Where Futures Begin (Saeran x Reader x Saeyoung) COMPLETED

XIII: Neutral Route: (Y/N)

Your parents had always called you names.

Useless. Pathetic. Ugly.

The kids at your orphanage hadn't been much better, distancing themselves from you and wondering why you were so weird, whispering insults behind your back.

Only two people from the Mint Eye had ever called you beautiful, and that included a bipolar man who had made it clear that he now hated you, and a manipulative woman who made it her life's purpose to destroy happiness (though, of course, she thought she was spreading it).

On the rare occasions that you had looked into the mirror and considered yourself to be particularly stunning, you had always thought that it was the form-fitting dresses that the Savior had given you that did the trick.

As you stared at yourself in the mirror, dressed in Vanderwood's cargo pants and a tank top he had stolen from god knows where, you noted, with mild amusement, that you truly were pretty. You stared at your face, still not used to the white locks that framed your face and the mint green eyes that stared back at you, but the lack of any magenta clothing articles was a pleasant change.

You took a step back before walking out of the room. "What should I do with this dress?" You asked Vanderwood, who had been waiting at the door while you changed.

"Give it to me. I'll burn it."

You raised an eyebrow, but handed the clothing over nonetheless.

"What? Don't you want to forget about the Mint Eye?" Vanderwood's question made sense, but...

"Kind of hard to forget about the Mint Eye when it stares back at me every time I look in the mirror." Your words weren't laced with anger or venom, a simple truth that you would eventually need to accept.

Vanderwood still looked slightly apologetic, though. "Oh. Right. Well, you can't forget about the Mint Eye either way. You still need to help hack into...what did you call it? The defense room? Perimeter?"

"Security room," You told Vanderwood, but hesitating. "Are you sure Luciel will even let me use his laptops anymore? I doubt he wants to see me right now..."

Vanderwood chuckled. 

"Luciel usually isn't as unprofessional as you saw him act this morning. He'll be able to handle it. The only reason he let his emotions get the better of him was because he let his emotions loose around you." The man paused, rolling his eyes. "Kissing is stupid. Either have sex or don't, but there's no benefit to making out on a couch."

You blushed, pulling your eyes away from the brunette in front of you. You didn't refute his claim of kissing being stupid, not wanting to admit that you, too, had been emotionally invested when you kissed Luciel.

It was your first kiss, after all.

It's not like you knew that Saeran had claimed your lips once before.

"Though I guess your situation was a little different," Vanderwood said, pausing thoughtfully for a moment. You thought he was being kind until he continued, "Given that you kissed Luciel because you'd always wanted to kiss his brother, and he was the second-best thing."

"That's not true!" You blurted, resenting the idea that he thought you had only kissed Luciel because of your prior feelings for Saeran. "Saeran and I were never like that..."

"Oh?" Vanderwood said, taking a step closer to you. Resisting the urge to back up further against the wall, you stared up at the man, not letting yourself be intimidated by him. "So you're saying that if I had happened to be there instead of Luciel...you would be fucking me right now?"