Mutuality [myoo-choo-al-lit-ee] n. - a shared feeling that is expressed or experienced by two respective parties.

A/N: Hey guys, for those of you who read the earlier chapter before I could correct my mistake, having Luhan call out Sehun's name was a complete mistake. I thought I had corrected it while I was editing, but I must have skipped over it. Luhan cannot speak. Sorry for the confusion! Also this chapter is unbetaed because I want to get to sleep but I owe yall a chapter, so I'll edit it in a day or two from now.

Mihyun slightly jumped when a hand suddenly rested itself on her shoulder, and she turned her head to stare questioningly at Sehun. “Do you need something, Sehun?”

“Yeah,” Sehun responded with a gruff voice. “I need you to get some rest.”

Mihyun’s eyebrows furrowed in at his words, and she coolly brushed his hand away to continue typing furiously into her keyboard, “I don’t exactly have time for rest, Sehun. There are a lot of things I need to get done before I can even consider taking a break.”

“Mihyun!” Sehun exclaimed as he spun the girl around in her chair. “We’re worried about you, okay? The first thing you did when we got home was begin working in your room, and it’s been seven hours since then and you haven’t eaten anything.”

Mihyun let out a sigh of exasperation and pinched the bridge of her nose to stop her oncoming headache, “Sehun-”

“Don’t you dare, Han Mihyun,” Sehun glared firmly down at her. “Don’t you dare treat me like a child who doesn’t know what’s going on. I know exactly what kind of situation we’re in, and I know how dangerous it is and how much work needs to be done—”

“Then let me finish my—”

“And I also know that you’re a goddamn human being, Mihyun,” Sehun growled as he stared straight into her eyes. “You’re not some super hero or some robot that doesn’t need to eat, drink, rest, or even go to ing bathroom. Now get to bed before I throw your damned computer out the window.”

Mihyun stared at him for a few seconds before finally turning back to her computer. Sehun’s eyes flashed furiously, and he was about to reprimand the girl once again until he heard the chime of her desktop shutting down. Mihyun pushed him aside so she could get out of her chair, and silently entered her bathroom without sparing the male a second glance.

Sehun ran his hand through his hair with frustration, and let out a long breath to calm himself down. That girl was seriously frustrating! The sound of running water came from the bathroom adjacent to her bedroom, and Sehun sat back down on the bed he had been sleeping on. He glanced nervously at the closed bathroom door, and bit down on his bottom lip. She wasn’t mad at him was she? He was only doing what he thought was right, and the girl had honestly spent too much time working.

He glanced up when the bathroom door reopened to reveal a freshly cleansed Mihyun, and she continued to walk silently to her bed without even glancing at Sehun. She pressed on a button of the remote, and the ceiling light shut off to engulf the room in a sudden darkness.

A few minutes of silence passed by before Sehun slowly called out her name, “Mi… Mihyun?”

“What?” Mihyun’s unemotional voice responded.

“Are you… are you mad at me?” Sehun asked nervously as he turned his head to look at the girl’s dark outline.

Mihyun let out a soft chuckle at the boy’s insecurity, and she her back to stare up into the ceiling. “No, I’m not mad at you.” She let out another quiet chuckle when she heard Sehun emit a sigh of relief.

“Mihyun…?” Sehun called out again after a few minutes of silence.

“I thought you wanted me to rest, Sehun?” Mihyun asked through closed eyes. She heard a soft creak sound from the right, and she turned to her side with opened eyes to see Sehun sheepishly standing there with a pillow in hand.

“Can I sle… sleep with you?” Sehun asked quietly, thanking god that the room was dark so the other wouldn’t be able to detect the bright shade of red his cheeks had turned.

His face continued to gather heat as a silence stretched across the air, and he was just about to stammer his way through an excuse of how he had just been joking before Mihyun finally responded with a soft, “Sure.”

Sehun slid onto the bed and under the cover with great embarrassment, and he made sure to lie on the very end of the bed to make sure Mihyun wouldn’t be too uncomfortable. Heat clung to his cheeks as he squeezed his eyes shut to get some sleep, but his heart was hammering too loudly against his chest for him to do so.

“Sehun,” Mihyun called out, jolting Sehun from his thoughts.

“Y-Yeah?”

He felt a spark run up his spine when a warm hand wrapped around his upper arm, tugging him to move closer to the center of the bed.

“You’re going to fall off like that,” Mihyun frowned as she scooted to the side to make room for the other.

“No I think I’m just fine where I am,” Sehun squeaked, his voice climbing to a higher octave against his will.

Before Mihyun could open to continue, the lights overhead abruptly . Sehun and Mihyun’s eyes widened with alarm, and they raised their heads to look at the new figure who was standing at the foot of the bed.

You guys are too noisy.

Luhan pouted as he held up his board one with hand, sleepily rubbing his eyes with the other.

“Do you want to come sleep with us, Luhan?” Mihyun asked with a soft smile.

Luhan’s eyes widened briefly in surprise, and they quickly darted to look at Sehun, as if he was asking the other if it was okay to do so.

Sehun chuckled at his hyung’s expression, and he gestured for the elder to come forward. Luhan must have been feeling left out recently with all the secret smiles and whispers the pair had been sharing without him.

Luhan jumped forward without hesitation, and he quickly cuddled himself against Mihyun’s other side without pausing for even a second.

“Yah, hyung, why are you next to Mihyun? You should be next to me,” Sehun muttered bitterly as he slowly inched himself closer to the other two.

Luhan ignored the words of the younger and instead wrapped his arm around Mihyun’s waist, pulling the girl’s warmth closer to his own body. He was probably irritating the hell out of Sehun with how close he was to Mihyun, but he decided that he would allow himself to be selfish for the time being. He winced sharply as the image of Kyungsoo formed in his head, and unconsciously let out a quiet whimper.

He didn’t even notice how the mattress dipped in at his other side until a warm body pressed against his back. Luhan glanced over his shoulder in surprise to see that Sehun had changed his position on the mattress so Luhan was now sandwiched in between the couple.

“You’ve been really strong these past few days, hyung,” Sehun smiled lightly as he patted the top of Luhan’s hair. “I’m proud of you.”

Luhan bit down hard on his quivering bottom lip, and to his back so he could comfortably press against both Sehun and Mihyun. He fisted a handful of the front of Sehun’s shirt in his left hand while wrapping his right hand around Mihyun’s smaller one.

They would be okay.

As long as they all had each other, they would be okay.

The seven people sat somberly in the cage, a curtain of tension draped around each and every one of them. The seat beside Jongin lay empty with nobody daring to take the spot that belonged to Kyungsoo.

Even Xiumin who hadn’t joined their group as of late felt his heart heavy with grief. He may not have conversed with the group of Noyes earlier, but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t been fond of Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo was just one of those people that you couldn’t possibly dislike.

Mihyun sat with the side of her face pressed against Sehun’s chest, listening to the slow beats of Sehun’s heart to calm down her nerves. The taller had his arms wrapped tightly around the smaller’s body, and he soothingly ran his fingers through her hair in a gentle motion.

“Okay, let’s get to work!” Baekhyun jumped to his feet with a fake smile plastered across his face, his fist outstretched with fake energy. “There’s no time to be lazy, that’s not what Kyungsoo would want!”

“Stop it, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol responded simply. “Don’t push yourself.”

Baekhyun’s fake smile immediately fell at his words, and he plopped back down onto his seat. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, Baek,” Chanyeol replied as he wrapped his arm around the other’s shoulders. “Thank you for trying.”

“Baekhyun’s right,” Jongin’s spoke suddenly. All heads turned to look at him who was starring firmly at the empty spot beside him. “We can’t let this time go to waste.”

“We don’t have a map,” Chanyeol responded flatly. “We can’t do anything without one.”

“Yes we can,” Jongin responded with a hard glare. “We can do something, anything, as long as we’re not just sitting on our asses doing nothing.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Baekhyun asked quietly as he stared down at his fumbling thumbs.

Jongin fell silent.

“Whatever it is, we can help.”

All seven heads snapped upwards at the sudden voice, and mouths gaped in surprise at the pair of Noyes that stood shyly at the door of the cage.

“Yongguk? Junhong? What are you guys doing here?” Chanyeol asked with furrowed eyebrows. He recognized the pair of Noyes, for he and Yongguk often exchanged words when they were working.

“We’re going to help you,” Yongguk’s deep voice responded as he walked further into the room, tugging Junhong who was hiding behind him. “We’re going to help you with this rebellion or whatever.”

“Why would you do that?” Jongin asked with narrowed eyes.

“Don’t think that we’re happy in this hell hole, Kim,” Yongguk replied just as viciously. “We want to get out of this place just as much as you all do. And… and it was wrong. It was wrong what they did to Do. They’ve pulled a lot of horrible before, but this was just crossing the line.”

“What makes you think we can trust you?” Jongin asked, his tone now just the slightest bit softer from the remorse Yongguk shower towards Kyungsoo.

“We can’t prove anything to you,” Yongguk responded flatly. “You’re just going to have to trust us. I don’t know what you think, but a rebellion isn’t easy, Kim. You’re going to need all the hands you can get, and it just so happens that we have a few extra pairs to offer.”

“Who else is there?” Chanyeol asked with a raised eyebrow.

“The rest of my boys,” Yongguk answered. “You guys aren’t the only tight knit group that formed you know. If we’re in, then Jongup, Himchan, and Youngjae will be too. That’s five extra hands you can’t afford to reject.”

“Youngjae?” Jongin growled. “No way, that guy’s a rat.”

“He’s a brother,” Yongguk responded roughly. “It’s either all or none of us.”

Jongin opened his mouth to reject, but was interrupted by the sharp call of his name.

“Jongin,” Mihyun spoke up for the first time. She stared hard at him, and he let out a small growl, knowing what had to be done.

“Fine,” Jongin muttered reluctantly. “You’re in.”

“I thought that would be the case. I’ll go let the other guys know,” Yongguk nodded his head as he left the room with Junhong right behind him.

“We can’t trust Youngjae,” Jongin stated once the pair had left hearing distance. “That kid’s a rat. He’s always selling out the other Noyes to get extra perks.”

“I don’t trust him either, but we need the others,” Chanyeol sighed. “Yongguk is a man to his word, and his loyalty is just one of the very many benefits he can offer. We’ll watch ourselves around Youngjae, but we can’t pass them up.”

Jongin opened his mouth to protest, but pressed his lips reluctantly together. He knew Chanyeol was right.

“Mihyun, can I talk to you?”

The seven heads snapped upwards once again; this time more protectively from this familiar voice than before.

“No, you can’t,” Sehun growled as he jumped to his feet to take a protective stance in front of the girl.

“Sehun,” Mihyun spoke softly as she pushed him gently aside to face the new presence. “What do you need from me, Jaemin?”

“I just want to talk to you for a little bit,” Jaemin replied quietly as he stared down at his feet. He could feel Sehun’s intense glare bore into his skin, and he flinched at the tense atmosphere he was welcomed with. “In private.”

“You can say it here,” Sehun replied in a hard voice. “In front of all of us.”

“Sehun,” Mihyun called out again, a little firmer than the time before. Sehun let out a soft growl, but closed his mouth.

Jaemin’s eyes drifted from Mihyun’s face to Sehun’s angered expression. He observed the protective hand Sehun had resting on Mihyun’s shoulder, not gripping her too tightly, but firm enough to express his dissent. He watched as Mihyun pressed the tips of her fingers against Sehun’s hand, forcing the boy to release his grip almost immediately.

Mihyun turned to face the other slightly, and tip toed to whisper quietly into his ear. Jaemin couldn’t hear the soft words that were being exchanged between the two, but whatever had been said made Sehun’s expression lighten. Mihyun gave him a small pat on the chest, and gave Jaemin a small nod to tell him that she would follow him.

“What’s going on between the two of you?” he asked curiously when the pair made their way into the hallway. "You and that Noye, I mean. Sehun."

He noticed how Mihyun stiffened just the slightest, and he arched his eyebrow higher into his hair line.

“I don’t believe that’s any of your business,” Mihyun responded in the stoic tone he was all too familiar with. “Tell me what you needed to say or I’m going to go back.”

“He obviously has feelings for you,” Jaemin continued with crossed arms. “And you have feelings for him in return, don’t you?”

“I said that you should tell me what you had to say. If this was the nonsense you wanted to tell me, then thank you for wasting my time,” Mihyun replied with narrowed eyes.

“It won’t work out between the two of you, you know that right?”

Mihyun tensed.

“Those kind of relationships never work out, you know,” Jaemin shrugged as he leaned himself against the wall. “Being in love with a Noye won’t get you anywhere except shunned by society and maybe even stoned to death.”

“Thank you for your concern,” she replied in a flat voice. He winced under the hard look she gave him before turning to leave. “Please don’t try talking to me again.”

“Are you really willing to risk everything from him?” Jaemin asked in a raised voice. “I’m trying to help you, Mihyun. Being in love with a Noye is the worst thing you can do to your social status. Why are you doing this to yourself? How could you fall in love with somebody so… so filthy?”

Mihyun froze midstep at the words, and she spun sharply around on her heels. “Don’t you dare insult Sehun, because he is a bigger man than you’ll ever be,” she growled as she stepped dangerously towards the male. “It’s none of your damn business what I do, and whether or not I have feelings for him is none of your concern. Don’t even pretend that you’re trying to help me, you don’t even know what it means to truly help somebody.”

Mihyun let out another angry huff, and shoved him against the shoulder with the palm of her hand just for good measure. She spun around and stalked angrily away from bad back towards the cage, silently fuming to herself.

“Mihyun.”

Mihyun’s head snapped up at the familiar voice, and she glanced upwards in surprise to see Sehun staring down at her. She caught the light pink that tinged his cheeks, and her lips parted in disbelief when she realized that Sehun must have heard what she said.

“I… I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t trying to pull anything,” Sehun mumbled under his breath as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“O-Oh…” Mihyun swallowed as she trained her gaze on the ground, not daring to meet the other’s gaze. “Let’s get back to the others, alright?”

“Mihyun,” Sehun called her name again, holding on to her upper arm when she tried to move forward. “Mihyun, I want to know.”

“Know what?” Mihyun asked as she glanced over her shoulder to look at the other. Her heart skipped a beat at how he looked at her, and she bit down hard on her bottom lip, for she had a hunch as to what Sehun was to continue with.

“I want to know how you feel about me,” Sehun stared firmly into her eyes to express how serious he was. He might have seemed strong on the outside, but on the interior he was screaming like a little girl. He didn't know where the sudden burst of courage had come from for him to dare to ask the girl such a thing, but the words had escaped from his mouth and there was no going back. He had to follow through till the end.

“You… what?”

“I… I know you know that I have… that I have feelings for you,” Sehun blurted out, flushing furiously once the words escaped his lips. “and I… I want to know if you feel anything towards me. Just… just even the slightest bit.”

Mihyun’s face softened, and she turned completely around to face the boy, “Sehun, I don’t think this is the right time to do this. Not with Kyungsoo, not with the rebellion, and I—”

“I know, Mihyun,” Sehun cut her off. “I know this is so inappropriate and that Kyungsoo is probably damning me to the pits of hell, but I need to know. I need to know if this is all just some stupid fantasy of mine, or if… or if this…” He couldn’t bring himself to continue.

“I… Sehun, I don’t… I don’t know if—” Mihyun stammered uncertainly, not knowing exactly what she should say to the other. She knew there would be dire consequences for either answer she was to choose.

Sehun held up a hand to cut her off. A dark expression shadowed his eyes that were trained down on the ground, and he nodded his head, “It’s okay. You don’t have to continue.” He let out a soft, humorless chuckle and ran his fingers through his hair. “I was just being stupid, sorry.”

“Sehun, I like you.”

Sehun’s heart stuttered in its beats, and his head darted upwards in alarm. “W-What did you say?” Sehun gaped with an open mouth. He felt blood quickly rush to his face, and his legs would have buckled from underneath him with happiness if he didn’t have a grip on himself.

“I said that I like you, but Sehun, this doesn—”

“No, don’t say anything else,” Sehun quickly pressed a finger against her lips to shut her up. “Don’t go on about how this won’t work and about all the bad stuff that will happen. Don’t say anything, just… just let me enjoy this.”

Mihyun opened to protest, but reluctantly pressed her lips together. She was taken by surprise when Sehun suddenly engulfed her into a tight hug. “Sehun…?”

“Thank you,” Sehun breathed quietly into her hair as he tightened his grip around the girl while still making sure that he wasn’t suffocating her. His heart was nearly beating out of his chest at their close proximity, and he feared that she would be able to feel his thumping heart, but still refused to release her from his grip.

She liked him.

The intelligent and beautiful inheritor of a multi-billion company liked him.

She like him.

Him, Oh Sehun.

Noye, Oh Sehun.

Oh Sehun with his rough hair.

Oh Sehun with his harsh eyes.

Oh Sehun and all of his faded scars that decorated his skin.

She like him, Oh Sehun.

“Thank you, thank you,” Sehun whispered over and over again like a mantra, more to himself than to the girl clasped in his arms. “Thank you."