Lucid

Chapter 4

POV: none
Liz's loud scream brought the rest of the group running. She stood still, while the other 5 pushed past her. Gaeul stood in front of her while the others fanned out to the sides, except for Leeseo who stood next to Liz. They all stood still a moment, surprised to see him seated in their living room.

POV: Fixer
I probably shouldn't have shocked her like that. Then again, it is fun to see them all standing there dumbfounded.
"Hello." I say, raising my glass to them. I had been waiting a while, so I had gone for a drink of water.
"Hi." Says Leeseo, quietly.
"What are you doing in here?"
"Why are you in our house?"
"How did you get in here?" Gaeul, Wonyoung, and Yujin all try to talk over one another, then pause and look at each other a moment. They turn back to me as I start to speak-
"You have a window. It opens." I stand up, placing down my glass, then walk towards them. "Job's done. You won't be getting any more notes from him."
Wonyoung nods, and replies "Thank you. Did you report him to the police? Will we have to change dorms?"
"No, to both of those. He won't be sharing any information about you, and I made sure he was punished for his actions, plentifully." Yujin then interrupts to say,
"Why are you in our house?" I shrug.
"I came to tell you the job is done."
"And you had to break in to do that?" Technically, I didn't break in. Everything was still completely fine, nothing was damaged. I didn't leave any evidence behind, either.
"It seemed the most effective." Yujin rolls her eyes at this, obviously unimpressed at my sarcasm.
"Thanks for getting rid of the stalker, if you really did. You can leave now." Insists Gaeul.
"Ah, but we still have to discuss the matter of payment." Now, it's Gaeul's turn to roll her eyes, but she can't disagree. Then Wonyoung steps forward, and gestures to the couch.
"You can have a seat. Let's talk." She sounds surprisingly determined. I go back to my seat on the couch, and sit casually. Wonyoung sits on the couch across from me, and leans forward. "I should be the one to pay you back, it was my problem you solved." Gaeul then interjects, disagreeing with Wonyoung and sitting down next to her.
"No, I was the one who asked you to do it, and I'm the oldest. I should deal with it." Yujin also walks up, and sits on the other side of my couch.
"I'm the leader, I should handle it." I look at the three of them, all of them set in their resolve to cut a deal with me in recompense for their debt. The job itself took little effort, but having a major idol group owing you a favor could be useful.

"Calm down. I don't have anything in mind yet, so unless you have plenty of money or advanced technology, you'll have to owe me a favor. And in that case, we wait." Heating this, the three shift uncomfortably, remembering Liz's words from earlier. Liz, hearing this herself, steps into the conversation.
"Whatever you're planning to make us do, you can't force anything. We didn't sign any deal with you, and we don't owe you anything. So don't try to get pushy." I place a hand over my heart dramatically.
"What kind of ruffian do you take me for?" I laugh lightly before continuing more normally. "I know that. But if you want to have the option to hire my services in the future, making a good impression is crucial. My time is valuable, so if it's not worth my effort or time to work with you, I won't." With this ultimatum laid out, Gaeul leans forward.
"We don't have billions of won. We can't pay you as much as some companies. So what do you want from us, that you consider worth that amount of money? You made it clear this wasn't a deal with the company as a whole." She's got a smart mind for business, I'll give her that. If only she wasn't usually angry at me. Then again, That may be my fault, I don't always leave the best impression.
"Two reasons. Firstly, you have a major public facing. Currently, I'm a very private person. The only people who know about me know not to talk about me, unless they're sharing my business details. But, if I wanted to become more public, being seen with you could bring good publicity." Gaeul leans back hearing this, seeing to understand.
"I guess that makes sense. I don't know why we'd want to be seen with you, though." They all seem relieved by this. Obviously they thought I was going to ask for something either absurd or perverted. That comes later.
"What's reason two?" Asks Liz.
"You're entertainers. So far, I've found my time with you rather entertaining. So you do your job, and I'll do mine." They all seem confused by this, and most of them give me strange looks.
"But we haven't performed anything, we've just been talking to you." Says Leeseo, the question obvious.
"And yet, here I am. So, if you have more contracts for me, I can take time to do them. Gaeul, you said you wouldn't want to be seen in public with me, yes?" She nods, then pauses.
"It's more that I don't know enough about you to know if it could hurt our reputation." I nod understandingly.
"Well, I don't have a public reputation. But you could, if I want to, help me build one. You all certainly know how. And moreover, I can at least hope by helping you, I can make it into your good graces." Gaeul thinks about that for a moment, but Liz continues to question me.
"Why us, though? You could go work for Twice, they have a bigger reputation than us. Or BTS." Clearly she doesn't know about my reputation amongst JYP groups.
"I can't really say. I don't really know. You six are simply the first ones to really catch my eye." There's yet another pause as everyone else thinks about that for a moment. It's like an old computer, you have to enter an input and wait for it to gather a collective response.

"So, you're going to work for us for free?" Asks Yujin.
"Ahhh, not quite. But I think I can handle an alternate payment arrangement."
"Such as?"
"We were already talking about this, were you not listening? I explained my position very clearly." I swear, some of these girls have their heads in the clouds. Then again, she is fairly tall. Not as tall as me, though.
"Yes, but I don't get your point about us being entertainers. Do you want to go to one of our stages?" I shrug. That's a good idea, though.
"I mean, sure. That might also be fun. But you're fun even while not on stage. And that's something money can't buy." Yet again, they all stop and think for a moment, uncertain how to respond. Leeseo is the one to break the silence, by walking across the room and sitting down between Yujin and I, and facing me.
"So where are you from?" That's unexpected.
"Sorry?" I respond. Obviously there's a bigger meaning than that, she wouldn't just bring that up out of nowhere.
"Where are you from? Your accent is interesting and you don't look Korean. This is the first time I've seen your whole face though." So... she really did mean that at face value? But why is she asking now?
"I was born and raised at Ercia. I leaned Korean after coming here."
"How long have you been in Korea?"
"I was here for about two months the summer before last, then I came back in April. I do a lot of traveling, because I have to work across the world." Leeseo nods, her curiosity sated for the moment. Gaeul, seemingly with a bone to pick, starts asking questions once again.
"What happened to the person who was leaving notes for Wonyoung?"
"I spoke to him. He agreed not to do anything against Wonyoung or Ive for the rest of his life."
"And how do you know he'll keep that promise?"
"I was with him for the next fifteen minutes."
"And?"
"That was the duration of the rest of his life."

At that, they all pause once again. This time, it makes more sense. I don't know if they even believe me, but it doesn't really matter. Liz looks horrified, so does Gaeul. Yujin doesn't seem to believe me. Wonyoung is grimacing, but I can't tell if she's off-put or scared. Leeseo is obviously scared, given how she's scooting away from me. Rei is laughing to herself silently. I don't know if she thinks I'm joking or simply has a sense of humor like mine, but I respect it either way. Liz finally works up the nerve to ask,
"Are you serious?" I look over at her and give her a blank stare.
"Does it matter?" She shakes her head. "So don't worry about it. Your task is completed. How I do it is my business." To be fair, I sent money to his family as an apology. They won't notice it was me, and moreover, they won't know what he did. No need for his family to resent him, they'll have pain enough as it is. "If you have a problem with it, tell me next time and I'll avoid killing them. But that's apart of the next contract."
Then, Wonyoung rises to her feet and sticks out her hand. I follow suit, standing across from her. I take ahold of her hand and shake it, and she and I agree.
"Deal."
"Deal."

A/N:
Chapter 5 is written, Drops tomorrow. I cant handle two a day for long, obviously. I'll do one a day, and eventually less once I'm busy again.
Also, the example image is IVE's actual dorm, I stole the pic from a dorm reveal video.