Warnings: Uhhh Reader talks about being from/ living in America (I’m sorry?).
Author’s Note: Did anyone else get traumatized by the big ass Chuck E Cheese rats as a kid? Cause I sure as hell did. Also Korean chips are weirdly sweet and it throws me so off (minus the honey butter chips cause I genuinely enjoy them). AND I MISS PEAK APPLEBEES. The only time I go there much anymore is for happy hour.
Also while this will be pretty major scene in the series it’s definitely not complete. Honestly it’s kind of terrible lmfao but it gets the point across for now. It’s giving white room (a lot of my writing does and I need to work on it) but also a lot of other stuff is missing. It needs a lot of tweaking obviously. There is also a significant time jump between this and the last scene I posted so sorry for any confusion.
“Thank you for meeting me.”
You nodded stiffly.
“Lix told me you really liked this restaurant,” Chan said.
You nodded. “It’s the only restaurant that actually makes American food right,” you said. “Greasy with way too many calories and a shit ton of seasoning. Plus, nothing here is weirdly sweet.”
Chan laughed at that. “Yeah, the sweetness of some food in Korean definitely still throws me off. Like why do they make potato chips sweet? They’re supposed to be salty.”
You couldn’t help but get a little excited. “Thank you! That’s what I’ve been saying! None of my friends really understand what I’m saying. They say everything I get sent from America is too salty. Which honestly, it probably is but still. The first time I bit into garlic bread and it was sweet I almost gagged.”
Chan barked out another laugh, obviously taken back in surprise. “Wait actually?”
“In my defense,” you said, “I really, really wasn’t expecting it. Like at all. And I ate it with some Alfredo so it just wasn’t a good combo. But from what my friends told me the brand I got isn’t good anyway. They put way too much sugar in their garlic bread that even Koreans don’t like it.”
“That much?”
You nodded. “I don’t mind a few other types I’ve tried but it’s definitely something I have to eat pretty much alone. It doesn’t go with pasta at all which makes my heart hurt. But lately I’ve just been making it at home.”
Chan smiled at you. “Lix said you were a great cook,” he said. “Apparently you made chicken and pasta one night that he really liked.”
“I cooked a lot with my mom when I lived in the states,” you said. You grabbed one of the menus and opened it. “So a lot of what I make is her recipes or my grandmother’s. And lately it’s grew into something I use to clear my head, you know?”
Chan nodded at that, grabbing his own menu. “I get that,” he said. There was a moment of silence before he asked, “What do you suggest I get?”
“What do you like?” You asked.
You were happy that everything was so casual and comfortable so far.
You’ve been nothing but a bundle of nerves since he texted you.
“Pretty much everything,” Chan said. “I’m not too picky of an eater. I guess just nothing really spicy.”
You hummed, eyes skimming over the menu. “Any of their burgers are good,” you said. “But the candied bacon bourbon burger? Top tier. Or they have this four cheese Mac and cheese with honey pepper chicken tenders that put Applebee’s to shame.”
“Applebee’s?” Chan asked with the tilt of his head.
“It’s a restaurant chain in the states,” you said. “But’s it’s kinda become mid over the last few years. I swear it was the best when I was a kid. Well, other than the classic Chuck E Cheese.”
“The one with those animatronic rats?”
You giggled. “I love the rats. Well, now I do. When I was a kid they kinda gave me nightmares.”
“They look like they’re gonna start moving on their own and kill you.”
“Oh a hundred percent,” you said. “The one in my town got shut down cause it went bankrupt and afterwards kids would explore the building. The rats were left there for years and people swore they moved on their own.”
Chan squinted at you. “Really?”
You shrugged. “That whole mall stripe was known to be haunted,” you said. “People swear it was built on top of an old unmarked graveyard. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was. It’s America. Plus the town I lived in is old as hell. Like first settlements, before George Washington old. Everywhere was supposedly haunted but the strip mall and town hall were the most talked about.”
“So, you’re a small town girl?” Chan asked.
“Kind of,” you said. “I’m a ‘it’s a small town but it’s also historic so we have more tourist there than actual residents’ girl.”
Chan hummed. A waitress stopped at your table. The two of you took turns ordering— Chan getting a Shirley Temple with the bourbon burger and you getting a root beer with the Mac and chicken tenders.
In a few moments your drinks came along with bread and butter.
“So,” Chan said after he finished buttering a roll, “Felix said you’ve been avoiding him at the hospital.”
Your shoulders tensed.
“And apparently the last time you ran into Hyunjin you literally turned around and walked the other way,” Chan continued.
“I…” you trailed off with a sigh.
“I get it,” Chan reassured. “I really do. You have every right to still be angry and hurt. We just thought you were kind of okay with us. You know after we spent some time together last month.”
You shook your head. “I am okay with you all,” you said. “And I’m not angry or hurt anymore. I forgive them. I do. I just feel guilty.
Chan blinked a few times. “Guilty?”
“After I rejected Felix” you clarified. “I hurt him. I know we agreed to give each other some space and that we’d still try to be friends again eventually. But I’m not sure if I can.”
“Because you still like him?”
You fiddled with the edge of coaster under your root beer and nodded. “I’m sorry,” you whispered.
“There’s no reason to be sorry Y/N,” Chan said softly. He let another beat of silence fall between you before continuing. “Let me ask you something. Do you still like Seungmin?”
You weren’t even surprised by the question. “Maybe,” you said. “I think a part of me does.”
“Then that’s a good start.”
Now it was confusion that took over your body. You didn’t say a word though as the waitress returned and set your food in front of the two of you. Chan thanked the waitress with a charming smile before grabbing his knife and beginning to cut his burger in half.
“Though I guess the part where Hyunjin thinks you’re terrified of him, isn’t really,” Chan said. He arched an eyebrow when he noticed you hadn’t touch even a bit of food.
You took that as a sign to grab your utensils. “I’m not afraid of him,” you said stabbing a little bit of the Mac and cheese.
“I hope not,” Chan said. “Hyunjin truly is a soft, loving person. Maybe more than Lix at times. But he has been stressed lately and kind of in his head. Though it’s not much of an excuse for everything.”
You shook your head. “I’m over that,” you said. “Really. I do forgive them. And trust me when I understand how being stressed can send someone over the edge. I was pretty close myself during midterms.”
Chan winced. “Yeah, that makes me so glad I’m not in school anymore.”
You pouted, plopping some Mac and cheese into your mouth. The two of you ate in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.
“The main reason I wanted to talk to you today,” Chan said after finishing half his burger, “was because I have a proposition for you.”
“A proposition?” You asked.
“If that would be the right way to put it,” Chan said. “Then yes.”
Shifted in your seat once again. “Okay,” you said, “Hit me.”
“Three months. I want you to give us three months.”
“Three months for what?”
“To get to know us,” Chan said. “and to see how it would be like in a relationship with us. For you to figure out if you truly can’t do it.”
“So like a ninety day free trial or something?” You asked genuinely confused.
Chan let out a loud, startled laugh and clamped a hand over his mouth. “I mean yeah?” he chuckled. “I guess you could put it that way. I didn’t even think about that, oh my god.”
“So would I be dating you all or?” You were trying to wrap your head around what he was asking.
Chan nodded. “We hoped you would be,” he said. “We all talked about a few days ago. All of us genuinely enjoyed your company and a few of us— other than Felix and Seungmin— admitted that we could see us going farther with you. But Felix said you couldn’t see yourself in a polyamorous relationship. Which all of us understood. It’s not for everyone. So, I thought maybe I’d ask you to give us a shot. And if you can’t see this working out then… okay.”
“But if I don’t even at the end of the three months and I end up hurting all or even just a few of you…” You nibbled at your lip. “I don’t think I can forgive myself.”
“Y/N,” Chan said, reaching across the table and grabbing your hand. “Chances are meant to be taken. And yeah, sometimes they don’t work out. They fall through and break hearts. But that’s life. Without chances, without heart break or failure, you aren’t truly living. This is a chance we’re all willing to take. For you. For each other. We don’t want to live with the regret and ‘what if’ of not at least asking you.”
“What are the conditions?” You asked.
Chan chuckled, his thumb running soothingly across the back of your hand. “Conditions?” He asked.
You nodded. “There’s got to be some right?” You asked. “Like the do’s and don’ts?”
Chan shook his head. “Not really? We don’t have any explicitly. At least I don’t think any of the guys would. We can definitely sit down and talk about it together though.”
“But like…” You stopped for a moment trying to put it into words. “When you said yeah, that I would be dating all of you?”
“I mean dating,” he said. “Like actually dating. I realize it’s a weird thing to ask when I’m suggesting a trial run. But we hoped it would be full on, you know? So you can really see how a relationship with us would work. But if that’s too much than we’d understand. We want to at least want to take you on dates. We want to spend time with you individually and all together. We want you.”
You squeezed his hand at that— a completely involuntary nervous reaction to his last sentence.
“I thought you said only few others could see themselves going farther with me?”
“Only a few others said it outright,” Chan corrected. “But if the others couldn’t see it then they wouldn’t have agreed to this plan.”
“All or none?” You asked even though you already knew.
“All or none,” Chan confirmed.
Eight boyfriends?
EIGHT BOYFRIENDS?!
“It’s a crazy plan,” you said, still very unsure.
Chan grinned at that. “Yeah. Definitely. But we’re all a little mad here, right?”
“Do not start quoting Lewis Caroll.”
“God, you sound just like Seungmin.”
“I’ll take that as a complement.”
Chan laughed again and you felt your heart squeeze a little. His laugh was adorable. Especially the little squeaks at the end.
“Whatever conditions you have,” Chan began after another moment, “we’ll accept. Whatever you need to make you the most comfortable. I realize you don’t know us all as well as you know Felix or Seungmin. I realize your first impression of most of us is shit. But you have to admit, those times when we did hangout last month? You enjoyed them right? You got along so well with us. You fit.”
“I did,” you admit. “But I don’t really have a lot of experience.”
“Felix mentioned that,” Chan said. “That you’ve only been in one short relationship. And that’s okay.”
“I just don’t want to disappoint anyone,” you said. “You all have been together for years. You know the ins and outs.”
“You wouldn’t disappoint anyone Y/N,” Chan said. “We won’t judge you because you’re new to relationships. Especially jumping into one like ours. Plus, we would be learning in someways too. So we can all learn together.”
“And at the end of the three months?”
“Hopefully you’ll still be our girlfriend.”
Still.
“Can I think about it?” You whispered.
“Of course you can. I know it’s a crazy plan. And maybe not the most thought out one either. But take however much time you need okay? And when you’re ready to make your decision we can talk.”
“I killed him,” Madelyn suddenly whispers, breaking the silence.
“What?”
“I killed him,” she repeats, her voice the quietest he’s ever heard. Danse pauses so he can focus on her face an expression. She slowly raises her eyes to his. “I killed Shaun.”
Danse is shocked by her words. He widens his eyes and feels his jaw slacken as he tries to process what she means, what she claims to have done. Madelyn lowers her eyes to her hands in her lap, fingers twisting together as she lets a shaky breath go.
“After the battle, after seeing so many people die,” she closed her eyes tight. “It wasn’t right—I wanted to give him a chance, wanted to see if…”
Danse doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know how to console her. This isn’t like the first time she infiltrated the Institute, when she came back to the Brotherhood crying about finding her son. He can only wait and be patient with her.
“I knew when I first found him that he was lost to me but some naive part of me wanted to believe I could change his mind about the surface, about the wasteland,” Madelyn snaps her hand to her eyes as tears start to slip down her cheeks. “I was wrong—I was so wrong.”
