So … is he?
[I thought of this while showering at midnight, then wrote the whole thing in the next three hours on a school night.]
You're really gonna tell me they don't have the same eyes?
***
It always started as a question before it snowballs into something more.
“Dayeon, can we ask you a question?”
Dayeon turned to see 008 and 018 standing behind her. She smiled, trying to seem as open and friendly as possible. The Numbers were nice to her — intimidating in general — but indifferent to her mostly. They mostly kept to themselves and didn’t approach her often, but when they did she tried to be as genuine as possible. Ijin saw them as family and trusted them, so that meant Dayeon cared about them too.
“Yeah, what is it?” She asked 008, who was the one who spoke first.
The man — giant really, because Dayeon had to crane her head all the way up to look at him — shifted his feet, appearing oddly uncomfortable. 018 crossed his arms, defensive and avoiding her eyes.
“Well, 018 and I were discussing about 001 and his normal life — how he’s interacting with normal people his own age and —”
“Oh my God,” 018 interrupted, rolling his eyes. “We wanted to ask, is he gay?”
Dayeon choked and did a double-take. “What? No, he’s not. Why would you say that?”
“Because he has girls literally hanging off him and he doesn’t even notice! No guy would ever act like that unless he’s gay.”
“He’s not gay, just oblivious! This is the first time that he’s interacting with normal girls his age — he’s totally clueless when it comes to romance!” Dayeon argues back.
“Are you sure? Even if he’s oblivious he’s sure to pick up the cues of a girl liking him. He was literally trained to read body language,” 018 pointed out.
Dayeon pauses; that was actually a good point. She thought of all the times Yeona’s crush was painfully obvious. Was Ijin actually oblivious, or was he faking it? “Still, it's not like there were any girls that were interested in him back in the Camp for him to pick up signs; he was nine years old and all he was focused on was surviving.”
“Yeah, but so was 032 and he still —” 008 smacked 018 and he quickly stopped talking.
“What are you talking about?” 016 materialized behind her and Dayeon jumped; she didn’t even hear him coming.
“We’re asking her if 001 is gay,” 018 interjects bluntly before she can open her mouth.
“Is he?” 016 raised a brow. “I mean, it would certainly explain why he doesn’t notice all those girls.”
“Thank you,” 018 guestured to 016 empathetically.
“No, he’s not!” Dayeon said. “He’s shown no interest in guys!”
“If 001 has all those pretty girls hanging off of him and doesn’t have a girlfriend by now then he really is gay. Even if he’s oblivious he would notice someone taking an interest in him.” 016 pointed out.
“That’s because he isn’t even interested in romance. He’s more focused on his family and living his normal life. Besides, he isn’t really … emotionally available, if you know what I mean.” Dayeon winced, trying to phrase Ijin’s decade of trauma as delicately as possible.
“Oh, but 032 is?”
“What?”
“Nothing,” 016 dismissed immediately.
“Alright then. If you want to know so bad, I’ll just ask him myself,” Dayeon said. She turned around and scanned the area, taking note of where everyone was. 002 was off to the side restocking the supplies while 004 was beside him, cleaning his knife. 006 and 032 were settled down across the camp having lunch. She spotted her brother on the other side of the clearing.
Dayeon walked up to Ijin, who was busy organizing his guns.
“Ijin, can I ask you a question?” She asked, adopting an innocent expression. Her brother looked up before smiling that small, sweet genuine smile he always saved for her. For a moment, Dayeon almost felt a bit guilty before she shoved it away.
“Of course. What is it?”
Dayeon plopped to the ground beside him before taking a deep breath and saying —
“Ijin, are you gay?”
On the other side of the clearing, 006 spat out his drink.
“W-What?” Ijin looked startled at the question.
“Are you gay?” Dayeon repeated calmly. Vaguely, she can hear the sounds of 032 choking on his food and the thwack, thwack, thwack, of 006 smacking his back to clear his throat.
“N-No …?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes …?”
“Alright! Just wanted to know!” Dayeon said brightly before kissing his cheek and walking away. She could feel the eyes of all the other Numbers burning into her back and she tosses the group of 008, 018, and 016 a sweet, victorious smirk before heading to find 005.
She would find this hilarious.