Chapter Text
Love Headquarters is a place where cupid officers manage their target cases, assisting them find love. For eons upon eons, cupids from around the world take on targets from various backgrounds and situations giving them the push they need in order to fall in love with their match. It’s essential that every cupid officer follows these three tips in order to stay on track: Keep your weapon steady, always be prepared, and DON’T engage in human relations.
Jaehyun had always followed these rules out to perfection, ensuring his targets would fall in love with their match. He made sure that his work was always precise and never strayed away from his missions. It had been at least a full year of Jaehyun being a cupid officer. He had already curated a name for himself as the most promising cupid of the year, but like most of his achievements, he was striving for more.
He needed a harder case. All the other cases he had worked on were pretty straight forward. He assisted all types of aspiring couples and even fixed marriages, but it wasn’t enough. Jaehyun wanted a real challenge, and the only way to do that is to get another case from his cupid job finder, Park Sungho. Jaehyun stopped by a local coffee shop, getting two Americanos.
One for himself and another to attempt (keyword) to bribe Sungho with a harder case. He stepped into Sungho’s office with the two drinks in hand. “Oh, good morning Jaehyun.” Sungho looked up from his computer, pausing mid-type. His brow raising notes the drinks in Jaehyun’s hands.
“Who's that for?” Jaehyun gives Sungho a sweet, lopsided smile before placing the drink onto Sungho’s coaster.
“That is for you, my darling.” he lets out a soft snicker and Sungho cringes.
“You must want something.. You’re not normally this nice.”
“Tuh!” Jaehyun covers his heart, feigning hurt. “That’s not— Okay.. You got me.” He pouts before taking a sip of his own drink.
Sungho lets out a soft chuckle before gesturing to Jaehyun to sit in one of his office chairs. Jaehyun dipped into the plush mahogany chair, looking around the office briefly. He wasn’t sure how to frame how he'd ask his question. He wasn’t the type to really ask for much, but times call for desperate measures. He glanced back at Sungho to see the older boy staring at him expectantly.
“I would like a harder case..” Jaehyun started, nibbling onto the peeling skin on his lip that had been bothering him all day. He had never made a request like this before, and from the perplexed look on Sungho’s face, he must’ve never received a request like this before.
“A harder case?” Sungho clicked his tongue before pushing his glasses onto his face. “How hard are we talking?”
“Give me your trickiest candidate, and I’ll give it my all.” Jaehyun stated, and he was as serious as a heart attack.
Sungho had no doubts about Jaehyun’s performance. However, he was still hesitant before standing up from his desk. He walked to his file cabinet adjacent to his desk, searching for something Jaehyun couldn’t quite get a glimpse of. “Ah, here it is.” Sungho’s lips quirk upward into a small grin as he pulls out a manilla folder, placing the folder onto his desk in front of Jaehyun.
“Take a look.”
Jaehyun opens the folder, reading the contents for a moment. “Lee Riwoo?”
Sungho settles back into his desk chair and takes his drink, sipping the Americano. “Yup. He’s been giving all of the cupids with higher ranks hell. Apparently, he avoids arrows.”
Jaehyun couldn’t help but get a giddy smirk on his lips as he flipped through the pages. He gave Sungho a brief nod. “I can take him,”
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After talking to Sungho, Jaehyun went into his planning phase. He needed a good plan if he was going to try and take Riwoo down. He used all of the information from the file to his disposal. He had learned about Riwoo’s schedule. The boy is a college student and works at a pizzeria called BOYNEXTDOUGH, but the best way to get Riwoo was to wait until he was with his match Kim Leehan.
So, Jaehyun got to work. He sets off with his love rifle and earpiece as he transports to the college. A large campus bustling with students as they commute from place to place. He finds himself sitting in a tree as Sungho provides directions.
“Alrightie, Jaehyun. Riwoo’s coordinates are nearing yours. Stay alert. I repeat stay alert.” Sungho commands.
Jaehyun listens, scoping in with his rifle to find Riwoo. He spots a boy with chocolate brown hair walking with a much taller boy with blonde hair. The latter matching Riwoo’s appearance perfectly. “I have eyes on him.” Jaehyun states, trailing the two as they walk to a neighboring bench.
Riwoo walks to the bench, slumping down. He looks exhausted. From Jaehyun’s scope, he can watch Riwoo speaking to the blonde boy who seems to be Riwoo’s match per Sungho’s file. He watches the two carefully, waiting for further instruction. “That’s Leehan! I’m sinking you into their conversation right now.” Sungho states before making it easier for Jaehyun to understand the situation of what is going on.
“Hyung, you need to take better care of yourself.” Leehan states before sitting beside Riwoo.
He gives Riwoo a brief look. “I know, I know. I just need a little pocket money.” Riwoo lets out a soft huff.
“You could always ask me for mon—”
“I can’t ask you to do such a thing. I appreciate the offer, but no.” Riwoo raises his hands in protest. Leehan turns to him, giving him a disheartened look.
“You know you can always count on me right? I’m not just here for show.” Riwoo looks stunned by the brashness of Leehan’s words. He straightens up and Leehan grabs hold of both of his shoulders. His eyes widening at the latter.
“I’m tired of you being like this. You can’t go on like this.. What if you overexert yourself?” Leehan starts, “Hyung, you are too precious for me to sit here and let you hurt yourself.” Riwoo couldn’t even bring himself to speak. He looked away from the latter before being pulled into a crushing hug.
“I really care about you, Riwoo-hyung.”
Jaehyun finds a perfect opening. He sees Riwoo’s back exposed. He lines up the shot, loading his rifle with a love bullet. He didn’t even realize he was moving close to the edge of the tree’s branch, placing all of his body weight onto it. He takes a deep breath and fires off the shot into Riwoo’s back.
A dusting of pink smoke and hearts float about around Riwoo’s chest. Jaehyun looks up with a soft, satisfied smirk. That was too easy. The branch begins to crack underneath Jaehyun causing him to fall to the pavement beneath him. He yelps out to himself in pain before slowly standing. He holds his breath as he notices something is completely off.
Riwoo opens his eyes and stares back at Jaehyun. Jaehyun was confused…
“What are you looking at?” Leehan asks.
Riwoo points directly at Jaehyun. “That cute boy over there.”
Leehan pulls away from the embrace, looking around in confusion because, for him, nothing is there. “Maybe it’s time to get you to the dorm..” Leehan lets out an awkward chuckle.
As the two begin to stand, Riwoo keeps turning back to catch glimpses at Jaehyun until his frame gets further out of view. Jaehyun stands there in shock. He pulls the strap of his rifle around him before running off away from the scene.
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Jaehyun returns to Love HQ with his tail tucked between his legs. He had never had made a mistake of this magnitude before, and he was praying to Eros himself that this was all a dream. He trudged straight back Sungho’s office, avoiding any and everyone in his path.
He places a soft few knocks onto Sungho’s door, whispering. “It’s me..” The door swings open. Sungho yanks Jaehyun’s arm, pulling him into the office quickly before closing the door behind them.
“So, how bad is it..?” Jaehyun murmurs his question, and Sungho stills. A small, awkward smile grows on Jaehyun’s lips.
“How bad was it?!” Sungho’s eyes widened, coursing his fingers through his hair. “You’re so fucked.”
The easiest case he had seemingly gotten in a few months ending in disaster. Jaehyun didn’t need another reminder of his ultimate fuck up! “Oh, that’s exactly what I needed to hear right now!” He retorts, causing Sungho to let out an exasperated laugh before pulling off his glasses.
However, this wasn’t funny to Jaehyun. In fact he was horrified by what this all entailed. He had never had a target fall in love with him by his own hands. He should have been more careful. He began to pace around Sungho’s office, trying to think about anything that could fix this situation. Jaehyun could feel his heartstrings being pulled like a marionette. His eyes welling with tears threatening to stream down his face.
Sungho glances at him, reaching out. “Oh.. No, don’t do that here.” He grabs his box of tissues on his desk and tries to give them to Jaehyun, but this only worsened his symptoms.
He sunk into his chair, bawling his eyes out. “What– Hic! Am I– Hic! Gonna do?” He stutters between his tears.
Jaehyun hadn’t cried like this since he left his home to come and work at Love HQ. He felt as if everything was going to shit. He had no clue what to expect or what to do. Sungho watched him with a sympathetic look in his eyes. He stood in front of Jaehyun, using a tissue to wipe his tears.
“I’m going to help you, but you are going to have to cover our asses.”
After Jaehyun was calm, Sungho decided to take Jaehyun to the Ammunition department.
“Before I got my position as a cupid job finder, I was in the ammo department. I learned about anti-love arrows..” he explained.
He led Jaehyun further into the arsenal, finding a machine that creates the anti-love ammo. “Here.. I’ll place an order for you.. But it’s gonna take a week.”
Jaehyun frowned, “A week?! What am I supposed to do for a whole week?”
“You’re going to have to keep Riwoo from exposing our entire organization—”
The intercom cuts Sungho off. “Good afternoon, every-cupid. Can Officer Myung Jaehyun come to Mr. Woo’s office please? Thank you, have a nice day.”
As if Jaehyun needed any more surprises at the moment. He took a deep breath before going to the elevator.
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The upper level of Love HQ was as beautiful as everyone claimed it would be. Older cupids who were granted their wings frolicking in the sky, a foundation of love potion overflowing out of a statue of Eros, and well-maintained rose bushes all over. It was like the dreams he’d had as a kid. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but he roamed around until he saw a girl with pink hair.
“I haven’t seen you before.” She states, letting out a soft chuckle.
“You must be here for Jiho-oppa. Right this way.” Jaehyun follows closely behind her, taking in all of the scenery around him.
“Sir, you have a visitor!” She introduced Jaehyun before taking her leave.
Jiho spun around in his office chair. “You must be Myung Jaehyun, please have a seat.” He gestures.
Jaehyun wasn’t sure why was called into this room now, but it felt horrendous. He takes Jiho’s offer, sitting down in one of the cool toned office chairs. The office was pristine and just as Jaehyun would have imagined. The walls are riddled with paintings and awards of Jiho’s accomplishments.
Jaehyun was honored to even be called to his office like this. But still, there was a looming anxious feeling festering within Jaehyun’s chest. He didn’t know if he was going to cry or explode— Preferably neither if you asked him.
“First off, you aren’t in trouble. So you can relax. You look like you’re going to puke.” Jiho teases, and this causes Jaehyun to exhale. His shoulders begin to relax.
“Oh?” Jaehyun tilts his head before Jiho continues.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things. You are a very promising hunter..” Jiho explained. His own fingers interlock as he looks at Jaehyun. “Keep it up, and you’ll be a shoe in for being in the elites.”
Jaehyun can feel a blossoming of warmth. He hadn’t known that his efforts were being noticed by Jiho, himself. He felt a sense of accomplishment that couldn’t be described. “Thank you so much, Mr. Woo.”
Jiho gives a gentle smile, “I’ll be watching your progress. Now, get back out there.”
Jaehyun makes his way out of Jiho’s office and into the halls. He was stunned beyond belief. He had gotten what he wanted, which was recognition from someone other than his peers and it felt like he could see his place with the higher ranking cupid officers.. But Riwoo was still a problem.
How on earth was Jaehyun going to manage to keep this up with Sungho? Anxiety nipping at his heels. You got this, Jaehyun! He told himself. Jaehyun wasn’t going to let one mishap break him. He needed a plan, and quickly. So, he took off and went back to the drawing board. Jaehyun was determined to make this work.