Mystic Messenger- Say You'll Stay- SaeranxReader (MC)

Eyes

You spend most of the time tending Ray's garden while he recovers, aware that you're always under the careful watch of that savior of his and this cult. You hate this place. Just thinking about his punishment makes your stomach knot and vile rise to your throat. You can't get his grunts of pain out of your mind. How can that be proof of love? How can she claim to love him when she hurt him so badly?

A prick of a rose brings you back to reality. You stare at the glob of blood and watch it slide down your index finger. You grab the gloves next to your knees and slide them on. You're going to make a bouquet for Ray to put in his room. He's had a fever these past two days, so you hope that seeing his beautiful roses will at least make it more bearable. You think of everything his Savior has told you. How he was abandoned by the one person he loved. It fills you with so much rage, with so much powerlessness. You can understand his obsession about you staying now. His fear. Those nightmares. You ache for him; you know what it's like to be alone. Now you understand why he chose you. Both Ray and you are the same person. You were both tortured by the world, betrayed by your own family. You at least had your father. You had that one person you could trust above others... you decide to be that person for him. No matter the costs, you will protect this sad, lonely man.

Once you have a nice bouquet, you stand up, your knees scuffed and dirty. You head to the infirmary passing by other believers who eye you with resentment but keep their mouths shut. Others hang around a little park nearby, others meditate in Mint's Eyes green fields. The place has settled to some normalcy after what happened with the corrupted. Their faces, their voices, still make your skin goosebumps.

You think of A306. The man that saved you. Who exactly was he? Why did he risk himself for you? Were you just lucky? The thoughts fade away when you reach the infirmary. The shoes outside of Ray's room tell you he has a visitor. You open the door cautiously when you meet with eyes of violet. Violet looks at you, tears sliding from her eyes.

"You have some nerve coming in here," you whisper with seething anger. Ray is face down, still in deep sleep. His breathing is heavy. The bandages on his back are already seeping with blood. She kneels by his bed, her hand in his.

"I just wanted to make sure he was okay," she says with a trembling voice. She's pale and has deep circles under her eyes. When she sees you staring, she places the hood over her violet-haired head.

"Well, he isn't okay. He was punished because of you. Now he will scars that will never fade." Violet flinches.

You place the fresh roses by his feet and reach behind her to get the withered roses in the vase on the nightstand near his bed.

"I am so sorry, Ray," she sobs. "I deserve to be punished. When you wake up, please punish me."

"You think punishment will be enough to erase what you did?" you ask, throwing the withered roses in a bucket you will take back to the garden. You'll use them as fertilizer.

"Shut up," she says with gritted teeth. "If only the corrupted would've had their way with you, you stupid—"

Violet doesn't finish her sentence because Ray clasps her throat. He has death in his eyes, and he squeezes hard. She clutches his wrist but then stops fighting back. You call out to him, but his voice overpowers yours.

"Leave," he says to her with fury. "I do not want to see your pathetic face in my room again."

Her punishment was coming. There wasn't any need for her to be worried about it. But seeing her crying face, hearing her say how she tried to get rid of you, fills him with so much rage that you have to pry his fingers off her. She falls to the floor, coughing and apologizing with choking coughs. She sprawls and runs out of the room. He turns to his side, breathing heavily, eyeing you with a possession that catches you off guard. You're wearing that damned white skirt he hates so much.