Saving Grace (707XReader)

Good Friends and Good Coffee

_____ froze and she felt her heart drop to the floor and ice started creeping in. She shivered and started to breathe a littlequicker until she felt a hand wrap around hers. She turned her head and saw Seven looking at her, clearly concerned. She forced her breathing to slow down and turned to look at her friends. After giving Seven's hand a grateful squeeze, she dropped it. But just before she could open her mouth to say something to her friends, a presence creeped up behind her.
"What's going on here? Is everything okay?" Jumin's voice said.
_____ turned to look at him and tried to find her voice, but before she could, Jaehee spoke in her place. "Jeong is here. We were telling her so we could decide to go somewhere else," she said, sounding professional as always while addressing Jumin.
His eyes widened a fraction of an inch just as he quickly turned _____ around and started leading her away from the cafe.
She didn't have much choice but to follow until she finally found herself and protested.
"W-wait," she said. "No. I want to stay here."
Jumin stopped walking and looked at her. He then looked behind him at the others who had started following them. "Are you sure?" he asked. "You don't have to be ready to face this."
_____ looked up at him, rather surprised that he was showing so much concern for her. She felt rather flattered and it made her feel a little bit better. She nodded.
"I'm sure," she said. "I can't have him ruling over me like this forever. I came here to have a good time with my friends and damn it that's exactly what I'm going to do."
Jaehee walked around _____ and stood in front of her, taking her hands in hers, concern clear. "Are you absolutely sure? 100%?"
_____ took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm sure," she said.
Jaehee sighed and gave a meaningful look to Seven before she looked back at _____. "If there's no changing your mind," she said.
_____ nodded. "I'll be okay," she said and gave a reassuring smile.
Jumin looked at ____ and then at Jaehee. "Well then, shall we?"
Without another word Jaehee lead the way back to the cafe followed by Yoosung, Zen, and Jumin. Seven and _____ took up the rear. He looked at her.
"Are you really sure?" he asked in a voice only she could hear.
She nodded and reached for his hand. "You're here with me."
Seven grasped her hand firmly and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm not going anywhere."
As they passed through the door, Seven made a move to let go of her hand, but _____ wasn't having it. Instead they walked in behind their friends, holding hands.
Once inside, _____ unconsciously started scanning the cafe for the familiar face that was her ex-boyfriend. She finally spotted him, off to one of the sides by the window. He was sitting there sipping at a coffee but he wasn't alone. He was across from a girl, looking deep in conversation. She looked a little bit like _____ did, except her hair was maybe a few inches longer and a shade or two lighter. She couldn't see her face but she didn't think she wanted too.
She felt an icepick borrow its way into her heart when she saw that Jeong was reaching across the table to hold the girl's hand. _____ faltered just slightly as the realization hit. This was what her friends were trying to protect her from. Seven noticed her almost trip and followed her gaze. When he saw Jeong along with the girl, his expression hardened and he intentionally moved in _____'s line of sight to cut her off from it. He looked at _____ and squeezed her hand, forcing her attention to him.
"We can still leave," he said.
She shook her head. "I'm... I'll be okay."
Seven sighed and pulled out a seat for her at the table. She thanked him and sat down. He took the seat next to her and when _____ looked up, she saw four faces looking at her worriedly.
"We can still go," Yoosung echoed Seven.
"Yeah. There's no need to push yourself to be here for us. We did all agree to hang out to make you feel better," Jaehee said.
Zen nodded in agreement while Jumin turned his gaze from _____ to Jeong with the new girl. His expression didn't change from its usual neutrality, but somehow _____ felt like he was scheming.
"I appreciate your concern guys, but I'll be fine. I promise. It's to be expected, really," she sighed and started fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. Seven out his hand over hers in an effort to stop her, uncharacteristically quiet. "But like Seven said. The best revenge is to make him think that I'm better off the he is."
Jaehee smiled warmly at her. "Truly admirable," she said. "But keep in mind. We don't have to stay here all day. We can go to other places once we're done here."
Zen opened his mouth to say something before a loud squeal rose over the chatter of the cafe. Zen flinched with a knowing look, which was only confirmed when the six of them heard someone shriek in that trademarked fangirl voice.
"OHMIGOD IS THAT ZEN!?"
Everyone in the cafe turned to look and saw that it was Jeong's date that had committed the assault on everyone's ears. She was standing from her chair and Jeong was looking up at her he turned his gaze towards the six sitting at the table. At first it didn't seem to notice that _____ was sitting along with them, but once he did, his expression became guarded.
The date turned to look at him. "We just have to go get an autograph!" she said in that annoying squeak of a voice, pulling at Jeong's arm.
He reluctantly followed as his date pulled him along to the table. _____ carefully kept herself from looking them, counting in Mississippi's in time to her breathing. Seven didn't remove his hands from hers and was glaring daggers at Jeong. Yoosung wasn't concealing his disdain for the other male either. Zen kept up appearances and smiled politely while Jumin still looked expressionless. Jaehee donned her professional neutrality as well. The second the girl stood next to Zen she was practically beaming with happiness.
"I can't believe it's really you!" she said and dug through her handbag, pulling out a pad and paper. "Can you sign this for me? To Chizuru."
"Of course," he said, that still polite smile on his face. He took the pen and paper. "That's an unusual name. Are you from Japan?"
"No. I was born here in Korea. My mother was from Japan, though," she said, keeping up the conversation. She looked at the rest of the table. "Are these your friends?"
"Yeah," Zen said and went around the table, introducing everyone.
"It's nice to meet you all. I'm Chizuru Kim, and this is my boyfriend Jeong Park."
_____ visibly stiffened at the term boyfriend and had to hold her breath to stop herself from hyperventilating.
"We've already had the pleasure of meeting Jeong before," Seven said sharply.
"Oh really? Then would you mind if we joined all of you?" Chizuru continued, unperturbed by Seven's tone of voice.
_____ abruptly stood up, her hair falling in her face and walked out of the cafe without a word. She didn't turn to look at her friends who were all looking at her with worried faces. All that mattered was getting out. The last thing she heard before she left the cafe was Chizuru.
"Is she okay? Did I say something wrong?"
The door closed behind her and _____ blindly walked to Seven's car. She leaned against it, bowing her head as she tried to breathe slowly. She was so lost in her thoughts of hatred, self loathing and despair that she didn't notice the presence behind her. Not until a hand turned her around and pulled her into a pair of familiar arms. Without a word she wrapped her arms around Seven and buried her head in his shirt. She refused to cry, absolutely refused. After a while her breathing slowed and she relaxed a bit. When Seven was sure that she could stand on her own, he let go and looked at her, lifting her chin with his knuckle.
"We'll talk about this when we get home, okay? You don't have to say anything now, but I'm not going to let you bottle this up," he said in a soft voice.
She nodded. "All right."
She took a deep breath and stepped back a bit. When she looked passed Seven, she noticed that Jumin, Jaehee, Yoosung, and Zen were walking out of the cafe. Jaehee was holding a cup of coffee and a pastry bag. When they spotted Seven and _____, Jaehee walked over to them, offering up the coffee and bag to _____.
"Here. You could use this," she said.
_____ gratefully took it and gave Jaehee a small smile. "Thank you so much."
"So where should we go?" Zen asked.
"I know a place. It's a dog park not far from here," Yoosung spoke up. "Puppy therapy is the best therapy. Puppy kisses can make anyone smile."
_____ smiled at him. "I'd like that. Thank you, Yoosung."