Hard and tasteless. The nails in her mouth are hard and tasteless but she can't help but gnaw away as she holds her breath. MC snuck out of the control room and watched Saeran report some of the delivery men to the Savior and as they were taken away. They were doing drugs that they likely snuck in from somewhere. The Savior has come and swept them off to the ceremonial room quickly, only after of course, praising her favorite 'son'.
Saeran heads back towards the main building from where the trucks load and reload. MC takes off to him immediately after. She needs to speak with him. He slips into the main entrance and MC is in not a moment later. It's 12 PM. He should be heading for his lunch with Y/n, but instead he takes a hard left down to where construction is still being done. It's a warning, an obvious 'stop following me', but MC has no choice. She heads down the hallway.
"What the fuck do you want?" Every once of Ray in the man before her disappears. He slams the door to the room that they entered, blocking MC's escape.
Her hands fumble in front of her. "The Savior is planning to hurt Y/n beca—"
"And you're not?" He snaps. He has seen and heard more than enough to know who their enemies are. "Why are you telling me this? What do you want now?"
MC's wound thumps beneath her bandage. "The Savior doesn't like how close you two are. She wants to make sure you both stay loyal to her! She thinks she can make Y/n loyal through a cleansing ceremony. That's why if you just put distance between you and Y/n and devote yourself to the Savior then—"
Cold and dry, Saeran's mint eyes tear the girl apart. If there's one thing he hates, it's people getting in between him and Y/n. If he didn't have to maintain his cool to ensure his escape with Y/n tomorrow, he would've strangled MC on the spot. "I don't ever want to hear you saying her name again."
"But the Savior! She—"
"I don't know what you think you're up to, but did you really think that you would get to play hero after the hell you put her through?" His hand slams against the wall. "Have you forgotten how you sexually harrassed her? How you took advantage of her health? How you ruined her town and school life for her? How you kidnapped, and beat, and strangled her? You even had her father at gunpoint!" Eyes stinging, his heart clenches. Y/n has been put through so much pain when she hasn't even done a single thing wrong. "And yet you think you get to play hero? Don't fuck with me!"
Blood coats her tongue as her teeth tear through her lip, her salty tears only making the wound sting more. She knows. MC watched how Y/n cried and struggled against her. She watched how Y/n suffered because of her and is sick of herself for never thinking it was enough. Saeran is right. MC has absolutely no right to try to play the hero for Y/n. She knows. But is it still so wrong for her to want to do something right? Not even once? "Please Saeran..." Her knees, then her balled fists sink to the cold unfinished floor; her forehead kisses its rough surface. "Please do what you can to protect her."
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"Your package is on your bed," Y/n speaks up as Rika returns to the room. Y/n had checked the label and as she thought, it is more materials to produce a bomb. "And it's almost twelve, so I'll be taking my lunch break soon."
"Look at me." Rika will only have a few minutes to change before the cleansing ceremony, but it'll be enough. "And get on the wall." Y/n looks up at the smiling blonde. "Now."
Just one more day.
Y/n rises from her seat and does as she is told. As the woman has made her do multiple times now, she stands her back to the wall and her hands behind her head. Rika doesn't even skip through half of the page that Y/n has been working on. "You've made a mistake again, Y/n," her smirk doesn't disappear for a second. "I thought C&R trained their employees better."
Just one more day.
Y/n keeps her mouth shut. She didn't make any mistakes. But denial will only make things worse.
"I like that look in your eyes, Y/n." Rika puts the report down on the desk and approaches her adorable successor. The woman's fingers don't shy away from violating Y/n's body. Her teeth clench.
Just one more day.
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It's twenty past twelve once Y/n finally leaves the bathroom after escaping Rika's grip. With each time, the tears seem to stop faster and the gut wrenching disgust is boxed and hidden away more quickly, getting reduced to just a dull emptiness. But, despite the time she may have saved, she's late.
She rushes through the hallways quickly, eager to get back to Saeran's room, the only safe-ish place in the building. The moment she throws open the door, her vision is swept with color. Her strife is washed away and her lungs are light with vibrance.
There is a small table set up in the room, a white table cloth covering it with a beautiful vase of lily of the valley flowers set in the center. Saeran smiles at her with a light blush dusting his cheeks as he works on some sort of batter at the counter of the kitchenette. He's even wearing a light yellow apron. "Y/n... I hope you don't mind us having a later lunch. I wanted to try making something for you."
A genuine smile finds her features and she's at his side in seconds.
"Thank you."