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Mystery had initially been on an errand run for Baby when he came upon this quaint little K-pop merchandise shop.
Normally, he wouldn’t bother with these kinds of stores, but with the large Huntrix (most notably Zoey) posters decorating the storefront and the promise of Zoey-themed trinkets, Mystery couldn’t resist walking in.
At the sound of his footsteps, a worker walks over to him and greets him in an overly polite manner.
“Hello! Do you need any assistance?”
Mystery shifts away from the lady and shakes his head in response.
“Oh, you’re just looking around?”
He nods.
“Alright, I’ll leave you to it.” With that, the worker resumes her duties restocking some of the clothing racks.
The demon looks at the nearest store shelves, which were all lined up with little cards…with idols’ faces on them?
He sees Huntrix’s purple and pink-haired girls first, and then he spots the ones with Zoey.
There are multiple piles of these cards with her image on them, and he randomly picks one to inspect.
Zoey can be seen in a green onesie, smushing her cheek against a turtle (a creature she seems to like a lot) plushie while hugging it. She’s looking at the viewer with sparkling eyes and the softest smile. Despite himself, Mystery breaks out in a smile.
She was so utterly cute.
Mystery often didn’t understand the behaviour of some fans, how they worshipped idols like entire deities, dedicated extreme efforts to interact with them, or splurged on their merchandise.
But seeing Zoey’s face on these “photo-cards” makes him think, he wouldn’t mind spending a fortune on these, if he had one.
The more he thought about it, the more displeased Mystery became with the thought of other people purchasing these cards to take home. Inwardly growling, he places the card in his hand back in its pile and gazes at all the Zoey cards.
He glances over to where the worker was and sees her busy folding clothes with her back turned to him.
Suddenly, he grabs all the Zoey cards, and before the worker can look his way, Mystery teleports away.
In a puff of red smoke, he materializes in a nearby alleyway and stuffs the cards in his pockets before walking out, back on track to his original destination.
Shortly after, he arrives at a convenience store, all to fulfill Baby’s tedious request of acquiring more juice boxes. Mystery only took on the task as an excuse to get out and have the chance of meeting up with Zoey later.
Reinvigorated by the thought of her, he eagerly walks into the store and heads straight to the drink section.
As Mystery scours through the juice boxes, he realizes he forgot to ask Baby what specific flavours he likes, but shrugs it off as he places one of each box into his spare shopping bag. Baby was guaranteed to like at least one of his chosen flavours.
When the Saja Boy moves to exit the store, a girl with familiar, silky, dark hair twisted into buns catches his eye. She rummages through ramyeon packs, letting out the excited giggles he’s come to love the sound of.
He walks over and sees her wearing a blue hoodie, a black cap, sunglasses, and a mask.
A regular person might have a hard time recognizing her from a distance, but Mystery could spot that cheerful demeanor, delightful voice, and distinctly floral-fruity scent from a mile away.
It was definitely Zoey.
“Hehehehehe…I wonder which one I should get…Maybe this one? The last time I tried it was pretty good. But I’ve also heard a lot about this pack…a new change might be nice…or maybe I should get both!”
“Maybe you should.”
“AAH! M-Mystery?-” He places his finger against her lips, “Shhhhhh…”
“Oh, sorry…” Zoey laughs nervously, looking around to see if anyone heard her. When she deems them to be in the clear, she flits her eyes back to Mystery and lowers her voice.
“What are you doing here?” Even though she’s confused, she’s positively beaming at him, and it takes him a second to focus and answer the question.
Opening the bag up, he presents his heap of juice boxes to her. “Buying juice for Baby.”
“Awwww, what a nice bandmate you are!” She giggles as she pinches his cheeks adoringly.
The demon grumbles but doesn’t tell her to stop.
“What about you?”
Zoey removes her hands from his face and glances back at the ramyeon packs.
“Oh, I was out on a ramyeon run! We were running out sooooo I’m here to restock. I was having trouble deciding which one to choose, but judging from your earlier comment, I guess I’ll just have to buy both!”
Mystery watches as she joyfully throws the two ramyeon packs and some more into her own bag.
“Let’s check out together?”
“Okay.”
After purchasing their items, the pair stepped outside the convenience mart and into the evening breeze.
Zoey sighs contentedly as she takes in the refreshing wind and sunset-coloured sky.
She looks down at the shopping bags Mystery carries, filled with the ramyeon, juice, and sweets she spontaneously decided to buy at the register. He stubbornly insisted on holding both bags, and she couldn’t help but let him have his way when he practically whined for it.
She peers back up at him.
“It’s so nice out, it’d be a shame not to be out in weather like this. Why don’t we hang out for a bit? We could have a little chat to catch up with each other, I mean- it’s been a while since we last hung out! And I really uh…missed you.” Red tints Zoey’s face as she shyly looks away from him.
He smiles, “Of course, I missed you too.”
She’s even redder now. “Great! I know just the spot!”
When she grabs his arm, he absently wonders if Baby would be upset at him for the lengthy interruptions…
But he decides to focus on the adorable bounce in her step as she happily hops along with him in tow.
They find themselves on a small bench in a nearby park. It’s next to a remote trail with the perfect quiet atmosphere.
The pair spent the next couple of minutes chatting with each other. They share various stories about their idol lives, bandmates, hobbies, and interests.
“I like to take walks out here sometimes, it’s usually not too busy and the nature is so beautiful!”
With the overarching trees shedding in the autumn season, she holds her hand out to catch a leaf as it falls. She tucks the leaf carefully behind his ear and stifles a giggle as she watches his stupefied expression.
“So what do you think? Of this place, I mean.”
“It’s nice.”
“Yay! I’m so glad you like it, y’know, I’ve always wanted to go out on a nature retreat with you! Just being out there with the green vegetation, and the wildlife, it’s so relaxing…isn’t this so relaxing…”
“Yeah.”
“...and this trail is nice and all that, but I think we should totally go like- camping one day! We could take a hike in the mountains, toast marshmallows, and tell scary ghost stories by the fire, or I guess in your case, demon stories…?”
Mystery cringed at the thought of the physical labour of hiking and the gross insect bites, but nodded along anyway.
“Orrrrrrr…we could go to the beach! Maybe it’s not the right season, but we can try to find a day hot enough to go. Gosh, I can just imagine the sand beneath my feet and splashing around in the water…wait, Mystery, can you even swim?”
His lips curve upwards, “I’ll be fine in the water. Perhaps we can also find some of those turtles you mention so much at the beach.”
“Ohmygoshyouresoright- I think we can totally find them along the shore!” She shakes him by the shoulders. “Mystery, let’s go turtle hunting! Wait- that sounds terrible…ahem, let’s go turtle finding!”
After a few seconds, Zoey suddenly stops shaking him and scrunches her eyebrows.
“I’ve been rambling, haven’t I…I’m so sorry, Mystery, I should be asking what you want instead. On that note, what would you…” She trails off when she spots something that slipped out of his pockets.
To his dismay, Zoey already has the item in her hands when he reaches out for it.
“Is this a photocard…of me?”
She’s smiling as she looks at the mini-version of herself blowing a kiss. She never thought the demon would be the type to keep K-pop merchandise, much less a photocard of her.
Mystery awkwardly fidgets with his hoodie. This doesn’t escape her attention as she leans in and raises an eyebrow at him.
“Mystery…are you hiding something else in your pockets?”
“...No.”
She inches closer and closer until they’re touching noses.
Mystery is so distracted by this sudden proximity that he doesn’t register her theft of his photocards until she’s counting the whole lot in his face.
“Then what are all these?” Her mischievous look shifts into utter disbelief when she realizes the sheer quantity of cards he kept. “32…33…why do you have so many, and when or where did you get these many photocards?”
“I uh…took them. From a store. I saw you on the poster and I wanted to have a look. I couldn’t resist when I saw how cute the cards were…” He scratched at his neck, “...and when I thought about how other people could buy them to keep.”
Her cheeks flushed. “Awwww, Mystery…you don’t have to do that though, you can let other fans buy my photocards too, y’know? I’ll still be here for- wait, did you say you took the cards?”
He looks away guiltily, and she smacks him lightly on the head with the stack of photocards.
“Mystery! You can’t just steal! That is a crime, and you are not allowed to do that!” Hearing her scolding words, he practically wilts. She softens a little when he pouts at her.
“...I didn’t have money.”
“You could’ve asked me…I would’ve bought some for you.”
Zoey places the cards back in his hands and gets up from the bench while holding her grocery bag from earlier.
“It’s alright! We can just go back and return the cards!”
He pouts even harder.
“You wanna keep them?”
“...Yes.”
“That’s fine, then we can go back and pay them what you owe!”
“I think they’d just come after me if I showed up again…”
“Nah, it’ll be fine…I think! Just say you forgot your wallet or something. Don’t worry, I’ll be there with you. This is what a good Saja Boy should do anyway!”
He reluctantly rises from his seat, carrying his bag.
“Soooo, where was the store?”
“You can follow me.”
“Okie dokie, lead the way Mystery!”
₩280,000 comes up on the register’s screen.
Zoey shed a tear as she took her credit card out under the cashier worker’s wrathful gaze.
Mystery stands behind her, shuffling awkwardly as he looks around the store. His eyes stop at the photocard section with very familiar faces, all of the Saja Boys, including himself.
He was so preoccupied by the Zoey photocards that he hadn’t even noticed these earlier.
She peers back at him. Seeing the same shelves he’s looking at, her eyes widen as she gets an idea.
“Sorry, give me one second!”
She leaves her wallet for Mystery to hold and briskly walks over to said Saja Boys section. She zeros in on the Mystery photocards and goes through intense self-deliberation, trying to figure out which one to purchase.
It was useless, however, as all of them were simply adorable.
Frustrated, she decides to just grab them all and rushes back to the checkout. Mystery gawks as he gives her wallet back.
“Sorry, I’d like to buy these as well!”
The cashier sighs in response, and Zoey’s heart shatters with every digit the total price goes up.
Outside the merchandise shop, she shuffles through her Mystery photocards, admiring his dreamy self in each one.
Likewise, Mystery smiles as he scans through his Zoey cards, appreciating all her silly, cute, and beautiful poses.
“We’re like each other’s biggest fans,” Zoey turns to him, giggling. “I mean, I certainly am a huge fan of you, Mystery! I just like you so much, and I could die happy seeing you in the flesh right now!” She pretends to be woozy by placing her hand over her head and swaying a bit.
He chuckles, “No, no, I’m your biggest fan and I like you more than you like me.”
“No way! I’m the bigger fan and I like you WAY more!”
“Well, I like you the most.”
“Nuh uh!”
“Yuh uh.”
“NUH UH!”
“YUH UH.”
Zoey opens her mouth to retort, but gets shushed by a nearby elderly man. Embarassed, she shoots out a quick ‘sorry’ before glaring at Mystery, who just smirks in response.
“Fine, you win this time, Mystery. But next time, the outcome won’t be the same!”
“Oh, I’m sure.”
“Hmph…” She stares up at the darkening sky. “Well, anyway, I think it’s getting late, so we should probably go home now…”
He solemnly nods.
“But it’s alright! We can meet again soon, so just wait until then. Thanks for today, Mystery.”
She steps closer to him. Going up on her toes, she plants a kiss on his cheek.
He can only watch as Zoey hurriedly walks away in a flustered manner.
He sighs dreamily while waving, “Goodbye.”
She turns around with the brightest smile on her face and waves back at him.
“Bye!!!”
The second he gets back to their shared apartment, Baby is in his ears complaining about the long wait.
“Seriously man, how long does it take to buy a couple of juice boxes?”
Mystery drops the bag on the floor and plops down on the couch.
“Sorry, something important came up.”
“Important…? What do you have going on besides this Saja Boys gig that’s so important?” Baby grumbles as he grabs a box from the bag and immediately starts drinking.
Mystery doesn’t bother responding, too busy missing the warmth of her soft lips on his face.