[CONTENTID1] The Puppeteer [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2] Nine [/CONTENTID2] 

[CONTENTID3] [/CONTENTID3] 

[CONTENTID4] 

Mingyu knew that the idea was stupid. He knew that Wonwoo was neither ready nor interested in him. And he knew that Wonwoo would reject him. But if that was the only way to make him understand that he wasn't just some officer to him and the team, he preferred solving the case instead of hoping for years that Wonwoo would develop feelings for him.
It was clear to him that there was no future, so why beat around the bush? And to let Wonwoo know that the team appreciated him and wanted him to return, he had to give him access to this part of his mind. The problem was that his feelings for him were stored in that part, too. So, to be able to work with him, he had to accept a rejection.
- This is ed up. - a voice in his head whispered, and Mingyu sighed.
Wonwoo slid closer to him, and Mingyu gritted his teeth as Wonwoo's tattoo lit up.
"Are you sure, hyung? I could save the thoughts in your head and sell it to the highest bidder mutant fanboy." The younger suddenly chuckled, and Mingyu had to grin.
Wonwoo had at least regained a bit of his usual attitude.
"It's okay." he muttered.
"Okay. I start downloading." Wonwoo whispered, and Mingyu clenched his hands into fists as Wonwoo got so close to him that he could feel his breath on his cheek. Wonwoo's glowing tattoo blinded him, but he made no move.

Wonwoo carefully found his way through the information Mingyu provided him. Of course, the mutant did not give him access to everything, but it surprised him how orderly his mind was. The structure was different from humans. He was more organized and less chaotic.
Wonwoo saw his smile. He saw him sitting in the restaurant, his face beaming as he ate the ramyun. He saw Mingyu reviewing the evidence with him and felt pride and confidence in his hyung in his abilities. He saw in his mind how Jisoo and Jeonghan often looked at him when he didn't notice. He felt familiarity there as well. He saw his finger wiping the cappuccino foam from Mingyu's lips. And then he saw a strange red string behind that memory in Star Bucks. Wonwoo carefully looked at it.
Mingyu remembered it, but there was a different feeling to it. A pleasant feeling. Another memory showed how he had woken him up with the coffee and how he had laughed. The surface was satisfaction. Another memory showed him sleeping. Mingyu covered him and his cheek. Wonwoo saw him immediately withdraw his hand, and the feeling was a shame. Another solid memory was when he had his overload. Mingyu felt fear and despair when Wonwoo was overloaded, and the only thing on his mind was to help him somehow. To the extent that he had asked a Controller for help. The feeling had been despair but also a suppressed anger, And he saw every goddamn memory of each of their situations when he read the data from Mingyu's eyes. The feeling was warm. Nervousness. Shyness... Desire.
Wonwoo immediately canceled the download and backed up.
Mingyu lowered his eyes and his head immediately. He cleared his throat.
"I hope you saw how important you are to us, for the team, of course, and the investigation. We trust you. We rely on your skills and the fact that you bring us coffee in the morning. You are more than just some Saver for us. You are a teammate. We need you."
Wonwoo nodded, completely mindblown. He was shocked by what he had seen.
"What... you are..?"
"I told you before when we ate together. Mutants don't complicate things. We keep it simple. I told you it's unusual for a mutant to connect with a human. And it is. And I also told you that we are very open about it. I still need to do it. I hope you might change your mind, but I don't think that will happen. Therefore...."
"... therefore?" whispered Wonwoo nervously.
"I like you. I am attracted to you. It is new for me to bond with a human, and I am unsure how to deal with it because humans think about these things differently. But I feel better admitting it and confessing to you. You will either reject me, or I will get a positive answer. As I have this feeling, the confession will bring some trouble for me in the future, but this is the price you have to pay when you keep things simple. I guess this is one of those situations where humans would lie for the sake of the other person´s feelings. It´s nice to do so, but it still makes no sense to me."
"But how can you be so straightforward? I mean, a confession is very romantic."
"Not for us. I do like you. And I want you to know it because depending on your answer, I can either try to loosen the connection somehow, or I get a positive answer, and then I would ask you out on a date."
"I am sorry, but I don´t think like that. We are colleagues, and I like you in a friendly way, but I don´t have the same feelings as you." Wonwoo whispered and felt so guilty for rejecting him that he teared up.
Wonwoo saw Mingyu's plasma flash grey, which was white again a second later.
"Alright. It is what it is. Please don't worry too much about it. It's just our way of handling these things very openly."
"You're not mad at me?" asked Wonwoo quietly.
"No. As I said, we do not complicate these things. I like you, but you don´t like me, and I can´t change that. So I respect your decision."

Mingyu wasn't surprised because he had expected this reaction. Wonwoo played nervously with his fingers.
"Then you'll come to the office tomorrow morning with coffee, right?" asked Mingyu.
"If you drag a little idiot like that into the office again, you'll see how you get along without me."
Mingyu nodded. "We promise."
The older grinned and stood up. "Okay."
Wonwoo peeked at him. "What about the beer?"
"No. Not today. We can be open about our feelings, but I don't want you to be uncomfortable with mine. We are also open about our reactions. And I want to be alone right now. I knew the outcome of this situation, and I was prepared for it. I'll see you in the morning, and if you want, we can have lunch with the others later. Okay?"
He could see Wonwoo lowering his eyes. Mingyu wasn´t sure, but Wonwoo had teared up.
"I'm sorry."
"It´s alright. Why would you lie to me? To make me feel better? We talked about it and cleared things up. I am grateful for taking my confession seriously instead of making fun of it because I know you cannot understand how I handled it."
"Let´s have lunch with the others tomorrow, I guess." Wonwoo whispered and didn´t dare to lift his head.
Mingyu nodded and left the apartment. Sighing, he walked to the elevator and counted the seconds until he arrived on the second floor. It was a strange habit, but he had developed it a few years ago out of boredom. He exited the building and walked to his car.
He sat in the driver's seat, started the engine, and joined the traffic.
After a few minutes, he stopped and pulled over. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed a number.
"Yes?" Jisoo picked up.
"Can I come over?" Mingyu didn't even know why he had called him.
"Of course. Stay the night. I have already prepared the guest room." Jisoo mumbled, and Mingyu hung up.

Wonwoo stared at the ceiling in his bedroom.
Mingyu had left about an hour ago, and Wonwoo was so upset that he gave up after the third attempt to fall asleep.
He had expected a lot, and he was grateful that Mingyu had come to him and convinced him to return to the office in the morning. But Wonwoo had not expected his sudden confession, which threw him off track. It had shocked him the way Mingyu had done it.
Just as if he would ask in the supermarket whether the pineapple in the can is as tasty as a fresh one. Completely emotionless. Maybe it was because of the plasma in his eyes. Mingyu had not bothered to take the pills, and Wonwoo had noticed that the bright white had a reddish glow.
And he was angry with Mingyu.
He had almost forced him to give him an answer. And since it had been negative, he had made Wonwoo feel so guilty that his hands had been trembling slightly for an hour. Wonwoo was not very romantically inclined, but it hurt him how emotionless Mingyu had confessed without showing him how he liked or hugged him. He had just sat there and waited for an answer. Even if Wonwoo had returned his feelings, this way of confessing would have been the worst he could have imagined. He had no idea how he would react in the office tomorrow morning. Wonwoo had noticed. With the brief flash of his eye color and seeing that Mingyu had left after his rejection, Wonwoo knew it would be a problem for Mingyu.
He had explained to him at breakfast the difference between a connection and a relationship. Wonwoo slowly realized what this would mean for Mingyu.
He winced as his cell phone rang. He picked it up and saw the number.
"Yes?" he muttered.
"Thank you for rejecting him." said Jisoo.
"Are you making fun of me now?" asked Wonwoo.
"No, I'm serious. Mingyu doesn't realize how problematic this would have become between you two. He's a mutant, and you're a human. This isn't going to work out. Relationships with humans are tied to many things that we mutants handle differently." Jisoo said.
"What do you mean?"
"It doesn't matter now. Don't worry. The decision was right and important for him. He won't be strange in the morning. We're not like that."
"So you're telling me that he likes someone, that person rejects him, and he'll calmly have a coffee with that person tomorrow morning?" muttered Wonwoo in surprise.
"Yes."
"Isn't he hurt?"
"He is."
"Isn't he sad? I mean, he said he likes me. Wouldn't it be weird to know I don't like him that way in the morning?"
"Yes, he is. But don't make it complicated again. Why give up a friendship or a working relationship just because you like someone and they don't return your feelings?"
"Because you're sad?!" hissed Wonwoo. "I don't understand your logic. Those feelings can't be strong if he's not reserved or weird with me tomorrow morning."
"He has two options. Option one is to quit because he knows YOU are uncomfortable with it now. Option two is to be grateful that you will continue to work with him and that he can spend some time with you without you having to force yourself. It´ll get better."
"What will get better?" Wonwoo asked.
There was a brief silence at the other end.
"Love among humans is sometimes unsteady. A human would be hurt and either move away from the other person or stop seeing each other. And try to escape the strange atmosphere. He likes you. So why shouldn't he take advantage of the time he could spend with you, even if it's just a working relationship? Give him a few years, maybe a decade, and he'll be able to loosen the connection."
Wonwoo froze.
"A decade?" he whispered.
"Like I said, we don't do anything like cheat or have this mess of emotional stuff. We like someone, and then that's how it is. We don't even try to forget or get over it. Because we can't, the connection will hopefully settle in a few years, and he might be interested in a new connection. In our case, we both needed about a decade to loosen the connection, but for some years now, it's okay."
Wonwoo was mindblown.
"He... will be sad for so long? A freaking decade?!"
"We need a long time to disconnect. This is something that we are jealous of sometimes. Humans can forget or disconnect fast. As I said, you don't need to worry about it. Bring coffee in the morning. He knew you would reject him, but he prioritized ensuring you understand how we feel about you. Just don´t talk about it again. "
"Okay." whispered Wonwoo, and Jisoo hung up.
Wonwoo stared at the ceiling again.
"This is ed up..." he whispered,