❤︎ Day 12 - 02:47 PM ❤︎

POV: Jumin Mode

After oversleeping nearly an extra hour, which resulted in him being late for his own meeting, Jumin new that things were going to difficult to adjust to from thereon out. V had taken up semi-permanent residence with him once Jumin convinced him that it would be better to stay until he was able to get the surgery required to fix his eyes. However, as of the past day or so, Jaehee and V had been avoiding each other completely.

Well, I suppose it's more like V avoiding Jaehee while she makes vague threats about his livelihood whenever she is in the RFA chatroom. Jumin grimaced as he thought about his former chief secretary. Jaehee had started working on getting her lease approved with Zen's help after the successful press conference held at the party. Both him and Zen had their reputations restored, much to the chagrin of Echo Girl, whose temper tantrums got her kicked off of more productions than Zen had been turned away from.

Unfortunately, with the tragic happening at Rika's apartment, both Zen and Jaehee had withdrawn into each other, with Jaehee having apparently moved out of her apartment that morning to share Zen's living space. Jumin couldn't say that he supported to two of them staying together, but he supposed that it was only right that the two be able to comfort one another in the aftermath of losing the woman who had been so important to him both.

When he returned to his suite, he was greeted by a purring Elizabeth the 3rd. The day V had arrived at his home had distracted Jumin so much that he'd even forgotten to spend time with his cat, a true testament to how much he loved the other man.

"Hello my beautiful. You have been fed today, right?" He stroked her back and gave her a gentle scratch behind the ears when a soft voice permeated the atmosphere.

"She's eaten so much in the past day that for a moment I thought she was going to have kittens and make you a cat-grandpa." Tearing his eyes away from his gorgeous cat, Jumin was rewarded with the amazing sight of V leaning against his kitchen counter, face turned slightly in his direction.

"You're out of bed. Are you okay? Do you need anything?" He approached his lover with slightly shaky arms and watched as V covered his mouth with a hand to stifle his laughter. "Jihyun please, I just want to make sure you are okay."

"I'm fine, Jumin. Stop worrying so much." The smile on V's face pulled the air right out of his lungs.

"I apologize, I cannot help it when it comes to you." Letting his arms rest agains V's waist, he allowed their foreheads to connect as he relaxed, soaking in V's presence. The two men simply stood in the kitchen, embracing lightly while Elizabeth the 3rd twined around their legs, purring all the while. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jumin wondered how and why he had projected his feelings for V onto Rika. Another part of him simply said that it was due to his upbringing. The rest of him agreed.

"Has Jaehee calmed down at all?" V's question was practically whispered against his ear as Jumin pulled the other man into his space even closer.

"It is unlikely. She seems bent on blaming you for Zai's death personally, even though there was nothing you could have done to prevent what happened." He felt V's glasses digging into his collarbone and Jumin buried his nose in soft hair as he breathed in the scent of mild shampoo still clinging to cerulean locks. "You know that it isn't your fault, right? You had nothing to do with it." The arms currently wrapped around his chest tightened almost imperceptibly.

"We both know that isn't true. I was the one who agreed to the installation of the bomb. I should've said no when Rika first brought the idea up." V inhaled harshly as he clutched at Jumin like a lifeline. "Even if I couldn't stop it from going off, I am the one responsible for the bomb being there in the first place." Jumin did his best not to follow his instincts and try to look V in the eyes, it wasn't like he could see him in his current state. Instead, he let his hands fall to the other man's waist so he could dip him slightly and press their lips together. When they finally separated, V's face was flushed and his glasses were knocked askew, giving Jumin a view of his faded blue eyes.

"Who was it that requested for the bomb to be placed in the apartment complex in the first place?" The unspoken answer hung heavy between the two of them. Jumin untangled himself from V's grasp and started pulling him out of the kitchen. "In any case, there is nothing we can do about it now. Instead of dwelling on what could have been, you can help me come up with a way to get Jaehee from being so cross with you."

His words got a laugh out of V and Jumin could feel the warmth blossoming in his chest as he directed his lover towards his- their bedroom.

"Of course dear, just promise me you won't try to solve this problem by throwing money at it." For once in his life, Jumin was glad that V couldn't see the blush on his face.

❤︎ Day 12 - 04:16 PM ❤︎

POV: ZEN Mode

It had taken them most of the day, but he and Jaehee had finally finished unpacking all of her things and setting them up into his apartment. In reality, Jaehee didn't have that much to unpack in the first place, but their work was constantly interrupted by calls either from people looking to cast Zen in their new productions, or from the different associates that Jaehee was working with in order to make her cafe dream a reality. The two of them didn't have much except each other, and even though Zen's popularity wasn't as large as most other actors, he still promised that he would support Jaehee in all of her pursuits.

A few minutes ago, Jaehee had left the room to retrieve the papers she'd already procured for ownership of the building that the cafe would be built in. Zen was relaxing against the kitchen counter with a can of beer while waiting for her to get back when he noticed her phone next to him. Normally he would have ignored it, but the screen had lit up with a text notification, giving him a perfect view of her lock screen. When Jaehee returned, it was to the sight of Zen focusing all of his attention on her phone.

"...Zen?" In any other situation, her words may have startled him, but as it was, his eyes remained on her device as he spoke.

"This picture...it's from when you two first met, right?" When he looked up, he could see the pain and understanding in her gaze as she realized just what he was observing.

"Yes. It's one of the few I have." She walked over to his side and Zen could feel the warmth from her body as she placed a hand on his arm. The picture on the screen was the selfie that Jaehee and Zai had taken after their coincidental meeting at the cafe near Rika's apartment, nearly two weeks ago. Zen froze as he registered the soft hiccuping coming from the woman standing next to him. She wasn't crying, but he could tell that she was close to that point. Hastily setting the phone face-down on the counter, he pulled Jaehee into his arms as she buried her face into his chest.

"It's only been two days, but I feel like we're betraying her somehow...by carrying on like this." Zen thought about how the RFA had mostly returned to normal after the explosion at the apartment. They'd lost Zai, but after the explosion and the party, it had seemed like everyone was ignoring what had happened. "Don't you think she would have wanted us to mourn?"

Zen thought back to the all the times he'd spent with Zai and Jaehee. He remembered how she'd encouraged them to pursue their dreams, and how she'd done her best to lift them up even when their spirits were low. The girl who had shone so brightly wouldn't have wanted them to waste their time and potential suffering over her memory. She'd have wanted them to remember her and move on, to live their lives to the fullest.

"Call me selfish...but I don't think so." He moved Jaehee back slightly so he could look into her eyes. "Zai always did her best to keep us going. I don't think she would have liked it if we stopped now and focused only on regrets when she worked so hard to convince us of our worth. Don't you agree?" Zen held his breath as he watched her think it over.

"I- you may be right," She sniffed and wiped away the just-forming tears from her eyes. "That doesn't mean I don't miss her though. We were only together for such a short time, but it feels like I've known her forever." Zen swallowed hard as the memory of him sending Zai a similarly-worded text floated through is head.

"Yeah, I know how you feel..."

❤︎ Day 12 - 05:53 PM ❤︎

POV: Yoosung Mode

After he and Seven had returned to Seven's house, Yoosung was filled with dismay as his boyfriend made a beeline for his room, barricading himself inside with his soda and chips. Yoosung sighed as he considered the locked door in front of him. He thought that he and Seven were making progress, but now he was being shut out again. He'd spent all day cleaning the house, an act he normally avoided like the plague, even though Seven apparently had a maid who came to clean several times a week. Now he was devising ways to get Seven to let him in.

Knocking on the door hadn't worked, and throwing things at it was no help either. Sitting outside of it and calling out Seven's name did nothing. Threatening to eat all the chips he'd left outside had almost worked, but no luck there either. At this point, Yoosung was getting worried, as he hadn't heard anything from Seven for a long time. He was even absent from the RFA chat, which did nothing to soothe his nerves at all. He'd run out of ideas and was now considering calling Seven's phone even though the two of them were in the same house.

"Luciel! When are you going to stop pushing me away!?" Yoosung tapped on the door with his fist for the seventh time in the last ten minutes. "Seveeeen!" If his boyfriend didn't let him into the room soon, Yoosung felt like he might cry. He leaned back against the wooden surface before sliding down to rest on the floor.

"If you really didn't want me around you could've just said so! I should call Zen and ask him if he can take me back home," He raised his voice slightly. "Because my own Boyfriend doesn't want me to comfort him in his time of need!" Yoosung might have been acting a bit petty at the moment, but he didn't care. Seven was being self-centered, trying to focus all the blame on himself again. He just wanted to wallow in his own misery and ignore the outside world. Looking down at his phone, he grimaced. Was that how he acted after Rika had died? He'd become so obsessed with video games and sometimes schoolwork, but he'd avoided his real life like the plague, preferring to live in his own tiny, sheltered dorm room, alone. Maybe this was his punishment for being so clingy and focused on his cousin.

Falling back into silence, Yoosung pulled up Zen's contact and was about to start typing a request for him to come pick him up when the door behind him opened and he fell flat on his back.

"Oof! Wh- Luciel!" As he looked up, he caught a glimpse of Seven before the other boy walked back over to his bed and crawled under the covers. The floor was littered with empty chip backs and soda cans. Yoosung tried to hold in his disgust as he wondered how many of these had been consumed that day, before making his way across the sugar and salt covered room to the bed where his boyfriend was hiding. "Seven...Luciel..Talk to me? Please?" Upon not getting a response from the lump beneath the blankets, he huffed and pulled back on the covers just enough to give himself some space to crawl under with him. Once beneath the small mountain of sheets, he quickly found Seven curled into a ball, phone held close to his chest. Reaching over to tug on his shoulder, Yoosung tried to elicit a response out of him.

"Yoosung...you should go home." Curling up even tighter, Seven rolled over so his back was facing him. "You shouldn't be near me anymore." Ignoring how his heart ached at those words, Yoosung decided to climb over Seven instead, forcibly crawling into the other boy's arms and surprising him by plucking the glasses off his face and sticking his hand out from beneath the blankets to set them on the nightstand near the bed.

"Luciel you're so smart but sometimes you're a huge idiot." He felt the surprisingly toned muscles of Seven's arms tense around him at his words but paid no mind as he brought himself further and further into his space. He didn't stop until his cheek was touching Seven's chest and he could sense his strong, yet slightly erratic, heartbeat through his dark gray tank top. "You don't have to suffer alone you know. I'm here, and so is everyone else. I don't understand why you won't let us in."

Seven's hands moved from where they'd been tightly wrapped around his phone to surround Yoosung instead, settling on his hips as his body shifted to curl around the smaller boy. Yoosung tried not to giggle as he felt Seven's hair brush against his nose, but there was a definite flush on his face the moment soft lips made contact with his neck before quickly pulling away.

"I'm dangerous to be around, Yoosung..." Yoosung was harshly jerked back into reality as he registered Seven's words and tone. He had never once sounded so defeated as he did now. "I'm dangerous and a failure and I couldn't- I didn't save her!" A rough sob tore its way out of Seven's throat as he started crying into Yoosung's chest, head bowed and shoulders shaking with the effort of keeping himself in control.

"I had the chance to get her out, and I didn't take it! I believed her...I believed her! She said she'd be fine! Why did I listen when I knew she didn't have any control over the situation!? I should've sent Zen I should've gone myself! I should've done literally anything except just sit and wait like she told me to!" Yoosung's heart broke as he listened to his boyfriend rant about all the things that could have been done differently. It was a harsh reminder that Zai was gone, but he couldn't let Seven keep hurting himself like this.

"Luciel...Luciel stop it! There was nothing you could do to prevent what happened!" He brought his hands up to Seven's cheeks and pulled their heads together, foreheads and noses touching. "That entire day...Zai had been acting weird. I think she..I think she wanted it. She wanted the apartment to explode, for whatever reason. She told you to keep Zen away...and there was that whole thing with Jumin and V!" Yoosung let his hands fall away from Seven's face to wrap around his torso instead.

"It hurts to think about, but Zai...did everything possible to make sure that none of us could reach her in time when we all realized it was too late." Thinking back to his cousin, he remembered how he hadn't noticed the signs until it was too late, and then V had told them that everything they'd once known about Rika was a lie. "I don't want you to hurt yourself thinking that there was anything you, or us, could have done to save her when she already decided she didn't want saving." Yoosung tightened his grip as Seven stilled in his grasp, contemplating.

"Haha...maybe you're right...but she's still gone."

"I know, and I'm in pain too, but that doesn't mean you should push me away." Craning his neck upward, Yoosung pressed his lips against Seven's. He could taste the remnants of the chips and soda, but also the salt from his boyfriend's tears. His chest ached with sorrow. "I love you, so please, let me help."

The two of them lay in silence for several minutes, neither of them relaxing their hold on the other until Seven finally spoke.

"Haah..I guess you've got me beat again, cutie." He sounded tired but much less upset than before. "I needed that, thank you for staying with me." Seven kissed Yoosung again, and again, and one more time for good measure, before finally rolling back the sheets and pulling the other boy up with him.

"Help me tidy up?" Looking up at his boyfriend's ruffled hair and tear-marked face, Yoosung let a smile grace his face before lacing their fingers together and tugging him towards the bathroom.

"Only if you let me clean you up first!"

❤︎ Day 12 - 08:22 PM ❤︎

POV: Saeran Mode

Zai and Saeran were currently in the middle of dinner after having spent most of the day just talking about their lives. Zai had been making sure that he was taking in plenty of fluids throughout the whole day. At any other time, he might have been upset at being stuck in one place, but at the moment he was just too exhausted to consider moving. They were drinking a light broth from mix-matched bowls because Zai, 'My aunts took all the dishes and cutlery with them!', had nothing else on hand. The girl was sitting next to him with her dog in her lap, one hand stroking his fur while the other held the rim of the bowl.

"So, you've told me about your mom, and your brother..Saeyoung, right?" Zai was an interesting person, he admitted. She wasn't patronizing when she asked him about his life, but she wasn't passive either. She asked questions, she wanted to take the time to know him instead of assuming what she wanted from what he'd told her. In turn, she'd admitted her many mistakes when it came to her attempts at helping the RFA. It felt...good, knowing that there was someone else out there who knew that they weren't perfect but still tried their best. It made Saeran's heart ache when he thought about what he'd done.

"Yes. Was there..anything else I missed?" It had taken a while, but she'd finally gotten his whole life story out of him with her wheedling. It might have been her knowledge of working with difficult people in order to convince them to attend the RFA's party, or simply her innate skill with getting people to open up to her, but he had acquiesced to her request after only a few hours of trying to avoid it.

"No, no, I'm just..." She reached over to set her bowl down before resting her hand on Jamming's head. "I feel terrible knowing what you've been through. I always saw you as some sort of outside force who was bent on ruining everything I worked so hard to build up." He didn't know what to make of her words, but his years of learning to hold back on his instincts were the only thing that kept him from jumping as she leaned over to grasp his hand in hers.

"I want to help you get better. But only if you want my help too." He regarded her wordlessly as he tried not to focus on how warm she was.

"I don't understand... If you spend all your time helping me then..." He almost pulled his hand back but thought better of it. "Don't you...want to see them again?" They both knew what he was talking about. Zai had told him about her encounters with Zen and Jaehee, how the three of them had built up their relationship to the point where all three of them could be happy. Then he'd come into the picture and she had to leave them both to keep the RFA, and herself, safe. Zai's laugh was gentle. but he could hear the underlying sadness in it.

"Honestly...I don't know if I deserve to be with them anymore. I've fallen in love with them so many times, I've broken their hearts, I've hurt them..." Saeran tensed, he didn't want her to start crying again. "If I was them right now, I wouldn't forgive me for leaving. They probably think I wanted to die, with how I staged the explosion. It's better like this, It's better that I don't...that I don't...go back." She bowed her head and Saeran felt a tendril of guilt creep into his heart.

"They..loved you didn't they?" That was the one thing that confused him. He knew what love was, in theory. His Savior had said that she loved him, but had turned out to be just another person using him for her own personal gain. Zai said she loved both Zen and Jaehee, somehow. The idea intrigued him, and perhaps, some part of him wanted to know what it was like to feel that kind of genuine emotion too.

"Yeah, they did. I'd do anything for them. It's why I have to stay away. They can't live their lives if I'm around to distract them or lie to them because of the mistakes I've made. I hope someday they can forgive me." Her voice broke on that last statement, and Saeran really hoped that she wouldn't start crying again.

"Zai? P-please don't be upset..." Finally, he pulled his hand away, but only so he could hold her hand properly, his heart in his throat as he did so. "Even if, you can't be with them right now, I think that someday, you'll be back together, and until then," He set his bowl down and coughed into his other hand. "Y-you have me.."

"Really? Thank you, Saeran." When she smiled at him, he felt like his entire world got a little bit brighter. It was like looking at the sky.

❤︎ Day 12 - 10:13 PM ❤︎

POV: Jaehee Mode

She and Zen had been wrapped up in each other for so long that she could no longer tell what time it was. She knew it was dark, but that was all her knowledge of the outside world at the moment. They had been in bed, arms and legs entwined, just taking in each other's space while they rested. It was only when Zen's phone rang that she felt him slowly untangle his arm from beneath hers to reach over and grasp for his phone.

"H-hello?" If she'd thought his voice was simply attractive before, then it was absolutely perfect when he was like this. "Jumin..? Why are you calling this late?" Ah, so it was her former boss contacting him. It probably had something to do with the cat commercial that Zen had decided to sign on for, despite his ability to take more jobs at this point. Paying it no mind, she let herself bury her face further against Zen's chest, her hair tickling his chin.

"Wait, wait, what? You and V did what? Tell me you're joking..." Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. Pulling back and sitting up slightly, she shot Zen a questioning look. Catching her gaze, he beckoned her closer before putting the phone on speaker. "Say that again, Jumin."

"I said that I contacted the landlord for the building that Jaehee wanted to use for her cafe, and I got him to agree to an immediate five-year lease, on the agreement that I take ownership of the rest of the building." Jaehee was stunned momentarily before she pulled the phone out of Zen's hand.

"Mr. Ha- Jumin. What is this about?" She couldn't keep herself from snapping. Just what was he thinking, meddling in her business like this?

"Oh, Jaehee, you're there too. You know how I feel about couples living together before marriage." Jaehee tried to shove down her contempt. She failed.

"You have a lot of nerve telling me this when you have been sleeping in the same bed as V for longer than Zen and I have even been in the same house. Now tell me what you did before I hang up." If she turned her head just a little, she would've seen Zen nearly in tears. He was holding a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter, and clutching his stomach with the other.

"Ah, well, in exchange for our company remodeling parts of the building and using them for office and business space, the landlord will let you lease the space for the cafe for the next five years. I have also decided to fund your project, as I believe it will be a mutually beneficial agreement for the both of us." Forcing down her simmering anger so she could think, Jaehee realized what Jumin was trying to do.

"You...How much of this idea was V's?" She could hear shuffling on the other line, and a faint "Jumin please don't" before the phone was apparently passed off to her former boss' lover.

"I..hello, Jaehee. I know this might all come off quite rude, but Jumin is trying his best, and I am...attempting to make amends as well." She could feel Zen reaching over to place an arm around her waist. When she looked over to him, she could see the pride and love in his eyes as he nodded his head. He wanted her to listen. "Jaehee please understand when I say that I am incredibly sorry about you and Zen's loss. There were things that I could have handled better, and I know that nothing I say can give you back what you've lost. But we want to help if you'll let us. I know that Jumin wants to apologize for his treatment of you these past few years. You don't have to agree to his deal, but I think it would be a start to repairing things between us."

Jaehee sat in silence as she considered his words. She had been determined to blame V for what happened ever since the confrontation at Jumin's suite, but now she realized that things were not so black and white. V had played a part in contributing to the circumstances which surrounded Zai's death, yet he was not directly at fault for the tragedy. She couldn't keep holding on to her anger towards him if she wanted things to be better in the future.

"V?" She waited until a noise of confirmation came through the phone. "I will think about it, but tell Jumin not to call again tonight." Jaehee didn't give him the time to respond before she was hanging up and setting Zen's phone to silent before all but throwing it onto the side table. Zen finally let himself laugh as she pulled him down with her and curled into him.

"Are you really going to give them a chance?" She tried not to shiver at his tone of voice when she felt his arms settle around her waist.

"As I told V," Moving in closer so that their lips were almost touching, she could feel Zen tense with anticipation. "I will think about it."

There was no more talking for a while.