"MC! You said you'd buy me the cheapest clothes you could find!"

MC chuckled darkly from her perch next to Saeran, watching as the other girl poked her head out of the changing room, face red with embarrassment, "Oh honey, these are the cheapest clothes in the store."

Saeran, MC, and Emcee had made a pit stop at the mall before going to see Saeyoung at C&R. MC had promised to buy the other some cheap clothes, and she intended to make good on it. However, when MC said she'd buy the cheapest clothes she could find, she neglected to say that the store she usually shopped at was the most expensive in the mall.

"What kind of place is this?" Emcee asked exasperatedly, "A hundred dollars for a sweater? I could get one at Walworth for a fourth of this!"

"MC only believes in shopping for food at Walworth." Saeran spoke up, "She has a sick desire for the finer things in life."

MC stuck out her tongue at him, "So I'm slightly materialistic when it comes to clothes, what's the harm in that? I can afford it, so I might as well, right?"

The curtain of the changing room fluttered open, and Emcee stepped out wearing a pair of black leggings and a maroon sweater that fell to just below her bottom. Her porcelain cheeks flushed with pink, making her look almost like a doll in that outfit.

Saeran felt something stir in his stomach, and he shifted. Hopefully he wasn't getting sick.

"Does this look okay?" Emcee asked quietly, looking shyly at herself in the mirror.

"Okay?" MC grinned at her in the mirror, standing behind her and smoothing the sweater, "You look hot, girl! Who would have known this babe was underneath all that dirt last night?"

Emcee's pink cheeks flushed red, "O-oh, does that mean it looks good? No one's ever said that before."

"It looks great on you, Emcee. Saeran, what do you think?" MC asked, turning her head to give him a wink.

He sighed, rocking forward out of his plush chair to easily stand on his feet, gliding to where the two girls stood. Putting a hand to his chin, he squinted his eyes as if putting in real thought to the clothes Emcee was wearing. In truth, they were just clothes to him, but they did look better than any of the ones she'd worn so far. MC was also correct in saying she was very beautiful compared to the state she was in when he'd first met her. "It suits you." He said simply.

Emcee looked at him in the mirror, her grey eyes suddenly brightening, "Really, you think so?"

"The maroon looks good with your dark hair."

"Then is it okay to buy this outfit, MC?" Her gaze shifted to the other woman.

MC grinned, "O-ho, this is only one of many that I'm buying you."

"We didn't agree to that!"

"Technically we didn't put a limit on how much I bought you, only that it was the cheapest clothes I could find."

"You should be a lawyer." Emcee muttered.

Saeran smiled to himself as Emcee retreated back to the fitting room, and then fixed MC with his cool gaze, "If you two are going to be a while yet, mind if I go to a different store?"

"Sure, where are you going?"

He shrugged, "Yoosung's been going on and on about a limited-edition expansion pack for LOLOL, and I know they're selling it at Game Go. I thought I'd buy it for him while I was here."

"Aw, that's so nice of you, Saeran." MC smiled, "Sure go ahead, we'll wait here for you if we finish before you get back."

He nodded, "Sounds good."

Stuffing his hands in the pocket of his red jacket, he headed for the exit of the store. The mall was busier than he thought it would be, and he suddenly felt the urge to curl up into a ball and squeeze his eyes shut. Whenever MC asked him to go to the mall, he always agreed, because the thought of her going alone made him anxious. He would almost always force his usual smile, keeping his hands stuffed inside his pockets to hide the fact that they were shaking, because he knew she liked the mall. He hated it. He hated going to the mall where there were so many people. He hated it when people touched him, whether it be by accident or not. The occasional brush up was something he could tolerate, but the fact that there were so many people made him nervous. He didn't know what it was, but large amounts of people made his palms begin to sweat, and his hands would tremble. His heart would start to pound as if he'd run a marathon, and his skin would crawl with the thought of so many people turning their eyes on him.

Like he was an insect.

He kept his gaze trained on the ground in front of him, making sure to step out of the way long before someone would pass him. Finally, he arrived at Game Go, thankfully without incident, and searched for the LOLOL section. Yoosung had drug him to the store dozens of times, so he knew to go all the way to the back of the store, in the right corner.

Just as Yoosung had said, there were a few sets left for the expansion packs. He reached out to grab one, but instead, his hand brushed up against another. Immediately he pulled his hand away, as if he'd been stung, and turned his head in surprise to find a girl with blonde hair pulled into a ponytail.

"Oh, sorry! Where you going to grab that one?" She asked, holding out the expansion pack for him to take.

He glanced at it, and then took the one that was still on the shelf, "It's fine."

She retracted her arm to hold her pack against her chest, "So, you play LOLOL?"

"It's for my friend." He said curtly, hiding his mouth and nose in the lip of his jacket.

"Oh…"

They stood in an awkward silence, and he wondered why she didn't just leave. He looked through some plushies, glancing at the girl, who was still looking at him. After a few more moments, he cleared his throat and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"No, I just…" She fiddled with the edge of her skirt, "Do you dye your hair?"

What was the point of this conversation? Why did she feel the need to keep bothering him?

"No, I don't."

"What, really? That's natural?"

He glared at her, "Yeah, so what?"

"I've never seen someone with bright hair like that, that's natural." She reached her hand out to catch the tips of his hair in her fingers, "And your mint eyes-"

Mint Eye.

He slapped her arm away, taking a sudden step back, and shouted, "Don't touch me!"

A few people in the store turned to see what the commotion was as he brushed past the girl, who looked shocked. As he passed her, she frowned and said, "I was just trying to talk to you! You don't need to be so rude!"

"I didn't ask you to talk to me." He said without looking at her, "I don't even know you."

He placed the expansion pack on the counter, and one of the clerks came to check him out. The girl rounded the corner to cross her arms, placing her expansion pack on the rack next to her, "I was trying to be nice."

"Hey man, you good?" The clerk said under his breath as he put the pack in a bag.

"Yeah," Saeran said, nervously patting his fingers against his leg.

"Is this because I touched your hair?" She asked, "Geez, sorry, I didn't know you were a pansy about your hair-"

The clerk handed Saeran his bag, and he turned to leave the store without another word. His steps were quicker this time, and he only paid half attention to the people around him. He couldn't get the thought of her fingers in his hair out of his mind. It sent a shiver down his spine.

"You worthless, worthless boy!"

Saeran squeezed his eyes shut. Please. Not again. This is supposed to be over.

"Mom, please! I-it hurts!"

Her grip on his hair tightened as she lifted him off the floor, "I should tear this hair right out of your head, you good-for-nothing leech. All you do is mooch off of me. Even your own brother couldn't tolerate you. Why do you think he left?"

His small hands gripped her wrist as tears poured down his cheeks, "I'm sorry, I won't make any more noise, I promise!"

"You're damn right you won't!" His mother screamed. He felt himself gliding through the air before his mother's fist untangled from his hair. For a moment he was relieved, until his small, fragile body crashed into the wall. His head hit hard, and he collapsed into a heap onto the floor.

The room was spinning, but he could still make out the figure of his mother reaching toward him. He flinched, and the fist returned, dragging him across the room by his hair. He wanted to cry out, but the fuzziness of his head wouldn't allow him.

She let him go again, and the familiar coolness of iron locked around his ankles. "You stupid airhead," His mother's voice was cold, "I wish you would just die already. Saeran! SAERAN-!"

"Saeran!"

His eyes snapped open and he lurched away from the person standing in front of him. Slowly he became aware that he was standing in the middle of the mall, his hands covering his ears as if to block out what his mind was making him hear.

MC and Emcee were standing in front of him, concern etched into their expression. He grit his teeth together, ashamed with himself that he would make them look like that. MC stepped toward him, "Hey, Saeran? You're okay, you're here with me."

"I-I'm sorry, MC." He said quietly, letting the bag with the expansion pack dangle at his side, "I'm just tired."

"Then let's go home." MC said, "Saeyoung can wait for his cinnamon rolls."

Saeran shook his head, "No, I'm okay. I'm okay."

"I don't want to push you. It still hasn't been that long since…" She trailed off, but he knew what those unsaid words were.

He shook his head and took a deep breath, turning to look at Emcee, "How much did she talk you into buying?"

"Saeran, don't just let this go. You need to talk about it-"

"More than I actually needed," Emcee cut her off, meeting his gaze with a knowing glint, "she even made me wear the maroon sweater outfit before we left. I told her I'd just change in the bathroom, but she insisted."

He pulled his lips into a smile, "Why does that sound like what you made me do?"

MC was still frowning, but she crossed her arms, "Because you might as well just change in the changing room while you're still undressed."

They all headed toward the exit to the parking lot, and Emcee fell in step next to him, "Did you get the expansion pack?"

He held up the bag, "Yoosung better be appreciative."

"I'm sure he will be." Emcee said, and then quietly, "Did something happen?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Not everyone has psychological break downs in the middle of the mall." She held the door open for him as MC went first, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just…" For a moment he almost told her. For the first time, he wanted to let what he was feeling slip. He hadn't even wanted to tell MC. But instead, he simply shook his head, "I'm just really tired."

"Why don't you sleep in your bed tonight. I'll sleep on the couch."

He slowed their pace, so MC wouldn't hear him say, "That won't matter. I don't sleep because of my head, not because of what I sleep on. I used to sleep in a computer chair, so a couch is nothing."

Emcee's face was sympathetic, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

"If you say so."

They clambered into MC's car, which was much too impracticable for riding with three people. He found himself ducking low in the back seat as MC and Emcee chatted in the front. As they drove along, he could feel the beginnings of a migraine forming in the back of his eyes. He hadn't had one since the effects of the elixir had finally worn off. Before that, the withdrawals had been antagonizing torture. Perhaps it would be a normal headache, and he found himself hoping that's all it was.

They pulled into C&R's parking lot, and once MC parked, journeyed inside the building. They took the elevator up to the top floor, where Jumin, Jaehee, and Saeyoung worked. Ever since what happened with Mint Eye, Saeyoung had been working closely with Jumin's intelligence unit, which he had kept around to research other organizations that could have been like Rika's. He was still hacking, but it wasn't for illegal activities like his previous job.

Once they stepped out of the elevator, they were greeted by a security guard who held up his hand for them to stop, "Passes please."

"Passes?" MC asked, "I never needed one before."

The security guard put his hands on his hips, "Then whoever you talked to before didn't do their job right. I can't permit you to come any further unless you have a pass."

"Uh…" MC looked disappointed, "Then, could you give these cinnamon rolls to-"

"Oh!" The security guard was facing Saeran, "Saeyoung, sir, please forgive me for holding you up. I didn't see you back there. Are you with these women?"

Saeran shifted uncomfortably, looking away from him, "Who? Me?"

"Of course! I didn't see you leave, sir, but you do always try to play pranks on me…"

"I'm not Saeyoung." Saeran muttered.

The security guard looked exhausted, "Is…this another prank, sir? It's not working."

"My name is Saeran, Saeyoung is my idiot brother. We came to bring him something during his break." Saeran explained.

The security guard still looked cautious, but he crossed his arms, "So…you don't have a pass?"

"We already told you we don't have a pass." Saeran snapped, the pressure in his head building increasingly from when he had left the car, "Can't you phone Saeyoung or Jaehee or something?" He rubbed his forehead, gritting his teeth at the pain.

"Hmm, normally I wouldn't, but…wait right here." The guard went to the desk he had been seated behind when they arrived, and picked up the phone.

"Saeran, are you okay?" Emcee asked quietly, "You seem agitated."

"If he was going to phone someone, why didn't he do it right away instead of wasting time?" He snapped.

"He wasn't going to until he saw you, I think." MC said.

He sighed, rolling his neck and keeping his eyes half lidded to filter the amount of bright light, "I just hope Saeyoung hurries the hell up."

Emcee looked like she was about to say something, but the security guard came back and bowed, "My apologies, Mr. Choi has asked me to escort you to his office."

They followed him through a set of double doors, and through a room lined with offices. Phones ringing and people talking made up most of the sounds of C&R's top floor, but the security guard lead them further into a different room. From there, he stopped at a steel-enforced door holding up an ID card, looked up at a camera above him, and then held still for a retina scan, before the door clicked open. He pushed it with his shoulder, and held it open for them to pass through, "His office is all the way at the end of the hall on your right."

"Thank you." MC said and then looked at Saeran, "They stepped up security since the last time we were here. Do you think something happened?"

He shrugged, "Maybe."

"Just what exactly does Saeyoung do?" Emcee asked cautiously, "This seems pretty intense."

"He's the head executive for the intelligence unit here at C&R." MC answered as they strolled down the dark hallway, "He handles everything with security, and researches different organizations that could be a threat to C&R."

"Wow, that's really cool!" Emcee exclaimed, "The RFA seems like it's full of really important people."

MC looked genuinely happy at that, "Oh, it definitely is." She then reached up to knock on the door the security guard had mentioned.

"Jumin, I swear, if this is another visit about your stupid suite jacket, I already told you-" A man, nearly identical to Saeran opened the door, peering at the three through wild yellow striped glasses, "MC!"

He wrapped her into an embrace while she laughed, "Hey babe, I brought you cinnamon rolls!"

Pulling away from her, he took them and grinned, "You are the literal best."

"I know." She winked.

Saeyoung's golden gaze traveled to Emcee, who was staring between him and Saeran in amazement. With a smile, he said, "So, this must be the infamous, MC!"

"Infamous." She muttered, "That doesn't sound too good."

He stepped aside and ushered them in, saying, "I'm just kidding! It's nice to meet you, but kind of weird calling you by the same name as my fiancé."

"It's been an experience." Emcee said, sheepishly scratching the back of her head, "Maybe I'll need to come up with a nickname."

"Oh," Saeyoung's glasses glinted, and he put a finger to his chin, "leave that to me! I'll come up with something fitting."

"Babe, you're not very good at nicknames." MC said from her seat at the table in the corner of the room. She'd already taken out a cinnamon roll.

"How could you say that?" He feigned hurt, dramatically fainting into her lap, "I'm the master of nicknames! But I've also heard of the master of nicknames! He runs a generator online, but will personally come up with a nickname if you email him. We should invite him to the next party."

"I'll make note of that." MC said, pulling out her phone to type something into it.

"You mean the fundraising party?" Emcee asked.

"You betchya!" He sat down in the chair next to MC, taking a cinnamon roll out of the container, "Honestly, I can't believe you two got my brother to come with."

"You act like I don't have legs." Saeran muttered from where he leaned against the wall, forehead resting against his fingers.

"Something wrong, bro?" Saeyoung asked.

"Everyone keeps asking, no matter how many times I say I'm fine."

"Okay, okay," Saeyoung stuffed some of his pastry into his mouth, "sorry I wanted to make sure you weren't sick. You look pretty pale."

"Saeyoung." He said it warningly.

The other twin held up his hands in surrender.

Emcee chuckled, "You know, you two look so much alike that it's scary. If Saeran wasn't a little bit shorter, I might have a hard time telling you apart."

Saeyoung stood up, moving around the table to sling an arm around Saeran's shoulders, "That's right! We're two halves of a whole idiot!"

"I think you more than make up for my half." Saeran muttered.

"I still can't get over it." Emcee laughed, "If it weren't for Saeran's mint eyes and being shorter-"

Saeran suddenly tensed up, making Saeyoung's playful gaze snap to his brother, "We get it, you wouldn't be able to tell us apart." He snapped, and then left the room in silence.

"…Did I say something wrong?" Emcee asked, suddenly feeling like she'd done something bad.

MC sighed, but Saeyoung was the one who answered, "No, Emcee, you didn't. You wouldn't know the things that set him off. I guess I'll just tell you that from now on, it's best not to reference the color of his eyes…okay?"

"The color of his eyes?" Emcee asked, "You mean mint color?"

"Yeah," MC smiled reassuringly, "It's a really long story. Saeran just…he's been through a lot of terrible things, and certain words trigger those memories for him. Mint eye is one of them."

"Oh…I didn't know…" Emcee bit her lip, "I should go talk to him."

"You don't have to," Saeyoung returned to his seat, "He's got his feathers all ruffled, so he'll probably end up saying something dumb and making you feel bad."

"No, I want to go apologize, I'll be back." She stood up and entered the hallway, where she saw Saeran getting a drink from the water fountain. With a deep breath, she stepped forward until she was next to him, "Saeran?"

He stopped drinking, but was still bent over, "What?"

"I-I'm sorry for saying that. I didn't know it was upsetting to you."

"There you go again." He sighed, straightening his back, but his shoulders were slumped, "Stop saying sorry for something you don't need to be. I overreacted to what you said when you wouldn't even know what it meant."

"MC and Saeyoung said it brings up bad memories…"

"Yeah," he said quietly, swaying on his feet, "I feel pathetic for letting things like that still get to me." His words were slightly slurred, raising suspicion.

"Saeran, look at me." She said, and, to her surprise, he did. His eyes were squinted shut, like someone was holding a flashlight up to his face, which was as white as a sheet, "Are you okay?"

"I swear, if someone asks me that one more time-" He swayed dangerously forward, and Emcee put her hands on his shoulders to steady him. Once again, he pressed his fingertips to his forehead, "My head hurts, that's all."

"It doesn't look that simple." She said, "You should sit down."

"Yeah, maybe I should." He mumbled, and slumped forward. She caught him under his arms, squeaking once in surprise.

"Saeran?" She asked, glancing at the back of his head, which was pressed against her shoulder, out of the corner of her eye, "Saeran, are you okay?"

When there was no answer, she drug him down the hall to Saeyoung's office. He was surprisingly light. Juggling with the doorknob, she finally turned it and kicked the door in, "Hey, someone help!"

Saeyoung was the first to the door, his eyes running over Saeran's body in worry, "What happened?"

"He said his head hurt, and then he just collapsed." Emcee tried not to let the worry creep into her voice, but she couldn't help the way her hands trembled against his back.

"His head hurt?" Saeyoung said it half to himself, and then looked at MC, "Did he have any episodes lately? Aside from the mint eye thing?"

MC bit her lip, rising to her feet, "At the mall we found him standing in the middle of the place with his eyes closed and his hands covering his ears. It took a little bit to get him to come-to. He told me he was okay."

Saeyoung drug a hand through his hair, and then said, "I'll take the rest of the day off. We need to get him home and into a cold bath."

"A cold bath?" Emcee asked, still supporting his full body weight.

"It's what the doctors told us to do when the withdrawals kicked in." Saeyoung finally picked up his brother, carrying him on his back, "It helped back then, so maybe it will now."

They left the office and met a man with black hair and a black suit in the main room. He looked slightly concerned, and exchanged brief words with Saeyoung, before the four got into the elevator. It was silent on the ride down, and Saeyoung split away from them as he left for his car, "I'll meet you two at home."

Once in the car and on the way back to their house, Emcee glanced at MC, who's face was set with worry, "MC? Can I ask you something?"

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

"What did Saeyoung mean 'withdrawals'?" She asked, "Was he a drug addict?"

"Not by choice, and not the type of addict you would think." MC glanced at her sympathetically, "I told you before it was a long story, but now it sort of looks like I have to tell it to you. Before I do, I want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"We haven't even known you for a day, but I've already noticed a slight change in Saeran. He usually doesn't go out of his way to talk to people he doesn't know. It's one of his anxieties." MC said, steering the car around a corner, "So when he brought you home, I was really shocked. And he talks to you like he's known you for a long time. It's something I never expected him to do, and I still can't figure out why he did it, but I want to ask you…after I tell you the story, please don't look at him differently. Don't treat him differently. He knows when someone's attitude toward him changes. He's spent his whole life conforming and changing himself to the way that someone wanted him to be, that he doesn't know how to be himself. By doing so, he picks up on such minute things and blames himself for them. His biggest fear is that someone will pity him, and treat him like he's a fragile human being. He is. He is very fragile, I feel like sometimes just one wrong word will break him, and it looks like it did."

"It was my fault-"

"No it wasn't." MC said it forcefully, "Something happened at the mall, and he's too stubborn to tell someone when he's hurting. He's still so afraid of being abandoned again…"

"Again?"

"First…do you promise?"

"Promise?"

"That you won't treat him differently?"

Emcee looked at her, and then nodded, "I promise."

Guys, GUYS, I'm watching Olympic Figure Skating while writing this, and I am SO HYPED for Yuzuru Hanyu! T_T I fricken LOVE Yuzu! I want to root for Nathan Chen, because I've also watched his journey to the Olympics, but my love for Yuzu overshadows him… T_T

Thanks again to TheAngelicPryo for letting me know my last chapter was frickle-fracked!

Lexee: wow, I'm super happy my story could grab your attention again! That's one of my favorite compliments as an author, so I hope you continue to enjoy what I write!

MyobiXHitachiin: I am very rusty on my Spanish, so I'm sorry if this is terrible: La ruta de Ray era demasiado triste! Rompió mi corazón también! Quería que Saeran tuviera un MC diferente del habitual, así es como nació el Emcee! De nuevo, si esto es mal español, me disculpo! Ha pasado mucho tiempo!

xGuiltyXGigglesx03: Thank you! I also thought Emcee was a bit funny, because I had a dream that I was writing a fanfiction, but I couldn't remember how to spell MC (it's literally two letters, but okay, dream-biggy), so I just spelled it Emcee. So there's the back story for my idea!

Usually I have my chapter playlist, but today I'm watching figure skating and my husband, Yuzu…so there's no playlist today!

I've also incorporated a super, SUPER, suuuuuper small detail that shows that Saeran is already liking our Emcee. I wonder if anyone can pick it out? I'm only stating this, because it could easily be looked at as a mistake or discrepancy against something…hmm…

As always, thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and followed this story so far, you guys rock!

Until next time!