: Sorry…
Jaehee: I wanted to ask you something, are you alright?
MC: Yeah, I read what you, Jumin and Luciel talked about before, that I'm worried; afraid but not letting it show
Jaehee: So…
MC: I'm alright, and to be truthful, I probably wouldn't say if I wasn't right now
Jaehee: …MC, you do know you can talk to us about anything right? You're one of us now
MC: Yeah… but with all the truths that are going to be revealed soon: Zen, Yoosung, you, Luciel and even Jumin may need someone to talk to, lean on, and I want to be there for you guys
Looking up from his phone to the GPS set up he checked how far they were from Mint Eye; it wasn't too far away.
He returned to the chatroom.
MC: We're going to be arriving soon, I should go
Jaehee: I'll pray for you
MC: Thanks
Jumin: I wish you both luck
Jaehee has left the chatroom
Jumin has left the chatroom
MC: You don't even believe in luck Jumin…
MC: But I'll take what everything we can
MC has left the chatroom
Setting his phone aside MC turned to look out the window, chin resting on the palm of his hand as they passed more forest. As they continued to drive, the sound of the engine browned out like many other sounds, he started to think about what Jaehee had said to him before she left about being able to talk to them about anything.
He wished he could, but in the end it would all be null, live-befriend-love-go back, that was the cycle he was in. So, he found it better to not tell them anything big outside what was deemed necessary, small facts of them like Yoosung's major, if it came up naturally that's fine. And that he was a technical believer… circumstances had led up to it needing to be said, he would have liked to never say it if it could be helped.
Sighing MC ran a tired hand over his face, eyes dropping to a half-closed state, while the trees where the only thing flying by his vision, he couldn't see them, only seeing fly by memories of the past… But this time only seeing the bad times.
At the apartment with Yoosung one second, gone the next.
Arguing with Zen at night, getting news of a motor crash in the morning, rider, gone.
Jaehee collapsing from work stress, him taking over her job, the same thing happening to him, only fatal.
Jumin becoming obsessive… him breaking, him allowing it, him finding an open window and 'escaping'.
Why was it so hard for the world to let him be happy and love the RFA?
Releasing another sigh MC began to mutter to himself "I don't matter long as they're happy… this is my fate for-"
"Hey MC" Seven said suddenly snapping MC out of his stupor, he turned to the driver surprised. Seven chuckled seeing his surprised face "You seem bored looking out the window for hours on end, I heard that being left alone for too long can make people think too much, how about I turn on some music for us?"
"Huh? Music…?" MC muttered the word back to himself while his previous thoughts slowly dissipated like marks on a beach.
Seeing his long period of silence, Seven began to speak but was cut off "Yeah! Let's see what music there is!" Chuckling again Seven smiled and turned on the stereo. After passing by a couple of songs he was urged to stop by MC excitedly telling him to as he got to a song.
Like the sun in the sky I'm always here
brightening the world you breath and live in
Anywhere you go you can feel my gentle love
With a smile, MC began to sing along, his North American accent proving to be a good combination with the original Korean one.
I still remember your face and your smile
As vivid as the blue water
There's a tree standing alone we promised to
decorate. I can wait 'til you come.
If you ever feel the cold wind and you hide
in your home alone
Look to the sky I am always here with you
Seven slowed the car to a stop off the road, doing so, so he could listen to the singing in its entirety. Settling back into the seat he felt his lips lift into a smile as MC closed his eyes, unaware they had stopped.
Your loneliness can blind you to the joys
of your day
Come out I'm the rays of the sun keeping
your heart calm ever more
Taking a pause in the song as a break, MC used it to catch his break, eyes still closed, why they were still being unknown to Seven.
The piano in the song began to climb in its scale, and with it, the brunette drummed his fingers on the dashboard like playing an imaginary piano.
You still remember my voice and my scent
As lucid as your dreams last night
I wish the snow from the sky lights up your
windows in winter and fills you up with hope
once again.
With his voice cracking at the high not of 'once again', he simply laughed it off after coughing.
It surprised Seven that MC knew the song, it wasn't a very popular song outside of Korea, and the company that made it wasn't even that known in the southern country itself. But none the less he was happy that him and MC shared another thing in common, a taste in music.
If you ever feel the cold wind and you hide
in your home alone
Look to the sky I am always here with you
Your loneliness can blind you to the joys
of your day
Come out I'm the rays of the sun keeping
your heart calm ever more
MC opened his eyes as the song began an instrumental part. Looking around he noticed they weren't moving, confused he turned to Seven whom was sitting with a smile, eyes filled with adoration.
Ignoring the red heads loving smile, MC quickly put his hands over his face "I sang out loud, oh my god…!" He cried put with muffled words.
Seven laughed at his partners embarrassment "Come on, continue, you sounded amazing"
MC shook his head "No I didn't, I'm not singing…!"
With a thoughtful hum, Seven got an idea. As the song came back to lyrics, he lightly grabbed both of MCs wrists and pulled his hands away from his face, Seven himself taking up the song.
All the things that you said to hurt me again
I know that it's just not who you really are
No matter what you do I will keep shining
towards you like the bright sun above
With no resistance from MC, Seven held the brunette's larger hands in his own as he finished the song, smiling while moving his lips to the lyrics.
His native Korean accent matching the original singer to a near T.
If you ever feel the cold wind and you hide
in your home alone
Look to the sky I am always here with you
Seven pressed MCs hands together, the joined hands held between his own, both men able to feel the warmth pass through to the other.
As they hand hands, Seven was focused solely on MC, the forest around them disappearing. Red tinted cheeks accompanyed the blue eyes he was staring into.
Your loneliness can blind you to the joys
of your day
Come back to my arms I am still standing
here for you
As he continued to sing, Seven's voice got softer, using less of an energetic voice in favour of a quiet, more passionate tone.
…Forever
Drawing out the last lyric, Seven continued to smile as he finished. He felt his own cheeks heat up as MC stared at him in awe, still not used to having undivided attention.
"You sounded great Luciel"
Letting go of one of his hands, Seven chuckled and scratched his cheek "Maybe, but you sound better than me and that's the hard-coded truth"
As MC was going to counter the compliment, he knew that if he did Seven would all but counter his counter, "How about we say we're both good singers, alright?" so he settled for a tie.
With a nod, the two sat in the stopped car, deciding to take a little bit longer of a break from driving. Both taking the break as a chance to enjoy talking to the other before continuing their drive.
Another two hours of driving and a talk with Yoosung and Zen in the chatroom and both travelers were at their destination; the Mint Eye HQ.
From behind shrubbery MC and Seven peaked out at the building in front of them, a large mint dome visible from where they sat.
Setting a laptop onto the ground Seven grabbed a trowel from a bag he'd brought with him from the car and after a minute, started to dig.
A few inches away MC looked curiously at what Seven was doing, carefully and slowly piercing the earth with the tool, before lifting and setting aside the obtained dirt. "What the digging for?" He asked continuing to watch.
Looking to MC, Seven jabbed the trowel into the dirt before dusting his hands on his jeans "I'm glad you asked my dear princess" The hacker smiled as he received a harsh glare "I'm digging to get the security cables" he brought the laptop forward so it sat between them "This place has extremely tight security but they don't use internet from a router directly, to risky to use those things, so they use internet cables, one flaw of design, they have them wrapped with their security cables"
Picking up the trowel he dug into the earth revealing bunched together blue cables. Setting aside the gardening tool he grabbed a pair of wire strippers from his bag "I can tap myself directly into their security system from here, and with that able to disable cameras and whatever else will get in our way"
Nodding MC watched as Seven began to strip a wire after digging around it to give him more room.
Turning towards the Mint Eye Building he stared at the side of the building, remembering memories of when he was inside. Both good and bad memories coming to him, but the pleasant ones in far greater number than the unpleasant.
Silently sighing MC turned away from the building, not wanting to think about his times inside lest he start missing being there.
"MC, I forgot to ask but, how's your back, we've been sitting in the car all this time, are you alright?" Snapping out his thoughts MC turned to the voice. Seven was staring at him, tools all put away and laptop set on his legs.
"You were spaced out for quite some time…"
"I'm alright" He looked to the building for a moment before back to Seven "I was just thinking"
Seven followed where MC was looking and stared at the Mint Eye "Right…" He bit his lip remembering yesterday "you told me how you… lived here for some months"
"MC-" Seven reached and put a hand on his partners "-you told me about your secret, and I'm thankful you did tell me, but I don't know what you went through while here and… I don't want to force you to go inside if it'll bring up bad memories for you, if you want to stay with the car while I go in… I won't hold it against you, I'll understand"
With a smile MC shook his head, his free hand finding its way on top of Seven's.
As MC removed his hands, placing them in his lap he turned to the laptop beside them. Opening his mouth to speak he was silenced by arms wrapping around his neck, the arms pulling him down towards where Seven was.
"Luciel?" he breathed out, feeling Seven smile against his chest.
"Thank you… for everything" Releasing him Seven backed away, a lip tight smile on his face and tears behind his glasses. With a hand he pushed them up and wiped at one of his eyes "You're stronger than me MC, I know that… you're facing your past without hesitation"
Once Seven had wiped at his other eye and cleaned his glasses, he brought both their attention to the laptop. Unintentionally changing the subject without giving MC much time to process what had happened.
Pointing to a layout of the building, he stated he would disrupt the buildings security for exactly seven minutes. Once it's off they'd sneak inside, he traced a blue path with his finger from where they were outside to a highlighted room inside.
Going off memory, MC already knew a large portion of the places layout, the highlighted room was the information room where Saeran worked a majority of the time.
The plan Seven had worked out was to sneak into building and get into the information room to hack the main computer, getting information on both Mint Eye itself, and Saeran to rescue him. Reassuring each other they'd get back home to the RFA, they separated to their work. Seven hacking into Mint Eye while MC surveyed the around them.