AN: Hi, everyone! Welcome to the second-to-last chapter of Breaking the Cycle! Now, before you get mad at me, I'll list a warning for Panic Attacks because one happens in this chapter! If that's something you can't handle, I suggest skipping over the entire portion of Zai's POV after the section break (5th paragraph).

❤︎ Day 17 - 07:22 PM ❤︎

POV: ZEN Mode

Zen was yanked into consciousness by an overenthusiastic Seven who had been shaking him awake for at least a minute. In his frantic movements, he nearly ended up punching the redhead in the stomach. Thankfully, it didn't come to that, but only because Seven had really good reflexes.

"W-what's going on? We aren't tied up anymore." Rubbing his eyes and glancing upwards, he could see that although Seven was much more relaxed than earlier, he was still on edge.

"I don't know, I woke up on that chair over there." He gave a slight groan of discomfort. "My back hurts, but at least we aren't dead or maimed!" Zen gave him a look.

"That's one way of putting it," Scanning the room, he noticed a very important someone missing. "Hey, where's Jaehee?" Seven made a distressed noise.

"I don't know that either! She was gone when I returned to the realm of the conscious. You don't think she's being tortured do you?" If looks could kill, Seven would have been dead in that instant with the power of the glare that Zen was giving him.

"Don't say that. I'm sure she's fine. Let's go back and check the kitchen," He pointed behind him to the place where they'd been dragged to before. "Maybe she's still there?" He started moving before waiting for a confirmation, but he heard Seven scramble after him anyway.

"You know, have you thought about what you and Jaehee are gonna do in case Zai doesn't come back with us?" Zen paused for a split second before resuming his determined stride.

"No, because she's definitely coming home."

"...What makes you say that?"

"Because there's no way I'm letting her stay here."

"And whose decision is that to make?" Zen ceased his movements as Seven stepped forward to place a hand on his shoulder. "I'm just saying, you might have to be prepared for the possibility. For all we know, she left of her own free will. We just don't understand why. But the reason might not be something you'll like." Circling to face him, he realized that there was something else to Seven's stance. Just what had rattled him so badly earlier?

"Honestly? I don't care. Maybe she won't want to come back. In that case, I'll stay." Attempting to keep his voice steady was more difficult than he thought, but he wasn't an actor for nothing. "You know me and Jaehee confessed our love for each other and Zai together, right? But Zai...never said anything like that in return. I wondered if it was because she didn't feel that way at first, but now I think it's because she was trying to distance herself from us in a way. She tried so hard to be close and far away at the same time, and I couldn't understand it. But I get it now." Heart steeled, Zen turned in the direction of the kitchen.

"Zai is more insecure than we first thought. She put us- the RFA -first, and didn't think about herself. I have to show her- I want to show her that I care, that I can be committed to her and Jaehee in a way that will keep them from feeling so anxious about whether or not my feelings are real or not. I love them, Seven, and I'll do whatever it takes to express that if need be." It was hard keeping his voice down and still being so emotional, but he'd done it. Seven was looking at him as though he'd just spoken in a completely different language.

"I guess I can kind of understand what you're saying..." He chuckled lightly. "But, wow. I didn't expect you to be so fired up about it. Whatever. Lead the way, sleeping beauty!" Count on Seven to kill the moment. Zen huffed and resumed walking. They stopped in front of the kitchen door and shuffled their feet.

"So...you open it."

"Do I have to?"

"It's your girlfriend who might be inside, so you open it." Zen winced and pressed down on the handle lightly before peeking through. To his surprise, the light was on, and as he opened it, he was greeted by the image of Jaehee amicably talking to the person who had tied them all up, while girl they'd spent nearly a week looking for stood next to the stove smiling and nodding along to their conversation.

"Zai!" He couldn't help himself, he was just so thrilled. "You're okay!" Her eyes widened upon meeting his and she hastily set aside her cooking utensils so they could rush to meet each other, his arms finding their place around her waist at the same time he felt hers around his shoulders. He couldn't swing her around in this space, so he settled for picking her up and savoring the sweet sound of her laughter instead.

"Hyun!" She giggled as he set her down, and she looked around him. "And Seven too! Looks like everyone is here." There was a sadness in her eyes that he couldn't place, but he was too overwhelmed with the feeling of finally being reunited with her that he didn't pay it too much attention. She stepped over to the slightly-familiar redhead who had taken them down earlier and squeezed his arm. "I'd like to apologize for what happened to you three, on 'Ran's behalf. He wasn't thinking straight about the situation earlier, and I wasn't awake to stop him. I'm very sorry you all had to experience that." She bowed her head and the man (Ran?) followed her example, although reluctantly.

"It's fine. I mean, we're not dead or maimed, right?" He could feel Seven's eyes boring into the back of his head as he tried not to fidget.

"Yes, well, that doesn't mean it was appropriate. So, I made dinner for everyone! Then we can, uh, talk." Ran slid his gaze over in her direction and gently pulled his arm out of her grip.

"I'm not sharing my ice cream with them..."

"What?" Zen wanted to know what that had to do with this conversation. Zai, however, just smiled and returned to her place next to the stove to finish plating whatever it was she had been cooking before they entered the room.

"You don't have to, so stop worrying." She gave him a fond look that made his chest tighten uncomfortably as he sat down next to Jaehee, who was now wearing a pensive expression on her face. Neither of them noticed the haunted look in Seven's eyes as he took the only remaining seat available, right next to the man who, nearly eight hours ago, had them all tied up on the floor of this very same room.

Once Zai had all the food ready, she set the remaining dishes out on the table before moving to leave the room. Zen half stood as she had her hand on the door handle, surprised by her actions.

"H-hey wait! Aren't you going to eat with us?" He hoped the panic in his voice wasn't as obvious to everyone else as it was to him. She looked a little startled but quickly masked her expression with a strained smile.

"It's okay, go ahead and start without me." She opened the door and lowered her head. "There's just something I have to do first." Zai closed it behind her and everyone sat in silence for a few moments. The atmosphere tense like a taut line, or it was until Seven tried sliding an entire dish of breaded chicken toward himself.

It dissolved into chaos after that.

❤︎ Day 17 - 08:00 PM ❤︎

Her breath came out in soft puffs of condensed air as she sat on the back step of the house, Jamming in her arms. She pressed her face into his soft fur and tried to steady her breathing. Zen and Jaehee and Saeran and Seven were all in her kitchen right now, probably having a standoff, and here she was outside, having a minor anxiety attack. Her dog whined softly as he shoved his cold nose into her cheek. She giggled in response and scratched him lightly behind the ears.

"It must be pretty easy, being a dog. You don't have to worry about being in love with three people at once. And you definitely don't have to worry about explaining the reasons you have for faking your own death." Sighing, she let herself fall back against the floor, exhaling sharply when her shoulders met concrete. "Sometimes I wish I never downloaded that app. I might have a job right now. Maybe I'd be getting ready to move to a different country. Perhaps I'd be in love with someone else..." She chuckled mirthlessly. As if that could ever happen. The RFA had wound themselves so deeply into her heart that she couldn't imagine a life without them.

"I'm so afraid, Jamming." She threw an arm over her eyes and focused on the sensation of chilly night air entering her lungs. "They're all waiting on me. I can't let them down, but I've done that so many times in the past. What's stopping me from doing it again?" Trick question, she already knew why. The inclusion of Saeran in her plans, the development of closer, better relationships within the RFA itself, they were all reasons for why she just couldn't bring herself to regret her actions up to this point.

"You know...I'm probably overthinking this. They love me, right? I mean, they must, to have kept searching and come all this way for me. Why didn't I ever tell them that too?" Sitting up to look at her dog, who had lied down next to her, she gave him a gentle pat on the head. "Do you think I'm worrying too much?" She got a lick to the palm as a response. Laughing, she stood and made her way back inside with Jamming following closely.

"Yeah, you're right. I just have to be honest with them, and everything will be fine."

When she finally got to the kitchen after washing her hands clean of dog residue, Zen and Seven seemed to be having an eating contest while Jaehee and Saeran tried to be as silent and distant as possible from the two of them in order to avoid drawing their focus. At least half the food had already been demolished, and Zai was glad she'd decided to cook a little extra, because it didn't look like they were going to be having leftovers.

"I'm back! It's good to see that you guys didn't destroy the place, at least." Heads snapped up at her appearance, and Zai smothered her laughter with her hands as she got an eyeful of Zen and Seven with their cheeks packed to capacity. "That isn't a very flattering look for you, Hyun. Try not to choke." Seven made a strangled noise of amusement while Zen tried to swallow carefully and Jaehee preoccupied herself with making sure they were both alright. Saeran perked up noticeably once he realized she was back and she sent him a comforting look as he beckoned her over to his side.

"Zai, I found another chair for you in the storage closet." Grinning, she took the seat right between him and Jaehee.

"Thank you, 'Ran." Beneath the table, she could feel him slipping his hand into hers and she laced their fingers together smugly. Instead of eating, she simply watched the people gathered around her table fondly. Her anxiety was mostly calmed down, but not before it had chased her appetite away. "Has everyone been getting along?" She leaned over in his direction to try and mask her words somewhat.

"Uh, yeah I guess. Saeyoung has been looking at me strangely since he got here, though. You don't think he's onto me, do you?" There was a note of uncertainty in his voice, and Zai was about to reply when someone else spoke up first.

"Hey, what are you two whispering about over there?" Seven suddenly leaned into their space and Saeran reared back, a mixed expression of what seemed to be both anger and fear painted on his face. Zai fixed a neutral look upon her face as she matched Seven's challenging visage.

"Just talking about how nosy you are." She saw him flinch back and Saeran ease up on the tension just a little.

"Oooh, so cold. But really, what is it? We're still waiting on an explanation, you know." Now it was Zai's turn to flinch. Her hand was gripped even tighter as she squeezed back before sitting up.

"You know what? You're right." She cleared her throat lightly to get the attention of Zen and Jaehee. "I should stop stalling... It's time I told you all the truth." Although she'd tried to psyche herself up for this confession, having all their eyes on her only made the claws of fear in her chest pierce deeper. But, she had to do this for them, or there would be no fixing what she'd already broken so many times in the past.

"Do you all remember the incident with the chat breach that happened two weeks ago, today?" There was a round of nods, Saeran's a little stiffer than the others. "Well, I suppose you could say that was the catalyst for all this..."

"What? Weren't you scared out of your mind then?" Zen looked a little uncomfortable, and so did Seven.

"Yes, but it also opened my eyes, in a way." Lowering her gaze, she focused on the warmth flowing from Saeran's touch. "It made me realize some things I didn't understand before. Like the fact that even though I was in danger from being involved in the RFA, he," She gestured towards Saeran. "Was as much of a victim as I am, if not more so." Now everyone looked decidedly unsettled by the direction the conversation had turned.

"Can you...clarify a bit more on that?" Zai hadn't heard Jaehee's voice in such a soft-spoken manner for what felt like ages, and her heart twisted at the thought of being responsible for it.

"I. ah, it really isn't my story to tell, but I can say that they, Mint Eye that is, used him like a tool to further their organization. Once I started thinking about it, the more I wanted to help. Unfortunately, the only option I had to save us was to do something really drastic." The room went silent at the mention of Zai's previously-assumed death. The claws buried themselves in even further.

"Y-you have to understand...that it was never my intention to hurt any of you..." Stay focused, stay focused. "I did what was needed and I couldn't afford to let myself doubt my decisions, or we both would have died. Please, please, know that it wasn't part of my plan to leave you all until that day." Zai was cold and she couldn't feel Saeran's hand in hers any longer. Why was it so cold?

"But, on the day that I...the day I... left." She couldn't say it. "I wasn't- I wasn't planning on coming back. I didn't want to come back." Her chest hurt, but she had to finish this. She owed them that much. Zen and Jaehee looked heartbroken.

"Zai what do you mean you 'didn't want to come back'? I- we thought you-!" Surprisingly enough, it was Jaehee who spoke up first. Zai wished that the floor would swallow her whole, or that even Rika herself would appear in the doorway with a gun and shoot her. Anything if it meant Jaehee would stop looking at her with such an expression of utter betrayal.

"It- it isn't because I didn't-! I mean I, I would have stayed if I could! But I had to leave, I had to stay away, to protect you! That's all I've ever wanted! To keep everyone in the RFA safe! You could never be safe if I stayed!" She could hear her own voice cracking. She must have sounded so pathetic. "If they knew we were alive, Mint Eye would never stop pursuing us. I didn't want all of you to live a life where you had to constantly look over your shoulder or even dread leaving your house. Nothing would have stopped them except for the destruction of the RFA." Zen stood from his seat, tension running through his entire body.

"So you just made that decision for us!? We wouldn't have cared about all that if it meant we could keep you-" Zai stood as well and knocked her chair back, fixing him with an intense look.

"I know! I knew from the start! I couldn't let you make that decision because it wasn't yours to make, same as all my other decisions! Every single one! Including the good ones, the bad ones," Her voice broke again. "The ones that I knew would shatter all our hearts at once..." She took a moment to compose herself. "They are mine, and I made them, and I accepted the consequences the moment I put them into action. I don't have the freedom to regret them." Zai could sense that Zen was gearing up to challenge her again so instead, she chose to continue instead of stopping.

"All of this? It was the least I could do for the people who made me feel appreciated and cared about for the first time in my life! I know you love me, and I," Zai held back a choked sob. "I love you both too...So, so much! More than I may ever be able to put into words." Her heart felt like it was going to explode. "Zen, that night on your roof? It was one of the best nights of my life. I'd never felt so loved before, I almost couldn't handle it. You and Jaehee mean so much to me!" Hot tears started streaking down her face, but she couldn't stop now.

"It's why I had to do what I did! Because you don't deserve someone like me! Someone who can never tell you the things she's done. Someone- someone who can never confess all her misdeeds even if she was given a hundred lifetimes to do so..." Zai wrapped her arms around herself as her breath began to speed up. She was so caught in her own whirlwind of emotions that she didn't notice the wide-eyed stares she was getting, or the look of horror Seven was giving her. "I'm so sorry! I failed you, I hurt you, and I can never take that back and I don't deserve to even be near you-!" Her nails dug into her sides and Zai could hardly breathe as Saeran rushed to stand, gathering her close and tucking her head beneath his chin as she sobbed openly. If they weren't all completely focused on her, they'd have missed her barely whispered words as she curled into his arms.

"...I hope you never forgive me..."

❤︎ Day 17 - 10:05 PM ❤︎

POV: 707 Mode

Seven, Zen, and Jaehee had mostly finished cleaning the kitchen by the time that the other redhead had come back down after putting Zai to bed. She had collapsed from exhaustion shortly after her outburst, and the other man had taken it upon himself to get it situated, seeing as he was the only one who knew where anything in the house was located anyway. None of them really knew what to think about him despite the fact that he and Zai had obviously grown very close in their week spent alone together, and that apparently, this wasn't the first time such a meltdown had happened during that week. In fact, he had a hunch that she might have had one earlier before they'd all woken up outside of the kitchen, unbound and unharmed. Despite everything, he still couldn't help muttering under his breath as he washed the dishes.

"I don't get why Zai let him look after her and not you or Jaehee..." Zen gives him a pained look and the dark redhead who looks uncomfortably similar to his brother almost growls.

"Shut up...I've known her for longer than any of you." Something about that rubs him the wrong way.

"Oh, so watching someone through a screen and threatening them continuously now counts as quality time? I thought you two enjoyed bonding together." The glare sent his way is absolutely murderous.

"At least unlike you," He turns up his nose and Seven is once again reminded of the few times his brother felt strong enough to stand up for himself. "I don't run away from people, or my problems." The grip on the plate in his hand tightened.

"What would you know about how I deal with my problems?" If this guy had managed to learn that much about him, he was either psychic or an incredible hacker. But then again, he had been able to keep Seven out of his system for hours, while continuously breaking into his own code without leaving a trace. It was seriously frustrating! How was this guy so good at beating him?

"Because, I know how much of a coward you are. Always hiding behind your computer monitors and code and never really knowing how the outside world works. At least I had an excuse. I was never given a chance. You're stupid for willingly isolating yourself. You always have been, Saey-" In an instant, his bites his own tongue on purpose and Seven winces hard because he can see red starting to drip around his lips and had his teeth gone all the way through? He doesn't have time to think about it for long, though, because the other hacker is rushing out the door, hand over his mouth, red droplets marking his escape. Zen hesitantly put down the rag he was using to clean kitchen island down and made to follow him, but not before giving Seven a look of disgust. In turn, Jaehee came over to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder, disappointment in her tone.

"You know, you really shouldn't rile him up. He's been keeping Zai safe these past few days."

"Yeah, well isn't he also the reason she's in danger in the first place?"

"That may be true, but unlike us, he was never given a choice in the matter." Watching the door where the stranger and her boyfriend had vanished through, Jaehee's eyes filled with sadness, and Seven felt a little remorse at making things worse. "All those things Zai said earlier... they still hurt to think about. I'm hurting too, knowing that the woman I love had to endure all of that while I never noticed." The knife of guilt buried itself deeper in Seven's chest and he scrubbed the dish in his hand twice as hard to mask the feeling.

"One day, I hope Zai will accept our forgiveness, and that will forgive us for our mistakes as well." Taking her hand off his shoulder, Jaehee moved to pick up where Zen left off in cleaning the table. "In any case, we should all do our best to show her that we still care, and we can't do that by pushing away the only person who has been able to provide her some form of comfort this past week." Instead of answering her, he rinsed off the plate in his hand and set it aside to dry before reaching for another. At least this way, Zai would have less work to do when she woke up.

❤︎ Day 17 - 10:27 PM ❤︎

POV: ZEN Mode

This house was much bigger than he first expected. Zen spent ten minutes just hunting down the ex-Mint Eye hacker and by the time he found him, the man was already shivering in the cold night air as he sat on the balcony while he held a blood soaked rag up to his mouth. Taking an unprecedented amount of forwardness, he swallowed his fears and sat down right next to the other man and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. His thick jacket covered them both, and with the two of them beneath it, the temperature was actually pretty nice. He was still given an uneasy stare as he settled himself.

"...What are you doing here?" Honestly? He didn't know at all.

"Stargazing, but I'm also checking up on you." Turning to face the man beside him, he realized that he was...a lot shorter than previously predicted. "You and Seven went at each other pretty hard, and it looks like you hurt yourself bad. I wanted to make sure you're okay." His face flushed red and he immediately ducked his head, setting aside the bloody rag.

"I'm fine. Riling him up has always been a talent of mine anyways."

"And by 'always' you mean...?" He gave a sigh, and Zen felt like he was missing something obvious.

"You know, I thought that someone else might have been able to get it, but it looks like that isn't going to happen." Lifting his head back up, he fixed Zen with an amused grin. "My name is Saeran Choi, and it's nice to finally meet you properly, Zen, or should I say, Hyun Ryu?" Zen choked on air.

"W-wait...hold on! You're telling me," He pointed at himself enthusiastically before using his arm to drag the other man (Ran...Saeran, man, he was really unobservant today) in closer. "That you, are related to Seven. And that Zai saved you from some creepy organization that basically used you like a puppet?" Saeran winced hard but nodded.

"That's a very... rough way of putting it. But yes, I suppose that is similar to how it went." Zen loosened his grip on Saeran's shoulder and leaned back on his free arm, tilting his head back to look up at the stars.

"Wow...Wow." Saeran gave him an almost indecipherable look.

"You aren't...mad at Zai, are you? For helping me, I mean. I did try to kidnap her, even if I failed terribly."

"Nah. She's a capable girl. All that stuff earlier? I just wanted her to let it all out so I would finally understand what I have to do to help her. I'm so proud of her for being so strong, but she needs to learn to take the same advice she gives us." Zen's heart still hurt from the outburst, but he undeniably knew that it had been good for her. She needed to let go of the negativity building in her for so long before she could truly begin to heal. "Things will be better from here on out." Saeran seemed unconvinced.

"Well, I wish you luck in helping. I've been doing my best to keep her grounded these past days but," He blinked way the tears from his eyes before they could form fully. "Nothing I do seems to have any lasting effect on her..."

"Actually, you've probably helped her the most out of all of us."

"...How?"

"Just think about it! Zai has felt like this for who knows how long...and none of us realized it." She'd torn herself up with guilt to the point where she didn't even want to be near them, but now they were guilty about not realizing she was struggling. "You've been able to understand her feelings better than we have, so I'm glad that you were here, to help her where we couldn't." When he turned back to Saeran, his seemed on the brink of tears. "H-hey now...don't cry. I can't handle anymore crying!" Saeran hiccuped lightly before a genuine smile appeared on his face.

"I'm not- I'm just thankful. Zai means a lot to me. She told me all about you, and I guess somewhere along the line...I wanted to mean a lot to you too." Zen's cheeks lit up, and he was suddenly glad that it was dark out. "I'm happy...I'm really happy." Saeran pulled his knees up to his chest and sighed gently. Zen smiled absently and moved a little closer, wrapping his jacket further around the two of them.

It was a nice night out.

❤︎ Day 17 - 11:39 PM ❤︎

POV: Jaehee Mode

After the kitchen had been thoroughly scrubbed down and the dishes dried and put away, Jaehee noticed the time. Seven had vanished somewhere with his phone, but she wasn't concerned about him as much. Zen hadn't returned after he'd followed the other redhead (...Ran, was it?) out the door in the wake of his minor squabble with Seven and if she was being honest, she was somewhat anxious because of it. It seemed that her worries were unfounded, because when she finally exited the kitchen, she saw the two of them coming inside from the balcony door on the second level. Zen's jacket was draped over the other man's shoulders, and they were smiling as they spoke. She couldn't make out their words, but at least they were getting along. Ignoring the sudden twinge in her chest at the sight, she called out to them.

"Zen, it's getting late, we should sleep." His eyes snapped to her and he waved enthusiastically.

"Hey, Jaehee! I have no idea where the bedrooms are so..." Ran moved to pull on his sleeve.

"It's okay, I know where they are. Let me get you two some covers first. " He ran down the hallway still wearing Zen's jacket, and Jaehee made her way up the stairs to meet with her boyfriend.

"Is he doing alright? He seemed quite distressed earlier." Zen's arm fell over her waist and she couldn't help the soft flutter of delight that rose within her chest.

"He's fine now. I learned something pretty interesting about him, and we had a nice talk."

"Hmm?"

"Oh, well it's not something I'm at liberty to share, but I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it later once he warms up to you. He's not at all like I expected." Jaehee hummed and closed her eyes as she felt their foreheads press against each other.

"What were you expecting?"

"I don't know, but definitely not him. He's...soft. All that stuff earlier was posturing, I think. Weird posturing."

She opted to just take in his embrace instead of responding, and the two of them simply stood there, enjoying each others presence until Ran returned with a pile of blankets and pillows in his arms.

"Here." He dumped the entire stack into Zen's waiting arms. "I got some extra pillows," His eyes darted between them both. "In case you wanted to sleep in the same room. It's just down the hall, on the right. There are some spare pajamas in there too." As soon as he'd finished speaking he was racing away and disappearing inside another door. Jaehee took some of the pillows off the impressive stack Zen was now carrying as the two of them made their way to the room.

"...You let him have your jacket." Zen blinked owlishly at her.

"Yeah, I did. He's a lot smaller than me, and we were sitting outside. Didn't want him to get cold."

"Mmm..." She was trying not to let her thoughts run away from her, but when Zai had been speaking earlier, and just now when the two men were conversing. It seemed like those most important to her were rapidly developing an interest in someone new.

"What is it, Jaehee?" Zen stepped a little closer to her side and she gravitated towards him in turn. "You're not jealous, are you? We just met today..." She blew out a sharp breath. Of all the times for Zen's perception to be better than normal.

"It's just...Zai and him, they seemed quite close today, yes?"

"They have been staying in the same house together for a week, so I'd assume that much."

"And you aren't worried about...?" Zen opened the door for her and the two of them entered a bedroom suite that was more luxurious than either of them had experienced before. After taking a moment to appreciate the view, they started arranging the blankets and pillows on the bed, with Jaehee still waiting for an answer.

"You know, Jaehee, love isn't like cake."

"I- what?" She paused in her folding at his words. "What do you mean?"

"When you have a cake, you only have so many slices, and if you cut them too thinly then people can't really appreciate the cake for what it is. Love isn't like that. It's more like an ocean. Sometimes it's warm and comforting, or it's cold and empty, but you never think about the ocean running out of water, right?" He spoke patiently and Jaehee nodded slowly. It was an interesting way of explaining, but it was working so far.

"Giving people your love is kind of like refilling their cup. Except you're not giving them salt water obviously. There's enough to go around for everyone, and even if someone brings...say a pitcher, or even a bathtub. There's still plenty of water left. So no, I'm not worried about Zai running out of love for me, or you for that matter." Ducking her head, she tried to tamp down the blush on her face as she took in Zen's words.

"It's just quite unusual behavior for you. You're usually very possessive." He laughed nervously before continuing.

"She's already proved that she has enough of love to give to everyone in the RFA, not just us. Zai gives freely and doesn't expect much back." Zen gave her a hopeful smile. "I think it'd be fine if there was someone else besides us who could help refill her cup too." As soon as he was done, he returned to straightening the sheets out while Jaehee moved to retrieve the set of nightwear that had been placed in the room before their arrival. Once they were dressed, they curled up together beneath the blankets, and Jaehee tried not to think about how much nicer it would feel with Zai in between the two of them.