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The center of BlueJay town was deserted, mirroring a barren wasteland. A tumbleweed rolled past, a cell dragging his tiny feet into view while barely stifling a loud yawn, strands of his dark hair falling over hooded, disinterested eyes.
"Ugh." Riki, Jay's Boredom Cell grimaced, concealing another yawn. "I'm so bored! Where is everyone?"
Right then, the monitoring screen showcased Jay seated inside his work cubicle in front of a computer, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to get rid of his fatigue. He even tried jotting something down, but it was clear he was distracted, sparing glances at the clock on the wall. Closing time was still half an hour away. Shit.
Heavy footsteps suddenly shook the entirety of BlueJay, Riki nearly falling over. A giant shadow loomed over him, and Riki gulped.
"No, not now!" Riki cried, racing to the feet of Jungwon, Jay's Hunger Cell.
"I'm hungry." Jungwon frowned, puffing out his cheeks the way he always did whenever he got irritated. Jay copied his actions, and all the cells knew when Jay was starving, his mood worsened, which meant he got hangry. And when he got hangry –
Jake flew in. Or more accurately, plummeted to the ground. Sweat drenched his nape as he and Riki hugged Jungwon's legs, urging him to calm down so he could return to his normal size.
"I'm hungry," Jungwon repeated, features twisted into a deep frown. He seemed to have grown bigger, but despite his size, he was one of the cutest cells.
"Please, let's – let's think this through," Jake pleaded. "There's only like, thirty minutes left. Then you can have all the tteokbokki you want."
"But I'm hungryyy," Jungwon whined.
Riki groaned, and Jake chewed his nails, pacing about and being all jittery like he'd gotten electrocuted. Then again, he was the Anxiety Cell.
Now Riki had two people he had to calm down, which was way too much for his tiny – not to mention lazy – body.
"Chill out, you guys!" Riki yelled. "Look! You're causing our Jay to malfunction!"
The three cells stared upwards at the red ERROR signal flickering across the sky right then, every one of them in various states of despair because Jay managed to send an email without finishing it first, nearly spilled his water bottle over a stack of important documents, and knocked into a stash of pens, all within five minutes.
People were staring, including the last person Jay wanted witnessing him in this state. Little cracks broke through BlueJay's already fragile landscape. Jay's Heart Flutter meter wasn't looking too good.
"W-where is Heeseung?" Jake called out. "Heeseung!"
The atmosphere slowed. A chilling breeze broke through, and Heeseung, Jay's Meditation Cell, seemed to have materialized out of thin air. The quiet cell was one of Jay's newest ones, showing up the moment Jay began high school – his most stressful years.
Heeseung sat, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply. The ERROR signal vanished.
"Still don't know how he does that," Jake whispered.
"Me neither," Riki whispered back.
Jungwon, much smaller now, said, "I wish I had some mango bingsu right now."
All of a sudden, a wave of something ricocheted throughout BlueJay, almost propelling the cells into the sky. The cracks worsened, the earth trembled, and the cells yelled in fright. Not even Heeseung could stop this.
That darned ERROR signal was back, but it was larger now, and pink. Glittery. The sky bloomed red and peach. The clouds burst into rosy hearts.
To make matters worse, Jungwon had shot back up in height as he complained about 'butterflies in his tummy,' but – this wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
Riki, Jungwon, Jake, and Heeseung all held onto each other while BlueJay shook and tumbled and spun, only for the catastrophe to halt abruptly. They watched with bated breath as a man stopped in front of their Jay, delicately handing him some tissue to dry his table with.
Jake began sweating again, chewing his thumbnail.
"Oh, um, thanks, Sunghoon," Jay stuttered while cleaning his desk, unable to make eye contact with his dashing coworker. The sky burned an even deeper red, matching the shade of Jay's cheeks.
Sunghoon was Jay's Very Special Person, which meant the cells held him in very high regard. Jay had only known him for about a year, and while they'd never talked much (Jay's shyness was to blame), it didn't stop the cells from rejoicing every time Sunghoon came into view. They couldn't help it; whoever Jay liked, they liked. And Jay liked Sunghoon so much.
It was a pity Jay's Courage Cell was nowhere in sight.
Sunghoon bent to pick up the remaining pens, and Jay's Heart Flutter meter immediately went nuts, going over a hundred in seconds.
"You uh." Jay cleared his throat. "You didn't have to."
"Say something better!" Jake yelled. "Stop avoiding his eyes!"
"He's doing that because of you, Jake," Riki complained, grabbing the cell's blue sleeve.
"Please remain calm," Heeseung said, already seated, breathing in and out.
Jungwon, still massive because of the swarm of butterflies storming his stomach, shook his head at the cells' antics. He procured a megaphone from his pocket, decorated with tiny, soft pink hearts.
"Sunoo? Are you home?" asked Jungwon into the megaphone. "We need your help."
It was quiet for a few moments. Jungwon readied himself to ask again, but then a golden light glimmered from the quaint castle meters away. A cell flew out of it, soon gracing them with his presence. He tossed Jungwon some chocolate milk, his blond hair radiating like the sun. His crimson and white uniform glowed, distinct as Jay was a sentimental guy, a hopeless romantic, quickly making this cell in particular the most important one of all –
That is, until Jay kept missing his chances for romance, kept saying no to the blind dates his friends set up for him, and always clammed up whenever Sunghoon so much as looked at him. In the end, Sunoo, Jay's Love Cell, turned from excited to reclusive, retreating to his castle to leave the matters of the heart to the rest of the cells.
"Guys!" Jungwon called out to Riki, Jake, and Heeseung. "Sunoo's here!"
But Riki and Jake were too busy pushing each other. They were polar opposites, after all.
"Sunghoon's looking at our Jay like that again!" Sunoo gasped, his voice snatching everyone's attention. His little heart-shaped wand glowed a bright red, and they all gathered to witness the image of Sunghoon grinning at Jay, the man even nudging his side.
"It's no big deal." Sunghoon shrugged, holding Jay's gaze as he arranged the pens in their correct order – which meant he'd been paying more attention to Jay than Jay thought.
"He's always looking at Jay," Sunoo continued, his entire body glowing as he floated higher. "But Jay keeps overthinking everything."
"Sunghoon might just see Jay as his coworker," Jake said. He yelped when Heeseung smacked his arm.
"I'm always happy to help," Sunghoon told Jay, following him as he went to throw away the tissue.
The cells could all hear how loudly Jay's heart was beating, how his thoughts raced. Riki gripped Jake's hands to reassure him – even though they were clammy as heck – while Heeseung and Jungwon barely moved, immersed in what was happening.
When Sunghoon grinned, the sky twinkled with a million stars, and Sunoo couldn't help but sigh dreamily.
"His smile is so healing," Sunoo gushed, his wand shimmering. "If only Jay could tell him how he feels, let him know his heart..."
Jungwon suddenly shot up several inches, his head nearly touching the blushing sky.
"It's. Dinner. Time." Jungwon giggled, eyes filled with mirth.
"Finally Jay can leave this place," Riki grumbled, only for the ground to tremble once more, a discordant ERROR crackling through the atmosphere.
The perpetrator was none other than Sunghoon and the sheer danger his proximity posed, his body heat alone as he bracketed Jay near the break room making Jay's soul short-circuit.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Heeseung asked as he leapt to his feet, the loudest he'd ever been. He wasn't used to this sudden closeness. The Heart Flutter meter was broken, and not to mention every single one of his breathing techniques had failed, leaving him almost questioning his existence.
But he wasn't the only one experiencing the worst of it. Jake was practically goo with the way he was dripping, a jerky mess as he paced back and forth, Jungwon and Riki unable to restrain him.
The sky scorched a fiery red and violet, lightning bolts igniting the town and striking fear into every cell's heart except for Sunoo's, who watched on with rapt attention as Sunghoon peered into Jay's eyes.
"Is – is there a problem?" Jay asked, adjusting his glasses, because he didn't know if he had something on his face, or if he'd done something to upset Sunghoon in some way. Also because the day was over, the office emptied out, reminding Jay just how hungry he was – and how alone he and Sunghoon were.
"Would you..." Sunghoon paused, clearing his throat as he seemed to think over his words. "Would you like to grab dinner with me?"
Oh.
"Sunghoon just asked Jay out!" Sunoo cheered, twirling as hearts emanated out of his body.
The turbulent sky eased into a soft, gentle amber, Sunoo levitating higher and higher like he just sprouted wings.
"Say yes, Jay! Say yes!" Sunoo and the rest of the cells chanted, awaiting Jay's response.
Jay nodded, his face pink. "I'd love to."
The cells shouted in excitement and embraced, celebrating their achievement. It was a joyous, momentous day. Thousands of roses gradually sprouted across BlueJay, fireworks dusted the sky, and Sunoo actually grew wings.