Lucid

Chapter 19

POV: Leeseo
We finally got home, at around 9 pm. I wasted no time, collapsing on the couch before someone else could take it. The girls all scatter, putting their things away, dropping off what they won or bought, and changing into more comfortable clothes. I should go change into something nice, but then I have to stand up. I'm fine. I can sleep in these clothes. Fixer came up with us, now he's over in the kitchen. I wonder if he's making tea. He likes doing that for us.
"Fixer! Make me some tea, please!" He turns to look at me, and gives a sarcastic glare.
"So spoiled." Still, he turns around and grabs the teapot. I always win.

A few minutes later, everyone has changed, and I even sat up on the couch. Fixer stands above us all, and distributes tea to us all.
"I feel like I make you tea a lot." He says, with a slight laugh.
"You make good tea." Says Rei, quietly.
"Thanks." He sounds very tender when he says that, it's nice.
"So, Fixer, I have a question." I ask, hoping to start a conversation and learn more about him.
"Ask away." He says, and pulls a chair from the table. "Mind if I sit?"
"Go ahead. So, earlier today, you mentioned your family." He shifts when I ask that, clearly not a nice topic for him. "Do you have any siblings? I mean, you probably know a lot about us, plenty of our family info is public. But we don't know anything about you from earlier then the day we met on the roof." He nods, and takes a sip of his tea before answering.
"That's fair. Alright, I can talk about myself a bit." He pauses, and I can see him prepare himself. Hopefully it's not something he's forcing himself to talk about if it's painful. "I don't have any real siblings. But, I have a few cousins that I was quite close with. Me and my dad are both only children, but my Mom and her siblings were very close so I had a few cousins I grew up with." Everyone nods.
"That's nice." Says Wonyoung, trying to avoid an awkward silence.
"You don't have to talk about if it makes you uncomfortable, I hope you know. I'm just curious." I say, trying to be considerate of his feelings. He just nods again.
"I understand." Another pause, then he says, "thank you."
"So, where did you grow up?" He leans up, this time looking more cheerful.
"Ercia. It's my home, really." Everyone seems interested in that.
"Where is that?" Asks Liz. I've never heard of if.
"It's.... A long way away. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it."
"Oh, it must be fairly small then."  He smiles when she says that, then nods. He likes to nod.
"Yeah, pretty small."
"What's it like?" Asks Gaeul.
"It's very pretty. There's a few mountains, but not many. The hills are pleasant, but warm. The cities are cooler, and they sprawl across the larger plains in amazing patterns. It's beautiful to see from the air. And the silver seas, are unbelievable." There's some oooh's and aaah's at his descriptions, it does sound nice.
"The silver seas?" Wonyoung asks, curious. He suddenly twitches, and stammers for a moment.
"Yeah, they, they're called that because the beaches are silvery and it makes the water look grey."
"Oh, that makes sense. Is it nice to swim there?" He shakes his head.
"It's not very nice, actually. The sea is a little gross, and there's lots of sand and things in it." She frowns.
"But there's some really nice pools in the city, which are fun." He says, trying to make a comeback. That sounds nice, I love a good pool. "Ercia is a lot of fun. The food... you'd probably find it a bit strange, honestly. But it's quite good. There isn't much music with words, funny enough. It's pretty much all instrumental. We can even make synthetic music, and electronic stuff, but people still prefer instrumental." No words in the music? That's odd. Maybe we'll go perform there one day. "But the culture is fun. Everyone loves dancing, it's huge. Sometimes it's organized, like a European ball, Sometimes it's free form like a modern day dance club. It varies, but people do however they want." That sounds really fun, I want to go here. But I want to go a lot of places, this is just added to the list.
"It sounds like you care a lot about your home." Says Yujin. He nods.
"I do. I spent a while in the military, to protect my home. I trained, even as a kid. I was doing behind the field work, as a teenager. Once I was old enough they let me do real combat testing, and I was one of the best out there. My parents were really proud of me."
"So, what about your parents?" Asks Yujin, boldly. We're going back to his family now, i see. He winces, but obviously he was expecting that question.
"My dad is a businessman. He runs the company my family owns. He's good at it too, he's well respected back home. My mom, was a politician. She met my dad at a banquet and they fell in love easily." He smiles, clearly remembering his parents. It's nice to see a more human side of him. "Everyone thought they were just a marriage of convenience, trying to make a powerful alliance. But they really did love each other."
"That's so cute..." says Yujin, softly. Wonyoung leans and whispers something to her, and she giggles a bit. I notice he's talking about his mom in past tense, and his dad in present tense. I probably shouldn't bring that up.
"And are you in love with someone?" Asks Rei. She's trying to scout out her chances, eh?
"Not anymore. I only loved one girl my whole life." Everyone immediately looks back, drawn in by his tantalizing statement.
"What happened?" Asks Gaeul, carefully. He looks at her, then looks at his hands.
"She died." Everyone gasps, not shocked, but taken aback. That must have been terrible for him.
"I'm sorry." I say, only to realize Gaeul said it along with me. She's probably just sorry because she asked the question. He shrugs again.
"Don't be. It was a long time ago." Everyone stops and waits a moment, digesting what they heard. This is more intense than I was expecting.
"So, I have a question. But it's a bit different." Liz says, probably trying to change the subject.
"Ask away." He says. I can see he's trying to perk up, probably to pull his attention away from painful memories.
"Why did you decide to do the job you do?" He smiles.
"Ah, why did I become Fixer? Well, it's simple. Two things- when I left the military, I had a simple set of skills. This kind of job made best use of them. It's good pay, I choose when, where, and what I do, and I enjoy it. Plus...." He smiles, but this time it's more emotional. "My dad always told me I could fix anything I put my mind to. That with my dad's mind, my mom's dedication, and whatever resources I have on hand, j can fix any problem." Ah, so that's why he picked the name.
"But then..." Wonyoung cuts in. "What is your real name? Will you tell us? Or is it a secret?"
"Well... both. It's a secret. But I'll let you in." Everyone leans towards him, in anticipation. "My real name, is Y/N"

Author's Note (A/N)-
This character, I have spent years trying to understand and decide upon. If I were to give them a name, it would only disappoint them. There is no name in any language that can truly convey the depth of this character's ideals, emotions, and story. Any name for them must be so perfect, so cohesive, so exact, that it would be unreadable. Thus, I gave them the only name that came close- yours.