━━━━༻ ♦ ༺━━━━ unblocked 01101111 ━━━━༻ ♦ ༺━━━━

There she is. Mine.

As promised, Jaehyun returned a few hours later—a few hours too long—with an armful of little wooden sculptures of miniature animals he'd carved out himself. Seeing the lack of decoration in the room had made him a little sad. He wanted to put something in there that proved he had been there. Territorial? Maybe. He just wanted to best for her.

He opened the door with his foot and slowly eased the door shut as to not wake the napping female. His heart skipped a beat as she mumbled something about salsa and guacamole and rolled over. A soft smile curved his pink lips as he went towards the little study desk in front of the window and began lining the little figures up. He had also carefully hand-painted each one, ten in total, and made sure there were no rough surfaces left.

Sandpapering wood wasn't his favorite part. It made his hands feel a little raw even though he's used to doing it often. His favorite part was imagining the (h/c)-haired girl accepting it. Would she thank him with the smile he so longed to see again? Or would she even hug him?

Jaehyun doubted it. (Y/n) wasn't that kind of person. Even so, it was the little things that counted. He'd show her. He'd show her he was the only one meant for her, and her for him.

Her beauty, her sun-kissed (h/c) locks—she was a painting for his eyes alone. Too bad he couldn't always be with her. He wanted to spend every waking and sleeping hour by her side, but the other three would have none of it. They'd soon skin him alive than let something like that happen.

But not for long! Jaehyun felt giddy as he set the last piece, a canary, down neatly next to its neighboring cat. He knew the fragile truce between the four of them wouldn't last for long. He only had to bide his time. And when the time was right...he'd strike, finishing the three off one by one. Or maybe he should do it sooner. The sooner he could be with his love the better.

But he had to wait. They'd eventually be together forever anyway. It was better to be careful too—taking them down would be sweeter that way.

The boy sat down on the bed beside her. He gazed down lovingly at the unsuspecting girl, catching a whiff of her gentle scent. He found himself drowning in it even as she slept but he calmed his excitement, forced it down as to not wake her.

Surprisingly enough, he didn't mind her sleeping. Awake (Y/n) was perfect in every way, except that she was a little disobedient. That thought made him sigh. But asleep (Y/n) wasn't disobedient. She was quiet, powerless to resist him, and at the same time unaware of what he was doing, though that part made him frown. He wanted her to recognize the love he was showing her.

One day I won't be just her friend watching over her, he mused, gently brushing her hair away from her face. I'd be the one to marry her and we'd be happy together, forever. We would make a family for ourselves, just the two of us, away from those vile adults that want nothing more than to take advantage of us. Until we die—no, even in death, we'll always be together.

He smiled, shifting the comforter aside as he leaned over her, his hand pressing down in the pillow next to her head to support his weight. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

She didn't respond but in his heart, he knew she'd agreed. Obviously, because what other choice was there?

Oh. His expression hardened. I guess they're still threats...but that's okay. There'll be no one else but me to turn to in the end.

That was the only thing Jaehyun admitted he had to agree with Tristan about. People always run away from what they fear and into the nearest safe haven, and that'll be me.

He'd be there for her. Always. Even when she's angry or hurt—not that he'd ever let her feel those painful emotions again with the love he'll always give her—or crying and falling apart. He'd take all those pieces and put her back together one by one.

The boy felt like he'd finally found and wandered into paradise as he placed a slender hand against her cheek, his heart leaping as she unconsciously leaned into the warmth. He ran his thumb over her cheek and then pulled away. He didn't wake her, did he?

His eyes ran over her features, burning them into his mind. This would be a memory only for the two of them. No one else was allowed into their world.

"(Y/n)," he whispered, the name flowing off his tongue like honey. His cheeks reddened and he pulled his hand away. His palm tingled and felt like it was on fire, but not in an unpleasant way. His first instinct was to apologize but, well, she wasn't awake to hear it.

His eyes dropped, curtained by long lashes as they fell to her lips that were slightly parted as she dreamed. Was she dreaming? If she was, he hoped it was about him.

Jaehyun didn't think, barely even registered what he was doing as he lowered his head to hers and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. And then her cheeks, both of them, before he pulled back and with one last searching look, he leaned forward to connect their lips.

Her breath fanned softly of her skin and his heart raced as the warmth glowing off their bodies collided, melting and swirling into each other. And just as he dared to take the final step, the door opened.

His head snapped back and he was sure his expression was reflecting his guilt before he could attempt to hide it. Tristan entered the room with a plastic-wrapped plate in his hands. A conflicting look ran over his chiseled features. Surprise, confusion, and irritation.

"Forcing yourself on an unconscious person?" He eased the door shut and placed the plate down on the table. "I expected it from Fujikawa but hardly from you."

"What are you doing here?" Jaehyun brushed over the male's accusatory tone with undisguised hostility. "Don't you have stuff"—he made air quotes around the word—"To deal with?"

"I figured (Y/n) would be hungry as she recovered," he responded smoothly. "So? What was your purpose coming here?" He noticed the little figurines standing at attention near the window and quirked an eyebrow. "So that's why you missed lunch."

Jaehyun glared at him. "That's none of your business. You brought food. Now you have no other business here. You can leave."

"I rather not." Tristan made a show of pulling out the chair to the study table and sat down in it. His leveled gaze held Jaehyun's furious one unflinchingly as if he was daring him to try and kick him out. "Why? Were you doing something that you can't do with me here?"

The boy gritted his teeth at the other male's accusing tone. "No. I just can't stand your presence."

"That makes two of us."

Somewhere into their heated exchange, (Y/n) had woken up. How could she not when Tristan possessed a naturally commanding voice and in his anger, Jaehyun had raised his tone. But she kept her eyes closed and her breathing even. No one wanted to wake up in the middle of an argument. It was almost worse than finding someone else in the bed with her.

Tristan tipped his seat back to pull a hardcover book off the bookshelf, ready to indulge himself in a bit of reading until the blond gave up and left, or when the (h/c)-haired girl woke up. The binding creaked and the pages crackled the way only new books did as he flipped to the first page.

"I'm not getting you a drink even if you ask," Jaehyun scowled, irked by the male's unresponsiveness to his open hostility.

"That's fine with me since I didn't ask."

When are they going to leave? (Y/n) glared into the darkness of her eyelids with the impatience of a Karen waiting for her order. Why can't locks here work both ways? Lock me in AND lock them out.

Jaehyun pressed his nails into his palms, obviously torn between fleeing Tristan's stifling presence but remaining by his love's side. He knew he could always come back later, but he really didn't want to leave her alone with that insufferable elephant, asleep or not.

Even though his body bore no visible cuts or bruises from Tristan's harsh remarks, the very core of his body held a dull ache and was painted in shades of red and brown. Like a bruised apple, he supposed. Or a rotting one.

Kieran could steal someone's heart with a single word and crush it just as easily. Bu Tristan was the kind of person who'd look right into it even as you tried to cover up all the stains, scars, and blemishes...and then crush it into pieces. Kieran trampled on love. Tristan trampled on hope. Jaehyun hated that part about the two; Leon was the only one he could really stand, which had a part to do with the fact their fathers were acquainted.

The blond continued glowering at the stoic male who refused pay him attention. If looks could kill, Tristan would be a pile of askes by now. Or perhaps he's long immune to them, especially since he's the main perpetrator.

"Why are you still here?" Jaehyun growled. "You don't need to be here. Leave us alone."

Leave me alone, (Y/n) echoed silently in her head. You people ruined my sleep more than anyone I know. That alone makes you a bad person in my book.

"Again, I'd rather not." The sound of a page flipping punctuated through the tense atmosphere. "Why can you be here but I can't?"

Good question. And the answer is neither of you people can.

Jaehyun looked like he had a million things he wanted to say and to try and hurt him as much as he could, but one look at (Y/n)'s surprisingly convincing sleeping form made him bite back all those retorts. And he wasn't one to back down from a confrontation when angered.

"There was another call that came in," Tristan continued with a hint of smugness laced into his tone. "It's the curator. She's calling to confirm the showing date of your Chatoyant and Ellipsism in their new exhibit. Even if you'd turn down one of the oldest families in England, surely you wouldn't ignore that museum, would you?"

As much as he hated to admit it, Tristan was right. Ever since Jaehyun rediscovered his spark and has been churning out painting after painting in a frenzy, it's become something he could no longer live without. Backing out of the deal with the curator would look bad on his credibility, and he needed the money for his future with (Y/n) away from the supervision and expectations of his parents and society.

It was all for them, he told himself, wrapping the spider-thin threads of lies and delusion tighter around himself. Everything would eventually work out in the end. It had to.

He wouldn't let anyone take away that dash of color in his monochrome world.

"Did she leave her number?" The blond said with a forced calm and reluctantly got off the bed. A feeling of hollowness wound its way back into his chest.

"She called your phone. She left a voicemail."

"Nuisance," Jaehyun grumbled under his breath. And with one last longing look back at the female, he left the room in a terrible mood. Tristan watched him leave with undisguised amusement, especially when the blond held himself back from slamming the door for the sake of the (h/c)-haired girl.

The blue-haired male, now alone with her, directed his line of vision towards her face and closed his book with a solid thud. "And you can stop pretending to sleep now."

(Y/n) kept as still as possible. He knew?

"It's easy to tell if someone's truly awake by their breathing, my dear. I know you're not really sleeping."

This is why I'm not in theater.

Her eyes popped open and she glared at him. He only regarded her with a cool gaze. "So she wakes."

At least he didn't call me out when Jay was still here. I have to give him that. She pushed herself to a sitting position and eyed the plate on the table. "Is that for me?"

"No, it's for me to enjoy while you get to watch." He even had to audacity to pull it towards him and began peeling off the wrap.

She stared at him blankly.

"That was sarcasm."

"Well, sh*t." Turned the tables on me. She accepted the plate and ignored his sardonic grin for both of their goods. There was a generous helping of (f/f) and a little bowl of raspberries on the side. Does this guy think I only eat (f/f)? Well, I guess I do. It's good. "Thanks for bringing it here, especially when I'm locked in a room. No thanks to someone."

His grin dropped at her bitter tone. "I'm sorry," he said coldly, clearly not meaning it. "For preventing you from getting into any more danger and taking care of you."

"I don't know if you've realized it or not, but I'm not a kid. I'll be an adult in a few years. I don't need you to quote-unquote 'take care of me.'"

"You clearly do when you've been in obvious danger more than once—three times—in the span of a few days. Not even a week."

He suddenly pushed back his chair. (Y/n) watched with her guard up as he approached her. "When I said I loved you," he continued in a softer tone, his steel-blue eyes shades darker. "I had no intention of holding back. I'd love you with everything I had, (Y/n), even if it meant I'd fall apart in the process. I'd keep you safe, happy, comfortable—you can have anything you want, my dear. I'm willing to even be flexible with your choice of...friends, unlike the others. As long as you depend on me, and only me."

She was stunned speechless for a moment, taking in the full weight of his heartfelt words. He had bared his heart to her, and it would be cruel of her to lie to him at that moment. So she spoke the first thing on her mind.

"Then Reese—"

That was clearly the wrong choice. Anger stiffened his svelte form and she could no longer meet his eyes. Everything about him at that moment screamed danger. She felt like a mouse caught by a snake and was staring into its hungry eyes, awaiting its terrible fate.

"Anyone but him." Tristan's words were fashioned into a knife that he took and drove into her chest with cold blue eyes. "I am aware of your...attachment to him. But you don't need him. I'm all you'll need. Friends can be replaced. Our bond cannot, and neither can it be broken. But for you...I'm willing to let him go. All you have to do is let me in."

As he spoke, so sure of himself, (Y/n) studied every single word. She clung onto them like they were precious. She studied them, analyzed them, and ran them through her head again and again as she looked for something she could use.

For his appearance, Tristan didn't seem too fond of absolute obedience. She's grown to realize that though he did ultimately prefer it, he liked it with a dash of rebellion mixed in. So if she was too compliant he'd grow suspicious. Going along with whatever they said worked with Leon and Jaehyun, but not always with Tristan.

"I don't believe you." (Y/n) chose her words carefully. Maybe a little selfishness would work, though she knew she was pushing it a little. "You haven't done anything to prove that. "Relationships were something she would never bring tactics into no matter what. She drew the line there. But it had to be done. She had no experience in this and could only hope it would work.

"Name something, anything," Tristan breathed, settling down onto the bed and placing his hand on hers. "I'll make it happen."

She half-wanted to demand being released with Reese again but that would end the same way it has all those other times she's had before. Why bother then? "Alright then. Build a fully functional gaming PC for me from scratch. You gotta buy the parts by yourself."

"...Pardon?"

(Y/n) struggled between laughing in his face and pulling a haughty expression. "You heard me. No help from anyone else. Why, backing down? Well then—"

"No, I'll do it."

The dude literally rolled up his sleeves halfway up his lower arm and adjusted his glasses and everything, as if he was going to a job interview. Actually, he'd be the interviewer. Or the company's CEO.

Heh.

"Oh yeah, one more thing," she added. "Don't make it in here. You gotta do it somewhere else with a large table and then bring it here. Sounds good?"

He let out a defeated sigh but obliged. "I'll do my best—"

"Oh, and you're not allowed to use any other core than the Intel i7 or higher. And the graphic card has to be Nvidia. Make sure everything's compatible, 'kay?" Insert passive-aggressive smiley here.

"Yes—"

"Right, and the thing has to look cool too! If it looks like some kid threw together a bunch of metal, I'm not touching it."

"I'll see what I can—"

"And it needs a cooling fan too, but it must be quiet." She could see the signs of frustration begin to crack through his icy exterior. He probably thought she was talking in some alien language. Score! She thought excitedly. "Make sure there's plenty of RAM too."

Tristan placed a hand on the doorknob and gave her a tired look. "Anything else? Do you want a full-course buffet to go with that?"

"I still want my scrunchie that's in Brazil."

He let out an audible groan before he closed the door solidly behind her, making (Y/n) fall over on the bed in a fit of laughter. Then she straightened and bolted to the door. Sure enough, in his annoyance and her pestering, he had left the door unlocked by accident.

Which meant, if you were thinking what she was thinking...since she was on his floor, she could, you know...sneak into his room and do a little snooping...

To find a goddamned key to Reese's soon-to-be mushroom farm!

(Y/n) was feeling particularly big-brained today especially having had fallen on her head earlier that day. She opened the door slowly, half-expecting Tristan to still be standing there. He wasn't. The hallways looked empty and were silent as she peeked through the doorway and checked in both directions. The coast was clear.

There was always the possibility he had retreated to his room to build it but she doubted that. He was going to need a lot of reference books since she didn't think he was going to work a search engine anytime soon. Which meant he was probably in his library right now, leaving his room up for grabs.

Insert evil villain laugh here.

Finding his room was easy. Just look for the spray paint that was still surprisingly there in front of his bedroom, although Jaehyun's side did look a little more faded...or maybe it was just her. The door was closed tightly and when she pressed her ear against it, she heard nothing. To be safe, she crept through the hallways in search of the blue-haired male.

Sure enough, by following his distressed groan she found him in the library with his head in his hands as he bent over a stack of books. Back to his bedroom, it was then.

(Y/n) fought back a snicker as she pushed open the unlocked door and closed it behind her. She didn't have gloves but she didn't think he'd check all his stuff for fingerprints unless he was trying to steal her fingerprints.

Wait a minute—

The room was immaculate and tidy, just as she expected from the male. It was easy to find all his things; his books were on his shelf, his small potted succulents scattered on the windowsill and on top of the shelf, and his clothes hung neatly in his closet. Honestly, even Tristan's closet was larger than hers at home. The guy really needs his suits, huh?

She accidentally—okay, maybe it was purposefully—pressed a button that slid out a little drawer in the walk-in closet, revealing rows upon rows of glasses. (Y/n) wanted to guffaw-slash-laugh at the sight but she couldn't blame him. Living with people like Kieran and Jaehyun practically guaranteed a lifetime's supply of broken glasses.

That made an image of Leon punching Tristan in the eyes pop up in her mind. And hell did that look painful. Frame snapping, glass shattering, drawing blood, straight into his eyes...

Urghhhh.

Back to her mission. She made quick work of the room, making sure to check even in the most obscure of places in the room for the key. Except where he stored his, uh, undergarments. She wasn't going anywhere near that. But she was more than happy to take his pillow apart to look for it and then put it back together. Dem do these rich people have some nice pillows...ack, getting distracted again!

She didn't have much luck. She couldn't find the key anywhere, not even when she bravely opened all his drawers, expecting to find his secret collection of torture instruments. She even checked the attached bathroom. (Y/n) didn't find anything, but she did discover that Tristan did not, in fact, wear Axe. Which had nothing to do with her purposes but, hey, the more you know!

Do I really have to check his underwear drawer? She eyed the closet with a grimace. You know what, I'm not going to do it. It's not worth it. Nope. This is where I draw the line with a sharpie.

And then she heard it: voices.

"...That's not something I want to hear from you," Kieran was saying with unmasked anger. "Just because you didn't do sh*t yet doesn't make you a f*cking saint, a**hole. Who put you in charge of me?"

"You're more than welcome to leave," Tristan replied coolly. "You're good at that. Leaving, that is. "

They were coming back. That wasn't good.

Welp, into the closet it is then.

TEMPUS:DORM ━━━━━༻ ❀ ༺━━━━━ ℓαtєя

Listening to Kieran and Tristan argue while stuck between two sets of Fortuna uniforms that were taller than her was hardly something (Y/n) enjoyed doing. Aside from the fact that she learned Tristan used some actually nice-smelling laundry detergent for his clothes, the whole thing was a giant waste of time. Listening to the two squabble was making her lose more brain cells so she began to tune them out.

Which was a good thing, because soon enough Kieran was gone and Tristan was alone in the room with her in his closet. She hoped he didn't realize that part. That would be bad.

(Y/n) kept herself as still as a statue as the male, annoyingly enough, didn't leave the room immediately. She couldn't see much from the closed closet door but from the sounds, he appeared to be looking for something. The last of his sanity, maybe?

She moved as close to the closet door as she dared and crouched there. If the key wasn't anywhere in this room, it might be on him. Or in one of the many rooms in the manor but she really, really hoped it wasn't. Because if it was, she would just give up by that point.

If he has the key on him, how am I going to get it? Through a slit in the door, she watched as he picked up a stack of paper and sank down into a gray settee. He leaned his head on his hand as he began reading it with impressive concentration. I'm not a ninja or a pickpocket. I don't even know if he has it in a pocket or if he's wearing it!

Okay. She was actually pretty small brained. Dammit. But she still got this far! That had to be worth quite a few points.

I wonder if the rest of them know about the key, she mused. If they don't I could ask one of them to help me. Definitely not zebra. He has the highest chance of knowing and he'd ask too many questions. I kinda don't want to go to Jay so snowman...?

Her future looked bleak.

But first, she had to wait for Tristan to finish reading his damned newspaper.

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A/N: FOUR MORE CHAPTERS AHA

Or I might make it a few chapters longer if I really need to. I'm bad at planning :V