#photographer saeran

[the-travelling-witch]

WAIT I HAVE MORE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS TO OFFER YOU. YOU SEEM LIKE YOUD LIKE V FROM MYSTIC MESSENGER. OR MAYBE 707 BC HES CODED A LITTLE LIKE CHILDE

i haven’t played mystic messenger before though i had it downloaded but i watched one (1) youtube video where someone ranked the story lines in order of disturbance/ craziness etc ad let me tell you, that jumin han guy… wtf /lh sir this certainly isn’t legal

v… i forgot who that is, tbh eheh oops; but 707 is the ginger hacker guy right? i remember him+ the white haired twins (?), saeran? zen? something like that

[ship me with someone new]

[itsdrawingmen]

I saw a dunmeshi art where they lined up the characters in their underwear, and got brainworms from it. I'm not really good at painted studies, it turns out, or maybe it just didn't work right now, but I like how the drawing came out. It was an excercise in different bodies, and I think they’re all neat.

Some headcanons and musings:

Zen has boobs, tits even, but that's canon, and all the time I was drawing him I was thinking about that selfie from his album where he's wearing a half-buttoned white shirt and his cleavage is visible. I am looking at him respectfully (not really, I am looking at him like this:

He's shaved everywhere, and he wears very plain, neutral-coloured underwear. His normal state is being pretty meaty, but he doesn’t like himself that way. He’s often dried out for his roles.

Yoosung is narrow-chested, thin, covered in moles, and comparatively kinda hairy — not by my European standards, but compared to the others here. He doesn't care about shaving, for himself or anyone else. He often wears funky boxers, and has sort of got a collection. Even when it's not funky-printed, his underwear is usually bright-coloured. He's cringe, but he's free. Also, not pictured, but he’s often covered in hickeys, normally from the chest up. Not gonna say who leaves them, but anyone who knows me even a little can take a wild guess 👀

Jaehee is wide in the hips and big-breasted. Her underwear is normally mismatched, because she doesn't care. The only thing she cares about is that it doesn't show through her clothes. In the canon timeline, she usually wears those thick stiff heavily padded bras that smooth everything out, and then over the course of the postcanon she gradually switches to softer cups. She's sedentary, often stressed, and doesn't eat well, so she's not really thin. She has acne on her face, neck, back, chest, and shoulders. She shaves because she’s too used to it, but she gradually gets more relaxed about it.

Next up is Joori Nam, the MC. She's a big, tall young woman, quite heavy and strong. She likes to show off her edgy and feisty personality in clothes and underwear, and she's also pretty expressive and energetic in gestures. She's depressed and a self-harmer. She barely shaves, only where is absolutely necessary to look ‘presentable’ for work. Otherwise, she can’t be assed.

The Chois are emaciated and scarred. They've both got some mild pectus excavatum. The Mother Choi used to stub cigarettes on them, and Saeran has got it worse.

Saeyoung is slightly more muscular and slightly less scarred. He has knobby square fingers, and nails bitten to almost nothing. He's also an active self-harmer. He's missing several toenails. All of his underwear is a little baggy on him.

Saeran is even thinner and less muscular. He has a lot of piercings, and his tattoo is blacked out into a full sleeve. He has barely any body hair at all. He is pretty much covered in cigarette burn scars, as well as scars from being whipped with cables, and several deep and crooked scars from gashes made with glass bottles.

Jumin, without his PR team, can't pose for shit. He is good at doing what they tell him, and he looks fine when photographed candidly, but as soon as he starts posing on his own, he just looks awkward and stiff. He has a weird case of CEO-body, where he's fit, but also weirdly soft in unexpected places (namely, his chest and arms). He shaves because it's 'hygienic'. He also wears briefs. Sorry, to me he looks like someone who wears briefs.

Jihyun is normally pretty toned, but after the whole ordeal with Rika and having to cover for her he has gained some weight and gotten soft. He has a long torso and wider hips and a bit of a belly. He hunches his back a lot, and picks at the skin of his fingers.

Rika is slender and dancerly, and very traditionally feminine. She’s small and graceful, not muscular, but soft, with smooth porcelain skin. She wears lingerie, always matching, always beautiful, and pretty much only owns thongs and tanga. Somehow, despite always looking up at people, she can easily make you feel like she’s looking down at you.

[marshmallowprotection]

I do however think se saeran would have a hard time with an mc that was into photography. Not in a hateful way!! But...not only does he have the trauma and shame of killing him, but ALSO that Jihyun very much traumatized Saeran and played a big role in his abuse and letting Rika harm him. I think saeran would be triggered by an mc that shared a hobby with someone he associates with hurting him. Not out of hate necessarily, but maybe intrinsic fear? And that's kind of sad and discouraging! Is this a wrongful assumption maybe?

Well, like I said in the ask I answered before, I do think SE Saeran would be mildly uncomfortable at first. But, this goes into a deeper question I have to point out. I personally don't think that Saeran can be around Jumin or Yoosung, or even the rest of the RFA, after what happened.

Jumin and Yoosung are specifically tied up to their closeness with Jihyun and Rika, and while neither of them are at fault, Saeran is aware of those bonds. He feels sick to his stomach around them due to the fact that Yoosung and Jumin could bring up Jihyun or Rika in some capacity at any point without warning, even if they were told to be mindful of Saeran's feelings. He wouldn't fault them for it, but he's not comfortable.

How do you think Saeran feels? He has to carry the weight of what happened with Jihyun for the rest of his life, and looking at Jumin is such an inherent reminder of that fact. Jumin did everything he could to help the twins because that's the right thing and it's what Jihyun would've wanted him to do, but even as kind as Jumin is, Saeran will live with the fear of "what if". Yoosung also doesn't know the truth. He is unaware of Mint Eye and what Rika did, I can't imagine Saeran ever wanting to be close to Yoosung because everyone else decided not to tell him or Zen what really happened.

Now, consider the entire RFA at large. Do you think he's going to want to have a friendship with people he's largely stalked for years? People who are friends with twin brother and will likely only be nice to him because they care about Saeyoung and don't want to hurt any of his feelings about it? Even if the RFA welcomed Saeran with open arms, it doesn't mean that Saeran will want to be around them. I just can't imagine SE Saeran being buddy-buddy with the RFA, for quite obvious reasons. His guilt, his shame, and the weight of the death on his hands.

I don't think Saeran would have a panic attack the instant he saw a camera in your hands. I do think he would have to sit down and think about why he feels uncomfortable with the sound of a camera shutter of all things. There are memories he buried down deep in his chest... memories of the cathedral. Ray might not be around in this timeline anymore, but he mentioned the fond memory of learning how to take photographs from Jihyun... and how he wanted to keep taking photos because of that inspiration.

SE Saeran thinking about that memory? It's him realizing that he did once care for Jihyun and Jihyun cared for him... and that adds onto his grief. Taking the life of another person, intentional or not, is one of those things that weighs on your chest like an anchor. No matter how you feel about it, you will carry that weight forever, and it's a shame we don't get to see how he handles that canonically, leaving it up to us to gauge what's going on.

To make this clear, photography didn't hurt Saeran. Jihyun's failure to advocate for him and talk to his friends when he was in too deep was what hurt him. Seeing a camera, holding a camera, taking a picture? That's a memory of when Saeran thought Jihyun was a good friend, never seeing Jihyun or Rika as his parents like Saeyoung did, but as friends who looked after him.

[xelasrecords]

As One So Half

Han Jumin x MC

Jumin goes to V's house after burying him, marking the first time he visits without his friend waiting on the porch.

Based on the Secret Ending with some changes, most notably the MC being romantically involved with Jumin instead of Saeyoung. How differently would Jumin grieve if he had someone by his side?

CW: graphic descriptions of death and grief

Words: 6k

Masterlist Read on AO3

Grief had hung upon V and him for as long as Jumin could remember. At times, it was a shadow lurking in the dark. Other times, it was a crushing weight that broke his ribcage in. From the moment Jumin crashed his toy car into V's house and V bargained for his friendship in exchange for forgiveness, they had invited grief to sit with them like a premonition. Their friendship started with an accident and ended with one.

The clamour at Mint Eye still reverberated in Jumin's ears. How his security guards broke through the cult doors and he caught a mop of turquoise hair on the ground, stupidly relieved that V was finally within reach and Jumin could ask him everything he had been holding back. How the relief was brusquely cut with terror when it dawned on him that it was V, sprawled on the floor, unmoving.

Jumin had rushed in and almost slipped in his own friend's crimson blood, finding purchase on his still warm hand and feeling for his pulse and came back with nothing. He had pulled V into his lap and saw V's head drop without resistance, noticed his chest not rising and falling and thought the sensation of it unnerving. He had pressed on V's gunshot wound, willing the blood to stop flowing. No words could come out of his throat. He closed V's clouded mint eyes with stiff fingers and both knees in the pool of blood.

The blood was warm and had soaked into his dress pants. He could still feel the fabric clinging to his legs.

When he registered the pandemonium around him, Rika was already keening below the gaudy throne and Saeran had crumpled into a foetal position, a gun inches away from him. Saeyoung had fainted and was hauled by a brown-haired stranger. The new party coordinator was scrambling at V's pants pocket, her cheek streaked with blood. She's alive, Jumin had thought dully. Saeyoung was wrong. V didn't betray her. Jumin could not reach for her despite his heart. His limbs had petrified on the ground V died on.

Jumin saw V dead over and over. He saw V in the shower where he stood underneath the water, diluting the blood from his three-piece suit and rinsed away what was left of V from him. He saw V in the bed where the fifth glass of wine had muffled his senses but failed to put him to sleep. He saw V at the funeral before they closed the casket, his face frozen in a serene smile as if there was anything peaceful in being shot to death.

That was how Jumin lost V for the final time. He would not see him again.

Jumin stood alone in V's living room now and he didn't know where to start. There was no user manual for clearing up one's dead friend's belongings. His hand hovered over the light switch before rendering it useless. The harsh tangerine sunset cut through the open windows and washed the rustic room aglow. It was enough lighting and a reminder that V was gone. V would have paused with awe on his face and took a photograph.

Jumin had come over right after V's burial, and restless silence had greeted him where V's earnest welcome should have. The refrigerator hummed from the dark kitchen, the grandfather clock ticked on, and the brine in the cool breeze pricked at his skin. The quiet was deafening, devoid of the laughter that he was used to.

It wasn't just the house. The anxious chitter in Jumin's head had deadened as well. It used to thrum without end when V started to disappear and come back as if everything was fine two years ago, but Jumin could always detect the nervous fiddling and the melancholy that weighed him down. He had begun to lose V since then. He simply didn't know it yet.

Two years was a long time not to know peace, and there was no peace in the aftermath. Only resounding emptiness remained. For two years, Jumin had been living with fear fused into his bones that he couldn't recall another way to live. Two years of being on high alert, wishing V would put an end to it.

V finally did now.

Jumin knew the logical conclusion was that he was grieving, but he was a distant observer watching his grief engulf him. Nothing was as heavy as this sorrow, as the tether of his soul being cut in half. He couldn't see the end to it, this grief that had started since V was alive. Each time V returned from his long absences, he was more damaged, more changed, and there was nothing Jumin could do to help.

He almost missed the days of fearing for V's safety when V was at least still alive. If Jumin focused on the well-being of the RFA and the mess Rika left behind, he could feel normal, as if nothing had changed. He could delude himself that none of this was real. It was easier to handle practical tasks than turn to his emotions, easier to care for others than himself.

Jumin walked past a line of small cacti on the bookshelf and headed to the brown leather sofa, grazing it with his fingers. He could almost hear V telling him to sit down, wait here, as he made a fuss in the kitchen over which wine he thought Jumin would enjoy the most. Jumin would then say that all wine was enjoyable with the right company and V was the best company anyone could have. V would modestly shrug it away, but it wouldn't stop Jumin from reassuring him that he was worthy of the title.

V was not here anymore, yet Jumin hadn't lost the ability to predict his moves like he could predict his own thoughts. No matter the secrets V brought to his grave, he was still the friend that Jumin knew. But if V had in him a semblance of the friend that Jumin was familiar with, shouldn't he have been able to read V's mind in the past few years?

He would never forgive V for leaving on his own.

Slowly, Jumin walked and stopped outside V's bedroom. Though the white oak door was wide open, he couldn't bring himself to take another step. He hadn't been aware that the last time he entered would be the last. V's arm had been slung around his shoulder as he hauled him into bed. Jumin remembered V chuckling drunkenly, hopelessly, pleading with him to keep it from Rika.

He had known something was wrong then, but assumed V would confide in him in his own time. Jumin had faith in his friend and clung to the hope that it was reciprocated. What hope it was. Some lessons you could only learn not merely after hitting rock bottom, but after you were dragged across the serrated surface and bled out alone.

Jumin leaned his head against the door frame, watching dust motes drifting above the unmade bed. He wished they had met up more often. He should have hunted V down for even one night of conversation over wine. However disappointed Jumin was in V, his yearning to tell him of his pain was even greater. For years, V had been the first and only person who came to mind when he wanted to talk, and that had not changed.

"You've abandoned me, V," Jumin murmured under his breath.

He could forgive V for almost anything, but not for leaving him alone in a world where he was already alone.

Suddenly, he felt a light tap on his shoulder, and he closed his eyes. For one second, he could pretend it was V about to tell him that his death was just another lie he concocted to cover up a greater evil. This lie he would forgive. He would give up nearly all his possessions for the one person who shaped all that was human in him, who then took it with him when he left. Jumin was only masquerading as a person on the outside; his soul had drifted somewhere he could not follow.

But the hand on Jumin was too reverent and not at all like V's. It was the hand that had brought him to his feet after the paramedics wheeled V's body away, the hand that held him tightly as if he would break if she let go. He would not. Not in front of everyone. He never learned how to, and there were people to take care of.

Jumin fixed his tie, braced himself for another wave of bad news, and turned around.

But the party coordinator cut in before he could speak. "Everyone got back safely from the cemetery," she said. In the shadowed room, the rings of exhaustion beneath her eyes were barely noticeable. She hadn't changed out of her black mourning attire—a silk ruffle blouse with sleeves that cinched at her wrists and a long skirt that flared down to her calves. "Rika went with Yoosung and Zen, Saeyoung returned to the hospital for Saeran, and I just got off a call with Jaehee. She was brewing coffee at her home."

Her method of mentally tracking the members was not unlike his. Jumin couldn't deny his gratitude for the familiarity and her concern for them. "And you're here at V's home," he commented. "I suppose this could be a safe place for you. I used to find it a sanctuary myself."

"Is it still?"

"One would think I'd hate coming back to my dead friend's place, but I can feel him here." He let the rough texture of the wallpaper scrape the pads of his fingers. There was a faint maroon stain against the beige where V had spilt his wine while laughing at Jumin's office anecdote. "He might have built this house for him and Rika, but everything here speaks of him, even the things he got out of devotion for her. They are still his devotion. In the safety of these walls, V lives on."

Perhaps he didn't come here to sort out V's belongings. His subconscious might have led him here to seek shelter from the disasters in the ghost of V's warmth. His spirit could even linger here. Jumin longed for a sign that his fascination with the occult would be proven true.

Her eyes swept through the house, taking in the mismatched antiques that V dearly loved. Jumin wondered what impression they left on her, if she could see what he saw and felt what he felt. "Do you think he's saying anything right now?"

"If he does, I cannot catch it. He's too distant from me to predict," Jumin said without inflection. "It wasn't always like this."

She studied him—not with pity, he noticed with a muted surprise—but sorrow. It felt too much like a burden that he had to change the subject.

"Have you ever had to bury someone you love?" he asked.

She faced ahead. There was a remote look in her eyes that pulled her from the present as if she was reliving a bygone time. At that moment, she felt almost as distant as V was. Jumin did not know yet how that would feel, but he realised with a pang that she had known unbearable pain, and wished he had been there for her. "Yes," she said. "I wanted to claw them out."

He did not quite share her feelings. Rather than unearthing V's corpse, Jumin wanted to revive him through the debt of unfulfilled promises, or necromancy. But here was someone who understood. He wouldn't take her for granted. He had lost enough in this life.

"It must be suffocating inside," Jumin noted.

She nodded. "It's probably good that he can't feel pain anymore."

Jumin didn't have to ask which he she was referring to. "I would've been happy for him if he didn't leave a mess behind."

"I heard what you said earlier when you blamed him for leaving without you," she said, watchful gaze seeking a change in his expression. "Did you want to go with him?"

Jumin's jaw tightened. "I want him not to go at all."

"He must have been special for you to love him that much."

Jumin scoffed. "He was definitely extraordinary, to have wreaked this much havoc in the RFA. V is—was complicated. Despite all the things he'd done, I can't see him as anything but a good friend, but the magnitude of his faults isn't something I can look past either."

"I think he tried to do good at the end," she said. "I was there when he tried to right his wrongs. I saw his sacrifices, but we can't neglect the casualties and how he dealt with things. I wish he understood that one poor decision could snowball into something too massive to handle alone."

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." It was an axiom that Jumin came across when he was young, but its meaning never dawned on him until he was forced to see it in V's downfall. "Trying to understand V is like reading a book you love upside down in a mirror. Deep down, you know the story is one that you keep close to your heart, but you struggle to make sense of it when the words are jumbled. It's hard for me to accept that V had changed so thoroughly without my knowing."

She rested her back against the doorframe, stretching out her legs until their toes almost touched. "It may be that he was neither good nor bad. It's impossible to box people into two rudimentary options."

Jumin laughed mirthlessly. "Oh, he was no doubt a bad parent to the twins."

She sighed. "A child should be loved and protected, and it's always more important that they feel your love. It's not their job to constantly convince themselves they're safe and loved. It should be easy for them to know how much love they deserve without worrying it would be taken away if they're not good enough." There was a frown between her brows that Jumin itched to ease out. "It wasn't just V, but Rika too. One through passive neglect, the other active violence." She put her hands into her skirt pockets, her voice softened. "Do you hate the twins? Saeran?"

The mention of Saeran was a blow to his gut, as it did whenever he imagined Saeran firing the gun at V, a scene that he never got to witness. Jumin was not sure if it was good that he never did, for now he was left to forever wonder how V felt in his final moments. The loud bang was all he heard when he stood outside the locked gates, and his desperation to get to V was the only thing that kept him upright on his feet.

"V failed the twins. Half of his failure is mine, and I consider it my duty to finish what he started," said Jumin in a tone that brooked no contradiction. "The RFA is family. That includes Saeyoung's lost brother. I have to protect them. You've seen how much danger they're in. I would've helped V if I had known. I have the power and resources at my disposal." His gaze strayed to the unopened Romanée-Conti bottle on the copper side table in the living room. Jumin had gifted the wine to V after a trip to France, but he never got to taste it. There were a lot of things V would never get to do. "I would have, if only he'd asked."

She unhitched herself from the wall and stepped closer to him. In all bewilderment, his breath halted. He had thought it impossible to feel anything but numbed anguish since V died. "You have a remarkable capacity for forgiveness and an even more remarkable heart, Jumin." She laid her palm on his chest, right on top of his beating heart. "I've always admired your compassion—I haven't forgotten how you flew back home the minute you knew I was living with a bomb—but you still surprise me with how good you are. Not everyone can do what you do, and you do them without being forced. Among all the people I've met, you're one of the kindest. No wonder V chose you as his best friend. I would too."

Her words were awfully gentle and soothing, urging him to pull her into his embrace and let down his armour. It was such an outlandish desire that Jumin found himself almost reaching for his phone to inform V about his latest emotional development, the realisation catching up a second late that V's phone was in his possession now, that it would just ring in his pocket and he wouldn't hear any more Jumin, it's you. How is Elizabeth the Third? and he wouldn't exhale in relief because V sounded fine, there was nothing wrong with him or their friendship, and he could finally sleep without relying on wine.

The deepest wound V left behind was the loneliness Jumin didn't know he was capable of feeling. He could not reminisce about V with anyone because no one knew him exactly like Jumin did. No one knew V used to have a spark of mischief in his eyes that he would cover up by feigning innocence and everyone but Jumin would fall for. No one knew V used to laugh with abandon when they snuck out of their childhood homes and raced to catch the sunrise breaking over Han River. Even Jumin's impeccable memory might not stand a chance against time. He might forget the sound of V's laugh as age corroded him. There would be no one to keep V alive after he passed.

Jumin put away her hand, not daring to indulge in the feel of her skin. "You give me more honour than I deserve."

"Because you don't give yourself enough."

Jumin stared at her with bleak despair. "Have you ever thought that I may not want to choose him back? That if I could go back in time, I may not want to begin this friendship with him, knowing how he would end?"

She tilted her head and watched him sadly. "V kept the contract too."

Jumin blanched. Whatever argument he was about to launch dissipated into thin air.

"What?" he croaked, the question scratching at his throat.

"The contract the two of you signed when you became friends. He kept it in his pocket." She carefully unfolded a yellowing paper from her pocket and handed it to him.

With trembling hands and quick strides, Jumin brought the paper to the windowsill. The sky above the slated roof was a fiery blaze that burnished their childish signatures with orange light. Jumin could feel the flames of fury licked at him, though for what he couldn't reason. It was V keeping yet another secret when Jumin thought he had lost his copy of the contract. It was the guilt of swearing not to forgive V when V had cherished him until his end.

Jumin bowed his head over V's barely legible handwriting, scrutinising every swoop and slant that dictated the start of their friendship. I hereby declare myself a friend to Han Jumin. At the end was a measly drawing of a toy car in green ink that had faded with time. There was dried blood staining the edges of the paper, blood both new and old.

"Why are you giving this to me now?" Jumin asked tersely.

She stood by his side. "I thought you wouldn't want to see it with everyone around."

Jumin couldn't peel his eyes away from the paper. The words were starting to morph into one another. It was the shortest contract he had ever signed. He had thought it effective. Now he wondered whether the contract length was directly and infernally proportionate to the period of their friendship. He should have included a clause to prevent his idiotic friend from doing anything that tempted death.

Jumin clutched the broken contract to his chest, hunching over it like it was V's lifeline, his breathing quickly becoming erratic. There was an awful pressing against his ribcage, a grotesque need to grieve with emotions bursting out of him as he had implored V to do when he thought V was mourning for Rika, but he couldn't. He had locked himself in this glass prison for as long as he could recall, and now he was paying the price. Thick, unscalable walls closed in around him. No matter how hard he pushed, he could not break through. He could not cry.

His best friend had died and he could not shed a tear.

His breathing was out of his control. The sea air was choking him. He wanted to check on his cufflinks and tie clip and whether the tuck of his shirt was perfectly even on all sides. He wanted to fall to his knees.

He felt an arm around his shoulders and a hand gripping him, enveloping him with a warm, decadent scent that he always associated with her.

"It's okay if you can't cry. It's okay," she muttered close to his ear. "You're not wrong for not crying. I know you're hurting. You don't have to prove that with your tears."

"I was supposed to go first," Jumin heaved out, words tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them.

She stiffened. "What do you mean?"

"I was supposed to go first," he said. "When we were teenagers, V promised he wouldn't die before me. He'd always been reckless and I was afraid of losing him, so I made him swear an oath. I thought I could keep him alive if I tied him to me."

Her face contorted in pain. "It's not your fault, Jumin. You can't change his decision when it's not yours to change. V has chosen his path and you can't follow him. You can't."

But Jumin wasn't listening. "For years when I forgot how to be human, I only ever had to turn to V as my reminder. He was my mirror of truth. In the steadfastness of his friendship, I found the conviction in myself that I am human, that I am capable of being generous and kind and all the things you mentioned. I can only stand before you and be the person you admire because of V. I owe him my entire life, but it is not much of a life to live when he won't be there to see the end of it."

"It's still your life. That is important." Her fingers slid up his jaw and cradled his face with tenderness. It was the closest Jumin ever got with anyone, the most loving touch he had ever received. It made him want to simultaneously shatter into pieces and pull himself together. "I wish V knew how loved he is. I can see how much goodness he inspired in you, and you in him. I'm sorry you lost him so soon. You should have had more time."

"I thought we put in each other the same amount of faith," Jumin said. "I thought our shared history meant more to him. I knew he had secrets and trusted that he kept them with the best intentions. That trust was misplaced."

"You trusted him because he gave you no reason to doubt him. It is as you said. How could you have known that your closest friend went behind your back when all he had been was good to you?"

"I don't know." Jumin's reply was a whisper of a broken boyhood dream. "Twenty years I have called him my best friend and gloried in the truth of it right before my eyes. Now I don't even know how to be without him."

"Oh, Jumin." Her hands slipped to the back of his neck and held him close. Soft wisps of her hair tickled his cheek. "You will learn. It will be tough, but there's no other way. You just live through it, one day at a time. But know that I'm here with you."

There was no one who could see through him as well as V did, no one who could understand him with a single glance and infinite patience. Jumin wondered if he would catch V's exact shade of turquoise on anyone else's head. He wondered if he wanted to.

"Thank you," Jumin mumbled into her neck, allowing himself to stay in that position for five seconds, counting them in his head, before pulling away. "I must ask you something. How did you know that V had the contract on his person?"

She hesitated. "It fell out when we were locked in the cult prison and Saeyoung... hurt him out of anger. I saw V putting it back into his pocket. It was the first thing he salvaged when Saeyoung stopped. I'm sorry I couldn't stop him. I tried to shield V but Vanderwood dragged me back."

A bolt of pain struck Jumin when he realised it was how V got the bruises that he inspected on the cold metal table in the mortuary. And another when it hit him that she might have got injured during the commotion.

Jumin grasped her elbows and scanned her figure, wondering if the long sleeves and skirt were to cover up the bruises. "Were you hurt?"

She seemed startled but quickly recovered. "Not intentionally."

His stomach dropped with dread. "Then why did you intentionally throw yourself before someone who meant harm? Have you no concern for yourself?"

"I thought the kicks were getting too much for V," she said. "And for you. Your heart would break if you saw him so battered. He didn't even try to protect himself, Jumin."

"Neither did you, it seemed."

"Better I get hurt than him. He was already so weak. He couldn't anticipate the blows because he was blind. I don't think he even wanted to. He just lay there sputtering apologies and claimed all Rika's faults as his." The arch of her chin was a challenge, and in it, Jumin saw the quality that attracted him to her, not that he would mention it at the moment. "Tell me you wouldn't do the same."

He was starting to suspect he gravitated to a certain type of people. "That is hardly a fair comparison," he gritted through his teeth. "You don't know him like I do."

"Do I have to befriend someone to protect them?"

Jumin shot her a sharp look. "You should have known the danger you were in."

"And I know you love him!" she snapped.

Jumin was stunned. She was not one to lose her composure, least of all at him.

"You love him," she said again, lower this time, "so I looked after him."

"God." Jumin put his palms over his face, trying to ignore the convoluted pain that twisted and thrashed in his chest. Yet another person he failed to take care of, added to his list of failures. It was a short list, but the guilt would stay for a long while.

"Jumin," she said. "I know my limit. And it was Saeyoung. Beneath his anger was grief. I had to trust that he wouldn't do anything deadly to me. Besides, he's apologised and I've got myself checked up. Only bruises. Nothing fatal."

Jumin's hands fell to his sides. "Only?" he said incredulously. "He could have caused serious harm to you."

She lifted her brow. "Do you prefer V to take the brunt of it instead?"

Jumin stared at her in disbelief. "You can't do that. You can't be like him and sacrifice yourself recklessly to save people. Do you expect me to be grateful if my peace is paid with your blood?"

"It was quite strategic, actually," she said. "We split the pain between us. Not at all reckless."

"Don't you start."

She pressed her lips together, dissatisfied.

"I just wish to protect all that I care about," Jumin said. "I never want you or him to get hurt, but he did and now he's dead and there's only you left, so I can't"—he choked, pain lancing through him like wildfire—"I can't lose you either."

She closed her eyes briefly then took his hand, pressing it against her cheek. "You're not losing me. I'm alive, right here," she said. "When I was at Mint Eye, I could hold on because of you. I was thankful that you weren't there, that you were safely out of reach. And then you burst through the doors. I was horrified. I didn't want you to see V like that. I didn't want you to be near those elixirs and weapons." She kissed his knuckle, the softness of her lips sending shivers up his arm. "I'm just as afraid of losing you."

Jumin brushed a thumb across her cheekbone, guilt and helplessness roiled in him. "I'm sorry for getting angry. It isn't like me to lose my temper."

She shook her head. "You also just lost your best friend. Grief can pull out the worst in us and make us do things we don't normally do."

He sighed. "V has a salve here somewhere," he said stiltedly, unsure how to act in the face of kindness so unexpected in times like this. "Let me tend to your injuries. It's the least I can do."

She smiled. "Later. Let's not be too eager to get me out of my clothes."

Jumin nodded and placed the contract on the side table, tucking the edge beneath the Romanée-Conti. Somehow Jumin could tell she was being honest. She had never shied away from the cold truth, and it didn't seem like she was about to now. He didn't think he could bear it if she treated him like a fragile thing the way everyone around him seemed to.

A framed picture on the wall caught his attention. It was a photo of V and Jumin in their school uniforms sitting in the car, Jumin looking sullen while V sporting a wide grin. V was still an amateur photographer then, so the picture had more ceiling than boys.

Jumin remembered that day as vividly as the sting of chilli that had burned his tongue. V had been on a rebellious streak and dragged Jumin to ditch Driver Kim after school for a cup of tteokbokki by the street. While the rice cakes had a strange, pleasant chewy texture, their digestive systems were unprepared for the unhygienic street food.

It was the most horrendous stomachache Jumin had ever experienced.

After snapping the picture, V had fallen asleep on his shoulder while he recited his defence arguments for V, knowing only the harshest scolding was waiting for V at home. But V was stubborn. He would always pursue more adventures, and wherever V was, there Jumin was as well.

Jumin missed the weight of V's head on his shoulder, the feeling of V trusting and depending on him. They were always Jumin and V, V and Jumin, two inseparable boys who tried to make their gold-spun lives into something bigger than themselves but found solace in one another instead. They understood each other's familial pains and knew the right things to say when one was hurting. They made each other better just by existing.

"Did V mention me when you were with him?" asked Jumin.

"I'm sorry," she started, and he immediately wanted to stop listening. "He only blamed himself and talked about stopping Rika by giving himself up. But that doesn't mean he didn't care about you." She gestured at the contract. "That itself proves it."

Jumin thought he would be hurt, but there was only numbness inside him. "What were his last words?"

"Something about always being with Rika like the sun. How she was the love of his soul."

Jumin chuckled bitterly. Of course V would weave nonsensical poetry at his dying breath. He recalled his speech at the party a couple of days ago. Many people ignore the inconvenient truth for the sake of being comfortable, but true happiness only comes when one has faced that inconvenience. Now faced with the blunt truth, he found no joy to glean from it. He would never know V's final thoughts about him. In the end, even the truest truth couldn't bring V back alive.

"You said V has chosen his path," said Jumin, staring past the swaying grass outside, "but the path he walks on is a lonely one, and he walks it alone. Didn't he know that I would've carried his burden with him?"

But even as he spoke, he knew it was precisely why V couldn't confide in him. V, who would take every problem upon himself, who wouldn't let anyone suffer in his stead, whom Jumin wouldn't call Jihyun again because V hadn't permitted him to.

He could wait forever for a chance to call him Jihyun. He was still waiting for it.

"I'm confident he knew," she said. "He'd have to be blinder than he was not to see how selfless you are."

The corner of Jumin's mouth quirked up, but it wasn't a smile that reached his eyes. "V was the selfless one."

"It's not a competition."

He glanced at her. "Do you think he's reincarnated somewhere?"

The temperature was dropping as night approached. She shifted closer to him. "If he did, I hope he'd live a peaceful life."

"No," Jumin said adamantly. "He's done too many awful deeds to be reincarnated as a human. He should be an animal. A cat would be fitting."

She frowned. "I thought you liked cats."

"Humans and cats are two different things. I like cats. I have no desire to be one." His mind was set. V must be reincarnated. Only then Jumin could meet him again and forgive him. "I'll be on the lookout for emerald cats in case it's V. I'll provide him with everything he needs. He won't have to put himself in danger again."

If there was anyone Jumin loved more than himself, it was V. There was nothing he wouldn't do for him. And if V was threatened with a loaded gun, there was no saying that Jumin wouldn't take the bullet for him. How could he hate V for doing something that he would do himself? Perhaps they were more similar than he thought.

"Elizabeth the Third would welcome a green friend," she agreed.

"Of course." Jumin fixed the lapel of his black suit. V had bestowed Elizabeth the Third with her majestic name. There was nothing in Jumin's life that V had left untouched. "I need a drink."

Her eyes flitted from the childhood picture to him, her face mirroring the unending pain that wrapped around his heart, and he knew she had seen through him. "I brought wine," she said. "But first, dinner. I'll be disappointed if you let my cooking go to waste."

"You're caring for me," Jumin said. "You have been since the beginning. What an odd feeling. No one has ever cooked for me aside from my chef and V." He observed their elongating shadows on the hardwood floor, how they melded into the looming darkness in the room. "My utmost appreciation. That applies to your care for V as well."

She simply nodded and twined her chilled fingers with his.

Outside, the boiling red sky was dissolving into black. The sun hung low over the violent waves crashing against the cliff. She clicked on the light switch, and Jumin watched the light reflected off the picture frame glass, obscuring V's and his youthful faces. He followed her to the dining table, feeling like an intruder in his dead friend's home, listening to the ghost of their laughter over clattering plates from another time, silently willed him to come home, then pulled out a chair for her and ate in silence.

Footnotes:

Sunset as the atmospheric setting was logical and metaphorical. Timeline-wise, this fic is set a few hours after the burial took place at around noon. The metaphor comes from how V, the self-described sun, has died. The sun has to set now. It was a fun challenge to portray a scenic sunset alongside the dark theme of grief. But hey, beautiful and depressing are a perfect description of V.

This is the most planning and note-taking I've ever done for a fic because it closely follows the canon events! The bullet points, annotations, personal arguments and analysis are LONG.

It's also my most planned characterisation for MC. I usually figure out their personality as I write, but since I replayed the Secret Ending, I'd known I wanted to give Jumin someone who understands grief and loss and knows how to navigate the conversation without being too pushy. He's so lonely there. He doesn't know how to reach out and nobody can be there the way he needs.

My initial plan was to make this fic Jumin-focused without an MC, but then she entered the scene and from the way their interaction was going, it would've been wrong not to make them have feelings for each other for a while. I meant to show that love can coexist in your worst grief, and sometimes you find out how loved you are through those who stay after the external noise dies down.

Used Jumin's line at the funeral "he was a good friend, a good teacher, and a mirror of truth. I will never forgive you for leaving on your own" as a guide for his reverent and bitter sorrow about V. The usage of mirrors in his dialogues was also inspired by this.

I reflected on why Jumin directs all his resentment to V when Rika did even worse things, which isn't a very rational thing to do unlike what he believes, until it occurred to me that it's normal. Grief doesn't make sense. His emotions are bound to be all over the place when he just lost his closest friend whether he realises it or not.

Actually, I added Jumin and MC's argument during the later edits and it just felt right. We know Jumin is capable of outbursts when he's anxious, like when he confronts V on Jaehee's route or when he slams his hand against the wall to trap MC on his.

Jumin may think that as a kid, he was the one who followed V everywhere, but I think V would disagree. V craved friends and expressed it more than him. It was V who asked for the friendship deal after all.

Jumin tends to use metaphors i.e. the analogy of Yoosung watching V painstakingly pick apples and the concept of his dark threads, so I thought it wouldn't be OOC if he came up with the rock bottom and book-in-mirror metaphors. And, this man had been friends with V for decades—their linguistic choices were bound to seep into each other's to some degree.

The reincarnation idea came from the reincarnation trope in kdramas! I think Jumin, an avid soap opera/drama watcher, would find it fascinating.

Header Corner:

I caved. I've never put this much effort into a header. I wanted to find the balance between the raw grief and Jumin's modern sophistication, hence the strong gradients and sleek font. The movement is minimal, the text is small, the vast space is hollow, and the music is stripped down to 2 simple chords, all to instil the emptiness that Jumin feels.

The colours have double meanings: blue for the sea / deep sadness, and orange for the sunset / bitter anger and intense concern.

When the scene opens, the orange and blue lights take up the space, slightly touching before they part. It's Jumin's denial of V being dead, still calling for him while being anxious and miserable. Then the realisation sets in. Orange shifts to red in Jumin's stubborn refusal to forgive while blue disappears to make way for the dark, engulfing isolation.

Here are some alternative style frames before I decided on the current one!

Music credit: Sad Piano Music (no copyright) by Tushar Sharma

[askingthe-rfa]

I heard a quote “ You can leave the fandom but the fandom will never leave you”. I saw the old post about Mystic Messenger from old accounts went hiatus or into other fandom and I know damn well inside their heart is still that little Mystic Messenger fan screaming for Jumin’s ribbon, Zen’s beast, Yoosung’s creep yandere face, Jaehee’s Gaehee, Saeyoung’s honey Buddha chips, Saeran’s emo and uwu and V’s photographs. What a cringe speech lol, I’m being delulu thinking I can revived this fandom. It’s seem like the voices of the game making you come back

Haha! I never truly left really! I still love Mystic Messenger to this day, and 707 has my whole heart! So much so that I still Cosplay as him to conventions! (I have no good photos so enjoy that one I suppose LOL)

But I fully agree!! I love honey butter chips and Dr. Pepper is still my favorite drink! You can never fully leave a Fandom and this is just proof of that! I hope that with this I can also help revive the Fandom that I love so so much.

(I am also a very very very weak woman for a certain red head help)

[fishsticksloser]

I heard a quote “ You can leave the fandom but the fandom will never leave you”. I saw the old post about Mystic Messenger from old accounts went hiatus or into other fandom and I know damn well inside their heart is still that little Mystic Messenger fan screaming for Jumin’s ribbon, Zen’s beast, Yoosung’s creep yandere face, Jaehee’s Gaehee, Saeyoung’s honey Buddha chips, Saeran’s emo and uwu and V’s photographs. What a cringe speech lol, I’m being delulu thinking I can revived this fandom

........ It will quite literally never leave me... I am still so in love with the game, I wish I could play it again but I'm just too busy.

So yes I've moved on, but if you look at my reblog account ( @fish-reblogs ) then you'll see that I still repost MM stuff there. Lmao

[mystic-headcanons]

Hey so can I request a something. So I wanna see your interpretation of what would happen if Rika got adopted by Yoosung's family.

I myself had made some headcannons like yoosung's mom gets Rika's parents and the p*do priest arrested. Around the time she adopted Rika (who is older than her own daughter by two years) she was pregnant with yoosung.

And while she was a good mother to Rika life wasnt the smoothest cuz I could see yoosung's sister being jealous of Rika and Yoosung cuz Rika herself had severe traumas and yoosung was literally a baby and since her other siblings had more needs she was getting ignored which led her to lash out at Rika (like she cut Rika's hair short one time out of jealousy) and eventually at baby yoosung. But eventually their conflict get resolved

So these are the few headcannons I have what do you think??

ooohhh this is a very interesting idea!!!

okay first, i firmly believe that rika would’ve founded the rfa no matter what. she definitely still struggles with her mental health, but it isn’t as severe as it is when she isn’t adopted.

i can definitely see her absolutely adoring yoosung the moment he’s born. i feel like she’d be one of those kinds of little girls that carry around a baby everywhere and a stroller, so she’d love to do the same with yoosung

yoosung’s sister not liking her would hit rika very hard. she tries so hard to be as perfect as she can be because she is terrified of losing her family

of course, the sister doesn’t realize this and all she sees is rika, with her perfect grades and perfect attendance and her perfect behavior. and so, when the parents pay more attention to rika than their own daughter, it does cause her to lash out quite a bit

i don’t know if she’d go as far as cutting her hair, but she’d certainly pick fights and even go as far as destroying something rika likes. like, maybe cutting up her barbies or ripping out the pages from her favorite book

it takes a lot of counseling and a few rocky patches until rika and the sister begin to make amends

rika and the sister would have a very strong relationship, i feel. they would ABSOLUTELY have one of those talks that go ‘so why did you hate me so much?’ ‘because you were perfect!’ ‘perfect? i was petrified every single day of doing something wrong.’ with lots of tears

would have a VERY close relationship with yoosung. she’d be both his bestie and another sister to him

rika would grow up to be a genuinely warm person without a devil inside of her. i think she would still date v, but it wouldn’t happen as fast as it normally does. like, they start dating nearly as soon as they meet because they’re both desperate for more- v for his artistic stuff, and rika as a last-ditch attempt at controlling her devil

but they would still fall into a very deep and genuine love with each other.

it’s also interesting to note that this would drastically change the character routes

if everything else stays the same, and v still takes saeran and still has saeyoung become a hacker, then saeran would be a completely different person

saeyoung and saeran wouldn’t be able to reunite for a while still, but saeyoung gets a lot more photographs of saeran

saeran would act a lot more like ray- minus the. threatening to hurt himself and all that on v’s route

yoosung would also be the complete opposite of how he is right now. he probably would not have touched lolol, would be very intent on staying on course to becoming a vet

v would not be the self-loathing and anxiety ridden person that he was when you met him. his relationship with yoosung would be a lot better, too. they’d regard each other as brothers, and yoosung wouldn’t be as untrusting of v as he is

i’d like to think mc would still join the rfa, too. maybe rika would convince mc to be a party planner once she and v got married and started thinking about creating a family.

all in all, rika would be a much better person if she got to grow up with yoosung. there wouldn’t be any mint eye, any tragic secrets, any of the shadiness on v’s part.

[thevoidlord]

Vanderwood's design is complete! (Mixed! Messenger AU)

[password-door-lock]

Mystictober Day 2-- Photograph

��Say cheese, my love,” Saeran instructs, finger hovering over the shutter button on his new camera.

You can't help but giggle. “You're going to run out of film if you just keep taking pictures of me around the house.” But you humor him anyway, smiling and posing with the plate you just finished washing. Why Saeran needs a photo of you scrubbing dishes, gaudy yellow rubber gloves and all, is beyond you, but you're willing to support his artistic vision even if you don't understand it.

“I don’t care,” he assures you, snapping another photo as you resume your earlier task. This one is more candid— you're bent over the sink, attacking a red sauce stain that somehow managed to find its way onto a plastic container. “I can get more film.” 

”And then you're going to go to a dark room and develop all these pictures of me?” You can't help but giggle. You don’t necessarily count yourself among the most interesting of potential photography subjects, after all. 

”Yes,” Saeran replies without hesitation. Clearly, he has a higher opinion than you do of your own merit as an artistic muse.

“Okay,” you look up from your work again to grin at him. ”I'm sure they'll turn out well, if you're the one... dark-rooming them?“ You want to encourage him, but you still have so much to learn about his new hobby— it’s so exciting that he wants to share it with you.

“Developing,” Saeran explains patiently, setting his camera down on the kitchen table and taking his usual place in front of the sink by your side. ”If you want, you can come with me and see how it's done.”

”That sounds like fun, honey,” you watch, endeared, as he picks up one of the plates and begins carefully drying it. The two of you have fallen into a rhythm since leaving Magenta— you used to hate washing dishes, but now, it's become something you look forward to, just like all the other little moments that you get to share with Saeran. “You must really be almost out of film by now.”

Not only has he been photographing you at every opportunity, but he's also been snapping photos of all the flora and fauna of the backyard— which, needless to say, hosts quite a lot of flora and fauna. ”Mhm,” he agrees with a grin. “I've been wanting to learn how to take photos since I was young. It doesn't feel real yet that I actually get to do it.”

“It's as real as we are,” you assure him, resting your head on his shoulder. You’d like to hold his hand, but you’re still wearing the bulky rubber gloves. “I’m glad you get to explore whatever you want now.” 

Saeran considers this. “For a long time, I didn’t even let myself think about what I would do with my freedom,” he muses, “But now that I have it, everything just comes naturally. I want to try as many new things as I can with the time that I have on this earth.” 

You lift your head and lean over to kiss him on the cheek. “I’m proud of you,” you announce, “And I love you.” 

“I love you too, my angel.” Saeran tilts your chin up and presses a chaste kiss to your lips. He pulls away to gaze into your eyes for a moment before speaking. “Should we finish washing these dishes?” 

You can’t help but giggle. You’ve never been happier than you are with Saeran. ” Yeah, okay, love.”

[honey-buddha-kiss]

HC’s on how the RFA & Saeran would react to MC being a fashion designer/someone who loves to sew

Kim Jihyun (V):

his mc wanted to challenge themselves by sketching out styles they usually didn’t use

they were thinking about nice and calm colors, but didn’t know how to get it on paper

they remembered v used to paint and asked him if he could teach them how to use watercolor

he was a little hesitant at first because he thought a professional would be better for them, but they insisted

during his break from selling his work, he’d be one of the many photographers taking pictures at mc’s fashion shows

FRONT ROW SEATS

he offered to be the photographer for some of mc’s photoshoots and the pictures he takes often make it to the cover page

let’s face it, he’s a genius

all of the models in mc’s fashion house that have worked with v have all said it was a great experience

mc is eternally grateful for his help

“Oh my gosh, Jihyun thank you so much. I love you I love you I love you” ;u;

sometimes he recites random poems to help mc think of new designs

he feels inspired by mc’s works and vice versa

they keep each other motivated during /artists/ block lol

Han Jumin:

mc had been quite busy lately and their maid had caught a cold

he had jaehee hire a temporary maid that would come the next day

so that evening, he was putting his and mc’s clothes away, but noticed mc didn’t have any tags on their clothes

he confronted mc when they got home and asked if they’d like the tags cut off for them whenever they got new clothes

for a moment mc was confused, but laughed and shook their head, telling him that they sew their own clothes

“Wait, then what about that dress you wore to the company party last month? I didn’t buy that one for you.”

“I made it myself.”

how had he not seen mc’s name in the list of the best designers he was given?????

makes mc his personal tailor

probably has them make Elizabeth 3rd clothes too

like cute little bows, booties, and dresses

mc even made the three of them matching outfits and they honestly looked like an adorable family omg /clenches heart/

“MC, how do you feel about creating a whole clothing line for cats?”

when he picked up cross-stitching as a hobby, he asked mc for advice

mc personally put the threads through the needles he planned to use

Kang Jaehee:

a bit surprised since around her, mc is always wearing casual, comfy clothes

she imagined designers dressing either formal and professionally or bold and colorful

sorry mc looked like a plain regular person like everybody else

mc does little things like repairing buttons and stitching up tears in her business attire and it just Warms. Her. Heart.

mc actually teaches jaehee the basics and they have fun sewing stuff together during their free-time

eventually when jaehee opens a café, mc surprises her with a bunch of wrapped gifts at the grand opening

flowers are overrated sorry

the boxes had table cloths, cleaning rags, oven mittens, aprons, curtains, and so much more all made by mc themselves

this darling almost cried

when did mc even have the spare time to sew all of these

it must’ve taken up so much time and energy

is forever grateful for the wonderful gift and all of mc’s hard work

Ryu Hyun (Zen):

one time he asked if they could design the costumes for one of the musicals he was starring in

the two of them would bounce off numerous ideas with one another, so the sketching phase wasn’t as stressful

he even tried sketching out a few designs himself

they had a bit of trouble choosing between ten, yes ten, different outfits because he LOOKS GOOD IN EVERYTHING

“Can’t you just wear all of them.”

“It’ll take too much time to change between scenes, plus the character doesn’t wear that many different outfits in this play. I’d love to wear all your designs though.”

zen wears the ones he doesn’t use in the musical, at home lol

not that mc minds tho cuz eye candy

he felt jealous when his mc had to take the other actors’ measurements and when they had costume fittings

he couldn’t help it. those guys were too close to them for his liking

he didn’t say anything about it, although he did get a little more clingy

enjoys being mc’s “mannequin” for sewing projects

“You can use me as your model any time!”

Choi Saeyoung (707):

he found out it was their career when he did the background check

would totally ask mc to sew outfits for cosplaying and his missions

when he notices mc stressing because of deadlines, he gives them silly and ridiculous ideas to make them laugh

is really helpful when mc needs to make important presentations for team meetings

he drew a few sketches in crayon and slipped them into one of mc’s folders lololol

at mc’s workplace, they were having a bad day and ended up bumping into one of their coworkers

mc happened to be holding some folders and a few of saeyoung’s sketches fell out

bending down to pick them back up, mc felt a smile tug at the corner of their lips

“Choi Saeyoung.”

uh oh mc’s holding his drawings and he panics

“MC, I’m so sorry. I was just joking around and-”

“Thank you.”

"What?"

HUGSSSSSSSSSSS and mc snuggles their face into his chest

O///////////O

error error Agent 707 has shut down

Choi Saeran:

one day, mc dragged him along with them to go out shopping for fabrics, threads, and all that

all the big bulks of fabric were making his nose itchy, but he didn’t mind if he was able to see mc happy

the elder ladies often pointed out how cute the two of them looked together and even teased them, asking when he was planning to propose

gaaaaah we’re just here to buy fabric

this precious marshmallow had this loving look in his eyes the entire time as he watched his precious squishy mc ramble on and on about different types of fabric, patterns, and colors

they sounded so cute and that little twinkle in their eyes had his heart racing

mc gave him a handkerchief as a gift before

it was a simple, white handkerchief with his initials and his favorite flower embroidered on one of the corners

it’s very special to him and he always makes sure not a single speck of dirt gets on it

Kim Yoosung:

when he finds out that mc is a famous designer, he starts to feel a little bit self-conscious about what he wears

he even debates on how he should style his hair, but mc reassures him that he looks fine just the way he is

when he doesn’t know if an outfit looks good or if he doesn’t know what to wear, he’d ask mc for advice

he loves it when they give him clothes that they had sewn as gifts

asks if mc could teach him how to sew and they start with hand-sewing

their apartment feels like a home ec class lmao

mc suggests they should start with sewing machines next

but yoosung's like nOPE sewing machines are for Professionals

tbh he’s just scared he might end up sewing his shirt and the fabric together and getting stuck

this little squish tried sewing a puppy stuffed animal for mc, but it turned out a little misshapen

he was too embarrassed to give it to them and hid it somewhere, but of course mc found it by accident and asked him what it was

he had no choice but to tell the truth. curse his luck hdhjshdj

mc thanks him and kisses him on the cheek

they now sleep with it whenever they go to bed, which makes yoosung kind of jealous lol

“MC why don’t you cuddle me instead?”

[kusukixcrystal]

MM Classpecting: 707

Zen Classpect

Yoosung Classpect

Jaehee Classpect

Jumin Classpect

Saeyoung's ended up being one of the longest. I had as much difficulty classpecting him as I did with Zen.

Personality/General Info: Outwardly, outgoing, cheerful, and bizarre. He pranks Yoosung and makes fun of everyone (including himself). Jokester. Likes cars, cats, and hacking. Inwardly, he is depressed and serious and thinks nothing good will happen to him. Afraid to endanger people due to his job and past. Will express affection to MC when convinced that she accepts him for who he is. At the end of the route, he returns to who he is but toned down. Like a mix of both. Catholic. Is a genius hacker, and can be very logical at times. Likes to crossdress and is canonically attracted to both men and women! Loves space, constantly talking about going to the moon during Christmas DLC.

Seven wanted to change his future. When he and his twin were hidden from the world due to his Prime Minister father, he took it upon himself to learn hacking from a book, and promised Saeran they would run away together. Took on a new name when he started working as a hacker. Was not allowed to take Saeran. He refused at first, but after a lot of convincing from V, left Saeran with them.

LOVES Saeran. So much. In the SEs, he still takes care of him even when he tries to kill him. Wants to protect everyone in the RFA which is why he doesn’t let them get too close to him beyond the happy-go-lucky surface. Made a twitter bot to post Zen’s selfies. He wants to help Zen’s career. Good friends with Yoosung, playing pranks on him all the time. Jaehee is exasperated with him, but she acknowledges that he is a genius and does care about him. Jumin is displeased by the way he treats Elly, but still cares about his well being.

He constantly tries to protect others. His twin Saeran from his mother. MC from the hacker threat. Tries to protect the whole RFA by not divulging his identity. Seven used to be a serious workaholic with a robotic personality who studied during the day, worked at night, and barely slept. This all changed when Seven received a floppy disk with Saeran's smiling photographs on his 20th Birthday from Rika, showing how happy Saeran was after Seven left.

Role in Narrative: He is always the one fending off the hacker trying to get into the RFA app. Is connected to V and Rika. His role is huge in the main story, the SEs being largely about the twins as well as V/Rika.

Active or Passive: In his route he actively goes to the apartment and confronts Unknown. His character conflict is balancing between protecting people and keeping them at a distance. This makes him severely depressed and lonely. He deprives himself from the things he wants, doing things to benefit others and push them away if that protects them. He is passive because everything he does is for others.

For Saeyoung I will present the Class, then the Aspect, then I will explain how it all applies to him.

Classpect - Knight of Space: One who serves Space, or serves through Space for others.

This is what the Hiveswap Extended Zodiac has to say about the Space Aspect:

"Those bound to the aspect of Space are, as the name suggests, concerned with the big picture. They are patient, masters of the art of 'wait-and-see', and are inclined to take things as they come. That isn't to say that they're pushovers or willing to let injustice lie-they just choose their battles wisely, understanding that sometimes you have to let something burn to the ground in order to build it back better and stronger than before. To this effect, they tend to be innovators, concerned with creation and redemption. Catch them recycling the old to make the new, the fresh, and the beautiful. For the Space-bound, the journey is as, if not more, important than the destination; how they do something is as important as what they do. At their best, they are steady, impartial, and creative. At their worst, they can be detached, apathetic, and vague."

I personally think Space symbolizes distance, isolation, size, shape, creation and growth.

How this all applies to Saeyoung: HE’S A KNIGHT OF SPACE AHHHHHH As a Knight, Saeyoung would be lacking Space in his story. When he was a child, he lived in a cramped house with his twin and mother. If you consider the beginning of his story to be when he’s in his 20s, his bunker is messy, space taken up by junk. He is the most isolated RFA member physically and emotionally distant (we aren’t counting V). He puts up a front as a jokester, which isn’t a complete lie, but he is hiding his true self. He’s a secret agent with a dangerous job, with a twin brother out there that he needs to protect and is hiding from his father who wants to kill him. Of course, he is going to keep a deliberate distance. Before MC joins the RFA we don’t see Saeyoung in many pictures with the RFA, an example being during Yoosung’s graduation where he couldn’t attend due to being abroad. He is vague and mysterious.

Also Saeyoung’s outfits. I argue he’s the member we see with the most outfit variation. We could word this in another way: he changes his physical form/way he looks constantly. The outfits he wears are sometimes even bizarre. We find out he has to crossdress for his job as a secret agent, and often as a woman due to his small stature. A tendency to be found within Space Players is changing their physical form/look to reach their ideal selves. This is sort of reflected at the end of 707’s route, with him discarding his hoodie and going for white and black shirts, symbolizing his shift in personality (from 707/Luciel to just Saeyoung). Basically, he reaches his ideal form/self by the end of everything in the SEs. This is permanently reflected in his being referred to as Saeyoung Choi from now on.

Another connection he has to space is his love for cats. He loves Elizabeth the 3rd and wants to foster life, a recurring theme with Space players. They are in charge of creating the Genesis Frog, after all. But he’s bad at it, only hurting Elly whenever he’s near her. He builds robot cats and dogs instead, an artificial form of life. When it comes to the dog robot, I believe he builds things when he’s stressed out. He builds the cat for MC and it detects when someone is stressed and goes to comfort them. Again, Saeyoung made something to benefit someone else, and it is an artificial form of life. Perhaps a part of him creates these toys out of loneliness, due to how many years he spent separated from Saeran. This is a constant theme for Space, to be distanced from the people they love either willingly or by fate.

He experiences true and utter loneliness for a period of time. We hear about this from Vanderwood, and how before he received that floppy disk from Rika with the pictures of Saeran, he used to be a robot working day and night. No emotions. Usually, for Space players, this isolation needs to happen so that they gain a deeper understanding of Space. This understanding would help them work toward reaching their ideal selves.

Another way Saeyoung is distanced from everyone is his genius status as a hacker, mechanic, and his interests. Jaehee and Zen are mostly confused by his jokes and antics. Jumin and Saeyoung share their love for cats, but Saeyoung’s treatment of Elly puts a wedge between them. Yoosung and Saeyoung both like LOLOLOL but Saeyoung is a better player, and has a lot going for him outside of it. He is an eccentric person with abilities and interests that can seem unusual (cross-dressing and being a genius programmer). This isolates him from normal people.

The Space imagery going on with him, too, adds to this. He is surrounded by this Aspect constantly. His character arc in the end is beating this loneliness and isolation by reaching out to MC. This then further breaks his isolation by closing the distance between himself and everyone he loves (RFA and Saeran). He acts as a Knight of Space by Serving Space to others. Namely, giving Space between himself and others for their safety.

I think that this is a struggle for the Space bond, they are adept with things within their reach, taking direct and physical action. If it's out of their reach, it is near impossible for them to do anything. He has limited reach over things that are not his domain due to his father hunting him, causing him to become isolated. The things within his domain (programming, building robots, secret agent stuff) he takes direct and physical action. Stuff other than that, it's basically impossible for him to have.

Knights utilize their Aspect earlier compared to other classes, just like how Saeyoung was able to pick up programming rather quickly. He uses his programming to serve the RFA. He works for the agency for Saeran’s sake, and you could argue that programming requires some level of creativity, where you have to adapt with your coding. Space is about growth and creation, taking something that is already there and making it into something new. You could argue the process of working with code as a programmer requires Saeyoung to do just that. He also does this with the dog robot/toys. Growth for Space includes physical and emotional, and we see this in his route. Saeyoung grows to realize that distancing himself from MC Isn’t the way to protect her, and is just hurting her more. Finding out V lied to him, Saeyoung comes to realize what is truly important to him. He repairs the cat robot he made for MC (Space, Space, Space) and they vow to go off to save Saeran. He adopts his real name by that point, symbolizing his growth. He now wants to save and protect the RFA, MC, and Saeran (Knight, Knight, Knight).

EDIT: Also as a Knight of Space, even the career that Saeyoung wants is connected to his role. He tells MC in his route that he wants to become a toy maker. Creation is one of the facets of Space, and making toys and selling them is basically him Serving Space.

He completes his journey as the Knight of Space in the SEs, ultimately getting a happy ending. He triumphed over the antagonistic forces within the narrative and broke away from the isolation plaguing the Space bond. He reaches his ideal self and changes his name to Saeyoung Choi.

Now that we did the 5 main routes, the next posts will get into the antagonists of MM! Saeran was... very difficult to classpect to say the least.

[rfaromance]

mysme cast as neopets

once again, I am highly qualified, as my neopets account is old enough to vote in the USA.

Yoosung: Starry Poogle! He is "Shooting Star Yoosung" after all, and Poogles are described as a pet that looks like a cute and cuddly dog-esque creature... but with extremely sharp teeth! Yoosung is a puppy boy, but he can get snippy and protective!

Zen: White Lupe. He's clearly a wolf boy. Lupes are brave, loyal, and perhaps a bit too confident. Zen seems that way at first glance, but his confidence is largely a ruse! Hug your local white-haired beast today!

Jaehee: Striped Nimmo! Nimmos are intelligent, spiritual creatures who value peace and harmony. However, they have quite an affinity for martial arts! Perfect for our witty, religious judo queen. I imagine that Jumin required her to paint herself yellow (a basic, default color) before starting at C&R, but in her good ending, she paints herself a sweet, soft striped color!

Jumin: Silver Shoyru! (Yes, because Zen disdainfully refers to him as "born with a silver spoon in his mouth.") Shoyrus are adept flyers, so maybe Jumin missed that gene with his driving skills. More importantly, they are fiery creatures who are fiercely loyal. If you treat a Shoyru right, you have a friend for life... but if you mistreat him, he will never, ever forget it.

707: Camouflage Kougra. He's clearly cat-coded, so the playful, wild Kougra who LOVES to pounce with his big paws is perfect! However, he's camouflage colored not just because the reddish and orange hues match his hair, but because Seven is cursed to a life in the shadows, always needing to blend in and never to exist freely....

V: Maractite Ogrin! Ogrins are shy at first, but once they're comfortable around someone, they're friendly and chatty! They're also highly curious and bright, and they love to ask questions as well as go for long nature walks to observe their surroundings. How perfect for our artistic photographer? Also, V was sassy and rude as a teen, and I think I can see him asking prying questions to be a brat back then! Maractite is interesting because when it's used for a weapon, it cuts through water with ease and is extremely sharp and durable... but it erodes quickly on land. Sounds a lot like V, powerful and bright in certain settings but fragile when out of his element.... (plus the colors are minty).

Ray: Plushie Cybunny! Ray is clearly bunny-coded. Plus, Cybunnies come from Terror Mountain, and "Ray" did not exist until Mint Eye, which is... onba mountain! A plushie looks sweet and non-threatening, right? You can trust him. :)

Suit Saeran: Skunk Wocky! While Ray is bunny-coded, Suit is certainly cat-coded. He'd be perfect as a Wocky, which is a bold, adventurous Neopet... perhaps too daring for his own good! He'd take the black and white palette to look powerful, akin to his suit.

GE Saeran: Faerie Usul! Usuls are friendly and brave, and they are extremely loyal. Saeran devotes himself fully to the people he loves and the causes he believes in. But he's also selfless to a fault, so he'd be an Usul, which is a Neopet known to be the first to share food with their friends once winter hits! He'd be Faerie because he's pretty, and because he's finally free to touch the clouds.

Unknown: Wraith Jetsam. Mean, unfriendly, vicious. If you can earn his favor, you have a powerful ally. Otherwise? Prepare to be eaten by the Void.

SE Saeran: Cloud Kacheek. Kacheeks are peaceful and shy, avoiding violence whenever possible. They also live in meadows! SE does not want to mingle and definitely wants to avoid conflict. His brother won't always let him outside to look at the clouds, but at least he can paint clouds on himself.

Vanderwood: Electric Zafara! Zafaras are adventurous and can be found anywhere in Neopia; nobody quite knows from where they originate! Similarly, we don't actually know where Vanderwood is from, although many of us have theories! Zafaras are also said to bring good luck if you're kind to them. While Vandy may not be a lucky fellow, the people around them somehow fare better when he gets involved? Electric color is self-explanatory.

Rika: Faerie Korbat! Rika is a person who is simultaneously intimidating and alluring, and I think a Korbat with faerie wings captures that essence! Korbats are friendly and welcoming, even though their appearance may frighten others. They're also inquisitive and have sharp senses, allowing them to learn a lot in a short time. It also makes sense that Rika, a nocturnal creature, would crave love from the sun so desperately...

[marshmallowprotection]

...considering what V did to them and the role he plays in their trauma, do you think any of the Saerans would be against being with an MC that was really into nature photography? Would that hobby alone remind them too much of V? I figure unknown (active cult period) and secret ending saeran would have the hardest time with something like this? Or maybe I'm making a big deal out of something they wouldn't think much about haha. Just the fact that we share a hobby doesn't mean I'm someone that's going to harm them, but I'm worried it would be triggering in some way

I think you're worried over nothing, my friend. Saeran's actually big into photography as well, and Jihyun wasn't lying when he said that he wanted to teach Saeran how to take pictures with the best type of equipment. Photographs were Saeran's first experience in seeing that the world was larger than the sights he was already amazed by, being the sky and the small places near his childhood home that Saeyoung could sneak them into.

Ray loved talking photos of everything he could get his hands on. He has flowers, clouds, grass, trees, anything you can imagine within the mountains where Mint Eye is located. Ray loved that. He loved being able to take photos of his experience because photographs of him... it was better to never take them in the first place. If his father had proof of his looks, he'd be able to find him. Saeyoung didn't start taking his selfies before he had the RFA server on his side. That's the only damn place he could exist in photographic form, you know! The twins have been denied the ability to have pictures of themselves!

In fact, the only pictures we get of baby Saeran or Saeyoung that are canon are because JIHYUN OR RIKA TOOK THEM. Those photos... they were the only thing that gave Saeyoung the strength to survive in the agency. Those photographs were a blessing and a curse. They were a lie, but they gave Saeyoung hope. Unknown didn't know that he had photographs taken of himself back then, couldn't remember a thing because of the elixir, but it seeing those photos that broke him and made him flee to try and find a way to breathe.

It was all a lie... a lie.

But, those photos were a catalyst.

They were pumping through Unknown's head the entire time, and even if it wasn't obvious at first, it was what ultimately made him see that Rika WAS lying to him. Saeyoung... you know how Saeyoung is bleeding out because of his gunshot wound and he stumbles in front of Unknown, pleading for them to take him instead of his brother? He collapses and... Unknown thinks his brother is dead. That's what sets him off. Rika yelling at him, "I wanted your brother all along, not you!" alongside Saeyoung collapsing and... then they tried to drag him out of the throne room, away from what he believed to be his brother's... dead body... well...

That's why Unknown stopped thinking and raised his gun. It was to stay with his brother, even if he was afraid and confused because of the years of drugs, torture, and lies. It was the photos that started all of that. It planted the question in his head.

Do I think SE Saeran would be comfortable with photography? Yes, kind of. The problem here is that he killed Jihyun Kim. He wasn't in the right state of mind when it happened, he was lashing out to stay safe and while anyone could've gotten shot that day, Jihyun got hit because Unknown saw white and... nothing. He has to carry that for the rest of his life... and not a lot of people point out that aspect to his character. I make a point of writing his guilt and shame as much as I can for a reason.

Jihyun was a photographer... and I don't think a camera would set off SE Saeran, but I do think you would need to keep him away from the gallery exhibitions if you ever get into some if that's a goal. He can't stomach it. I think he could work his way up to it, but it would be... the culture around it that would haunt him as opposed to the act of taking photos if that makes sense? Like, I think he takes photos of the earth the same way GE Saeran does, but it's more to justify that he exists because his dissociation isn't great in this timeline than it is to say, "I experienced this and I want to remember it forever."

You can still be a photographer, just be mindful of the art scene since it would be the discussion of higher artistic themes that would get to him, I suppose. I think those memories haunt SE Saeran the most... the ones where Jihyun wanted to teach him photography and how he spoke of the skills you'd learn in a class.

GE Saeran continues the theme of taking pictures of his experiences, too. He shows photos of the sky to the player to boost their faith in a hard mission. He shows that he loves photography, and even if V was a photographer, that doesn't mean he can't be one, too. Saeran does not hate Jihyun, mind you, he told you he didn't want to spend every waking minute of his life hating people.

He might have complicated feelings about Jihyun, and that's not going to change any time soon, but he doesn't hate him. He doesn't want to hate him. That's his choice and nobody can force him to feel any other way about it. He's not going to be upset that you want to be a photographer, for a job or a hobby, he's going to be right there with you, taking photos of everything that makes him happy. He might be dealing with the faint thought of, "How did Jihyun feel when he made photos when what he really wanted was to paint?"

But, he's not out here going, "I HATE PHOTOGRAPHY. IT MAKES ME THINK OF JIHYUN KIM. I HATE HIM. THIS REMINDER IS BOTHERING ME AND I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS."

That's not how Saeran is.

TLDR; L-Shaped Folder set post-RAE.

[asterjennifer]

Mystictober 2022 | Day 20 - Magenta

Summary: V thinks a lot while he looks for the girl; finding her and the child inside the intelligence room.

Luckily he came in time.

─────◇◇◇★◇◇◇─────

His undercover methods slowly ran out of originality. It's not the people who didn't dear lifting their heads as they passed him by; it's the numbers of spaces that got caught as wiped in the system that no one else but the child took care of.

Now there's this stranger strangled in between all these thin threads which usually kept only him tied to the end and beginning of time. But she's somewhere in this place; where neither of them truly belonged.

But then again, the child didn't do either. Rika had her hands dirty for the rest of eternity; it's still doable for the child that he had taken into his arms, claiming to protect. Promising to teach photography until the day it went horribly wrong for everyone in their little, made-up family. V couldn't tell if he's ashamed or repulsed by himself and his childish actions.

Like sneaking around the corner of Magenta as he did right now. The path somehow more familiar than he liked to admit; the way through this place too easy to memorize as he spent most of his time in here. But why her? She's not a part of the whole construct; yet the child didn't seem to understand the danger he put the innocent girl in.

Of course Rika would first watch, then observe them both before she's going to analyze them. He figured that the moment he realized who exactly the girl was. V pulled the hod of the robe deeper over his face, trying desperately to stay unnoticed when going right to the residents of the building. Was she there? He didn't find out her location; God knows how long he would be searching for her location.

Would he make it in time? To get her out of this drama before melting into the picture of chaotic destruction? How could he let it escalate this badly? Wasn't he supposed to be the adult in this story and protect the two brothers from their cruel father? So why was he and his former finance just as bad to them.

They hurt the twins as much; thinking about it broke V's heart. The older one couldn't find out the truth because the younger one got brainwashed into believing he got abandoned by everyone he trusted in his life. How to fix it?

He's seeking answers left and right, stopping his steps as he could make out faded voices at the end of the current corridor. The photographer quickly hid behind one of the tables holding up decortication in form of vases with many different flowers to find.

This building, Magenta, why ever Rika called it that way, really was build to be a maze. Sucking their members in and make it impossible to escape again. That's much like Rika, V had to admit even if it left a bitter taste on his tongue.

Only a little bit more and he'll reach the intelligence rooms; the child must've brought the girl there after remembering how he overheard a certain conversation while passing the floors, looking for the girl in vain.

He must've taken her there for some sort of contract, which could mean only one thing. What should he do to gain her trust and run with him? To convince her in mere seconds that Magenta wasn't a place filled with hopes and dreams? V ran out of time; the sweat dripping from the tips of his minty hair becoming uncomfortable.

With one last look left, then right and left again he ensured he's alone for the time being. They're going to catch up right away; it's only now or never. Having his heart hammer accordingly.

Depsite his fears he knocked on the door. Then he knocked a second time. Third attempt until Saeran finally opened the door. His face rather impatient, letting V know immediately he's coming at the perfect time.

“What is it?”

“We have a problem with the server room. This is an emergency..”

[deesfanfictionkin]

IMPORTANT CANON CHARACTERS - MENTA

NAME: Jihyun 'V' Kim

FACTION: The Ochju

ABILITY: V was born with the ability to, through a magical camera he can produce, trap people inside photographs for specific lengths of time.

ADDITIONAL ABILITIES: None as of current.

NAME: Rika Kim

FACTION: The Mint Eye group of The Ochju

ABILITY: Rika has the ability to manipulate people's memories, to the extent that she can implant false memories that that person will believe to be real.

ADDITIONAL ABILITIES: None as of current.

NAME: Saeran 'Unknown' Choi

FACTION: The Mint Eye group of The Ochju

ABILITY: Saeran has the ability to manipulate plant life, including plants that he can sense growing underground that have not yet sprouted. However, this ability is only useful for things within 30 feet of where he is.

ADDITIONAL ABILITIES: None as of current

NAME: Jumin Han

FACTION: The Ochju, currently working in secret with La Revolucion

ABILITY: Jumin has the ability to manipulate the earth, particularly stone.

ADDITIONAL ABILITIES: None as of current.

NAME: Jaehee Kang

FACTION: The Ochju, currently working in secret with La Revolucion

ABILITY: Jaehee was born with the ability of enhanced strength and, prior to the regions becoming so separate and war looming, she received martial arts training in Tewagi to better use her ability.

ADDITIONAL ABILITIES: None as of current

NAME: Yoosung Kim

FACTION: The Ochju, currently working in secret with La Revolucion

ABILITY: Yoosung has the ability to transport and keep people into a false world of his own making, though he must make eye contact with them to do so.

ADDITIONAL ABILITIES: None as of current

NAME: Hyun Ryu

FACTION: The Ochju, currently working in secret with La Revolucion

ABILITY: Zen was born with a degree of clairvoyance, though he only sees things in his dreams. However, he's able to recall these dreams in extreme detail, though people tend to doubt what he tells them, as not all his dreams are clairvoyant visions and not all his clairvoyant visions are meaningful.

ADDITIONAL ABILITIES: None as of current

NAME: Saeyoung '707' Choi

FACTION: The Ochju, currently working in secret with La Revolucion

ABILITY: Saeyoung has the ability to be a master of disguise. While not true shapeshifting, in that he can't change into any form and doesn't gain the abilities of that form, he can change various parts of his body at whim to look any way he wants to.

ADDITIONAL ABILITIES: None as of current

NAME: Mary Vanderwood III

FACTION: The Ochju, currently serving Saeyoung Choi

ABILITY: Vanderwood can generate electricity through his hands in varying degrees of strength and deadliness.

ADDITIONAL ABILITIES: None as of current.

[roleplay-abiogenesis2]

❝I want to be lonely no longer, but to learn to be a human being.❞ (Saeran for V)

"Saeran..." It would be too easy for someone to dismiss such painful words as nothing more than the brooding thoughts of a young mind. But not for Jihyun. He took them to heart the way he always did with everything, most especially when it came to this boy who'd come to care about as close as one would family.

... And whom he'd wronged in so many ways by doing so. With him, with Rika... he had loved too much to truly see the hurt he'd caused.

He knew what Saeran had been through - or at least, he'd seen some of the darkest depths of this iceberg of suffering. Jihyun wouldn't be as arrogant as to think he knew it all - and was at least aware of the damage the substances he'd been injected with could do to the mind. But for not even a second would the photographer fool himself to believe these feelings were the pure manifestation of that effect. It was not an illusion, what Saeran felt. Even though the truth may be different for the rest of the world, it did not make his own truth falsehood.

Reality, he'd learned, was painted by the eye of the beholder, and belonged to them.

Cautiously, he moved one hand to rest it on Saeran's shoulder. He tried to let his own voice come out in reassurance, pushing down remorse and shame. Those were for himself to deal with.

"The people who are with you now... they are here to stay. And each of us will help you be whoever you wish to be. It doesn't have to be a pipe dream. I will do anything it takes for you to no longer feel lonely, or like you do not belong."