Chapter Text
Hwanwoong was late. Not that it was a new thing that he was late. He was always late but this time he was really late. He slept through three alarms. He cycled as fast as he possibly could, surprised that he hadn't wiped himself out with how fast he went around corners. Finally, he arrived at work, hair slicked down with sweat and his heart beating erratically.
"Sorry I'm late," he said as he went around the counter and headed to the back to clock in.
"Hwanwoong!"
Hwanwoong stopped in his tracks, sighing as he turned to face his manager.
"I know, I'm late. Really late," he said, hoping to high heavens that he would just get a warning.
"Hwanwoong, I'm sorry. You're fired," his manager said, her face trying to hold a professional appearance but Hwanwoong could see the cracks, the sadness. She liked him, he was hard working but he had been giving more than enough warnings. She had no choice and he knew this.
"I'm sorry too. Thank you though, you were always kind to me," Hwanwoong smiled before walking past her and heading back out to his bike, hot tears stinging the corners of his eyes
It had only been a matter of time and he considered himself lucky it was the nice manager firing him and not one of the others. He wouldn't have been able to handle being yelled at and he definitely didn't want to have cried around his now ex-co-workers.
Pushing the bike as he walked, Hwanwoong wondered what he should do. He needed a new job but so far his track record was horrible. He doubted anyone would want to hire him. He let out a sigh, he needed a new job soon or he would have to ask his parents for help and that he wanted to avoid. They would just force him to go to university to study something like business, he didn't want that.
He walked past a comic book store and paused. In the window was a help wanted sign. Hwanwoong mulled it over a second before locking his bike at a light post and going inside. He walked by this comic book store many times but never went in before, he wasn't a big comic book fan. It was cozy, deep tone brown colours that felt warm. Shelves lined three walls, full of comics, displays in the centre of the room full of figurines and deep blue couches scattered about. There were a few people around, reading comics, browsing the shelves, chatting. The whole place just had a warm and comfy vibe.
Hwanwoong walked up to the counter, an older man was sitting on a stool behind the counter. He seemed bored while he was doing something on the computer. He looked over at Hwanwoong as he approached and smiled.
Hwanwoong felt like he had butterflies in his stomach, pausing momentarily. The man before him was very attractive. Hwanwoong forced himself to shake the thoughts out of his head. He was here for a job, not a date.
"Hi, I saw the help wanted sign in the window," Hwanwoong said with a weak smile. The man frowned for a moment before getting up and going over to the window. He grabbed the sign and sighed.
"Fuck sake, Geonhak," he grumbled under his breath as he walked back to the counter. "I'm sorry. My friend seems to think I need help, says I spend too much time here. Sorry to have wasted your time."
"That's ok," Hwanwoong smiled but he could feel the tears in his eyes, still emotional high strung from being fired.
"Hey, are you ok?" the man asked, placing a hand on Hwanwoong's shoulder and leaning down to his eye level.
Hwanwoong shook his head before hiding his face. "I'm sorry. Just been one of those days."
"Come with me, I doubt you want everyone to see you cry. You can sit out back while you calm down."
Hwanwoong nodded, letting the older man guide him out the back of the store. There were two tables, with comics and what looked like game pieces scattered about. Chairs were stacked up against the back wall, only a couple actually at the tables.
"Hang out back here until you've calmed down," the man smiled.
"Um, my name is Hwanwoong, by the way."
"Youngjo but mostly everyone calls me Ravn. Apparently my obsession with a certain blue X-men character means it's now my nickname," Ravn chuckled. "Feel free to read any of the comics," and with that he left Hwanwoong alone.
Hwanwoong sat down and rested his head on the table, tears flowing freely as he let everything just wash over them. Soon falling asleep without even realising it.
Hwanwoong woke suddenly to someone yelling.
"Ravn," they shouted. "Why is there someone sleeping back here?'
Hwanwoong looked up, seeing a man at the doorway. Ravn soon appeared beside him.
"Forgot he was here," Ravn said with a shrug before walking over to Hwanwoong. "Have you been back here all day?"
"What time is it?" Hwanwoong asked as he stretched.
"About 5pm," the other man answered.
"I'm sorry, I'll get out of your hair."
"Do you have somewhere you need to be?" Ravn asked.
"Not really," Hwanwoong answered.
"Well, we could do with a sixth member. Ever play dnd?"
Hwanwoong frowned. "Not since early high school."
"Good enough, don't you think Geonhak?" Ravn grinned.
"Sure but you're helping him," the other man, Geonhak, stated as he started unstacking chairs.
Ravn grabbed one of the chairs and sat beside Hwanwoong, dumping a satchel bag in front of them.
"So, what did you typically play back then?" Ravn asked as he pulled out a book from the bag.
"Rogue, I think," Hwanwoong answered. Ravn smiled, sending the butterflies inside Hwanwoong to flutter like mad.
"Excellent, they need a rogue."
Ravn helped Hwanwoong create a character as more people turned up. Hwanwoong ended up with a rogue half-elf, luck being on his side when he rolled the dice for his ability scores. Ravn lent him a set of dice before setting up his DM screen.
"We're missing someone," he stated, looking around the table.
"Keonhee is running late," the youngest said.
"What's new?" The other unknown man said. "By the way, new guy, I'm Seoho."
"Hwanwoong," Hwanwoong smiled.
"Dongju," the youngest spoke up.
"Oh and that's Geonhak," Ravn said as he pointed to Geonhak.
"I gathered."
"Hwanwoong is a rogue, he'll join you guys soon. We'll give Keonhee a few more minutes then we'll start," Ravn left the room before coming back with a box. He put it in the middle of the table.
"Find your figures."
Seoho and Dongju went for the box at the same time, Seoho being a fraction quicker and smiling in victory. Dongju glared. Hwanwoong chuckled quietly, happy with how comfortable the group felt.
"I'm here!" A voice shouted from the front of the store before someone familiar to Hwanwoong came in.
"Oh, hey, I know you," he smiled. "Hwanwoong, right?"
"Yeah, you're Keonhee."
Keonhee's smile widened.
"You two know each other?" Ravn asked.
"Yeah, we went to highschool together," Keonhee answered.
"We used to play dnd together, before I transferred schools," Hwanwoong added.
"Always wondered what happened to you, still as short as I remember," Keonhee laughed. Hwanwoong poked his tongue out, remembering how the two would joke around as teens.
"Alright," Ravn clapped his hands together, gaining everyone's attention. "Keonhee, give us a recap."
Keonhee stayed standing. "So, we are on our way back from the cave of doom."
"Why do I bother thinking up great names when you guys just keep using stupid nicknames?' Ravn sighed.
"Because your names are impossible to remember," Dongju quipped.
"Am I recapping or are we going to get into another discussion about Ravn's hard to remember location names?" Keonhee asked.
"Sorry, continue," Ravn did a small flourish of his hand.
"So we are on our back from the cave of doom when suddenly Xion saw a fox and decided to chase after it to add to his forever growing zoo of animals and got us lost in a forest. We fought a few kobolds and some bandits when we came across a decrepit mansion in the middle of the forest. We were still debating about going in or finding our way out of the forest," Keonhee finished and sat down, grabbing out his things.
"I still think it's a bad idea to go in," Geonhak argued.
"Yeah but we all know your character is an idiot. What's his intelligence again? 8?" Dongju asked. "We should go in and rest. Maybe loot the place a little. Never know what treasures we find."
"I was thinking about it all week and I'm with Dongju on this one," Seoho said with a small shrug.
"That's three against one," Keonhee announced. "We're going in."
"Alright, so you all go up to the mansion doors. There is a large knocker on the door. What do you do?"
"Blast the doors down," Keonhee answered.
"No!" Dongju, Seoho and Geonhak shouted in unison.
"Last time you did that, you set the entire building on fire," Dongju complained.
"I still have nightmares!" Geonhak yelled.
Hwanwoong laughed. "I see you haven't changed."
"We'll knock," Seoho said to Ravn.
"The door swings open, no one is there."
"We'll go in," Dongju announced.
"You'll go in," Seoho corrected. Dongju rolled his eyes.
"Fine, I'll go in alone."
"Roll an athletics check," Ravn grinned.
Dongju grabbed his D20 and rolled it. It landed on 1 and the room erupted in laughter.
"Sucked in," Geonhak laughed, receiving a glare and several smacks to his shoulder. He held his hands up in defense, still laughing.
"The floor beneath you collapses, sending you down into a black pit. Thankfully you only fall six feet. Roll acrobatics to see if you land on your feet."
Dongju rolled again.
"19 all up," he said, calculating quickly before grabbing the dice.
"You land on your feet. It's dark, the only light source is above you."
"So anyone gonna help me?" Dongju looked around at everyone.
"I say we leave him down there," Geonhak suggested.
"Is there a way around the pit?" Seoho asked Ravn.
"The pit is about 8 ft across, so you can try and jump it."
"Can I check to see if it was a trap?"
"No need, you can tell just by looking that the floorboards are old and rotten. Xion's weight made them collapse."
"I say light a torch, see what's around you in the pit. Might be more worth going down over trying to jump across."
Dongju sighed. "Fine, I light a torch."
"The room illuminates, it's a lot bigger than you realised. In a far corner you see a sleeping form."
"I walk over to it," Dongju said.
Ravn smiled. "It's a half-elf, seemingly asleep."
"I kick him."
"Hwanwoong, this is you. You've been kicked by an elf."
"I guess I wake up," Hwanwoong shrugged. "And ask who the hell you are and why the hell did you kick me?" Hwanwoong asked as he looked over at Dongju.
"Xion and because I felt like it," Dongju smirked back at Hwanwoong. "Who are you?"
"Woongie."
"Why are you down here in the dark?"
Hwanwoong thought back to what he had discussed with Ravn about his back story.
"I was trapped, been here two days. Are you the rescue?"
"I shout back at the other, 'There's a half-elf down here.'" Dongju looked at everyone else.
"Alright but are there any doors down there?" Seoho asked.
Dongju looked over at Ravn.
"There isn't."
"No," Dongju answered back, looking at Seoho.
"Come back and I'll throw a rope down."
The game went on for a few hours, Hwanwoong's character joining up with the group and them deciding to leave the mansion alone. Hwanwoong enjoyed himself, smiling happily as the game went on until they finally ended after receiving a new quest.
"Alright, we'll wrap it up here. Did you enjoy yourself Hwanwoong?" Ravn asked with a smile.
"Yeah heaps, thanks for letting me join," Hwanwoong smiled back.
"Think nothing of it. We meet weekly if you want to join us again and you're more than welcome to."
"I'll think about it."
Hwanwoong watched as the other's packed away. Helping when it got to the chairs and stacking them all back up. The others left, leaving Hwanwoong and Ravn the last ones as they cleaned the tables.
"You didn't have to help," Ravn said.
"It's not like I need to get home in a hurry," Hwanwoong commented.
"Live alone?"
Hwanwoong nodded. "Since I graduated high school. Mostly because if I stayed at home my parents would have forced me to do what they want me to do in university."
"But you obviously have other plans?" Ravn asked. The two had finished cleaning and walked back to the front of the store.
"Yeah," Hwanwoong sighed. "But I'm not having luck, got fired today and it's not the first time. I'm notorious for being late, just never able to wake up in the morning."
"Hey, look. Geonhak has been pestering me for ages to get someone to help me run the store. I've been fighting against it because I don't particularly feel like I need help but I do see his point about me needing breaks. I work hard for this place, it's my dream if I'm honest. You got along with everyone really well, even when they bickered. I like that about someone, because if you were to work here you would have to put up with them a lot. Half the time they are here to just hang out back and I swear they make it their life mission to annoy me. Anyway, that's beside the point, would you want to work here? I won't make you work mornings and I'm not going to be too bothered if you are late so long as you let me know as soon as possible. What do you think?" Ravn asked as they headed outside.
Hwanwoong could feel the tears welling up, happy tears this time. He nodded, not sure if he could speak properly at that moment.
Ravn chuckled. "Cool, come in tomorrow. Whenevs. We'll sort it out then."
"Thank you," Hwanwoong managed to squeak out, feeling his ears going red in embarrassment.
"Don't mention it. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah," Hwanwoong smiled. "See you then."
Hwanwoong unchained his bike and waved goodbye to Ravn before cycling off.