Chapter Text
Jaehee Kang: How have your classes been going?
707: lololol
Yoosung★: T_T
Yoosung★: Don’t laugh at meeee;;;
Jaehee Kang: I suppose that answers my question.
Yoosung★: No!!
Yoosung★: I’ve been… doing some homework
Yoosung★: 
ZEN: Just some?
Yoosung★: T_T
ZEN: Dude, Yoosung, come on.
ZEN: You just need to train yourself to be an expert at focusing
ZEN: Like me✨
Give him a break. :Saeran
He said he’s doing some. That’s better than none. :Saeran
Zen: 
707:
707: You care about wittle Yoosungie?? So sweeeet~
Shut up. :Saeran
707: I think
707: Now is a good time to deploy
707: The new ✨707 FunTime Bot✨!
707: To break up a little tension~
707: Just let me type in a little code, and...
707v2: Activating Magical Girl Generator for Yoosung★.
Yoosung★: Wait, what!?
707v2: Yoosung★ as a Magical Girl has pink, straight hair, heterochromatic eyes, and an outfit that’s pink.
707v2: Their character type is: yandere.
707v2: They love honey buddha chips.
707v2: They transform using their friends’ love.
707: lolololol
ZEN: What the…
707: Jealous, Zen?
707: Should we do you next?
707:
707v2: Activating Magical Girl Generator for ZEN.
707v2: ZEN as a Magical Girl has white, braided hair, bright purple eyes and an outfit that’s light purple.
707v2: Their character type is: dandere.
707v2: They love cats.
707v2: They transform using perfume.
ZEN: CATS!?
ZEN:
ZEN: Other than that, I think I’d look rather striking lol
Jaehee Kang: That would be a good look for you.
707v2: Activating Magical Girl Generator for Saeran.
… :Saeran
707v2: Saeran has orange hair in ringlets, wide brown eyes, and a purple outfit that’s witch themed.
707v2: Their character type is: tsundere.
707v2: They love cats.
707v2: They transform using a potion.
Is that supposed to be funny? :Saeran
707: Aww but you’d look so b~e~a~u~t~i~f~u~l~!
707: Should we try something else?
Yoosung★: What would you look like, Seven?
707: lolol
707: Guess you’ll never know~
707v2: Activating Dating Simulator for MC.
707v2: MC is dating 707.
Jaehee Kang: How intelligent.
Jaehee Kang: Should we be impressed?
707v2: Activating Dating Simulator for Jaehee Kang.
707v2: Jaehee Kang is dating ZEN’s musicals.
Jaehee:
ZEN: Who am I dating?✨
707v2: Activating Dating Simulator for ZEN.
707v2: ZEN is dating their work.
ZEN: What!?
707: lolol
707: The simulator never lies~!
ZEN: Then try it again!
707v2: Activating Dating Simulator for ZEN.
707v2: ZEN is dating Saeran.
… :Saeran
ZEN:
ZEN: Ew, Saeran’s a guy
ZEN: I’m not gay!
[Saeran has left the chat room.]
With a sigh, Saeran closes the app and flops back onto his bed. What an utter waste of his time. “Join the chatrooms. They’re lots of fun and you can make friends!” Saeran mocks, rolling his eyes as he remembers his brother’s advice earlier this week. Sure, he may not be under the thumb of Mint Eye or the Savior anymore, but that doesn’t mean he’s suddenly ready to be all buddy-buddy with the people he spent so long working against.
Honestly, he’s not ready to be in the same house as his brother, but apparently he doesn’t get a say in that.
Loneliness has driven him to log in a few times since then. Boredom or frustration usually drives him to log off. They never have anything interesting to say, just gossiping or arguing with each other. Saeyoung is as obnoxious as always, going out of his way to try to include Saeran in chats he’d really rather just lurk behind.
The brain doesn’t like to change. It likes to stay comfortable, repeating the same patterns over and over, regardless of how good or bad they are. In Saeran’s case, he prefers staying in the shadows, reading what the others are saying instead of participating. When his brother isn’t on he can sometimes pretend he’s back at Magenta, in his pitch black room wading through code and monitoring the chat. That’s not to say he wants to return to that, oh no, rather the opposite.
It’s just easier than trying to move forward in a world he doesn’t belong in.
A buzzing in his hand catches his attention, and he lifts his phone to see who thinks they need to speak to him.
ZEN [14:02]: Hey, Saeran
ZEN [14:02]: I didn’t upset you, did I?
What in the devil is the actor talking about?
I’m fine. :Saeran [14:02]
ZEN [14:04]: Thank God. I was worried when you logged off so suddenly
Ah. Now it makes sense. This pretty boy thinks he’s upset because of how he reacted to some shitty code saying they were dating.
I’m fine. Just got bored. :Saeran [14:05]
ZEN [14:06]: Bored? Are you saying my charm isn’t enough to entertain you? ✨
ZEN [14:08]: Joking, lol
ZEN [14:08]: If you’re bored, why don’t you go outside? Go for a run? That always helps me feel better.
I’m not allowed to go outside alone. :Saeran [14:09]
ZEN [14:10]: Then you should go outside with someone else, right?
Like who? My brother is too busy to bother with me. :Saeran [14:10]
ZEN [14:12]: That doesn’t sound like him;;;
ZEN [14:12]: I could take you out!
ZEN [14:13]: To go for a walk or something, not on a date lol I’m not gay
So you’ve said. :Saeran [14:14]
ZEN [14:14]: I mean, it doesn’t have to be me but I wouldn’t mind~
Why would you even offer that? You don’t know me. You don’t know if I’m still dangerous. :Saeran [14:15]
ZEN [14:16]: I don’t know you yet. Isn’t that why people hang out? I’ve been meaning to come over and say hello for a while anyway.
Is it? I wouldn’t know. :Saeran [14:16]
ZEN [14:17]: Well, it’s one of the reasons people hang out lolol
ZEN [14:17]: But yeah, if you get cabin fever and wanna get out of there let me know ✨
Thanks for the offer, I guess. :Saeran [14:19]
ZEN [14:19]: No problem.
What an odd conversation. How did a poor joke about dating turn into an offer to actually hang out? Does Saeran even want to hang out with Zen? God knows he’s all narcissism and pretty looks, nothing else in that head of his. Besides, he could never trust an actor to show his true feelings.
No. No, he’ll pass on this and continue seething in his room, thanks.
Dark shadows surround them as they weave through the apple orchard, threatening whispers everywhere they turn. Fear courses through Saeran’s arteries, thickening to the point he’s afraid he’ll suffocate with the next heartbeat. Escape, run, put as much distance between themselves and their hunter - that’s the only way to survive this.
The further they run, the sicker the trees around them become. Trunks darken and wither, the apples turning black with flies buzzing loudly around them. A root lurches up from the ground to trip him and he falls, hard, barely containing the cry of pain when his ankle twists.
A gunshot startles him, closer than he’d like, and soon he’s up again and running, running, just trying to get away from the evil presence wanting to swallow him up. The limp slows him but he can’t do a thing about it, the blurry outline of Saeyoung in front of him growing further in the distance. He calls out, begs him to wait, but soon he’s completely out of sight.
The orchard continues forever and soon he’s lost, skidding to a stop as the clouds blot out the light from the moon. Every path looks the same: dark, frightening, not safe. What does he do now? Saeyoung has left him again and he’s nowhere to go. It stings, just like the tears gathering in his eyes.
He always was the weaker one, the one who cried all the time.
Suddenly cool metal presses to his forehead and he glances up, making eye contact with the one man who hates him more than he hates himself: the prime minister. “Why?” he asks in a whimper, sniffling even as the gun is cocked.
“Because you’re all alone,” is the sneered answer. “And no one will miss you when you’re gone.” Pain shoots through his skull, setting every nerve on fire, and the world goes black.
Saeran’s body bolts upright in bed when he wakes, his throat raw and on fire. Shit; he must have been screaming in his sleep. Tears sting in his eyes and his head throbs, prickles of agony dancing along his temples. Dampened sheets and nightclothes do nothing to protect against the chill of the night, everything trembling as he tries to reorient himself to reality. It’s okay, Saeran. It was just a dream. Everything is fine…
BAM! The door to his room slams open with all the finesse of an elephant on roller skates, his heart rate climbing as the anxiety he awoke with spikes even higher.
“Saeran! Are you okay?” Saeyoung rushes in, callously flipping on the light and offering a glass of water.
Hissing as his room shifts from darkness, Saeran leans away, covering his eyes to try to lessen the pain now lancing through his entire skull. Does his idiotic brother have any ability to consider that perhaps running into his room like this isn’t the best way to handle his nightmares? Fucking hell. He waves a hand in the general direction of his voice, refusing to answer vocally. The bitterness of fresh betrayal sits on his heart, a flickering image of Saeyoung haunting him. Sure, this time it was a dream, but this man betrays him again and again in both the waking world and the sleeping one. Saeran’s labored breathing fills the room, interrupted by the clink of glass against wood before Saeyoung tries once more.
“Please, talk to me.”
Silence.
“Saeran…”
He buries his face in his hands; please go away.
“...Well. You know where I am if you change your mind.”
Step. Step. Click.
Plunged once more into the blessed darkness, Saeran dares to peek out between his fingers. Good. He’s alone. Pulling his covers up to his chest, he reaches over to the glass of water, hoping it will wet his parched mouth. Most of his nightmares revolve around his time spent at Mint Eye with the occasional one from before Saeyoung left, but this one was… quite different. The murderous look in his father’s eyes and the unsettling words haunt him.
Yeah. He supposes he is all alone. Saeyoung likes to play at caring for him and wants him to believe he loves him, but Saeran isn’t so gullible as to believe that. Not yet, anyway.
It’s selfish of him, but he wants someone to miss him if he kicks the bucket.
To: ZEN
Okay. I’ll hang out with you. Once. :Saeran [00:18]