Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Has there ever been a time when you wanted to escape? To leave the world, to avoid all of the problems, consequences, and the negative aspects of life? Have you ever held life to high and noble ideologies, only for it to crumble in face of manmade cruelty and its darkness?

To have hope sprout and grow, for it to be nurtured by the kindness around you. To live in a little bubble full of presumption, privilege, and skewed perceptions of the world.

The more the sprout grows, the harsher its death. The more painful it is when it gets uprooted by hands tainted with darkness. Greed, pride, the ego of man.

It destroys, it kills. It creates disaster. Hence the irony that this garden, the Garden of Eden, was known to the world as a Disaster, a Darkness.

The Garden of Eden is a paradise for which the criteria to even enter are extremely specific and not all known. The only thing in common with its victims is that they must be aware that darkness exists. They must hold contempt for the world in their hearts. Many who enter never leave, its temptations too sweet, a sinister cradle that rocks the soul to sleep.

Many have tried to conceal the existence of this Disaster, for the idea of it was too tempting for the weary soul. It was shrouded in mystery and uncertainty, the dangers not fully known, making it difficult to truly classify it. However, the amount of agents who have gone missing has become too much of a dent on the Disaster Management Bureau’s resources, meaning they absolutely had to send someone.

The manual was short:

“Those who enter won’t want to leave. This is especially true for people suffering mental conditions in the real world and who suffer from a strong desire for escapism. The longer you stay, the harder it is to leave. The God of the Garden of Eden is unknown and no one has met him, except the helpers of the Garden (who may be identified by their human bodies with animal traits). They are rumored to be the first victims of the Garden who have been fully contaminated, do not try to save them . They will know who you are, they will know everything about you, don’t fall for their kind words.”

There were a few base rules, in no particular order:

Never go out at night. If you do, don’t get caught.

Never upset the lead helper of the Garden, he knows everything.

Contribute to the Garden, always do a task.

No weapons are allowed under any circumstance.

There are additional rules specific to certain times, though they’re largely unknown.

Agent Choi repeated the rules to himself one last time before he walked forward into the forest. He was the second to try to enter the Garden, the first being Agent Bronze, who was turned away at the entrance. He had gotten farther than most, many walked through the entire forest and did not even make it to the entrance. Therefore, hopefully, the Garden would accept Choi. It would be most ideal for the Bureau if he did, the need for more experienced agents as the overall amount of disasters increased, and Hyeonmu Team 1’s members were deemed to have the most mental strength based on each member’s seniority and experience. Choi wasn’t the type of person to succumb to despair, to wallow on his problems and brew on it.

You will know you’ve entered the Garden’s realms when the path you are walking becomes paved with greenery and the river water turns crystal clear.

The muddy water alongside the path barely reflected Choi. He was about to call it off and tell the Bureau he was rejected when he suddenly felt a burst of pain in his head, causing him to stumble and fall onto lush grass where the path was just moments before. Flashes of red went through his vision, making the river appear as if it were flowing with blood, before a hand reached out to him. Unable to think properly through the pain, Choi took it, and he was immediately relieved.

The river beside him glittered, flowers sprouted at his feet. He could hear the birds singing in the distance, flitting about with a playful tune.

His head felt clearer than it had in years, it was as if he could see and feel the colors around him. It was… pleasant.

“Are you okay?” a voice, the owner of the hand, asked. He snapped out of his daze, processing the being before him; the owner of the hand that had helped him up had cloven hooves rather than feet. The kind stranger’s voice was soft, worried. Choi looked up, albeit with much hesitation, to meet the gaze of a man who exuded innocence in his complete being. His eyes softened out of concern, but were round like a doe’s. Choi almost would’ve thought he was a human if not for the flesh-like antler sticking out of his forehead and his cloven hooves.

“Oh— Yes, I’m terribly sorry, I just had an awful headache out of nowhere…” Choi murmured as the man pulled him up. “That does happen to a few people who enter our Garden, though it’s rare. It must be a sign you’re destined for the greatest joys here.” The man in front of him smiled. “Those who enter our Garden… are looking to escape a great pain in their heart, and it looks like you’ve been through a lot, Agent Choi.”

Choi let go of the greeter’s hand instinctively to touch the scar on his neck, using the motion as an excuse to hide his shock, he knew the helpers knew everything. “I– yes, I have. And you are…?” he prompted; it was clear he met the criteria for the Garden, now he must play the role of a weak-willed man looking for an escape. “I’m Roe Deer, one of the lead helpers of the Garden of Eden.” His eyes shone with a reverence that was slightly unsettling. This was the man each denizen of the Garden must stay on the good side of. Not that it was particularly difficult, making the ranking of this Disaster rather low. Even so…

“Before you truly enter the Garden, there are a few items you are carrying that are prohibited.” Roe Deer’s gaze steeled, eyes brushing over Choi’s being, critical. “Do not worry, it won’t deny you entrance, but they must be removed immediately.”

Mr. Roe Deer approached him. “May I?” He gestured towards Choi’s pockets. “Ah, yes,” Choi replied, trying not to let his nerves show. He raised his arms as Mr. Roe Deer patted him down, taking some items from him. He first took the shoelaces, meaning the agents who had previously come may not have stayed on purpose and simply found it too difficult to leave. This was a good sign, there may be agents willing to escape. The second item Roe Deer took was the recorder he usually used to record his notes in Disasters; it was thrown into the river. Right… Choi knew most technology wasn’t allowed in the Garden, but he wanted to test if his old, battery-powered recorder would be allowed. It seems not. A part of him cringed a little when Mr. Roe Deer found his silver shield. The Garden did its best to strip a person of the symbols of their real world lives.

Perhaps those would be the last items Mr. Roe Deer would take. However, before Mr. Roe Deer’s hands fully left his body, he took one more item. Choi stared in worry at the last item Roe Deer took, the suncatcher.

“I hope you don’t take too much offense towards these items being taken, our God takes offense to the presence of these items in the Garden of Eden.” Mr. Roe Deer looked apologetic as he crushed the suncatcher with his bare hands. The implication was clear. He appeared to put the rest of the items away in a pocket space available on his body, further signifying how Mr. Roe Deer was no longer human.

“Of course not, I apologize for bringing such items here in the first place,” Choi begins but Roe Deer interrupts him, “I know, it’s normal for Agents to have these items with them. What’s important is that you cooperated with their removal, which is all that we ask for. Now, please follow me, I’ll be very happy to show you around!” The ghost story’s helper took Choi’s hand, weaving through the trees with the grace and dexterity of a deer. The river faded away from sight and the tree’s leaves went from green to a blue-ish hue. Fruits Choi had never seen before grew on these trees, but somehow he knew they’d taste delicious.

It became abundantly clear that this was less of a Garden, and more of a forest. Patches of grass exposed to the sky could be found throughout the forest, looking similar to nature of the real world but slightly… off.

The green was a little too bright, sometimes if he looked with his peripheral vision it would be more of a turquoise color. The flowers that spotted the ground were of unusual patterns and sizes.

They stopped at the forest’s edge.

Mr. Roe Deer let go of Choi, taking a few steps forward to reveal a clearing where people were laughing and dancing around in joy. “Welcome to the heart of the Garden of Eden, where you can let go of worldly desires and simply believe in an ideal world.” Mr. Roe Deer beckoned to different areas of the vast clearing. Flowers of varying sizes and colors decorated the ground, some even stretching up to create shade as if they were trees.

Vines curled around the stems, sometimes stretching out as if to embrace the air around them. The clearing seemed to stretch out endlessly, claiming whatever space he could see in his periphery while the ground dipped and rose in the distance. He could even see some rocky cliffs in the distance, it felt less like a garden and more like a forest.

“This is the area people most like to gather, it’s unofficial but most people like to arrange all kinds of activities here.” He beckoned Choi to follow him.

Mr. Roe Deer practically leapt across the Garden with careful grace. He was almost flying, the only evidence he wasn’t was the faint clack of his hooves against the occasional stone. There were areas best to get food if one didn’t want to consume the fruits littering the garden alongside sleeping arrangements made of hollow trees and wispy leaves as a safe cover.

Mr. Roe Deer slowed down quite a bit, reaching what seemed to be the final stop. “The river you saw earlier ends in a lake here, on the warmer days, some people enjoy a little trip to the lake and enjoy fishing here. Any kind of fish you could imagine is in these waters, it’s one of the most calming areas of the Garden.” Choi knelt down, his hand gliding through the water before him; there was a reflection of himself staring back at him. It smiled.

He froze as images of him running around the garden, picking fruit from the trees, befriending the animals that wander around echoed through the waters, captivating him. A sense of dread festered in his heart the more he stared, but he was unable to look away and eventually it withered.

He wasn’t sure how long he was staring before Mr. Roe Deer set a hand on his shoulders. “Careful, sometimes the peace the waters supply is too overwhelming, especially for newcomers who can still remember the harshness of the world.”

Choi quickly snapped out of his trance, anxiety spiked through his mind at the realization of how easy it was to succumb to the temptations of this garden. “How long was I—” he started. “Not very long, though a bit longer than I should’ve allowed. You looked too happy, I couldn’t bring myself to ruin it.” Roe Deer sighed almost shyly, a hint of affection slipping through his words.

“It’s alright,” Choi murmured in reply, standing up. His knees yelled at him in pain after crouching for so long. “We hope that you stay, at the very least, live here for a few days and let me know how you like it here… If you decide to stay, I’ll take you to God and he can give you his blessing,” Roe Deer informed, “All that we ask is that you contribute to some of the chores around here and get to know everyone, they’re all very kind. And please don’t go out at night. If you follow these rules, I believe you’ll love it here.” Though, something in his gaze betrayed a hint of desperation, of need, telling Choi that he must like it here, or it would sadden Roe Deer deeply.

Was it like Roe Deer to get so attached to potential residents so quickly? Choi wasn’t entirely sure. A strange and sudden force compelled him to reply. “Of course, would you be alright with meeting once a day? I might have a few questions about the Garden… and living here… that I’d want to be answered,” Choi asked. Roe Deer lit up. “I’d love that! Please tell me the interesting stories about your day and the people you meet!” Roe Deer replied, reminding Choi of a student when someone mentions their favorite singer.

This is a good way to gain the favor of Roe Deer, and to maybe find out a few more details about the Garden before I eventually go back… Choi decided. There was nothing in the manual about getting close to Roe Deer, and despite him basically being the one in charge, he seemed well-meaning. Besides, Choi had taken a liking to him already. Wait no… why is he so comfortable with Roe Deer already? This is a supernatural entity, he’s not a human Choi immediately snapped out of it, that was dangerous, he couldn’t succumb to the contamination of the Garden. And Roe Deer, despite posing no physical threat, was still someone in power at the Garden— it’s too dangerous to trust him.

“Then I’ll let you explore the Garden on your own. I have a few tasks I must attend to now, but please feel free to talk to anyone if you get lost or have any questions! Everyone here is quite nice and well-meaning,” Roe Deer bowed before taking his leave. Choi stood there, waiting until Roe Deer had disappeared over the horizon before finding a nearby spot to sit and write down some notes.

Time seems to run differently here, as the sun is in the same place as it was when I first entered. The one they call Roe Deer appears innocent upon first impression, but it’s clear he knows a lot more than he’s letting on. The people of the Garden respect him, love him even, and he extends that same kindness and care back. Contamination happens quickly and there are certain ways it can be sped up. Each person who comes to the garden has an ache in their heart, the greater the ache, the harder it is to leave. Stay away from the lake.

Choi was given three days maximum for staying in the Garden; if time ran differently, though, he was not sure how many days in the physical world he’d actually be gone for. However, it was deemed that he could stay at most three days before succumbing completely to the contamination of the Garden, therefore he must stay vigilant.

He followed the blue flowers up the makeshift path back to the area of the clearing that most people gathered. The best thing in his experience was not to engage with too many people. Find the faces he recognized from the list the Bureau gave him and strike up a casual conversation with them, determine if they can be rescued or not. For now, it was too dangerous to take someone out of the Garden who wanted to stay, Eden was fiercely protective of her residents, but she respected their wishes if they’d like to leave. Whether they can make it out of the forest was another story.

Most of the residents present had sat down, forming their own little circles and conversing as they created flower crowns, weaving the stems of the different kinds of flowers together. “Does anyone have any light blue flowers they’re not using? I ran out,” one person asked aloud, looking around desperately. “I do! Is it the right shade?” Someone else held a cluster of sky blue flowers in their hands, their own flower crown almost finished with dots of the same flower detailing the otherwise yellow crown. “Oh! Yes! Thank you so much!” The first person stood up shyly scrambling over to take the flowers from the second person’s hands before sitting back at their original spot, taking a few flowers and setting the rest on a pile beside them.

Of the people clustered in the front, there was no one he could recognize from the list the Bureau gave him. There was a wide range of people here after all, some from the Bureau, some from the largely dissolved Daydream Inc., and ordinary people who were taught of the existence of the Garden, of disasters, and lured in.

Rumored to have been the work of the lead helper of the Garden.

While many of the beings seated were completely human, there was one with animal traits among them. A woman it appeared, with the traits of a goral sat a little to the side, humming as she weaved a crown with purple hues. Choi sat down beside her, a fistful of flowers he hastily but carefully picked beside him. “Excuse me, could you show me how to weave one like yours?” He gestured to the crown in her hands, which was a little more complex than the ones of her fellow residents.

“I’d be happy to! Are you new here? I don’t seem to recognize your face,” the lady with the horns of a goral replied. “Oh yes! I just arrived today,” he answered. She looked at Choi warmly, eyes softening with pity when they landed on his neck. “That’s wonderful, it’s always exciting when someone new arrives… There’s been less and less newcomers lately, so it’s very exciting when there is!” She smiled. “Please call me Miss Goral… and you are…?” she prompted. “Choi, it’s nice to meet you,” he greeted.

Though it was clear Miss Goral held some level of authority here, it did not appear that she was as omniscient as Roe Deer. This could have been why there wasn’t any mention of her in the manual.

Then perhaps the only helper of the Garden of caution had to be Roe Deer. Why was that? What was different about Roe Deer that made his knowledge so extensive? Though of course this was still a hypothesis, it could also be that Miss Goral was a newer helper and therefore not privy to the kind of knowledge Roe Deer, who was rumored to be the first victim of the Garden of Eden, had.

This meant that Choi had to talk to and meet other helpers of the Garden, standardize a list of traits and criteria of each helper. But first, he must build up rapport with Miss Goral. “These are an interesting set of flowers you’ve chosen,” Miss Goral commented. “Oh, I chose the ones I liked, is it not an appealing combination for a flower crown?” Choi asked, trying to spark a proper conversation with Miss Goral. “It’s not unappealing,” she began,”it’s just that they have an interesting meaning together. What do you know about the language of flowers?” she asked.

Choi stayed silent for a few moments, trying to appear awkward and shy. He must stay unsuspected under the gaze of the helpers. “Admittedly not much, but I am curious now,” he replied. Miss Goral smiled, pointing at each flower while listing their meaning, “This flower means eternal joy,” pointing to the lily of the valley flowers he held in his hand, “and this one means sorrow,” pointing to the purple hyacinths in his hands, “Though it could be further developed to mean regret, and eventual forgiveness,” her eyes practically glittered as her hand moved about, “and this flower, adonis, means eternal happiness and sad memories,”

Choi listened on and on as Miss Goral continued to paint the story of the flowers. “Perhaps choosing these flowers was an unconscious decision in your mind, Choi, but I believe that fate guided you to these choices,” she said thoughtfully, “Now, I’ve rambled on a bit too much, haven’t I? Let me show you how to make a crown with these flowers. I’ll take a few with some similar structures to yours.”

She made a plucking motion out of thin air, flowers appearing in her hand. She dropped each flower she plucked into a small pile before beginning the demonstration. “To make this a little easier, I took a few different colors to show you the kinds of weaves you should do for each kind of pattern.”

Choi watched slowly, echoing the same movements that Miss Goral did in order. Though her hands, much more dexterous and definitely more experienced than his were like magic, coming out a lot prettier than his. Choi looked at his clumsy work and Miss Goral’s perfect crown, now a pile of two. “Ah, you’re much better at this than me… I thought I followed your guidance exactly.” He ducked his head in shame. “No worries. I’m much more experienced in this than you. This takes a lot of practice and time! Absolutely no worries at all.” She tried to encourage him. “See, this knot you made here is actually very difficult for beginners! And this part looks very nice, it’s almost symmetrical.”

But when it became clear that her praises were not enough to reassure Choi she handed him one of her crowns, the demonstrative one. “Here, you can take this crown with you. Really, don’t worry! You did very great,” she encouraged. “Thank you,” Choi replied, bowing his head low to express shyness. He could feel the gaze of Miss Goral on him; when he looked up she was looking at him with a gaze that seemed to scream What a cute newcomer!

“We were busy for quite a while, I recommend you eat something. We may be in paradise, but you must take good care of yourself too!” she said, sounding a little bit like a mother in a way. Perhaps that was something of what her role was, a caretaker of the residents. It seemed she was one of the helpers that would regularly interact with the residents of the Garden.

“Oh! And I recommend coming by again at dusk. I know Mr. Roe Deer may have already told you we aren’t allowed outside at night, but when we have special guests it’s an exception. I heard today the host of a radio show is coming over!” she exclaimed excitedly.

Choi nodded. “I’ll be sure to do so then,” he quickly bade his farewells to Miss Goral, the two flower crowns hanging on his hand as he made his way to an area with giant leaves as tables and chairs. The manual had said that the food that the Garden determined would be best for the recipient would be given. The moment he sat down, a plate of kimbap appeared before him along with a set of chopsticks ready for him to pick up. He examined the food closely, poking and prodding at it, closely examining the ingredients to see if they were any unfamiliar meats.

Everything looked fine. He double checked the manual in his small notebook, nothing about the food and drink they offered at the Garden being unsafe. Nothing that would place any restrictions on him, or contaminate him further. As far as previous explorations have detailed, it was regular food. Interesting.

He wished the manual had expanded further on the intricacies on the different kinds of food and its acquisition in the disaster, but that was what Choi was here for: if he had to be the guinea pig, then so be it. He took a bite.

It tasted like regular kimbap. There was nothing particularly special about it, but perhaps that was because his emotional state was rather stable right now and he was feeling perfectly fine, and so the food didn’t need to be particularly special.

As he was finishing his last bites, a gust of wind whooshed by him. He looked up in confusion and curiosity. A woman with the wings of the falcon on her back had landed, rather aggressively, nearby. “Hello! I heard from Roe Deer you just arrived today! I’m very curious about you, see, it’s been a while since Roe Deer has been so energetic about a newcomer,” she said with an eerie smile.

Chapter Text

The falcon-like lady smoothly folded her wings neatly behind her back, the ease at which she handled those monstrosities of appendages showed a familiarity of someone who had likely been here for a while. She scanned his appearance up and down, it felt as if she were picking him apart, analyzing him to find the type of person he was. He felt pricks along his skin, uncomfortable with the scrutiny that had been paired with her friendly demeanor.

The straightforwardness and the inquisitive look in her eyes somewhat reminded Choi of a reporter, leaping into the scene to immediately gather information. “Is that so? Well. I don’t know what I may have done to have sparked his interest,” Choi muttered in reply. The falcon-like lady looked at him, sighing, “I guess it would be difficult to get answers from you anyways.. Roe Deer always has mysterious reasons for the way he is,”. Though she seemed familiar with Roe Deer, to the point that she would casually refer to him as “Roe Deer” rather than putting any sort of formal prefix, it seemed that Roe Deer may actually be senior in terms of stay at the Garden?

How did the relationship between the helpers work? It seemed that they were close-knit. Perhaps this was one of the guardians of the Garden seeing her ease in travelling around the Garden. “I’m Falcon, I don’t care much for the formalities here to be honest,” she stretched out a hand casually to Choi, he took it, hesitantly, then shook it..

“Decent handshake, could use some work, perhaps that’ll come with assimilating with the space,” she shrugged.

She seemed very laidback, perhaps her physical age was older than Roe Deer’s? And that could be why she was so casual about him. It was difficult to tell, but it didn’t look like anyone aged in the garden. “If Roe Deer has told you about me, may I ask what he told you?” Choi asked. “Ah... Not much, it was rather difficult to understand but he said that he liked you a lot,” Falcon replied.

“Hey— don’t give me that look, I was paying attention but there are some things Roe Deer says that just don’t make sense, like you listen to it and you go, huh?!, after.” Her hand ruffled through the back of her head, wings slightly rumpled. “Oh, but I should give a better introduction to our newcomer here, I’m usually very busy so it’s lucky we met so early in your stay,”. Despite her welcoming and open tone, her expression betrayed none of her thoughts— a poker face.

“I’m one of the guardians of the Garden, our God entrusted me to protect the skies and the Garden of the Day,” she introduced. Choi nodded, taking a mental note for later, trying to categorize her role in order to later deliberate the meaning of her presence and her role. She tilted her head to the side, as if listening for something, before nodding and murmuring a few incomprehensible words in response.

“Oh, and there are a few details of the Garden that Roe Deer didn’t tell you. He said that he wanted you to figure them out for yourself. He seemed rather confident that you’d be able to figure it out yourself,” she informed, laughing.

“Don’t look at me with those pleading eyes, they won’t get you anywhere with me. Don’t worry, the rules that Roe Deer concealed from you won’t have any dire consequences if you break them. Well…” She hesitated for a bit before continuing. “You’ll be fine. Roe Deer has this much faith in you for a reason.” She shrugged. “Why he does? I have no idea, but it’ll be okay.”

It felt odd to him that Roe Deer was playing with Choi like a toy, it felt like he was being tested, as if he were playing god. It made Choi start to wonder if Roe Deer was secretly the one who ran the Garden of Eden, yet it couldn’t be that. “Are there any hints at all? Any clues?” he asked. “Hm, not really. If anything, observe your new friends here, they might give you a few answers.” She walked backward with a teasing glint in her eyes before waving. Her wings spread majestically, flapping once and taking her high up into the sky. A few vermillion feathers peaked through the otherwise endless sea of dark blue.

Choi was starting to get a headache; it seemed he had the favoritism of the mysterious Roe Deer, but this seemed rather… stressful. Favoritism sucked. He sighed, placing the two flower crowns on his head so he could use both hands to write even more notes in his notebook:

Roe Deer has taken a strange liking to me. I’m not sure why, but it must have something to do with the knowledge he has about the residents. After meeting Miss Falcon and Miss Goral, it has become abundantly clear that the type of knowledge that Roe Deer has is privy to him and him only. Perhaps to the God as well, but that cannot be confirmed.

He tapped his pen against his chin, pondering.

Roe Deer is treated differently by the other helpers. That may be because of the seniority and the knowledge that he holds; despite that, it does not seem that there is any fear or worry about him and his power, rather, it seems he’s highly respected and cared for. It seems that Miss Falcon especially looks after him like a parent or older sibling would, rather than treating him as a superior. Therefore, it seems that workplace hierarchies aren’t strongly enforced here. How does one become a helper in the first place?

He thought back to the helpers that he had encountered so far, their animal traits and what they could possibly mean, and whether all of them were once human…

Another important note is that Miss Falcon’s role is a guardian while it looks like Miss Goral is a caretaker. Miss Falcon specified that she is a guardian of the skies, implying that there are more guardians of other forces of nature. She also said that she was a guardian of the Garden of the Day, implying that there is a guardian of the Garden of the Night. However it seems that it is highly taboo to go out at night unless there is a ‘special guest.’ I must go to the special guest show at dusk to determine how this works. Is the special guest supernatural? Or are they human? Can they come and go freely to the Garden? Or are they a resident here already?

Choi could hear the ringing of a bell in the distance, was this one of the rules? Would it signal the end of a day? The change of time? He wasn’t sure yet. But something told him he should congregate in the shared community area of the garden to check it out. Even if he was wrong, there was bound to be someone there that he could ask questions, hopefully. He made his way carefully, trailing at the end of the group he had followed only to find that he was one of the last few people to arrive.

There were already a lot of people gathered, around the clearing which now had an uplifted stage made out of a giant tree stump. Choi tried to scan the faces for anyone familiar. Finally, he noticed someone he believed was on the cleaning team a few years ago, and decided to sit next to him.

“May I sit here? I’m, uh, new here and this was one of the few open spots left… If it’s not, then I can move!” Choi mumbled, but not too much so that his words were unclear, he fidgeted with his hands and avoided eye contact, making sure to glance back at the former agent a few times to accentuate his nervousness. The person seemed perfectly okay with Choi sitting next to him, nodding.

Choi sat down quickly, the grass underneath him soft and comforting, it seemed that the bell was a signal for an event of some sort. As the sky grew darker, Choi could see the shape of something that looked like Miss Falcon flying down deeper into the clearing, probably to retire for the night.

A spotlight appeared out of the blue; it was unclear where it came from, but Choi soon no longer worried about that when a figure appeared under the light. It was what looked like a man, with a retro style TV on his head, or perhaps that was his head? He had no lips, yet Choi could still hear the echo of his voice booming. “Hello friends of the Garden of Eden, I’m the host of the Late Tuesday Night Radio Show!” he declared, an arm outstretched dramatically. The audience members around him cheered, clapping loudly as the host bowed repeatedly. Choi quickly joined in on the clapping. “Is it really him? Braun?” one person whispered. “Yes, it has to be! I listen to his show every Tuesday!” someone replied.

Choi took note of that information for later, the appearance of other ghost stories in this one… it was highly unusual. “Thank you very much for the warm welcome, I’ve never travelled outside of my set to host a show before, usually it’s the other way around!” Braun joked.

“Oh, no wonder! I was confused on why he was here,” someone else murmured, “but for the past few weeks, a good friend of mine has been insisting I come visit. I couldn’t fathom why he was so persistent, but after coming here and seeing such a large and kind crowd, I can’t help but regret not coming sooner!” he bowed once more.

This was dangerous, confusing, it was well-known that the Late Tuesday Night Radio Show was a dangerous disaster that, while thoroughly studied, still caused the deaths of many visitors. Especially after the 100th session of the original show. It was clearly more violent. Surely, the God of the Garden of Eden wouldn’t allow such a presence here? They wouldn’t want anyone here to die.

“Today we’ll be interviewing one of the most mysterious figures of the Garden, a fun way to get to know the one working behind the scenes for your wellbeing!” Braun waved his arm with a flourish, two seats popping up behind him. They were two armchairs of a rather old, American style. They looked comfortable and lovingly worn. Yet still clean. Very classy and much to the taste of the TV show host. “Please welcome, Mr. Roe Deer, this Braun’s good friend!” he announced. Roe Deer sat down on the chair to the left while Braun sat on the right.

Braun started with a few easy questions first to ease Roe Deer into the interview, who was a flawless guest. “How are you today friend?”

“I’m doing well, there have been some exciting changes to the Garden, and our God is working hard to make it even more exciting,” he replied. “Oh my, are you at liberty to give your dear audience any examples?” Braun inquired. Roe Deer laughed, his hand waving at the air, “I’m unfortunately not, but I can promise that it’ll be very enjoyable.” Something flickered on the hand that Roe Deer waved, but nobody else seemed to notice except Choi. How curious, was it something that everyone was used to? Or was this something that for some reason, only Choi’s eyes could discern?

“That’s alright friend, your confidence is reassuring. What are the changes that have already happened that you enjoy the most?”

“Hm, I do like the new activities that Miss Goral proposed, they help a lot with community building in the garden. Oh and we have an exciting and fun new member of the garden that I’m very grateful for coming. We haven’t had any newcomers in such a long time.” He sighed. A few people glanced Choi’s way.

He hoped that Roe Deer wouldn’t call any more attention to him. Roe Deer looked towards the audience with a knowing glance. His eyes met Choi’s, glittering in mischief. “In fact, I see our dear newcomer is in the audience today. It’s wonderful to see him integrating himself with the Garden and our activities,”

Could Roe Deer read minds? Or was having Roe Deer’s favor naturally inconvenient? To the point it was unconsciously creating problems for Choi? He had wanted to get through these three days quietly, finding the agents willing to leave, and taking them with him. The Garden would let them. However, it would be difficult to take people aside and ask them questions if everyone’s attention was suddenly on him. He hid his frustration with a sheepish smile.

“Oh? Is there anything special about this newcomer?” Braun leaned forward in his seat, TV head resting on his hands. “Hm, I won’t say much, but I always hoped he’d come,” Roe Deer responded vaguely; the spotlight on the two seemed to make Roe Deer’s eyes sparkle. A mild breeze softly brushed through Roe Deer’s hair, slightly exposing the area where his antler grew out of his forehead, reminding Choi once more of his supernatural nature.

Braun seemed to sense that he wouldn’t get more out of Roe Deer on this topic, and he had attempted to extrapolate all the interesting information from the newcomer topic. It was, after all, his first day, there wouldn’t be many stories about him. Choi still tried to listen closely to the conversation Braun was having with Roe Deer, though it was mainly stories about other disasters. It appeared that Roe Deer once did quite a bit of travelling around different disasters, which was how he came across Braun and became good friends with him in the first place.

There were no alarming moments after the beginning, and the show ended what felt like an hour after the start. The audience cheered loudly for Braun, who disappeared with a similar flourish in which he appeared. Always a showman.

In the moments following, Choi quickly took the opportunity to talk to the former agent next to him. “That was a really good show,” Choi commented, looking towards the man and hoping for a response. “Yes it was! Some of my friends and I like listening to the radio show on Tuesday nights to hear about the different stories out there. Of course, staying in the Garden is the best. I heard that the host may be doing an episode about the Garden next!” he babbled excitedly.

Choi could see it in his eyes, this person was completely attuned to the lifestyle at the Garden. Yet he still wanted to try. “Wow, every Tuesday, how long have you been at the Garden for? It must’ve been a lot for you to be such a big fan!” The man beside him nodded. “Yes, I believe I’ve been here for a few years now. I love being here so much, I can’t even remember what my life was like before this!” the former agent informed.

“I see... If it’s been so long then I guess I can’t ask you for advice on the transition to living here,” Choi mused, deciding to steer the conversation to a path that could end it quickly. “Oh I wouldn’t say that! To be honest, there isn’t much of a transition at all. You just decide if you like it here or not! Then God helps us fully realize ourselves in this space, giving us his blessing, and it’s like you’ve lived here your entire life!” he informed. A blessing, huh?

“That sounds wonderful, thank you.” Choi bowed his head before standing up to leave. By now he was one of the last few that trailed behind. He was stopped by a voice, “Agent Choi.” He could practically imagine the smile on Roe Deer’s face with the words, “Did you enjoy the show?”

Choi turned around slowly. By now he was all alone, the former agent he had talked to had already left. “I did, yes. I never expected to see other entities here… it’s very… Informative? I learned a lot…”

“Hm, still thinking like an agent I see,” Roe Deer hummed, face betraying nothing. Choi hesitated, unsure of what to say. “Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time. You should find a place to retire for the night,” Roe Deer suggested, though it seemed more like a command than a suggestion.

“Right…” Choi muttered. He walked quickly through the night, trying to make it to the sleeping quarters on time. He could hear rustling around him, gagging noises. He picked up the pace, finally making it to the safety of the sleeping quarters. There was an area meant for him, a little home carved into the wood just for him. The whispers and the screams of the night seemed to quiet a bit, but he couldn’t sleep.

Figuring that he’d use whatever leftover energy he had from the day to think, he wrote down a few more notes.

There are certain days when certain rules don’t apply. For example, it seems that certain types of technology are allowed on Tuesdays to match the schedule of the Late Tuesday Night Radio Show. Are there any other circumstances that would lead to exceptions of the rules? What are the reasons that certain rules exist?

A wave of sleepiness washed over him as he pondered the exact logic behind the rules. What was the reasoning behind certain rules? For order? Or for safety?

A devastated wail interrupted his thoughts. The pierce of its grief resonated through the air and caused Choi’s stomach to drop, trembling under the burden of a sadness that was not his. It sounded so distant yet the misery, pain, and regret hit so close to the heart.

He couldn’t do anything, it was debilitating. His vision blurred as tears that were not his were shed; extreme nausea filled his stomach, bubbling up his throat and threatening to spill over.

He could feel his hands, shaky, grab at his throat and massaging it slowly. Cold, clammy hands that soothed the sickly warmth that shook him to his core and left a sour taste in his mouth. He could barely feel the rough skin of his scar under his fingers, dizziness weakening his senses.

For how long would this continue? The cries of the distant griever seemed to never cease, what could be so disastrous to a resident of the Garden?

Slowly… it quieted down; pauses to gulp for air, to take a breath, before it finally ended.

Choi collapsed, exhausted.

The morning light did not stream in gently through any gaps, for some reason today, the Garden did not want to gently rouse Choi from his rest. His eyes opened blearily, he couldn’t tell how long he had been out for. The next moment he blinked and it was suddenly day. When Choi got up and ventured outside a bit, he could see people already out and about. Did time run differently for each person? For him, it would be night when they had come out, right?

There were too many implications that this fluctuation in logic had. Was it something that happened because it was his first day here? Was his experience as a newbie different? “Choi, I welcome you to your first day at the Garden of Eden,” Falcon set a hand on his shoulder, suddenly appearing behind him. He jumped.

“Is… what I experienced a rule or some kind of… condition of the Garden?” he asked hesitantly. Falcon tilted her head, her eyes were difficult to read as they were much more akin to a falcon’s than a person. “Perhaps, I believe you’ll understand soon.”

Choi nodded, unsure. “Alright then…” He seemed to find himself a newfound energy, deciding that he should get himself something to eat to really power the brain. “I think I’ll get some food then, just for a little energy,” he told Falcon, hoping that was a clear enough sign for her to leave. “You know you don’t need to eat here, right?” she asked. “Or hm, could it be that you’re still attached to that world?”

There was a faraway look in her eyes, but she quickly refocused. “Of course you would be. It’s only your first day. But tell me, did you not notice that you’re still feeling perfectly fine even though you got no sleep?” she pointed out.

“I— Yes I did, in fact it was the first thing I noticed when I woke up,” he lied. This was bad, this meant that he was already breaching some dangerous levels of contamination. “I see, well, you won’t worry about that in a while,” she shrugged, “I should get back to my duties… Roe Deer insisted I check on you for some reason, something about a disturbance but you seem fine.” Before Choi could give a response, Falcon was already off in the sky.

Everything seemed to lead back to Roe Deer, and the disturbance Falcon had mentioned? Could it have been the wails last night? How could Roe Deer have known he heard them? Or perhaps Roe Deer had heard them, and the disturbance was a common concern Roe Deer felt for each guest. He needed to investigate.

Choi approached a small group of what appeared to be high school boys betting on something small. “Hey! Lee Soobin, that wasn’t fair!” “Hm I was playing an honest game!” the other teased. He recognized these faces, these were two of three high school boys who were suspected to have disappeared in Looky Mart. Jaekwan had saved one of them, but the one who made it out had no idea where the friend he went in with was. He had been upset over that mission for a while, because one of the students accidentally split up with Jaekwan and the kid he rescued.

And when that kid said they went in to look for a friend, it had only crushed the spirits of the Bureau agents more. The Bureau received their distress call, but was only barely able to save one student. Everyone had assumed the worst had happened, but it seems they were here after all… Then, how many more people did the Garden hold?

“Excuse me, I wanted to inquire if any of you all heard anything after the special guest last night,” Choi asked, he tried to stay vague so as to not invite suspicion but also specific enough that perhaps it would spark something in any of the boys’ memories. “Oh! Aren’t you the newcomer?” one boy—Lee Soobin, he presumed—asked, completely ignoring his question. Choi had to take a few moments to compose himself, slight annoyance with Roe Deer tinged through him. “... Yes I am. I’m still adjusting to the Garden so if you wouldn’t mind answering my questi-”

“That’s great, it’s been so long! Mr. Roe Deer looked really happy to have you here,” the other boy responded, the two looking at him excitedly. “Right, right! I’ve never seen him like that since… since I think that one really handsome guy visited… He had to leave, but Mr. Roe Deer respected it,” the first boy looked thoughtful. “Oh! That really odd guy with the white hair? He was really good looking,” the two seemed almost wrapped up in their own conversation.

He wondered how long he would have to put up with this until the boys would finally answer.

“Oh! But to answer your question… What was it?” “Hearing things at night I think.” “Oh then... No, I don’t think so, after that TV guy left I immediately went to bed!” one boy responded while the other one nodded, agreeing.

“Yeah, come to think of it, I've found it a lot easier to sleep here. Back ho- Back where I was before I had really bad insomnia from studying and tests… but now it’s so much easier to rest!”

His friend nodded, agreeing. “Right I just wish that…” The boy’s eyes only briefly quivered with grief and nostalgia before stilling, bereft of emotion. “I’m sorry, what was I saying? Oh yeah, everything is less stressful here, I like it here.” Discomfort and anxiety pricked at Choi’s skin, his fingers subconsciously flexing. Perhaps what he was about to say was that he wished to see the third boy, the friend that escaped Looky Mart.

There was clearly some sort of mental manipulation happening in the Garden, some brainwashing that extended beyond just simple contamination. Could it have something to do with the blessing?

Then it seemed that no one noticed anything, no one but him. Then the only other person who would have answers would most likely be… Roe Deer.

Would he be able to find him? While they did agree with meeting once a day, they did not set a time or where. This probably means that Roe Deer would come find him. Then he should try to complete his mission objectives before he meets with Roe Deer.

After waving goodbye to the two students, he grabbed a quick bite to eat. He demolished the onigiri, and set off to wander the garden himself, looking for any familiar faces. Choi internally cursed Roe Deer some more when, wherever he went, residents of the Garden would greet him, singling him out as he explored. So much for being discreet. He did see another person who used to be part of the cleanup crew of the Bureau l: she had joined because she wanted to find her missing younger brother, but was mentally unable to handle the Disasters, leading to her working in the cleanup crew and hoping for any news of her brother.

Before she disappeared, reports said that she was in a severely depressed state after grappling with tension between the grief and the hope in finding her brother. And a more cold-hearted agent from one of the other Hyeonmu Teams had told her to give up. She had decided to look for him herself in an emotional frenzy and disappeared. Some suspected the Garden found her then, or that she had simply got herself killed in an unknown ghost story.

It was good to see her alive but… the joy in her smile looked fake to Choi. How could she be so happy when she still hasn’t found her brother? Did the comfort she sought in her grief lead to her being forced to forget it altogether? There were still a few people who had faith in finding her brother, hoping that if they could find him it would bring her back.

Now that Choi knew she was here, they could bring her back. Willingly. Once they found him. For now perhaps it would be best if she stayed here, in happiness, until her real world became happy once more.

He left, letting that former agent bask in false joy with the promise to save her one day. Giant flowers, in multitudes both of color and number, shaded his path until he wandered until he faced the edge of the forest. The end opposite to the one he entered from, if he was remembering correctly.

It seemed peaceful, quiet even, and far away from many of the residents of the garden. The forest’s edge seemed to beckon to him, a sanctuary he could escape to if he were to want tranquility.

“I would usually advise you to not enter,” a familiar voice interrupted.

Chapter Text

Choi turned around to face Roe Deer. It was as if he had suddenly appeared; the agent hadn’t even heard the clop of the man’s hooves on the stone beneath him. “I see, how so?” he asked. Roe Deer repeated himself, “Usually, it’s not advised, especially at night.” Roe Deer remained curt, his reply leaving more questions than it answered. Here came the dilemma, was he to follow Roe Deer’s instructions or not? The manual had no information on entering the forest, but it was also very incomplete.

In some disasters, it was advised to follow the guidance of its entities, but in others you had to run because they were hostile. Choi couldn’t tell which one Roe Deer was quite yet, for he seemed almost… human.

Roe Deer seemed to sense his frustration. “It’s not safe,” he tried explaining, urgency tugging at his voice, was that desperation? He seemed much more human today than he did yesterday. “Is this something I can ask more about?” he asked, testing the waters. “You can, but I won’t give you an answer,” Roe Deer mysteriously replied.

“Does this count as our daily meeting?”

“It can, I’m busy today so it may be difficult to find another chance later.”

“Alright… then I’d like to ask a few questions about the Garden,” Choi decided. “Of course, come sit here,” Roe Deer said with a gesture to the giant leaves that had suddenly appeared beside him. Wordlessly, Choi sat across from Roe Deer who looked just as composed as ever.

Tinges of red pulsated from his irises, smile practiced and full of grace. It almost felt like Choi was at a job interview. “Was the manner in which the day started today unique for me as a newcomer?”

One nod.

The day started suddenly, with light flooding his vision. Could it be? “Does it have to do with the idea that it’s my first day?” Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.

Another nod.

“Will the following days start in a similar manner?” Roe Deer shook his head. So the day may not begin in such a way… what could that possibly mean?

“Can I leave the Garden any time I want?” Roe Deer’s eyes seemed to sadden at the words, and there was a reluctant nod.

“I see…”

There was silence for a few moments before Choi asked another question, “What was behind the noises that happened last night?” Roe Deer feigned ignorance. “What noise?” That was the first time Roe Deer had spoken.

“The noises that happened after the show, the retching. It almost sounded like someone was vomiting. I had thought it was some unlucky soul who had stayed out too late, but I remembered just now… It came from the direction of the stage. And the only one there after I left… was you.”

Roe Deer stared at him. “It wasn’t.”

He was lying, Choi could tell. “Then, do you know the reason behind the cries and the wails last night?” he asked once more. Roe Deer tilted his head to the side, thinking. “The Garden has feelings, she grieves as well.”

What did the Garden grieve about? Could it be that she missed the day? The sunlight? Did she not like that the residents would retire for the night and not play around anymore? Or was Roe Deer lying to him once more?

“Why does this Garden exist… Or rather, what is the Garden? It’s not Eden, isn’t it?” Choi muttered, the question slipped out subconsciously. He didn’t mean to ask that. Roe Deer stared back and laughed. “These are some very interesting conclusions you’ve come to Agent Choi,” he said; Choi wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not.

“That last train of thought… I’ll let you come to your own conclusion for that. That is something you must figure out for yourself, if you care to find out…” An almost maniacal grin started slipping onto Roe Deer’s otherwise polite expression.

“Because what you just asked Agent Choi, is a question that none of the residents are allowed to know about. This is a sanctuary for more than just humans, Agent Choi. And I’ll leave you with that.” Roe Deer stood up, dipping his head.

Dismissing him. Roe Deer wanted him to leave. And he definitely would. He wasn’t sure how safe it was to be around Roe Deer for the moment. He turned back once to see if Roe Deer had left too. If he was following him, or putting the table away. But Roe Deer had completely disappeared. Into the forest?

The table and seats were gone too. There was too much happening, what business did Roe Deer have in the forest? Was that why they had encountered each other? Rather than Roe Deer actively seeking him out, it was a coincidence and his real business was in the forest? What secrets could the foliage hold?

The sun began to set, slowly. With a start, he realized that he hadn’t completed any sort of tasks or contributed to the garden at all… and with the sun starting to set, he didn’t have time to go back and ask what needed to be done.

Then... to kill two birds with one stone he could explore the forest and pick some of the fruits there to bring back.

Roe Deer may have warned him not to go into the forest, but based on his word choice there must have been something that was keeping him safe today.

He knew it was paranoia that was creeping up his fingers, seizing his lungs, and making him see things… surely. He could almost swear that the less sunlight there was in the Garden, the more he could hear the rustling of leaves within the forest. Footsteps ran at an inhuman speed, and he could almost swear he could see eyes staring back at him. Blinking.

Even then, something in the forest called to him. Call it a hunch.

Eventually, one side of him won, he walked along the edge of the forest.

It was quiet once more, perhaps that was because the light was still out. Cautiously, he decided it would be better to venture deeper into the forest.

He quickly ducked under the shadows of a nearby tree, at the edge of the forest. He wasn’t sure how long Falcon would be guarding the sky, and if she had seen what he was about to do just yet.

It would be good to get an idea of how the forest looks while there was still light.

When it hit dusk, then Choi would absolutely start on his way back. Quickly, he weaved through the trees, trying to see if there was any sign of the path that Roe Deer had taken. However the grass looked untouched, not even a single blade was bent. It was as if Roe Deer was incapable of bringing even discomfort to nature.

He took note of his surroundings, making sure that he would be able to trace his own steps back. He would not venture too deeply into the forest, he decided. It was his plan to explore it anyway, before Roe Deer had interrupted him. And if Roe Deer knew him as well as Choi believed he did, surely he would know that Choi would be in here as well.

The manual didn’t detail what the “something bad” was, but Choi didn’t want to find out. Or perhaps he just didn’t want to face the inevitable disappointment Roe Deer would feel from him not following the rules. He wasn’t sure yet.

Admittedly, Choi didn’t know where to go exactly, but he could probably find something anyway. Wandering in the forest would surely get him somewhere eventually.

After a decent amount of time stepping over tree roots, ducking his head under low branches, and slipping on a few loose rocks, he found something promising.

In the distance, the trees, rather than being covered with blue and green hues, were speckled with purple and red—perhaps those were some fruits? He sprinted to the area, noticing that the fruits were foreign to him. Rather, they were nothing like what existed in the human world…

All of the foods in the garden were safe, yet their bizarre colors and patterns were frighteningly otherworldly. They looked as if a poisonous frog were to become a fruit. Thankfully they were small, a few of them would definitely fit in his pockets.

He picked a few, holding them with his shirt after his pockets were full. They weren’t particularly hard to tug from the trees, and from what he could translate with his current knowledge of fruit, they looked pretty ripe and easy for the taking. They felt firm, but not hard like rock, and they didn’t sag or fall apart in his hand when he picked them.

A warning call from above sounded, an inhuman noise uttered from the depths of Falcon’s throat who was patrolling the area from the sky. It will be night time soon, go back to the garden’s heart. the sound seemed to warn.

Of course, he needed to start on his way back. Especially if he wanted enough time to turn in his offerings to whichever helper was available. He turned back, ready to head back on the trek that he had previously gone on. He was sure that he remembered the way back despite the winding paths that he took.

However after 20 minutes of walking on what he swore was the right path, he still was not at the edge of the forest, in fact, he was almost sure that he was deeper in the forest. Was it possible that he had made a mistake in tracking his movements? Or did the forest somehow rearrange itself? Or did he breathe in something that confused him, throwing him off track?

No matter what the answer was, he had to be careful, the sun was almost all the way set. He needed to reach safety before figuring out why this happened.

He started to run, a few fruits fell from his shirt, but it didn’t matter. One of the biggest rules of the garden “don’t go out to the forest at night” was about to be broken, and he needed to survive. Please, please.

The rustles of the bushes, the sound of someone wading through the forest’s leaves, searching for something. Someone. Was it Choi specifically or would it be willing to find any life form?

The rustles turned into footsteps, and those footsteps turned into stomps.

Chasing him.

Growing louder.

CRAAAACK

A tree behind him fell over. “You— you’re breaking the rules. You must follow the rules,” a voice called out. It was human, or at least it sounded human. But that tone.

It was much too friendly, unnaturally so. “If you come here and turn yourself in, the teacher won’t give you as bad of a punishment. It’s your first offense, so at least take accountability~”

Like hell was he going to follow that voice, he bolted in the opposite direction the voice came from.

“Naughty child. You need to follow the rules.”

The rules. The rules. The rules, they must be obeyed. They must be listened to. Or else how could we have order? You can’t blatantly disrespect the rules like this, the rules of the Garden are here for a reason.

A shadow towered over him, enveloping the bare moonlight that had once lit his path. Choi looked back for one moment, the eyes of a man—a monster—looking down on him with maniacal, bloodthirsty eyes, glowing with killing intent. Choking down his fear, he pushed forward, eager to escape, to get away. To create as much distance between him and that creature as he could.

A hand on his right ankle. Its grip was strong. Choi crashed to the ground. He was being dragged back, dragged down into the reach of that— that monster—

That—

A disapproving click of the tongue. “You’ll need to reeducate yourself on the rules.”

Choi scrambled against the ground, arms reaching far, out to grab anything. Anything to use as leverage to pull himself away from the monster behind him. One hand grabbed a tree root, he clung onto it for dear life, pulling on it— The other foot, the free foot, kicked against the aggressor.

Despite all his efforts, it was futile against the inhuman strength of the ghost story, who simply twisted his leg with ease—

CRAAACKKK

Much like the tree he had knocked over mere moments ago.

Choi screamed, blistering red hot pain clouded his senses. Instinctively his hands let go of the tree root, and in this moment of momentary weakness, the creature picked him up off the ground as if Choi were the fruits he had tugged gently off the tree.

He was being held up by the neck with one hand, the golden glint from the eyes of the monster before him pierced his own. One leg dangled oddly, limp, while the other barely reached the ground. His hands clawed at the grip on his neck, feeling it tightening—

This was bad—he could feel the oxygen leaving his lungs. Was this how he died? In a darkness that there were no recorded deaths… Would he be the first victim?

Suddenly he could hear a voice in the distance: “That’s enough… Badger.”

The grip immediately loosened, and Choi was dropped to the ground. He couldn’t run.

A man had approached the pair, he had unusual silver hair that glowed under the moonlight, glasses glistening in a way he couldn’t see his eyes… Was this a human? “But doctor he—” the man interrupted the monster… Badger? He didn’t look like a Badger… “He has the blessing of the first day, that’s why nothing else has approached him so far.” The doctor looked down at him, amused; something about his smirk, the glint of his glasses pissed Choi off.

“I see. But even then, that is no excuse to break the rules! Whether or not they are protected from some of the dangers of the garden, it is no reason to break them! In fact, it would create bad habits!” Badger looked down at him angrily, but obviously this “doctor” character had seniority over him, so he would listen to him first and foremost.

And what was with the name that was so similar to the animal theme of the helpers? Was it possible that Badger was a helper himself?

But… That didn’t seem right… how he spoke and acted reminded him of another contamination… A teacher, rather than a helper.

“I think he’s been punished enough.” Before Badger could interrupt him to disagree the doctor held up a hand and continued speaking. “But if you disagree, I have another idea for a possible punishment. It’s been a while since we’ve had a newcomer to the Garden… and there have been some… experiments I’ve been wanting to conduct with them if possible.”

A crazed grin spread across the doctor’s face. “What happens if we try to speedrun the second blessing? If we start now, we should get to the appropriate location before midnight. I want to see if the subject survives,”

This man… From what Choi could tell he looked entirely human, but the way he thought and acted was entirely inhumane… It reminded him of a scientist that was once turned away by the Bureau… A mad man, with no morals or ethics.

“Kwak… Jaekang…”

The doctor looked at him in surprise. “You’ve heard of me before! How curious, perhaps if you survive this ordeal and go back to the Bureau like the loyal dog you are, you can tell them of me!” He laughed, he didn’t believe his words one bit.

Choi knew he was unethical, but to think he was working within a ghost story… no, with a ghost story? “Pick him up, we’re going to the location,” Kwak barked. Badger grabbed him by the head, dragging him along the ground. Despite being able to breathe once again, he still felt as if his heart were beating in his head, trying to reconcile the oxygen loss. His vision had black spots both from the oxygen deprivation and pain radiated from his disfigured, most definitely broken leg.

Blood began to slowly soak the pantleg, twisted to disfigurement. It didn’t help that since he was being dragged against the ground, the bumps and rocks along the path were exacerbating the pain. Sending jolts of fire throughout his leg and making him wince.

His captors were silent as they went to wherever they were going, and the pain throbbing through his head was interrupting each thought that tried to detangle itself in his head.

They stopped. The ebb of pain slowed, just a bit, enough for him to process their surroundings. He could just barely make out.. the sound of something gentle, swishing and dancing against the earth… water!

They brought him to the lake— “Now, Badger. Throw him in, the deeper, the better.” Kwak Jaekang’s voice felt distant and hard to decipher; before he could fully process those words a rush of cold consumed him. He was sure with the way Badger had thrown him, his neck had gotten sprained somehow because now it hurt to move.

He instinctively coughed, bubbles formed in front of him, rippling in the water and floating up. Water was rapidly filling his lungs, he couldn’t breathe.

The force of the impact in the water made his leg burn but it immediately numbed to the cold of the water. It seeped into his clothes, his skin, into his eyes. Choi was never a person who could keep his eyes open and see underwater, it was to his detriment because now his eyes were growing increasingly irritated and he could barely keep them open.

Slowly, he tried to push himself upwards, to reach the surface. He still had both his arms, surely he could push himself up? He followed a small trail of bubbles from the little oxygen left in his lungs to go upwards, darkness curling at the edges of his vision, threatening to consume all visibility.

But he would make it—he had to—he couldn’t die here. The moon glistened above him, its pearl-like essence warped under the water. If he could only make it to the surface… But the dark spots around him were consuming him, and his lungs were filled with too much water from the start, a result of the shock of being thrown in like a bag of garbage. Adrenaline pumped in his veins, urging him to keep going even if his lungs screamed at him to stop, his twisted leg begging to give up.

The moon was becoming clearer. He could almost see the light, like a moth to a flame he ignored all pain and kicked as hard as he could with his uninjured leg. His fingertips brushed the surface of the water as a jolt of shock went through his body— his right leg was now screaming in pain so fervid it paralyzed him. Slowly he sank… deeper and deeper into the water… Thoughts of his junior back at the Bureau, sitting, waiting, innocently back in their waiting room pained him. The disappointed look of Roe Deer, whose eyes were filled with a quiet chaos, a flurry of emotions Choi couldn’t quite pick out… but wait, why was he thinking of Roe Deer?

As Choi sank deeper into the water, into the comfort of the darkness around him, his eyes lulled shut. Just as he let the darkness fully take him, he could almost swear he could feel air slowly, gently, filling his lungs... A dream?

Chapter Text

It felt like he was floating in limbo, yet the weight of the world crushed him slowly, compressing around him. The pain in his leg felt foreign as the cold of the water surrounding him ate it away.

He could feel himself suspended in the water– but he was unable to open his eyes. The water around him seemed to warm up, cradling him to a reluctant peace.

A warm hand interrupted the silence— touching his cheek gently, finger tips gently nudging his bangs away from his eyelids before pulling his eyelids open.

Curious but concerned eyes met his, black irises with a bright green pupil bore into his. It was a woman, a rather petite one, who, instead of legs, had a long silver tail.

Long white hair tinged with blue— could it be because of the water’s reflection? flowed behind her, curling around her shoulders and back as she continued to examine Choi slowly. He was so enraptured by the sight of this dolphin-like girl, most definitely a helper of the Garden that he didn’t realize he could breathe.

Then God said, ‘Let there be a firmament between the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.’

The separation of the sea and the sky, did that mean he could separate the air from the water within his lungs? It was said that some godly beings could walk on water, so why not breathe? He tried to move his arms to pull himself up to the surface, wincing when he tried moving his injured leg.

Small arms grabbed him by the chest, hands gentle he froze. It was like she was telling him not to worry and that she would handle it. Quickly, water was streaming all around him as he was pulled through the lake, the light above them seemed to grow brighter and whiter until they broke the surface.

Cold air met wet skin, his eyes winced at the barest light of the early sunrise. For how long was he trapped there? Barely alive, barely breathing?

His vision had trouble adjusting to the light, water still in his eyes making it refract unpleasantly. He could see a few shapes in the distance facing them, slowly growing larger. Their pace grew slower as they neared the surface before he was gently guided to shore, washing upon it like a piece of driftwood.

More warm hands grabbed at him, assessing the damage. “He’s too cold— how is he alive?” he could hear the voice of Roe Deer mutter. A light voice cut in, “His leg is really badly injured, please tend to that first,” it was the woman who helped him get out of the lake. “You… just what kind of trouble did you get into?” a quiet voice murmured.

“It looks like it was broken… but it seems to have been manmade… otherwise this is a very inorganic break. It’s like someone snapped his ankle in half like a pencil,” this voice was familiar… it was that agent that he’d sat next to the night before. “I can set it but it’s a miracle he hasn’t died of blood loss so far,”

“I made sure to cut off the blood flow and was very gentle with it. The lake was kind and tried not to disturb him.”

“Thank you, Dolphin. Thank you so much.”

“Goral— is there anything you have that can help him for now? As a temporary measure, I’ll go to that place and find something for him.”

“Of course Roe Deer.”

Choi winced as his ankle was touched and jerked forward, instinctively grabbing the arm of the former bureau agent trying to help him. He tried to retort, to say anything but all he could do was cough up water. “Lay down and let go of his arm… meanwhile I’ll see if I have anything to get the water out of your lungs…” the voice of Miss Goral eased him back, well it was more like she forced him down, pulling his hand away.

She was stronger than he thought… or maybe he’s just severely weakened now, what a pathetic state he was in.

His body jerked once more when the former agent straightened his broken ankle and aligned the bones once again. Miss Goral prodded something at his mouth that he gladly started chewing on as a splint was tied to his leg, something of a makeshift cast.

He swallowed whatever plant he was given, a few seconds of peace were given to him to realign his senses to reality as the pain dulled.

He heaved, a sudden wave of nausea built up within him and vomited. He heaved again, fear and disgust tinged his eyes and filled them with tears. Miss Goral rubbed his back reassuringly as he threw up the remaining water out from his lungs.

She threw a blanket around him, warmth enveloping him. He could feel his heart pumping, finally picking up pace. “Thank you,” he choked out. He turned to the woman— Dolphin was it? “Thank you,”. What was he doing? Thanking ghost story entities?

It was a terrifying thought, something that future him would surely scold him about. “What happened?” Miss Goral was quick to cut to the case, it stung Choi a little. Of course, as a ghost story entity she surely didn’t live by the same societal conventions as him so she could seem harsh. But there was no reasoning with a ghost story.

“I.. ran into someone… I’ve seen him before. Outside. He seemed to be in charge of something…” Choi murmured. Miss Goral’s gaze hardened, she quickly shooed away the former bureau agent that had been here for medical assistance.

“No hard feelings… thank you for your help,” Choi muttered, gazing at him in regret. Contaminated or not, he was the only human present and had provided a subconscious sense of ease. Now it was just him, Miss Dolphin, and Miss Goral. “When he fell into the lake, I could hear it. At the shore, there were two beings. One of them was the former helper, Badger. The other one was that scientist that God had invited to the garden… that Kwak Jaekang…”

Miss Goral’s breath seemed to cease for a few moments, “But he almost never leaves… didn’t God say he couldn’t harm the residents?”

“It wasn’t him… it was Badger that did this, under Kwak Jaekang’s orders,” Choi informed, unsure if he should be hearing a majority of this conversation. “Tch, of course he found a loophole. The contamination Badger’s been through made him a perfect tool,” Miss Goral sighed, she sounded extremely annoyed.

His head spun at the revelations, so Kwak Jaekang was someone who was welcome here. Invited by God himself to the Garden for unknown reasons. And yet… the fact that God’s helpers treated him with such hostility… and what was that about Badger being a former helper who had become too contaminated? Wasn’t already being a helper enough contamination? Did he suffer through multiple contaminations?

He almost didn’t want to find out what else Badger was contaminated with to be thrown into the forest and renounce his title as helper.

It seems harsh, but that must be the reality… Even the real God had cast away angels who had turned wicked…

“Could you investigate a bit more? You take the water and I’ll take land, we cannot let this hurt any more residents… even if Kwak Jaekang is allowed in this Garden, there were hard rules stipulated,” Miss Goral nodded to Miss Dolphin, who nodded back in agreement. “Then if there’s nothing else for me here, I’ll start looking. Ideally, we’ll solve this before it reaches God’s ears,” she smiled before disappearing under the water.

“Roe Deer should be here soon… but could you tell me any details that you think would be important?”

“Um…” he wracked his head, “Would it be helpful if I told you where I saw them?”

Miss Goral nodded. “Alright… it was a few ways away from one of the patches of the garden that had a lot of fruit trees… I might still have some of the fruit in my pocket… his arm pat at his pants, feeling mush instead. He almost wanted to apologize, but Miss Goral didn’t seem surprised. “It’s alright, it’s a start. I hear Roe Deer on his way, so I’ll leave now,”

Miss Goral got up from his side, taking a few steps away before being stopped by Roe Deer. She briefly debrief him on the treatment she had given him, he thanked her quickly before taking her spot by Choi’s side.

“Drink this.”

No explanation. Not any kind of elaboration on if it was a medicine, something that would knock him out. A poison? Surely not. Nothing.

Choi drank it anyway.

His fingers stopped trembling, miraculously it felt like he was being slowly dried, the water seeping out of his clothes and hair. His hands, once wrinkled was smooth once again. And his ankle— his ankle. He flexed it carefully, nothing. It wasn’t painful at all.

“What—”

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Roe Deer interrupted, the red pupils of his eyes seemed to glow. “I’m so happy,” His hands held Choi’s, a touch so intimate and familiar that it freaked him out. Majorly. “I—”

“I swear that consequences will be given for what was done to you— what happened should never have happened in the Garden.” He appreciated the care, but the intensity of it was overwhelming and honestly causing him to blush a little. This side of Roe Deer was so different from the side of him that he had questioned just yesterday. This side seemed maybe human.

“Yes… that’s good… thank you,” Choi was saying thank you a lot today. It makes sense since he was literally on the verge of death and was saved by some miraculous Garden magic but still…

The blanket dropped from his shoulders, he had no use for it now. The sun was beginning to rise fully, “I’ll excuse you from your duties today, just rest. I’m sure today was terrifying,” Roe Deer picked up the blanket, folding it neatly in his arms before standing up. “I’ll take this way, please feel free to go to your bed and rest for the rest of the morning,” now Roe Deer wouldn’t look at him, his gaze staring out over the lake beyond. Choi stood up after him, still marvelling at the fact that he had healed so completely so quickly.

He looked thoughtful, but a faint red dusted his cheeks and ears, as if he was embarrassed. Well, if anyone here was going to be embarrassed, it should be Choi. After all, he had just almost died in a disaster where no one had died so far— and then Roe Deer had to come and act so confusing, and say such confusing things that sent Choi’s head reeling.

“I’ll come look for you later, so please rest,” Roe Deer ducked his head and walked away, though a little speedier than Choi was used to. “I will…”

He quickly unbound the makeshift splint against his leg, he winced looking at the tear in his pants, blood tinging its ends. The former bureau agent bound the splint to him with the left over fabric. He quickly tore off the kelp that was tied to his leg. Miss Dolphin must have used it to cut off the blood flow, but it had loosened once he had washed ashore, making it easy to tear off.

He looked at his hands in awe, then at the lake in front of him. It was now glittering under the rising sun, looking nothing like the scary lap of waves that had threatened to swallow him hours before. Now it was pleasant, pretty. Like a dream vacation view.

He sighed, he wanted to rest. Heck, he wanted to go home! At least it was the second day, so he could leave tomorrow! Still incredulous at being able to function normally, he walked rather slowly back to the Garden, following the trail carefully.

A few fleeing thoughts went through his head— he’d need to check if there were any replacement clothes he could wear since his pants were so bled through. After freezing for so long, he’d really like a bowl of hot soup. Or maybe Korean BBQ, he should get some with Jaekwan when he got back…

Panicked hands grabbed his shoulders, Choi froze. He was so lost in his thoughts he hadn’t realized that the former bureau agent that had helped him earlier was in front of him— but something about him seemed… off. “You— you’re wearing the uniform… are you here to rescue me?”

The agent before him’s eyes were shaking, he was sweating profusely. “I don’t know how long I’ve been here. I don’t know why I’m here, or how I got here. I just remember… him. All of a sudden everything felt great but now it’s.. Not.”

What could have caused this change, “Agent… do you know what caused you to wake up?” he asked. “I swallowed something. It wasn’t a lot… so it took a while but… after I had left the lake I got the strange sense that something was wrong… there was something metallic… an iron taste that had woke me up,” he muttered.

Choi grabbed the hands on his shoulders, slowly pulling them off of him before noticing something clutched tightly in the former agent’s right hand. A cloth, torn from a Bureau uniform. The pants specifically, to be even more specific, Choi’s pants.

Stained in his blood.

If the former agent had ripped the cloth with his teeth and swallowed bits of his blood— however unsanitary it sounded… “From your recollection… has anyone been injured before? Maybe accidentally swallowed their own blood?” Choi interrogated, his eyes boring into the former agent’s. “Well… I think so yes… there was a child who’s wisdom teeth were growing in and she was in a lot of pain. After visiting the goral-like helper, she seemed to heal,” he replied.

Then… the remedy to cure contamination in this disaster was… Choi’s blood?