Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When she opened her eyes, she was confused. When she had gone to bed, it had been in the arms of the love of her life, curled up and satisfied as she felt him gently rub his thumb over her back.

Now? Now she was standing in the middle of a busy sidewalk, staring down at a phone in her hand. She felt like she could have stood there forever, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach that this wasn’t a dream. But then she was almost thrown down as a man ran directly into her shoulder, causing her to stumble.

“Watch it, asshole!” She yelled after the man as he continued swiftly on his way. She frowned in anger and stared back down at the phone and sighed. “Might as well get this over with…”

She began walking as she unlocked the phone. She already knew where she was going. Answering the man on the other side of the phone was almost second nature at this point, as if she had done it so many times before. Because she had.

This loop though, she thought she’d broken out of. The last couple times she’d woken up, no longer with the person she’d been with the night before, she’d been sitting outside of a café. This though, this was old hat. By the time he’d sent her the address, she’d already arrived.

She thought about just inputting the access code in, but decided against it. The universe was fickle, and she was never positive on what would throw her back to the start.

When the messenger switched over to the RFA, she sighed as she flopped over on the couch. As she thought, she realized that collectively, she’d probably lived in this apartment longer than Rika ever had. It was basically her couch.

She could feel herself sinking as she responded to the chatroom, knowing exactly what to say and what exactly they would say in response. She loved and had been loved by everyone in this chatroom, but she absolutely hated that she could predict everything that was going to happen. It had become a game, which quite frankly, she’d never wanted to play.

She laid there, staring at the ceiling as her phone vibrated with the notification that a chatroom had been opened. For a moment, she debated whether or not to participate in it, but knew that not doing so would probably reset everything again. Anything but that. She needed to somehow find her way back, and not pissing off the universe and the wicked game it decided to play was probably the best way to do it.

She blinked in surprise as a call came through. She hadn’t even realized that she had finished up with the chatroom. It was Jumin, and she smiled. Even before she knew the depths of what was going on in his mind, she had had a soft spot for the cat loving man. She focused on the call, playing along with him as he told her she could ask him one question and then calling him by his name. The pleasure she received from him telling her she had a nice voice hadn’t changed.

“Not to be forward, but are you okay?” Jumin asked suddenly. She almost pulled the phone away from her face so she could look at it. This was new. This was off script, and she was unsure of how to answer.

“I’m fine~” She tried to say brightly, and Jumin made a noise disbelief. She laughed awkwardly. “What makes you think I’m not okay?”

“About halfway through the call, your voice became rough. You sounded… upset. I apologize if it was anything I said.” Jumin said, and while the business tone was present, with her knowledge of him, she could tell he was genuinely concerned.

“It’s not you, Jumin. If anything, you’ve helped me feel better. Today has been a bit… stressful to say in the least.” She said.

“If there is anything you need, don’t hesitate to say anything. You’re a member of the RFA now, and we’ll do what we can to help you.” Jumin said, and she smiled to herself. Same old Jumin.

“I’ll keep it in mind~” She said brightly. There was a slight shuffle and Jumin announced that he had arrived home. She wished him a goodnight, and finished the call.

“Now what…” She mumbled to herself. She glanced over the UI of the messenger and noted the number bubble over the messages she’d received. Even though she knew exactly how the other members would respond she still needed to answer them, even if it was just to get rid of the notification.

She quickly responded, almost able to see hearts pop up as they responded in kind, but froze when she saw the message that she knew was supposed to be from Unknown.

Instead, the contact said the message was from Ray.

“What the fuck…” She mumbled, sitting up for the first time since she’d thrown herself over the couch earlier. If Jumin’s deviation from the script earlier had thrown her off, this might have as well stopped her entire world. Ray existed in this world?

She didn’t respond, knowing that it wouldn’t garner a response anyway, and went to the call feature. There, underneath Unknown’s profile picture, was Ray’s name, the same as it had been in the last loop she’d been in. She felt herself tear up as she pressed the icon. It went through, and to her surprise, he picked up.

“How the fuck did you get this number?” Unknown hissed out, and oddly enough, it gave her a wave of relief. It was him. Maybe not the soft Ray, but definitely the other part of him.

“Ray…” She whispered out, the tears finally pouring down her face as she closed her eyes. There was a stuttering sound on the other end, and for a moment, she was afraid that she had accidentally caused a reset in her eagerness to hear his voice again.

“I don’t know how you know that name, but you’re never going to call this number again.” And with that, he hung up. She sat quietly for a moment, waiting for the noises of the street to envelop her, but they never did. She opened her eyes and grinned, knowing how unhinged she probably looked to those on the other side of the camera, but she didn’t care.

The universe had told her she was on the right path, and she was going to take it. It had been a while since something new had happened, and this? This was beyond new. She was going to go head first and reunite with the one she had never wanted to leave behind.

She looked down at her phone, grin dropping as she scowled. The icon was gone, and with it, her access to Unknown. He’d taken it away. She huffed out a breath, irritated by the set back.

Her phone screen stuttered green, numbers quickly flowed across the screen as it finally stopped back to its original state. Her grin returned in full force.

The number was back, and for the moment, it seemed like the universe was on her side.

Chapter Text

It took everything in her not to call Unknown again, but she had to remind herself that she didn’t actually know him in this timeline. She stood and headed towards the kitchen, planning on cooking something just to get her hands occupied.

“Ah shit.” She mumbled. She always forgot at the beginning of these loops that there wasn’t actually any food in the apartment since it had been left unoccupied two years ago. She thinks. There was a weird time jump that she hoped she didn’t screw up with. Rika’s fake suicide had been two years ago here, not six months like it had been while she was with Mint Eye.

She paused as a thought crossed her mind. From what she could remember, the persona Saeran had in this timeline was unstable, so trapped under the thrall of the elixir that he’d lost himself to the bitterness. If Ray had ever existed in this timeline, he hadn’t been present for a long time.

She remembered her initial surprise when she had arrived first woken up in that alternate timeline and been greeted by Saeran, dressed up in a suit and docile as they come. A far cry from the man she’d initially know.

Ray had broken before, broken in both of the paths she’d taken before. Both times, she’d been what broke him, but she’d also brought him back; once through love, and once through obsession. So what had caused him to break in this timeline?

She paused, realizing that when she hadn’t managed to find food, she’d instead taken to pacing as she had thought. And chewing her nail apparently. She winced as she looked at the blood beading up from where she’d chewed it down to the quick.

She pulled her phone back out of her pocket, quickly pressing Saeyo- Seven’s contact. She needed food, and no matter how many times she restarted, she was never quite sure how hair trigger the security system could be. She knew how poorly that could end.

“Hello, hello, hello! God 707 answers the call of our newest member, ready to graciously answer any questions she might have.” She had to laugh. She’d missed his silliness. He’d never been quite the same after they’d managed to find him in the last timeline she’d been in.

“Oh wonderful God 707, please answer this lost lamb’s question.” She responded, playing along.

“Hehehe so there is a true believer!” Seven crowed, clearly pleased with the way she was playing along with him. “Now ask your question!”

“How poorly would it end if I tried to leave?” She dropped her playing tone, and there was a slight pause.

“You’re not a prisoner. You’re allowed to leave.” Seven said, voice also becoming serious.

“I know, but you mentioned a security system and I just don’t wanna set it off in my pursuit of food.” She said, hoping that he had mentioned something about it and it wasn't part of the information she wasn't supposed to know yet.

“There’s no food in the apartment is there.”

“Not at all.” She said flatly, trying to hide her relief that her info bluff had worked.

“Ehhh I’m sure you’re fine to leave.” Saeran said, and she could hear keystrokes happening in the background. Nothing changed, she thought with amusement.

“Kay, I’m gonna get food then. And also stop by my apartment to get clothes and things. Is that okay?" She asked, going ahead and grabbing her bag from the couch. Seven made a strangled noise and she laughed. “No one planned this out very well huh?”

“Not… really…” Seven mumbled. She laughed, and said her goodbyes. She was testing the universe right now by leaving the apartment almost immediately, but she was going to test her limits. Her mental rule book had been thrown out as soon as Ray’s number had stuck around in her phone.

~

She couldn’t stop the satisfied groan she made the moment she took a bite out of the fried chicken she had got for dinner. She’d been past her apartment, throwing her things into her travel duffle and grabbing her laptop. For the first time, she had more than just her phone. She didn’t know how this would affect the timeline, but once again, the rules are made up and really don’t matter.

She scrolled through her phone, ending up back in the text messages, reading over the recovered message from Unknown again. It was simple, telling her that she would have fun and ending with a promise that he would be coming back for her. After the first few resets, she’d given up on sending him anything in return. He never answered anyway, and at that point she had other people she wanted to talk to.

But now? Now she knew who he was. Knew that there wasn’t anyone else in this world she’d want to talk to, even if he wasn’t exactly the same man he’d been when she’d last seen him. She knew that he thought the message was gone. He’d hacked her phone, and to him, there was no way for her to contact him, no way for her to throw another wrench into his plan.

But what he didn’t know was that she had the universe on her side.

I hope you have a good night. Remember to eat.

She sent something simple, and it was something that she truly wanted to send. It felt odd, sitting at a restaurant by herself, ignoring the whispers from the people who had witnessed her earlier enjoyment of her food. She glanced over at her remaining chicken and felt slightly ill. She’d never thought about Unknown while in this timeline before, but now she knew. He wouldn’t be eating in this timeline either.

I thought I told you not to contact me again.

I deleted this contact

How did you get it back??

You told me not to call you

I listened :)

There was a moment of silence, and her phone glitched suddenly. It took a moment, and then went back to normal, but with their conversation gone along with any means of trying again.

He’d deleted her. She bit her lip as she stared at her phone, hoping that her hunch wouldn’t be wrong.

It wasn’t.

The same green code flooded across the screen, and then it calmed again. She grinned. She couldn’t resist what she was about to do.

You chose me and you’re not getting rid of me that easy.

Chapter Text

She continued to text him, and in return, he kept attempting to block her. A few resets ago, she would have done anything to have had her laptop, but now that she actually had it? Now the green text scrolling across her screen periodically was all the entertainment she needed.

How are you doing this??

Maybe its destiny

Shut the fuck up

She grinned. While pissing him off probably wasn’t the best way to get back to where they had been in the other timeline, she’d never gotten to interact with Unknown. They’d had a few moments, namely when she was with Zen and Saeyoung, but she took an odd pleasure knowing that his focus was entirely on her rather than on the revenge that had been so deeply seated in his heart.

The messenger went off, and she hesitated with switching over. She knew that the messenger played a large role in keeping the timeline going, but since the rest of the rules had been thrown out the window, what made that rule stick too? But then again, if she didn't answer, would she screw up this chance forever?

She opened the messenger. There was no way she was taking that chance. She smiled at the messages as they flew past. Despite her fixation with Unknown in the past couple days, reading the interactions between the RFA members always brightened her mood a little. After having spent so much time with them, she wasn’t as concerned when Zen and Jumin began to go after each other. Zen, no matter how much he to act like arguing with Jumin drove him up the wall, actually enjoyed it while Jumin enjoyed the brief moments where he was allowed to act silly.

She continued to enter in her responses, trying to figure out what would be the most appealing to Unknown. He wasn’t a part of the chat, but she knew who she was gunning for. The chat ended, Zen finally throwing his hands up at Jumin’s willful ignorance. Jumin had then bid her farewell with the smiling emoji as his last message.

No one called, but she smiled as she responded to Zen’s frustrated text. She went back to her text log with Unknown, deciding that as much fun as it was annoying him earlier, she didn’t wanna irritate him enough that he would stop responding all together.

I hope you’ve eaten today

She expected silence, and went to grab her bag, sending off a quick message to Seven. She needed to stop by her job to let them know that she’d be taking an impromptu vacation for the next week. There had been one loop where her boss had panicked when she didn’t show up for work several days in a row without letting anyone know. What can she say, a lot had been happening and her retail job wasn’t exactly high on her list of things to be worried about.

To her surprise, right before she’d left the apartment her phone went off. She opened the message, smiling widely as she looked at the image that was on the screen.

An empty cup of instant noodles in front of flickering screens.

~

She waved as she left the mom and pop store that she worked at. Her boss had been upset that she hadn’t given them more of a warning, but had given her the time off that she’d requested. Even if she hadn’t gotten the time off, she couldn’t have seen herself caring much. She had to laugh at herself. She was really going to have to work on this nihilism thing.

She started to make her way back towards the apartment, not able to think of anything else that she needed to take care of as her past experiences had taught her.

Her stomach rumbled suddenly, and she realized that she hadn’t eaten at all that day. No time like the present, she guessed. She walked into an American style diner, deciding to follow her whimsy and get a milkshake.

She’d just gotten her food, wanting nothing more than to dig into her pile of fries, the salt playing nicely with the sweetness of her milkshake. She smiled as she remember the first time she’d introduced the idea to Saeran. The look of pleasant of surprise on his face had made her entire week.

As if her thoughts had been magic, someone suddenly sat down in the booth across from her. She glanced up, attention drawn from her malt glass. Green eyes pierced into her and her eyes skimmed over him.

Feature wise, he looked nearly the same as he had the last time she’d seen him. White hair with pink tips, green eyes, skin still pale. There was a tattoo on his shoulder that hadn’t been present in the other timeline, but she found that she didn’t mind it. It was a part of him.

He looked rough though, dark bags under his eyes, and he looked so much skinnier. She felt her heart clench. She wanted so badly to hug him, but then he spoke, voice harsh.

“Who the fuck are you, Storm.”

Chapter Text

She couldn’t lie, his appearance startled her. She knew she’d irritated him, but she didn’t think it was bad enough that he’d confront her like this. She looked back down at her plate of fries, not wanting to look at those piercing green eyes for much longer.

“You should know who I am. You’re the one who picked me.” She said, picking up a fry and dipping it in her shake. She looked back up, offering the fry to him. “Want one?”

“Absolutely not.” Unknown said, lip curling slightly. “I don’t eat sweets.”

“Oh.” She looked at the fry, and put it in her mouth before continuing. “Right. You’re not…”

She trailed off before she could slip up. How much could she actually say about the other timeline? Unknown’s eyes narrowed at her.

“Speaking of that, how do you know him? How do you know about Ray?” She froze, remembering how she’d called him Ray the first time she’d called him, unable to stop herself. She shrugged slightly, and then grinned to herself.

“I knew him. I danced with him once upon a dream.” She technically wasn’t lying. She thought back to the night at Magenta she’d run into Ray in the gardens. They’d sat and talked, and she’d loved every second of it. She’d stood eventually, holding out her hand for him. Ray had hesitated for a moment, but he took it, and they swayed among the flowers. It was like a dream.

She was pulled out of her memory when Unknown suddenly snorted.

“Don’t give me that Disney bullshit.” He said, rolling his eyes and sitting back in his seat. “I know everything about him, and he never knew you.”

“Once upon a dream.” She repeated with a shrug. She raised an eyebrow at him. “I knew him pretty well too.”

His eyes immediately narrowed at her and opened his mouth to argue, but she cut him off.

“Can we not do this right now? Argue over someone we both know is gone?” She shoved another fry in her mouth and stood up to leave. As she walked away, he yelled at her retreating back.

“Now that’s the first thing we’ve agreed on.”

~

She didn’t know where he went after she left, and quite frankly, didn’t care. She felt burned from the conversation. She knew that while at the core, Ray and Unknown were just two parts of Saeran, the almost disdain he had looked at her with struck her in the heart.

She took in a shuddering breath. She hadn’t been ready to see him again. She could message him all she wanted and she didn’t think it would affect her. But having him sit across from her made it so she couldn’t breathe.

The last time she’d seen him, they’d just gone to bed. They’d laid there together, Saeran whispering excitedly about the next day when he and his twin were going to check out the location they wanted to put their joint flower and toy store. His excitement keeping her just as wide awake.

He had finally trailed off, mid-sentence as he mused whether they should carry non-natural flowers like blue roses. She gently kissed his forehead, and snuggled into his chest as she also finally drifted off.

Only to find herself standing in the middle of the street.

She took a deep breath as she steeled herself at the entrance of the apartment. She didn’t want to be here. She wanted so badly to be back in her apartment across town.

She huffed, finally putting the code into the door. It wasn’t really her apartment anymore, huh. She wandered in, plopping down on the couch, and pulling her phone open.

The messenger was active, and she smiled, ready for a distraction. It worked. Fate had it that Jumin, Yoosung, and Saey-Seven (She was gonna get there again at some point dammit) were all in the chatroom together. She felt slightly bad about it, but she knew exactly how much Yoosung was going to get ganged up on.

You would think that Jumin would play voice of reason against Seven and her teasing, but he played right along. It was slaughter. Three against one and Yoosung left convinced that he was going to die from drinking milk.

She didn’t remember a phone call coming after this chat, but Jumin’s name and picture flashed up. She answered, and had to laugh when she found out that his ruthlessness in the chatroom had stimmed from tipsiness. They chatted about whatever Jumin came up with, and after all these loops, she could finally carry a decent conversation about wine.

There was a lull in the conversation, and right before she was about to bid Jumin farewell, he spoke again.

“I always seem to call you when you’re upset.” Jumin said, same musing tone he’d used when talking about what kind of grapes to grow in the next season.

“Can I try to deny it this time?” She asked, only half seriously.

“You can try, but I don’t think I’d be able to believe you. May I ask what happened?” She paused, wanting to talk to Jumin, but also not sure how to go about the subject.

Hey, you know the hacker we’re all worried about? He’s the love of my life in an alternate dimension.

Yeah. That wouldn’t work.

“I ran into someone today… That I wasn’t ready to see again. It just… messed me up a bit. That’s all.” She said. Jumin made a humming noise.

“Do you think you’ll see him again?”

“Most likely.” She said softly.

“Call me then.” Jumin said plainly.

“And use you as an escape?” She asked, amusement clear in her tone.

“I meant what I said. If you need anything, we’ll help you, even if it’s just to get out of any awkward situation.” Jumin said, as if he wasn’t talking to a person he’d met two days ago.

“Thank you, Jumin.” She said softly. It was a new loop, but it was as if he still knew her. She had to scrub at her eyes, trying to chase away the forming tears. She laughed softly. “I should let you go. It’s late.”

“Mm. Goodnight, Storm.” Jumin said softly, and with that he was gone. She stared blankly at her phone, entirely unsure where to go from here. She has the support of the RFA, but would they still if they thought she’d betrayed them for the hacker? Or would she lose Saeran, unable to get past his Unknown persona?

She clenched her phone in her hands.

“Please.” She mumbled. “Please let me know what to do.”

Her phoned buzzed, and she unlocked it. It was a photo. The table from the diner took up the picture and in the center was an empty basket next to an empty glass.

Thanks for the food

Chapter Text

Unknown didn’t get her. He’d picked her as he thought that she’d be the easiest to manipulate from the shadows. Then she’d fucked the entire thing up by somehow calling him. And then after he’d erased his existence from her phone, she then texted him! No matter how hard he tried, his information stayed.

And then he fucked up. He interacted with her directly. She’d been staring wistfully into a milkshake when he’d found her and couldn’t stop himself. Then she gave him some bullshit response about how she knew the name Ray before getting defensive and leaving.

Unknown sat in the surveillance room, scanning through the file on her, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. No friends, rather isolated, worked a dead-end retail job; no one would miss her if something went wrong. She seemed to have a rather people pleaser personality, a vast difference from the tired looking woman who’d done the opposite of nearly everything he’d asked of her.

He grit his teeth in frustration. What had happened for her to have such a change in personality.

And then his phone buzzed. Without looking, he already knew that it would be her. He glanced over, and there her name flashed on the screen. Storm.

He wasn’t sure why he’d saved her actual name. He had had her name saved as minion, but then…

He answered his phone. “What do you want?”

“You answered!” She said cheerfully. Unknown rolled his eyes, and pulled up the feed from the apartment. As soon as the feed came up, she started waving excitedly at it.

“How did you know I was pulling up the camera?” He asked, surprised that, first, she’d known exactly where the camera was, and second that she’d called him out so easily.

“You’re the hacker man right now. Duh.” She said, rolling her eyes. He then paused slightly as she held up a bottle to her lips, taking a swig before making a face. “Ugh, this shit is nasty.”

“You’re drinking?” Unknown asked quietly. It had been so long, but the sight of the bottle still made his chest seize up.

“I got sad, so I found some whiskey!” She said cheerfully. She spun slightly in the middle of the floor. “Rika kept something in this useless apartment.”

“Why were you sad?” Unknown asked, deciding to take advantage of her drunken state. Maybe she’d let something slip.

“I…” She hesitated for a moment, and to his absolute shock, her face crumpled. “I’m so sorry.”

“What?”

“Saeran.” Her voice held such longing in it and Unknown flinched at the use of his name. “I don’t… I don’t know what happened.”

“What do you mean, Storm? What happened?” He asked her softly. He was trying to keep the confusion out of his voice and find out more.

“I didn’t want to reset. I didn’t want to.” Her voice was becoming more frantic as she began to curl up on herself.

“Reset?” Unknown whispered, more to herself than anything, but she let out a high-pitched sob.

“I’m so sorry! I- I- I wanted to see it. The flower shop. I wanted to stay. Saeran, I’m so sorry.” She was sobbing at this point and had sunk to the floor. Unknown stull didn’t know what she was talking about, but she continued regardless. “I don’t know what happened. I’m so sorry. You were happy. I ruined it. I’m fucking useless.”

“Hey, hey, hey.” Unknown said quickly. He’d play along. Get her through this meltdown so they can maybe get back to territory that he was familiar with. “I know. I know you wanted to stay.”

“But I didn’t.” She said quietly, clearly trying to fight down her sobs.

“It’s not your fault.” Unknown said. It might have been, he didn’t know, but that didn’t matter at the moment. “Can you do something for me?”

“Anything, Saeran.” She said, and once again he tried not to flinch at the usage of his name.

“I need you to get up out of the floor. Go wash your face in the bathroom, and head to bed. Can you do that?” She didn’t respond, but nodded, pulling herself up off the floor and leaving the view of the camera. There were several shuffling noises before she came back into view for a moment before disappearing back into the bedroom. He shifted cameras and watched as she flopped over onto the bed.

“I miss you.” Her voice was muffled in the bed and Unknown found himself having to stifle a laugh.

“I’m sorry.” He said softly, and she sighed.

“It’s not your fault.” She said quietly. “You don’t know.”

No shit, Unknown thought, but didn’t know how to respond. There was silence for a moment before she spoke again.

“Thank you for talking to me.” She said softly. “I know that this is confusing and hopefully I’m still here tomorrow.”

“What do you mean?” Unknown asked, leaning forward in his chair. She sighed again but didn’t respond to his question.

“Can you play along with me for a moment?” She asked.

“I can do that.” Unknown said.

“I love you, Saeran. Goodnight.” She said softly. He froze, but managed to get his next words out.

“I love you too, Storm. Goodnight.” Unknown’s tongue felt thick in his mouth, but the pleased noise she made indicated that he had played correctly. He sat there, listening to the soft snores over the phone.

What the fuck was happening, and why did it all revolve around Storm?

Chapter Text

Storm woke up with a pounding head the next morning, unsure if she should have any regrets from the night before. Her mouth was overly dry, but she needed to check her phone before she did anything else. Please let her not have sent anything to anyone.

She paused for a moment, realizing that she was in her bed. Not in the middle of the sidewalk, holding a phone. Even if she had sent anything, it hadn’t been bad enough to trigger a reset.

She sat up in her bed, finally thumbing through her phone. There wasn’t anything there. She pursed her lips slightly realizing that that ultimately meant nothing in the end.

Unknown could delete anything he wanted that the universe didn’t deem necessary for her to have.

She sighed, deciding that since the universe hadn’t screwed her over yet today, she might as well plan ahead. After a quick shower and a painkiller, she plopped down on the couch, notebook in her hand. Day 5 was quickly approaching, and she had to decide what she was going to do.

After a reset, there was a period of five days before problems regarding a specific member the RFA began to arise. She still wasn’t positive why the universe decided that she was the one that would solve the problem, but here she was. Again. And again. And again.

She began to write down the names of the RFA members, leaving V off. He had always been absent in this timeline, and she knew that he was too entrenched in Rika’s bullshit at this point for her to reach him. Two years could really fuck a person up.

She began to create pros and cons, trying to figure out which member would have the least negatives in the end.

While Yoosung would be the easiest to get through, the carefree boy would end up partially blind in one eye at best, and if she fucked up he’d end up as a slave to Mint Eye. She frowned, moving on but keeping him on the back burner.

Jaehee was an excellent choice, she thought. The café and the freedom and confidence that Jaehee always wanted and deserved were hers to have. Storm tapped her pencil on the notebook, frown on her face. Everyone fared well if she went with Jaehee. Everyone but Jumin. He went a little off the rails and it took Storm until she ended up with him that she realized why. He was being abandoned, and no one could see.

She didn’t even bother thinking hard about Saeyoung before crossing his name off. V ended up dead, Rika in Alaska, and near everyone in the group unstable. The most was revealed, Saeran was brought back to the light, but at the cost of so much.

As ironic as it was, Jumin or Zen were the best options. No one ended up dead, no one ended up emotionally or physically destroyed. It’d be perfect. If it wasn’t for her.

As she thought about it, Storm almost felt liked crying. She couldn’t be what they needed. Zen would let her use him, accepting whatever little drops she gave him, and Jumin’s love was all encompassing, taking even when she could give back.

She still loved them all too much to hurt them the way she would.

Her phone rang, and she answered immediately, deciding to avoid the train of thought that she was going down.

“What are you doing?” Unknown’s voice filtered through the phone. She wasn’t sure why he was calling, but there was a softness to his voice that made her want to tease him.

“Making a shipping chart.” She said lightly.

“What?” Storm had to stop herself from laughing at the utter confusion in his voice and she continued.

“Yup. I’m too close to becoming a spinster and have decided to choose one of the RFA members as a future partner.” She said calmly, acting as if she was writing in her notebook again.

“You don’t need to do that.” Unknown said bluntly.

“Mm. I think that Yoosung could be a good choice.” She hedged.

“A child with a gaming addiction.” Unknown bristled. She had to stop herself from reminding him that he was only a year older than Yoosung but continued with her teasing.

“Zen then? He’s cute.” She suggested.

“Narcissist.” She snorted slightly.

“Jumin? I’d be set for life.”

“Money isn’t a personality.” Unknown spat out. She made a note to herself that she’d have to introduce them eventually. He and Jumin had made good friends in the last timeline she had been in, and considering how they both needed as many good friends as they could have.

“Jaehee? She’s supportive.” She offered.

“You like women?” Unknown asked, surprise in his tone.

“I like both.” She told him lightly. She honestly hadn’t realized it until Jaehee, but that didn’t change the fact that she had indeed fallen in love with another women. Time resets would never change that, nor the number of times they’d ended up “locked” in the storage closet at the café.

“Still. She’s married to her work.” Unknown found a different excuse and she couldn’t help but laugh. For a moment, she wanted to bring up Saeyoung, but decided that it ultimately wouldn’t end well.

“So? What do you suggest then? We run away together?” She asked. There was silence from the other side of the phone and she hesitated for a moment. “Hello?”

“We could.” Unknown said quietly. She blinked in surprise, almost pulling the phone away to check that she was still talking to Unknown. And then he spoke again. “But I’d have a condition.”

“Which would be?” She asked, unsure what was going on or where this was headed.

“You know more than you’re supposed to.” Unknown told her, and she felt ice go down her spine as he spoke. “I want to know how. Tell me what you know, Storm.”

Chapter Text

"Tell you what I know?" She asked after a long moment of silence. Her mind was scrambling, trying to figure out what she'd already managed to tell him and how the hell a reset hadn't managed to be triggered. "I know the sky is blue and-"

"Don't bullshit me." Unknown cut her off, anger seeping into his tone. "You know where the cameras are. You know my name. You know his name. You keep gaining access to me no matter how many times I cut you off. How are you doing this?"

"To be fair, I don't know how that last one is happening either." She defended herself. She then sighed lightly, pinching the bridge of her nose as her hangover headache hit her again at full force. "Listen. I... might have said some things last night. Don't take it to heart. Ramblings of a drunk and all that."

"You're lying to me. I heard the pain in your voice. You can tell me. I won't tell anyone." Unknown said, gently. Needling her to continue. To share everything with him.

She couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her.

"Oh, honey. You're such a liar." She couldn't stop herself. She had known Saeran and loved him for so long, meaning she also knew how his brain worked. 

He was dependent to the point of obsessive, especially at this point in his life. She couldn't blame him, given the people in his life. First his mother, his brother, then Rika, and eventually her. They had worked on it together, getting him to the point where he wasn't afraid that she would disappear on him anytime she went out on a girls night. 

"Excuse me?" Unknown sounded afronted, and she didn't stop herself from laughing this time.

"I know the moment I say anything, whether it be RFA related or what you want right now, it's going to be funneled right back to your dear Savior." She said, unable to keep stop her mocking tone as she said the title. In all of the resets, all of the time she spent in the other woman's presence, she'd never come to have any form of fondness for her. Even less so after the last loop.

Her head pulsed again, and she knew she was about to make a poor decision, but she wanted nothing more than to get off the phone with him. 

"Listen. As much as I'm enjoying this conversation, I'm not telling you anything as long as it's going to get back to her. When you wanna talk without her involved, we'll get there. Until then, we're at an impass and I need a nap." 

There was silence on the other side of the phone, and she knew that he was debating whether or not he wanted to push. Finally, there was a click. She sighed, laying down on the couch, shipping chart entirely abandoned at this point. Day 5 was coming up and at this point? She really didn't care.

Chapter Text

Storm woke up the morning of Day 5 to... nothing. No Echo Girl. No Sarah Choi. No text from Seven telling her she'd done such a bad job at being an RFA member that they were cutting her off. Nothing. 

She skimmed through the RFA chat logs, the conversations familer even though they were new. 

New?

The thought sent her heart racing. It was new! For the first time in God knows how long that something new had happened. She giggled with every response she sent barely managing to stop herself from becoming hysterical. There was hope for moving forward. 

The chat room came to a stop and she stood, stretching her arms up over her head as she opened Seven's contact and called.

"God 707 at you call!" Seven answered brightly and his cheerful voice boosted her own elevated mood.

"Hello, God 707! Just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving the apartment. Need some celebration snacks." She said brightly. 

"Something good happening?" He asked her, smile in his voice. 

"Things are looking up." She said, unable to fully share her good news, but the hope was radiating from her.

"That's good." Seven said, fondness in his voice. There was silence for a moment when something seemed to dawn on Seven. "Wait. Have you not left the apartment in since the first day you were there?"

"Well, yeah. I got the stuff I needed from my apartment and let my job know I needed to take a leave of absence." She said absently, collecting the things she needed for her day out and placing them in her bag.

"You're not a prisoner. You can leave. I told you that." Seven said quietly.

"Yeah, well." She hesitated for a moment, unsure how much of what she knew that she could share. A small hint then. "I know there's a security system for the apartment. I just don't know how... explosive it can be."

"Ah." Even the typing stopped on the other side of the phone. 

"So I think I'll just keep letting you know when I leave. Though I'm not sure why I'm staying here in the first place." She said, the thought crossing her own mind.

"Data... protection? There's also information in the apartment that Rika used as planner." Seven said, clearly trying to also figure out why she was in the apartment.

"I was told not to open any drawers either." She reminded him.

"Huh." 

"Anyway, it made sense at the time? You guys didn't exactly trust me and I did kinda show up out of nowhere." She said, trying to assure Seven that, yes, it did make sense to trap an unknown woman in an apartment with a bomb. That as far as they knew, she didn't know about.

"I'm gonna... make some adjustments to the security system while you're out." Seven said, serious for once. 

"Sounds good. I'll let you know when I'm headed back." She said with a smile. This was also new. So much new and so much she could work with.

And what was definitely new was the hand that grabbed her sleeve as she contemplated the case of ice cream in front of her.

She jumped in surprise, looking over to see Unknown standing there, hood up and mask on, fingers clenched around her sleeve despite the uncertainty radiating from his stance.

"Can... can we talk?" He asked, barely making eye contact.

She smiled softly at him. He was shifting, coming back to her.

"Sure." She said lightly, and to his surprise, handed him her shopping basket. "But first, what ice cream do you want?"

Chapter Text

She had no shame in admitting that she abandoned her groceries. Her celebration for something new could wait, unlike the man that was holding onto her sleeve.

"Ice... cream?" Unknown looked at her in confusion, clearly not having expected her offer.

"Or we can hold off. Until after the talk. Or later." She fumbled with her words. The high of seeing him in a mundane setting was quickly going away. This wasn't her Saeran and they weren't doing their weekly shopping. This was Unknown.

"Yeah. Let's do that." He said shortly. And with that, he turned, walking towards the exit without letting go of her. 

They ended up in a nearby park, the cloudy overhead preventing more people from being out. He pulled her to a park bench and settled down with her following suit. The silence sat between them until she finally spoke.

"Sooo what do we need to talk about?" She asked. 

"The Savior isn't happy with how things are progressing." He said, staring forward rather than looking at her. She had to stop herself from barking out a laugh.

"Oookaaay. What exactly did she expect me to have done in the four days I've been here, building a relationship with the RFA from scratch?" She asked him. Irritation briefly flashed across his face, but he continued.

"She wants me to bring you in to Magenta and have you take the elixir." 

"And what do you want to do?" She asked him. This had happened before with his feelings about her versus his need to follow the Savior. She wasn't positive on how he currently felt about her, but giving him agency was the best thing she could do.

"What do I wanna do...?" He trailed off for a moment before dropping his head into his hands and screaming. "Fuck!"

"Whoa!" She jumped at his exclamation, and then he finally looked at her, those green eyes blazing. 

"I hate you. So fucking much." He gritted out. Her eyes grew wide at his statement, but made no move to say anything.

"Where do you get off screwing with my head like this? You were supposed to be nothing. No one. Just like you've always been. Someone I could slot into that silly little charity and use." His words stung. It had been so long since she'd been that nobody, but everything came rushing to the surface.

"But then you call my name. You act like you know me. You know more about what's going on than you ever should. You look at me like I'm... I don't even know." Unknown struggled to find his words at this point. But regardless, he pressed on. "And then! You look like your heart is breaking. Every single time I push back. I'm not him! Not whoever the fuck you think I am."

"I know." She said quietly. His words halted. She looked away from him and his glare. "I know. But I also know who you were, and who you can be."

She looked him in the eyes, taking his hand in hers. "I don't wanna give that up. I look at you like you are loved. Because you are. That's just how it is. I'm learning the differences. I'm trying not to misstep."

His hand clenched around hers, and for a moment, he looked like he was about to cry.

"Why. Why do you keep trying?"

She looked back up at him, smile soft on her face. 

"Like I said. Maybe it's destiny."