Lucid

Chapter 42

POV: Y/N
I had only just finished off putting my will into my records, when the phone rang. Wonyoung is calling me.
"Fixer. Go ahead." I respond, just in case someone else is on the other end.
"Hey Y/N." Wonyoung says. I relax, a little. She sounds calm.
"What's up, Wonyoung?" I head towards the armory, getting the feeling this will be a long call.
"I wanted to ask you for some help."
"Anything you need. Got a job for me?" I ask, as I walk back to my weapon cleaning bench.
"No. It's more just... I wanted to talk. There's something on my mind, and I think you can help me."
"Of course." I nod. There's a bit of scratching on the safety of this pistol, from where I slid across pavement with it on my hip. I'll have to mark it for replacement.
"It's about Wonyoung. That sounds silly, I know, but let me explain." She takes a breath. "Wonyoung isn't just my name. It's a kind of idea, of always being the most perfect version of yourself. And I'm good at it. Maybe, too good." Her voice trails off at that part.
"Some people can't handle others being perfect. They see you, and they get jealous. Others compare themselves to you, judge themselves, and hate you for being there to compare to. Others still, will think you can take it because you're so good. But that doesn't matter." It's hard to find a balance of emotions here, as I scroll through psychology advice articles.
"That... makes sense. But, I can't. I can't take it! It's too much, it's just too much." Her voice cracks, as she starts to sob softly.
"Hey, hey. It's clear that you're not happy with where you are right now. So let's think about this. How can you change where you are? Perhaps show a few more flaws? Or a few less?" She stops her sadness for a moment, listening. "There are three things to consider when making a change. Where you are now, where you went to be, and how people will react. See, how they feel means nothing. But how they react, is what you have to watch for."
"That makes sense." She seems to be listening closely now.
"Here's what you need to do. You need to examine how you think things will change depending on how you change yourself. Will it be better if you become less perfect? What about more? What about changing how you present your perfection?" I try to give options, in case she wants to try them out. I don't want to just start deleting stuff online, that gets out of control fast.
"That's... that could work. Maybe if I'm a little more open about the effort it takes! I still keep my grace, because that's important to me. But I'll talk more about how I achieve it, and how hard it is."
"That would be a good idea. It'll help you to seem more human, less like the angel of Kpop." I chuckle with that line. I can hear her hum softly, as she thinks things over.
"Okay. Thanks Y/N."
"Hey, before you hang up." I say, and I hear her paise.
"Yeah?"
"Remember one thing- you can't win them all. Some people won't like you, no matter what you do. So sometimes you should remember who's important, and who's not. Some people deserve your respect, and some done. Don't bother trying to appeal to people who don't care about you." I can hear breath softly as she processes that.
"I get it." She says, quietly. I don't expect to have it figured out right now, but... it's a step in a good direction. "Thanks again, Y/N."
"Anytime."
"I'll see you later?"
"Of course. Bye Wonyoung."
"Bye." She hangs up, and I nod. Another issue resolved, that's good. We had talked about that during our little shopping run, but nothing ever came of it until now.

It doesn't take long until I stroll back through the house, finished up with my work- until more work appears. A notification goes off, and I walk to the office to see that a news article has been posted about me- and Aespa. I did rescue them from a kidnapping, after all. One of them mentioned me, saying that they'd like to thank me. Well, maybe I'll take them up on that. The article references me at the Seoul Stalker, because of my kpop connections, and luckily seems to think I'm some super soldier super fan. Fine by me. Most people don't want to wrap their heads around mercenary work, anyways, and I don't want some profiler trying to make up a file on me. I read through the comments, and most of them are pretty boring. I've not done anything that's in opposition to the law yet, that they've seen, so people seem to be fine with me. At least a few just want to see more of me, which... maybe I'll indulge them one of these days. Shutting off the computer, I walk back out into the main room, sitting in the chair overlooking the city. I let my mind wander, finally taking some time to relax. It's been some time since I've done this, really. Kicked my feet back, just... rested.

Mmmmm

Peace

So calm

...

This sucks

Alright, enough.
I pull out my phone, rolling through my old directory. I scroll through the smugglers, past the hitmen, and pass over the various support people, like document forgers and weapons sellers. Finally I get to the mercenaries, and bounce a few options for who to hire this time. Really, it's easy to pick my preferred, most reliable group in the end. I put in my earpiece, while typing in a number that I've luckily not had to call in a while.
"Keller's lawn care service, how can we help you?" A drawn southern accent comes over the phone.
"Ah, good to hear from you. I heard you were the best pest removers this time of the Tigris." I say that, then pause, waiting for the response.
"What do you want?" The voice completely drops the southern accent, becoming far more serious.
"Let me talk to Alex." The line immediately drops dead, until I hear a second ringing tone as I'm reconnected.
"Who is this?" A serious voice comes over the line.
"Keller, it's Fixer." I say curtly.
"Oh, it's you." He sounds relieved, in a way. "What do you need? I doubt you're doing a social call."
"I have a contract for you. Outstanding, condition-activated." I can hear a satisfied chuckle, and he says,
"Keep talking."

I close out the call with a wire transfer of a few million dollars, as one does. "Pleasure doing business with you." Alex says.
"Remember, you'll be held to this contract, even if I'm not there to keep you to it."
"Hey, just because I'm ex-CIA doesn't mean I lie my way out of everything. I know who I should hold my promises too, and I know you'll hold yours back." Flattering of him.
"Ex-CIA... seems like an oxymoron." He chuckles again.
"Well, dying and coming back to life tends to help. Plus, Spec-ops with one leg is more useful on the PR tour. Hence why I left." I'm familiar with the story, he told it last time we worked together. But it's fair enough.
"Alright. Good luck, Alex. Tell her I said hi."
"Oh, she knows. She tracks all my calls." He laughs again, this time at himself. "See you, Fix." I close the link, calmed. That's some heat off my back. Hopefully, I'm finished with my calls for the day. But of course- another one, that exact moment. Because that's just my luck. I open it, and I can't even speak before I hear Rei speak.
"Hey Y/N. You busy this weekend?"