Chapter Text
Seven was tired.
He was tired of having to pretend all the time. Tired of having to do the same work over and over again even if it means nothing in the end.
He just wanted it all to be over.
He's tried a lot of different ways to change things after the first few resets. He tried to find out who the hacker was early on, though he was left with blanks and by the time he even got remotely close, everything reset. He tried to drive MC out of the RFA and it worked for a short time, but it only forced an early reset. He's tried all these things yet he's failed time and time again. He's tried everything short of killing himself. Not that he hasn't contemplated that before. Sure he had been depressed before all this started, but now he was teetering on the edge. There was only so much he could take before he broke.
He wished for the day that the resets would be no more. He didn't even care if MC was romantically involved with anyone in the RFA anymore. The crush on her had been fleeting, during the first run through. After getting his heart broken the first few times, his heart grew cold towards MC. He got it in his head that she was the cause of the resets, and in turn, it made him loathe her. It all seemed to center around her after all. Anytime something happens to her, whether she finally gets with one of the other RFA members or if she gets taken by the unknown hacker, everything resets. It all revolves around her.
Saeyoung had actually attempted to interrogate her, going off about all the resets and months he's been stuck remembering everything, but that just seemed to freak her out and make her think that he was some sort of insane weirdo. But even that didn't matter. She forgot what he said after that reset.
After that, he never attempted to tell anyone about this. No one would believe him anyway. Even if they did, they'd just forget as soon as the eleven days were up.
Seven was all alone. Even more so than when he first started hacking for the agency he worked for.
At one point, he had actually stopped doing work for the agency, just to see what would happen. Obviously, the agency wasn't happy, and neither was Vanderwood. At that point, he decided to just drive away for a bit, destroying everything in hopes that maybe, just maybe, he could start fresh without an agency breathing down his neck and without the worries of the RFA on his shoulders. He had stopped caring about the RFA at that point. Sure he still cared about his friends, but his responsibilities? Not so much. Not when it wouldn't matter in the end.
Just when he thought he was finally free from his shackles, he woke up after the eleventh day back in his room in front of his supposedly destroyed computers. He had been incredibly angry at that point.
He had been frustrated, incredibly so.
Time after time, attempt after attempt, nothing would change.
It was like his own personal hell.
In the end, he grew tired. He kept track of how many cycles he's been through, how many times he's been sent back to the beginning.
20 cycles.
That's 220 days he's been stuck in this loop. It's almost been an entire year at this point. It was honestly a miracle that he hasn't gone insane yet, truly insane. He was definitely a bit off his rocker, more so than he usually was. He no longer had a sense of self-preservation. He no longer cared if anyone was in danger either. It didn't matter if everything was just going to reset.
Every day felt like a chore to him. Once he figured out that nothing he does will change anything, he just fell into a routine of doing his work at fast speeds, faster than he's ever done anything since he already knew what he needed to do, and relaxing, just waiting for the reset day. Vanderwood would usually be angry, thinking he was just lazing around until Saeyoung would say he already finished all the work the agency gave him. It would usually leave Vanderwood looking all flustered before leaving, and it was kind of funny to Saeyoung for a bit.
On the last day of the 20th cycle, the day of the party which Saeyoung always begrudgingly attended, he saw MC, the same as always, right next to Jaehee. It wasn't the worst route to go through. Honestly, it was probably one of the best ones. One without heartbreak or even romance to begin with. Just friendship and support. Not that Seven cared anymore. MC was just another face to him, a cause for his grief.
And at the end of the day, after the party wrapped up, he woke back up in his room at midnight, out of his party attire and back in his usual fit.
Seven sighed, running his face and smudging his glasses in the process. Whatever.
He was sitting in front of his screens, opening up the RFA app to begin chatting, using the same lines he usually would. Everything was still the same. Saeyoung mentioned that someone joined the chat, everyone freaked out, MC said hello, everyone freaked out even more until Seven said she was a girl, then suddenly everyone was fine. Well, they still had their suspicions, but not as many.
The chat soon wrapped up with MC joining the RFA once again.
Seven sighed, closing out the app once the chat ended and everyone left. It was only the first day, yet he was already so drained. He honestly just wanted to go back to sleep and never wake up again. That would be better than doing the same thing over and over again.
He closed his eyes for a moment, not bothering to do anything else. What was the point? Was there even a reason that this was happening? Or was the world playing a cruel trick on him? He wouldn't know either way, and he doubted that he'd find out. No hacker in the world could ever figure this out.
He was pretty much out of it until a ping sound caught his attention. He shifted slightly in his seat, grabbing his phone and seeing that he got a notification from the RFA app. He usually would get notifications from Zen or Yoosung pretty quickly after the beginning, so he didn't find anything weird about it. At least, not until he opened it.
MC: We need to talk.
Seven's hands froze over the keyboard on his phone. He read the text over once more, maybe thrice more. Was he reading that right? Did MC really text him? She usually never texts first. It wasn't a part of the script. And on the first day too?
He was unsure of what to do. For the first time in months, he didn't know what to expect. It was. . . strange to say the least. He wasn't even the one who instigated it.
707: About?
His hands shook as he typed.
MC: The resets .
Seven's heart felt like it ceased all function. Was this it? Did she remember? This had never happened before. He didn't know what to think. He didn't even know what to type.
He was hesitant for too long because MC typed again.
MC: Saeyoung?
She knew his name. His real name. This wasn't some sort of joke, was it?
707: What do you know about all this?
MC: Well for one, I know you've been remembering the resets. And I'm not MC.
Seven's eyes widened at the admittance. Not MC? But how did they know what to say in the chatroom? It was word for word what MC would usually say.
707: Who are you then? Why is this happening?
MC: I'm from reality.
707: Reality?
This was ridiculous. Were they saying that this wasn't reality? That couldn't possibly be true. But. . . after everything that's happened, it wouldn't be the most far-fetched thing he's experienced. After all, his life was constantly being reset. Who's to say his world actually didn't exist?
MC: What you're in is a game. A game where your life resets every eleven days. I'm from a reality where your life is a game. I'm a computer science major from the US and decided to mess around with the code a little bit and found that, well, you're sentient. Your AI is unlike anything I've ever seen. And I wanna help you out.
Seven blinked. He was trying to process everything. Was this real? Well, according to them he wasn't. But could they really help him?
707: How?
MC: That's where you come in. You're more computer savvy than I am, so I'm gonna try to bring you over to my reality. With all the weird things in your code, it shouldn't be impossible.
Seven rubbed his temple, feeling a headache flaring up. Was this really happening? Was this some sort of cruel prank? God, he didn't know what to do. He's been stuck in a cycle for months, so this was a godsend for him. Like someone was finally answering his pleas.
So why did he feel so sick to his stomach?
MC: I know all this sounds crazy, but trust me.
Trust.
He was in over his head.
707: Okay. I,,,
707: I'll trust you.
MC: Thanks for trusting me :D
Seven snorted a little at the emoji. It was. . . refreshing after all this serious talking.
MC: I'll text you again once I figure all this out. I can't really text in the chatrooms tho because all that comes up are predetermined responses.
707: Okay, got it.
MC: I'm looking forward to meeting you in person ^^
707: same here
And with that, the conversation ended.
Seven leaned back in his seat, looking up at the ceiling. Did that really just happen? It seemed like an impossibility, like this was all just some far off dream. But looking back at the conversation, he knew it actually happened. All he had to do now was wait.
And wait he did.
In the time it took waiting for the text, he spent it staring at the words MC (not MC, he reminded himself) had sent. It seemed so improbable, but the texts were there and weren't going away. He almost felt a sort of existential dread as he pondered over the words.
Reality, she (he? they?) had said. It was a foreign concept to him, not quite understanding what she meant by that. The fact that she claimed that he was just code in a game was mind-boggling to him. At the time, he had taken it easily as an explanation, but the more he thought about it, the more this sort of fear built up in him. Were his experiences just facilitated by some company to make a profit? Was he put in an unfavorable situation just to entertain the masses? Why did it have to be him stuck in a constant loop of remembering everything, of knowing everything is pointless since it all just reset back to the beginning of the eleven days?
These thoughts and questions plagued him as he played along with his friends, pretending to know nothing about the hacker while making jokes as he usually did. The responses were the same, as the texts mentioned they would be. He stared at MC's dialogue, trying to catch at least a hint of the person behind the persona, but the words were exactly the same as all the other times, though they seemed to be leaning more towards Zen, responding to every one of his texts with enthusiasm. Honestly, seeing MC respond with thirsty texts made him wonder how MC was even a real person, especially with how her personality could switch within a fraction of a second. It made him think of how obvious it was that MC wasn't quite a real person. Or if she was, she was under a stricter script than any of the other RFA members.
It took two days until (not) MC texted him again. By then, he was already beginning to grow antsy wondering when she'd finally get back to him. For a short moment, he had been afraid that it was too good to be true. That the moment she texted him was just some cosmic joke made for his misery. He couldn't help the breath of relief he let out when she actually, finally, texted him. He felt like an anxious teen who just confessed to his crush.
MC: I've got everything prepared. You ready?
Seven looked over the texts and then at the chatrooms that had been opened between the two days MC was MIA. He had texted everyone like normal, and MC's responses were just like she said they would be. Preprogrammed.
He didn't speak a word of what happened to anyone. He didn't even say a single goodbye. He didn't know if he'd be back, if ever. But he needed to do this. He needed to.
707: I'm ready.
MC: Okay. Uhm. Be prepared if it shocks you or something.
"Shocks?" Seven mumbled before he was hit with what was probably the worst pain he's felt in the last year. Not the worst pain ever, but it was definitely up there next to hiding from guards in a confined space with no food or water and broken bones.
He gripped his heart, feeling like thousands of needles were pricking into his skin. He'd take Vanderwood's taser over this any day. He stumbled out of his seat, his legs feeling like jelly as he reached out for something, anything that can stop the pain.
Why did he trust this person? What were they doing to him? Was he dying?
Thoughts rushed through his head as he felt himself falling apart at the seams. A scream tore through his throat, but no sound came out. A silent scream. His vision was growing blurry, but he could see his finger tips shifting into a blue hue, breaking into pieces as they floated up towards the ceiling.
It hurt so much.
It was funny though. He's been wanting an out so badly, and here it was. If it didn't hurt so much, he would've appreciated the fact that he wouldn't be stuck in a loop anymore, that something new was going to happen. But it hurt too much to even think despite him somehow still being on his feet.
The door burst open at that moment, Vanderwood entering the room with an irritated expression on his face. "Zero Seven, you've been slacking on your work again. The agency's been up my ass and- What the fuck!?"
Now this was comedic timing.
"Haaa. . ." Seven breathed, an amused but pained expression. He could feel his face begin to deconstruct. "Bye bye, Vanderwood."
Seven couldn't hear what Vanderwood said after that, because he was all gone by the time he did.
Finally, he felt nothing.
______
The reconstruction wasn't nearly as painful as the deconstruction. His sight came back quickly, though he felt like he had double vision. He was rather dizzy and felt like he was going to throw up, but he managed to hold it back. His legs were all buttery and failed to support his weight as he wobbled back and forth until he collapsed onto his knees with a heavy breath.
He felt hands on him, steadying him, and he reached out blindly to find balance.
"Hey, you're okay. You're okay," he heard a soothing voice reassure him.
His eyes, unfocused, tried to focus on where the voice was coming from. He was incredibly disoriented, though he thought he could see a flash of brown hair.
"MC?" he questioned weakly, sounding unsure of himself.
But it seemed like he had used up the last of his energy, because right after he said that, he lost consciousness.
______________
Seven woke up in a room that wasn't his own. He blinked warily, trying to get rid of the spots in his vision. He sat up slowly, not feeling any pain anywhere, but he did have one hell of a headache and nausea.
He rubbed his temple before realizing he didn't have his glasses on. He glanced around, seeing their blurry shape on the bedside table. He took them and slid them on, his vision immediately improving.
Now that he could see, he took the time to glance around the room. It just looked like a normal bedroom, though pretty personalized.
There was the standard closet and dresser, plus a desk with a computer on it, but there were wads of paper cluttering the desk along with what looked like multiple diagrams and such. The walls were filled with posters of bands and references Seven couldn't identify, so he didn't bother looking at those anymore. On the dresser, there seemed to be a lot of makeup scattered around along with bottles of perfume, so Seven could only assume that this was a girl's room. Unless this person was a crossdresser like he did sometimes.
Right as Seven was about to get up to look for the person who brought him here, the door opened, revealing the figure of a young lady, probably younger than he was.
She seemed a little surprised that he was awake. "Oh, hey! It's good to see that you're awake. I've got some water and Tylenol if you're still in any pain."
She wandered over to him, handing over the water and pills, but Seven didn't take them just yet, his eyes stuck on her face.
She wasn't MC. In fact, the flash of brown hair had been his vision messing with him. This person had short black hair with what looked to be blonde underneath. It was choppily cut, probably not done by a hairdresser. And her eyes. . . her eyes were a deep forest green, not the hazel that MC had. Did MC have hazel eyes? He couldn't actually remember. They were probably hazel.
"Seven? Are you okay?"
Her question brought him out of his thoughts. "A-Ah, yeah," he mumbled, a little flustered as he took the pills and water, swallowing the pills and drowning them out with the drink. "Thanks."
"No problem," she hummed.
There were so many questions that Seven wanted to ask her, but they were all jumbled up inside his head. But even having these questions was a relieving break to the cycle as they're new, never having had these questions before. He tried to think of one to ask, but it was just the simplest one that came out of his mouth.
"What's your name?"
Not MC seemed a bit surprised by his question, and. . . was that embarrassment?
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, didn't I?" she laughed a bit awkwardly. "I'm Raine."
"Raine. . ." he echoed, the new name on his tongue tingling a bit. His face broke out into a bit of a smile. "Cute."
She waved him off. "It's whatever." He was about to retort when she spoke again. "So, you've probably got a lot of questions, right? I can't say I'll be able to answer them all, but I'll try my best to."
Seven took a moment to think. Raine sat on the edge of the bed, looking at him expectantly as he wracked his brain for an understandable and literate question. "Who. . . Who are you? 'Cause I'm pretty sure a CompSci major can't just. . . t-transport people from a- a game to reality."
He really didn't mean to stutter. He was just having a hard time understanding just how one person managed to do this. Was it magic? Was this reality just more advanced than his own?
He's had these thoughts ever since Raine had messaged him when he was back in his own world. It honestly gave him an existential crisis during the two days he had to wait. It was the reason Vanderwood had burst into his room. He had just stopped doing his work. It wasn't like it would've mattered since, well, he wouldn't be there any longer.
"Yeah, you're right. It should be impossible," she agreed, which just confused Seven even more. "But. . . this is something that I've never seen before. Your code was. . . well. . ." It seemed like she was having a difficult time explaining just what was so different about his coding. "I'll just have to show you."
Raine gestured over to his computer, which now he noticed her phone was plugged into. He began to get up but stumbled, Raine catching him before he fell. "I guess my legs still aren't awake," he laughed.
Raine snorted. "Side effects probably."
With Raine's help, he managed to make it to the office chair that was sitting in front of the desk. He sat down with a huff as Raine pulled up the files on some sort of app called Mystic Messenger. There were many lines of code filling the page, most of which Seven understood considering, well, he was a hacker. This was obviously programming to a game, specific inputs and dialogue that branch off into different responses. He recognized the dialogue too, it having been drilled into his head since cycle one.
Raine scrolled down, the code becoming a blur until she stopped at one specific part. Seven furrowed his brows, leaning forward a little as he looked at the screen. It was incomprehensible, symbols that shouldn't even be possible in coding. Or on a computer in general. It reminded him of viruses that he would use to infect other people's computers with, though this was on a completely different level. He understood now why Raine couldn't even begin to explain it in words.
"What the hell. . ." he muttered, trying to understand what he was looking at.
"That's what I thought too when I first saw it," Raine hummed, leaning over Saeyoung's shoulder. He could feel the tips of her hair lightly brushing against his neck. It tickled. "It took me like, five months to even figure out some of what the symbols meant. And using that, I managed to bring you here."
"I. . . I'll need to look into this a bit. If it can fix everything that's going wrong in my world, then I'll figure it out," Seven said rather confidently, though a pain shot through his head right after he finished his sentence. He clutched the sides of his head, hissing a little bit.
"Shit, are you okay?" Raine asked with concern lacing her voice, putting a hand on Seven's shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just- it's just a headache," he reassured her.
"Maybe. . ." She bit her lip. "Maybe we should worry about this later. Just to make sure you aren't suffering from any adverse effects."
"But wouldn't it be better if we got this done faster? What about my friends? The RFA? Hell, everyone?" he questioned, sounding pretty worried. Now that he knew things could be fixed, he was determined to see it through.
"I checked the code while the game was up and running after you passed out. It's basically completely frozen, at a stand still or something. So technically, we've got plenty of time to work on it," she reassured.
Seven frowned. It didn't sit right with him, not having to work right away on something. Though maybe it was because he was used to being rushed.
"In the meantime, how about lunch? Are you hungry?"
He was about to say no, that he had eaten earlier, but his stomach growled, basically giving him away. He actually hadn't eaten anything but Honey Buddha Chips and PhD Pepper in days. Even before the cycles began, he rarely ate home cooked meals or even takeout.
Raine laughed a little and his face flushed a bit. "I guess that answers my question. C'mon, I'll make you something good."
She helped him up, his legs still a bit wobbly but after a few steps, he regained his strength and managed to start walking on his own.
She led him to a seat at the kitchen table. The kitchen itself was fairly quaint, not all too big but had enough space to move around without bumping into anything.
"So, got any more questions?" she asked with a hum, taking a few ingredients out of the fridge after she had put on a clean apron.
Seven thought for a moment before he spoke. "What kind of game was it? The game I was in, that is."
"Oh, uhm, it was a dating sim."
Seven snorted. "A dating sim? Now that you mention it, that does make sense." After having watched MC fall for literally everyone else except him, it made sense that it was a dating game. Had he just not been a viable option? "How much do you know about it?"
"A lot, actually. I've researched everything about it as soon as I played through it once and found the weird code."
"So you know my backstory then? And everything about the multiple ways the routes can go?"
"Yeah, pretty much everything."
"So you know who the unknown hacker is?" he probed.
Raine paused in the middle of chopping an onion. "Uh, yeah. I do."
"Who is it then?" Seven inquired. He didn't know why she hesitated when she responded.
"It's, uh. . . I don't know if I should tell you just yet."
"Why not?" That was a little frustrating. "It's not like I can do anything about it right now anyway. Plus it's just a game, right?"
"To me it's just a game. But that's your world and it exists to you," Raine hummed, going back to chopping. "I just. . . don't want you to get too upset over it."
"I won't get upset. Just tell me. Please?" he said with a little pout. He pulled out the polite please card. Now she had to tell him.
"Promise you won't get upset?"
"Promise."
Raine sighed lightly, throwing what she cut up into a pot that she had filled with chicken broth. She then turned, facing Saeyoung. She actually looked pretty cute with her sleeves rolled up and that cute apron she had that read "Gimme cupcakes meow".
"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you," she frowned. "The hacker is your brother. Saeran."
Seven's eyes widened. "Sae-Saeran!?" Now this was an unforeseen circumstance. Even if he spent a hundred more cycles in his world, he doubted that he would've found that out on his own. He was honestly inclined to deny what Raine was saying. Saeran? His brother? A hacker? That couldn't possibly be. Saeran wasn't the type to hurt people. Hell, he was supposed to be safe. V was supposed to be keeping him safe!
"Yeah." Somehow her frown grew. "It was Rika who started everything. Her mind isn't right. She faked her death, started a cult, and basically kidnapped and brainwashed your brother to work for her. And V was too lovesick to see through the horrible things she's done."
Seven's face was one of shock, confusion, betrayal, and basically just a whole mix of negative emotions. "Rika? But. . . that's impossible. She's dead!" He just couldn't understand it. He stared down at his clench fists which had been resting on the table, an indecipherable expression on his face. "Rika wouldn't do something like that, she wouldn't! She-She saved me and Saeran, gave him a better life and gave me a second chance. There's no way. . ."
Was there?
Between V drifting from the RFA and constantly disappearing despite the danger the members faced, there was room for doubt, but Seven didn't want to admit it. He trusted V. He trusted Rika. He trusted them with his life. He trusted them to take care of Saeran. But if Raine was telling the truth and if Saeran was the unknown hacker. . . then Seven had no idea what to do. It wasn't like he could do anything about it in the reality he was in right now. His eyes widened.
"I gotta go back."
"What?" Raine's expression dropped drastically.
Seven stood up, his chair scraping against the ground, about to head back to Raine's computer to undo what she did to bring him here. "I've gotta save my brother."
"Now hold on a sec!" she exclaimed, grabbing him by the wrist and keeping him in place. "I know it's a lot to take in, but we can't do shit right now! Not when we don't know how to keep the resets from happening."
"B-But I can help him! I can't just sit around while he's suffering!" Seven shouted, anguish in his eyes as he yanked his arm away from Raine's grasp. "If I can get to him early on, then-"
"Then you'd have to keep doing it over and over again!" she rationalized, grabbing his whole arm this time to keep him from leaving. A tight-lipped frown had replaced whatever expression had been on her face, and her eyes were filled to the brim with concern. "If you really want to help him, then we've gotta figure out the reset situation first and why they keep happening, why your code is the only one that's different."
Seven stared her down, his face looking indecisive and his eyes flickering between her face and the space beside her head until he finally settled on a sigh. "Okay, no, you're right. I. . . I'm sorry. I got too ahead of myself."
There was a moment of silence between the duo until Seven received a swift flick on the forehead.
He made a surprised noise mixed with a slight hiss as he placed a hand where he had been struck. "What'd you do that for?!" he cried.
"You promised you wouldn't get upset yet you did," she exasperatedly sighed before turning to go back to her cooking, which was thankfully not burning or anything while she had been preoccupied. "Now sit down and wait for lunch like a good boy."
Saeyoung sighed and sat back down, resting his head on one of his hands as he pouted. He waited for approximately ten seconds before he began to ask questions again.
"So, since it's a dating game and all. . . who was your favorite?" he slyly grinned. Although he was still fairly upset at the news that the people he trusted were frauds, he just shoved those feelings down into the depths of his psyche to deal with later like he did with pretty much everything else.
Raine huffed. "Definitely not you anymore."
He sat up a bit at that. "Not anymore? What do you mean not anymore?" he whined. He didn't know that he was even an option. "I'm perfectly lovable! I'd make a great boyfriend! I give amazing hugs, am a great kisser, can steal money from literally every bank in the world, and can help you hide a body without leaving any tracks."
"Say that again once you read up on your info online," she snorted in response, turning her attention back to the soup she was making.
"My info's online?" Seven felt a chill of worry crawl up his spine until he remembered that here, he was just a fictional character from a game. He didn't have to worry about any agency tracking him down.
"Yeah, 'course it is. You're actually pretty popular, you know. Probably the most popular out of the whole RFA."
"I wonder why," Seven grinned, his ego inflating just a tad bit. No way was he that popular, right? If anything, he would've assumed that Zen would be the fan favorite considering he's, well. . . Zen. Probably the handsomest guy in existence, and that wasn't even an exaggeration. "Probably because of how charming I am."
"Or annoying and insistent."
"Hey, that's just mean!"
Raine chuckled a little at Saeyoung's protest. "Nah, but for real, it's probably because you're pretty funny. People like having a good laugh."
"So you admit I'm the funniest person alive!" He didn't know why he felt so victorious about that.
"I didn't say that."
"You implied it."
"I didn't imply shit."
"You implied it," he repeated.
Raine huffed and rolled her eyes, taking out two bowls and filling them up with the now finished soup.
She placed one of the bowls in front of Seven. It actually looked quite appetizing despite just being soup. It smelled heavenly as well.
"You should probably wait for it to cool down before y-"
Before she could even finish her sentence, Saeyoung took a sip from his spoon.
The pair stared each other straight in the eyes for a solid second, Saeyoung's eyes beginning to tear up. He immediately took the spoon out of his mouth and started fanning his mouth.
"It's so hot!"
"I told you to wait, dumbass!"
As upset as Raine was at Seven for not listening to her words, she couldn't help but laugh a little at how overdramatic he was being. Saeyoung looked over at her, his eyes slightly widening before he joined her in her laughter.
Maybe staying here for a while wouldn't be so bad.
_____
Adjusting hadn't been as difficult as Seven had anticipated. It probably should've been expected though considering how often his old work as an agent had him moving around constantly. But that didn't mean he was used to everything yet.
The USA was vastly different from Korea, obviously enough. The culture and customs were different as was the food and the looks of all the cities. Between working on figuring out the alien code that was implemented into his own code and getting used to everything, he had his work cut out for him. Luckily for him, however, he had no time constraint. It felt rather freeing in a way. And everything he was experiencing was new. So new. It was what he had always hoped for.
Raine wasn't a bad roommate either. She was smart, funny, and really knew how to cook. It was always nice trying out the meals she made considering he's rarely ever eaten American food. Not to mention that she was really cute, but he found himself holding off on that thought for some reason. Maybe because it would be weird, falling for the first girl he saw that wasn't MC, wasn't a part of the game he was in. Or maybe because he's never really allowed himself to drag anyone into his little bubble due to his occupation. But with his occupation currently being nonexistent, what was the harm in indulging his feelings?
Well, maybe it really wasn't such a good idea. If he jeopardized his plan on going back home by ruining his relationship with the only person who could help him, then all was lost. It wouldn't make sense to say anything anyways since she couldn't follow him back to Korea. He'd eventually need to go home after all, as much as he's dreading going back to his agency.
It had only been a little over a week later when he felt the strangest feeling in his gut, like something twisting with dread. It took him all day to figure out what it was, and by the time he realized what the feeling was, he began pacing circles around the living room.
It had been eleven days since he had arrived. Today was the eleventh day. It was like his body was conditioned to react when the eleventh day arrived, almost fearful that everything would just reset again and he'd end up right back in front of his computers in his home base. It was an irrational fear now that he was out, but what if it came true? What if this was all for nothing? What if, by some cruel trick, this whole encounter, this whole cycle, wasn't ever real?
Seven could feel himself beginning to spiral. He hadn't felt like this in a while, the last time being when he had been struggling to figure out how to stop the resets back when he hadn't met Raine.
He could feel his knees turning to jelly as he finally collapsed onto the sofa, watching his hands tremble in front of him. He was almost afraid that he'd see them begin deconstructing into blue ribbons, just as how it happened at the beginning. He couldn't go back. Not yet. Not when he hasn't figured out how to end the resets. Not when he still couldn't figure out how to save his brother.
He could feel his breathing growing tense as the clock ticked. It wasn't that late yet, maybe only ten or eleven at night. A reset wasn't likely to happen, but if it did, it was only a few hours away. A few hours he'd have to spend in fear.
His glasses were fogging up. He couldn't tell whether it was because he was sweating with anxiety or because he was crying. He'd rather it be neither. His skin felt all prickly, and every slight touch, every feeling, made him afraid that he was about to begin disintegrating into nothing. He wanted that feeling gone.
He hadn't realized he had been disassociating until he heard his name being called.
"Seven, are you okay?"
He looked up.
He wasn't wearing his glasses anymore. She must have taken them off. But she was so close that he could see her clearly. Her warm hands were on the sides of his face, and he almost felt inclined to lean into them and sap them of their heat. He didn't realize how cold he felt.
He took in a breath, almost as if to steady himself, and leaned back as he answered, cold air meeting his now warm cheeks. "I'm fine."
That answer just seemed to make Raine upset. She frowned as she took a seat next to him, a concerned look on her face. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
He shook his head, not answering any further. He'd rather not burden her with his problems. Besides, he'd be over it once the clock strikes midnight. Either he worried for nothing or he dematerialized right then and there.
"It's alright if you don't," Raine hummed softly, gently placing a hand on his knee. "Just know that I'm here for you no matter what."
Those were strong words for someone she's only known for a little over a week. Maybe it was the fact that she knew him better than he probably knew himself. It would've been a little disconcerting if it weren't for the fact that it allowed him to relax around her.
Before he could really think about it, his hand encased her own, threading their fingers together. It wasn't a romantic gesture. No, of course it wasn't. He just needed the support, even if it was silent. She seemed to understand, not pulling away even when the hold felt a little too warm.
It was almost magical how the smallest thing like holding someone's hand can make it feel like he's not alone in the world, that he was safe and cared for. It made his racing thoughts calm down, the only ones now present in his mind being about how small her hand was and how warm it was compared to his own.
The minutes ticked down but even before the clock struck midnight, he found himself drifting off into the comfort of Raine's touch.