Neither Zen or you had calculated time very well. Zen needed to be at the theater sooner than you expected. You barely had enough time to get home, change, and head right back out. You didn't mind, it kept you busy and not thinking of how tired you were. As soon as you reached the theater, however, he kissed you goodbye and headed backstage. He gave you a heads up that one of the ushers might come get you at the end of the play to bring you backstage so you wouldn't be alone while things wrapped up and he was able to leave the venue.

Despite your excitement to see the play, you felt the drag of having no sleep for such an extended period of time... but you were doing your best to fight your way through it. Zen was magnificent when he was on stage you couldn't imagine anything more special. Well, you could, but this was pretty fantastic as well.

About an hour later, you found your seat near the front row. The audience poured in and quickly you noticed all the seats were filled. The lights were dimmed and the orchestra made their appearance. The play started without a hitch. The children playing the young royals were adorable and wonderfully talented. The first time you had almost completely tuned out everything in your search of Zen. This time, you were able to appreciate more the rest of the cast and the great work they were doing on this musical. You could tell a lot of hard work had been put into this performance by every member of this play and you were happy to see that. It wasn't just Zen shining through a musical on his own, he was a part of an exceptional production team. It made you smile - he was being cast on more elaborate productions and high-end musicals. His hard work was paying off.

During the intermission, you took a second to go to the restroom. It was super crowded, as expected. When you were done, you spotted someone familiar in the restroom right when she was exiting and you were still drying your hands. You yelled out her name "Jaehee!" but due to the crowded restroom you weren't able to follow after her. When you got out, you looked for her but didn't see her. Maybe it wasn't her - after all, she didn't turn around when you called out to her and she would have definitely heard you. It wouldn't surprise you that she was here - after all, she was a huge fan of Zen. But then you remembered she was probably still out of town with Jumin and gave up looking for her.

You went back to your seat and waited for the intermission to be over. The second act of the musical you had already seen but it was no less magical the second time around. Before you knew it, it was over, and the audience was giving the cast a standing ovation for the performance. You cheered on gleefully, clapping your hands together with all your might. Right when people were about to begin exiting the theater, you heard a voice over the intercom with an announcement:

"Ladies and gentleman, if you please remain in your seats, we have a special performance by our main cast member Zen. An original piece for tonight only. Please enjoy."

You sat back down slowly with the rest of the audience. The few that had already walked towards the aisles took their seats again. He didn't tell you he was performing a solo piece at the end of the musical. You looked around and the rest of the audience wore confused and surprised faces as well. The music started - an upbeat ballad of sorts. The rest of the cast stepped off the stage to give him room. He stared right at you and he began to sing:

I don't know where to begin

For there is much to say

But the bottom line is...

my plans are to love you

and yours, I hope, are the same.

It doesn't matter, baby, if our fate has already been decided

I've played my cards

I left my fears behind

And I hope you have too

because we're going to win against all odds

You and I will be one of a kind

The most epic yet illogical romance

If our love is cloudy

I'll light it up with kisses

the mood will change making love

your smile that makes the sun rise

there are no worries

everything will be better

everything will be better

because we're going to win against all odds

You and I will be one of a kind

The most epic yet illogical romance

If our love is cloudy

I'll light it up with kisses

the mood will change making love

your smile that makes the sun rise

there are no worries

everything will be better

everything will be better

He was too much. Your heart could melt just from this over the top show of affection. You smiled and knew that if you had ever been fighting a battle not to fall head over heels in love with him you had completely lost it. You smiled at him the biggest smile your lips allowed and just when you thought you were keeping it together you noticed tears of happiness sneaking through the corners of your eyes. You wiped them away and noticed, halfway through the song, that he was signaling you with his finger to come on stage. Your eyes widened in surprise. Was he serious? He continued to signal you and suddenly you noticed an usher standing next to you, offering you his hand.

You…

Take the usher's hand and let him lead you on stage.

Smile back at Zen but wave no with your head. (You're not going on stage in front of all these people!)

Continue reading for choice a:

You take the usher's hand and noticed it was firm against yours, which was trembling. Why was he calling you onstage in front of all this people? Hopefully he didn't expect you to sing with him, you did not know the lyrics to this song and you were so overwhelmed with emotion that improvising would not come to you at all at a time like this. As soon as you stood up, you felt the audience behind you begin murmuring, their eyes like daggers in your back. Your legs were shaky with nervousness and when the usher left you at the side stairs you had to hold on to the rail with all your might since you weren't sure you were controlling your body. You looked back and the audience was enormous. You knew this theater was big but from the front the audience seemed much larger than you thought it was. Of course, it didn't help that the theater was packed.

When you reached the top of the stairs, Zen, who never stopped singing the whole time you were heading there, walked over to you and extended his hand in your direction. You took it, and he led you to the middle of the stage. When you looked back at the audience, the bright lights shining on you were blinding and it took a few seconds for your eyes to adjust. You looked back at Zen, his eyes focusing entirely on you but still performing the song. Once he was nearing the end of the song, he pointed at something behind you. You turned around and saw the rest of the cast waving at you excitedly. You recognized a few of the faces and waved back at them but when you did they urged you to turn your attention back to Zen. And there he was, still holding onto your hand, but now he was down on one knee with a ring in a little box.

"MC…" he began "My heart is beating towards you. I just wanted to tell the whole world that you're mine. I love you. Will you marry me?"

Suddenly, you weren't on stage in front of hundreds of people and the lights weren't blinding you. Time seemed to keep still and you realized you were holding your breath. When you opened your mouth to breathe instead of gasping for air, your answer poured out.

"Yes. Yes. YES" you said, your voice getting louder each time you said the word. Zen smiled, slipped the ring in your finger, and stood up to hug you. He lifted you off the floor and spun you around in his arms. Once you were in his arms, your other senses began to react and the first thing you noticed was how loud the audience was. The entire theater was clapping and cheering. You turned to look but the lights blinded you again so you just turned away instead. He took your chin and gave you a soft kiss in front of the entire theater. Then, Zen thanked the audience for participating in what he called the most special day of his life to date. He bowed once again and then led you by the hand backstage.

Continue here for choice b (if you read choice a, then skip to the next "continue"):

You smiled back at Zen on the stage but you just couldn't get up and get on stage in front of all these people. You looked at the usher and waved your head no quickly. He saw the nervousness in you and shrugged his shoulders at Zen so as to ask him what do you want me to do?. Zen waived him away and continued singing on the stage. He walked from side to side until he began to reach the end of the song. Right after hitting the higher notes, he walked towards the edge of the stage and jumped off, landing right next to the orchestra and walking straight in your direction. He continued to sing, finishing off the song right around the time it took him to reach your seat. Luckily, you were sitting right next to the aisle. When he stood right next to you, you could feel the eyes of the entire audience darting in your direction. Well, rather in his direction. When he finished the song, he put his right hand on his chest and held your hand on the left. He smiled at you, that charming, heart melting, beautiful smile that could bring anyone to their knees, if only to continue to see it. He looked at the floor, and bent down his knee. At this point, the entire theater began cheering all around you. And then you realized what was going on and your heart did a somersault.

"MC…" he began "My heart is beating towards you. I just wanted to tell the whole world that you're mine. I love you. Will you marry me?"

Suddenly, you weren't on a crowded audience being the center of attention of hundreds of people. Time seemed to keep still and you realized you were holding your breath. When you opened your mouth to breathe instead of gasping for air, your answer poured out.

"Yes. Yes. YES" you said, your voice getting louder each time you said the word. Zen smiled, slipped the ring in your finger, and leaned over to hug you. He basically lift you off the seat and spun you around in his arms. It seemed it took a few seconds before your other senses began to react and the first thing you noticed was how loud the audience was. The entire theater was clapping and cheering for you two. You turned to look around and saw the faces of the audience with nothing but smiles and a teary eye or two. You hid your face in his chest but Zen didn't give you much time. He gave you a soft kiss on the lips and took your hand, directing you to the stage. You couldn't refuse now. He stood in the corner and waved to the audience, thanking them for what he called the best day of his life to date. Finally, he took you backstage with him.

Continue:

Once backstage, Zen pulled you into his arms again and kissed you, right before the rest of the cast members surrounded the both of you in cheers and kind words. You both thanked them for a few minutes before Zen took you aside again.

"I've got another surprise for you" he said, leading you to his dressing room.

"Zen…"

"Just, hold on a second" he said, opening the door to his dressing room and letting you inside. "I just need to change out of this costume. Can't take it home with me." You walked into his dressing room and sat on a stool while he undressed. It was full of flowers, likely from fans and admirers since this was only the second day of the musical. You were distracted by the flowers until you caught him undressing out of the corner of your eye. You couldn't help but ogle his body, he was just so beautiful and hypnotizing. He did quick work of the costume and slipped into his regular clothes - grey t-shirt, jeans, leather jacket. A simple combination but no one had ever looked this good in this ensemble. Your eyes wandered down to your hand and settled on the ring that was now adorning it. It was a rose gold band with a diamond on the center. It was beautiful and elegant and it seemed just like the type of thing he would buy. It displayed romance.

"Do you like it?" he asked, tying his hair in his classic low ponytail.

"... I love it" you said, staring at it for another second before looking at him again. "But I love you more"

"I am better looking than that ring, right?" he asked, with a mischievous smile on his face.

"You're better looking than any jewelry that I've ever seen" you say, standing up to embrace him again. You're more precious to me than anything else in the world.

"Are you ready for the next surprise?" he asked, kissing the top of your head.

"Yes" you say, looking into his eyes. "What is it?"

"Come with me" he said, leading you by the hand again. You were received outside his dressing room with cheers and congratulatory words again. You both mostly waved them away except for the occasional hug Zen received from his fellow coworkers. Everyone was kind and lovely, which you were glad to see.

He lead you through the door that lead to the front of the theater and stopped.

"Okay. Just… give me a second" he said, opening the door and peeking through to check on the other side. He stood back, took your hand, and led you through the doors. On the other side, four people awaited: Jaehee, Yoosung, Jumin, and Seven.

"You're all here" you said, with a smile on your face. This was a lovely gesture. "I can't believe you're all here and I'm finally meeting you!"

"MC!" Yoosung said first. "It's so nice to finally meet you! Congratulations on your engagement" he offered as he approached you to give you a hug. You hugged him back excitedly.

Jaehee walked towards you second and gave you a hug and expressed her congratulations. "I almost ruined the surprise, I thought you spotted me in the ladies room"

"Oh, so it was you! I thought maybe it was just someone that looked like you" you said, laughing. "I thought I had made a mistake!"

"No, it was me, I just didn't want to get caught because then you'd find the rest of the RFA" she said.

Jumin also approached you, gave you a hug, and offered their best wishes. He was rather formal about it. You noticed he was very handsome and had an air of superiority about him - probably something he gained as a result of years of grooming to be the next CEO of his family company. Seven hugged Zen and they exchanged a few words you weren't able to hear. He came over and gave you a hug that seemed to linger a second too long and whispered "I hope you're happy" as he pulled away from you. You nodded fervently and he smiled.

They asked about setting a date but Zen waved them off, saying you hadn't had a chance to talk about it. It made you think that you'd probably have to elope - how did you plan a wedding when you didn't know when you'd be around? Not to mention, you only really knew the members of the RFA in this… dimension. You decided to stop thinking about these things and just… enjoyed wthe moment. Enjoy what Zen had made possible for you. Before you noticed you had returned to Zen's arms.

"Thank you" you said, after you had greeted everyone there. "This was a lovely surprise"

"I thought it was finally time you'd meet everyone"

"Thank you" you said again, feeling slightly emotional the second time. He was too much sometimes, in a good way.

"It's too bad V couldn't be here" Zen said. "I tried to get in touch with him but wasn't able to. They tried too but without success. He's probably out of the country, which is too bad."

"Oh… okay" you say, looking down at the floor. You wondered if V was still at the hospital or if he had… your eyes darted to Seven, questioning, but he just gave you the lightest uninterested shrug. "It's alright. I never talked to V very much anyway. It's his loss if he isn't here" you say, holding onto Zen's hand.

"Alright, are we ready? Driver Kim should be outside" Jumin says, looking at the time.

"Ready?" you ask, looking in Zen's direction.

"We're all going out to dinner, to celebrate" he said, holding your hand. "I think we're ready" towards Jumin.

"Alright, I'll make sure Driver Kim is out front" Jaehee says, walking towards the doorway. Yoosung went behind her and Seven made idle chat with Jumin in the meantime. Your eyes darted to the ring on your finger again. You were so overwhelmed you couldn't keep from embracing Zen. Jaehee returned and motioned for all of you to go outside since driver Kim was there. And there he was, standing next to a black limousine.

"The limo comes out on special occasions" Jumin said "such as this. Ladies first." he said, letting you step towards the limo first. Jaehee joined you after, followed shortly by the rest of the party.

"Champagne? We ought to toast" Jumin asked, grabbing the bottle from a cooler. Jaehee grabbed the glasses and passed them out.

"Sure" you said, grabbing one of the glasses. "Oh, wait, no, I mean, I… I don't drink" You shouldn't drink. And now you made it obvious.

"Not even for a toast?" Jumin asked. "It is very fine champagne" he said, popping open the bottle.

"No, no, I just… I shouldn't" you say, "I had a sinus infection and I'm taking antibiotics. Shouldn't mix with alcohol" you say, shyly. You felt bad about lying but you just didn't want to tell them yet. There was too much going on for you to confess about this just yet to the entire RFA. "It's ok, put a little in a glass for me, I'll join the toast, and Zen can drink it for me" you add. He smiled next to you and put his arm around you, but didn't say anything else.

"Very well" Jumin said, handing the bottle to Jaehee. She served her drink and passed the bottle to you. You could see an inkling of suspicion in her eyes when she handed you the bottle but she didn't say anything out loud. Once everyone had their drinks, Jumin raised his glass in order to toast.

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody…" Jumin began "you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. I am happy that you and Zen found each other and I hope you both are very happy together. To the happy couple"

Everyone raised their glasses and cheered for you both. You handed your glass to Zen and he finished your glass for you. It wasn't a very long ride and you had a chance to talk a bit more to the rest of the RFA. Everyone looked exactly like the pictures you had seen of them - which was somehow comforting but at the same time rather unnerving. You couldn't decide if it added familiarity to them or it made you uncomfortable to see more characters from what until a few months ago, you considered a videogame.

After being in the car for about ten minutes, Seven announced he had to leave for the night. Despite pleas from the rest of the RFA to stay for the evening, he declined, stating there was an emergency at work and he needed to get back right away.

"They just can't do anything without me" Seven said, stepping outside the limo. "But I wish you guys the best and hopefully we'll see each other soon." he said, before closing the car door.

"He lasted long enough" said Jaehee, taking another sip of champagne.

"What do you mean?" you asked her.

"He rarely ever joins us for outings and he always comes late or leaves early. He wasn't there for the majority of the play either, he barely saw the ending and well, the proposal". Replied Jaehee. "He's just not that social outside of the messenger."

"Oh, I see" you say, wondering if the real reason he had left was Saeran.

"He's probably at home making sure the media is reacting favorably to Zen's personal news" Jumin said "Fangirls may not take it all that kindly"

"Well, they'll just have to deal with it" Zen replied, putting his arm over you.

"Jumin is right - this was… happy news, but unexpected. Your fangirls didn't even know you had a girlfriend. They'll feel left out and it will reduce your appeal to them. Not to mention your appeal to all the fangirls who just plain had a crush on you" Jaehee said "but what's done is done, we might as well celebrate now"

"Zen's devoted fans will still like him whether he is married or not" Yoosung said, trying to alleviate the rising tension in the limo.

"My priorities are where they need to be. I care about my fangirls and I'd hate to lose them, but my heart belongs to MC and they need to accept that" he said, kissing the side of your forehead. Jaehee had certainly not changed her stance about you dating Zen and that was plain as day. A few minutes later, Jaehee dropped the subject after this and you were glad she did.

Some time later you were all sitting at a table of a fine dining restaurant that Jumin (or probably Jaehee) had obtained reservations for. You all ordered lavishly overpriced food and Jumin continued to order wine the whole night. A few glasses after, you could see Yoosung was quite under the influence. Zen had only had a few more but despite his behavior not being much different you could see a light flush on his cheeks. Jumin had also had quite a few glasses but it just made him quieter the more he drank and as for Jaehee, well, she just didn't drink much at all. She was sober and her eyes seemed rather somber. When the food came, they all dived in with a ferocious appetite but when you tried to join them, the smell made you nauseous. What was on this food? You shied away from the food but you didn't want to make it obvious - it seemed everyone was grabbing and sharing food but a whiff of it made you queasy. You eyed Jumin and Yoosung and they were clearly not paying attention to you. Zen squeezed your hand but served some food for himself and put some on a plate for you, yet you were trying really hard not to look away to avoid smelling the food. Deep breaths. You saw Jaehee out of the corner of your eye and she was eating… yet you noticed she was looking in your direction more. She was onto you but you just didn't want to tell them yet. It was too soon and the whole situation was beyond out of the ordinary. Zen took a bit out of something with a particularly strong smell and it made your insides churn. You were not going to be able to keep appearances much longer.

"I need to use the ladies room" you said, excusing yourself from the table.

"Are you ok Princess?" Zen asked, concerned you hadn't touched the food.

"I'm fine," you smiled at everyone in the table before rushing away. As soon as you stepped into the restroom, you went straight for a stall. You hurled over the toilet seat but nothing came out. Being away from the food had somewhat calmed your morning sickness. Morning sickness… yeah right. It's nighttime. You cursed the symptoms and stood in the stall - leaning against the door. How were you going to prevent this from getting out? Jaehee was definitely suspecting something was up. Not a second later you heard the door open.

"MC?" you heard the voice ask - It was Jaehee. Where you had been happy to see her before, now you just wished she'd go away.

"Jaehee?" you asked, pretending to be surprised she was here. You were glad you weren't squatting over the toilet seat when she came in or she would have noticed that under the stalls. You flushed the empty toilet and stepped outside the stall, walking over to wash your hands. Jaehee stared at you inquisitively.

"You're pregnant" she said, leaning against the wall. Well, I guess that cat is out of the bag. There was no point in denying it then.

"Please don't tell the rest of the members. No one knows yet. It's so early." you pleaded. Perhaps she would keep your secret, as other RFA members were bound to keep secrets for each other.

"I won't tell" she said, walking over to you. "I just wished you hadn't lied"

"Huh?" when did you lie?

"I asked you, over and over, not to fall in love with Zen and yet here you are. Pregnant and about to marry him. Congratulations. I'm just sad you didn't think about him when you got both of you into this mess." she said.

"Excuse me?" you said - THIS you didn't expect.

"Clearly you don't love him enough to respect his career. He is such a sweet guy that he would move heaven and earth for you but now you're putting this on him. Marriage and a child. This will ruin him"

"Jaehee, you're stepping out of line" you didn't want to start an argument with her but why was she acting like this? "This is between Zen and I, not you. You're not his manager, you're not the boss of him, and you certainly have no say as to what happens in his relationships with me."

"No, I know I don't. But it doesn't mean I will stay quiet while I see you ruin his career and his future"

"I am not trying to ruin him!" you say, indignant. How dare she!

"You might not be trying, but this is what exactly what you're doing. You're limiting his time to rehearse, exercise, and take care of himself because he is taking care of you now. And he will be taking care of a baby now too. Just look at him! He has bags under his eyes when he normally looks perfect. He has been so distraught he hasn't been working out and I can tell because I always saw him run past my apartment at night. How can you do this to him? I thought you were a fan and you were only interested in admiring him, like all of us. You lied to me. You lied to me multiple times."

"I'm sorry I lied to you and I am sorry that you feel this way about my relationship with him but I am not sorry that I love him. He is the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me and I am never going to stop trying to make him happy. You have no right - none- to be talking to me like this.

"You're right. I don't have the right. But I had to get it out of my chest because I wanted you to know what you're doing to him. You're clearly blind to how this is going to affect him because all you're thinking about is your happiness, not his. You're robbing him of everything he's tried to accomplish since he ran away from home. He sacrificed his education, his family, and he's been working relentlessly to be where he is and you're just going to make all that go away because of your selfishness."

"You have no idea what you're talking about and I'm done with this" you said, and walked out of the ladies room. As you walked back to the table, you saw them - Jumin, Yoosung, and Zen, sharing drinks and food, smiling. Jaehee was wrong, he was happy with you. When you stepped closer, you saw what she meant - he did have bags under his eyes and he just… he looked tired, despite his smiling face. Of course, he had barely slept a little more than you and he had been working two nights in a row. And he had managed to stage this whole proposal just for you. Was Jaehee right? No, she couldn't be right. He was happy with you. He loved you. You closed the gap between you and sat at the table but every time you saw his face Jaehee's words were ringing in your ears. You didn't last two minutes.

"Zen, baby" you said, trying to feign a smile. "I'm sorry, I am not feeling all that great" you say, as you get up from the table.

"What's wrong Princess?" Zen says, getting up after you.

"I'm just… a little queasy" you say, brushing off his question. "I'm sorry guys, I'm just going to head out for the night. You should stay Zen, finish eating, finish the drinks. I'll wait up for you at home."

"No baby, of course not. I'll take you home" Zen said, grabbing his jacket.

"Please" you said, extending your hand out to his chest. "I'll be fine. I'll just take a cab home. I promise I'll wait up for you" you say. "It'll make me feel worse if I know I cut your celebration short. You deserve this night out with friends, I'm just sorry I can't stay. I'll have the maitre D find me a cab"

Zen stopped and looked back at the food. They were about halfway through and the waiter had just refilled their drinks. "You promise you'll wait up for me?"

"I promise" you said lightly pushing him back into his seat. "It was wonderful meeting you Jumin, Yoosung" you said. You looked at Jaehee who had retaken her seat across from you. "We'll have to do this again some other time."

"Of course MC, our pleasure" Jumin said.

"I'm sorry you're not feeling well!" Yoosung added. "You're super nice! I hope we see more of you"

You kissed Zen goodbye and headed outside. The maitre D had a line of people in front of him so you decided to just step outside and call a cab yourself. When you grabbed your phone you had 7 missed calls from Luciel. You called him back instead and he answered right away.

"Luciel? Everything okay?"

"No. I need you." you heard him on the other line. His voice sounded hushed and nervous. "I'm outside the restaurant in the red car" You looked around and spotted him a few cars back. You walked over to him and opened the passenger seat door.

"What happened?" you asked nervously.

"It's Saeran. I'm not sure what is happening but he is asking for you. He is very distraught and I can't get through to him. Please come with me."

"Okay" you said, not feeling like you had much of a choice here. You couldn't say no to his plea. At least this would keep you awake while Zen wrapped things up in the restaurant. You hopped into the car and buckled your seatbelt. He drove quickly and quietly, not making much conversation. "So what happened?" you ask again.

"He's just really agitated and wants to see you" he says, not looking in your direction. "Why did you leave the restaurant on your own?"

You hesitated to tell him Jaehee had made you upset. "The food made me nauseous." you said. "I asked Zen to stay and told him I'd meet him at home."

"Oh." he said. "Here's some PhD Pepper, the effervescence will help with nausea" he passed you an open can of the drink. You grabbed it without much thought and took a sip of it - you didn't know what you expected but it tasted odd. You were surprised he liked this drink, it tasted kind of gross. You put it on the cup holder and couldn't help but make a face. "You don't like it?" he asked.

"No, it tastes terrible" you say, trying to shake off the flavor.

"That's too bad" he said. Sitting in the front seat of the car while he drove made you feel really tired - you knew you had been fighting the exhaustion for a long time now but it seemed it was hitting you all at once and you struggled to keep your eyes open. When you opened them again everything seemed somewhat fuzzy.

"Why is that too bad?" you said, trying to keep up the conversation, hoping it would keep you awake.

"Because you'll be drinking more of it" he said. He turned to look at you - the messy red hair and the yellow black glasses that covered his light mint eyes. Mint eyes?

"Saeran?" you asked, your head spinning now.

"Just relax. We're almost at paradise"

"What?" you asked, but whatever sip of drink you'd had was affecting you so much your limbs felt heavy and you were struggling just to keep awake. "Take me back" you managed to say, but your voice seemed like a distant whisper.

"I'm taking you home" he said. You wanted to fight and struggle but whatever he had given you was quick and effective. You passed out before you were able to say another word.