"Call me a schemer, call me a freak, how can you say that? I'm just unique."
-
CHAPTER NINE — TIMING IS IMPORTANT
I pounded on the door of the vintage townhouse, my eyes darting around on high alert.
"Haneul! Open up!" I shouted as I knocked on the door frantically.
The door was yanked open and I stared at the Korean in front of me.
"Zero Hargreeves? Is that you?" He scrunched up his face as he looked at me.
"Yes, Hans, it's me," I sighed, running my fingers down my hair in frustration.
He looked up and down the street before gesturing to me. "Come in."
I stepped into the building and Haneul closed the door behind me.
"What are you doing here?" He crossed his arms and stared down at me.
"They've gone through the tapes, is the vial still here?" I asked, pulling off the wedding ring on my finger and shoving it into the back pocket of my jeans.
"Yes, duh," he smirked, leading me deeper into the house.
I breathed in the familiar smell of yellowed books and woodsy scent as I waited for him to get it, "Good."
"So, haven't seen you in a while, kiyomi," he smirked as he reached for a chest on top of a shelf.
I smiled back, peering over his shoulder as he unlocked the chest with a key that dangled around his neck. "Well, I've been busy."
"Busy getting married?"
I froze. "Hanuel, I-"
"It's fine, I figured we weren't long-term," he murmured as he plucked glass vial filled with a black liquid from a compartment and slid it into a slim leather pouch, tying a knot securely around it before handing it to me. "And you weren't particularly subtle about your ring anyways."
I clutched the delicate pouch tightly, my fingers trembling as I fiddled with the string. "Oppa, I-"
"Look, Zero aein, you don't have to sweet-talk me. I really don't mind, I just want you to introduce me," his eyes twinkled mischievously under the dim lighting.
I inhaled sharply. "But I can't-"
"You have superpowers, for God's sake, you can introduce us. Or is it that you don't want to?" He asked smugly, his lips tugged into a familiar smirk as he watched me.
I stood there, dumbfounded as he placed the chest back to its original spot.
He looked back at me with a smirk. "It can wait."
I scowled, breaking from my trace. "Fuck you."
He simply laughed in return as he escorted me out of the house. "You already did."
-
Five stared up at me as I collapsed on to a chair by the bar. "Where've you been? You left in a hurry," he asked, one eyebrow raised as he poured me a whiskey.
I shook my head. "Nowhere, just forgot something at the gym."
He smiled, one I know that was just reserved for me, "Good, don't want my baby running around the city doing God knows what."
I chugged my drink. "Is anyone in Dad's study?"
"Not that I know of, why?"
The pouch was heavy in my leather jacket's pocket as I answered, "I just wanted to see if he had anything left from the last time I saw him."
"You saw him?" Five's eyes widened.
I smiled. "Where did you think I slept at when you sent me? A stranger's house?"
Five rolled his eyes, a smile playing on his lips. "Yeah, that makes sense."
I stood up, placing down the empty glass as Five leaned over to peck me on the cheek. "I'll see you later."
He smiled against my check as I inhaled his familiar scent. "Um-hmm, you smell like rosewood by the way."
I tensed up before readjusting my posture. "Really?" I replied, already pulling away and striding into Dad's study.
"Remember, family meeting!" Five shouted at me.
"I know," I grinned, shutting the door with a click.
I sighed, looking around the room.
Dad's desk was messy with heaps of documents, paper, and random bits and pieces. His curtains were dragged aside unkemptly and the furniture was in the wrong places.
They all have no respect for a dead man.
"Hey, Dad," I said when I walked past his portrait, placing the leather pouch into a dresser drawer quickly before rummaging through the pile of documents on his table, pulling out a heavy notebook, my number engraved in Dad's handwriting on the cover.
I swallowed nervously as I flipped through the pages until I reached his instructions.
The Academy will have to get together once I've performed my final step.
Remember, never, never reveal the true nature of Number Seven-
I snapped the book shut before I read any further.
Even when he's dead, Dad had all eight of us wrapped around his little finger.