I actually planned on finishing this update last april, specifically on the 26th, in celebration (although it's not rlly worth celebrating since this is just the 3rd chapter... *hides in shame*) for TLED's anniversary since it'd been... a year... since it was published... hahaha... imsoashamedrightnowyouhavenoidea...

Anyways, hope you guys enjoy!

chapter three: day 2 — P.M. (part 1)

It was a good thing Yoosung's classes were suspended because he couldn't take it any longer.

He spent all of his time trying to wrap his head around the new piece of information he had received ever since his friend broke the news to him.

Seven had a girlfriend. A real girlfriend. A cute girlfriend. A really cute girlfriend.

Nope, he just couldn't accept it.

Yoosung slumped back on his chair and groaned, forcefully pressing the heels of his palms onto his closed eyelids.

It wasn't fair. After all, it was Seven. How the heck did he even manage to get a girlfriend before Yoosung did!?

Yoosung dropped his arms in resignation and stared up at the ceiling. He puffed his cheeks as he gazed at its plain whiteness, loudly blowing the air out of his mouth when he eventually found the lone black spot that never failed to irk him ever since he moved in.

They were both similar, the dot and Seven. Just how the spot was disrupting the ceiling's neatness, the hacker was invading the tranquility of Yoosung's mind... They didn't care how much they bothered him.

Yoosung spun around in his seat and let out another groan. Damn, he was jealous. He needed to find a distraction, but unfortunately LOLOL wasn't an option because it was still under server maintenance.

His soft purple eyes trailed to his smartphone that was situated on the right side of his computer's mouse.

Yoosung may have sworn to not tell the others that Seven had a girlfriend, but that didn't mean he couldn't say that a friend of his had one.

The blond grabbed for his mobile, his emotions flooding within him as if a dam had broken the moment his fingers wrapped around the sleek covering of his phone.

Yoosung clicked on the RFA's messenger icon and immediately saw that Jaehee was already in the chatroom. He breathed out a sigh of relief.

Yoosung has entered the chatroom.

He sent his crying emoji, his mood dipping along with the tears that flew from the character's scrunched lids.

Yoosung: Life is sooooooo unfair T_T

Yoosung: How come I don't have a girglsdfirend!?

Jaehee: A girglsdfirend...?

Jaehee: Yoosung, what's gotten into you? And don't you have classes right now?

Yoosung: Classes got cancelled lolol

Yoosung: Ya T_T

Yoosung: I found out recently that a friend has one and I just don't get it!

Yoosung: HWO COME I CAN'T GET A GIRLFIREND?!

Yoosung sent his crying emoji once more, while Jaehee responded using her annoyed one.

Jaehee: Oh, a girlfriend.

Jaehee: There are 4 answers to that question.

Yoosung: Really!?

Yoosung: Tell me!

ZEN has entered the chatroom

Jaehee: First of all, you're short.

Yoosung's eyes widened in horror. He didn't expect that she'd actually point out his flaws.

Jaehee: Second, you always waste your time because of your addiction to LOLOL.

When it came to Jaehee, why did all his bad traits lead to LOLOL!?

Jaehee: Third, you are not wild enough.

The blond could only stare with his jaw left agape.

Jaehee: And fourth, your hoodie.

Too baffled to know what to say, he tapped on his shocked emoji.

He regretted telling Jaehee. Instead of relieving himself from the burden in his chest, it worsened by bleeding from the four consecutive arrows that Jaehee pierced through his heart with her blunt words.

ZEN: lmfaoooooooo

ZEN: That's so true.

ZEN: You need to be more like me, Yoosung.

As if Zen intentionally wanted to rub salt to the gamer's wounds, he sent his "lovely Zen" emoji.

Jaehee: Precisely.

Yoosung needed to find better friends.

Yoosung: u guys are so mean T_T

Jaehee: I'm just trying to help you, Yoosung. You needed to know the truth at some point.

ZEN: Look at the bright side!

ZEN: You probably have a better chance than Seven. Lol what a weirdo.

Seven. Of course Zen had to bring him up.

Yoosung began tapping on his keyboard with newfound fury.

Yoosung: HOW WOUDK YOU KNIW THAR?!

The blond flooded the chatroom with his angry sticker.

Jaehee: Yoosung, what's wrong?

He did not stop pressing the emoji.

Jaehee: Are you okay?

Yoosung laughed bitterly.

Yoosung: ya

ZEN: Hey don't be like that.

ZEN: Why'd you even get mad when I mentioned Seven?

Yoosung didn't respond.

Jaehee: Yoosung?

He sighed. He shouldn't have gone to them for comfort in the first place.

ZEN: You can't just throw a tantrum then leave us hanging.

ZEN: Oi

Zen was right. He was so immature.

Yoosung: I'm sorry.

Yoosung: I got carried away. It was nothing.

Jaehee: It obviously wasn't nothing. What's wrong, Yoosung?

Jaehee: We'll listen to you.

ZEN: Yeah!

The actor sent his winking sticker, probably in an attempt to cheer the younger boy up.

Yoosung's lips tugged into a smile then pulled back into a grimace when he remembered his promise. He tapped on his blushing sticker, nonetheless.

Yoosung: Thanks guys but I really can't tell you T_T

ZEN: Why?

Yoosung: Because I promised not to.

ZEN: Not to what?

ZEN: And to who did you promise not to?

Jaehee: Stop it, Zen.

Jaehee: Yoosung probably promised to keep a secret or something similar to that.

But before Yoosung got the chance to read what Jaehee said, he already clicked send.

Yoosung: Seven

Neither of his friends replied immediately and he wondered if there was some sort of glitch in the messenger that made him incapable of knowing whether the others had already left the chatroom or not. Soon, however, Zen and Jaehee had shown their astonishment by using their designated surprised emojis

ZEN: WAIT.

ZEN: SO

Jaehee: Zen, no. Stop.

ZEN: OHMYGOD

ZEN: THIS IS NOT HAPPENING

ZEN: HOW!?

The blond scrunched his brows in confusion.

Yoosung: How... what?

ZEN: HOW THE FUCK DID SEVEN GET A GIRLFRIEND BEFORE I DID!?

It was only at that moment when Yoosung realized that he had broken his promise.

Yoosung: ohmygosh

Yoosung: ohmygosh

Yoosung: OHMYGOSH

He was so dead.

Jaehee: Yoosung, calm down!

He was the worst friend ever.

Yoosung: SEVEB U;N SI SITRT!

Yoosung: I'N SI SIRRY!

Yoosung: I DIN'T MEAN TO

Yoosung: I SWEAR I DIDN'T MEAN TO

Yoosung spammed his entire screen with crying emojis.

Jaehee: Yoosung, stop it.

Not wanting to make any of the other members loathe him as well, he complied.

Jaehee: Thank you.

ZEN: Shit. Yoosung, I'm sorry.

ZEN: I didn't think that I'd make you break your promise.

Yoosung: It's fine. It wasn't your fault T_T

Yoosung: It was mine.

He sent another one of his crying emojis.

Jaehee: Luciel probably wouldn't get mad so there's nothing to worry about.

Jaehee: You obviously didn't do it on purpose.

Yoosung felt a spark of hope from the older woman's words.

Yoosung: Yeah, you're right. Thanks Jaehee.

Jaehee sent her happy sticker.

Jaehee: You're welcome.

ZEN: Still though;;;;

ZEN: 707 has a girlfriend huh?

ZEN: Never thought I'd see the day.

Yoosung felt the same way.

ZEN: Especially since I ran into him at the park earlier.

ZEN: He was staring at kids at the playground.

ZEN: They looked really scared so I had to drag him away from them;;;;

What the heck?

Jaehee: ...

Yoosung: ... seconded

ZEN: ya

ZEN: He was acting more suspicious than usual when I told him about my dream too.

ZEN: Which was why I went online in the first place.

The blond pressed his confused emoji.

Yoosung: What did you dream about?

ZEN: I think I dreamt a prophetic dream but it was really strange.

ZEN: The people I dreamt about were complete strangers.

Jaehee: Can you describe them?

ZEN: A cute girl who was wearing a hospital gown and a guy with an eye tattoo on his shoulder.

Girl in a hospital gown... Could that possibly be...?

ZEN: Anyways, the girl was being chased by something. I didn't see who or what it was, but then the creepy dude suddenly pulled her into an abandoned alley.

Yoosung gasped.

ZEN: When Seven heard about that, he started leaving.

ZEN: He didn't even give me a chance to finish my story...

The actor sent his irritated emoji.

Yoosung: How did your dream end?

ZEN: The creepy dude took the girl's phone from her hands. She was shouting and she seemed really desperate to hold on to it.

ZEN: But he was really strong.

ZEN: The guy dialed someone's number on her phone then waited for the other person to pick up. When the person on the other end of the line did, the guy said...

Yoosung gulped, fearing that something bad was going to happen to his close friend.

ZEN: "Come and get her, Luciel."

/.\./.\./.\

"She's..." Aoi finally said, hesitantly, breaking the achingly long silence as she gazed directly into Seven's eyes. "She's my friend."

It wasn't the answer Seven was hoping to hear, but it was still something that would help him figure out what the hell was going on.

"And why should I believe that?" He inquired.

Aoi glowered, throwing her hands up in frustration. "When are you gonna stop doubting everything I say!?"

He raised a brow and felt his lips pull up at one corner into a smug smirk upon receiving a rather unexpectedly amusing reaction. Feeling the urge to see more, he mockingly said, "When I find it in me to trust you."

They stared at each other, daring the other to look away. While Aoi glared at him in irritation, Seven didn't bother to hide his delight with a challenging glint in his golden orbs, provoking her to burst out in fits of anger once more.

"Fine," she sighed, flopping back onto her bed. She seemed to be tired from the events that occurred the day before—or perhaps from his difficult attitude. "Ask me anything and I'll tell you what you wanna know."

He surveyed the patient who was waiting for his response then directed his gaze out of the window towards the same blue sky that his brother used to admire in awe.

He knew for a fact that she already knew plenty things that no ordinary stranger should, which of course, considering his field of expertise, didn't cross the idea that she was a hacker from a rival organization out of the list. But then again...

Seven's gaze shifted from the window to the watch that was wrapped around his left wrist. It was noon, 12:43 p.m. to be precise, and Aoi—the beautiful, kind-hearted one who was not in front of him—was supposed to either be chatting with Zen at that very moment, conversing about the actor's passionate hatred towards felines, or not be online at all because she was scheduled to talk to Seven himself later on in the afternoon. He wasn't sure, for the universe hadn't given him a single sign that would tell him what would happen in the next couple of days.

Seven chuckled to himself, oblivious to the annoyed yet disturbed glances he received from the other occupant of the room. He couldn't help but find it laughable that even though he loathed the resets with an overwhelming intensity, it was an undeniable fact that he had already become completely accustomed to them.

Seven looked back at the raven whose gaze was trained on the wall clock, biting her lip in what seemed to be apprehension.

For some reason, he had a feeling that she could answer all of his questions but he didn't know if he was ready to find out.

"Okay," he whispered, merely audible enough for the other to hear.

Seven used to daydream about the day when something would break the never-ending cycle that existed to torture and mock him until he was on the brink of insanity.

But now that it finally arrived? He was fucking terrified.

\./.\./.\./

Even though it was Aoi's idea that the hacker could ask her anything in the first place, she wasn't exactly sure if she could confidently answer his questions without, once again, arousing suspicion. After all, she knew that she had to lie through her teeth during the entire conversation, and she was definitely not the best liar she knew.

But she wasn't the worst either so she hopefully still had a chance.

"Do you know where she is?" Seven repeated the question she previously failed to answer the first time, but the scorn in his golden eyes had been replaced with an emotion that closely resembled pain. "Or an idea, at least?"

She's right in front of you, she thought. But you wouldn't freakin' believe me so...!

Aoi shook her head, fearing that if she opened her mouth, she would say something unnecessary.

A slow nod was all the redhead had done, his shoulders drooping in obvious disappointment. "Then... when was the last time you saw her?"

Although she badly wanted to sarcastically say 'When I looked in the damn mirror.' to pay him back for being the most inconsiderate asshole she'd ever met and for having the most arbitrarily-timed mood swings she'd ever witnessed, she also wasn't willing to let go of the opportunity to have a civil conversation with the only hope she had of getting home.

"We walked home together after grabbing lunch when our classes were over," Aoi began, having already predicted the question and made a story up when Seven was contemplating on her offer while staring out the window for a conveniently long time. "I kept on texting her once I got home to ask about our assignment but she wouldn't reply."

"What time did you get home?"

She paused for a while, acting as if she was trying hard to remember, but in reality, she was recalling the time of her sudden appearance in Rika's apartment. "Around... 11:45 a.m."

"That was when you showed up in the messenger." Seven looked as if he was mentally solving a puzzle. "When I saw you at Rika's apartment."

"Yep."

The hacker's eyes snapped to hers, and it took every bit of Aoi's strength to not pull away from his gaze.

"How did you end up there, anyways?" He demanded. "And why were you acting as if you already knew who we were?"

Aoi sighed. She already knew how to respond to those questions, but the problem that lied with the answers Aoi already had prepared was that they were most likely going to make the man accuse her of being a liar again even though the words she was going to say were ninety percent true.

It''s crazy how lies sounded more believable than the truth.

"I—"

The door suddenly burst open, startling the pair, and in came a familiar face—an undeniably handsome one at that—that was covered with a great sheen of sweat.

It was Seven who was the first to recover.

"Yoosung told you, didn't he?"

I literally looked away from the keyboard when I wrote those typos AHHAHHAHAHAHHAHA

Stay in tune for the next chapter~