Day 9: Extra - Give me time

It’s 1:30pm; you put down your phone after your chat with Jumin. The sunlight shines in from the window, directly onto where Seven sat in the corner with his back faced to you. Can he even see the screen when it’s so bright...? Rather, doesn’t he feel hot like that, in his jacket? You open your mouth to call out to him, but recall that he explicitly said not to bother him while talking. You’re too embarrassed to anyway, after how you hugged him and confessed your love so boldly.

Thinking that, you slide yourself a little further away before grabbing your phone again and dial the number your fingers have become so accustomed to.

Seven doesn’t hesitate; he picks up on the first ring, working with one hand.

“What is it?”

“Are you okay there, Seven?”

“What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it hot?”

He sighs then, one of the things you’ve come to realise he does when he’s not in the mood to talk with you. “No, I’m too busy with the issue at hand to care. If that’s all you wanted to say, I’m hanging up.”

“O-Of course that wasn’t all!” The words escape you before you can stop yourself. Sure, it isn’t exactly the right moment for this, but --

“...What?”

Welp. You just gotta go for it now.

“Have you been thinking properly about our conversation earlier?”

There’s a moment of silence as you wait for Seven to respond, but no worries there -- your heart’s doing a good job at thumping loudly enough for the birds outside to hear. You watch him intently from where you sit, but true to his job, he makes no movement, no sound. 

Another sigh.

“Now, see here, you. I promised you I’d think about it, but I’m working hard here to protect you. Is it only romance in your head?”

“But that’s just how much I love you, Seven,” you answer straightforwardly without a pause. The words that others find hard to say even once in their lifetime, you’ll say it as many times as it takes for it to get through to the man you love. “Is that bad?”

“W-Well...” He clears his throat, and you see his other hand reaching up his hair for an embarrassed ruffle. You wish that some time, and soon, you’ll be the person beside him, stroking his hair as you two laugh about small nothings. “That’s not it... I just... you know... need more time, you know?”

“Okay.”

The relief is obvious in his tone. “Okay. Good. What time is it anyway? ...Oh, it’s already this timing. Why don’t you eat lunch? It’s okay for me, but don’t skip meals.”

You can’t help but smile; despite what he says, it’s clear that Seven cares for you. “Only if you eat with me.”

“There you go with your unreasonable requests again,” he sighs a third time that afternoon but you know you’ve won. “Fine. Then I’m hanging up now.”