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When Daehyun is fourteen, he sees a monster the size of a dinosaur destroy the Golden Gate Bridge. The cables snap between gigantic claws. It crumples like paper beneath monstrous jaws. He feels his mother grab onto his arm and tug him away as the monster lumbers closer to the shore. It takes six days to take it down. It takes six weeks for Daehyun’s family to recover because they realize his brother had been on the bridge as it collapsed into the bay. Six months later, another monster appears, now labeled kaiju by the public, in Manila. Daehyun feels his stomach lurch when he sees it on the news. He feels his mother grip his arm in her frail hands.
At eighteen, Daehyun becomes the Golden Boy of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps as the youngest and first member to pilot Wild Vega (she’s a proud jaeger, shining bright crimson and chrome in the hangar lights when he sees her for the first time). His face adorns posters and billboards with the words We need YOU to help defend the Pacific Rim! Enlist into the PPDC today! to try and convince the young generation that they, too, can sacrifice their lives in a seemingly never-ending war against the massive creatures from the sea.
His partner is a short twig of a young man, just barely a year older than him, with cheeks still full of baby fat.
“Byun Baekhyun,” he says with a smile as bright as the chrome breastplate on Vega. He holds his hand out for Daehyun to shake. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“Jung Daehyun,” Daehyun replies, taking Byun Baekhyun’s smaller hand into his.
He doesn’t look like he belongs in here with his soft edges and naive smile, but the first time he throws Daehyun down into the mat with only four moves, Daehyun feels like he’s vastly misjudged Baekhyun’s character.
Their first battle against a kaiju is their last. They’re transported to the coast of Los Angeles to fight against a kaiju with three other jaegers.
Vega takes a massive hit to her right side, and she crashes to the ground in a heap of metal.
Daehyun stumbles to his feet, swaying as the ground swims around him. He throws his shattered helmet to the ground. Vega lays in front of him, chrome and crimson scattered on the streets. She's a complete wreck. A kaiju roars behind him, but it sounds so far away. He spins around. Somehow, he’s back on the ground. His ears are ringing. Everything is ringing. When he brings his hand up to his right ear, his fingers come back sticky with blood.
“Baekhyun!” Daehyun shouts. His heart pounds in his chest, rushes like the crashing ocean’s waves beneath the ringing.
He struggles to his feet again. His uniform is in tatters. He hits the ground, his vision going black.
Daehyun wakes up in a hospital in Los Angeles. One of the jaeger pilots who fought alongside Vega informs him that he’s been out for two weeks. She also tells him that the San Francisco Jaeger Program has been shut down, and that he’s being relieved of his duties. He asks about Baekhyun. She avoids his eyes awkwardly.
When she talks, Daehyun realizes he’s lost his hearing. He speaks louder than he should, and he notices the way she flinches slightly.
For two years, Daehyun lives in Los Angeles. He works in a small coffee shop as a barista. He’ll admit it’s boring. He’ll admit he misses the thrill of being in a jaeger, but he won’t deny the wave of nausea that washes over him when he thinks of getting inside another one.
The bells on the front door jingle. He looks up to greet the customer, but frowns when he sees it’s Bang Yongguk, director of the Seoul branch.
“Hi,” Daehyun greets with a tight smile. “How may I help you?”
“You know, I’ve been looking for you for a while,” Yongguk says, his deep voice catching easily in Daehyun’s hearing aid.
Daehyun doesn’t respond. He doesn’t know how to respond.
“I’m trying to recruit the remaining jaeger pilots,” Yongguk says. He looks up at the menu thoughtfully. “Wondered if you’d be interested in joining.”
Daehyun tries not to think too hard about the way Baekhyun was violently ripped out of his head. Getting back in a another jaeger means risking going through that again. He takes a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I can do that again,” Daehyun replies with a frown. “Thanks for the offer, though.”
Yongguk purses his lips. He’s silent for a moment, but Daehyun can see how he tries to work out something to say. “How would you rather die? As a barista or a war hero?”
Daehyun gulps because he misses being inside a jaeger. He misses the adrenaline and excitement pounding in his veins, but is that enough to actually put him back in one?
At twenty, Daehyun meets Yoo Youngjae. There is a slight limp in his step and curiosity in his eyes. If Daehyun squints, he can see a little bit of Baehyun in Youngjae. They have the same boundless energy and naive smile, and Daehyun almost wants to grab Youngjae by the shoulders and convince him that it’s not worth it. That none of this is worth the potential damage to be done. Daehyun convinces himself that saving Youngjae means saving Baekhyun, too.
They find out they’re drift compatible, despite all the odds. Daehyun stands above Youngjae in the training room, both breathing hard, but they realize it instantly. The victorious smile that spreads across Youngjae’s face terrifies Daehyun.
“Why did you decide to become a jaeger pilot?” Daehyun asks one day. They sit across from each other in the huge mess hall, eating steamed vegetables and slops of mystery meat doused in tomato sauce.
Youngjae shrugs. When he speaks, his voice is just barely discernible above the chatter. “A kaiju attacked Seoul about a year ago. Yongguk was one of the pilots who killed it. After that, I knew I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.”
Daehyun sees the burning determination in Youngjae’s eyes. He realizes he can’t stop Youngjae no matter how hard he tries. He’ll just have to save himself.
The jaeger they’re assigned to is named Rogue Warrior, coated in subtle indigo and yellow paint. It chips off in places, revealing the dark metal beneath, but that doesn’t make it any less proud than Vega once was. When Daehyun and Youngjae pilot her for a test run, Daehyun is beyond overwhelmed. He forgot just how relentless the Drift could be. He hears Yongguk’s frantic voice in his helmet. The memories fly past, but he tries to push past them as much as he can.
He’s in the streets of Los Angeles again. Vega lays ruined in front of him. His ears are ringing. He wants to scream. He wants to get out. The only sound that comes out of his mouth is Baekhyun’s name.
He blinks and he’s somewhere else. The entire world around him is on fire. Smoke fills his lungs. Someone shouts in muffled Korean nearby. “Youngjae!” he thinks he can hear. He can’t feel his leg.
When it’s finally over, Youngjae throws his helmet to the side and kneels on the ground, coughing and breathing hard. Daehyun is slower because he’s been in the Drift before, he knows what it's like, but he knows Youngjae hasn’t. He carefully removes his helmet, tucking it under his arm. He approaches Youngjae uncertainly.
“Youngjae?” Daehyun asks. He places his hand on Youngjae’s shoulder, feeling a slight tremor beneath his hand. “I’m… I’m sorry.”
Daehyun doesn’t know what else to say. Maybe this will convince him.
Youngjae looks up, his eyes hazy and watery, and smiles. “It’s… It’s fine. It’s all good.”
Daehyun helps Youngjae up, letting Youngjae lean into his side as they stumble out of Warrior. They’re treated much differently after that. Unprofessional, everybody seems to say. Even Yongguk, with his piercing eyes and constant scowl. Somehow, though, Daehyun finds reassurance in Youngjae’s presence, not just because he’s like Baekhyun, but because he’s Youngjae.
Their first battle is not their last, neither is their second, their third, or their fourth. Eventually, Daehyun stops keeping track. There is fluidity in their movements, and familiarity in the way they roam through the other’s memories. Somehow, Daehyun thinks that they’re better suited for each other than when he was with Baekhyun.
“What made you come back?” Youngjae asks at the end of the day, and Daehyun sees the additional despite what happened in Los Angeles in Youngjae’s eyes. They sit on one of the many metal grating walkways suspended from the ceiling, overlooking Warrior as she’s being repaired.
“I hated what happened,” Daehyun starts slowly, trying to find the right words. “And maybe seeing you made me regret coming here…” He sees confusion in Youngjae’s eyes, then something a bit like hatred, but he continues. “But, I guess, I’m kinda like you.”
“How?” Youngjae asks, tilting his head.
Daehyun shrugs. “I figured I’d rather die trying to save a couple lives than die trying to be saved.”
Youngjae leans into Daehyun’s side, humming. Daehyun doesn’t mind. It’s a comforting weight, reminding him that he isn’t completely alone anymore. “That’s admirable.”
Daehyun comes to realize that being a jaeger pilot usually is.