❤︎ Day 17 - 05:53 AM ❤︎

It was still dark when a bleary-eyed Zai made her way down the stairs into the kitchen. Saeran hadn't come upstairs last night, and if she squinted, she could see his silhouette from where he was curled up on the sofa, her laptop set aside. Part of her wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again if it meant she wouldn't have to see the inevitable looks of utter betrayal on Jaehee and Zen's faces should they find the house, and subsequently, its inhabitants. She loved them, as well as the rest of the RFA. As for herself? That was a whole other story.

Reaching up on tip-toes, she fished out the bottle of sleeping pills she bought on impulse when she went out to buy tea for Saeran. Getting a glass of water, she tossed two of the pills back and washed them down before crawling back to bed. Despite all her hopes, she knew that the only place she would be getting a happy ending was in her dreams, and she was content to stay there for as long as possible.

❤︎ Day 17 - 08:01 AM ❤︎

POV: Saeran Mode

When Saeran finally awoke, it was to the sensation of a long tongue and teeth against his hand. Jerking upward, he realized that Jamming had been nibbling on him as he slept. Giving the canine a pat, he strode uneasily to the closest sink so he could wash his hand off. Once clean, he climbed the stairs as quietly as possible and slid into the bedroom. Zai was curled under the covers, with the blankets pulled all the way over her head like a cocoon. Sighing gently, he did his best to get in without disturbing her before letting one of his arms cradle her waist.

This might be the last time he ever got to be with her like this, after all.

❤︎ Day 17 - 10:24 AM ❤︎

POV: 707 Mode

Finding the house should have been easy since he had the exact geographical coordinates of the building, but somehow he continued to get lost the further they drove into the dense woods just outside the city limits. At one point, Seven was convinced that he'd driven past the same tree at least four times in a row. It was still early, but he didn't want to spend all day getting even further and further lost in the woods. He could sense Zen and Jaehee getting impatient too.

"So...does anyone wanna get out and walk?" They were on what might have been their eighth or ninth pass of that exact same tree when Seven stopped the car and gave a slow breath of frustration. "We're getting nowhere. I'm taking a break." All three of them climbed out of the vehicle to mill around absently.

"We better not be stuck here forever..." Zen sounded more nervous than he looked. "You know how to get us back to the city from here, right?"

"Uh, yeah I do. That isn't the problem. We should have found the house by now, but its like it doesn't even exist!" He dug his fingers into his hair and pulled. "I know it's here, I saw it on the satellite photo! So why can't I find it!?" Seven was a second away from slamming his head into the nearest tree before he felt strong hands settle on his shoulders as he was spun to face red eyes.

"Dude, chill. It's fine. So we haven't found the place yet," Zen shot him one of his magazine cover smiles. "That doesn't mean we won't eventually. Just relax and look at this rationally." Seven gave him a skeptical look.

"You're being unusually calm about this considering it's Zai on the line right now..." He could see Jaehee drifting away from the two of them in the background, searching absently.

"Yeah, well, losing my head isn't going to get us any closer to her." Zen was doing a pretty good job of hiding just how anxious he was feeling about the situation, Seven could tell. However, he didn't have any time to think on it any longer when Jaehee made a noise of surprise further away from them before beckoning them over.

"Zen! Luciel! Come look!" The two men shared a look before rushing over to her and following her gaze to...

"Is that...a house?" Seven rubbed the sleeve of his jacket over his lenses before putting his glasses back on.

"It looks like it." Zen blinked a few times before an awestruck expression overcame him. "Wow...! If I move over here I can barely see it- hey wait!" He turned to look at both Seven and Jaehee.

"Do you think that this is the place we've been looking for?" They all froze for a moment.

"Omg, you might be right."

"Did you really just say 'omg' out loud? Who does that?"

"I do, lololol!" Running back to the car, he jumped into the driver's seat and parked it directly under a cluster of trees so it would be harder to see. "Okay, all set! Who wants to go in first?"

Jaehee and Zen had a conversation with their eyes and Seven tried not to feel left out. Eventually, they came to a conclusion at the same time.

"You go first."

"Ahaha...I love you guys too..."

He was approaching the house as stealthily as possible. If he looked back towards the forest, he could see Zen and Jaehee peeking out from behind a tree, each of them showing him an encouraging thumbs up. His friends were so supportive. Upon reaching the front door, he realized that there was a passcode lock on the handle.

"Agh, good thing I always come prepared!" Pulling out his phone and one of his many, many emergency cords from the inside of his jacket, he plugged it in and got to work. "La la la, and I'm in!" The door unlocked and he made his way over the threshold before unceremoniously tripping and falling to the floor, a heavy weight settling on his back as the door closed behind him.

"Hey! What th- Hhrk!" A knee pressed down against the space between his shoulders, cutting off his cries. His arms were wrenched behind him and he choked on empty air.

"Quiet." He felt the slight sting of rope being tightened around his wrists as his apparent captor tied him up. "If you're too noisy you'll wake the sleeping princess..." Seven's breath hitched. This was the real deal.

"Y-you...Zai is really here..." There was a soft chuckle from above him as the weight pulled off his back and he was heaved upward.

"Of course she is. Where else would she be?" Seven hissed as he felt the friction from the rope as it dug into his skin. "With the RFA? How delusional."

"So what's this for then?" He glanced around the room before trying to get a look at the person currently pulling him along. He was dragged into what looked like a kitchen and the remainder of the rope was tied around a stool. "Is this what you're into? Sorry to disappoint, but I already have a boyfriend." The stranger made a disgusted noise.

"What? That's terrible. No. I just need to keep you out of the way for now." They finally turned to face him and Seven felt the air leave his lungs as he realized just how much they looked like- "Besides, your friends are going to be joining us very soon." They started to leave and the familiar feeling of panic started rising in his chest.

"Hey, wait-!" Looking back at him from the doorway, they grinned and lifted a finger to their lips.

"Shhh..."

After the door closed behind them, Seven shuddered before he slumped over, tugging at his restraints and testing their strength.

"Heehee...don't freak out...you've been in tighter spots before." Desperately trying to slow his rapid breathing, he began reciting binary in his head. As he sat on the cold tile floor of the kitchen, he did his best not to think about how his captor looked so much like his brother.

"Everything is going to be fine..."

❤︎ Day 17 - 11:31 AM ❤︎

POV: ZEN Mode

Zen bounced his leg lightly as he and Jaehee watched the front of the house for activity. The outside walls of the building had a mirror-like effect that prevented them from seeing in, but Seven had gone inside over half an hour ago and now they were getting worried.

"...I'm gonna go in." Jaehee looked at him like he'd just said he wanted to quit acting.

"What? No, if you're going in then so am I." Zen's nails dug into the bark of the tree that they were currently hiding behind.

"Jaehee, if something goes wrong then someone has to stay behind and tell everyone back home." He released his grip from the tree and reached for Jaehee's hand. "Besides, I don't know if I could forgive myself knowing that I let something bad happen to you too..." Zen's voice wobbled and he watched as Jaehee faltered for a moment before her resolve strengthened.

"I feel the same way." Her brown eyes were practically on fire, and his heart nearly stopped when he saw the determination in her stance. "It hurt so much, losing Zai the first time. It would be unbearable if I had to experience it again with you as well. Please, don't do this without me." Zen's confidence wavered.

When they woke up this morning, the thing at the forefront of his mind had been the plan to retrieve Zai and get back home safely. Now, he was afraid of there not being anything left of them to return home at all. Seven hadn't called or exited the house with Zai after all this time, so they could infer that something had happened to prevent him from leaving the building. It was up to them to get both him and Zai out now.

"Fine, just know I'm not happy about it." He was pretty sure that the hacker's presence had something to do with Seven's disappearance. They would have to be on guard.

The original plan had been for both of them to enter the house at the same time, but as a precaution, Zen had gotten Jaehee to agree to let him go in first. That way, if something happened to him, she would have a chance to either help or run, depending on the circumstances. It was the closest compromise they could settle on, and Zen knew it was the best he could do to keep Jaehee safe, even if she was being so stubborn. Carefully testing the door, he found it unlocked, and beckoned Jaehee forward.

"You remember what to do, right?" He waited until she nodded in confirmation before turning the handle and stepping into the house. Everything seemed normal, so he moved in further slightly before noticing a movement to the side. There was a split second where molten gold met shimmering red before Zen was all but tackled to the ground while Jaehee made a noise of surprise. Looking up, Zen was shocked to see another man on top of him. He was definitely shorter than he was, but his size did little to emphasize the strength that was currently being used to keep him incapacitated. There was the faint noise of barking in the background, obscured by the sound of blood rushing in his ears as he realized that the person straddling his weight at the moment was...really cute.

"Haha...your friend fell for that one too. Are all the members of the RFA this easy to overtake?" His heart caught in his throat as the stranger, who was most likely the infamous hacker, leaned down into Zen's space, laughter in both his eyes and his smile. "Well, she was right about one thing. You do have pretty eyes." Something between a gasp and a squawk escaped his throat as the weight vanished off his legs and when had his hands been tied together?

"I- you...you think my eyes are pretty?" If he was being honest, this was not what he expected to happen at all. First, he was being knocked to the ground by the person who had apparently kidnapped his girlfriend, and next they were flirting with him. He'd been so preoccupied with trying to process the situation that he hadn't even noticed Jaehee being held down by...a dog?

There was a large black dog with curly fur perched on top of his girlfriend's back, implying that it had snuck up on her from outside before pouncing. Zen blanched. His girlfriend was amazing at judo, but she couldn't fight a dog. He was pretty sure that counted as animal cruelty. Now she was getting the same treatment as him. Silently, he reprimanded himself for forgetting about the dog. The dog was the entire reason they were even here! How had he forgotten the dog!? Gathering himself together, he tried to put on a brave face despite the circumstances.

"What do you want with us, and where's Zai and Seven!?" The mystery man grinned but shushed him almost immediately.

"Zai is resting right now. As for Saeyoung...Why don't you ask him yourself?" They were both tugged to their feet and marched into what was apparently the kitchen before being forced to sit down next to Seven, who looked up in shock at the sight of his friends.

"Zen! Jaehee-!" Seven's calls were abruptly halted when the other man, who looked a lot like Seven now that Zen could see them next to each other, snapped in his face.

"Hey...keep it down." After tying the two of them to the same stool as Seven, he backed away from the room, dog at his heels. "Try not to make so much noise, okay?" His face in the moment seemed so...innocent. Zen almost couldn't believe this was the same person who had just managed to capture three of the RFA's most physically capable members. The door closed and the trio was left in the dark.

"Well...that happened." Sighing in disappointment, he let his head rest against one of the stool's wooden legs.

"At least we're in the house now." Letting out an amused breath, Zen tried to appreciate Jaehee's positive point of view.

"Yeah! Plus, if we're lucky, Zai will wake up and come save us!" Seven whisper-shouted into their ears, and even though he could barely see anything, Zen could tell that he was doing better now that they were all reunited.

"How'd he get the drop on you, Seven?"

"He snuck up behind me and pinned me to the floor."

"Same..."

"What about you, Jaehee?"

"The dog got me."

"Yikes, sorry about that. I should've remembered the dog."

"It's not your fault."

The three of them sat in silence for a while.

"So... our captor thinks you have pretty eyes, huh?" Zen sputtered and while Seven's faint giggles echoed through the room, he was secretly glad that neither of his companions could see the blush on his face.

❤︎ Day 17 - 03:08 PM ❤︎

Zai woke up feeling numb to the world and resolved to just lie in bed forever. Unfortunately, her stomach demanded sustenance, so she was forced to leave her safe haven and make the journey down the stairs and into the kitchen so she could make herself a snack before returning to the land of sleep. Saeran wasn't in the room, so she dressed quickly and stepped out of the bedroom. Descending to the ground floor, she was once again graced by the sight of Saeran on her couch, but with his head between his knees this time. A tendril of worry wrapped itself around her heart as she crossed the room to sit next to him.

"Saeran? Is everything alright?" He jerked upward the moment her hand came in contact with his shoulders but he relaxed the moment he saw her face.

"Oh. Zai..." She felt strong, yet gentle, arms wrap themselves around her waist to give her a comforting squeeze before he pulled away. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something. Did you sleep well?" Her thoughts immediately flew back to the reason she'd come downstairs in the first place.

"Ah, right, I woke up because I was hungry, but I guess it was okay?" She stood and started walking towards the kitchen. "Do you want me to make you anything? It's kind of late but we can have an early dinner. I think we still have some salad left from the other day-" Zai nearly jumped ten feet into the air when his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"No!" Turning back to look at him, she could see faint traces of panic in his expression as he furiously tried to backpedal. "I-I mean, wait. You can't go in the kitchen right now."

"...What? Why not?" She tried to keep her voice level, but Saeran was acting weird. And not even Saeran Brand Weird. He was being just plain weird. "Did you make a mess or something?" He diverted his eyes to look at anywhere but her.

"Um, I guess you could say that?" Frowning, she continued on her way and found the door closed, surprisingly. "Zai- please don't!" Not heeding his warning, she pressed on the handle and cracked the door open a sliver so she could look inside, before opening it completely.

"Oh..."

On the floor, tied to a stool, were Seven, Zen, and Jaehee. They were asleep and had obviously been there for a while. This was...not what she was expecting. Spinning around to face her housemate, who was now wearing a rather guilty expression on his face, she pointed to the three people currently unconscious in her kitchen.

"...'Ran."

"...Yes?"

"What the heck is this?" Saeran flinched at the harshness in her voice and she instantly felt a little bad, but only a little. "Why are they tied up, and on my floor? Why didn't you tell me when they got here!?" Okay so maybe she was a little hysteric, she thought it was fair for her to be just a little upset at the moment. Just what had he done while she was sleeping?

"You were asleep! I didn't want to wake you up when you've been looking so tired lately. You need your rest...!" He actually looked distressed at the idea that she wasn't sleeping enough, and thinking back on the past few days, she realized that she had been sleeping in more than normal, but still feeling absolutely exhausted anyway. What was up with that?

"S-still! That's no excuse for tying up my friends and keeping them in my kitchen!" Zai felt close to tears. Just what was happening to her? Hiccuping, she slid to the floor and felt Saeran's arms around her as she started crying. "It isn't fair...! Why couldn't they just stay away and leave well enough alone? I haven't even spoken to them yet and I'm already hurting them!" A hand came up the cup her cheek and she opened her eyes to see Saeran's own concerned-filled ones gazing at her.

"Zai, you know that isn't true. It's- it's my fault... I was terrified of them coming here because I thought they'd just rush in then take you away. If there's anyone to be upset at, it's me." Taking a few deep breaths to steady herself, she let Saeran ground her as she came back to her senses.

"Okay...okay... I can work with this." Looking over at the three who had somehow not been awakened by her rather noisy crying, she smiled weakly. "Can you untie them for me? I don't think we can move them on our own, but at least we can prevent rope burn." Nodding in agreement, Saeran passed her a pair of scissors and the two got down to work.

It only took a moment for them to remove the rope from their wrists, and she and Saeran had somehow managed to get them to the living room without waking them. Zen and Jaehee were propped against each other on Zai's couch, and Saeran had his brother sprawled across a lounge chair. Taking a moment to see how he was doing, she noticed him watching the other redhead with a pensive look on his face, and moved to stand next to him once she'd gotten her (ex? she still wasn't clear on that front.) boyfriend and girlfriend situated.

"Hey..." She let her hand rest on top of his as she felt him start trembling. "It must be hard, seeing him again." Saeran laughed breathlessly before entwining his fingers with hers.

"It's been over ten years since we were last in the same room as each other," He rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "He didn't even recognize me. Do I really look that different?" She watched as he tugged lightly on his dark red dyed hair.

"I'm sure once you explain, he'll understand. It has been a long time, you know. You probably look a lot different than you did when you were a child." She gave his hand a squeeze. "Anyways, I'm starving, so what do you want to eat?" Saeran made a noncommittal noise as she headed back into the kitchen. In the back of her head, she remembered to actually throw away the rope this time.

❤︎ Day 17 - 04:46 PM ❤︎

POV: Jaehee Mode

Upon waking, the first thing Jaehee noticed was how dark it was. The second thing she noticed was the apparent lack of rope keeping her wrists bound together. The third thing she noticed was the fact that she was currently on a quite comfortable sofa, Zen's head in the crook of her neck, with his breath lightly tickling her ear with every exhale. Eyes scanning the room, she spotted Seven lying in a plush chair, his limbs haphazardly strewn over the furniture. She wanted to move, but that would most likely cause Zen to wake up.

Inhaling sharply, she did her best to move his head away from her shoulder and reached over for a pillow to keep him propped up. Standing, she listened carefully and realized that there were voices coming from the kitchen where they'd been held earlier. Obviously, someone had moved them, but Jaehee wasn't focused on that now as she approached the door. Lightly pressing her ear to the surface, she tried to focus on the words.

"-m just saying, it was really unnecessary. You should've just woken me up."

"Yeah well, it was impulse?"

"That isn't a real excuse!"

"I said I was sorry-!"

There was the sound of light scuffling and Jaehee pushed against the door a little harder.

"L-let go!"

"Nope! I've got to show you whose boss!"

"Didn't you already do that!?"

"It doesn't hurt to reinforce the message."

"You're having way too much fun with this."

"Someone has to teach you how to have a good time, 'Ran, and I'm the only one up to the task!"

In her attempt to listen harder, she hadn't noticed her arm pressing down on the door handle until it clicked open and she was falling. Jaehee narrowly caught herself on the doorframe but by then the damage was done. The door swung open wide and everyone froze. In front of her was the man that had captured her, Zen, and Seven, currently being held in a headlock by-

"Zai!" Her eyes snapped open wide as she released the redhead, who unceremoniously fell to the floor without her support.

"J-Jaehee! You're awake!" Rushing forward, she embraced the other woman in her arms, holding on to her for dear life.

"Zai! You're here! You're really here!" The tears were beginning to flow from her eyes. "We thought you were dead! Then I got that call from your phone and I- I'm so happy you're alright!" Jaehee couldn't bring herself to let go, and only tightened her grip when she felt Zai's arms wrap around her as well.

"I'm sorry Jaehee... I didn't want things to be this way, but there was an, um, change in my plans." Looking up at Zai, she wiped the moisture from her face as she pulled back slightly.

"Change in plans?" There was a groan from right next to them.

"Yeah, that would be me." Jaehee was reminded that the hacker was there with them.

"I- you! Why are you here!?" The man gave her a bored look as he stood.

"Don't ask me. I didn't have any say in it." He gestured over to Zai. "She's the one who decided to kidnap me." Turning back to face Zai so she could ask for clarification on what he meant, she noticed the guilty expression on her face as she withdrew her arms and curled into herself slightly.

"Jaehee...I'll tell you about it when the boys wake up. They're still asleep, right?" She nodded absently, wondering why the other woman had retreated all of a sudden. "Okay then. Are you hungry? I can fix you something."

Watching warily, Jaehee saw the man huff with frustration before moving to exit the room.

"I'm gonna go take Jamming for a walk, Zai. Be back later." He pulled up the leather jacket that had been formerly hanging from his elbows up to cover his shoulders and grabbed a leash that had been hanging from the wall on his way out.

"Don't stay out too long!" She called after him before returning to her place in front of the stove. "You'll have to forgive him. He doesn't really like being around other people." For some reason, Jaehee didn't quite believe that.

"He seems quite alright being around you..." Her words got a nervous laugh out of Zai.

"Yes, well, when you spend a week living with someone, you get used to them."

"Is...that what you've been doing? Just hanging around here and letting us worry instead of coming home?" She tried to keep the accusatory tone out of her voice, but it still hurt, knowing that Zai had been safe this whole time they were heartbroken over their loss. "Why didn't you tell us? Why did the apartment-" Jaehee stilled when she noticed the tremors in Zai's stance, as though it was taking everything she had to keep herself from collapsing.

"Jaehee, I promise you, I will explain everything later, okay?" Zai gave her a watery smile, and Jaehee's heart ached. Just what had happened to her? "Please, I can't do this right now. Just let me focus on cooking. After 'Ran gets back and when Zen and Seven wake up, we can all sit down and just...talk." Her voice nearly broke on the last word, and Jaehee took that as a sign to stop pressing. As she sat down and watched Zai cook, she thought about how surreal their current situation was, and wondered why she and the rest of the RFA had never noticed the pain that their party planner had kept just below the surface.

❤︎ Day 17 - 06:12 PM ❤︎

POV: Saeran Mode

As he walked along the edge of the house clearing with Jamming pulling him along by the lead, Saeran's head was a rolling storm of thoughts. If his internal conflict was bad before, then it was beyond terrible now. Today's events had confused him, but beyond that, they'd scared him as well. He was afraid for his relationship with Zai, but also Zai's relationship with Zen and Jaehee. He knew now that she had never truly planned on reuniting with the rest of the RFA just to keep them safe from herself of all things. But apparently, her decision to rescue him from Rika had required an additional sacrifice in the form of blowing up the apartment as well. Being Mint Eye's sole hacker, in losing him, the organization would be without their most capable member, as well as their only field agent.

Zai's idea had effectively put them off Rika's radar forever. She would think them dead, and with Saeran gone, she would have no other way of spying on the RFA, and therefore, no way to know they had survived. If he knew that woman, and he really wished he didn't, then he knew that she was probably pulling their organization further underground. Her paranoia would prevent her from making any attempts at outreach for a while, and that would give the RFA time to regroup.

Sighing, he turned to look at the house where he'd spent the last week, with just the barest sliver of light giving away its position from behind the mirrored walls. It was the first real home he'd known his entire life, and the girl who had shared it with him was his first real friend ever since Saeyoung. Thinking back to the situation at hand, he wondered just how he was going to maintain his relationship with Zai if she decided she wanted to pick up where she left off with Zen and Jaehee. It wasn't even the idea of jealousy that made him nervous. He was surprisingly okay with the idea of her dating all three of them at the same time, but what if they didn't want him and Zai to be together? What if she decided she would rather be with them and leave her behind? If his worst dreams came true, what would he even do? Or, rather, what could he do, besides accepting it? These notions plagued his mind as he numbly followed Jamming across the property.

Saeran had told himself that there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for Zai, and he couldn't go back on a promise like that even if he made it for himself. That meant, if Zai wanted to leave him behind, then he'd be fine with it. On the contrary, if she wanted to stay with him, he would be more than fine with that too. And if she wanted all three of them? He took a moment to steady himself while Jamming sniffed at a pile of leaves. If Zai wanted to be with him, Zen, and Jaehee all at once, he could handle that. His breath came out in shutters as he inhaled the evening air. Lightly tugging on Jamming's leash, he started directing the canine back towards the house at a relaxed pace.

Now that he had that all worked out, he could focus on his other problems. Namely, his strange reaction to the silver-haired actor, and his impending true reunion with his brother.