#vxmc

As the evening went on Jihyun didn’t mention it again. Not even when you both got into bed and you could see the canvas leaning against the wall in the closet. He didn’t say anything in the morning when you both were getting dressed for the day. Or even that evening when you both cooked dinner together. You tried to signal to him that you were curious about them but he didn’t seem to catch onto your signals. That, or he was purposefully ignoring them. 

It was making you a little crazy, he didn’t even seem to think about them being there. Even though you could constantly see it. Still you kept trying to ignore it, and by the time you left to go run errands that weekend. You had practically forgotten about it. 

You’d asked if Jihyun wanted to join you, usually during the weekend he looked forward to the opportunity to go out and do things with you. Even if those things were as simple as just going out and going to the grocery store, or to get dry cleaning. This weekend however he’d said he’d prefer to just stay home. Stating that he wasn’t feeling too well and wanted to stay home and get some rest. 

“Are you feeling okay?” You asked him. Pressing a hand to his forehead. It was warm, but not feverish. 

“I’m alright love. I think I’m just a little tired, I think I’m going to take a nap and see if I feel any better.” Jihyun said. He seemed to notice the way your face pressed. He took your hand in his. “I’m okay my love. Just go out and run your errands, I’ll be fine.” You hesitated but the way Jihyun was looking at you, you knew there was no way that he’d let you stay to look after him. 

“Fine, but if you need anything you call me okay?” You said. Jihyun pressed a kiss to your cheek. 

“Of course. I’ll see you soon.” Wrapping your arms around him you gave him a tight hug. After you pulled away Jihyun helped you put on your coat and closed the door behind you.

That day you did your usual errands as quickly as you could. You were practically racing through the grocery store aisles, trying to get everything on your list in record time. By the time you’d finished checking out even you were surprised by how fast you had gotten in and out. 

You balanced the bags in your arms while you walked towards your door. Your arms shook from the bags weighing your arms down and making them ache. Your door was in sight. Which meant you could put your bags down soon. Maybe Jihyun would be awake to help you put things away too. 

Pushing the key into the door you used your knee to swing open the door. Your eyes were on the floor as you carefully tried to set everything down on the floor. You stood up straight to close and lock the door behind you. 

As you turned around the first thing you noticed was the large easel set up in the living room. The easel was already set up with the large canvas on it. You wandered into the living room. Looking down a few tubes of paint were already set out, they hadn’t been opened but were spread out on the table between the two easels. 

“You’re back!” Jihyun said. He held several more tubes of paint in his hands. He looked surprised to see you, but he still smiled. He passed you to set the tubes of paint down on the table with the others. 

“What’s all this?” You asked. Jihyun’s cheeks dusted pink as his lips pulled into a smile. 

“I was hoping to have it all set up before you got back.” He said. Jihyun ran a hand through his hair to push it away from his eyes. “I got this idea earlier this week. I thought it might be fun if we painted something together.” Jihyun motioned to the easel and canvas.  

A gentle sigh escaped your lips. You felt like you could almost cry, beyond the easels you noticed the bottle of wine and the food Jihyun had set up too. After taking it all in you turned back to Jihyun. 

“Jihyun this looks amazing.” You said. You lifted on your toes to kiss him. Both of your faces felt a little warm. His arms wrapped around you, pulling you closer. “Is that why you hid that canvas in the closet?” 

After a moment of surprise he laughed and shook his head. “There was nowhere good to hide it.” 

“You just hoped I wouldn’t notice it?” You teased. His face turned a darker shade of red. 

“I was hoping you wouldn’t think much of it.” Jihyun admitted. You laughed and kissed him again.

You held each other for a while, enjoying the warmth his arms provided. Neither of you were keeping track of the time. At a point Jihyun took a step back and smiled at you. “Do you want to get started?” After a moment of admiring Jihyun’s smile you nodded. 

After excusing himself for a moment Jihyun returned with one of his shirts handing it over to you. 

“I don’t want you to get paint all over your clothes, you can put this on over it.” You looked between him and the shirt. 

“Are you sure?” You asked him. 

“This shirt is old anyways. I was going to take it to my studio anyway.” You raised your brow at him, checking to make sure he was sure. He pushed the shirt closer to your chest. “It’s fine.”

You pulled the shirt over your head. Pulling it down it covered your abdomen and rested below your hips. Smoothing it out, Jihyun motioned to the easel. You watched as he opened tubes of paint. Squeezing small amounts of paint onto the palette.  

“What are we going to paint?” You asked him. Jihyun set some of the tubes of paint aside as he rolled up his sleeves. 

“Whatever you want my love. Whatever inspires us.” Jihyun said. Your fingers itched to pick up the brushes, to start painting on the canvas. Jihyun, being able to sense your excitement gently took your hand in his. “I was thinking, when we’re done with this maybe we should hang them up?” 

You squeezed his hand and grinned. “What if it doesn’t look good? I’m not nearly as talented as you are.”

Jihyun shook his head. “If it comes from us, I’m sure it’ll be beautiful.” 

“You have much more confidence then I do.” Jihyun reached up and kissed the top of your hand. 

“Just paint whatever speaks to you. I’m sure it’ll turn out great.” You looked back to the canvas, Jihyun turned in the same direction. He straightened his back and picked up one of the paintbrushes. Following his lead you picked up your own brush and dipped it into the paint. Your hand hovered over the canvas for a while, deciding where to make your first stroke. 

Jihyun took note of your hesitation. Out of the corner of your eye you saw how he was watching you. He looked back to the canvas and made a large stroke of paint across the canvas. From top to bottom.

You gasped and looked at him. “Jihyun!” He cocked his head to the side with a soft smile. 

“Yes my love?”

“What was that about?” 

“The first stroke is always the hardest.” Jihyun said. “But look, now the first stroke is done. So now you don’t have to be so worried about it.” You looked back to your canvas with the one rogue stoke. As simple and messy as it was there was something almost comforting about it. 

Looking back at the canvas you took a deep breath. Making another long stroke on the canvas similar to the one from before. Then another, and another, until your shoulders lost their tension. Jihyun smiled and reached over, making his own strokes onto the canvas. 

You didn’t talk much while you worked, but you didn’t need to. One of the best things about being with Jihyun is there was never a pressure to talk. You could sit in complete silence and be completely comfortable. 

As you painted a stole a couple glances at Jihyun. You never got sick of that sparkle he had in his eye while he painted. The small smile that managed to show through his concentrated expression, it all never ceased to make you watch in awe. When he painted he always seemed like he was right in his element, as if holding a paintbrush was the most comfortable and natural thing in the world. 

“What do you think of my love?” Jihyun asked. “I think it looks great so far.” 

You pulled your hand away from the canvas to look over it. The painting couldn’t be considered anything but abstract, you could see the difference in skill level between the two of you. Still, you loved how it looked so far. 

“It’s looking awesome!” You said grinning at him. “You’re doing a great job.”

Jihyun kissed your cheek. “I think you’re doing a wonderful job.” He looked back at the canvas. “You know I think something’s missing.” You raised a brow and looked back to the canvas. 

“What’s missing?” The feeling of a cool brush across your cheek brought you back to looking at Jihyun. Your hand reached up and smeared some of the blue paint across your fingers. Jihyun’s usually kind smile was more of a smirk now. 

You only looked at him shocked for a moment. Reaching back up to swipe your brush across his cheek. His fingers reached to his cheek as he looked at the pink that was on his cheek. His eyes crinkled as he started laughing. Then you started laughing too. With your eyes closed you didn’t notice Jihyun dipping his brush into another color of paint and quickly making a line of yellow on your forehead. 

Waiting for your opportunity you picked up some of the paint with your fingers. Trying to catch him by surprise you smeared more paint onto his cheekbone. Before you pulled your hand back Jihyun took your wrist and stepped forward. Pressing his lips against yours. Your painted hand moved up to hold his face. 

When you eventually separated he pressed his forehead against yours. The stickiness of 

the yellow paint transferring to Jihyun’s forehead. 

  “You’re so dorky.” You whispered to him. Jihyun laughed breathlessly. 

“I just love you. I love you so much.” Jihyun said. You ran your thumbs over his cheeks. 

“I love you too Jihyun.” You said to him. Slowly you pulled away from one another, both of your faces covered in a rainbow of paint. Once you tore your eyes away from him you looked back at the canvas. 

Jihyun followed your eyes. While the painting looked messy, and had lots of imperfections it still made you smile. 

“Do you think it’s still missing something?” You asked Jihyun. 

He sighed, content. “No. I think it looks just perfect.” He admired the painting once again. 

“Still want to display it?” You asked him. He looked back over to you. 

“Of course I do.” Jihyun said. “I think it’s the most beautiful piece of art I’ve ever seen.” You both stared at the canvas for a while. Even if it wasn’t the greatest piece of art. In your eyes it was perfect. 

You let out a sigh and turned onto your side, frustrated that your thoughts were keeping you awake. You grabbed your phone from the nightstand and checked the time. It was half past midnight.

Might as well check the messenger, you thought. Throughout the evening you’d received RFA app notifications, but you hadn’t been able to check any before now. Opening the app, you logged in and read the past chat logs. Only Zen and Yoosung had been there. Zen had entered the chatroom sometime after he finished his show, and Yoosung was taking a break from LOLOL. Zen told Yoosung about how Jaehee had waited for him outside the backstage door with her girlfriend Soomi (along with a dozen other rabid fangirls clamoring for his attention), and he sent a selfie of the three of them. Zen was the focus of the picture, of course, while Jaehee and Soomi stood together behind him, leaning so that they were in frame. This was the first time you saw what Soomi looked like. She was cute and petite, her blonde hair cropped short in a stylish bob. Jaehee and Soomi had matching poses, both winking at the camera and holding up their hands in a peace sign. They looked like they were having a great time, and you couldn’t feel happier for them.

Zen and Yoosung then spent the rest of the chat lamenting how much they wished they had girlfriends too and feeling sorry for themselves. Your eyes glazed over as you scrolled to the bottom of the chat. By now you knew very well how much the RFA boys, except perhaps Jumin, regretted the lack of romance in their lives. Sometimes it was cute that they had so much love in their hearts that they wanted to share it with someone, but more often than not, it got repetitive and eye-roll inducing, so much that you wished they could just find someone already so they could stop moaning about it.

Once you reached the bottom of the chat, you logged out to the main user interface to check everyone’s status updates. As you looked at the row of user icons, you started to feel like something was missing. The icons felt too big, as if there could be room to fit one more comfortably among them.

Then you realized why: Jihyun’s icon was missing. It had been missing for a long time, actually, but now that he was back in the country, it felt wrong not to have him in the messenger.

After Jihyun left to go overseas, Jumin asked Seven to revoke his access for security purposes. He wouldn’t have had time to log into the messenger on his travels anyway, so there’d been no point in keeping his profile active. Even though you were about to travel abroad yourself, you couldn’t see yourself staying away from the messenger for too long. RFA had become like family to you, and you’d want to keep in touch no matter how far away you went.

You wondered if Jihyun still had the same phone he used two years ago, or if he’d deactivated his service altogether. Come to think of it, since he wasn’t on the messenger, you realized you had no way of contacting him.

A window popped up on your phone screen indicating that a new chatroom had been opened. You looked at the time–it was almost one o’clock in the morning. Who could be online at this hour?

You entered the chatroom. Seven greeted you.

707: Hello, pretty lady!

MC: Seven, you’re still awake.

707: Yup. So are you, I see.

MC: Can’t sleep.

707: Me neither. Still reeling from the high of the party?

MC: lol sort of. I got a lot on my mind right now. How was your evening?

707: Fine fine. It was pretty good actually!

He sent the emoji of him excitedly shouting “yahoo!”

MC: Good day at work?

707: Yup! I was super productive. Got everything done in record time… I see Zen and Yoosung are complaining about being single again. SMH. They’re just jealous that Jaehee has more game than them.

You laughed out loud. Sick burn, Seven.

MC: You’re not wrong, lol. Jaehee can be very sweet and charming when she has the chance to relax every once in a while. I’m happy that she and Soomi found each other.

707: They wouldn’t have met each other if you didn’t push Jumin to give Jaehee a vacation.

MC: Yeah… That’s true…

As if summoned, Jumin Han entered the chatroom.

707: WHOA that’s creepy, dude.

Jumin Han: What are you talking about? Good evening, MC.

MC: haha hey Jumin...that is a little creepy.

Jumin Han: ?

707: We were just talking about you.

Jumin Han: I see. I just read the log.

MC: I think you’ve read enough books on witchcraft that you’re starting to become a witch yourself, Jumin. Speak of the devil, and all that.

707: Hehe where’s your broom, witch boy?

You didn’t ask Jumin what he was doing up so late because he was always awake at this hour, either spending time with Elizabeth the 3rd or doing business with investors and companies in different timezones. On the rare occasion that you had a bout of insomnia, he would be in the chatroom, keeping you company until you finally fell asleep.

Jumin Han: Will Yoosung and Zen ever get tired of complaining about not having significant others?

MC: Probably not. Though, I feel like once they do get girlfriends, that’s all they’ll talk about on here.

Jumin Han: You’re probably right. I don’t know which is worse.

707: Jaehee is pretty modest about her relationship. They should act like her! Speaking of Jaehee, as I was saying before Jumin interrupted us with his creepy black magic, I think Jaehee has you to thank for meeting Soomi, MC.

MC: Oh, that’s more credit than I deserve. I just yelled at Jumin.

707: lmao you did yell at him

Well, you had typed in all caps in the chatroom, which was just as good as yelling. A few months ago, Jumin had swamped Jaehee with so much work that Jaehee broke down crying on the phone with you. You felt so awful and helpless at first, but after you did your best to console her and hung up, you decided that the only way to fix the problem was to go straight to the source.

Jumin was unreceptive to your suggestion at first, which you’d expected, but once you laid out all the reasons why it was a good idea to give her a break and why she deserved one, his cold, distant attitude started to irritate you. You tried to be civil, but the man was as stubborn as a mule sometimes. So you snapped and capslocked on him. Then once you said your piece, without warning, you logged out of the chatroom and called his phone to tell him off some more.

Jumin Han: I’ll admit I’ve never been yelled at like that before.

MC: I didn’t *yell*.

Jumin Han: You gave me a very stern lecture.

MC: Well, Zen yells at you on here all the time.

Jumin Han: I correct my previous statement—I’ve never been yelled at like that by someone whom I respect.

You knew that was high praise coming from someone like Jumin Han. Sometimes you couldn’t help but have the utmost respect for him too. After the incident, you learned that Jumin had been so stressed due to his father’s current romantic engagements and the prolonged absence of his best friend, and he had taken it out on his assistant. You felt bad for yelling at him, and you apologized to him personally on the phone the next day.

After that, he decided to give Jaehee three weeks of vacation. Jaehee was resistant at first, but you convinced her to take the offer. She spent those weeks off the messenger and met Soomi at one of her favorite coffee shops downtown. They hit it off rather easily, and the rest was history.

Jumin Han: Anyway, I am glad that Jaehee has found someone she cares about deeply. It seems to have made her more motivated in her work.

707: …

MC: sigh

Jumin Han: What? It’s true.

707: Only you would make something that’s supposed to be romantic into something totally not;;

Jumin Han: I don’t understand romantic relationships myself, so I see no point in commenting on it.

MC: I guess I can understand where you’re coming from. I’ve had enough of talking about romance for one evening.

707: Oh?

Seven sent his heart eyes emoji.

707: Who else are you talking about romance with, MC?

He sent the same emoji again.

“Oh crap,” you said to your screen. Suddenly the whole awkward conversation you had with Hana came back to you. You couldn’t very well tell Seven or Jumin that you and Hana had talked about Jihyun. You had to play it cool.

MC: Oh… I just had dinner with Hana tonight. She told me all about her new boyfriend.

Seven sent his gasping emoji.

707: The hot new actor Hojin Park! He and Hana were spotted smooching down in the Maldives last week!

Again with his heart eyes emoji.

MC: …Are you stalking my best friend, Seven?

707: It’s not stalking when paparazzi pictures of them are posted on every celeb gossip site!

MC: I am not going to talk gossip about my own friend. If I did, you’d probably try leaking it to the media for a quick buck.

707: They pay a lot of money for ~insider info~ you know.

You sent an emoji that depicted you giving a very unamused side-eye.

707: Fine, fine. I won’t ask about Hana’s love life. You need to lighten up, MC. Maybe you need a l-o-v-e interest of your own, eh?

The heart eyes. Again. You dropped your head into your hand. Why was everyone so hung up on romance this evening? You needed a change of subject, quick.

Thankfully, Jumin seemed to have the same idea.

Jumin Han: I think this conversation has derailed quite a bit.

MC: Thank you! Can we talk about something else, pls?

Jumin Han: I actually came onto the messenger to make a request of you, Seven.

707: Hmm, ok. What is it?

Jumin Han: I’d like you to grant Jihyun access to the messenger again.

Your phone almost slipped out of your hand.

Jihyun...on the messenger again? Weren’t you just thinking about that only minutes ago?

MC: Oh?

707: Oh, I didn’t even think of that. Does he want to get back on?

Jumin Han: No, but I imagine he’d like to be, once he gets a new phone, that is. He deactivated his old phone some time ago, and he needs to get another one first. I’ll pass on the information once it’s available.

707: …Do you think it’s a good idea?

Seven’s question took you aback. Why wouldn’t it be a good idea? You asked him what he meant.

707: …never mind. It’s nothing. When he gets a new phone, let me know, and I’ll add him back onto the messenger.

You didn’t know what to say. Where had his sudden hesitance come from? You would have thought Seven would be one of the more enthusiastic about his return. You remember Seven once telling you that he considered Jihyun almost like a father to him despite their relative close age gap. He trusted him more than anyone. In fact, back when you first met the RFA, you noticed there were secrets that Seven and Jihyun had kept between only them. Seven had come to Jihyun’s rescue at Mint Eye, after all.

...That was two years ago, though. The more you thought about it now, the more you realized that since then, Seven hadn’t spoken much about Jihyun at all. He certainly never brought him up in the chats of his own volition, and whenever someone else would mention him, he didn’t have much to say.

But he seemed happy to see Jihyun at the party earlier, didn’t he? Well, now that you thought about it, perhaps he wasn’t so much happy as he was shocked and…confused. Almost as if he had truly believed he never would see his old mentor ever again.

“We have a lot to catch up on, I think,” Jihyun had said. And Seven had agreed.

There was something tense about the exchange, some underlying thoughts and feelings that you couldn’t begin to decipher. That must have been what bothered Seven now. What was the missing link between them?

MC: You ok, Seven? You sound weird.

707: I’m fine. Gotta go, though. Long day.

He signed out of the chatroom before you could type another message.

Jumin Han: …

MC: Is it just me, or did something sound off about him? Does Seven not want Jihyun back on here?

Jumin Han: He seemed hesitant about it at the very least.

MC: Why? You don’t think it’s because he doesn’t trust Jihyun, do you? I know he had trouble with keeping secrets from everyone, even to Seven, but he just doesn’t seem like that kind of person anymore…

You weren’t sure if that were entirely true, but everything you knew about what he’d gone through seemed to indicate that Jihyun had had enough secrecy for one lifetime. The man you saw at the party didn’t look like someone who would harbor any secrets.

Jumin Han: I agree. I’ve been with him all evening, and he is definitely changed.

MC: …wait. You’ve been hanging out with Jihyun?

Jumin Han: Yes, he’s with me right now.

“What?” you said aloud. Jumin had been chatting with you all this time and Jihyun was with him?

MC: Really? Where are you?

Jumin Han: At my penthouse. I invited him over as a guest, since he currently has nowhere to stay.

You were typing to ask what he was doing, but your fingers froze over the screen when a picture popped up in the chat.

This time, your phone actually did fall out of your hands...and landed right onto your face, since you were lying in bed. You let out a pained shriek and massaged your nose. Then you jolted up into a sitting position and looked back at your phone.

Jihyun was in the photo. He was standing next to the dining table, across from where Jumin seemed to be sitting. He was pouring himself a glass of red wine. You could tell it was a candid picture because Jihyun’s eyes appeared as though he’d looked into the camera just as it was being taken, his brows raised in a half-expression of surprise. It was cute, actually. But that wasn’t what got your attention.

What got your attention was the fact that his hair was wet, sticking to the left side of his face. He had a towel draped over his shoulders, and he wore gray lounge pants and a white tank top...

MC: …

Jumin Han: He just got out of the shower. He’s jet lagged, so that’s why he’s still awake, if you were wondering.

You were actually wondering why his bare arms looked appealingly firm and smooth, and why his tank top clung so tightly to his slender but lean torso…but you weren’t going to type that.

MC: Um, thanks for the pic haha

Jumin Han: I thought I should prove to you he was in fact here.

MC: You didn’t need to do that lol. I believed you.

Jumin Han: He’s asking me who I sent the photo to.

MC: Oh...what did you tell him?

Jumin Han: You.

You blushed. Should you take a selfie of yourself just to make it fair? You couldn’t do that. You probably looked like a mess after tossing and turning in bed for a few hours… Wait, why did you care what you looked like? You’d sent less than flattering pictures of yourself through the messenger before.

Jumin Han: I need to go. Elizabeth the 3rd should be put to bed soon, and I’m going to keep Jihyun company.

MC: Okay. Tell Elizabeth the 3rd hello for me.

You debated whether you should add another line. Oh, why not?

MC: ...and Jihyun, too.

Jumin Han: Will do. Goodnight.

Jumin logged out, and so did you. You lingered in the main UI a little while longer, wondering what Jumin and Jihyun were up to right now, what they were talking about. Jumin must have liked having the chance to catch up with his best friend, especially considering how much you knew he’d missed him and worried after him since he left. You could only hope you got your chance, too.

You went into the messenger’s photo folders. Even though Seven had taken away Jihyun’s access to the app, he kept his photo folder untouched. You opened it and looked at the newest picture of him. Out of curiosity, you told yourself. Once it expanded across your screen, your heart did a flip in your chest, which was a sensation that utterly confused you. It wasn’t as if you weren’t used to being friends with so many pretty people. Part of the reason why it was so easy for you to initially believe that the RFA were AIs in a dating simulator was because they were all too good-looking to be real. Even now, you would catch yourself admiring just how beautiful Zen looked in his selfies, how well Jumin wore his business suits, how cute Yoosung and Seven were in an adorably nerdy way. Even Jaehee was exceptionally gorgeous.

Yet somehow none of them made you react the way you reacted to this picture of Jihyun. What was happening?

You reasoned it was because you’d never seen him like this. So candid, so...underdressed. You felt as if you shouldn’t be even be looking at it.

Get a grip, MC.