Work Text:
"Why did it go so wrong?"
You stare at your screen as you try to register what's happening. Micah continues to talk to Skrunkly, unable to hear your frantic pleas for him to listen to you. Tears begin to well up in your eyes as you desperately typed various messages in hopes that he'd allow you chat permissions again.
Loser: Micah?? I'm sorry, I didn't mean it I promise.
Loser: I really was joking I would never not want you around me
Loser: I like you so much please don't be upset
Loser: micah please im so sorry
Loser: please respond?
Several more messages were typed to no avail. Eventually, Micah left the video call, leaving you with a blank screen. Tears are streaming down your face, almost becoming a small puddle on your desk as you remain hunched over your keyboard. You had almost given up trying to apologize to Micah before a thought hit you.
If he could find your address, then surely you could find his.
You may have placed second in the CTF competition but you certainly weren't a beginner at hacking. Though you had never attempted to find someone's exact location through these kinds of methods, this was your last resort and there truly was nothing to lose by trying.
However, with your lack of experience in tracking people down, this task proved to be difficult. First of all, Micah had practically shut down all of your permissions in the app, and, secondly, you had no idea where to start. Despair was slowly taking over you again and you looked to your phone's camera roll collection of images of Micah to console yourself.
Suddenly, you notice something in the background of his room you hadn't paid much mind to beforehand. A limited edition dinosaur plush. It was sitting right below his Catzilla poster and a recent memory comes to you.
You remember seeing the plush on social media a few months ago and wanting one for yourself. However, upon further research, you found that they were only sold at a specific location at a very limited time, and the only way most people would've gotten one is if they lived close to the location where they sold it. Perhaps you wouldn't need to hack Micah's computer after all.
Getting a sudden spark of hope, you quickly Google images of the sale in hopes that Micah will be visible in one of the photos.
Please. Please. Please. Please.
And by some miracle, you see him. Not only do you see him in an image, but he was also interviewed for a news segment during the first day the plush became available, in which he was asked about his thoughts during the sale. And his smile holding that plush melted you.
"Was it hard driving all the way here during a rush? I hear the traffic was horrific!"
"Hm? No, actually!" Micah turns, pointing behind him towards an apartment building, "I live just right over there. You can even see my purple LED lights from the window!"
Lo and behold, you've found him.
You've found him.
You had begged a friend for a ride to the plane, booking a ticket almost immediately after you found the address of the building and the exact apartment room that Micah was staying in. It wasn't close to the airport in Micah's city by any means but you had downloaded Uber recently, and that was enough reassurance for you to board the plane.
On the ride, you start nervously shaking. In your haste, the only thing you brought was your phone and the clothes on your body. If you failed to find Micah, how were you gonna get back? Most of the money you had right now was in a savings account and the rest that was available to you wasn't necessarily enough for a plane ride back, especially on such short notice. Staring out of the window seemed to help a bit to calm your nerves. The sky was bright with few clouds and the weather seemed to be the complete opposite of your current, depressed mood.
Time seems to go by slowly on the plane. Your brain is filled with thoughts about what to say to Micah if or when you see him and you can't risk using your phone at the moment in case it dies before you can order an Uber considering you forgot to charge it before departing.
As your plane lands, much to your dismay, thoughts continue to race through your head.
Do I apologize first? How will I tell him how I found him? I have nowhere to go, would he let me stay? What if he kicks me out without even letting me speak? Will he even listen to me?
As soon as your feet are back on solid land, you order an Uber to Micah's apartment which seems to come far too quickly for you to prepare yourself for the conversation that's going to happen soon.
You blank out during the Uber ride, ignoring the small talk that the driver is trying to make in favor of looking up a Wikihow on how to apologize to someone on your phone.
You zone back in once you realize you've carried yourself out of the car, through the apartment's front doors, and now have landed yourself right at the front desk. The woman sitting behind the counter looks at you, almost judgingly, though you can't necessarily blame her considering you don't look the most put together at the moment with all the times you've ran your hands through your hair from stress.
"Hey, sweetheart. You can't go past here without your keys unless I can confirm you live here."
Fuck. You had forgotten that you'd need to get past security.
You start to get nervous, messing with your fingers and looking around anxiously trying to think of an excuse. Behind the woman, you spot a fast food bag. Not just any bag, but one with Micah Yujin's name splayed on it.
Before she can say another word, your confidence increases. "I'm Micah's girlfriend." You gulp down any remaining anxiety. "He texted me that he was sick and couldn't get out of bed so he wanted me to come over and get his food for him."
Though your acting skills were minimal, relief washes over you as you watch the worker's face become softer.
"Oh, shoot, yeah. That explains why this has been sitting here for a few hours. I don't know Micah that well but he usually grabs his food almost immediately after it arrives." She grabs the bag from behind her, handing it to you before gesturing for you to be on your way. "The elevator closest to his apartment room is on the left by the way. It can be a maze of sorts in here."
You give her a smile before departing to hopefully find Micah.
You had been standing in front of Micah's apartment for almost 20 minutes.
Suddenly, from inside, you hear a small crash.
"Ahh, Skrunkly, why didn't you wake me up? My burger came hours ago!"
You hear footsteps and you brace yourself, waiting for the door to open.
The look on Micah's face, one full of shock and wonder, is almost enough to make you burst into laughter despite the butterflies in your stomach. Examining his face more, you realize that Micah's puffy and red eyes mirror yours.
After a minute of silence, Micah finally opens his mouth to speak.
"How did you find me? Actually, no, how did you get in here?"
"Your security is really lax."
Your response seems to leave your mouth almost immediately and you become flustered. Looking down, you realize there's nothing ion your person but your phone and the fast food you stole from the front desk.
"I..." You pause, having nothing to say. Everything you rehearsed on the plane and during the Uber ride seem like excuses now that you're standing in front of the person you were going to say it to.
You tear up again, feeling foolish for coming all the way here and then freezing up in front of the person you care most about.
"I..." you take a breath, "I'd rather die than live without you, Micah."
Micah's face scrunches up, eyes welling with tears alongside yours and he pulls you in for a tight hug.
"I can't leave you anytime soon, Micah. My phone is dead and my bank account is borderline empty now."
"You can stay here for as long as you need, angel."