Work Text:
China was a big place.
Jinwoo did not like big places.
He was used to the cozy apartment he shared with his boyfriend, nestled away on the outskirts of Anyang, far from the chaotic traffic and crowds of people. He liked knowing his neighbors and the lady who served him ramen and the child who asked to play with their dog.
China was the exact opposite.
Jinwoo looked out of his hotel window and sighed loudly, running his hand down his face. His view consisted of the highway and cars and city lights.
“This place is big,” he mentioned to the person on the other end of the phone.
Said person made a noise of what sounded to be empathy. “Well, we know Dongmin ran to China to hide out with the android.”
“And you can’t narrow it down, can you?”
There was another empathic noise, but Jinwoo was beginning to suspect that there was no genuine empathy. “I’ve sent you a list on possible locations, based on accessibility and simple logistics. He’d be somewhere hidden, somewhere rural, but not rural enough that he couldn’t charge the android. It has to have enough electricity for him to do that, at least. We’re also tapping the phones of his mother and father, but so far no one from China has called.”
Jinwoo nodded his head, though he knew the man on the other end could not see him. “What if he’s left China?” he questioned. “What if he’s headed to Russia? Will we be able to find him in Russia?”
“We’re keeping our eyes and ears open. He’ll be noticeable if he heads to Russia, though; he only speaks Korean and Chinese and he has a robot.”
“He could learn Russian. I mean, by the time it takes to find him, it’s possible he’ll learn Russian.”
“Possible, but not likely. Have you seen how difficult that language is?”
That sounded obvious enough, but Jinwoo still had his doubts about the entire operation. He was supposed to find one Korean man and one Korean robot before they could escape the country undetected. Dongmin was a smart man, too; he was living solely off of cash, had deleted all known social media accounts, and had tossed his phone early on. He was making no contact to any of his friends or family members. He had become invisible, basically.
And since he moved to China, it was even more difficult to find him.
“Can I speak off the record?” Jinwoo asked, flopping over in his bed.
“No. Everything you say is on the record—”
“If the robot is not dangerous, then why are we so concerned with going after it?” Jinwoo asked. “I mean, I know Dongmin committed a major felony, stealing classified government material, but he made it. It’s not yet a weapon of mass destruction, because it hadn’t been outfitted with militaristic equipment. So why, then, did I get sent out to the middle of this horrible country in order to arrest a man who just wants to live as a hermit with his hermit robot?”
“We can’t just let a man go because his felony might not be as severe as other felonies,” the man on the other end stated. “Because then we’ll have to start making excuses as to why we won’t capture other criminals. Anyway, it’s possible he could outfit his android with that sort of destructive equipment, maybe as a way to protect himself or the robot, and then the robot becomes a weapon.” The man paused briefly before adding, “I mean, technically it is already a weapon. Which is yet another reason you need to find it soon.”
Jinwoo knew all of this. While he disagreed on various aspects (such as the robot being a weapon when all signs pointed to it being made for chores and shopping), he still understood what his role was and what he would have to do.
He had to catch Dongmin and his robot. The faster he did it, the faster he would be able to return home.
“I should go,” he muttered, rubbing a hand across his face. “I’ll start searching tomorrow to figure out where Dongmin is. I’ll go to the closest place you’ve given me — it’s Wangtan in Jiangsu, right?”
“Yeah.” The man on the other end chuckled. “You’re going to call Myungjun, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am.”
“I ate lunch with him today. He talks about you a lot.”
Jinwoo couldn’t help but smile. “Because he loves me.”
“Gross.”
“Just because you can’t find anyone to love you, Sanha, doesn’t mean that you can mock our love.”
“I can do what I want,” Sanha responded, but his tone was all in jest. Jinwoo could detect the smile in his voice as he ended the conversation with, “I’ll call you back tomorrow. Keep me updated on the search!”
Out of everyone he could’ve been paired with in the government, Sanha was his favorite. He was tall and annoying but also sweet and generous. He had befriended Jinwoo and his boyfriend with ease, and while Jinwoo knew they were coworkers first and foremost, he was proud to call Sanha a friend.
Jinwoo set aside his work phone in exchange for his personal one. He smiled at the lock screen picture, a selfie of the two of them in Tokyo for their recent anniversary. Myungjun’s grin was so wide and bright, and it always amazed Jinwoo how handsome he looked.
He unlocked his phone and found his boyfriend listed in his contacts: JUNNIE , it read, with various heart emojis surrounding it.
Myungjun answered on the first ring. “Jinwoo!” was his greeting, high-pitched and a little nasally. “I’m so glad you called! I miss you!”
“I’ve only been gone for a couple of hours,” Jinwoo responded, turning back to watch the sunset over the large, Chinese city.
“I know, but it feels like a whole day,” Myungjun argued with a groan. “Sometimes I hate your job. I mean, you being a secret government employee is cool and all, but it’s...dangerous and a bit lonely.”
Jinwoo swallowed past the lump forming in his throat. He had often thought of asking to step down from his position, to take a simple office job elsewhere in his department. If he could be like Sanha, he wouldn’t have to travel as much.
But he loved what he did and he had a good paycheck that came with it.
Before he could say anything, Myungjun spoke up. “But mostly I love it. You catch bad guys and you’re cool, and your trips never last that long.”
“Yeah,” Jinwoo mumbled. “I’ll catch the bad guy quickly for you.”
“For me? ” Myungjun teased.
“I do everything for you,” Jinwoo told him, smiling as he moved to his bed. He flopped over on it and sighed. “And I miss you a lot, too. Sanha told me the two of you had lunch.”
“He’s a messy eater,” Myungjun complained. “It’s like having a baby brother — I have no idea how he’s able to work for a cool branch of the government.”
Jinwoo snorted and nodded his head, though he knew Myungjun couldn’t see him. “I wonder that a lot, too.”
His mood was lifted upon talking to Myungjun. While the stress of his task had not fully gone away, relief was beginning to wash over him. There was a reason he did this and a reason he did not quit.
His Junnie was that reason.