Chapter Text
Cipher was currently crying.
They weren't sad tears by any means–oh, no, they were tears of pure laughter.
Cipher was working one of her first shifts at her new job. It was at an escape room, and she was on camera duty, AKA, the security room. Thus, she could see everything that was occurring in the escape room. Because so many customers would constantly try to break into places or props that were not a part of the escape room puzzles, cameras are put into place to ensure not only the safety of the customers but also to ensure the escape room comes out unscathed.
She was watching her new, fresh targets trying to complete the newest escape room. They had split into different rooms and were currently trying to solve their own puzzles. However, one of them had accidentally stumbled into a room when solving the puzzle incorrectly, and the punishment was a clown with a chainsaw that ran after the man.
The man screamed and dashed out of the accidental room, with the escape room staff dressed as a clown following closely behind, swinging his fake weapon that only emitted the loud sounds of an actual chainsaw. Cipher watched with much pleasure as the man was chased down the hallways and eventually ended up in a dead-end room that was dimly lit.
“Please! Spare me!” The silver-haired man cried and raised his arms out in front of him as the clown approached closer.
The clown, the staff member, obviously didn't say anything back and continued to approach.
“What kind of escape room is this?! How do I escape from a dead end with a chainsaw-carrying clown running after me?!” The man had whipped his head around the room, trying to figure out if there were any hints or clues that could be found to help his situation. As Cipher, the escape room staff, watched this helpless man, she knew the only way out of that room was for one of his other party members to solve their puzzle and get him out.
Of course, the clown didn't respond, and he eventually reached the middle of the dead-end room, where a single, flickering lightbulb hung down the ceiling from a single cord. The whole theme of this escape room was an abandoned circus that was about to be demolished, so all the decorations and props had a very run-down appearance.
Revving his fake chainsaw, the clown's face was now illuminated under the flickering lightbulb as he towered over the cowering man, who was hiding in the corner of the small room. The man, who had been trying his best to hide behind his raised hands, suddenly paused in his shivering and even lowered his hands at the intimidating clown.
“Holy shit, you were the clown following me this whole time?”
Cipher still wasn't sure why this idiot was still speaking to the clown even though he hadn't talked this entire time, but she thought his lines were funny and entertaining, nonetheless. She leaned back in her chair with a smile, watching the scene unfold before her.
Of course, the clown didn't answer at all, but before the clown could take another step, the silver-haired man took a step forward instead. At the curious action, Cipher straightened in her seat. Did this guy finally snap and decide to just beat the hell out of the clown and escape? She should grab popcorn.
The clown also hesitated under the man's step forward, and he continued to waver under the single lightbulb in the room.
And, in the blink of an eye, leaving Cipher utterly baffled, the male customer leaped at the clown. In a fit of panic, the clown dodged backwards, but the man continued trying to reach for the clown. The clown continued backing away and even reaching the entrance of the dead-end room, but the man didn't have the slightest intention of stopping his actions. Under Cipher's widening eyes, the clown whirled around and sprinted down the hallway, with the man following close behind.
“Wait! Come back! Fuck, what's your name?!"
Cipher froze at those words, wondering if she had even heard correctly or if the camera had picked up the audio wrong, but with the way the man continued shouting for the clown's name as the two madly dashed down the corridor, there was no mistaking it. She screeched in the security room all by herself, banging her fists against the table and coughing among fits of heinous laughter. She wasn't even watching the other customers in the escape room anymore, as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes the more her ears picked up the man yelling for the clown to stop. Cipher kicked her feet up and down the more she could barely watch the clown running down different corridors to escape the man's grasp, and she had to bend down to hold her stomach from how much it hurt from her laughter, even banging her forehead against the table from bending over. Still, the pain didn't quell her laughter in the slightest, and she had to pant desperately for breath among her screeches.
There was… quite the story as to why she was even here in the first place. It all happened a few weeks ago, when she had begged her closest friend, who was currently being chased in the cameras, to work with her at this escape room:
“PLEASE! Please, please, please, please, PLEASE!”
Cipher was practically kneeling on the floor at this point with her arms tightly wrapped around a very well-built leg that continued to walk even with her weight pulling it down.
“And why should I?”
“I'm broke!”
“Go work by yourself.”
“No, Mydei, PLEASE! Please work with me? You won't even have to do anything!”
“What kind of workplace lets me do nothing at all?”
“One where you just need to look scary! It's an escape room place! You can just stand there normally and get paid!”
Cipher was broke. She had been broke ever since she started college. And, truthfully, she didn't want a job either. Why would she work if she can just “borrow” from other people? Especially from the man she was still clinging to.
Mydei, the person she considered a friend that she had latched onto ever since they had a single class together during their first year, came from quite a wealthy family. His father owned some company or something; Cipher never bothered to care which company. All she heard was that the guy was loaded, which she only found out later after sticking to the man like glue until he finally accepted her as a friend. Her efforts really paid off, and she applauded herself for it. And now, she was ready to return the favor.
“Please, Mydei?”
“No.”
“Why not?!” She jumped to her feet with a pout. “We both win! You can stop paying for me, and I will finally get a job!”
“You can do all that without me also getting the job.”
“NOOO!” Cipher wailed and threw herself against Mydei, grasping his shoulders and shaking him wildly. “I don't want a job. I don't want a job!”
“Then, don't get one?” Mydei crossed his arms while Cipher continued to shake him back and forth. He was quite used to her antics now, after being friends with her for a few years. “No one is forcing you to get one.”
“NOOO!” Cipher dropped down to the floor again in defeat. There was a very specific reason why Cipher very specifically wanted this very specific job.
To summarize, Cipher had been basically stealing from this guy for the past two years. Because he was loaded, and because Cipher was broke, he basically paid for her everything. But, she actually did care about him; after all, she pestered him to befriend her even before she knew he was loaded. So, of course, she did feel bad about all the money that he had put into her for the past few years. But, there was no way in Hell Cipher could afford to pay back all of that money. So, she decided to pay him back with something else.
After being friends with Mydei for a few years, she has learned quite a bit about him. He was an only child, had a loaded family, liked sweets, liked exercising, and liked men. And, she even knew his type too, which Cipher was quite proud of knowing. She was proud because Mydei never outright explained his type to her, no matter how much she annoyed him for it. She just observed him carefully and gathered the type of men that Mydei reacted to the most, whether they were out in the city, in class, or watching a movie. And, for a man as inexpressive as Mydei, it took Cipher a lot of observing.
A man had caught her eyes a while back–not for her, but for Mydei. He was exactly Mydei's type: Golden retriever man who was also very strong, athletic, and dependable. That was the vibe Cipher had initially gathered when she first passed by him, and she was shocked that such a man fit so perfectly into Mydei's ideal type. And that was when the idea hit her: She should set them up! It will basically be her way of paying Mydei back tenfold!
She spent the next few weeks after passing by that guy literally stalking him–gathering information from other students, and literally following the guy around. Well, she just happened to go in that same direction for a couple of hours, okay? And from stalking–walking in the same direction as that man–for a few weeks, she confirmed her initial impression of him. He was very much indeed what many people would describe as a “golden retriever” man. He was an archaeology major, which Cipher would consider quite close to Mydei's history major. And, he was actually quite popular; a lot of people relied on and depended on him, and he actually had a lot of friends. He also went to the school gym a lot, which confirmed that part of Mydei's type, too. And finally, this was just a plus, but he was definitely quite the catch. He was definitely handsome and a sight for sore eyes–not that Cipher would partner her super closest friend with someone ugly anyway. How could she repay her friend by matching him up with someone ugly? All in all, it was a match made in heaven, except for the fact that Mydei did not know this man even existed–for now, at least.
His main group of friends frequented the university town center quite often, which was a few blocks down from their campus. And within that town center, a new escape room was being opened, and they were hiring for new staff for their grand opening. Cipher was almost 99% sure that the man and his friends would try out the escape room once it opened in the town center, and she needed to make Mydei aware of this man. Her solution? Get Mydei hired at the escape room. Since that man will be at the university town center almost all the time, she wanted Mydei to secure a job there. However, for a man as loaded as Mydei was, she couldn't think of any possible explanation as to why he should get a job. After all, Cipher, who was extremely broke, didn't even want a job either.
Thus, here she was now, trying to convince this very overly stubborn man to work at the escape room with her.
“Since when were you so interested in escape rooms that you want to work for one?”
“I'm not! Wait, no, I mean–” Cipher cleared her throat and jumped up from the floor once more. With the most serious expression she could manage, she firmly stated, “I am very interested in escape rooms.”
“You just said you weren't.”
“I did not say that.”
“You did.”
“Anyway!” Cipher clapped her hands together, effectively ending that part of the conversation. “Will you work with me, Mydei?”
“No.”
“Why not?!”
The man sighed exasperately, running a hand through his golden hair. “Why should I?”
Cipher wrung her fingers together and batted her eyelashes. “Haven't you ever wanted to work together with your best friend?”
“No.”
“Okay, that's a little rude.”
“Did you ever imagine that?”
“You think I imagined working?”
“That's what I'm saying.”
It was Cipher’s turn to sigh. Why was this guy so damn good at arguing with her?
“I just… feel bad for using up so much of your money.” Cipher decided to try a different tactic. There was no way a man wouldn't acquiesce to a sad woman, right? Even if… Even if that man were gay, right? “So, I wanted to get a job to have my own money. But, since it's my first job, I'm just a little… nervous. You know how I get when I try to do things. I get too antsy sometimes, you know? I need someone I can rely on who can pull me back.”
Mydei let out a deep breath, listening with much intent to her explanation. From the way Mydei stayed silent to digest her words, Cipher thought that there was a chance he would believe her and cave. But, she didn't want to celebrate too soon, so she put on her best saddened expression to the other man while he stayed deep in thought.
A sigh resounded from his chest–a very loud and deep sigh. “Fine. But only for a few months for you to get used to your job.”
“REALLY?!” Cipher couldn't even believe her ears. That worked?!
“Yes, I'll work with you just for a little while. Where is it?”
“YES!” Cipher pumped her fists up into the air. Even a gay man will cave to a sad woman!
Mydei glared at her overly excited response as he growled, “Where is it before I change my mind.”
Her fists immediately dropped at his stern words. “University town center! Let's go there and ask to apply right now! We're both done with classes today anyway!”
She hurriedly tugged on his arm and led him straight to the university town center, which was only a few minutes walk. It felt as if it were fate, because when they arrived at the closed escape room, as it wasn't even open to the public yet, there was someone already in there. A quick knock at the door and a quick introduction of themselves, and they had already been accepted for the job right there on the spot. The manager, who was the person in the closed escape room, had explained that they were going to post a job posting later today, but they just saved him some trouble. Of course, he still needed more employees for different shifts, but it was already a burden off his shoulders to have two very eager candidates to sign up already.
Mydei and Cipher underwent some training for the escape rooms. There were actually multiple different escape rooms, and Mydei and Cipher were able to try them all so that they knew what kind of puzzles were in there ahead of time. They were also shown the security room, where they could oversee everything that was occurring in each of the escape rooms.
After a few weeks of training alongside other new staff that the manager had hired, it was now time for their grand opening. The escape room was running a special promotion for their grand opening, and as a result, many new customers flocked to the store. It was quite a busy first few days for the escape room employees, and they alternated between the security room, the front desk, and actually playing a role within the escape room itself. And, for this current shift, Cipher was, fortunately, on camera duty. It was fortunate because she spotted a very familiar group heading their way to the store, and she needed Mydei to be working in the escape room itself for this to work.
She had never laughed as hard as she had in her entire life at seeing Mydei emerge from the changing rooms dressed as a bloody clown. Very minimal makeup was on his face, as the escape room would be too dark to really see anything anyway, so to save time and deal with the extra customers instead, they decided to skip most of the makeup on him. And so, they sent Mydei into the escape room to act as a murderous clown; he didn't have to do much, anyway, except chase the customers around. He was even instructed not to speak with the customers, after all.
Thus, here she was, currently crying her eyes out and wheezing hysterically at the scene before her in a fit of laughter that already beat her previous laughter at seeing Mydei dressed as a clown. Through blurry vision that was riddled with tears, she could barely see this guy chasing the clown up and down the halls with only the shoddy lighting flickering from the ceilings that illuminated their running bodies. Cipher clearly had access to the cameras and microphones to stop the man chasing down her friend, but why would she? This was the greatest thing she's ever had the pleasure of watching on a screen! In fact, this was the greatest thing she's ever seen in her entire life!
Her ears eventually picked up a slam of a door, and through gasping breaths, she picked up her head from the table and found in one of the cameras that the male customer was standing in front of a door with a sign labelled “Employees Only.” Darn; it seemed like Mydei managed to escape. Well, there goes her entertainment.
The door to the security room slammed open, and Cipher jumped up from the loud noise. Whipping her head around, she would’ve been startled at the sight of seeing a glaring, hunched-over, bloody clown, but considering she had just watched said clown scrambling down the escape room, she wasn’t the least bit frightened. She tried to stifle her laugh, but failed, now that Mydei was in the room. Every time she saw the clown costume, she was just reminded of the running clown figure in the cameras, and she couldn't help but laugh every time.
“Welcome back!” Cipher had a huge grin on her face as she ran over to Mydei and began wiping the little makeup left on his face. It was more like poking and prodding rather than actually wiping anything off his face. “So, how was work?”
Breathing a deep breath, Mydei swept the bangs from his face and pushed Cipher’s prodding fingers from his face. “You saw how it went,” the clown growled and began tearing the costume from his body. Cipher was sure the guy was sweating buckets in there after practically sprinting away from the guy.
Funny enough, the guy that Cipher was trying to set up with Mydei was the exact male customer who had been chasing Mydei all over the escape room floor. Though, why in the world did he immediately start chasing Mydei when he was backed into a corner? Was that his tactic for escaping the clown? Cipher couldn’t possibly fathom the mind of a stereotypical hot guy. Well, there was one standing in front of her right now, too, who was currently trying to rip his clothes off.
With another hearty laugh, Cipher began helping Mydei remove his costume; he was wearing clothes underneath, so Cipher wasn’t too worried or anything. She wasn’t very eager to see Mydei naked. They made quick work of throwing the clown costume to the floor, and yeah, she could, unfortunately, feel just how sweaty and musky it was underneath that costume.
Another deep sigh escaped the man–he must’ve been pissed from the way he wasn’t even saying anything and from how he continued to run his hand through sweaty bangs. Cipher was continuing to watch the man with much amusement as he came down from the adrenaline that pumped through his veins.
“Remind me again,” Mydei growled as golden eyes leered in her direction, “why I applied to this job with you?”
“Because you love me as your most bestest friend ever?”
He continued to glare at the woman, and she playfully batted her eyelashes at him. With a roll of his eyes, he slumped in a nearby computer chair. He was now only dressed in a black tank and black basketball shorts now that the clown costume had been discarded.
“So,” Cipher drawled as she rocked back and forth on her feet. “How was it being on the floor? Notice anything in particular? Notice how something, or someone, looked, perhaps?”
Mydei was the complete embodiment of confusion as he furrowed his eyebrows at her. “What would I notice after running for my life?”
“What do you mean ‘running for your life’?! You had the chainsaw!” She waved her arms wildly at the fake chainsaw that was now strewn on the floor.
“It's a fake chainsaw, Cipher. I can't do anything with that.”
“What if he was just trying to talk to you? Did you even hear anything he said?”
“Why would I listen to a madman chasing after me?”
Cipher groaned dramatically. Her plan had failed; she had wanted to get them to meet through the escape room, but Mydei didn't even notice who was standing right in front of him. And, what did the other guy think of Mydei? Truth be told, she wasn't even sure if the guy she was trying to pair up with Mydei was even gay in the first place. This could all be for nothing, and the worst part was that she got a job all for nothing.
That was exactly what she thought for the next few days, and it soon became the following week after that incident.
It was a Friday afternoon, and Cipher couldn't even believe she was spending her precious Friday afternoon, with no classes, working at a job. Mydei wasn't even here because he had class, so he couldn't even work the same shift as her. So now, she was just working the escape room all by herself, all because she wanted to set her friend up with the love of his life. How selfless was she? She had to pat herself on the back for being such a good friend.
Despite the worries that swirled in her head over not knowing whether the other man was even interested in men or not, the bell chimed above the door, signalling that someone had walked in. It was much quieter now that the grand opening promotions were over, so she wasn't sure who was possibly trying to do an escape room right now.
“Welcome!” Before even glancing over toward the customer, a huge, instinctive grin had already spread on her face. Today, she was on cashier duty, where she basically rang people up and explained the rules of the escape room. But when the two customers approached the desk, she almost fell off her chair.
It was that same silver-haired man she had been stressing about for the past week!
“Castorice, please do that escape room with me again!” It seemed that neither of the two customers who walked in even paid attention to Cipher, as the silver-haired man was pleading with his friend, whom Cipher could only assume was the Castorice in question.
“Why don't you take Anaxa? He's much smarter than I am.” Castorice didn't seem the least bothered by the pleading man's behavior.
“He's not going to want to do the same exact escape room with me again!” Phainon cried. From stalking–ahem–walking in the same direction as that man for so long to try to learn new information about him, Cipher already knew his name.
“Why are you trying to do the same escape room again?” Castorice only looked genuinely confused. “We already beat it last time.”
“I… I just.” Phainon seemed to be trying to come up with some response that made sense, and Cipher only knew this because she was quite the professional at it. “I just really liked this escape room.”
“Would it not be as enjoyable if you do it a second time?” Castorice frowned, thinking back on the escape room that they had already completed last week, which they only completed on time because Phainon managed to scare away the clown that was supposed to be pressuring them to finish within a certain time limit.
“You never know!” Phainon retorted. “And anyway, they might even change some puzzles within the same escape room.”
“Ms. Cipher.” Castorice turned to Cipher, and her back straightened at suddenly being referred to. “Do they change certain puzzles within the same escape room?”
“Not that I know of,” Cipher answered nonchalantly, with her eyes wavering onto Phainon. “There a reason you want to do it again? I remember you guys from last week.”
Castorice’s eyes slightly widened. “You were here last week when we completed it?”
“Yeah! I was in the security room.” Cipher grinned, but she jumped when two hands slammed onto the desk.
“Then you must know.” Phainon’s eyes stared intensely at Cipher, and she gulped at the sudden change in the air.
“I… must know what?” She tried to appear as relaxed as possible under that man's gaze, but it was quite difficult with the way he was practically leaning over the desk.
“That man.”
“That… man?”
“The clown man.”
Cipher's eyebrows shot up. This could either go extremely well or extremely terribly.
“I know you know who I'm referring to.”
It was then that Cipher realized she had reacted way too obviously. “I, uh, don't know who you're talking about.”
Phainon’s eyes narrowed at her. “What is his name?”
Cipher narrowed her eyes back at Phainon. “Why do you want to know his name?”
“Phainon!” Much to Cipher's relief, Castorice basically tore Phainon's vice grip away from the desk, and it seemed to wake Phainon up from whatever had possessed his body.
“Sorry, I just...” A sigh escaped Phainon as he ran a hand through his hair. “I just really wanted to know his name.”
“For what reason?” It was purely out of curiosity, as Cipher didn't know whether Phainon wanted to leave a bad review in Mydei’s name or not. And after she had basically begged Mydei to apply to this job with her, there was no way she was going to let a bad review go up in Mydei's name.
“I…”
It was then that a complete silence enveloped the room, with the two women staring inquisitively at the taller man whose face was slowly becoming a deep shade of red. Was it from Cipher's question, or was it from being stared at for so long? As much stalking as she did, she didn't know Phainon particularly well or anything.
“Uh, sir?” Cipher frowned while raising an eyebrow at his unusual response.
“I… um…” The man stumbled over his words as his eyes darted all over the floor. For someone as good-looking as this man was, she would have thought he would have slightly more confidence than this. But then, he finally muttered some words that shocked the life out of Cipher, and if it wasn't for her amazing hearing, she wouldn't have heard a thing he said:
“Does that guy… Is he in a relationship with someone?”
Cipher swore confetti and fireworks were going off in the background as her eyes widened, but she had to quickly ground herself in reality and regain her composure. There was still the slimmest chance that he could be asking for someone else and not for him.
She crossed her arms with a smirk plastered all over her face. This was her chance to finally learn if this man was even interested in men or not. “You asking for you or for someone else?”
Phainon blushed deeply. “For… For me.”
“You interested in him? You didn't strike me as a boy lover.”
“Is that so wrong?” The man seemed to pout in Cipher’s direction, and she had to try really hard to hold in her laughter.
It was then that Castorice’s eyes widened, and it was her turn to be adorned in a deep red blush. “Phainon, are you… are you interested in–”
“Castorice.” Phainon cut her off and turned to her with pleading eyes. Yep, Mydei was definitely going to love this guy. It was almost boring how obviously his type Phainon was.
Castorice immediately shut her mouth in response, but the crimson that was sprinkled across her cheeks did not subside in the slightest. Taking a step back, she gestured for Phainon to continue his conversation, to which he obliged.
“So, I just… I would just like to know his name,” Phainon nervously continued the conversation. “When I noticed him in the escape room, I was–”
“Taken aback? Breathless? Heart was pounding?” Cipher offered.
Phainon's eyes widened. “How did you even–”
“Because you were sprinting away from a bloody clown in the dark at top speed.”
“Right.” Phainon laughed loudly. “But that–that was before I saw his face. After I saw his face, I realized that he was really… really my type.”
That was it! Those were the words Cipher was waiting to hear! Cue the confetti and fireworks again because Cipher was right! Cipher was always right! From the moment she passed by Phainon on campus, she had been patiently awaiting this very moment!
Despite her innermost thoughts, Cipher had the most serious expression on her face as she pretended to ponder his words. “I see. So, you chased after him because you were interested in him?”
“That's right.”
Cipher had to hold in her applause. “I see now. Well, you're in luck, because Mydei does not have any partner that I'm aware of.”
A huge sigh escaped Phainon's chest, and he seemed to be getting more antsy in his spot. “So, is he–”
“He is interested in men, yes.”
Phainon pumped his fists into the air, and Cipher had to hold herself in from spitting everywhere from how ridiculous he looked.
“So, um–” Phainon paused his cheering and turned his attention back to Cipher. “–is there any way I could get in touch with him? Or, maybe I could find out which shifts he works?”
This guy moved fast; Phainon definitely had Cipher's approval.
“He works tomorrow night!” Cipher smiled widely. “See you then!”
It was tomorrow night, and Cipher begged Mydei to stay with her at the cash register. Mydei was on security duty, but since no one was actively using any of the escape rooms, there was no need for him to hang around in there. Thus, Cipher was trying to keep him at the cash register on the grounds that she was lonely being in the lobby all by herself. If Phainon came in while Mydei was in the security room, there would be no chance for them to meet again.
It was while Cipher was practically tugging on Mydei’s arm to stay in the lobby when that familiar bell chimed once more, and both employees immediately straightened at the sound of a new customer entering the store. But her heart pounded with anticipation when she saw who it was, and she saw the man’s eyes widen when his eyes landed on them.
“Good evening!” Cipher hollered at the new customer, tugging Mydei over to the counter with her. Luckily, because Mydei wanted to be on his best behavior in front of the customers, he begrudgingly let Cipher pull him over.
“Good evening,” Phainon returned with a smile, and a light blush littered his cheeks. It was hilarious how Phainon's eyes kept darting toward Mydei's direction right next to her. Phainon had returned to the store with his same friend, Castorice, in tow, who equally appeared just as nervous as he was.
“Were you guys interested in doing an escape room tod–” Cipher's eyes widened as she whirled over to Mydei, firmly clasping her hands down on his shoulders and pulling him to the side that was out of earshot from the other two customers.
Mydei was bewildered at suddenly being pulled away. “What are you doing–”
“Mydei.” Cipher began heaving, causing Mydei to look even more confused. “I… I…”
“Cipher?”
“I need to take a huge shit! Please take care of those two customers for me. Okay, bye!” Without waiting for the man's response, she dashed off to the bathroom, which the door was just off to the right of the lobby and around the corner. Peeking her head out of the bathroom, she could still hear their conversation without actually being noticed by any of them. Surely, Mydei would notice that this man was his type now that they were under proper lighting and with neither man in a state of panic, right?
A deep sigh resounded from the lobby; Cipher could immediately tell it belonged to Mydei after being friends with him for so long.
“Sorry about her.” Mydei's voice rang clearly. “Was there a specific escape room you wanted to do today?”
“Was there one you suggested?” Phainon asked. Cipher decided to take her chances and peek her head around the corner; hopefully, no one would decide to go looking for her and see her head peeking out.
“One I suggest?” Mydei furrowed his eyebrows. “Was there a specific genre you wanted?”
“What genres do you like?” Phainon leaned forward on the desk, lowering his eyes and his voice. “I'm down for anything and everything.”
Cipher watched with her jaw dropped at the scene before her. She couldn't believe the blatant audacity. For how nervous he was acting yesterday, this guy was a professional flirt!
“Anything?” Mydei wasn't even looking at the guy and was instead looking down at all the different escape room options. Cipher wanted to bang her head against the wall. If only he just looked up and could see the obvious bedroom eyes that Phainon was giving him!
“Anything,” Phainon repeated with a small smile. “Whatever you want to do, I'll do it. Even the craziest things.”
After these flirtatious lines, Cipher now felt like she was intruding in on their moment. She almost wanted to yell at them to get a room. It was then that a rush of purple flashed in front of her, and before she could even react, Phainon's friend had settled right beside her.
“You're… Castorice, right?” Cipher muttered with an amused expression.
The other woman nodded, her face still flushed red. “And you are Ms. Cipher?”
“Just… Cipher is fine.” With a light chuckle and that quick introduction, both women turned their attention back to the other two men who remained in the lobby. Neither one of them had realized that Castorice had also darted out of the room.
“Is there one you have done already? Are you a first-time customer?” Mydei lifted his gaze off from the escape room options on the counter, and he flinched from how closely Phainon had become.
Cipher couldn't even believe her ears. Mydei didn't even recognize the man who had chased him down the hallways last week?! And he was so mad about it too!
Phainon's eyes slightly widened at Mydei's words, but he quickly regained his composure. “I already did this one.” He pointed on the counter, and Cipher could only assume it was the circus escape room. “Is there one that is your favorite? I'd love to do one that you enjoyed the most.”
“I can give you the most popular recommendation.”
“I don't want the most popular recommendation, Mydei.” Phainon continued his polite smile as he further closed the gap between him and Mydei. “I want what your favorite is.”
“My favorite?”
“I want to learn more about you.” Phainon's words were just barely above a whisper, and Cipher had to strain her ears to hear him.
Mydei furrowed his eyebrows at his words, but he glanced down and pointed at something on the counter. “If you've already done the circus one, then I would recommend this one. The puzzles are quite difficult in this one, but it's rewarding when you finish.”
Blinking blankly at Mydei, Phainon pulled out his wallet from his back pocket, and Cipher watched Phainon swipe his credit card in silence.
“Are you sure I'm his type?”
“I am absolutely, certainly positive!”
Phainon groaned and dropped his head to the counter. The escape room store was often quite dead, and Phainon and Castorice had returned during Cipher’s next shift after they had completed the escape room that Mydei recommended. Castorice was currently patting Phainon's back, comforting the man who had his face buried into the counter.
“He barely even paid attention to me when I was here,” Phainon grumbled, his voice muffled by the counter.
“I swear he's your type!” Cipher exclaimed. Even she was annoyed that Mydei didn't get the obvious hints. “If you weren't his type, I would've told you that you had no chance a long time ago!”
Phainon sighed and slowly lifted his head from the counter, his eyes downcast at their failure. “Then what do I do? How do I even make him notice me?” Another sigh emitted from his chest as he slumped his chin into the palm of his hand.
Cipher sighed with him, slumping against the counter with him. She was also stumped as well; the guy barely even looked at Phainon when he was right in front of his face. Cipher had never seen Mydei in a relationship before, so she had no idea how oblivious he was until now. Then again, her first hint should've been the fact that he had no idea what “pretty privilege” was even when Cipher was praising herself and Mydei for having it during their first year of knowing each other. How did someone who was as good-looking as Mydei not know how much power he wielded? Was it just because he was just too serious to notice?
“Wait!” Cipher shot up, causing both Phainon and Castorice to wince at her exclamation. “It's because he's too serious!”
“That's what I love about him.”
“Phainon, shut the hell up.” Cipher scowled in his direction. She cleared her throat and continued her explanation before Phainon had jumped in. “It's because he's too serious that he doesn't pay attention to anything else while on the job! All he's thinking about on the job is his job! So, the only solution is to get you guys to meet outside of this place!”
“So, how do I meet him outside of this store?” Phainon raised an eyebrow. “A cafe that's around here or something?”
“We can just make you bump into him on campus.”
“You guys go to our school?”
Oops. Phainon and Castorice still had no clue Cipher knew about them since way before they had met in this store.
“I just… assumed you guys were students there too since we're all around the same age and hanging out around here, you know?” Cipher scrambled to find an excuse that made somewhat sense.
Phainon nodded, furrowing his eyebrows. “That makes sense.”
Cipher internally let out a breath of relief.
“So, how do I accidentally bump into you guys at school?” Phainon moved on to the next course of action. “Should we pretend we knew each other before?”
She immediately shook her head. “Not a chance. Mydei pretty much knows he's my only friend.”
“Should we… pretend we had a class together?”
Cipher shook her head once more. “Not gonna work. Mydei knows I rush out of the classroom right when it ends.”
“...Is there anything Mydei doesn't know about you?”
Cipher paused, blinking momentarily at Phainon's words. He was right; was there even anything Mydei didn't know about her? After gluing herself to his side almost every single day for the last two years, there was almost nothing she could hide from that man. Any slight lie would immediately be caught. Not that she was a terrible liar–she was great at lying! But, it was much too difficult to lie in front of people she actually cared about, and Mydei was much too observant for his own good.
“Why don't we just go with the truth?” Castorice suggested, and two curious pairs of eyes landed on her as she explained. “We can say you know us from your job. Mydei will think he just doesn't remember us, or he may just assume you met us during a shift where he wasn't working, like right now.”
“Ohh.” Phainon and Cipher both sounded in unison at Castorice’s grand, yet simple, idea.
“You're a genius, Castorice!” Cipher exclaimed as Phainon began excitedly patting her on the back with a grin across his face, making her jolt with every pat.
“Why don't we meet tomorrow?” Castorice tried to gather her bearings from when Phainon had roughly applauded her. “What major are you? We can figure out which building would be most natural to meet each other at.”
“I'm business, but Mydei is history,” Cipher answered. She already knew their majors, but she let them tell her themselves.
“Wait, I'm an archaeology major!” Phainon's eyes widened. “Our classes overlap, but I've never seen Mydei before?!”
“Maybe you had a class together and just didn't notice him?” Cipher shrugged. “He doesn't really talk much, that guy.”
“Absolutely not.” Phainon adamantly shook his head. “Someone like him would've definitely caught my eye already.”
“Alright, weirdo,” Cipher muttered under her breath. When she first started stalking Phainon after deeming him to be Mydei's perfect type, she had no idea the guy would be so whipped for Mydei. And here she was just last week, worrying her head over the idea of Phainon not even being interested in men.
“Then, why don't we meet in front of the history building?” Castorice steered the conversation back on topic. “It would be most natural if you were just meeting Mydei after his class, and Phainon could pretend he is also just getting out of class.”
Nodding, Cipher recalled Mydei's schedule. She remembered it quite well so that she knew exactly what times she was welcome to bother him. “That would work. He does have a class in the history building tomorrow. I can text you guys the time, and you guys can let me know when you guys are getting there?”
Phainon and Castorice returned her nod, and they exchanged numbers to enact their grandiose operation.
It was time.
The texts have been sent. The confirmations have been received. And Cipher was in place for the operation.
She was standing outside the door of Mydei's classroom as the lecture he was attending neared its end. Her leg bounced in anticipation, and she couldn't believe how nervous she was getting over simply making a single man pass by Mydei. Not only was she nervous about Mydei's opinion of Phainon, because what if she had concluded Mydei's type completely incorrectly, since he had never confirmed it himself? But, she also just really wanted to quit her job, and if Mydei got together with Phainon, then it would be a “mission complete” for her. Then, she wouldn't have a reason to continue working at the escape room. Though the nice thing about that job was that there were barely any customers, so she just got to sit around and get paid for it.
Students started filing out of the room, and she took one last look at Phainon's confirmation text that he was on his way before pushing her phone back into her pocket. Cipher searched the crowds for a head of shaggy, blonde hair that was dyed a crimson red at its ends, and she perked up when she saw just that. Waving her arm in the air, she called Mydei over, who soon joined her side.
“Why are you here?” Mydei mumbled with a suspicious gaze once he reached Cipher's side.
“What do you mean?” Cipher tilted her head to the side as they began exiting the crowded hallway. She was trying so hard not to appear antsy underneath Mydei’s gaze because he could immediately tell when she was nervous, excited, or anticipating something.
“You never meet me at class.” Mydei furrowed his eyebrows, his suspicions only increasing. “What was it again? ‘It's too much of a burden to fight the escaping students. Just meet me outside?’”
“I don't know what you're talking about.” She waved his concern away. How in the Hell did Mydei remember her exact explanation all those years ago? Even she didn't remember what she said for asking Mydei to meet her rather than her going to meet Mydei. It was really just to excuse her laziness of going out of her way to the history building.
They finally exited the history building, with the sun shining into their eyes. Cipher dramatically hissed under the bright sunlight, raising her hands as a temporary visor for her eyes. She tried to glance up at Mydei, but he was too tall, and it was basically just asking to look straight into the sun. She just lowered her head back down as they continued walking.
“What did you want to do today?” Mydei's voice sounded from beside Cipher.
“Huh?”
“Don't you bother me whenever there's something you want to do?”
“Do I?” Cipher frowned with widened eyes. Did she? Was she really just an open book to Mydei?
“You're always asking me to do something.” Mydei appeared just as confused as Cipher. “The arcade, a cafe, the park, some restaurant. You're always asking to go somewhere right when my class ends.”
“Oh.” Darn, Cipher should've thought of something to do. She didn't realize she was always bothering Mydei to do something. Hopefully, he wasn't too suspicious. “Uhh, why don't we go to the bakery then? Down the street! I want sweets!”
She started enthusiastically tugging his arm toward the direction of the bakery, which was actually the direction where she was supposed to “accidentally” bump into Phainon and Castorice. It was just around the corner of the history building, so she began tugging his arm toward that direction.
“Cipher!”
Mydei and Cipher both froze in their spots, her arms still tightly wrapped around Mydei's. Who was trying to call for her right now when she was in the middle of an important operation?! Whirling her head around, she tried not to instantly relax when she saw a head of silver hair. Oh, it was just Phainon. Okay, the operation is still intact.
“Phainon!” With a huge grin, she released Mydei's arm and bounded over to him, and Castorice could be seen trailing just behind him. Let's just hope Phainon's acting skills were up to par. “And Castorice! What are you guys doing here?”
Phainon laughed. She wasn't sure if he was genuinely laughing from their acting or if this was a part of his scripted response. “We go to school here. You go here too?”
“Yeah! You go here?” Cipher really tried to sound as surprised as possible.
Castorice nodded. “I was just meeting with Phainon, since he had a class here.”
Cipher glanced up at Phainon with a frown. “You a history major?”
“Do I not look like one?” Phainon chuckled at her reaction. “I'm in archaeology.”
“You would willingly study that?” Cipher continued with a frown, earning another laugh from Phainon.
“What's wrong with that? Don't you want to learn about the past?”
“Absolutely not.” Cipher crossed her arms.
“Then, what about you? What's your major then?”
“Business. Because it's easy with easy money!” Cipher exclaimed. “I want to be my own boss!” She turned around and clasped onto Mydei's forearm, who was, thankfully, still lingering behind her. “This guy over here is a history major. This is Mydei.”
Mydei nodded at the two people in front of him. Based on his reaction, Cipher could tell he did not remember them at all from the escape room.
“Hey, Mydei. You're a history major?” Phainon smiled at Mydei, who nodded again.
“Why go into such a specialization such as archaeology? You could do much more if you went into a broader major such as history.” Mydei narrowed his eyes at Phainon, and all three of them gawked at his audacity–especially Cipher. Why was he trying to scare away his precious match that Cipher tried so hard to get for him?!
Phainon's eyes widened. “Wha–There's nothing else I would want to do in history than archaeology.”
“So, you don't have a plan for if your archaeology career fails?” Mydei raised a challenging eyebrow.
“We haven't even graduated yet, and you're already pessimistic?” Phainon crossed his arms, and Cipher was surprised that a smirk was on his face as he rose to Mydei's challenge.
Mydei scoffed. “I'm just looking out for you. I'm not pessimistic about myself in the slightest, considering I'm not the one with a specialized major.”
Cipher glanced at Phainon, and he seemed to be taken aback by his statement. Oh no; this was bad. She had forgotten to warn Phainon that Mydei was quite… How should she put it? He was quite competitive when it came to people similar to him, and that should have been Cipher's first sign when learning that Phainon was an archaeology major. But Mydei was usually quite good when it came to people he was meeting for the first time; in fact, Mydei was nothing but polite to other people he didn't know well. What was the difference now?
“Phainon?” Castorice tried to tug Phainon out of his stupor, and he quickly came back. He shook his head and swiped the bangs from his face. Was there a blush across Phainon's cheeks, or was Cipher completely delusional? Maybe she imagined it from the stress over Phainon no longer being attracted to Mydei's competitive nature.
“Sorry.” Phainon lightly laughed. “You're funny, Mydei. We should hang out sometime.”
Was Phainon just extremely desperate for Mydei, or did he actually like Mydei even after all those negative words he just spat at him? Cipher almost wanted to hide behind Mydei's large build. Did she just set her best friend up with some freak hiding behind a mask of handsomeness?
Mydei chuckled. “Your name was Phainon? Let's get together sometime.”
How was this happening?! Cipher watched with bulging eyes as the two men exchanged numbers and talked about similar classes that they took. She could never understand the minds of men. She exchanged glances with Castorice while the two men conversed with each other, and Castorice, who had a light blush as well, only gave Cipher a small smile. Truly, was Cipher the only sane one here?
“How did you even meet these two?” Mydei finally remembered about Cipher's presence and turned to her with an eyebrow raised.
Oh, so now he finally asked after basically hogging Phainon all to himself. “They've been to the escape room before.”
“The one we work at?”
“Where else, Mydei?” Cipher huffed. “You think I look like I go to escape rooms for fun?”
“It was already surprising to me that you wanted to work at one.” Mydei rolled his eyes. Maybe once Mydei finally ended up as Phainon's boyfriend, she would explain why she got this job. He'd better be grateful.
Cipher only feigned a light laugh. “It's an easy job, isn't it?”
“Except for that one time I was chased down the escape room.”
The other three people present grew rigid at Mydei's words. It seemed that Mydei didn't notice at all as he continued reflecting on that event.
“Well!” Cipher laughed loudly and began pushing Mydei away. “That was during the first week of opening! And–and, it's never happened again, right? So no need to worry about it anymore! Ahah… Ahaha!” She continued pushing Mydei away to the bakery; she definitely deserved some sweets now. “Phainon, Castorice, catch you later!”
The two of them zoomed down the street, with Cipher pulling on Mydei's arm. Castorice turned to Phainon with a concerned expression once the two had disappeared from their line of sight.
“Phainon, are you okay? You weren't bothered by what Mydei said to you?” Castorice leaned forward toward Phainon to try to gauge his reaction.
“What would I be bothered by?” He offered a smile toward her.
Upon seeing that Phainon was okay, she backed away from him until they were at a considerable distance once more. “The things about your major. I just assumed you wouldn't like what he said.”
Phainon's face bloomed red at being reminded of that part of the conversation, and he cleared his throat and averted his gaze out of embarrassment. “Well… He said it was… He was just looking out for me, right?”
Castorice could not believe this man.