Hey guys! Dropping in with another update...and grumbling since the site ate my other AN...XDD
Anyways...I thought I'd go ahead and update again before the craziness at the end of the week sets in. Yay for working retail at Holidays...least I'm not in toys this year. XDD
I'd like to go ahead and give a bit shout out to some lovely people...
HollowLight, thank you so much for the amazing review! I am so glad you're reading this and excited for the next chapter. I've had a blast working on this...and I'm so happy your enjoying the details and my little addings. 83
To Las Nekos del Ying-Yang, Sansyyy, Shayne Rider, and kitiymuzu thank you all so much for the Alerts, and Favorites!
And to Everyone else whose been silently reading and enjoying this story, thank you so much! It's really seeing the read count go up, or seeing the numbers increase in the Review, Alerts, and Favorite areas that keep me wanting to update and write this. You guys really inspire me when I see my stories being enjoyed and I love getting to see that with every little thing you guys do! 83
And now that I've been mooshi...on with the story! XDD
Disclaimer: Nope...still don't own Mystic Messenger it's all copyrighted to Cheritz! I do however, own Ari and would appriciate you asking before you use her! Thankies so much! 83
Chapter 3: Tears and Regrets
Zen's gaze quickly darted back from Jumin to Ari, he seemed to be debating on what to say next.
"...Ari?" Came a familiar voice that caught the entire group off guard at it's sudden sound.
All three started slightly at their sudden approach, Ari turned to find herself staring at yet another familiar face. Ari instantly recognized the messy mop of red hair, yellow glasses, and bright golden eyes from the pictures she had seen in the chat room.
His serious and blank expression took her slightly aback, this wasn't the Seven she'd been expecting to meet.
"Y-Yes...it's so good to finally see you Seven..." Ari said flashing him a bright smile, though it quickly faded when all he did was nod his head at her his eyes looking dull and lifeless.
"Argh! You surprised me! Why are you roaming around here like a zombie?!" Zen demanded waving his arms a little bit for dramatic effect.
Seven only gave him a blank look, which caused Zen to blink taken aback as well by the odd behavior he glanced to Jumin and then back to Seven.
"Dude, you look dead..." Zen stated eyeing him with a raised eyebrow, clearly thinking the issue had to do with Seven's recent overload of work.
Seven still didn't answer he only kept his gaze down clearly not wanting to meet the others eyes.
"But hey! Thanks to you, Ari's here safe and sound!" Zen stated grinning broadly as he patted Ari's shoulder and winked at Seven.
"Yeah..." Seven answered blankly heaving a sigh as he turned his head away, he visibly recoiled when he suddenly felt something gently tug on his shirt sleeve. His golden eyes widened in shock and he seemed to freeze as he glanced down.
Ari wasn't sure what had compelled her to move forward or to gently grab on to the hacker's sleeve, maybe it was just gratitude after everything she'd been through the last eleven days. Or maybe it was just seeing him behaving so oddly. Either way she found herself now staring up at Seven who looked totally shocked at her actions.
"Zen's right, thank you so much Seven...for everything. If it weren't for you I wouldn't be here, and the party wouldn't be happening. Not mentioning I wouldn't be able to meet Yoosung in person.." She stated in a voice full of gratitude as she tilted her head and gave him a bright smile.
Seven seemed lost in thought as he continued to stare at Ari as she let go of his sleeve and took a few steps back from him. His eyes seemed to glaze over as he watched her, and he swayed slightly on the spot.
Ari swallowed hard at seeing his reaction to her words, she was suddenly confused to what was going on. She quietly glanced at both Zen and Jumin, both were wearing the same worried expressions and seemed to be growing more concerned by the red head's strange behavior.
"Luciel...?" Jaehee's shocked voice suddenly sounded causing the entire group minus Seven to look in her approaching direction.
The brunette wore a look of both shock and confusion as she approached, her golden eyes wide behind her glasses as she looked at the state Seven was in.
Seven didn't even blink at her approach he just continued to stare off with the glazed look to his eyes.
"You're here, Assistant Kang." Jumin stated quietly as he nodded his head to her the concern evident in his eyes as he glanced at her and then back to Seven.
"Y-yes...is something wrong with him?" She asked quietly her look changing from confusion and shock to one of sympathy as she looked at Seven and then at the others for answers.
"I'm a moron..." Came the quiet trembling reply.
The entire group glanced at Seven looks of confusion crossing all their faces at his words.
"What do you mean?" Jaehee asked quietly voicing the question they'd all been wanting to ask.
"I'm a moron, an imbecile, and twitchy!" Seven responded loudly his head suddenly snapping up, his golden eyes blazing with anger as he clenched his fists at his side.
His head dipped to the side after his outburst, his eyes closing as he clenched his jaw his fists shaking at his sides.
Both Jumin and Jaehee glanced around noticing several guests starting to whisper at the scene taking place.
Ari could only blink, taken aback by Seven's sudden outburst, she felt an odd pit starting to form in the middle of her stomach.
"Hey, what is up with you?" Zen asked calmly as he took a step forward to put his hand on Seven's shoulder, his red eyes full of concern at the distress of his friend.
"...No." Seven mumbled the trembling in his fists having gone up now and into his shoulders as silent sobs started to shake his body as he looked up at Zen tears starting to slide down his cheeks.
"Dude...are you crying?!" Zen asked his voice truly concerned as he gently steadied Seven, a look of panic crossing his features as he looked at both Jaehee and Jumin.
"Maybe his brain finally melted from long term stress?" Jaehee stated her voice wavering with worry as she watched Seven continue to cry truly afraid he was having a mental break down.
"Does he at least have employment insurance?" Jumin questioned clearly having the same thoughts as Jaehee.
Ari only continued to watch blocking out the chatter of her friends. She could feel her heart starting to race for some unknown reason she could feel that whatever had Seven so upset wasn't due to stress.
"S-Seven...please tell us what's going on..." She finally said her voice trembling a little bit, suddenly afraid of the answer she would receive.
The others all glanced at her surprised at her question.
Seven stared at her the most shocked the tears streaming down his cheeks seeming to increase as he did.
Ari swallowed hard as she met his gaze, the look in his golden gaze full of pain and regret.
"Y-Yoosung's hurt..." Seven's voice came out barely above a guilt filled whisper, a sniffle following soon after as he turned his head away from Ari.
The others all looked at the red head in shock, Jaehee letting out a little gasp of surprise as his words sank in.
Ari felt like a rock had suddenly been dropped on her chest at his words. Had she heard him wrong? Yoosung hurt? But...he'd told her last night he was fine...this couldn't be.
She swayed a little at the impact of the words, blinking a bit when she felt an arm wrap around her to steady her. She blinked up at Jumin dully her thoughts swirling around her mind like a storm she barely heard the others reactions.
"He got hurt yesterday...because I broke down..." Seven stated after a few moments to allow the others to recover from what he'd said.
"But, Yoosung said he was alright yesterday..." Jumin stated confusion clearly crossing his face as he moved his arm from around Ari after making sure she was stable enough to stand on her own.
"He typed those words on his way to the hospital, to calm everyone down..." Seven stated with a sigh as he wiped at his eyes pushing his glasses out of the way.
Ari swallowed hard her head was swimming, she'd thought Yoosung's phone call had sounded odd the night before.
Now it all made sense, she'd even asked if he was hurt but he'd told her he was alright. How was this possible? Why would he have told her he was fine when he wasn't? His phone call from earlier suddenly made sense as well.
'I might seem a bit scary...but I'm still the man who loves you.' She could feel her own tears starting to rise behind her eyes as his words played over and over in mind as the puzzle pieces all snapped together.
She was brought out of her swirling thoughts as Jaehee asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"Where exactly is he hurt?" She asked her golden eyes clearly showing shock and concern as she looked at Seven.
Seven sniffled a little as he let out a shaky breath.
"The hacker...got us as we were trying to get the data..." He said as he swallowed hard seeming to have a hard time continuing.
"H-his left eye...he might go blind..." He said quietly closing his eyes and turning his head away.
Ari felt as if she'd been punched in the gut at his words her breath leaving her in a whoosh.
'Blind? Yoosung might go blind? All because he'd been trying to protect her?' She thought dully feeling her stomach flip and the bile rise in her throat.
This...this couldn't be happening. She once again felt the room starting to spin as she swallowed hard to force down the sick feeling she had in her stomach, she was thankful that Jumin was standing near enough to steady her once again.
She was dully aware of the look of shock on Zen's face, and the gasp that came from Jaehee followed closely by the hand that flew over her mouth to hide her shock. She glanced up at Jumin seeing a look of concern and understanding flash behind his gray eyes.
"My god..." Jaehee whispered her voice shaking slightly as her hand continued to cover her mouth.
"V knew about this, he called me yesterday asking for an ophthalmologist..." Jumin stated matter of factly as he ran a hand across his face as the realization hit him.
"I gave him the number thinking he wanted treatment for himself..." He mussed quietly shaking his head.
"Why are you saying all of this now?!" Zen suddenly barked making everyone jump at his sudden outburst since he'd been quiet the entire time his glare firmly on Seven.
"He told me not to tell everyone...he was afraid it would effect the party." Seven said regret flooding his voice as he sniffled again.
"That idiot...worrying over something that stupid! He should be worrying about getting himself treated!" Zen muttered gritting his teeth clearly upset that Yoosung was worried about something like that at a time like this.
"But...that isn't like Yoosung, of course he'd be worried about ruining the party for all of us. And more importantly ruining all the hard work Ari did to organize it." Jaehee stated quietly almost guiltily as she glanced over at Ari.
Ari only nodded her head a little as she fought back the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.
Zen sighed as he shook his head at her words, he knew she was right he just wished at the moment she wasn't.
"B-but...I'm worried sick. What do we do?" Seven asked sniffling as more tears started falling from his eyes as he looked solemnly at the others.
"Jumin, Jaehee, Ari...what should I do? I don't know what to do with all of this guilt..." He said his voice trembling as he looked at each of them in turn his gaze finally falling on Ari as he wiped at his tears.
"Seven, it isn't your fault. Yoosung volunteered to go." Jumin stated calmly trying to calm him down.
"It's because I was stupid...we could have all come home safe!" Seven started shaking his head at Jumin's words his gaze once again going to the floor as he sniffled.
"I should have never let him go!" He stated gritting his teeth as his fists once again clenched, he let out a shaky breath after a few seconds allowing his shoulders to sag as he raised his head.
"I'm sorry everyone. And I'm so sorry, Ari." He said quietly his gaze flickering over the group, before it came to rest on Ari.
Ari blinked at his apology his words seeming to break the trance she had seemed to have gone into. She swallowed hard as she met his gaze.
"S-Seven...this...this...wasn't you're fault. Don't blame yourself...you know Yoosung wouldn't want you to do that." She said quietly trying to keep her voice from trembling as she gave him the most reassuring smile that she could.
Despite everything she knew Yoosung wouldn't want him to blame himself for whatever had happened. That was just the sort of person he was.
"Ari..." Seven mumbled quietly looking at her with wide golden eyes at her words, he sniffled again as he turned his head away from her quietly using his hand to rub at his eyes.
"Yoosung is really lucky to have found someone like you..." He mumbled quietly as he sniffled yet again and turned his head away not wanting to meet her gaze.
"So then that means that Yoosung won't be able to attend the party today..." Jaehee said quietly her eyes looking at Ari sadly causing her to look over at her.
"V probably won't be attending either then." Jumin said casting an eye around the room at the last few guests that were entering the ballroom.
Ari could feel the disappointment wash over her like a wave as she listened to them. The truth of the situation finally starting to set in, she could feel the wall she was building up to keep her emotions starting to crumble.
"We should go to the hospital." Zen stated as he stepped forward and placed a hand on Ari's shoulder giving her a gentle smile as he did.
"Yes right away, Assistant Kang, you remain and take of the photography auction." Jumin stated nodding his head as he glanced at Jaehee.
"Of course, leave things here with me." Jaehee said gripping onto the clipboard that she'd had under her arm this entire time.
"You'll be coming with us as well, Ari?" Jumin asked glancing at Ari as he removed his phone to call for a vehicle and began walking towards the exit.
"Y-yes, of course!" Ari stated nodding her head enthusiastically, as she turned to follow him Zen and Seven also making to follow the dark haired man.
And that's it for Chapter 3! I'll admit I leaned heavily on the game dialouge for this chapter...but I tried to add my own little flair in there. Also hope I did alright with Seven...this scene was so heartbreaking listening to him break down from everything. So I hope I did him justice! .;
Anyways...wish me luck that I survive the Holidays! And I'll be back with another update before you know it! 8D
Please remember to Read, Review, Alert, Favorite, and enjoy this story! I can't wait to see you all in the next chapter!
Thankies so much! 8D