Chapter Text
The first day of class, you were armed with a navy shoulder bag, a sophisticated binder and a cute little sticker on both of your phone cameras. Impractical, maybe, but you weren’t much of a photographer anyways.
Classes were as you expected. You had chosen the less boring-sounding electives, but still the teachers droned on and on and you couldn’t help but start looking out the window every time, wondering how life would be as a bird, or if those leaves were turning green, or how long until the weather warmed enough so you could go outside with a blanket and make an impromptu picnic on the grass.
Anything but being confined into a classroom, talking about business plans and graphs and the stock market.
This pattern continued all throughout your first week, only interrupted by the sporadic texts sent by Seven — that was how you called the hacker, going off the numbers “707”. It was a varied collection of half-asleep keysmashes, pictures of cats and jokes that made you grin because of their sheer silliness. He didn’t acknowledge the fact that he was hacking your phone again, and you got the vague impression that he might be trying not to scare you off. Whether that was because of his own agenda or something else, you didn't know.
Perhaps he’s lonely too, you thought one late night, laying in bed with his chat open after a stilted conversation about different flavors of chips.
[You]: Shouldn't you be going to sleep? I could swear it's been more than 24h since you last went offline
[707]: the Defender of Justice never sleeps!
[707]: Seven!
[707]: Zero!
[707]: Seven! ☆
[707]: also, im not the one who has an 8 am class tomorrow! :D
[You]: Nah it's Economic History, I'll just sleep then :P
[707]: ohhhh bad bad girl~
[707]: you'll fail if you do that~
[You]: Ssssshut up
[You]: I'll just make everything up in the final
[707]: suree~
You laughed a little at his messages, rolling on your side on the bed. A glance at the time told you it was getting a bit too late, but you didn't feel like stopping just yet. Talking to Seven was like a balm to the pit of loneliness in your heart — he always made things seem so easy and fun. It was a spark of light in your otherwise pathetic existence.
[You]: Do you ever feel alone in the world?
[You]: Like no one would really care if you continued to exist or not
[707]: ?
[707]: is something wrong? 0.0
[You]: Nah… forget it
[You]: Thank you for talking to me, Seven
[You]: Good night ☆
Feeling a little embarrassed, you quickly locked your phone and pulled the covers until they were over your head. Perhaps it had been a stupid move to get so personal with him. You were too tired to overthink it, however, exhaustion dragging your eyelids down, and soon enough you were drifting to sleep.
Sitting on your bedside table, the phone vibrated once with an oncoming notification, your sleep undisturbed.
[707]: I know exactly what you mean
[This message has been deleted.]
By the end of the week, there was a new development in your life as a classmate approached you for a shared project.
“I’m Yoosung Kim, nice to meet you!” He said eagerly, almost bouncing on his feet. You smiled and introduced yourself.
“Did he say the project’s due date?” You asked him as he waited for you to gather your stuff. Yoosung shook his head.
“Nah, he said something about the end of the month so we still have plenty of time. Want to grab something for lunch?”
“Sure.”
You didn’t know it yet, but it was the start of a tentative friendship with Yoosung. He started sitting next to you in class and you exchanged numbers, just in case. You didn’t mind his company: he was nice and fun, albeit a bit of a disaster, and it made your classes more bearable.
“I actually don’t really like business that much,” he confessed one day during a particularly boring Economic History lesson. You watched him doodle on the margins of your sheet, then looked up to meet his eyes. “But my mother said I had to pick something, and I thought it would be easy.”
“I think this is even worse than astrophysics,” you replied with a wry smile.
"Honestly." He chuckled softly and shook his head. "At least I get to play LOLOL all day since I'm not living at home anymore."
"LOLOL? What's that?" You asked, making sure to keep your voice low.
His violet eyes widened considerably, and you thought he might raise his voice if not for the sharp look a classmate sent his way. Suitably cowed, Yoosung settled for a frantic whisper, dedicating his full attention to you.
"It's just the biggest online multiplayer game right now! How do you not know it!?"
You shrugged.
“Sheltered life,” you mumbled. He didn’t seem to hear it.
“I’ve been playing it for months and my guild is on the way to become one of the top. You see, there’s this system—”
Yoosung kept talking about the game all throughout the lesson and well into the next one, only stopping when the professor in charge gave him a stern warning. You listened idly, not minding the boy’s excitement, and wondered if you could convince your father to let you install it. Maybe if you said it was for a particularly creative class? Or a study on the microtransactions market?
Eventually, classes ended and you waved Yoosung goodbye before making your way to the usual bus stop. It was a short ride to your apartment, but sometimes you wished it was just a tiny bit longer, if only so you could spend more time listening to music and appreciating the scenery. As you settled on the little plastic seats to wait for the bus (only five minutes away, yay), you pulled out your phone and opened Seven’s chat. He hadn’t said anything since the last cat meme several hours ago, so you decided to start the conversation.
[You]: Ever heard of LOLOL?
The reply was almost immediate.
[707]: that’s like asking if i’ve ever heard of heroin
[You]: So yes?
[707]: don’t do drugs, kids
[707]: (yes, meow)
[You]: This guy in my class was telling me all about it today
[You]: Sounded interesting
[707]: it wasn't the blonde guy by any chance, was it?
[You]: How did you know? Did you hack his camera too?
[707]: nah i just have psychic powers
[707]: anyways. dont play LOLOL
[707]: a cute girl like you shouldnt be wasting time on such games!
Heat warmed your cheeks at his last message and you quickly locked your phone, averting your eyes from the screen. Just in time, as the bus pulled up to the stop right away and a large queue of students was starting to form.
You didn’t open your messages app until you were sitting securely on a window seat at the back —with how rough some of the drivers were, you weren’t risking standing up—, and were surprised to see Seven had sent you a picture of the LOLOL main screen.
He did that, sometimes, sending you pictures of random stuff like chips or a cat. You sometimes wished he would send one of his face. It was fair, after all, he had seen yours.
[707]: whoa whos that on the #1 spot?!?
The handle "Hacker God" occupied the top spot in the ranking, giving you a clue of who it could be. You chuckled silently and quickly texted him back, calling him a nerd. The commute home was spent like that, with Seven joking about LOLOL and you lightly teasing him, and in no time you were standing in front of your building.
Somehow, the apartment didn’t feel quite as lonely when you entered it.
The next day, you met up with Yoosung to work on your shared project. Neither of you had much of an idea what to do, but together you made your way into the library, armed with your laptops, spare paper to doodle on and much-needed energy drinks.
“Where should we start?” You asked, a tad hopelessly, as he pulled up the instructions document on his screen.
Yoosung frowned, reading the instructions closely.
“I don't know, this doesn't make much sense,” he said at last.
The theme of the project was ‘choose a local association and study its finance management in a past event’. Easy enough in theory, hard to pin down in practice, especially when the professor had chosen to be incredibly vague with the instruction details.
“We should probably try to find a local organization first,” you suggested. “To base our study on.”
He perked up as you spoke, looking up from his laptop with a smile.
“Wait, I know one! Ever heard of the RFA?”
You thought about it for a second — it sounded vaguely familiar, but you couldn't place it.
“I… don't think so?” You replied doubtfully. Yoosung's excitement dampened a little, but he quickly recovered.
“It’s a Fundraising Association that used to throw parties to raise money for different causes, like helping children in need,” he explained. There suddenly was a melancholic tone to his voice. It was a side of him you hadn’t seen yet. “My cousin Rika was the leader; that’s who the R is for in RFA. She died a year and a half ago.”
“I’m sorry,” you mumbled sympathetically, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Yoosung stared at his hands for a beat longer, before sighing mournfully and looking up at the screen again.
“Thank you,” he said, voice so soft you strained to hear it. “I thought we could maybe do the project on the RFA — I know quite a bit about its finances, since I’ve been a part of it.”
You briefly read the instructions again before agreeing. The RFA seemed like a good fit, and Yoosung’s insider information would certainly help. He brightened up again when you told him so, and soon enough, the two of you were writing down an outline for the project.
The sun was low in the sky by the time you left the library, after agreeing to meet again the next week. Everything was bathed in a gorgeous golden light, making the buildings and trees look almost ethereal. You took your sweet time walking home, humming under your breath as you thought over the finer points of the project outline, making mental notes for the next meeting.
A faint noise drew your attention just as you walked past the mouth of an alleyway. Feeling curious, you took a step back, and were rewarded with the sight of a small street cat meowing at you.
“Awww, aren’t you the cutest?” You cooed, immediately approaching the animal. Its fur was a gorgeous brown and orange, albeit dirty from the street, and he looked up at you with the cutest eyes.
You offered your hand slowly. The cat sniffed it and seemed to like it, rubbing its head against the back of your hand. A smile bloomed in your face.
Carefully, as to not spook the animal, you peeled the sticker from your phone camera and took a picture of the cat. Under the golden evening light, it looked otherworldly beautiful, like one of those pictures you saw on Pinterest sometimes.
[You]: Made a new friend
[Picture attached]
[707]: OMG
[707]: KITTY
[707]: BEAUTIFUL FURRY SOFT KITTY CAT
You laughed at the string of heart-eyed emojis he sent next, along with some incoherent gushing words. He seemed to be in a good mood.
[You]: I want to take him home with me so bad but my father probably wouldn’t let me
[707]: ah… such is life… so harsh…
[707]: i want to dance with him…
The cat meowed again, recalling your attention. You smiled and patted his head softly.
“Are you hungry?” You asked. He meowed again.
There was some leftover food in your bag, you suddenly remembered; half a tuna mayo sandwich you had for lunch. You rummaged through your belongings for it and then quickly unwrapped the sandwich, placing it on the ground in front of the cat.
The animal didn’t hesitate to start eating, probably enticed by the smell of tuna, and you giggled at the tiny sounds coming from him. Quickly, you snapped a picture and sent it to Seven, knowing he would love it.
[You]: How should I name him?
[707]: honey buddha chip!
His words made you laugh again. You looked between your phone and the cat, who was busy lapping up the last of the sandwich filling.
[You]: Chip is cute :)
[707]: yay! i thus name thee
[707]: honey!
[707]: buddha!
[707]: Chip!!!⋆ ˚☆｡⋆
[You]: !!!
Busy feeding the cat and texting Seven, you hadn’t noticed just how dark the sky had steadily gotten. The golden light was nowhere to be seen, and the streetlights nearby had started to light up.
“Sorry Chip, I have to go.” You petted the cat softly, smiling when he meowed again. There were bits of tuna around his mouth, which he promptly licked clean. “See you tomorrow.”
With a smile on your face, you went home for the day.