this book will cover dark subjects, such as suicide and mental illness.

The dark screen of the laptop illuminated Saeran's face as he typed, picking his way through the dark web as he searched for lost souls. V sat beside him as he typed, reading the green text as it scrolled across the screen. He picked at his fingernails in boredom, eyes and cheeks hollow.

The two sat in large chairs in the basement of the Choi's house, monitors and screens surrounding them. The air hummed with electricity, and the only light sources were the wide computers, arranged in a semi-circle around the two chairs and a large desk. A tangle of wires met up underneath the desk to plug into a power outlet strip, more than 12 different cords.

"Check the app," V said quietly, and Saeran swiveled to another computer, the display split to show one half of a game's opening screen, the other an analytics and diagnostics screen. 'Mystic Messenger', the game's title read, depicting 5 characters holding phones and gazing outwards.

The 5 were designed after real people, in fact, the creator's four closest friends and himself. It was Seven who had made the game, creating characters after Jaehee, Jumin, Yoosung, Zen, and himself. Jumin's pixelated face stared back at V with a muted expression, wearing a suit and tie. V looked away as Saeran logged in.

It had been 1 1/2 years since Jumin's death, 1 1/2 years since V found out about Regressive Floral Asphyxiation and how he was the reason that his best friend had died. Since reading Jumin's lengthy explanation of his flowers, his love for V, and the real reason why MC had been hospitalized, V had asked Saeyoung to create an app for people who suffered from heartbreak, unrequited love, or just loneliness, so that those who suffered wouldn't suffer alone.

The app was designed so that people could 'chat' with bots who checked in on their health and kept them engaged. They reassured that the users ate, slept, and allowed the users to chose 'routes', keeping them preoccupied and their hearts at ease. V was a character as well, the co-creator and manager of the party-planning organization, and Rika even had a role as the creator.

Saeyoung had taken Regressive Floral Asphyxiation and turned it into Rika's Funding Association, then built a plot and multiple storylines to intertwine. It was one of his finer moments, but the past behind the creation of the game was less-heartwarming- after Jumin's death, Saeyoung had holed himself up in his room, becoming less and less social. Saeran's hunch was that he was terrified of experiencing unrequited love, and even more so, being the subject of someone else's, so he cut himself from contact and spent his days designing Mystic Messenger. Even now, as the game thrived, Saeyoung's happy-go-lucky, flirty and mischievous persona has dwindled, leaving him sheltered and distant.

Zen had taken Jumin's death hard as well. Saeran knew that something had happened between the two of them, some kind of chemistry. Zen, who had been stuck in the hospital for the week after Jumin's death because of his motorbike accident, had nearly gone crazy being cooped up, and he had spent a lot of time with Jaehee, who had been one of Jumin's closest confidants and had spent time with him in his last days.

When V had told the two about Jumin's condition, they'd gotten closer, confiding in each other and working through their emotions. The two were now very close friends, and were the closest with MC besides Saeran.

And oh, MC. Oblivious as always to everything, MC had drifted from the group once Jumin had died. He was really only connected to them by Saeran, and had only met Jumin once or twice. Still, he was empathetic and he kept his distance from the group as they dealt with their pain in their own ways.

He attended the same college as most of the others and waved in the hallway but, since his surgery, MC had definitely become... docile, almost. He and Saeran had stitched their friendship again, and Saeran had remained with Yoosung through it all, even though sometimes the thought that MC used to love him stung.

Saeran hadn't realized he'd spaced out until V cleared his throat expectantly. Hurriedly, Saeran ran the virus checks as he sorted through the app, V watching over his shoulder. "How's Rika?" Saeran asked blandly, hoping to get V's mind off how slow Saeran was actually working.

V sighed, minty breath whistling over Saeran's neck. "Worse. My beautiful sun is growing dim." V had taken to talking about Rika like this, referring to her as the sun. It was true, Rika's mental health was faltering. Saeran often wondered if it had started before Jumin's death, or if that had triggered it. V and Rika had always seemed like such a perfect couple, but now Rika was on depression meds and V wasn't doing too hot either.

"And Yoosung? How are you two?" Saeran paused typing, glancing over at Yoosung's character on the screen.

"You know he's mad at you," Saeran answered quietly. Yoosung, who happened to be Rika's cousin, blamed everything on V. He hadn't liked him from the start, but especially now that Rika wasn't doing well, Yoosung's grudge towards V had grown.

"I'm aware. Does he also blame me for Jumin?" Saeran bit his lip and thought back to when he and Yoosung had heard the news. Yoosung had sobbed into his chest, small and confused. Saeran remembered the anger radiating off his boyfriend's body when they saw V again.

'How didn't he see it? They were best friends, how didn't he see it?' Saeran had squeezed his hand and offered no comment.

"Yes."

V absorbed this quietly as Saeran worked, tweaking settings in the game and combing through the data to make sure everything was in order. Saeran was worried for his friends, especially Yoosung and MC, as well as his twin. Yoosung was easily influenced, and Saeran was nervous that some of Rika's negative mental mindset would rub off on his clear conscious.

"Hmm... well I guess there is nothing that I can do about it. If Yoosung decides to blame me, he is welcome to, I blame myself as well." Saeran scratched the back of his neck. This wasn't the conversation he wanted to be having right now.

V was stiff and careless at the same time, dark and sly and slick like a puddle of oil on asphalt. His all-seeing eyes gave Saeran the shivers. And to think that this was the boy that used to be so shy in class, sweet and pure and kind. Now, it felt like he'd lost that part of himself and replaced it with a sinister, heartless fool. Rika's mental health was going to destroy him.

Saeran had never cared much for Rika, and he could tell that Jumin hadn't either, besides the fact that she was dating V. There was something off about her, something that wasn't quite right. Saeran felt even more uncomfortable around her than he did around V, with her long blonde hair and pink lips that were holding back some secret.

Saeran licked his dry lips and finished up checking the game hardware. "It's set," he said to V, over his shoulder, then scooted back over to his regular computer, resuming his dark web searches for RFA symptoms, lonely souls, and Hackers Chasing Hackers, an association always after his brother and him.

As V walked to the stairwell, his words chilled Saeran to the bone.

"I need a new sun. Perhaps MC? He's still bright since he doesn't remember- no one ever told him the truth..."

...

Jaehee smiled sweetly at her phone, scrolling through what Zen knew was the Mystic Messenger app. "Oh, how cute..." Her face lit up when she talked with players, answering on her own instead of her bot's response. Zen rolled his eyes.

"Jaehee, come off of it for a bit, MC'll be here in a minute," Zen urged his best friend quietly, and she glanced up sheepishly at him.

"One more message." The two were sitting at Zen's kitchen bar counter, Zen with a beer and Jaehee with a steaming mug of tea. The kettle was bubbling gently, awaiting MC's arrival.

Zen and Jaehee were really the only ones who kept in touch with MC after Jumin's death besides Saeran, so the 20-year-old mostly focused on his college studies and didn't party much at all. MC was a good student, unlike his previous self, and he was pretty reserved, shy and a preferred listener.

Zen thought MC was kind of like a blanket. His gentle presence was comforting and warm, and his hugs were the best. Even Jaehee, who was fresh-out-of-the-closet gay, felt a pull towards MC. Zen had a harder time controlling his impulses, especially when he drank, and MC had shyly told him on multiple occasions that Zen had tried to make a pass at the freshman when he was drunk.

Zen couldn't help it, MC's hair, which half of the time covered his wide eyes, was soft and smelled like peaches, and his frame was graceful and light. MC was kind of like a chocolate chip cookie straight out of the oven, too.

A knock on the door disturbed Zen from his thoughts and he sprang from his stool to open it. Speak of the devil.

"Hey, Zen," MC said sweetly, holding out a small hair care kit tied with a bow. Zen noticed that in his other hand, he grasped several magazines that Zen recognized from his own merch shop. MC and Jaehee both adored Zen's acting work, which was a little strange since they hung out so much, but Jaehee protested that she wasn't obsessed with Zen, just the roles he played.

"Seriously, MC, you don't have to give us gifts every time you come over. You make me feel bad that I have nothing for you," Zen said lightly, stepping aside to let MC into his flat.

MC shrugged happily, handing Jaehee the magazines. She began pouring over them immediately. "I like to. It makes me feel happy."

Zen shook his head in mild disbelief, "I can't believe you," he said as he looked through the haircare basket, "Are you made of money? College students shouldn't be able to afford this kind of stuff. Shouldn't you be spending your money on ramen?" MC laughed lightly, padding over to the whistling kettle
and pouring himself a mug of tea. Zen admired his form, his bunchy beige sweater over a long-sleeved black shirt and jeans.

The three chatted casually, laughing and smiling and talking about Zen's new production and MC's major in psychology.

"It's like you have choices when responding to someone. Kind of like when you're in the chatroom in Mystic Messenger and the player can chose a selection of responses.

"You know that if you say a to someone, you'll get x response, and b will give you y response. It's about knowing what you want to get out of a conversation and learning how to manipulate your own words to get the desired response," MC explained to an invested Jaehee and Zen, "My professor always says, 'Ask the 'why's and not the 'what's."

"Why am I so gorgeous?" Zen supplied.

"What is your problem?" Jaehee giggled and MC joined in.

...
cutscene

V entered the dark shop, eyes gleaming as they skated over the contents on the shelves. He strode over to large coils of rope and let his fingers trail over the spools, eyeing the strands, twisted together and then twisted again to make the strong material. He settled on a spool of red ribbon, pinching the high-quality silk between his fingertips.

"I'll take this one."

Already inside a bag he held was a slim white dress, smooth and simple.

MC had always been a bit androgynous.

end cutscene.

...

MC. Let's meet up. I have some things I want to discuss with you. Come over to my apartment. Does 7:00 work for you?
        32 Woodridge Av
       Apt. 6H - at the end of the hall

MC stared at his phone in wonder. V?