───────────〔✿〕───────────
When Y/n finally wakes up, the sun slowly begins to sink beneath the horizon. A soft smile plays on her lips. She had a good dream. Careful not to irritate her healing wounds, she slips out of the bed and stretches lightly. The phone Rika gave her is still sandwiched between the pillows on her bed with several missed calls and messages glowing on the screen. She didn't even turn the phone on do not disturb so she must slept through all of the notifications, assuming Saeran didn't silence them for her.
Somewhat hesitantly, Y/n picks up a set of clothes from earlier that morning and pulls the lanyard with her badge over her head. She needs to go to the bathroom. And bad.
She crosses the room quickly and opens the door that many people used to come in and out of her room. She jerks back the moment her head pops out of the door. "Wh- who are you?"
Two men are stationed outside of her room and stare right back at her. The first of them looks familiar. It takes her minute to realize, but he is the same tubby looking middle aged man with thick eyebrows that came running into her room at Rika's beck and call. The other is a completely new face. He appears to be much younger than his coworker and much more sheepish. He fails to hold Y/n's gaze for long and turns to 'beck and call', the tubby believer, for help. "We are the believers assigned to watch your door for today," the older one, beck and call, explains. "I've received word that you have attained special privileges, so you are permitted to travel throughout most of Neo-Magenta as you please." He points, "Just hold onto that badge."
"Okay," Y/n mumbles off. "Um, where is the bathroom?"
"Down the hall and to the right," he points. Y/n nearly takes a step back. Are they just going to let her go? The man must have seen Y/n's confusion as he speaks up again, "Would you like one of us to escort you?"
She has a choice. Y/n is quick to wave her hand in front of her face as a quick refusal. "I'll be fine on my own... thank you," she chokes the final words out.
Beck and call bows deeply as does the younger believer. Y/n drops herself in a quick bow in response. "Your kindness is wasted on us," the man grunts, the line coming out with an odd air of gratitude. "For eternal paradise."
"Um, right," Y/n trails off as she backs away. The men look at her strangely, but she chooses to ignore it. Unless they want to be cleaning up a puddle of urine, they should just deal with whatever 'holy' rule she just broke.
───────────〔✿〕───────────
By the time Y/n finishes her shower and gets dressed again, it's well passed sundown and stars litter the sky. Candles light the halls and moonlight streams in through the windows. Believers talk in hushed whispers as they pass, their dark cloaks just inches away from sweeping across the floors. It's too early for Y/n to run away, especially when she doesn't even know where she is. What she can do is find information. But for now, she just wants to get outside and clear her mind.
As she walks the hallways, faint screams echo from behind a door. She pauses once, her ears cringing at the shrill cries. A moment is enough. Her foot lifts again. She continues walking. The instant she turns the corner, she realizes she made the right choice. The silent man from outside of her door stares directly at her, his counter part guarding a door different from her own. So they rotate. When she catches the second man's gaze, he gives her a slight nod. Y/n's fingers find the badge hanging from her neck. She returns the nod.
Having explored most of her own floor, Y/n decides to go down one of the staircases and eventually finds herself outside. A fence lines the large garden she has stumbled into, it's black finish reflecting moonlight in the distance. With not a single glance in her direction, a group of three believers dressed in heavy cloaks scamper past Y/n. The notion of escape is intoxicating. But the ache of her body reminds her of the consequences of a failed attempt.
So instead, she wraps her arms tightly around her waist for warmth against the cool night air and begins to make her way to the large garden. The paths are lit enough for one to see their own feet and about an arms reach ahead and behind themselves. It's enough to admire the beauty of the well kept flowers, but not enough to identify what the lumps and bumps in the distance really are.
Just as Y/n nears one of said lumps, a swinging bench just large enough for two to sit comfortably, slips into her vision. "Saeran," the name comes to her mind so quickly that it makes it passed through her lips before she can think twice. Leaves are crunched beneath someone's boot, causing her to jump. Y/n whips her head around and forces herself to calm down. Aside from MC no one has any motive to hurt her... but just who would be out this late?
She unfurls her fists and rubs her hands down on her cloak. She should've brought the phone. Even if it's being watched by whoever is in charge of their security here, it's the only connection to Saeran at the moment. The more her body aches, the more she finds herself missing him. Thoughts of him flood her mind.
Just as Y/n's throat begins to close, she freezes. The lumps in the distance. Were they always that big? And isn't that one closer than before? Even if it's just her imagination, there's no reason to stay out in the middle of the night just to be uncomfortable. She hops on her feet quickly and turns back to where she came from. Her heart pumps slightly and her eyes squint in the dark. The dim lighting that could've been romantic on any other night does nothing to calm her thumping heart. The rustling behind her morphs into the distinct pounding of footsteps. Cold fear strikes through her.
A hand catches her wrist and whips her around.
"Y/n!"
───────────〔✿〕───────────