Chapter Text
It was difficult to ignore the glances everyone in the room kept sneaking at him.
Agent Choi was not helping either, as though he were deliberately positioning him where everyone could see him most clearly.
Soleum desperately tried to ignore all the attention focused on him.
Were Daydream employees really such a rare sight in the Bureau?
He had assumed their two organizations crossed paths fairly often, and detentions were hardly unusual.
Just then, hurried footsteps echoed through the hallway once again.
The door swung open, and a tall black-haired young man practically stumbled into the crowded room, breathing heavily.
His gaze swept quickly across everyone present before instantly locking onto the child in Agent Choi's arms.
Kim Soleum knew that person.
Ryu Jaekwan had just rushed in.
Their eyes met.
He was doomed.
"Jaekwan-ya! You're late. I told you to come quickly! Everyone else arrived before you."
You were the one who called him here?!
Betrayal was written plainly across Soleum's face.
Not that he and Choi shared any particular bond of trust, but this felt malicious.
If Ryu Jaekwan had told Agent Choi about their previous encounter, then Choi knew perfectly well that Soleum had deceived and used Jaekwan.
A small child's hand clenched tightly around the brunet's shirt.
Choi pointedly ignored his protest.
Ryu Jaekwan remained standing in the doorway for a few moments, gripping the handle and catching his breath, before finally straightening up.
He raised a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat lightly.
"Hello... ahem, Mr. Roe Deer."
"...Hello, Agent Bronze."
They exchanged awkward greetings.
The only person who seemed happy about the situation was Choi, who looked as though he were watching the funniest performance of his life.
Soleum tried to kick him in the stomach, but it had no effect.
Agent Choi's firm abs trembled as he struggled to suppress his laughter.
[- Wow, my friend. That was a truly awkward reunion!]
I know.
Soleum and Jaekwan simultaneously looked away from each other.
Several agents approached Ryu Jaekwan to greet him, finally distracting his attention.
Apparently, the Bureau had already decided where to send the rescued civilians next.
Soleum knew that, according to standard protocol, once their condition was stabilized and they were checked for signs of contamination, their memories of the incident would be erased and they would be sent home.
The bigger question was what they intended to do with him.
Detained Daydream employees could be held indefinitely until the Bureau confirmed that no useful information could be extracted from them.
I wonder if they'll send me to the Glass Prison for interrogation.
The legendary Bureau location beloved by DER readers and fans.
But Soleum was not at all sure he wanted to visit it as a prisoner.
After finishing his conversation with his colleagues, Ryu Jaekwan headed straight toward him.
Soleum hadn't realized how tense he had become until Agent Choi patted him on the back reassuringly.
...It helped.
But seriously.
Was Agent Choi genuinely treating him like a child?
Soleum frowned.
Jaekwan stopped beside them, looking both bewildered and deeply thoughtful.
The large black-haired man in the Bureau jacket looked at the small child in Agent Choi's arms and seemed unable to decide what he was supposed to say.
Choi had certainly mentioned that he would be entering the same Disaster as "your old acquaintance", but Jaekwan had never expected Kim Soleum to end up inside the Bureau.
Especially in the form of a child.
And then he had received the message.
Ryu Jaekwan genuinely had no idea what one was supposed to say in a situation like this.
"...I'm glad you're alright, civilian. Your injury last time looked quite serious."
"...Thank you. There's no need to worry. It was nothing serious."
For a Daydream employee, it really had been only a minor injury, but Jaekwan's expression darkened even further after hearing that.
"......I see. In any case, thank you for your cooperation during the incident at Segwang Technical High. You were a tremendous help to us."
With those words, Ryu Jaekwan gave him a formal ninety-degree bow.
"There's no need to thank me, Agent. I'm also glad everything was resolved safely."
Choi let out such a dramatic sigh that it nearly drowned them both out.
"Oh, come on, you two! That's the driest conversation I've ever heard in my life. It's like watching two incredibly polite robots talk to each other!"
Both of them shot the senior agent irritated looks.
"My hubaes are so cold to me!"
Once again: who's your hubae?
"What do you mean, Agent Choi? As far as I'm aware, Mr. Roe Deer is an employee of Daydream—"
"Grapes-ie will be staying under the Bureau's supervision for the time being. Jaekwan-ya, just look at how badly contaminated he is!"
As he spoke, Agent Choi pressed Soleum's cheek against his own and looked at Jaekwan with exaggeratedly sorrowful eyes.
"You can't seriously be thinking of sending him back to that lousy company in this condition, can you?"
"No, but—"
"Wonderful! Then Jaekwan and I will take good care of you, hubae."
[- Such overwhelming persistence! It's hard to believe this man works for a government agency rather than in sales. He completely steamrolled your opinion, my friend!]
Was this the power of a named character?
Agent Choi was so unbelievably difficult to deal with.
He hadn't even been allowed to get a word in.
"Welcome to Black Tortoise Team 1, Grapes-ie!"
Kim Soleum let out a defeated sigh.
Jaekwan watched Agent Choi's excessively friendly behavior.
He couldn't make sense of it.
It was obvious that his squad senior had some sort of plan in mind, but Choi showed no intention of sharing the details with him.
Kim Soleum.
Roe Deer.
Grapes.
The owner of an activated Silver Heart.
A Daydream employee who had deceived him multiple times during previous Disasters.
A Daydream employee who had never once endangered anyone.
Opposite.
He had consistently, earnestly, sincerely tried to save everyone he could.
Jaekwan could tell at least that had never been a lie.
His thoughts regarding this man were hopelessly tangled.
But there was one thing he knew for certain.
Kim Soleum wasn't a bad person.
"I apologize... Agent Grapes, if these clothes don't fit you very well. I estimated your size as best I could."
Agent Bronze stood there somewhat awkwardly, holding out a set of children's clothes.
Soleum couldn't continue wearing his business suit.
It was so oversized now that it constantly slipped off and made him trip with every step.
"Thank you, Agent Bronze. It's alright. Anything will do."
A government agent had literally gone shopping for children's clothes during working hours just for his sake.
How could Kim Soleum not be grateful?
Together with Agent Bronze, they entered the restroom.
Soleum stepped into one of the stalls while Jaekwan remained outside by the sinks.
He began changing into the clothes Jaekwan had brought him.
Brown shorts, a striped T-shirt, dark navy jacket that looked remarkably similar to the one Agent Choi had been wearing when he entered [Listen up, kids!].
[- What a shame, my friend. A business suit in warm colors would suit you far better! That boring agent's fashion sense is only slightly better than that shabby lizard's.]
Come on, Braun, this is just ordinary human clothing.
Comparing Ryu Jaekwan's taste to that of the aliens and Chief Lee Jaheon, for that matter, felt downright insulting.
As he changed, Soleum pulled his Dream Collector out from its tattoo.
A beautiful golden liquid shimmered inside the container.
Judging by its color, it looked to be around Rank C.
The grade of the Dream Solution had increased.
The Darkness had been successfully cleared.
After finishing changing, he stepped back out to Jaekwan.
The two of them left the restroom, rejoined Agent Choi, and headed downstairs.
...
Kim Soleum sat in a chair, waiting for the interrogation to begin.
Just as he had expected, this was the Glass Prison.
Still, it didn't look like a room intended for torture.
There were several chairs, a table, boxes filled with documents and office supplies.
Glasses of water and a plate of cookies had been set on the table between them.
...It looked more like a staff room inside a prison than an actual holding cell.
But Soleum had no intention of letting his guard down.
Across from him sat Agent Choi, smiling at him as warmly as ever.
They remained in tense silence, neither making the first move.
At last, Choi spoke, deftly spinning a pen between his fingers.
"So then, tell me, Grapes-ie. How exactly did you manage to clear Sunday Kindergarten? Normally it takes at least three days to escape that Disaster, yet you were inside for less than half a day. And even when people met the escape conditions, they'd always left one at a time since everyone entered at different times. Did you discover something interesting?"
The agent's eyes sparkled with curiosity, as though he had come across an irresistible puzzle he simply couldn't solve.
Soleum wasn't entirely sure that Choi actually was thinking about the Darkness.
[- Good heavens, my friend, this agent truly has no manners! Does he not realize that performers prefer to keep their stage secrets to themselves? Originality and competitiveness are among a public figure's greatest responsibilities. This method of clearing the Darkness belongs to you alone as its creator, my friend. Should there not be copyright protection for one's own work? What a dreadful world you live in! They don't seem familiar with such concepts at your workplace either, but at least there you sell your knowledge for points and money instead of just a kind word. Can a kind word put food on your table?]
It was difficult to disagree with the part about the "dreadful world."
It's alright, Braun. It's not that big of a secret.
It would be better if the Bureau learned about this method as well.
Maybe it would help with other Disasters built around similar mechanics.
[- My friend's generosity knows no bounds! You're absolutely right – a star of your caliber ought to engage in a bit of charity from time to time to polish his public image! This Braun was simply too shortsighted to grasp his dear friend's grand design at first!]
...You could put it that way.
"Actually, it's fairly simple. The teachers in this Darkness are trying to make the children follow a predetermined routine. My company has records of Sunday Kindergarten's complete daily schedule, and it never changes from one day to the next. Every child is required to follow it. Otherwise, one of several punishments is carried out. Before each activity begins, the teachers clap their hands and announce what's coming next. My hypothesis was based on the entrance condition for the Darkness: play with a designated toy for at least fifteen minutes while ignoring someone calling out to you. To enter the Darkness, we're required to ignore someone. But once we're inside Sunday Kindergarten, we're expected to do the exact opposite – to listen. Isn't that a little too deliberate? And then there are the children's bodies... Children aren't exactly known for being obedient, and these child bodies reflect that concept within the Darkness. I concluded that the purpose of this Darkness was re-education. After all, only children can truly be 're-educated.' You're supposed to demonstrate obedience by following the schedule under the teachers' guidance. But what happens if the children become capable of doing that on their own? The need for re-education disappears. I tested this myself first by clapping at the appropriate time and announcing the next scheduled activity on my own. No punishment followed. So I convinced every child in the kindergarten to do the same thing simultaneously. If no one needs to be re-educated anymore, the kindergarten closes on its own. It’s all, that was basically my method for clearing the Darkness."
Having finished his explanation in a single breath, Soleum paused to catch it again.
His lungs had become smaller along with the rest of his body, and simply speaking for that long had left him exhausted.
Agent Choi let out an impressed whistle.
"Exactly what I'd expect from Daydream's best rookie!"
So Choi really did know.
Agent Choi jotted down a brief note in his file before promptly snapping the folder shut.
Soleum found himself wondering what he had written.
Judging by that display, paperwork clearly wasn't Agent Choi's strongest suit.
That detail had never been mentioned in the <Dark Exploration Records>, and Soleum couldn't help feeling excited at uncovering yet another previously unknown fact about one of the Bureau's legendary agents from the early DER entries.
"Do you have any other questions, Agent?"
Can you let me go already?
The real question was painfully obvious beneath his polite wording, but Agent Choi stubbornly pretended not be able to notice the hint.
"As a matter of fact, I don't!"
Agent Choi announced cheerfully.
"That concludes the formal part. The interrogation is officially over. Let's head to our team's room!"
Kim Soleum froze.
What do you mean, "our team's room?"
Surely Choi couldn't possibly mean the Black Tortoise Team 1 office?
Wasn't he still a suspicious Daydream employee being detained?
Ryu Jaekwan stood in the corner, rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily.
Agent Choi got to his feet, pulled Soleum's chair back from the table and picked him up again.
Soleum was beginning to suspect that Agent Choi genuinely derived some strange satisfaction from putting him in awkward situations.
Was it because they belonged to enemy organizations?..
"Come on then, Bronzie, Grapes-ie~."
Behind Agent Choi's back, Soleum and Agent Bronze exchanged glances.
Both wore expressions of complete helplessness against the face of Agent Choi.
"...Is this really allowed?"
Kim Soleum asked cautiously, uncertain how the Bureau's higher-ups would react.
Choi's ideas felt exactly like the kind that usually ended in problems.
"Completely~. As long as either Jaekwan or I stays with you at all times, there's no problem!"
Why does that sound like a decision you made entirely on your own?
Not trusting the man in the slightest, Soleum turned to Agent Bronze with a questioning look.
Jaekwan merely gave an ambiguous shake of his head, neither confirming nor denying Choi's actions.
...
Well, if anything goes wrong, they'll probably just drag me back to the interrogation room (?)…
They went up to the appropriate floor and entered one of the rooms.
It was a modest space with several computer desks, filing cabinets, a sofa, and a table.
The room looked somewhat worn with age, but clearly well lived-in.
It even felt... cozy.
[- Good heavens, my friend, they've brought you into some abandoned storage room! It was a trap! They're planning to do something to you! Should this Braun intervene—?]
"Welcome to the Black Tortoise Team 1 break room, Grapes-ie!"
...
[- ...]
"......Agent Choi, please don't call it that. This is our workplace."
[- Your original workplace is unquestionably superior, my friend. Is your country's government truly so poor? Even the storage rooms in my studio look better funded than what they call a break room!]
"Don't be so mean, Jaekwan-ya. We're a field team. First and foremost, this is where we recover between missions."
"Nevertheless, this is also where we write our reports. It's inaccurate to call it simply a break room."
The two agents slipped into what appeared to be a perfectly routine argument between them.
Soleum couldn't help staring.
He was genuinely astonished that these two belonged to the same team.
Their personalities couldn't have been more different.
However...
Watching their joyful bickering, they somehow seemed strangely compatible.
The kind of partner dynamic where each could cover the other's back – people who trusted one another without reservation.
Something pricked at Soleum's chest as he remembered the way Group D had fallen apart.
Now only he and Lee Jaheon remained.
Eun Haje had left on a suspicious mission assigned by Director Ho.
Park Minseong had become deeply contaminated and was stuck in the Security Management Department indefinitely.
He lowered his head.
A lump formed in his throat.
Agent Choi reached over and ruffled his hair.
"Something wrong, Grapes-ie? You look down."
Agent Bronze looked worried as well.
Has it become harder to keep a straight face now that I'm a child?
Soleum swallowed the bitterness and forced a smile.
"I'm alright."
The two agents exchanged glances before settling him onto the sofa.
Choi placed a bottle of grape-flavored soda on the table in front of him.
Jaekwan wandered awkwardly around the room, as though unsure what he could do.
He opened a cabinet, pulled out a thick blanket, and tried to wrap Soleum in it.
"What are you doing, Jaekwan-ya? It's scorching outside! You'll turn Grapes-ie into a raisin!"
Choi scolded him, making Ryu Jaekwan reluctantly remove the blanket.
[- Government agents really aren't the brightest, are they, my friend? Even this Braun, a mere stuffed rabbit, can tell that his dear friend won't freeze while wearing that tasteless jacket.]
A faint smile appeared on Soleum's face.
It felt warm.
Suddenly, the door swung open.
A middle-aged woman stood in the doorway, surveying the room.
The moment she spotted the three of them, she let out a weary sigh.
She looked defeated, but not surprised.
"Good afternoon, Agent Haegeum! What brings you here?"
Agent Choi greeted her cheerfully, while Agent Bronze looked visibly guilty.
"...Good afternoon to you as well, Agent Choi, Agent Bronze... and Mr. Roe Deer."
"Hello."
Soleum gave the woman a polite but reserved bow.
He had no intention of making excuses.
I'm the problem Agent Choi brought here.
The man can do the explaining himself.
"Agent Haegeum, allow me to introduce our newest junior – Grapes-ie~. He's still a rookie, so he needs constant supervision from his senior colleagues. He is a bit contaminated. Jaekwan and I will look after him while he's staying at the Bureau, so there's nothing to worry about!"
The woman silently considered his words, her gaze resting on the child sitting in the middle of the sofa.
Soleum was certain she had come to reprimand Agent Choi for acting on his own.
"...I see. That's more or less what I expected when I found the Glass Prison empty. Very well. Just make sure this doesn't become a problem, Agent Choi."
???
Soleum was genuinely speechless.
This is allowed??
Daydream employees are actually permitted to wander around a government facility?
What on earth is the Bureau thinking?
"Naturally. Jaekwan and I will keep an eye on him~."
The conversation clearly implied that they wouldn't allow him – a member of an enemy company – to do whatever he pleased.
Not that he had intended to.
When are they finally going to send me back...?
"Maybe he'll like it here so much that he'll quit that crappy company and join the Bureau instead."
That seemed extremely unlikely.
"Agent Choi, please don't use that kind of language in front of Agent Grapes."
"Sorry, sorry, Bronzie! I completely forgot myself. We need to set a good example for our little Grapes-ie!"
Please stop treating me like a child.
"...I see everything is under control."
Agent Haegeum remarked, giving the scene a meaningful look.
Ryu Jaekwan was still standing beside the child holding an overly warm blanket, while Choi sat right next to Soleum, casually opening his soda for him.
"Grapes... ahem, Mr. Roe Deer. If these two – especially Choi – start behaving inappropriately, please let me know. We make a conscious effort not to damage relations between our two organizations without good reason."
She addressed the child who was, in fact, a Daydream employee.
"Thank you for your concern, Agent Haegeum. Agents Choi and Bronze have treated me with great consideration. I won't cause any trouble during my stay at the Bureau. I'll leave as soon as the agents determine that I've sufficiently recovered from the contamination."
Please convince them.
Help me!
Agent Haegeum merely smiled kindly at him.
She looked exactly like an older relative watching over a young nephew.
Kim Soleum recognized that smile.
It meant she had absolutely no intention of helping him.
Mr. Roe Deer was remarkably well known throughout the Bureau.
Between Jaekwan's reports and the testimonies of several other Bureau personnel, employees, and even relatives who had crossed paths with him by chance, the image that had formed of the Daydream employee wearing the Roe Deer mask was overwhelmingly positive.
Had he not worked for Daydream, he would likely have received a recruitment offer from the Bureau already.
Most likely from the Dispatch Rescue Team.
Rumors of his extraordinary effectiveness in clearing Disasters had reached even their workplace.
Her phone had been flooded with notifications for over an hour ever since Choi and Roe Deer emerged from Sunday Kindergarten.
The discussion surrounding the fact that the famous Roe Deer was currently inside the Bureau – in the form of a child – was incredibly lively.
Having known Choi for years, Haegeum had already guessed he was planning something.
Especially after hearing from Jaekwan that Choi had begun preparing to enter that Disaster the moment he learned that Daydream's rookie, Kim Soleum, would be deployed there.
Agent Choi's information network was truly extensive.
Most likely, his real objective had simply been to see for himself the person whom the taciturn, sparing-with-praise Jaekwan spoke so highly of.
Instead, Kim Soleum and Choi had returned to the Bureau together.
Along with fourteen civilians whom Roe Deer, rather, Grapes, had rescued.
The rumors had not been exaggerated.
As for what Agent Choi's true intentions were now, Agent Haegeum couldn't say for certain.
But knowing Choi...
She wouldn't have been surprised in the slightest if he was trying to recruit Kim Soleum to the Bureau.
Actually, that was for the best.
This young man truly belonged in the Bureau far more than he did in Daydream.
In fact, it was surprising that an organization as immoral as Daydream had managed to recruit someone like Grapes in the first place.
The temptation of their Wish Ticket worked on most people, especially those whose wishes could never be fulfilled through ordinary means.
Driven to desperation, people were willing to risk their lives for that faint, deceptive chance that their dreams might come true.
Selling poisonous candy wrapped in empty promises, that damned pharmaceutical company managed to thoroughly brainwash even genuinely good people like him.
That was why, during the leadership meeting a few minutes earlier, Haegeum had supported Agent Choi's proposal to keep Kim Soleum under observation inside the Bureau until his contamination subsided.
There was little risk in it.
Agent Choi might joke about almost anything, but never about the Bureau's safety.
And if things worked out, they would gain an extraordinarily valuable recruit.
Haegeum could lose faith in anything except Agent Choi's stubbornness and persistence.
"Everything's perfectly fine, Agent Haegeum! We're simply providing what assistance we can to an contaminated civilian, and it just so happens that he's a Daydream employee – which honestly works in our favor. Isn't maintaining good relations between our organizations a good thing? After all, we're practically colleagues ^^."
That sounded suspiciously like Agent Choi was trying to earn his trust so he could pry Daydream's secrets out of him later.
Kim Soleum stared at Choi with visible displeasure.
After observing the three of them for a little longer, Agent Haegeum finally concluded,
"I rely on you. Grapes, I hope you enjoy your stay at the Bureau."
Why do you keep calling me Grapes? I don't work here!
Soleum was just about to object when, almost as quickly as she had entered, Agent Haegeum quietly left the room, gently closing the door behind her.
The three of them continued staring at the door for a few moments.
No one else came in.
Ryu Jaekwan returned the blanket to the cabinet, while Agent Choi somehow produced a drinking straw from who-knows-where and stuck it into Soleum's soda.
They sat in awkward silence while Soleum sipped his drink.
Then a notification chimed.
Agents Choi and Bronze checked their phones simultaneously.
Both frowned.
"A Breaking-type? Seriously? What terrible timing..."
Choi muttered after reading the alert.
A rescue request had come in involving two civilians.
He glanced sideways at Soleum, who deliberately looked completely uninterested while calmly sipping his soda.
But, perhaps, that actually worked in his favor.
"Agent Choi, we should faster—"
"Jaekwan-ya! Sorry... I've already caused enough trouble today. The higher-ups definitely won't let me off the hook if I leave Grapes-ie unattended after the stunt I just pulled."
If Kim Soleum truly couldn't be left alone, another agent could always be assigned to watch him.
Bronze looked at his teammate in confusion, unable to understand what Choi was trying to accomplish.
This wasn't like Agent Choi at all.
"The request came from [Rainy Day], didn't it? That's a thoroughly researched Disaster. What I'm saying is... why don't you handle it alone? Take my pair of Five-Color Shoelaces, plus the spare set. That should be enough to get the three of you out safely."
Kim Soleum stopped sipping through his straw.
Choi simply looked at him expectantly, waiting for a reaction.
Soleum set his drink down on the table.
He knew that Darkness.
"...If you can't leave me unsupervised... I can go with you. But I'll need a pair of Five-Color Shoelaces as well. If anything seems dangerous, I'll use them and escape."
"Ah!! Grapes-ie, thank you! No problem! I'll go get another pair right away! Those shoelaces are valuable, but nothing's too precious when it comes to our own hubae, right?"
Agent Choi wrapped him in a tight hug, lifted him into the air, and spun him around.
Agent Bronze looked at him with unmistakable gratitude and admiration in his eyes.
His expression was far too gentle for someone looking at an employee of an enemy company.
Soleum tried to push Agent Choi away, but the man merely continued rubbing his cheek against his.
[- My friend...]
Even Braun seemed touched by his decision.
Kim Soleum kept telling himself this was simply another escape route.
Once he was certain the agents and civilians were no longer in danger, he would simply activate the Five-Color Shoelaces, slip away from them, and return to Daydream.
Sending Agent Bronze alone into a Breaking-type Disaster didn't feel right.
It was supposed to be a team mission.
No matter how well-studied a Darkness was, there was never any guarantee something unexpected wouldn't happen inside.
[Tuesday Quiz Show] had already proven that.
[- Oh, that special guest utterly failed to live up to expectations. No wonder he managed to disappoint even my dear friend! But don't worry, friend. The next guests will be much more entertaining. Especially if you give my proposal another thought! What could be more exciting than helping me choose our next guest?]
...Thank you for the offer, Braun. I'll think about it again once I have some free time away from work.
[- Of course, my friend!]
"Is it true that a Daydream employee defected to our side?"
"You mean Grapes? Apparently so. He's been clearing new Disasters with Black Tortoise Team 1 nonstop."
"They've already cleared four Idle-Type Disasters and two Breaking-Type Disasters. He hasn't even been here for three days! The very first one he joined – and three more after that – were completely destroyed. Bronze's reports have already been updated with several new clearing methods. It's no wonder people are calling him the Destruction King Rookie."
"No, no, he doesn't work for us yet! I asked Agent Choi today, and he said Grapes is still a Daydream employee who's receiving treatment for contamination here."
"Then why do you keep calling him Grapes? Call him Roe Deer. He's a Daydream employee."
"Shut up! You'll jinx it! What if he ends up liking it here? Then he'll stay, and he'll become Grapes eventually anyway. Haven't you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?"
"You're not from the Church of the Luminous Unknown. Since when are you talking about prophecies?"
"You've seriously got a problem with me, don't you? Damn it, get over here!"
"Guys, guys, calm down!"
Baek Saheon was ready to jump for joy.
According to the latest rumors, his roommate, the utterly deranged psychopath wearing the Roe Deer mask, Kim Soleum, had apparently disappeared.
The Darkness mission he'd been assigned to wasn't supposed to last more than three days.
Today marked the end of the fourth.
Spotting the one person in the company's hallway who would know more than anyone else, Baek Saheon couldn't help calling out to him.
"Group Leader Lee Jaheon!"
He needed to hear it firsthand.
That his roommate had been dragged into some pathetic D Grade Darkness and torn to pieces.
Preferably with all the details.
Although, honestly, just knowing that crazy bastard was dead and not resting in peace would already make him eternally happy.
"I heard from some coworkers that the rookie from your Group D disappeared without a trace inside a Darkness. Please accept my condolences... Would you mind telling me what happened? We joined the company in the same recruitment class, and we were roommates, so I feel obligated—"
"Employee Kim Soleum is alive."
Lee Jaheon interrupted him calmly.
The blond man stopped walking and looked Baek Saheon over as though seeing him for the first time.
Hey, damn it, we've been working together for half a year!
Do you only remember the people on your own group? Isn't that a bit egoistically toward your other coworkers?
...
Wait.
What did this Lizard just say?
Baek Saheon slowly lifted his head in disbelief as the Group D leader's words echoed through his ears.
As if he hadn't even noticed Saheon's horrified expression, the man continued.
"We received word today. He's at the Bureau. Contaminated. I'm going there."
Having dropped that bombshell, Lee Jaheon simply walked away, leaving him standing alone in the hallway.
The moment he came to his senses, Baek Saheon took off after him.
"Wait, Group Leader Lee Jaheon! Take me with you!"
Fuck, I knew that bastard wasn't dead!!
I just hope the contamination's so severe they'll lock him away in the Security Management Department forever, far away from me!
I have to see him with my own eyes!
The two men left Daydream Headquarters together.