the villainess x the soos (collaboration between small_mew and abralhugres)

Part 12

The air around the table was heavy as the three men sat in miserable silence.

"No one... told Cale how we feel about her?" Soohyuk asked, his voice weak with the weight of the situation. The various ideas of what Cale might have been thinking this entire time caused the blood to flee from his face and left him looking pale and drained.

"Fuck." Jungsoo said with feeling, placing his head in his hands as he reflected over their various and ongoing affairs. "Fuckk..."

"How did we fuck up this bad?" Soohyuk asked miserably. His eyes moving towards the stairs with a heavy feeling in his chest. Cale was asleep upstairs, Roksu having called this emergency meeting the moment they arrived home. "Fuck, what the hell must she have been thinking?"

"...we gotta fix this." Jungsoo said. Determination and mounting horror on his expression as the full context of Cale's misunderstanding and their own failures to properly communicate dawned. "Shiit..."

Roksu watched as his partners went through all the stages of panicked horror that he had just gone through. It came in waves. For every pleasant memory of Cale lovingly giving her everything to the three of them, there was the bitter after taste of knowing she didn't believe she was loved.

It was maddening.

Roksu didn't wholly have the emotional capacity to handle it all at once. To Roksu, it had been obvious how they felt and thus he'd felt no need to verbalize it to her. He didn't understand how deeply her insecurities were ingrained. It was also a harsh slap to the face to realize just how selfless Cale truly could be.

For a vicious villainess who could assert her dominance without an ounce of hesitation, she was shockingly compassionate and kind. She was convinced that they didn't care for her and still gave them everything without asking for anything much in return.

What sort of person never expects anyone to love them?

He was torn between two extremes of impulsivity at the thought and Roksu had to fight down the urge to do something about the situation immediately.

There was a reason he'd chosen to discuss this with his partners before making an effort to clear up the misunderstanding.

The situation with Cale was delicate. If they rushed up into her room with sloppy declarations of love it could potentially do more harm than good. Acting on impulse was how they wound up with this dreadful misunderstanding to begin with.

It would be easy to blame Jungsoo for his thoughtless invitation to Cale that very first time but Roksu knew that he held just as much responsibility. Jungsoo had made the invitation but they'd all wanted it. And none of them had made it clear to her why they were inviting her to join.

It was still nauseating to even consider that she thought they were only interested in her body. The prospect of Cale's every affectionate touch was heavy with such a cruel belief was horrible. Roksu still hadn't finished the damn books but he'd read enough to know.

Cale never knew enough love in her life.

She clung to the vicious and cold hearted assassin who acted as her butler, the very same one who would leave her without a moment's notice or regret. That was a sign enough that she didn't get quite enough love growing up. Wasn't it literally a cliche? The rich child who's given everything from their parents except for love?

He ought to have known. To have realized. To have pieced together the odd distance she placed between them and its true meaning. He couldn't help but berate himself for not communicating better or just checking in with her more to ensure that her emotional needs were being met.