Chapter Text
“So,” Hakyeon beams, pen poised over the surface of his tablet. The aroma of his spiced tea fills the room and the deafening silence around them. “Space dragons.”
Opposite him, Doctor Jung Taekwoon sips his own cup of coffee silently, eyes fixed on the plate of cakes and tarts Hakyeon had ordered moments ago. He doesn’t reply.
A nervous interviewee, Hakyeon muses, tapping his pen against the edge of his tablet. Looks like he’ll need a little prompting before he talks. “Not everybody can say they’ve ever seen a space dragon, let along take care and raise dozens of them at a time. So what brought you to this job?”
He gets a piercing gaze in return for his question. “Human arrogance,” Taekwoon says, his tone stern, and that’s certainly not something Hakyeon expected.
“Human arrogance,” he repeats gingerly, arching an eyebrow. Taekwoon sips his coffee again. “Could you elaborate?”
Another sip. Hakyeon’s tapping grows faster.
“I assume you’re talking about the environmental concerns that have cropped up in the past two decades of fuel mining?” he prods, and Taekwoon’s eyes blaze. Bingo.
“Human wants, human takes. They kill the ecosystems on planets they wish to mine from and drive the dragons out. That’s all there is to it,” Taekwoon replies, and plucks a cake off the plate. It’s the sugar and strawberry one Hakyeon’s had his eye on since the beginning of the interview. His grip on his pen tightens.
“Yes, many environmentalists and ecologists have raised awareness for the problems of the fuel consumption in our galaxy,” Hakyeon nods. That’s something he could agree on. In fact, there are quite a few articles on his blog dedicated to in-depth coverage over the environmental crisis on several notable planets. “But you’re doing your part to help the dragons out, aren’t you? In particular, your laboratory and the planet you conduct your study on— it’s a safe haven for lost, injured, and homeless dragons to take refuge in, like a new home. And I have to say that it’s an impressive—”
“My labs are not a safe haven,” Taekwoon cuts in sharply. “And it’s not a proper home for the dragons.”
“...right,” Hakyeon says, staring. This conversation is getting nowhere.
Taekwoon scoffs quietly at that and pushes his chair back. “Have you done any preliminary research about what you’re reporting on at all, mister journalist?” he asks, challenging, and Hakyeon bristles.
“Of course I have,” he says hotly, and takes a deep breath to calm himself. It won’t do if he snapped on the main source of information of his upcoming articles. “However, the focus of my work is to gain a firsthand perspective about dragons from you, the expert. It’s not about my opinion, it’s about yours.”
“My opinion will always be the same,” Taekwoon says shortly. He stands, brushing imaginary dust off his leather jacket and jeans. “The fuel companies need to stop their reckless mining procedures and observe the environmental impacts their actions have. Quote me on that.”
“I most certainly will,” Hakyeon nearly snaps. He reigns himself in once more before getting to his feet as well. “Are you leaving already?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll remind you that I’ll be dropping by your laboratory the day after tomorrow,” Hakyeon says. He really hopes Taekwoon isn’t offended enough to back out on his promise to allow Hakyeon to stay on-site and report on his observations for the next two weeks.
Taekwoon gives him a baleful glare and picks a clunky bag up off the floor. “I remember,” he mutters, and crosses the room in a few long strides. He’s exiting the meeting room Hakyeon booked very specifically for their first meet up with the hopes of making a good impression. But given the way things turned out, that impression probably didn’t last, if Taekwoon had even been impressed at all.
What a prickly person, Hakyeon grumbles to himself. He stops the recording app that’s been running and glowers down at his notepad, which is nearly blank save for the intergalactic date.
He takes back what he thought about Taekwoon being a nervous interviewee. It seems like he’s got one angry dragon lover on his hands instead.
+
Hongbin arrives with all of his camera equipment to the bustling commuter planet Hakyeon’s staying on in the evening, and they depart at dawn immediately the day after. Hakyeon buys them two cups of pilot’s fuel from a nearby café— a much stronger version of earthen coffee often sold at spaceports for the wary cross-galaxy travellers. The irony of the drink’s name does not escape Hakyeon, even in the early hours of his departure, and it leaves him in a sour mood throughout the whole check-in and boarding procedure.
“You look like somebody’s managed to offend all of your ancestors overnight,” Hongbin comments as they board the spaceship and shoved their carry-ons into the compartments beneath their seats. “What’s gotten in to you?”
“Nothing,” Hakyeon grunts. He wakes his tablet and immediately checks on all the updates: the stats on his personal blog, his work blog, his personal email, his work email, various media platforms, the news, the weather on at least four different planets, and his automatic plant watering system back at home.
“Sure it’s nothing,” Hongbin snorts. The hologram display for space travel safety appears at the front of the cabin, so he lowers his voice and whispers to Hakyeon, “So how was the first interview with the scientist yesterday?”
His next jab on his tablet is nothing short of violent. “It was great,” Hakyeon says tightly, and Hongbin snorts.
“What, is the guy as unresponsive and disagreeable as other journalists say? You knew what you were getting into. It was a miracle he even agreed to an on-site interview, let alone one that’ll go on for so long.”
“Shut up,” Hakyeon hisses, and Hongbin laughs as he dings the attendant for a blanket.
“Suit yourself. I’m going to catch a few more hours of sleep first, because you’re inhumane for making us travel at this hour and that dude lives in probably the most remote corner of the universe known to man. Wake me up in a few light hours, okay?”
The most remote corner of the universe known to man is only one of the habitable rock hunks orbiting one of the larger settlement planets near the dusty outskirts of the galaxy, but it’s still a fair bit of travel away from the more populated planets most people live and work at. Hakyeon’s done some research on it before: the planet’s diverse ecological properties make it optimal for raising and caring for multiple species of endangered dragons. Taekwoon’s laboratory, which has one main centre and three other locations scattered around the land, is protected and funded by various galactic organizations wishing to show support for the preservation of the mysterious animals. In all his years of work, Taekwoon has helped stabilize the previously dropping dragon population, launched campaigns to raise awareness for the diminishment of the dragons, and helped contribute to several databases containing biological information of all kinds of space dragons. He’s also established himself as a serious thorn-in-the-side for many fuel establishments whose actions were now scrutinized with much more legal critique than ever before. For a guy who barely talks, it’s a rather impressive resume.
They arrive at the settlement planet, JEL.EE.FSH, after long light hours of sitting in cramped spacecraft chairs. It’s one of the last stops in the particular route of travel, so by the time Hakyeon and Hongbin wobble into the loading docks, they’re the only two to actually exit the spaceship. Even the filtered oxygen pumping through the mechanically-generated atmosphere of the open space port smells a lot better than the recycled air they’d been breathing earlier.
“C’mon,” Hakyeon shouts over the general noise of the bustling port. “We gotta catch the shuttle and have it take us down to the planet.”
“Are you serious?” Hongbin groans, slumping under the extra weight of all his equipment.
“Very serious,” Hakyeon retorts, and tugs Hongbin along by the arm. JEL.EE.FSH has all the charms of a settlement planet— aggressive portside hagglers, a permanent stench of oil and spacecraft exhaust, the prickly feeling of an electrically generated atmosphere— and Hakyeon can’t wait to leave it all behind and get going before one of them gets pick-pocketed.
They board a bulky shuttlecraft, which roars and creaks like it’s being held together by tacky tape, and it makes Hongbin clutch at all of his equipment with the most traumatized look on his face.
“This is the last time I’m ever picking up a project for you,” he grumbles, and Hakyeon gives him an absent-minded pat on the back. He’s got his tablet out and his battle plan going: if he’s going to survive interviewing Taekwoon for the next fourteen days, it’s going to be done with a well-structured plan that won’t leave him humiliated and grasping for straws like his interview two days ago.
+
The man that greets them when they stagger out of the shuttlecraft is young, cheerful, and tall. His short brown hair ruffles in the natural breeze of a perfectly natural atmosphere (the sharp descent down into a toiling lake had nearly launched Hakyeon’s meagre space meal back up) and he’s grinning when they hobble over, exhausted from their travels.
“Hiya,” the man says, reaching out to shake their hands. “I’m Dr. Han Sanghyuk, one of the researchers who works for Taekwoon. Call me Sanghyuk!”
“Nice to meet you,” Hakyeon nods, trying to pop his ears. “I’m Cha Hakyeon, and I write for Interstellar Databases. This is Lee Hongbin,” he adds, because Hongbin’s looking kind of green and speaking might be a task beyond him at this point. “He’s the freelance photographer who’s helping me out with my project.”
“Cool,” Sanghyuk says, pumping poor, airsick Hongbin’s arm up and down. “Let’s get your stuff into the buggy and I’ll take you all back to the labs.”
“Right-o,” Hakyeon nods readily. He’d kill for a hot shower and a proper nap right now.
There’s a green buggy parked in a paved lot with only a single trail leading away from it, which looks like a rather odd bit of manmade commodity cut into a beautifully lush forest. Hakyeon can’t help but glance around them as they loaded all their stuff onto the buggy, but what was he expecting? A random dragon to pop out of the bushes or something?
“So, welcome to V.I.EX.,” Sanghyuk shouts once they’re hurtling down the path at breakneck speeds. Hakyeon clutches the edge of his seat and tries not to think about how Sanghyuk’s foot never eases up on the gas pedal and how the only thing between him and imminent death if they hit anything is a plastic roof. There’s isn’t even a buggy door on the damn thing. “You’ve caught us at a good time; rainy season just ended and it’s right before the heatwaves come on, so we’ve got some nice overcast days and light temperatures to look forwards to.”
“Right,” Hakyeon yells back faintly. “How long have you worked here?”
“A couple of years,” Sanghyuk replies. “Maybe four? Five?”
“What’s your job here?”
“I’m a geologist,” Sanghyuk says. “Not the first kind of scientist you’d think of when it comes to dragons, but nearly seventy-five percent of space dragons burrow underground when they’re nesting, breeding, or not conducting galactic travel. It’s my job to inspect the caves and help maintain them for the dragons to live in. It can be a little dangerous sometimes, so you could say it’s a... rocky job.”
“Christ,” Hongbin groans in the backseat, and Sanghyuk laughs.
Hakyeon’s not sure what he expected of Taekwoon’s labs— maybe some underground hideout and a few freezer lockers stuffed full of dragon food— but he’s impressed against his will when they rocket out of the forest and the scenery abruptly clears into rolling hills, swaying trees and wild shrubbery for as far as the eye can see. There’s outlines of snow-capped mountains and probably more bodies of water out there, if the low-hanging clouds in the distance are of any indication. Taekwoon’s labs are a series of industrial-looking blocks built right into the hillside, four tiers high and a with large observation deck overlooking the landscape. The path leads them right up to a garage, which Sanghyuk opens with a tap of his identification badge. They roll smoothly in after that and drive by several other buggies and off-road vehicles equipped with some incredibly complicated stuff that Hakyeon can’t name on sight.
It’s even more spacious on the inside.
“Damn,” Hongbin mutters when Sanghyuk leads them out of the elevator and into the lobby. Hakyeon lets out a wolf-whistle. “You guys are loaded.”
“We’re well-funded by a lot of organizations that are eager to take the credit of being pro-wildlife without doing any of the actual work,” Sanghyuk smirks. There’s a lot of doorways, hallways and stairs branching out of the oval-shaped room, leading up to different levels Hakyeon can’t quite see despite the glorious amount of light streaming in through the uncovered windows. It’s a beautiful and modern place.
“Anyway, I’ll show you to your rooms,” Sanghyuk offers, gesturing back to the elevators. “You’ll be staying in our dormitories, we always have a couple of extra rooms available because our staff roster isn’t that big.”
“Who else works here?” Hakyeon asks as they jam themselves back into the lift with their luggage.
“Aside from myself and Taekwoon, two other scientists,” Sanghyuk says. “They’re probably in the labs right now. Last I checked, Taekwoon was gearing up to go poke around in dragon poop to make sure they were eating their veggies or something.”
“Dragons can eat common vegetation?” Hakyeon asks, surprised.
“Sure. Most of them are omnivores and gain a lot of fibres from consuming plant life. Even those with strong meat-oriented diets can survive on eating greens if they’re in a pinch. You’ll have to ask Taekwoon about it if you want more info though; he’s the one who really studies dragon biology for a living.”
“That’s nice,” Hakyeon sighs, thinking back to Taekwoon’s unfriendly scowl and his abrupt exit. The lift rockets up to the upper-levels, and he tries not to anticipate too much from the frowny-faced scientist.
+
He and Hongbin get their own rooms, which are clean and properly furnished with a small bathroom, desk and bed. Predictably, Hakyeon crashes face-first into the mattress without taking his shoes off and sleeps for a solid six hours before Hongbin is hammering on his door, telling him that they should meet the other two scientists over dinner.
The common area downstairs is conjoined with an actual kitchen, and the dinner that is served is a combination of fresh fruits and vegetables and microwave-heated packaged meats and some kind of frozen space food. Two men, one with a bright smile and a large nose, and the other with pretty droopy eyes, await proper introductions with Sanghyuk when Hakyeon and Hongbin finally show up.
“This is Dr. Kim-Lee and Dr. Kim-Lee,” Sanghyuk grins, gesturing to each of them, and Hakyeon’s not sure if the guy is pranking them or not (he’s already established himself as despicable pun-maker, that’s for sure). “They’re one of those couples that like to do the combining surnames thing instead of picking one." The Dr. Kim-Lees look like a friendly pair when Hakyeon and Hongbin introduce themselves in return.
“Call me Jaehwan,” the one with the nose says cheerfully. “I’m the one who prepared all the lovely greens and Wonshik is the one who’s only trusted to pop things into the microwave.”
“Leave my cooking out of this,” Wonshik complains, but judging by the way he looks at Jaehwan it sounds like one of those trivial couple things instead of anything really serious. “It’s not my fault I can’t grow things for shit.”
“Jaehwan is a botanist,” Sanghyuk informs them between mouthfuls of food. “Wonshik’s a mechanical engineer, he deals with all the complicated machinery nobody else wants to take care of.”
“I grow all of my own vegetables!” Jaehwan announces proudly. “All purely organic, no added preservatives or excessive amounts of sodium!”
“And fertilized by dragon dung,” Sanghyuk chortles, and Hongbin puts his fork down with a slightly pained look on his face.
“Hey, you gotta work with what you have when you’re on a hunk of space rock with dragons at every turn,” Jaehwan shrugs, spearing a mouthful of what might be genetically modified breed of spinach into his mouth. Hongbin sighs and picks up his fork again.
“So, you’ve met Taekwoon already, right?” Wonshik asks, his question directed at Hakyeon. When he nods in reply, Wonshik’s grin widens. “What do you think of him?”
Hakyeon smiles, trying not to let the strain show. “He’s... dedicated about his work.”
Jaehwan laughs. “More like he’s obsessed. He loves dragons, but humans? Not so much. You really have to learn to read his poker faces. Sometimes he looks angry without meaning to, and he doesn’t take well to people disrupting his projects. Dragons will always take priority, but don’t worry, he’s actually a really good guy once you get over his little frowns.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Hakyeon mumbles.
Fortunately, the conversation shifts gears from there on and Hongbin becomes the next target for questioning. Sanghyuk in particular seemed fairly interested in his freelance photography, and they talk about that until a fair portion of the food disappears and Wonshik is packing away some dinner for Taekwoon, allowing everybody to disperse back into their own work.
Hakyeon claims one of the armchairs by the window for himself and connects his tablet to his laptop. He opens up a blank document and stares at it for a moment, thinking back to the overall environment of the lab. The scientists who work here are definitely a lot friendlier than Taekwoon was, but he’s got to steer clear of his disgruntlement with the man if he wants his pieces to shape up nicely. This series is meant to show the importance of taking care of space dragons; how is he going to promote that if he’s hating on the guy who keeps them alive?
“Hakyeon, I’m going up to the observatory to take some photos,” Hongbin calls, and Hakyeon waves him off, mumbling some kind of affirmative sound a reply. He hears Hongbin leave, and a moment later, the lounge is silent save for the sounds of the coffee maker ticking and the appliances humming. It’s a very homely sound, one that reminds him of his childhood residence back on earth, and he falls into a bit of a lull when he begins to write. He’s not sure how long he spends curled up by the window, but by the time someone walks into the lounge, the sky has turned pinkish-reddish in colour: and indication of nightfall, if V.I.EX. actually had nights.
“Ah,” a soft voice says, and Hakyeon shoots up, startled by the sound. To his surprise, Taekwoon is standing in the kitchen, a hand pressed to his chest, and he looks absolutely filthy. His outdoor gear is a mess of grass stains and mud and his dark hair is lanky with sweat. Strands stick to his temples as he regards Hakyeon with the same piercing quality from their first meeting. His appearance is a far cry from the tidy, fashionably dressed man Hakyeon interviewed two days ago, but somehow, Taekwoon looks more... natural.
“I’m sorry,” Taekwoon says, a moment later. “I didn’t mean to interrupt; I was surprised to see you sitting there.”
“Oh,” Hakyeon says, blinking. “That’s okay. I was just writing.”
Taekwoon nods, eyes flicking down to the leftovers the other scientists had left out for him. He grabs a few plates and then walks over to where Hakyeon is sitting. He deposits the food onto the one of the tables and drops into the plush seat with a quiet groan, practically sinking into the chair.
“Long day?” Hakyeon asks tentatively, watching Taekwoon stretch his long legs out in front of him. His boots are also caked with mud, and there’s a tear in the fabric above his knee.
“Not really,” Taekwoon yawns. “Just eventful. One of the rock-based dragons had a torn a muscle in its neck from burrowing too harshly, and it was very stressed. It took me quite a while to sedate it before I could take a proper look.”
“How big is the dragon?” Hakyeon asks, sitting upright. A kind of curiosity has washed over him; it feels like the Taekwoon here, in all his outdoor gear, is different from the sterner man sitting across from him in the café on the other planet.
“Rock-based dragons aren’t large creatures in general,” Taekwoon says, picking through some of Jaehwan’s spinach. “They’re clunky types. An adult one probably won’t grow any larger than one of our buggies.”
“Do they fly?”
“They have the physical capabilities to achieve flight, but they rarely do,” Taekwoon shakes his head. “As their names suggests, they’re more prone to digging caves, or residing in mountain passes. You’ll find a lot of them in dryer, rocky planets. They’re really bad at moving through water but desert landscapes make them feel exposed and doesn’t provide the kind of cover they seek for nesting.”
“I see,” Hakyeon mumbles. He’s unplugged his tablet from his laptop and he’s scribbling away without even being aware of it. In fact, he’s got nearly two pages of notes and observations by now, from the way Taekwoon sits as he speaks about dragons to the information he’s garnered so far. He’s aware of the scientist watching him as he eats, eyes searching.
“Is there any way you’d like to set up your interview during your stay?” Taekwoon asks suddenly, and Hakyeon looks up.
“Well, I was hoping I could follow you around while you worked, where it’s safe to, of course. I have a professional photographer who’ll be contributing to my articles, so it’d be great if he could tag along too. Some exposé on your colleagues and yourself wouldn’t be bad either, and Sanghyuk’s explained which areas are considered off-limits and warned us not to go off exploring on our own. I’ll do my best to ask things of you ahead of time so we can all work around our schedules.”
Taekwoon nods, expression thoughtful as he shoves forkfuls of meat into his mouth. Hakyeon couldn’t believe the man could eat so much at once.
“That sounds like a plan. I’ll tell you now that V.I.EX. runs on nineteen-hour days, and because of the irregularity of the planet’s shape we’ll get three half-nights in a row before we get a full six hour nightfall. We don’t keep daytime regulation generators like settlement or metropolis planets and illuminate everything for seventy-two, ninety-six hours on end. We do our best to maintain a completely natural course of lighting here for the dragons.”
“Okay,” Hakyeon hums. He wouldn’t mind staring out at the half-nights; the hues of the sky were really beautiful. God knows he needed a vacation away from the constant intensive glare of light exposure in busy cities and ports. His mother would be proud of him.
Taekwoon was tapping his chin as he ate, considering. “I can take you to see the forest dragons and some of the sand dragons tomorrow,” he says after a moment. “They’re some of the tamer dragons, a little more open to unfamiliar visitors. If we’re lucky, some of the water dragons might surface from the lake too.”
“That’d be great,” Hakyeon nods, feeling oddly proud of their little exchange. He didn’t step on Taekwoon’s toes, and Taekwoon didn’t storm off with his dinner. It was a good, civil conversation.
“I’ll meet you and your photographer in the lobby at 0700 hours?” Taekwoon asks. He wipes his mouth and looks down in satisfaction at the emptied plates. “Have all your devices auto-adjusted to our systems?”
“Yeah,” Hakyeon nods, glancing down at his tablet.
“Good,” Taekwoon sighs, standing. “Sometimes Wonshik likes to experiment with our satellite signals, and... well, usually everything that operates on wireless signal resets itself without meaning to. I’d back your stuff up constantly if I were you,” he adds, glancing at Hakyeon’s laptop. “We even programmed a back up for the automated coffee machine so we don’t have to keep on putting our preferences in.”
“I will remember that,” Hakyeon vows with a horrified look on his face, staring down at his electronics like they were live bombs. God, if he lost all of his research data and writing— he shudders and reminds himself to tell Hongbin about the dangers as well.
Taekwoon laughs at his expression, and the sound is surprisingly light, like a bird’s lilt. His eyes scrunch up and he ducks his head when Hakyeon looks to him, amazed.
“I have to go back to work,” the scientist coughs, straightening up. “I’m sorry I didn’t come and greet you to the laboratory when you first arrived.”
“That’s fine,” Hakyeon replies, a little faintly. “We got acquainted all the same.”
“That’s good to hear,” Taekwoon says, collecting his plates. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning?” he adds as he piles everything into the dishwasher, and Hakyeon inclines his head. “Well, have a good night, mister journalist.”
“It’s Mister Cha Hakyeon to you!” Hakyeon calls, but Taekwoon’s already walking away, sparing him a little wave as he goes. He scoffs at the other’s relaxed posture, one hand tucked into the pocket of his pants as the other swings by his side. His gait is languid and graceful, and Hakyeon really couldn’t imagine Taekwoon crawling around in the forest and caves, poking about at dragons.
He leans back into his armchair and stares down at all he’s written down on his tablet.
Jung Taekwoon is a strange, enigmatic dragon keeper... and Hakyeon’s got two weeks to find out all that he can on this strange reptile island on the far end of the galaxy.