Chapter Text
Seven closed his eyes then frowned, not wanting to look around any longer. The more he looked, the more he was in pain and betrayed. But he couldn’t describe this as betrayal though, she never had a choice in the matter. It was given to her, who wouldn’t grab the opportunity to play more even if it meant paying incredulous amounts of cash, both real life and the ones she had been saving up for so long.
“You had her for so long,” the voice of a man started, “And you know that it was only a matter of time.”
“It’s not even her fault,” Seven responded, trying to convince the other person or more like trying to convince his self, “The players wanted it, the developers made it for them, now she’s playing it. I just… wish that we knew everything that would happen, no? To prepare for it.”
“I’m in pain for it too,” the other man responded
Seven opened his eyes and saw the codes around them; the codes that made him as him and made him exist. The codes which were altered to make his life and background even more painful. He turned to his right to see the dark-haired CEO beside him, looking up at the giant projection above.
“I didn’t protect her for so long just so I could lose her again,” Jumin added, “I’ve accepted the fact that I was only so close into being the true end and now, I have to share her with my best friend.”
Seven shrugged, “At least you get to be married to her, right?”
“You get a longer path with her,” Jumin pointed out, “You may not have ended up being wedded but I know that she truly loves you. From the start, I’ve seen that she always wanted to end up with you.”
Seven sighed, “When she successfully saves V, you know that you’re taking care of her, right?”
Jumin nodded, “Two years.” He breathed in heavily, “It’s impossible to not fall in love with her all over again, no matter how much she’s changed since the last time.”
“Take good care of her, please.” Seven placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “For the two of us.”
Jumin smiled weakly, “You talk as if I wasn’t going to in the first place.”
Seven chuckled, “Okay but let’s do a trade. You take very good care of the MC and I’ll take the best care of Elly.”
Jumin furrowed his brows before pushing Seven towards the red head’s exit portal.
“Fine! Fine!” Seven laughed, “I’ll get going though if I were you. The MC can’t miss us too much!”
Jumin nodded in agreement before leaving. Seven’s smile dropped once Jumin left. It hurt him to think that he had to, once again, not be the one the MC loves back. Sure, it made him happy that he was technically the “true end” since he had her on the Secret Endings but it wouldn’t even matter when there’s the given fact that the MC would jump towards Another Story in a heartbeat.
He sighed once again, “Please don’t leave me.”
•••
Seven walked into his new bunker. He’d finally found a place to live in after months and months of searching. Sure, the place wasn’t as cheap as his previous house but it was spacious and there was so much life in the color of the walls.
He had instantly fallen in love with the designs of the walls in one room. It was a little ways above the flooring of the whole house and the wall separating it from the rest was a clear glass window. Inside, the walls were decorated with red and yellow stripes. The very second that he saw it, he had already envisioned it to be his computer room.
The walls were painted white and sometimes there were hints of red, black, and yellow. There were three bedrooms in the house and, for a solo person, it was the perfect amount of rooms for him: one for himself, one for his Honey Buddha Chips hoard, and one guest room.
He practically screamed at the owner to give him the key. And now, he was the proud owner of a three-bedroom bunker.
His phone rang loudly at the sound of a custom ringtone.
“Hey Seven! Pick it up! Why are you taking so long? I have something to tell you! Quick pick it u-.”
“MC!” He exclaimed, putting the call on loudspeaker, “It’s been so long since we last saw each other! What’s up?”
The person on the other line laughed, “Are you serious now? You just dropped me off, like, five minutes ago.“
“Well, that is true,” Seven responded, walking around his new house, “So…”
“Oh right! I wanted to tell you something!“
“You want to create a plan on kidnapping Elly?!” Seven asked
“No, silly. I… wanted to talk to you about the hacker.“
“Yeah, I think we can talk about that,” Seven responded, “What about it?”
“You see… now that everything’s lain low, um… do you perhaps have a white wig?“
“A white wig?” Seven raised his brow, “I think I have one.”
“Yeah, I, uh, can I have a picture of you wearing the wig? It just suddenly came up to me so randomly, I don’t even know why I’m bothering you with this.“
“It’s no big deal.” He shrugged, “Can I ask why though?”
“…it just occurred to me that you maybe look kinda like Ray.“
Seven’s eyes widened, “What’d you say?”
“You look kinda like him. I… remember when you took your glasses off earlier when we reached my place? I was so shocked that you had so many similarities with him. Well, except the hair and eye color.“
Seven gulped, “I’m coming over.”
“What but wh-.“
“You have to tell me more about the hacker. Do you have a photo of them?” Seven asked as he hurried went out, locking the front door behind him
He rummaged through one of the boxes in his car’s backseat then saw the plethora of wigs inside. He grabbed the short white wig at the center then jumped over to the driver’s seat, placing his phone on the dashboard and revving up the engine.
“I’ll be over in three.”
“Why are you in such a rush? Is this a clue on figuring out who the hacker is?“
“Sort of,” Seven responded, driving off his garage and speeding over to MC’s home, “I just need to know more about the hacker then I’ll be fine… hopefully.”
“But why do I feel like telling you about this wasn’t much of a good idea?“
“I-it isn’t! Trust me! I just have to know.”
“But why?“
“I’ll tell you soon. I’m almost there, open the gate.”
There was shuffling in the background. Seven could already see the gate of MC’s home. He sped even more then parked as quickly as he could. He jumped out of the car as soon as the keys were out of the car then started pushing MC inside.
He put on the wig hurriedly as he sat down on the floor in front of MC whom he had placed on the sofa. MC fixed the wig on Seven’s head, making sure all of his real hair was tucked underneath. She fixed the way the hair stood and flung to different directions. She gently took his glasses away then placed it on the spot next to her.
While MC was so busy fixing him, Seven couldn’t help but stare, the new discoveries about the hacker easily forgotten. He felt his face heat up a bit at the proximity that they had between them.
I don’t want to feel this. You’re… you’re V’s and you’re not mine. You can’t be mine. Not anymore…
When she took his glasses off, he squinted a bit then saw the world as a huge blur but all he could focus on was MC’s face and how it still seemed like the best thing he’d ever seen.
You have no clue how much it hurts me. I love you. Too much. You have no idea what you do to me, MC.
“You look just like him,” MC whispered, eyes filling with water, “You’re… he escaped right? He wasn’t part of the explosion?”
“I… do? I look like him?” Seven blanched
MC nodded, “Exactly like him except for his eyes. You’re like his replica.”
Seven furrowed his brows as he felt tears well up his eyes, “No. Please, please don’t tell me that.”
“Wh-what’s wrong, Seven?” MC asked, cupping his face to make him look at her
“H-he was in the explosion.” Seven sobbed as tears flowed down his face, “I… there was a person inside when the explosion happened. R-Ray, no, Saeran, Saeran was inside the building.”
Seven let out a scream as he hugged himself, putting his forehead on his knees, “N-no! Saeran!”
“Seven, what’s happening? Who’s Saeran?” She sat down next to him, patting his back and getting him to look at her, “Who is he, Seven? Who is Saeran?”
Seven hugged MC and cried on her shoulder, “MC, Saeran’s the hacker. He’s… he’s my twin.”
“What?” MC asked, “Twin? You mean, the reason why he was so good was because you’re twins?”
Seven shook his head, “He never should’ve known that! He-, he, I left him under V’s guidance! I… Rika and V took care of him and, and, and now he’s,”
“Shh, shh.” MC hugged Seven tight, patting his back, “We’ll… we’ll find evidence that he’s alive, okay?”
“S-someone was inside when the explosion happened,” Seven pointed out, “If… if that’s Saeran, I will nev-er forgive Rika and V.”
“Don’t say that,” MC whispered, “V did nothing wro-.”
“What?” Seven let go of MC, glaring at him, “V did nothing wrong? He did something wrong, MC. I gave them my twin brother to take care of, if he was such a burden, they could’ve told me! I could’ve taken care of him myself! They gave me photos that show that he was fine! He is not fine!”
“Calm down, Seven, calm down.” MC grabbed his forearms gently, “I’m sure that he has an explanation. M-maybe Ray isn’t your twin, V will take care of Saeran if you asked him. Let’s trust V on this.”
Seven stared at MC before shaking his head and muttering, “I’m sorry. I… can’t trust V. Not this time.”
MC sighed, “Seven, it’s just the shock, okay? We can trust V. He’ll do anything for you. Here, we can go look for traces of Saeran at Mint Eye. We can personally go there and find clues on your twin. We can find him.”
Seven closed his eyes before wiping his tears, “I’d… like to have my glasses back.”
MC grabbed the pair of glasses from the sofa before handing it to Seven. The redhead removed the wig then placed his glasses. He stood up to leave without being interrupted then got on his car.
He leaned his back to the seat before starting the car and driving off to a very familiar location of a cliff. He had too many questions running in his mind and all he wanted was just one being answered. He just wanted a yes or a no.
He parked at the side of a house near the cliff then entered without knocking. He barged into the living room where he found his friend packing clothes in a suitcase.
“Where are you going, V?” Seven asked
V stopped then turned to follow the direction of the sound, “Luciel? The front door was open?”
“Don’t avoid my question. Where are you going? And don’t tell me that you don’t know yet,” Seven responded
V offered a small smile towards the redhead, “I’m headed to Alaska, why do you ask?”
Seven shook his head, “So where’s Saeran now? I’d like to take him.”
V visibly stiffened, “Why do you want to so suddenly?”
Seven raised a brow, “Why? Can’t I see my own twin?”
“Y-you can but,” V trailed off
“But what, V? What are you still hiding from me? Where’s Saeran?” Seven asked, voice on the verge of breaking, “I want to be sure that he’s not the hacker, V. I want to be sure that he’s grown up fine and healthy and, and didn’t have to end up like me! V, tell me now, where is Saeran?”
V walked closer to Seven, placing his hands on his shoulders, “Saeyoung, please understand, I can’t just tell y-.”
“Is he the hacker?” Seven asked, fists balled up in frustration, “Just give me a yes or a no, V. Is he the hacker?”
V looked down, “I apologize. Saeran is the ha-.”
“No! No don’t tell me that! Tell me that he’s not the hacker! Tell me, tell me that he’s fine and alive! T-tell me that, V! Please!” Seven yelled, “He can’t be the hacker!”
“I’m really, really sorry. I shouldn’t have left him with Rika if I’d known,” V responded, “I take all the blame.”
“Me putting the blame on you now is useless,” Seven spat, “But the moment that I found out that he died in that explosion…”
He turned around then walked away, not wanting to think of the worst case scenario anymore. The pain of thinking that his only family left was dead made him feel empty. Emptier than he had ever been.
I pray to all the gods out there. Please… please make my brother safe.