Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It hasn’t even been a full day and Minho already has 8 emails waiting for him in his inbox.

His jetlag hasn’t even managed to hit him properly and HR was already sending him his rearranged schedule for after he got back.

This always happened.

He’s been doing this for 5 years now, and he’s pretty sure the HR personnel who was responsible for his foreign ass has not changed since. And still, every year, he has to explain where he was going and why he was going.

And each year Mrs. Corwen always exclaims about foreign traditions and how quaint and unique they were.

Minho has 3 awards in his medical field highlighting and praising his dedication and excellence in Endocrinology, he does not have time for infuriating HR staff who insist on speaking in a purposefully slow way to him. But in Minho’s experience no HR department has ever cared about who you were or how many awards and certificates adorned the shelf behind your desk in your private office in one of the most luxurious private hospitals in New York City.

The only thing HR care for is you not messing things up for them.

And Minho has never given them reason to believe he would mess things up for them. But considering the fact that Mrs. Corwen always slowly and loudly asked if he wanted a translator to be called over he guesses that maybe there were other reasons as to why even seeing the HR department email address in his inbox was enough to give him a headache.

It’s not like he particularly enjoys coming back.

But he does have to check in on the family house every now and then, so he might as well do it during his annual leave.

There’s a sick sense of satisfaction of returning to an empty home- a home he barely grew up in being thrown into strict private schools for most of his childhood and then carted off to the US to finish his high school alone while under the strict guidance and observation of his socialite aunt and uncle.

He hates the house with every inch of his being.

It’s both familiar and unfamiliar to him.

As the last remaining living heir of his family line, Minho has long toyed with the idea of simply selling it and moving permanently to the US. After all, he had nothing here. It’s not like he had any plans on extending the bloodline or anything. Another bit of disappointment nailing and sealing the coffin for his parents.

Just an empty house, empty property; the construct of what was supposed to be a home but was nothing more than just pillars and walls to him.

Then maybe he could take his annual leave to other places where he might actually enjoy himself. Like Guam. Or Iceland.

But no.

He keeps coming back here, in the dead of winter, where nothing looks nice and you can’t do anything due to the excess of snow and ice. It had been fashionable to own resort-homes when his parents were looking for property outside the city. What possessed them to buy this specific expansive bit of property out so far in the mountains is beyond Minho’s comprehension. Sure there were resorts and popular holiday destinations in the province but not this far out. The tiny town Minho barely knew much about was as unremarkable as every other basic community turned partially industrial, partially agrarian, and partially confused about their identity as a town. Minho doesn’t think there are more than 3000 people in the town, which included the far flung farming estates scattered across the mountains and hills. The closest modern town or rather, district, from where Minho would be travelling by car from was a good 6 hours away through treacherous mountain roads. Honestly, what were his parents thinking. 

So he stays inside his home that’s less than a house and more like a hotel, doing nothing except relive empty memories in an equally empty house.

Wait. He could fish.

Right. That was always something somewhat enjoyed.

He could fish.

And he cook the fish.

If anything, he would have all the time he wanted to cook for himself.

He exits the airport, tugging his luggage behind him, barely paying attention to any changes in the airport or scenery. He just makes his way straight to the train station and after making sure there were no changes made to his route, Minho makes the necessary purchases to make his way back home and makes himself comfortable in his first-class train carriage. It wouldn’t be a long trip, he just needed to switch to a bus once he reaches the terminal and then Mr. Dong would pick him up from there.

This was clockwork routine for him. This would be the 6^th time he was doing it.

Except of course now, during one of the coldest recorded nights of the year, Mr. Dong is nowhere to be seen.

Irritable and tired, jetlag creeping over him, Minho calls the only other number he’s saved from South Korea and it goes through but no one picks up.

Mr. Dong was the property caretaker though Minho doesn’t think he really does much. He’s pretty sure the middle-aged man who smelled mildly of chewing tobacco and strongly of badly hidden body odour nicked things from the house to sell or use.

Minho doesn’t care in all honesty. So every year when he comes back to random items missing, he simply turns a blind eye to it. The expensive china his mother had bought all the way from France was definitely missing many pieces, and the several minor collectable sculptures his father had bought to look informed in the arts were also gone.

Maybe they would serve a better purpose out there than in here. Minho has been responsible for many broken items in the house at one point so he’s not one to make comments.

But right now he definitely has a lot of comments. Many.

He angrily dials Mr. Dong’s number again and this time the line doesn’t go through.

Cursing under his breath he calls the other number.

‘Yes Mr. Lee, how may I help you?’ the smooth voice of the family lawyer, Mr. Jung, comes through.

‘Where is Dong?’ Minho demands without preamble.

‘Mr. Lee it would seem that according to the weather report of that specific region, a snow storm is approaching,’ Mr. Jung replies, seemingly having understood exactly what Minho didn’t bother to explain, ‘It’s possible that Mr. Dong has been waylaid or is unable to connect to your call.’

‘What’s the closest hotel?’ he demands, making his way towards the exit.

‘I will email you the details immediately.’

Minho pockets his phone and storms out, flinching immediately at the cold. It’s a lot colder than he expected and his thick coat is clearly not enough to keep the chill from permeating through.

Lightning forks its way across the sky towards the mountain range. Minho is able to spy massive storm clouds indistinguishable from the night sky without a light source. That wasn’t going to be an ordinary snow storm for sure.

He makes his way to the taxi stand where thankfully there weren’t a lot of people in line.

Lightning forks through the sky in the distance again but this time, there’s a small blossoming light of green through the grey-black clouds.

Minho blinks hard, squinting at the clouds as he watches the bright green spark shatter before being engulfed in lightning and the clouds.

‘Next!’

Minho tears his eyes away from the distant view and hastily enters the taxi which is thankfully warm. Almost immediately his teeth start chattering from the change in temperatures.

‘Good evening, where are you going?’

‘Good evening,’ Minho manages to get out as he looks over his phone at the email Mr. Jung had sent him minutes ago, ‘The Hill Resort please.’

‘Got it.’ the taxi slowly pulls out. ‘You don’t mind if the radio is on?’

‘Not at all.’ Minho replies, just doing his best to regain feeling in his icy knees.

‘-incoming snow storm later tonight. We advise all residents to not go outdoors unless it’s an emergency-‘

‘-they say the roads are going to shut down, you got here in good time,’ the taxi driver remarks.

Minho isn’t one for conversations in a taxi but his comment drives an anxious trill through his chest.

‘The roads? All the roads?’

‘Mostly the ones leading up north,’ the driver ruminates, ‘Unless it gets very bad down here as well, we might have to shut the whole motorway.’

Minho does not want to be stuck in some random hotel for the rest of his annual leave. If he wanted to do that, he could have done that without travelling over 12 hours on plane to a whole other country.

‘I’m actually supposed to head up north,’ Minho tells the driver, ‘But my driver hasn’t responded to any of my calls – if you are willing to take me, just name your price and I’ll pay you.’

The driver glances back at him, eyebrow raised.

‘Returning home?’

‘Yes.’

The taxi slows a little before coming to a full pause.

‘Let me make a call, friend of mine is a traffic policeman.’

Minho nods to that.

After a quick phone call during which Minho gives him his full address that the driver relays to his friend, he’s given a thumb’s up as confirmation.

‘The road should be clear right now,’ he tells him, ‘It won’t be a fun ride though.’

‘That’s not an issue,’ Minho reassures the driver and adds with a heavy. ‘Just want to go home.’

Minho can have every scathing thought about his childhood, his parents- but in the end he can’t name any other place that he somehow resonated with.

Because yes, his childhood home is empty, grand with no real value, with no hint of affection or warmth or sign of being lived in and appreciated.

And maybe he’s being dramatic but everything that he hated about his home was exactly who he grew up to be in the end.

So in a strange way he feels a connection to his childhood home. And it’s the only singular reason as to why he hasn’t been able to let it go.

The driver only asks him surface questions about his home, his childhood, what the town was like. Minho answers vaguely enough to maybe come off as possibly rude only to disguise the fact that Minho didn’t know much about anything about where his family home was located.

The rest of the 3 hours is spent in silence.

Now this part Minho is familiar with.

Because despite his body odour, Mr. Dong wasn’t talkative- at least not with Minho. Just asked the obligatory polite questions and then remained silent the entire way.

‘It’s a nice town,’ is all the driver says as they pull through one of the main streets.

Minho wouldn’t know. He’s probably been to the town a total of 5 times his entire life, only ever driving through it at night.

‘It’s not bad,’ is what Minho offers.

It’s starting to snow as they reach his gateway up the slope.

Minho pays the driver a hefty sum before he grabs his suitcase and makes his way to the iron gates.

The house is dark, which is not surprising.

He wonders if Mr. Dong is sick or dead. If so it wouldn’t be surprising if he wasn’t informed because no one would know how to contact him probably, if they remembered him at all.

The house isn’t all too large- his parents called it a cabin.

It’s not a cabin. Not in the slightest.

It’s designed to look like one of those wooden cabins from picturesque American movies that are shot in Canada. The wooden details are just exterior details added over the insulated cement villa. Great trees line up the driveway but they’re bare right now- Minho doesn’t know what this place looks like in the spring. He guesses it would look quite nice.

The front yard isn’t all too large. He remembers that his parents insisted on a very manicured lawn- right now it’s nothing more than a large patch of dirt with decaying and dead weeds tumbled all about.

It’s the backyard that’s impressive. Connected to a small freshwater lake, the backyard expands to the woods that lead up and beyond the mountains. Minho isn’t actually sure how much of all of this was private property but he’s pretty sure the lake was in his family name.

The villa itself wasn’t all too large when compared to other villas. It only had a single floor but had a pretty expansive basement and a decent attic space Minho used to hide in as a child and he needed to escape for a while. There were 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a very large kitchen and dining, and a wide living space that looked out into the view of the lake through an equally wide patio.

He gets out the keys he used once a year, shivering violently. He’s about to put his key in when he realizes the door is unlocked.

‘That bastard,’ Minho mumbles, shoving his keys back into his pocket and pushing the door open.

It reeks of alcohol.

Parking his suitcase to the side, Minho feels the cold leaving him as irritation bubbles through, thawing him out effectively. Not even bothering to take off his shoes, Minho stomps through the dark house, annoyed at himself for just knowing the layout so well, and makes his way to the kitchen.

But before he can make his way to the kitchen he notices that the huge double door to the patio is open, cold wind billowing through with bits of snow.

‘Mr. Dong!’ he yells out, the irritation really increasing his volume as he walks over to the patio to close the doors when he notices the glass.

Frowning, he inspects the doors properly.

They were shattered inwards.

Minho has watched enough crime shows to know what this meant.

Someone broke in to the house.

Immediately he pulls out his phone, Minho turns on his heel to get the hell out of the house and into the cold when something lunges at him and everything fades to black before he hits the ground.

*

It’s been five months and the sight of his still very pristine and new ID tucked away into his wallet behind several name cards and convenient store bills still made the pit of his stomach burn.

He knows he got out of the whole situation relatively unscathed.

A simple demotion from corporal to detective wasn’t too bad in light of everything else.

But that’s exactly what irritated him.

Changbin pockets his wallet once he gets back his change from the cashier and with a nod of thanks walks out of the store.

‘Here.’

Yeonjun hands him his coffee as Changbin passes him his heated sandwich.

‘Why is it so cold here.’

Yeonjun laughs as they make their way back to the station.

‘I did warn you,’ Yeonjun snorts, ‘This is only the beginning.’

Changbin grimaces. No amount of padded coats was going to help him in this blasted mountainous province.

‘Apparently there’s talks of hosting the winter Olympics,’ Yeonjun tells him.

‘Here?’ Changbin scoffs.

‘No,’ Yeonjun laughs, ‘We’re not nearly capable enough of hosting anything larger than your average influx of local tourists.’

‘Would hate to be responsible for that level of security.’

The police station looms ahead as they turn the street.

‘They wouldn’t ask us lowly townspeople to participate anyways,’ Yeonjun snorts.

‘Or demoted and disgraced scandal ridden detectives you mean,’ Changbin remarks lightly.

‘Or that,’ Yeonjun hums before reaching out to slap him over the back, ‘Come on short stuff, Chaeryeong will skin us alive if we return with cold coffee.’

They pick up their pace and with sighs of relief enter the warm station.

‘What took you guys so long?’ Chaeryeong demands the moment she spots them.

‘There was a long line at the mart,’ Changbin explains, ‘Only one of the microwaves was working.’

She accepts the coffee and sandwich gratefully before sitting back at her desk.

‘Has the Captain come in yet?’ Yeonjun asks, looking around as he removes his thick coat.

Changbin quickly shuffles to his side of the desk, switching on the small heater under it in hopes of regaining some feeling in his knees. Winter back in Seoul was nothing compared to up here. Yeonjun had warned him, but he hadn’t realized just how cold it got. And they weren’t even a week past New Years.

‘There’s a snow storm approaching, you think he’ll step foot outside?’ Chaeryeong replies, rolling her eyes.

‘There was a snow storm warning just 3 days ago and nothing happened,’ Yeonjun rolls his eyes.

They’re the only ones in the office – the snow storm warning had been issued the previous night and most of the police officers at their station were given leave to help their families ready for the incoming snow storm. Being stationed furthest out in the district meant that they normally had a somewhat much more relaxed schedule than the other stations further inside.

While at first Changbin had appreciated it, after only 2 months he quickly got tired of the slow pace.

Not a lot of crime in far-out places like this even though they were quite populous compared to the other towns but that wasn’t saying much. They normally handled robberies, drunken brawls, the unfortunate domestic abuse cases, and drunk driving.

This wasn’t what he was anticipating when he graduated from the academy with honours and remarks that he would make Captain someday soon. Changbin dedicated himself, body, heart, and soul into what he did- what he believed in.

But it was that same dedication that backfired and here he was now.

Yeonjun laughs as he reads out loud a satirical news headline that makes Chaeryeong scoff.

He’s infinitely grateful for the two.

Yeonjun had been there to help him pick himself up, inviting him all the way out here, helping him with his application and relocation from beginning to end. They had met at the academy and had become good friends though Yeonjun moved back to his province and Changbin remained in Seoul.

After moving here he met Chaeryeong who had the same spirit and fire in her that reminded Changbin a bit of himself – except he can see the differences between them in how Chaeryeong was very much grounded in reality and awareness, navigating herself in a line of work unforgiving towards her gender.

He respects both of them immensely, allowing himself to relearn what it meant to work at the station again.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t still bitter, still angry, still hurt.

Yeonjun once asked him if he maybe wanted to visit a therapist. He had been dead serious and Changbin had honestly been incredibly touched. But he’s not sure if he’s capable of really unfolding everything in front of a therapist because despite all of the bitterness, anger, and hurt Changbin knows what he feels most severely is shame.

He knows he shouldn’t.

But he can’t help himself.

‘Maybe we’ll be snowed in and I can finally finish watching my drama,’ Yeonjun says wistfully.

‘Drama or anime?’ Chaeryeong shoots back.

‘Hey look, an anime can be a drama okay,’ Yeonjun defends hotly.

‘Okay you weeb, who’s your waifu-.’

Changbin nearly inhales his sandwich down the wrong pipe as he chortles at their small argument.

‘Look, your false accusations nearly killed Changbin-‘ Yeonjun stands up to walk around and slap him across his back. ‘Neither of us are strong enough to haul this muscle-pig to the hospital and then we’d be accused of murder-‘

‘-hey fuck you-,’ Changbin coughs out, eyes tearing up a little.

Chaeryeong, an actual angel put on this earth, hands him a bottle of water and some tissue.

Changbin has finished his sandwich safely when unexpectedly the doors to the station fling open and Captain Park struts in, all too cheerful and lightly dressed for the weather.

Changbin does a double take before he stands up quickly, bowing shortly as Captain Park waves at them all.

As per usual he’s dressed a little too richly- it’s nothing compared to what Changbin has witnessed before but the fact that this sort of behavior was normal and somewhat expected at every level, anywhere across the country and undoubtedly around the world, made Changbin want to crush whatever was in his hands.

So instead he carefully deposits his paper cup of now lukewarm coffee to the side, ready to greet their Captain back before he loudly and all too giddily announces loudly, ‘Seo, Choi- both of you in my office now!’

Yeonjun and Changbin share a look before replying in unison.

‘Yes Captain!’

‘Chaeryeong, can you go get me my coffee – you can get yourself something too!’ Captain Park smiles in what Changbin guesses is supposed to be a sweet manner as he deposits his card on her desk like she was some assistant/secretary and not a detective ranking officer who graduated the academy with a stellar record and grades.

Chaeryeong, as per usual, smiles back in a polite and professional manner until Captain Park is out of sight and her expression swiftly shifts to irritation. With a huff she pulls her coat off of her chair and gingerly picks up Captain Park’s card and stomps out of the station.

Changbin genuinely feels horrible and would have accompanied her as he normally did but he follows after Yeonjun and they enter the Captains room towards the back of the station.

It’s a relatively decent sized room but the extravagant furnishing makes it feel cramped.

If any room could be defined as all expense but no taste then it would be Captain Park’s office without a doubt.

Neither of them choose to sit, instead standing behind the poofy chairs that framed Captain Park’s mahogany desk. The Captain sits down and rubs his hands together delightedly.

‘I’m sending my best, hard-working detectives away on a fun trip!’ he exclaims as he rifles through his bespoke leather satchel. ‘I just got a call from the Chief- I fought tooth and nail for this boys, because I thought, why not give Changbinnie something fun to do right? It’s been months! You’ve been here just going through basic robberies- nothing exciting like back in Seoul though maybe that’s a good thing right?’

Changbin manages a smile.

‘Here you go,’ he throws down a file in front of them. ‘A potential murder case.’

Changbin hates how that does somehow excite him.

‘Not confirmed?’ Yeonjun frowns as he picks up the file. The sticker on top isn’t from any of the stations in the district. Changbin doesn’t recognize it.

‘Well, it needs confirming,’ the Captain winks at Yeonjun, ‘That’s why I thought of my best two detectives immediately.’

Changbin wants to remind the Captain that Chaeryeong has worked here far longer than he has and should, by that standard, be going with Yeonjun for this case seeing as she was raised in the province and would be more familiar to everything.

‘Local town doctor found dead under mysterious circumstances,’ Captain Park waves his hands about, gaze upwards, as though telling them some fanciful story and not a summary of a real person who actually died and was potentially murdered. ‘Well respected and beloved by the town, married but no kids, found with his throat slit in his office by the head nurse just last morning.’

A slit throat was never a pleasant sight, and judging by the way Yeonjun grimaces as they peruse the files he thought the same.

‘I want both of you to pack up and take this case,’ Captain Park tells them, ‘It’s a 3 hour drive from here, best get there before the snow storm really builds. Let’s get that murderer boys.’

They both bow in response before leaving the tasteless office.

Chaeryeong isn’t back, probably taking her sweet time and maybe flirting with the pretty barista at the coffee shop.

Yeonjun immediately pulls up the archive to scan through the uploaded documents on the case there as Changbin flits through the scant sheaf of printed paper.

‘I don’t think there’s even a proper station up there,’ Yeonjun frowns, ‘The town literally only has 1283 people in it. And those are numbers from 10 years ago.’

‘The contact information we have for any official inquiry is for the mayor,’ Changbin scans through the paper with a slight frown, ‘It’s not even for a police officer or anything.’

‘According to records the last crime committed that required jail time was nearly 17 years ago,’ Yeonjun informs him, ‘And it was cow theft.’

‘Cow- what theft?’

‘Someone stole a cow, butchered it, and had themselves a barbeque,’ Yeonjun explains, ‘And before that a robbery. But with a town- well, village, this small, you’d just know each other. It would be hard to actively commit a crime without everyone knowing it was you.’

‘Or everyone is in on it,’ Changbin says with a little too much bitterness that makes Yeonjun look up at him with look of worry. He quickly adds on, ‘That’ll make our work easier I’m sure – we’ll probably have to sit through a lot of town gossip.’

‘Mostly older people,’ Yeonjun groans, ‘You should do all the talking, you look older-‘

Changbin whacks Yeonjun over the head with his file.

Maybe this was what he needed – it was what he wanted.

Well, not a murder- that was unfortunate. That too a local town doctor. He hopes the village can find a decent replacement for him soon.

But a change in scenery- or at least location, running an active investigation – maybe that would help him feel better, get him out his muddy thoughts.

Back in his practically bare apartment he didn’t bother decorating or furnishing past the basic necessities, Changbin packs up a duffle bag and starts packing nearly half of his clothes which wasn’t a lot to start off with.

He debates calling his parents or sister to update them but he immediately puts the idea down.

They had already called the mayor earlier that afternoon, surprised to talk to a relatively young sounding man who spoke most pleasantly to them. He would arrange for their stay at the town’s only hotel (which didn’t have a website or any listing online) that was quite close to the mayor’s office as well as the local school and hospital (which was more of a large clinic than anything else), and would personally pick them up at the edge of the town.

They’re also informed that they could use his office as their temporary station and he would set them up with anything they needed and to just send him an email with what they would need.

At least the mayor sounded pleasant and cooperative.

It’s late, and Changbin knows he should probably get some sleep and rest up but his mind is too active. The gym would be closed, so Changbin changes out into his thickest sweats and short padded jacket and grabs his running shoes. Probably not the best idea but Changbin knows he’ll think himself into a rut if he doesn’t do something else.

The streets are quiet- another thing that took him a while to get used to. It’s not 10 yet but there’s barely anyone out. The weather is icy and Changbin’s breath comes out in front of him like thick clouds, sometimes blurring his vision when the mask he wore for this specific reason slips under his nose.

His mind empties blissfully as his muscles ache and burn, the rhythm of his feet, his pulse thrumming loudly – finally Changbin feels some semblance of peace.

He’s tired, obviously, the next morning, as he greets an equally exhausted looking Yeonjun who just yawns in greeting as Changbin enters his old but strong 4-wheel drive jeep. Yeonjun came from a farming family from the province, so Changbin is grateful for his familiarity with the region.

‘Snow storm is expected to hit some time the end of this week,’ Yeonjun tells him drearily, ‘We might get stuck up there, hope you’ve packed tons of underwear.’

Changbin just grunts in response.

‘Breakfast first?’

They stop for breakfast at a local eatery before making their final stop at a convenience store to stock up on a wide variety of supplies from food to drinks to stationary to toiletry items.

The sun is out at least this morning, so there’s a sort of nice atmosphere as they get back into Yeonjun’s car and make their way to the narrow motorway heading further up north.

‘Have you been this far up north before?’ Changbin asks as they chew on some fish snacks.

‘Not this way,’ Yeonjun replies, ‘Not much up here if we’re being honest. Some small fishing lakes, a pretty nice forest, but mostly just small farms. Nothing historical or specifically scenic enough to make the trip.’

‘Wow, imagine having your hometown dissed like that,’ Changbin laughs, ‘Not scenic enough to make the trip- wow.’

Yeonjun cackles, ‘Well, my hometown is something like that too, so I can say it, unlike you big city boy.’

‘Not anymore.’

Yeonjun drives carefully and slowly, getting them there in 4 hours instead. And Changbin is grateful because the motorway winds up through the grey unforgiving mountains, the snow storm ominously gathering slowly in the distance.

As they reach the end of the motorway and make their way down a rougher but slightly wider road, a man next to a parked car waves his arms at them.

‘Ah, that’s Mayor Kang I guess,’ Yeonjun remarks, waving one hand. ‘Wow. He’s young.’

He was indeed young. Much younger than Changbin would have ever guessed a mayor to be in all honesty. Most towns or villages this far out and isolated normally had an older population, the young and educated age range choosing to live and work in larger cities with more opportunities. Mayor Kang can’t be that much older than either himself or Yeonjun, so that was definitely a surprise. And he seemed nice- just as pleasant as his voice.

He walks over to them, beaming smile visible over his thick scarf. Yeonjun rolls down the window.

‘Hi! I’m Mayor Kang,’ he greets them cheerfully, ‘Detective Choi and Detective Seo?’

‘I’m Choi Yeonjun,’ Yeonjun nods, ‘Thank you for meeting us.’

‘Seo Changbin,’ Changbin raises his hand, ‘Nice to meet you.’

‘Likewise- thank you for coming so quickly,’ he tells them. ‘It’s been tough.’

Changbin guesses if your worst crime record is related to a cow from nearly 2 decades ago, a whole murder was definitely not something anyone in this village would be mentally prepared to handle.

‘Well, we hope we can get to the bottom of things,’ Yeonjun smiles and nods.

‘Great, that’s great,’ Mayor Kang swings his arms a little, ‘All right, I’ll get back in my car and follow on after me.’

They both nod.

They follow after Mayor Kang’s car which was relatively new and quite modern Changbin observes. Things were honestly somewhat much more different than he was expecting.

‘My biggest hope is that the crime scene isn’t too contaminated,’ Yeonjun sighs out as they begin to spy the beginnings of the town.

‘Unlikely,’ Changbin sighs out. ‘We won’t be finding any evidence.’

Yeonjun groans but they don’t dwell on it.

They follow after Mayor Kang who drives a little faster than Changbin was expecting but then again he was used to this place and knew what he was doing. Hopefully.

‘It’s not bad,’ Yeonjun remarks, looking around, ‘It’s quite nice actually.’

Changbin glances around at the unremarkable but still pleasant mash-up of random houses that start to increase in density as they drive further into the village. The weather has killed most of the attempts at gardening and the trees are bare. Stone and brick walls that would be quite pretty in the spring or summer are dusty and damp from the slowly melting frost. There’s half frozen sludge around the sides of the road, empty garden pots line up at random outside porches, laundry hanging out to dry in the weak winter sun, random collection of fire wood, broken roof tiles, unused clay pots, laundry buckets, and stiffened plastic pipes scatter in copious amounts across short lawns and open gateways.

There are wide fields, pipes lay across the half frozen half dripping dirt, random sticks and poles pushing up- farming land, no doubt, but currently there wouldn’t be much happening. A couple of greenhouses, faded and torn white plastic and tarp stand out rather forlornly in the dreary view.

After crossing a small bridge over a surprisingly deep dry ditch they hit smoother roads.

‘Looks like every other village community,’ Changbin observes.

‘Hm,’ Yeonjun glances around, ‘I think there’s been some recent changes made – the street signs are all new, this road too. I think Mayor Kang is trying to develop the place.’

Changbin glances at the new shiny metal signs as well as the clean and tall electric poles, only a couple of posters stuck on them. The roads were recently made, the yellow and white arrows still intact and saturated.

There were strategically placed green zones- little enclosed garden spaces which though weren’t blossoming at the moment, still held some random charm. Across the road, bordering random walls were little boxed in shrubbery, dark winter leaves clinging to life. There’s even a bicycle path.

‘I guess Mayor Kang is trying to transform the village to attract local tourists, try and transform it into a Hanok style village or something’ Changbin surmises as he looks at a few houses and homes that were recently renovated with solar panels, weather proof panel windows, and dark grey roof tiles.

They drive through what was undoubtedly the largest road- a simple two way street, to the center of the town. There are maybe 3 restaurants, one bakery, and 2 convenience stores in total, and lots of small random stores carrying farming supplies, hardware, a random internet café that was also a computer repair shop, meat shops, plenty of closed shutters, nearly everything else except smaller and a little bare.

‘I’m guessing that’s the school,’ Yeonjun nods to his right.

It’s a basic 2 story building, with a generous plot of land in the front visible through the iron and brick walls and bare trees. It probably looked really nice during spring but now it just looks dreary and cold. All the kids were probably inside right now in class.

‘The artwork is really nice,’ Yeonjun remarks.

The brick walls are covered in bright and colourful painted motifs. It does lend a much more forgiving touch to the overall view.

‘The clinic must be near by,’ Changbin glances around for any sign of a medical facility but finds nothing.

They turn left, following Mayor Kang and up a small hill to the beginnings of a more residential area.

There were a few apartment buildings, no more than 4 story tall here and there.

Mayor Kang stops in front of what appeared to be the only beauty salon in the town. It’s been renovated a little, the signboard is new and made of lightwood, the name of the salon carved in and stained. It looks a little DIY but somehow it fits with the whole town. The blue red and white barber’s pole isn’t spinning though.

Mayor Kang gets out of his car and Yeonjun parks the car securely.

Stepping out it’s absolutely chilly, and Changbin shivers a little.

‘You’ll be staying here,’ Mayor Kang informs them as he walks up towards them, ‘Actually the owners, the Han family, are unfortunately not here- there was an unfortunate accident just a couple of days ago, and Donghyuck-shii is in a coma back at the district hospital.’

‘That’s very unfortunate to hear,’ Yeonjun replies as Kang walks over to the doorway not leading to the salon. ‘We hope he recovers well.’

Changbin gets their bags out. ‘So currently I’m watching over the place- I believe Haesoo-noona will be back at the end of the week, she’s the one who owns the salon, her brother takes care of the hotel.’

They both nod in understanding.

‘The family live upstairs,’ Mayor Kang opens the door and leads them inside. ‘Haesoo-noona’s son is in school right now, you can meet him later. If I’m not here and you need anything, you can always talk to him, he’s a very responsible kid.’

The interior is nice. It’s also been recently renovated, Changbin can tell. It’s blessedly warm in here.

There’s a bunch of paintings hung around the hallway and up the stairs. There’s a spacious communal kitchen, a sitting area, and 4 separate doors.

‘Oh yes, there’s another person staying here,’ Mayor Kang informs them as he walks up to the 2 doors on the most left. ‘He stays at the end- he’s the art teacher at the school, he’s been with us for just a little over a year now. He’s done all the artwork in here!’

‘Is he a temporary teacher?’ Yeonjun asks as Mayor Kang pulls out a set of keys from his inner coat pocket.

‘We hope not!’ Mayor Kang opens the door, ‘We're looking to accommodate him in the small housing plan we've developed for the coming year actually!'

Mayor Kang was definitely very amibitious.

'Okay, so this key is for this room.’

The rooms are small but neatly arranged. They get nearly identical rooms, both with their own tiny en-suite. They have their own small balcony that has an extended metal railing to hang out laundry. Dumping his bag, Changbin steps out and a little layer Yeonjun does too.

‘Okay, those keys are yours,’ Mayor Kang rubs his hands together, pausing a moment as he goes through some mental list. Changbin has a distinct impression the man has a lot of mental lists. He hopes he has a good secretary or something to help him out. ‘I have an extra set with me, and there should be one upstairs with Haesoo-noona or Donghyuck-shii, but their son will know if you have any issues or lose your current set.’

Then he points towards the kitchen.

‘You’re welcome to use the fridge as you want- there’s sticky pads on top of the fridge so you can label your items and store them in there,’ the mayor informs them, ‘And of course, you know, clean up after yourselves, all that.’

‘Of course,’ Yeonjun smiles.

‘All right, so this is where you’ll be staying, I’ll take you first to my office where you can set up for work, and we can walk to the clinic, it’s only 10 minutes on foot.’

They follow Mayor Kang out into the cold again and get back in their respective cars.

‘He’s nice,’ Yeonjun remarks as they turn the street carefully and slowly. The sun is out a little more than earlier, casting a warmer light across the village.

‘Maybe too nice,’ Changbin replies, ‘Wonder how long he’s been mayor?’

‘Guess we’ll find out sooner or later,’ Yeonjun glances back at the hotel, ‘Talk about timing.’

‘How bad was the accident that the man is in a coma?’ Changbin breathes out.

‘Might be related to the storm? Maybe this place was hit hard.’ Yeonjun ruminates, ‘Those fields were frozen solid.’

They follow Mayor Kang out and go straight rather than turn down the street they had come up in. They navigate their way through a winding street up the side of a hill before reaching a gentle slope.

‘Oh, so this is definitely the richer side of the village,’ Yeonjun snorts, looking at the well made houses.

It’s honestly not that different from the houses they came past, but there’s definitely a difference with the material, size, and spaciousness of the lawns and height of the walls. Not to mention decorative lamp posts.

They stop in front of the decently sized brick house without a lawn and just a driveway with a few parking spaces. The side of the house is covered in thick dark green ivy and weather hardened shrubs and miniature trees line up the house in cement troughs.

Yeonjun parks next to Mayor Kang and they get out once more.

‘This is my office- it’s also the post office, and used to be where the electric department was stationed but then we got everything digitized- the radio station used to be here too- but it moved up hill,’ Mayor Kang explains as he points to the hill behind the house where a tall tower stood. ‘The Farmers Union is located here too – town hall as well.’

Basically, Changbin surmises, everything was in this house.

‘I live there with my wife,’ he points to the house a little down the street. ‘She’s the school principle! And before I forget, we would like to invite you both to dinner tonight. Welcome you to our humble town.’

Town was a stretch, if Changbin is being honest.

‘Thank you so much, we would be honoured,’ Yeonjun replies.

Mayor Kang hesitates a moment before he adds, ‘We’re fostering a child with us- while we would like to permanently adopt him, his family has been causing issues and we would like for things to clear up on all sides before we can call him our son.’

‘I hope things clear up and you are able to adopt him,’ Yeonjun tells him, smiling in his warm professional manner.

He glances back at Changbin as though to tell him to say something already. Changbin normally wasn’t this tightlipped. In fact he was really good at talking to people – but it’s been a while and Changbin would honestly just prefer Yeonjun or Chaeryeong taking over the talking part.

‘Thank you,’ Mayor Kang smiles so sincerely that Changbin feels mildly guilty for not offering some semblance of vocal support too.

They enter the large house which has been nearly cleared up of most walls as architecturally as possible- rather there are glass panels acting as walls with neat clean infographic posters stuck on them, explaining how to download and register for some app related to farming. There are indoor plants scattered about and what are clearly remnants of New Year celebrations with a large banner still stuck up.

‘The holiday is ending soon, so we haven’t had anyone come in to take down the decorations,’ Mayor Kang tells them. ‘Well, this is the main lobby- the kitchenette is there, we always have plenty of coffee or tea. This is where Ms. Ho stays, she’s the deputy mayor but she’s visiting family right now- she’ll be back end of this week.

Again, if you need anything and I’m not here or unavailable, Ms. Ho will be able to help you in anything you need. In fact she would probably be more helpful than me,’ he laughs before gesturing to one side, ‘We cleared this room up for you two.’

The room is empty save for 2 desks, 4 office chairs, 2 desktop monitors, and a large whiteboard with a plethora of colourful markers on the magnetic basket stuck to the side. In the corner are large wastebaskets and an electric heater. Stuck on the walls in two different places is the WiFi password printed in large fonts. The window faces the view to the back of the hill and up the mountains.

‘The washrooms are down the hallway to the left,’ Mayor Kang adds, ‘The computers are all set up with access to the printer which is just over there. If you need anything, do let me know.’

‘This is great, thank you for preparing so much for us,’ Changbin says.

‘Of course it wasn’t a problem at all!’ Mayor Kang says immediately, ‘We’re just very sorry we don’t have a station or much access to anything that you are used to.’

‘We can make do,’ Yeonjun smiles.

‘Shall we?’ Changbin nods, walking out of the room.

‘Of course.’

Once they’re outside Yeonjun starts.

‘Did you know the victim personally?’

‘Of course,’ Mayor Kang nods at once, ‘Dr. Shin has been the town doctor for over 30 years- he’s the one delivered me in the old clinic building.’

‘According to the report he is survived by his wife? No children?’

‘Dr. Shin had a son, but he died nearly 25 years ago,’ Mayor Kang informs them, ‘Uh- he lost both his son and first wife to an accident. He remarried 10? 10 or 12 years ago.’

‘Where is the widow?’

‘She’s actually out of town- uh, out of country,’ Mayor Kang tells them, ‘She’s coming back, she should be here by tomorrow night.’

‘So everyone knows him?’

‘When you’re the only doctor this far out, yeah,’ Mayor Kang smiles ruefully, ‘He was well respected- it’s really because of his good opinion and input I was elected mayor – most people here thought I was too young. But Dr. Shin was adamant. It’s been tough.’

‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ Yeonjun says honestly. ‘And I’m sorry we’re going to have to ask a lot of questions- some may come across insensitive.’

‘Of course,’ Mayor Kang nods quickly, ‘I understand- I will do my best to be impartial.’

Dr. Shin was exactly how Changbin had guessed he would be. Respected, listened to, and a good human being.

He helped deliver nearly everyone in this town under the age of 35, and he would personally walk to his patients homes if they couldn’t make it themselves.

The man had no enemies.

But Changbin doesn’t think that’s really possible- hatred, jealousy, insecurity- even madness; all reasons to harbour ill thoughts and ill will.

‘Head Nurse Bang was the one who found him,’ Mayor Kang informs them as they make their way down the street. Yeonjun in step with the mayor and Changbin behind them, looking around the town. ‘He can tell you more about Dr. Shin as he worked with him.’

‘Do you believe there would be any reason Nurse Bang would try to hurt Dr. Shin?’ Yeonjun inquires.

Mayor Kang looks shocked at the question before he composes himself.

‘None that I am aware of Detective Choi,’ he replies earnestly before sighing and pausing in his steps, ‘It’s just- it’s all I’ve thought about you know? Who would do this? Why? Dr. Shin was the best of us!’

Yeonjun reaches over to pat the man on his shoulder.

‘That’s why we’re here,’ he tells him reassuringly, ‘We will do our best to understand what’s happened.’

Mayor Kang nods, breathing in and out deeply.

‘Has the clinic been closed since Dr. Shin’s body was found?’ Changbin asks.

‘Yes,’ Mayor Kang nods at once, ‘We uh, didn’t want to contaminate the crime scene? We really tried- but well, panic, and all of that.’

He smiles in a sheepish apologetic manner.

Changbin holds in a sigh.

‘Nurse Bang arranged for his body to be iced- we don’t have a mortuary, so the best we could do was find a large enough cooler and fill it with ice,’ Mayor Kang tells them.

Well, at least.

‘We will need to take samples to run some tests,’ Yeonjun says thoughtfully, ‘Will Nurse Bang be able to assist us?’

‘He said he would be waiting for us at the clinic, you can ask him the uh, details regarding anything related to uh, Dr. Shin’s body,’ he grimaces.

The clinic is around the same size as the mayor’s office. It’s not very new but it’s evident that the building was made for the purpose of the clinic. It’s just one story and quite extensive too.

There are flowers and other tributes gathered up to the side of the clinic by the entrance.

Standing by the far end of the clinic is a young teenage boy. He’s staring through the window, seemingly not noticing them.

‘Oh,’ Mayor Kang seems to recognize the teenager. ‘Seungmin-ah!’

The teenage boy, Seungmin, looks up at that. Without greeting the mayor or anything, he spins on his heel and walks off.

‘He should be in class,’ Mayor Kang sighs and adds, ‘He’s planning to become a doctor- so he used to volunteer after school to work at the clinic.’  

Yeonjun and Changbin share a look.

‘Mayor Kang?’

‘Ah! Chan! I told you to just call me hyung!’

The door opens and a friendly looking man pokes his head out.

He’s dressed in a nurse’s scrub, but with a thick sweater on top. He’s a little taller than Changbin but shorter than Yeonjun (most people were shorter than Yeonjun in all fairness and most people were taller than Changbin) and was built a little stocky, shoulders broad. His hair is short and dark, a little unruly as though he had just taken off a beanie or something.

He bows when he sees them and they greet him back in kind.

‘This is Detective Choi and Detective Seo,’ Mayor Kang gestures to them, ‘and this is Head Nurse Bang Chan.’

‘Thank you for coming,’ Chan bows again.

‘Of course,’ Yeonjun replies.

‘Please do come in,’ Chan opens the door fully, stepping aside.

The clinic is surprisingly modern- most town hospitals had that patched up look to them but this was set up nicely. It’s obviously nothing compared to even the hospital back at the district but Changbin is still a little surprised. Yeonjun too, by the way his eyebrows raise up as he looks around.

‘We tried our best to leave Dr. Shin’s room, where he was found, as is,’ Mayor Kang tells them just as his phone starts to ring, ‘Oh excuse me, I have to take this. Chan, if you could-?’

Bang Chan smiles and nods before looking over at them, ‘If you could follow me?’

They walk towards the end of the hallway past the examination rooms and a few wards.

‘This is Dr. Shin’s private office,’ he shows them the open door, ‘This is the nurse’s lounge as well as kitchenette- staff washroom is here, and the back entrance is there.’

They note the locations and Changbin scans the ceilings.

‘No CCTV?’

The Head Nurse shakes his head with a sigh.

‘We’ve been considering it for a while now- we’ve had a few break-ins in the past couple of years.’

‘Oh? What did they steal?’

‘Tried to steal,’ Bang Chan corrects them, ‘We’re not sure to be honest- maybe they tried to get into the storage where we store all our drugs. We have a security guard most nights-‘

‘-were they not on duty the night of?’

‘Snow storm,’ the nurse tells them with another heavy sigh.

Changbin take enters Dr. Shin’s office, Yeonjun behind him.

There’s no more smell of blood- but Changbin guesses it must have filled the office when the Head Nurse found the doctor’s corpse.

There’s a lot on the floor- comically so.

It’s thick and congealed on the tiles, drag marks here and there from where the body was clearly lifted away.

‘We knew that moving the body would be a risk,’ Chan tells them apologetically, ‘But we didn’t know when or if you would be coming.’

That was understandable, though Changbin really wishes they were able to observe the body the way it was found for themselves.

‘I uh, took pictures though,’ Chan tells them. ‘I can forward them to you.’

Yeonjun immediately takes his phone out as Changbin steps around the pool of blood.

He glances out of the window- this office allowed him a clear view of the street, nearly most of the village below from their vantage point atop of the sloping hill. That kid, Seungmin, he had been standing close to this window.

‘Did you close or open the blinds?’ he asks.

‘I didn’t touch anything else other than when I moved Dr. Shin,’ the nurse replies, ‘The office has been left as untouched as possible.’

‘So these blinds were open when you found the doctor?’

The nurse nods.

‘The lights were switched off?’

Chan frowns a little as he thinks, clearly thinking back.

‘Yes, I believe they were,’ he replies with a nod.

‘Did the doctor work late into the night?’ Yeonjun asks as he looks up from his phone.

‘Not too frequently no- not unless we had a patient staying overnight and needed his specific care,’ Chan explains. ‘Our most recent serious case was sent to the district-‘

‘-Mayor Kang told us- a Han Donghyuck? Coma?’

‘Yes,’ Chan nods, ‘We had him in our care for 2 nights but we were concerned we weren’t equipped well enough to take care of him so we referred him to the district.’

‘Are there any frequent patients?’

‘Yes, a few- but Dr. Shin normally did house visits- farming communities tend to try and fix their health issues by themselves,’ the nurse sighs again. Upon closer inspection he looks exhausted. ‘There’s a few scheduled for today-‘

Mayor Kang walks back, a bright look on his face.

‘Well, I have some good news- I mean, hopefully,’ Mayor Kang smiles as he approaches them, ‘Chan-ah, I think I found us a temporary doctor willing to help us with the patients until we can get a permanent one.’

‘That was fast?’ Chan exclaims, stepping out towards the doorway as Yeonjun steps further into the room.

‘Jihyo was telling me that she heard Mrs. Min telling Mrs. Kim about it- apparently there’s a doctor who comes here every winter after New Years for about 2 weeks- his family owns the villa by the lake.’ Mayor Kang is telling the nurse.

‘I thought it was empty?’

‘For most of the year- the son returns every year,’ the mayor explains, ‘And he’s a doctor!’

‘Can we trust this information? I mean…it’s uh, it’s Mrs. Min,’ Chan says quietly.

‘Jihyo confirmed it,’ the mayor tells him confidently, ‘Dong Jaehyun is the caretaker of the property- his nephew is Jihyo’s student.’

Nurse Bang makes an understanding sound.

‘Not a lot of arterial spray,’ Yeonjun remarks, glancing around. ‘Not much of a struggle.’

‘The blood pours downwards,’ Changbin nods in agreement, looking at the blood splatter about the floor. ‘You have the photos?’

Yeonjun nods, tapping his phone to show Changbin.

It’s never easy looking at a corpse even if it’s a photo.

‘There’s blood on the desk, it’s mostly in this direction,’ Yeonjun makes a ‘v’ with his arms, framing one side of the room. ‘Then he falls here.’

Changbin glances around the room.

‘No signs to indicate a robbery gone wrong – the drawer with the instruments has been opened-.’

‘-would he have grabbed something for self-defense?’ Yeonjun ruminates, muttering under his breath as he glances around, ‘Honestly it would be faster to grab those.’

He points at the stack of walking canes showcased to the side of the wall.

‘The phone is there- where’s his mobile?’ Changbin looks around.

‘I’ll start taking down the scene,’ Yeonjun tells him, ‘I guess you want to talk to the nurse?’

Changbin glances out where Head Nurse Bang and the Mayor were still in discussion about the other doctor.

‘We’ll need to do an autopsy- properly study the corpse,’ Changbin mumbles, thinking out loud, ‘I wonder if that doctor they’re talking about can help us out.’

‘Can’t we bring Wooyoungie here?’ Yeonjun crouches carefully, inspecting the underside of the desk.

‘Not sure if the captain would approve – he wouldn’t want another station involved.’

Yeonjun grimaces at that in agreement.

‘Excuse me Detectives,’ Mayor Kang smiles at them, ‘I’m going to go meet with Dr. Lee right now, so if you need anything, do let Chan know.’

‘Can I get a full statement from you first?’ Changbin nods at Chan as Mayor Kang walks out.

‘Oh- oh, yeah, of course- we can go to the nurse’s lounge,’ Chan gestures towards the door behind him.

Changbin follows him inside to the spacious room. There’s a small kitchenette and sink to one side, a long table in the middle with multiple chairs and a comfortable long pull-out couch near the window.

‘Do you have a full roster or schedule of all the staff who work here?’

‘Yeah we do,’ Chan sets about to switching on the water heater.

‘I’d like printed copies of all of the staff who work here, as well schedules,’ Changbin tells the Head Nurse.

‘Of course. Uh, would you like something to drink?’ Chan offers, pointing to the many paper cups to the side.

‘I’m good thanks,’ Changbin replies as he takes a seat and though his was very much not his lounge, gestures to Chan to take a seat. ‘From what I’ve heard from Mayor Kang, Dr. Shin is well known and respected around here.’

Chan nods.

‘So I will apologize in advance now if my questions may come off rude or insensitive, but I will need details,’ Changbin explains.

‘Of course,’ Chan replies, ‘I understand.’

Starting up his recording app and taking out a notepad and pen Changbin adjusts himself in his seat.

‘Please start from the beginning of the day up to the point where you found Dr. Shin dead.’

*

‘He needs an MRI.’

Dr. Shin sighs. But he’s expecting it, Chan knows.

‘I know,’ Chan exhales out, ‘It’s going to be expensive for them. But Donghyuck-shii is lucky to be alive- and getting that MRI will be able to help us and them out in the long run.’

‘Getting them through the road- not to mention the snow storm-‘

‘-it’s blowing over,’ Chan gestures to the window where the snow storm was blowing over. It wasn’t the worst storm to hit them- it hadn’t even lasted that long.

‘The lakes are literally frozen over,’ Dr. Shin deadpans.

‘They freeze over every winter,’ Chan replies at once.

‘Not overnight they don’t. Do you want to send them through the the motorway in this weather?’ Dr. Shin inquires.

‘We can’t even get a proper x-ray done,’ Chan frowns, ‘How can we be prepared to help him if we can’t even asses his skull?’

Dr. Shin narrows his eyes at Chan.

‘You’ve already arranged for a helicopter haven’t you?’

‘I know the pilot.’ Chan explains, ‘He owes me a favour.’

Dr. Shin smiles ruefully before chuckling quietly.

‘Of course you do,’ Dr. Shin sighs and throws his hands up, ‘At this point am I even in charge here?’

Chan chuckles.

‘Would I be here if you weren’t?’

Dr. Shin’s smile turns serious.

‘Chan-ah,’ he says quietly, ‘I know you want to help as much as you can- but you should know-‘

‘-I know,’ Chan replies tersely before quickly adding, ‘I’m aware, Dr. Shin. It’s-…I mean, it’s the least we can do.’

Dr. Shin nods grimly, ‘We will need to get their approval of course.’

‘Of course,’ Chan replies quickly, standing up.

‘Chan-ah,’ Dr. Shin calls again and Chan looks back up at the doctor.

‘Yes?’

‘How’s Jeongin?’

It’s a many layered question. And Chan understands the tone, what Dr. Shin is really asking.

‘He’s staying with Mayor Kang and Jihyo-noona for this week,’ Chan informs him.

‘I see that he’s made new friends.’

Chan smiles at that.

‘Yeah- I was worried at first, but I think he’s starting to open up a little.’

‘That’s good to hear.’ Dr. Shin gets up slowly. His knees weren’t that great in the cold, not to mention his age was really starting to catch up on him though he would adamantly deny it. Chan will one day succeed in convincing him to walk with a cane, especially in winter at least.

‘And his father?’

Chan grimaces before he can school his expression.

‘He tried to come around for New Years.’

Dr. Shin sighs, shaking his head.

‘He waited for him outside his school,’ Chan releases the back of the chair he hadn’t realized he’d been squeezing. ‘Jihyo-noona called me at once.’

‘Was he okay after that?’

‘He waited with Hyunjin-shii-‘

‘-the art teacher?’

‘Yes!’ Chan smiles, ‘He’s been so wonderful with Jeongin, with many students I’m hearing.’

‘That’s great to hear. The school looks so good- I should speak to Hyunjin-shii one day, thank him for his beautiful colours.’ Dr. Shin smiles. ‘He had been wonderfully level-headed helping us out the other night too.’

‘That would be great,’ Chan says sincerely before sighing out, ‘Maybe that will stop Mrs. Min from spreading useless gossip.’

Dr. Shin actually rolls his eyes.

‘I’ve known Eunha since I was 6, she’s not going to stop,’ Dr. Shin remarks dryly before he says in a serious tone, ‘I know Junho personally- I can ask him to keep an eye on the grounds while he works, him and the other guard at the school too.’

‘I think Jihyo-noona has already done something about it,’ he replies, ‘Thank you though Dr. Shin, it really means a lot to me.’

Dr. Shin sighs, leaning back on his chair and glancing out, ‘It hurts to see this stretched out for so long.’

Before Chan can reply there’s a knock on the door.

‘Hi, sorry to interrupt but Dr. Shin, your 1 o’clock appointment is here,’ Mrs. Lim points down the hallway, ‘It’s Haneul-shii.’

‘Of course,’ Dr. Shin chortles as Chan takes a step back, waiting for the doctor to walk out as well. ‘I’ll leave Haesoo to you.’

Chan nods gratefully.

‘Chan-ah,’ Mrs. Lim calls, ‘Hyerim called to say she won’t be able to make it today-‘

‘-honestly she shouldn’t be coming in at all,’ Chan frowns, ‘Is she okay?’

‘I keep telling her,’ Mrs. Lim rolls her eyes, ‘But she said her back is killing her- it must be bad if she’s just willing to staying at home.’

‘I’ll give her a call later, see if she needs anything from here that can help,’ Chan tells the receptionist as they stop in front of the ward door.

‘No,’ Mrs. Lim rolls her eyes again- Mrs. Lim was very good at rolling her eyes, ‘I’ll call her- this is woman thing- she probably wants fish broth or mangoes or both- you can’t help there. Have you been pregnant before? Just as I suspected- I’ll go visit her after closing.’

Chan laughs, nodding in response before he pushes the ward door open and pokes his head in.

His head wrapped in a thick roll of bandages, neck in a brace, and an IV hooked into his left arm, and a monitor linked up Han Donghyuck is the same as Chan last saw him 2 hours ago. This was the first time they’ve had to host a coma patient, and they’re lucky they have an EEG machine to monitor the patient. Han Donghyuck was quite healthy, with normal blood sugar levels, no history of a stroke or seizures. He wasn’t a heavy drinker either so things were looking up for him. In that regard, they’re very lucky.

However, the trauma to his head is obviously very severe and Chan, as well as every other medical personnel, are afraid he’ll develop brain swelling.

When Haesoo had called desperately late in the night, Dr. Shin and Chan had rushed to the Han residence, with Chan arriving earlier as he ran the distance through the storm.

Hwang Hyunjin had been waiting for them outside, breath and snow fogging up his pinched and worried features.

He had fallen down the stairs, tripping on a loose carpet fold on the top step.

Haesoo and Hyunjin had then tried their best to revive him but when he wouldn’t wake up Haesoo called the clinic. Luckily, both Chan and Dr. Shin were still working when she had called and they had rushed over.

Breathlessly Chan steadied the emergency case he had carried with him as well as the portable stretcher. Hyunjin rushes to help him set up the stretcher.

By the time Dr. Shin arrives, Chan has carefully placed a neck brace around Donghyuck and was tending to his head. Dr. Shin had also moved into action immediately, snow melting on his shoulders, as he reassures Haesoo first thing with his gentle voice.

Hyunjin had rushed out to call the neighbours and between him, Hyunjin, and 2 of the neighbours, they rush off with Donghyuck back towards the hospital.

He didn’t suffer from blood loss- it was superficial at most, but with head injuries, even if it looked scarier, losing blood was often a better sign than none at all. The swelling that followed was not only alarming but panic inducing especially for Haesoo who couldn’t stop shaking.

Hyunjin is there, trying his best to calm her though he looks visibly shaken too.

It’s past midnight and the storm had settled over them completely.

They do their best to stabilize Donghyuck but the man wasn’t displaying any signs of bodily function breakdown, just in case they hook him up to a heart monitor, his vitals reading out clearly.

That had been 2 nights ago and right now they really needed to move him to a better facility where they could monitor him and treat him for any potential serious developments.

But he understands Dr. Shin’s hesitation.

Donghyuck wasn’t displaying any negative developments which was of course a good sign. But the fact of the matter was that the Han family weren’t rich.

They were good people but inherited a lot of debt from their parents. While Donghyuck managed to clear most of it, selling the family farm lands and working odd jobs here and there and Haesoo taking on a wide variety of work which included house keeping, laundry services, while still actively working as the town’s only barber and beautician.

Even Haesoo’s son, Jisung, worked odd jobs here and there to help his mother out and save for his further education. Chan as well as Mrs. Lim always did their best to hire the boy to help out at the clinic, now especially with Hyerim being 6 months pregnant and all.

So now while they were just managing to stabilize themselves financially, with Mayor Kang helping Donghyuck finance and renovate the family home into something like a hotel, they certainly wouldn’t be able to afford this treatment. Not without a lot of sacrifices.

‘Hi noona,’ Chan smiles at the older woman, ‘Have you had lunch yet?’

Haesoo is maybe 10 years older than Chan but she already has white hair mixing in with her natural dark strands. She used to dye it regularly but then she stopped after Hyunjin told her it was a beautiful ombre.

‘I did,’ Haesoo nods, dark circles under her eyes, ‘How about you?’

‘I will in a moment,’ Chan replies as he walks in, ‘I wanted to talk to you about something.’

Haesoo sits up straighter, expression serious.

‘Like we said the first night, the best we can do right now is observe him,’ Chan nods towards Donghyuck, ‘And while we’re doing our best with what we have-‘

Haesoo nods, like she knows where this was going.

‘The general hospital at the district has really good equipment,’ Chan tells her earnestly, ‘We can get him an MRI, really tell if everything is all right.’

‘Chan-ah,’ Haesoo begins slowly. ‘You know I want to. But it’s…-I don’t know if we can afford it.’

‘I know noona,’ Chan tells her gently, walking a little closer and lowering his voice a little, ‘I know one of the doctors there- he’s a good friend and hyung of mine. I know he can help.’

Haesoo’s eyes widen.

‘I can’t ask you to do that-,’ she says at once.

‘-you didn’t,’ Chan tells her firmly, ‘I’ve already called him, explained the case to him. He’s agreed to help.’

‘-you shouldn’t have-,’ she argues, but her eyes flit back towards her brother.

‘But he will definitely be better taken care of there- my friend works there, I’ve given her your contact information, she’ll be there to help you the entire way okay? Her name is Jimin, Park Jimin- she’s promised to help you out.’

‘You know too many people- are you sure this is all right? Your doctor friend? Is he sure?’ Haesoo says after a prolonged moment of silence.

Chan nods with a smile.

‘I wouldn’t say it if I wasn’t sure noona.’

She hesitates.

‘Think of this as me thanking you for all you did for me, for us,’ Chan tells her.

‘Oh, Chan-ah,’ Haesoo looks like she’s going to cry.

‘Let me help.’

After a long pause, Haesoo nods.

‘How do we get there?’

Chan just grins as he asks, ‘Noona, how are you with heights?’

He’s eating a late (very late) lunch when the lounge door swings open to reveal two teenage boys.

‘Hyung!’ Han Jisung exclaims, like he hadn’t seen Chan only yesterday. Kim Seungmin is more reserved, only smiling with a small bow of his head, always very polite.

‘Hey guys,’ Chan smiles at the two friends, ‘How was school?’

‘A pain,’ Jisung grins, ‘At least for some of us.’

Seungmin scoffs, elbowing his best friend.

‘It was okay,’ he replies. ‘Lots of homework.’

‘The table is yours!’ he nods to the opposite side of the table.

‘Thank you hyung,’ Seungmin says again.

‘Uh, Chan-hyung, can I talk to you for a moment?’ Jisung asks, uncharacteristically shy and hesitant.

‘Yeah of course,’ Chan stands up and walks out to the hallway with the young teen.

‘Will he be okay?’ Jisung asks quietly as he looks back at the empty ward door.

‘We are trying our best,’ Chan tells him as reassuringly as possible.

‘Mum said that they were being flown out?’ Jisung inquires, looking unsure.

‘Yeah, the rescue helicopter? We arranged for it to pick your mother and uncle up- Yubin-noona went with them to make sure everything would be safe,’ Chan tells him reassuringly, ‘Your mother came to tell you right?’

Jisung nods.

‘You remember Jackson? My friend? He flew them there himself, they should be there soon enough now,’ Chan adds as Jisung’s eyes widen in recognition. Jackson Wang was something of a local favourite amongst all age groups.

‘Is it that serious? For him to go to the district? I thought he was stable?’ Jisung asks, sounding uncertain.

‘Yeah, it would be for the best. He’s stable, and that’s really good- but we need to make sure-‘

‘-that he’ll actually wake up?’ Jisung grimaces as he says it.

Teenagers were honestly a little frightening. Weirdly blunt and open about things adults were more careful about, and yet sensitive to things adults wouldn’t think twice about.

‘Yes,’ Chan replies honestly.

Jisung sighs out.

‘He’ll be in much better care there then we could possibly hope to give him here,’ Chan tells him. ‘I’ll let you know as soon as he lands- don’t worry too much Sunggie.’

It’s impossible not to, but there’s not much else Chan can say.

He walks Jisung back to the lounge where Seungmin was waiting patiently for his best friend to return, taking out both of their books and copies, even readying tea for them both.

Some 15 minutes later Chan gets a notification from Jackson that they landed at the hospital in the district and after that he gets a message from Jimin confirming she had picked up Haesoo and Donghyuck along with Yubin, their other nurse.

He informs Jisung who thanks him, quickly sending his mother a message himself.   

Chan is at the reception with Mrs. Lim when Jisung walks out of the lounge.

‘Homework done?’ Mrs. Lim asks before she laughs at Jisung’s crestfallen expression.

‘I’m gonna complete the rest later tonight,’ he groans. ‘I hate trigonometry.’

Chan holds his hand out for a high-five.

‘Headed back home?’ he asks as Jisung slaps his hand over Chan’s.

‘Not yet! I’m gonna be watching over Jeongin tonight,’ Jisung smiles, ‘Noona- uh Park-seonsaengnim said she has salmon for dinner for us!’

Chan laughs, fondness flooding him.

He’s once again so grateful for Mayor Kang and Jihyo, not just for Jeongin but for how they wordlessly assisted the Han family in small gestures like this.

‘Tell Jeonginnie I said hi.’

‘Of course! Bye Mrs. Lim! Bye hyung!’ Jisung waves at Chan before quickly jogging out.

‘I’ll go check on Seungmin,’ he tells Mrs. Lim who nods.

Inside the lounge, Seungmin is slumped on the table, arms dangling uselessly.

‘Is trigonometry giving you a hard time too?’

Seungmin just groans as he sits up straight again.

‘You want something to eat?’ Chan asks as Seungmin stretches a little, pushing his book aside. Chan holds up a cup noodle.

‘No, I’m good,’ Seungmin replies, staring vacantly at his copy, ‘Not allowed to eat noodles.’

Chan wants to have a firm word with Seungmin’s parents. But considering he was not a parent, and due to associated “scandals” his firm word would probably just cause further issues for the unfortunate teenager.

‘If you want to nap, couch is yours,’ Chan says instead.

Seungmin looks exhausted- the only time he didn’t look tired was when he was with Jisung. No teenager should be looking this haggard or drained- he was barely 16 and looked like he bore the responsibility of the world on his shoulders.  

‘I’ll finish this set and I’ll head back,’ Seungmin tells him, ‘Sorry for taking up space or something.’

‘Hey, you know you’re always welcome here,’ Chan tells him again. ‘Don’t worry about it- I wish I could help with the trigonometry but I’m afraid only Hyerim-noona would be of any actual help and she’s not here.’

‘Ah,’ Seungmin mimes a belly, ‘Yeah.’

Just then Dr. Shin pokes his head in.

‘Seungmin-ah!’ he smiles, ‘How are you doing?’

Seungmin’s whole demeanor changes. He sits up straighter, eyes lowered.

‘I’m doing well, thank you.’

‘That’s good to know. Chan-ah, could you help me set up for the 5 o’clock appointment?’

‘Yeah of course,’ Chan smiles before looking back at Seungmin, ‘Get home safe yeah? Don’t push it.’

Seungmin doesn’t look up from the table, pressing his lips to a thin line in some semblance of a smile and nods.

‘Thank you Nurse Bang for letting me do my homework here again.’

‘Bright kid,’ Dr. Shin smiles, ‘He will make a wonderful doctor, I’m sure.’

Chan just nods in reply.

Seungmin’s parents were every bit the prime example of tiger parenting. Seungmin was academically gifted without a doubt- and this display pushed his wealthy parents to dream of a career in medicine for their son before he was even 10. Forcing him to volunteer at the clinic to be Dr. Shin’s protégée was just one of the many excessive things they did. Other than pushing a strict academic regime on him, they were also excessively strict with what he ate, how he dressed, and who he was friends with.

Seungmin’s parents didn’t approve of Jisung- more like they didn’t approve of his mother. The only place they could hang out safely just the two of them was here at the clinic, doing their homework together.

The whole clinic was in on it- a massive secret amongst them, allowing the teenage boys to simply unwind from school, enjoy snacks, some TV, video games too (that was from Yubin).

Jisung was friendly with everyone, even with Dr. Shin though absolutely respectful because ‘the man delivered me out of my mother’s womb, I can’t disrespect that’. But Seungmin was different. Chan guesses because of the pressure from his parents and the constant “doctor” talk, the teenager probably developed some form of nervous or anxious reaction to Dr. Shin.

Chan waves the last patient out before stepping back around the reception where Mrs. Lim was.

‘Can you get me a prescription paper from Dr. Shin?’ she asks, ‘For Hyerim.’

‘Oh right, of course,’ Chan nods before quickly making his way back down the hallway.

Dr. Shin was still behind his desk, reading glasses on, staring at his laptop screen.

‘Dr. Shin are you ready to leave?’ Chan asks. They normally walked back together until the main street where Chan would turn down right and Dr. Shin kept walking forward.

‘I want to finish some of these reports first,’ Dr. Shin nods at the files, ‘Yubin showed me a shortcut in Excel, and I think I’m really getting a hang of it finally.’

Chan chuckles.

‘Could I get a prescription paper for Hyerim?’ Chan asks, ‘She’s not doing too well. Mrs. Lim is taking her some naproxen- she ran out.’

Dr. Shin frowns, ‘Of course- does she want me to come in?’

‘I think she just wants some rest more than anything,’ Chan relays what he overheard Mrs. Lim saying. ‘Mrs. Lim is going to go check in on her.’

‘Well, that’s good- let Mrs. Lim know to update me if anything is amiss,’ Dr. Shin says as he unlocks the drawer to the side where the prescription pads were stored. He tears a sheet off and quickly signs the bottom space before he hands it to Chan.

‘By the way, Ryeosung-hyung won’t be coming in today- he’s gotten sick from the storm,’ Chan reminds the doctor as he walks out. ‘You’re okay to close up?’

Dr. Shin scoffs at him.

‘Don’t forget I used to run this clinic all by myself!’

Chan laughs as he waves goodnight. Halfway through he remembers-

‘Don’t forget your insulin!’ Chan calls back, receiving an affirmative from the doctor.

Mrs. Lim takes the paper with a smile and slips it into the registry, the medication already ready. Saying goodnight Mrs. Lim turns right down the street and Chan takes the long route back, passing by Mayor Kang’s home.

He can’t see in, but the lights of the living room are lit. He considers ringing the bell and checking in on the boys, but Jihyo would be back soon no doubt.

With a deep inhale, Chan makes his way back to the small house he’s called his home for the past 3 years. He greets the townsfolk who were like him, returning home, bundled up against the cold. He climbs the stairs that curve up at the base of the slope, leading to the tiny shared compound between his house and two other nearly identical houses. Chan glances at the loose dirt and frozen sludge and makes a note to clean it tomorrow morning to prevent accidents. It’s already happened before and Mr. Jeon did not need to be in the clinic again.  

He always feels a pang of guilt when he looks at the dying garden pots neatly lining up the short porch past the small grill gate. He’s not particularly good at gardening even though he tries his best. He’s unable to maintain how it once was- a recurring theme, he thinks somberly to himself.

His scooter is still under the tarp- he didn’t use it much, preferring to walk when he could, but it was always good to have one in cases of emergency where speed was required. But with the weather, Chan hasn’t taken the scooter out in nearly over a month. He would need to check in on the engine and make sure everything was working as it should.

There’s a rustling sound in the dry hedges and Chan is already smiling as the neighbourhood cat appears.

‘Hey buddy,’ he smiles down at the cat just as a window slides open.

‘Oh, you’re back!’ Kang Younghyun waves at him from his kitchen window that looked into Chan’s front porch area. ‘He’s been making a lot of noise- tried feeding him but apparently my tuna isn’t worth his time.’

Chan laughs, squatting down to pet the cat that sits primly before him.

‘Thanks for looking out for him hyung,’ Chan smiles up at the older man, ‘How was your day?’

‘I think I managed to teach two students the e-chord on guitar,’ he shrugs, ‘So I guess it’s a win.’

Kang Younghyun was the music teacher at the school as well as Chan’s neighbour from about two years ago after he returned to take care of his grandfather Mr. Jeon. His grandfather had been in the senior home towards the edge of the town but had insisted he wanted to stay at home, making it everyone’s problem. Younghyun had then come from his other teaching position in Seoul to stay with him.

‘You don’t want hyung’s tuna?’ Chan asks the cat, scratching his chin. ‘Why so picky?’

Honestly Chan is a little flattered. It was always flattering when any animal specifically liked you over other people- even more so when it only seemed to like you.

‘I think he senses I’m a little scared of him,’ Younghyun remarks with a snort, ‘By the way you want some stew? Made extra.’

Younghyun was always making extra by mistake. Probably on purpose. And honestly Chan benefits from it so he’s not about to complain.

‘Absolutely.’

Feeding the cat the tuna already cracked open by Younghyun (who complains nonstop about the absolute disrespect he was receiving from the cat) Chan changes out of his scrubs and makes his way to his neighbours house.

Mr. Jeon is watching TV, several blankets laid out over him, and he grunts in response to Chan’s greeting.

‘I think I’m gonna try and get him to socialize a little more once the weather clears up,’ Younghyun tells him as they dig into the simple but hearty meal. ‘Don’t want him to cooped in too much.’

‘That sounds like a good idea, I think Yubin-noona would love to organize something once she comes back.’

‘Oh yeah tell me about Donghyuck-shii.’

It’s nearly 11 pm when Chan returns to his own home.

He doesn’t bother with the lights, knowing the layout like the back of his hand.

Showered and finally allowing the exhaustion to hit him, Chan walks over to the tiny balcony that extended out from the kitchen and dining area.

Even if the house was the size of maybe a 1-bedroom studio apartment with questionable roofing, choosing to leak in a new place every time it rained, the view it afforded was one of the best in the whole town. Chan can see nearly everywhere across the town and further down into the fields, even past the small hills and 1 of the lakes.

He pauses to stand by the window, wondering if he would catch sight of another meteor like he did a few nights ago. He had a wider view from here unlike the clinic where he had caught sight of the bright green meteor. According to what Hyerim had told him when he described what he saw to her, depending on the type of element present in the meteor, they would light up a different colour upon entry. Mrs. Lim who overheard the conversation instantly worried it might be some misdirected missile from their neighbouring country. It took both Chan and Hyerim to 10 minutes of reassurances that no, they were not about to be bombed.

It’s late when he finally moves away from the window and makes his way to his bedroom. He pauses to study the collection of paintings and drawings stuck on the wall next to his bedroom door.

The older illustrations normally just depicted a woman and a child, and sometimes a man in light-blue scrubs. But recently cookies, little animals, abstract shapes and forms, and most prominently, 3 boy figures were the focal point of most of the illustrations. The latest one is of the little boy with another woman and a man- it still stings a little, but Chan knows it’s for the best.

He would really have to thank Hyunjin properly one day.

His bedroom is the same as he left it earlier this morning. His bundled hoodie on top of his chair, laptop still closed on his desk, scattered books in various stages of being read. He needed to do his laundry soon- best after the weather clears up a little and the pipes are no longer frozen.

He smiles at the sight of the fox plushie on the nightstand and pats it a few times.

Shaking out the blankets and hitting the pillow a few times, Chan slumps onto the bed with a tiny groan.

And like every night for the past 3 years, he dreams of pained wet coughs and fragile hands barely holding onto his shaking ones.

*

The universe is massive.

But not as massive as Humans think it is.

Being a higher species and all, they express and understand the meaning of existence a little differently from Humans. Or maybe a whole lot more.

Because while Humans were obsessed with the complexities and mysteries of the universe (honestly there wasn’t a lot of mystery, it was just a lot of space, debris, and irritating pieces of shits like the Grey Fingers), in constant awe of their own ridiculous theories of quantum this and quantum that, they certainly had a high disregard for their own planet, which was, by the way, the only habitable planet in that whole region.

And maybe for them, escaping to another habitable planet in some other system would be possible because you know, they had the technology and lack of hysteria to do it, but Humans were idiots and seemed to think that by continuously shitting on one spot they would still come out of it shit-free.

They wouldn’t.

They would drown in it.

They would drown in their own shit.

And that wasn’t a pleasant thing to witness.

So the Union decided that maybe the best thing to do, after continuous observation (around 1200 Earth years give or take), was to simply nip the bud before it blossomed. And what a horrendous flower it would be if they allowed it to blossom.

It would smell like shit.

Oh that’s a good imagination- very funny, they could enjoy a small laugh.

Small joys. They would take them while it was available.

Anyways, so now here they were, ready to nip the bud.

The planet is beautiful, that much they could all agree on. But the privileged rarely understood what they had unless it was gone. And it was going to be very gone in approximately 5 minutes.  

A pity.

Not many planets had a perfect balance like Earth. Maybe the planets in the area Humans called Trappist was a good area- but it was occupied by some of the most violent predator-like species and it would be in everyone’s best interest if they never left their planet. Some of the stories from the researchers who went there gave enough of them trauma to last many eons. If they returned, that is.

So maybe it wasn’t their fault they wanted a closer look.

Dropping the extinction device on the planet didn’t require them to really get all too close.

But it felt right to do so. Poignant somehow- one trip around the planet and look at the landscape. Maybe they could find a farm with some cows first. A quick snack, as you would.

If Humans did something right, which they did sometimes to their credit, it was domesticating the cow. And while most Humans are not aware that the creature was in fact a direct evolutionary and genetic cousin of the bawng from their own system, a terrifying beast that should be left alone, they did a good job during their Neanderthal era of domesticating this wondrous creature.

Okay. A snack break.

Cows were common all around the planet, that much they knew. The short pamphlet on the planet had a whole section dedicated to the cow- it was rightfully respected and worshipped in certain areas of the planet.

But right now he couldn’t risk being seen. And the coordinates that show him a lonely farm with several cows in a secluded mountainous area would be perfect to stop for an hour or so for their much deserved snack break.

Oh if only they weren’t doing this alone.

But they wouldn’t be alone for long.

If there was any comfort it was that as they are born into the universe, they are born out of it as well, meaning they would return to it, and be whole and complete as they were meant to, as they should have been.

As they have always been.

But first a snack.

There are convenient clouds- large ones that light up several times as they approach it. This wouldn’t be a bad place to set off the extinction device actually.

What was that odd Human saying?

Two birds with one stone?

Yes.

Snack break. And then set off the device.

Perfect.

Okay.

By all rights, piloting was not difficult. Not when you barely had to do anything and their technology was so advanced that simply requesting the shuttle to do something for you was enough.

So because of that they didn’t bother going through the Basics of Piloting pamphlet they had been issued before setting off on the final leg of their mission.

Maybe they should have.

Because they don’t think Earth weather was particularly volatile or dangerous. Not for their technology at least. They’ve seen the horribly engineered and designed “shuttles” Humans used to fly around their planet. It was a miracle they hadn’t all died already.

But they were about to end that miracle!

After the snack.

But what was with this weather.

The shuttle jostles horribly – this was most unusual. This shuttle could survive the force of a black hole, why was it losing its shit over a snow storm?

Channeling steadiness to the shuttle, they focus on what they want.

But it’s rejected.

Offended, they slap the dashboard with a wave of their corporeal celestial form.

Oh the shuttle does not like that.

They twist through the air most horribly- smacking along all sides of the shuttle violently and then there’s warning hums. Hums you did not want to hear.

There’s a horrible gust of wind, the stench of oxygen filling the sterile shuttle.

Maybe Humans were onto something when they invented seatbelts because they fall out- the storm consumes him like some bawng upon a flock of innocent fledglings.

Maybe whatever miracle was still saving Humans extended to them because they land in a lake.

It’s the only reason they’re barely alive.

Had they landed on the ground, or on one of those unforgiving mountain sides, they would be dead and in the most pathetic manner too.

It’s petrifying cold but that also saves them. They were not suited to the heat as it required more energy to function. The cold was preferable but maybe not this much.

There’s a bright burst of green as they breach the water surface, lost in the storm rushing and consuming what appeared to be the whole sky. They roar – screams of frustration and anger and disappointment. They immediately stop as they inhale a lot of water and while they could survive underwater, this was not ideal.

Pathetically and wallowing in anger and self-pity, they stay afloat.

Wouldn’t it be better to just give up? Immerse in this pathetic body of icy water and let go, return to their elemental state and just be done with it.

But no. They wouldn’t want this.

They wouldn’t do this.

They wouldn’t give up.

It hurts to move and if they didn’t hurry, they would be dying whether or not they wanted it or planned for it.

They would complete this mission.

They had to.

For them.

For Uleuda.

There were creatures in this lake – strong, and could host him.

But none of them had opposable thumbs so there’s no way they can do anything like that.

Shuddering at the thought of it, they make up their mind to find a Human.

Through the storm earnestly breaking all around them they catch sight of what appeared to be a Human establishment. The lights are on, indicating presence inside.

Good.

Reaching over the water, they weave through the waves, lengthening their form beneath to anchor their placement in this icy lake. It takes longer than it should but they manage.

There’s a broken doorway- how odd.

If any Human were to see them now, they would only behold the form and shape of the entirety of space and its stars, etched onto elongated lengthening limbs, concentrating into the eyes large and sharp.

But not as cool.

They were injured- so they probably looked a bit more lumpy than anything else.

What an embarrassment.

Also this house was an embarrassment.

That carpet? Really?

It stinks too. Acrid fumes of some form of alcohol.

There’s movement from somewhere and instinct kick in, their injured instincts kick in, and they hides, like some stupid prey. What were they doing?! This was most shameful!

Slinking away from the sounds, carefully tracking- yes, they were stalking. That’s what this was.

There’s garbled sounds- voices. Yuck. Humans had the worst sounds.

Even more so when they sang.

For a horrible moment, they lose track of time.

They were more injured than they thought. This was not good.

They needed a body now.

They hear breathing, the slightest movement and they immediately lunge.

Humans were so weirdly shaped- this physical shape was so unappealing they nearly entirely peal themselves off again but no- they needed to get better. Stronger.

Well shit.

This Human was injured.

Shit. Should have looked closer.

But it wasn’t too bad- they could work with this- Humans had some of the easiest DNA to replicate and mimic- it’s how the Hatchlings are able to infiltrate this stupid planet and shitty people so easily, increasing their population and running back off, hissing at the Union as though they were winning.

Stupid Hatchlings. Maybe they could control them next after Earth.

Oh wait. This was the last mission.

And it was already somewhat fucked up.

But no. They could do this- they could do this.

At least the Human was in good physical condition other than the injury.

Oh, was that their fault. Oops.

Time to check for more injuries- time to completely permeate this body.

Right okay.

It’s a he- some gender nonsense Humans were hell-bent over because of their anatomy.

Yuck. So this was a penis.

Slowly, they seep in completely.

It’s gross.

This was a man. His name is Lee Minho and this is his family home and-

Well okay that’s a lot of trauma.

There was no time to unpack that so best ignore it. Preferably forever. It seems like that’s what this Lee Minho was doing anyways. Wow that’s a lot of memories and not a lot of happy ones either-

ARE THOSE ZOTE? OH THOSE ARE ZOTE THEY EXIST ON EARTH TOO? THEY’RE CALLED CATS? THIS WAS AMAZING THEY LOVE ZOTE OH-

Enough of the mushy things- time for some real cognitive coherence.

They open his eyes and okay, how are Humans even alive after all this time.

7 colours?! That’s it?!

Ugh, hands. Fingers.

But much better than those pieces of shit Grey Fingers.

They’re on the floor. This is fine. They could get their shit together in this Human and find their shuttle, repair it, and still continue with the mission. This was fine.

It takes embarrassingly long to figure out the basics of the body. Yet again, regret over not reading another fucking pamphlet.

They try to sigh but it sounds wrong.

Pain flares on the side of their head- the Human head, and immediately they don’t like that so they focus on that area a little more.

Somehow they manage to sit up.

Humans were so weak- all this layer of protection and for what? Nothing. That’s what. Absolutely nothing.

Not even able to put some metal over the skull for defense.

Balance is hard but not too hard. Leaning on the wall and accidently pulling down the curtains they manage to stand.

Oh this was the worst.

What sort of house was this.

Disgusting.

Now wonder this Lee Minho hated it.

Oh there’s a mirror. Time to look at his new body.

Tripping only once, they get to the mirror and just stare.

With the limited colours allowed to them they look upon the most boring palette imaginable: brown eyes, brown hair, decent height for a Human.

‘Of course I had to accidently choose the ugliest Human ever.’

Their tongue sounds wrong in this form.

Sighing and then immediately throwing up violently, they manage their best to adjust to the body.

Shit.

This was going to be so so embarrassing if the Union finds out.

*