Work Text:
It started with a simple question.
"Oppa?"
It was dinner time at the Yu family house, and they were once again gathered at the table, enjoying each other's presence. Grandpa Yu had asked his grandchildren about their days at school, and Dayeon eagerly told him about the test she got back and a funny story about one of her friends. Ijin was glad that Dayeon had so many friends; he was worried they'd avoid her after what happened with those siblings, but it seems he was worrying over nothing.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when she addressed him.
"Yes?"
"Umm..." She started, she looked a bit nervous, "Could you... call your friends?"
"My... friends?"
"The ones that came for dinner."
Ijin looks at her for a moment before nodding slowly.
"Oh! And what was the name of the dark-skinned one?"
Ijin furrows his brow, before a look of realization comes over his face, then horror, but he quickly pulls on a small smile.
"004," He responded.
She looks a bit confused but doesn't comment on it.
"Why do you want to call them, Dayeon?" Grandpa asks.
"004 seemed to really like the food, so I want to invite him over to cook with me."
"That seems lovely," Grandpa exclaims, not noticing the building sweat on Ijin.
He couldn't just call the Numbered whenever he wanted, but he also couldn't bring himself to deny them.
They gathered on the couch with Ijin calling his friends on the burner phone.
"What." 002 asks the moment he picks up.
"Put 004 on the phone, Dayeon wants to talk to him."
He can hear some rustling and a faint get your ass over here, before 004 gets on the phone.
"What the fuck do you want?"
"Speak to her like that, and I fucking kill you," Ijin responds, completely serious.
"Try it motherfucker!"
002 can be heard saying, "Behave" in the background, and 004 calms down enough to have a proper conversation.
"Hello?" Dayeon asks softly.
"What?" 004 responds, switching to Korean.
"Hi, uhhh... I was wondering if you'd like to come over and cook with me...?"
"What?" he repeated.
"You seemed to like the Japchae and Kimchi, so I hoped you could come over and help me make some. You don't have to if you don't want to!"
"What kind of bull-" 004 starts but gets interrupted by 005, "Oooo, that sounds fun, he'll be there."
"What! Who said I want to go!?"
"You don't have a choice! Dayeon personally invited you to make food with her; you'd better be grateful!"
"Fuck off, I don't have to listen to you!"
"You're going." 002 intercepts, "And so will 008."
"What—But-" 004 stutters.
"What am I doing?" 008 asks, entering the room.
"You're going with 004 to help 001's little sister make food, you'll depart today and arrive tomorrow."
A large smile graces 008's face as he quickly begins to prepare for the mission.
005 grabs the phone from 004 and says, "He'll be happy to do it so long as 008 can come too."
"Of course, the more the merrier!" Dayeon exclaims happily.
"They'll be there tomorrow."
"I see them then, thank you!"
005 hangs up after that, and Dayeon hands the phone back to Ijin.
"They'll be here tomorrow!" she says happily.
"They?" Ijin asks.
"004 and 008, although I don't exactly know who 008 is."
"He's the big one in the fox sweater," Ijin supplies.
"Thank you!" Dayeon responds, getting up. They need to prepare the house.
At exactly noon, the bell rang, and Ijin opened the door to reveal 004 and 008 standing there. 004 had removed his piercings and covered his tattoos—the one on his neck was covered with a bandage; he wore a white shirt with a grey overcoat and black pants. 008 was wearing another beanie and a sweater, this time covered in cats. He looked thrilled while 004 scowled at him.
Ijin smiles slightly and motions them in. 008 smiles back at him.
Dayeon and Grandpa are waiting on the couch, but stand when they walk in.
"Welcome!" Grandpa says, smiling sweetly at them.
"I'm glad you could make it!" Dayeon says, walking towards them.
She wore a simple outfit, a pair of light pants, a pink shirt, and a gray coat. She looked happy to see them.
"We should get to the store quickly so we'll have time to cook." She says
"Could I speak to them for a moment before you go?" Ijin asks
"Of course."
Ijin walks into his room after motioning for them to follow.
"What do you want?" 004 asks the moment the door closes.
001 turns to face them, "Keep an eye on Dayeon, don't leave her alone. 004, don't cause trouble. 008, make sure he doesn't cause trouble."
"Fuck off! I don't need you telling me what to do!"
008 nods, putting a large hand on 004's head and pushing down minutely. 004, in turn, glares ahead, but doesn't attempt to remove the hand.
001 stares at them for a moment, just watching as if he's looking for something. When he's finished, he walks to the door and leaves, the Numbers following behind him. Dayeon is standing by the door, pulling on a pair of shoes. She smiles when they approach.
"Ready to go?"
008 nods, 004 grumbling next to him.
They decide to walk to the nearby grocery store. It's a bit awkward; 004 and 008 don't interact with civilians as much as the others, so they don't really know how to talk to her, so they walk in silence.
As always, they remain vigilant, so they notice when people begin crossing the street when they approach. They expect this, though; they were rather intimidating, but not all of them were crossing when they saw the Numbers. Some of them crossed when they saw Dayeon. Innocent, harmless Dayeon. It was kind of funny, seeing all these wannabe tough guys turning pale at the sight of Dayeon.
008 decides to ask about it, "Hey..." He starts drawing the smaller girl's attention.
"Yes?" She asks sweetly, straining her neck slightly to look up at him.
"Why are those guys crossing the street when they see you?" He asks slowly, pointing at another crossing group.
"Hmmm..." She mutters, "Oh! I think they met Ijin a while ago and recognized his jacket." She said, tugging slightly at her jacket. It was the grey jacket with white stripes that they'd seen 001 wear in some photos.
008 nods, returning to look at the street, 004 side-eyeing the two of them.
When they arrive, they're a bit surprised. It's quite large, filled with every type of food imaginable; it was jarring to go from barely having proper food at the base to being surrounded by hundreds of different types of supplies.
Dayeon grabs a basket and starts towards an area filled with fresh fruits and vegetables.
"Okay, so we need carrots, spinach, onions, and mushrooms." She mutters under her breath, the Numbers standing there awkwardly.
She smiles at them and asks, "Could you guys grab some apples?" She points in the direction of a bright apple stand.
008 nods, "How many?"
"Hmm... 6 will do." She responds. They both meander their way to the apple section and grab one of those plastic bags, but 008 pulls too hard and rips the device out of the stand. They both look to each other, and 008 gingerly places it back on and walks off.
While they pick out apples, 004 mutters, "Why are we even doing this? We're killer mercenaries, not babysitters!"
"It's a nice break." 008 responds. 004 huffs at that and puts another apple into the bag. They come back to Dayeon to find similar-looking bags in the basket filled with colorful vegetables.
"Thank you!" She says as they place the apples into the basket. "They're Grandpa and Ijin's favorite, they'll be happy we picked some up."
They head to an isle filled with dozens of colorful bottles of seasoning. They hear Dayeon muttering something about gochugaru, but their attention is focused on the other patrons. Ever since they'd entered, they've been eyes following them everywhere they went. They were used to garnering attention, but not in such a magnitude.
What annoyed them the most, though, was the man who'd been following them for a while now, his gaze set on Dayeon, watching like a predator stalking prey. He looked to be in his fifties, balding on the top, and basically drooling over the underage girl.
Ew.
They were told to look after her, so if he wasn't a current threat, they couldn't do anything, but they still sent threatening glares his way. She picked up some weird-looking seasonings and walked over to the meat section, where that man was still trailing them.
He was still eyeing her as she picked some beef. As she picked up soy sauce, as she grabbed eggs. No matter how many glares they sent his way, he never let up.
"I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick, okay?" She says, drawing their attention to her again.
They nod. The moment the door closes behind her, they approach the man.
They stare down at the pudgy man, waiting.
"Can I... Can I help you, gentleman?" He asks hesitantly.
004 leans down to whisper in his ear, "If you keep following that girl, I will cut you into pieces. Alive." He emphasizes his point by taking one of his illegal knives and tracing it along the man's arm.
The man looks down at his arm and back at 004's serious face, which splits into an evil grin as he watches the man squirm.
"I'll- I'll- I'll report you!"
"Yeah? And what if I tell them to check your phone? Ya' know the one you've been taking pictures of minors with."
The man turns deathly pale at that and tries to grab his phone, but the device is pulled away by 008, who, at that point, removes the beanie to reveal the large scar on his head. They both stare at him, wearing identical, unnerving grins. A noise to the left of them draws their attention, and the man runs off, leaving his phone. 008 decides to hand the phone off to the guard at the front of the store, leaving 004 to wait for Dayeon.
He leans against the wall and just listens to his surroundings. There is idle chatter coming from his right, an attendant stocking shelves to his left, a child crying from somewhere behind him.
"Hey." A voice interrupts. Dayeon had finished and was smiling at him.
"Where'd 008 go?" She asks, looking around the area for the giant.
"He went to turn in a phone he found." He replies, not looking at her.
"Alright! Well, we're almost done; we just need to get some rice."
He nods.
She looks at him for a moment before jumping into his vision, startling him slightly.
"Are you okay?" She asks, concerned.
"Yeah..." He says, still avoiding her gaze
"Then why won't you look at me?" She's just as blunt as 001; must run in the family.
He takes the bait and looks at her, momentarily blinded by the light that seemed to follow her. How dare that man try to look into that light! 004 scowls in the direction the man left.
"I'm sorry! Did I upset you?" Dayeon asks, alarmed at his expression.
"No!" He says, too loudly before redirecting himself, "It's not you..."
"Then who is it?" She asks, tilting her head the same way 001 does. They were really alike.
004 stumbles over an excuse, "It's just- people are staring too much..." He says.
"Oh! I won't be long, just a few more things, then we can leave. Come on!" She states, grabbing his hand. He allows himself to be dragged to the grain isle, and he allows her to explain the different types of rice to him. Yeah. He just tolerates it. The light feeling in his chest is just indigestion. Yeah...
"EEK!"
004 whips his head to see what startled Dayeon to find 008 standing there, holding his hands up like a startled red panda.
"Oh, sorry... I didn't mean to jump like that." She says, a hand on her chest.
"Sorry..." 008 replies sheepishly. It's a bit unnerving to see such a large man look so dejected.
She smiles at him and finally places the rice into the basket. Finally, she walks to the appliance aisle. Lines and lines of spoons, forks, knives, bowls, and plates line the area, but she walks past them all to the apron section.
"We only have one apron at home, so we need two more..." She mumbles.
She looks around at the options and towards the Numbers, grinning, before picking up a pink one with cats on it and a red one with flowers.
They walk to the front of the store, and the teenage cashier looks at the two men and Dayeon suspiciously, but a glare from 004 prompts him to scan faster.
The moment they get outside, 004 lets out a breathy sigh, finally away from all the people. Dayeon and 008 wait patiently for him.
Once he opens his eyes again, Dayeon takes the lead, walking them back to the house. She's chatting to no one in particular when they're approached by a police officer, based on the uniform.
When he approached, 008 placed himself between the man and the other two, just enough to keep an eye on the officer and 004.
The officer looked at 008, then at Dayeon, and said, "Miss, would you mind stepping to the side for me?"
"And why the hell would she do th-" 004 starts aggressively, but is muffled by 008 putting a large hand over the Numbers' mouth. The officer looks 004 up and down before returning his gaze to Dayeon and motioning with his head for her to step to the side.
"Is that necessary?" She asks, looking to the Numbers.
The officer nods, and she steps to the side, much to the older men's dismay.
He lowers his voice, "Are you alright, miss?" He asks
"Of course, is there a reason I should not be?" She inquires, confused.
"Some citizens reported two suspicious men following a young girl in the store, so I need to know if you're safe."
She smiles at the officer and turns to the Numbers, who were currently fighting. 004 was pushing at the taller man's head, clearly annoyed at how he was muffled. She walks over to them and grabs each of them by the arm and says, happily,
"They're my brothers!"
The officer looks at the men again. He could see hints of scarring behind the taller one's beanie and parts of a tattoo on the shorter man's arm. They were both staring at him with twin looks of annoyance. They were obviously not related to her.
"...How?" He asks, hesitantly, not trying to offend anyone.
Dayeon thinks for a moment before saying, "They're friends of my older brother, but they're like family."
004's expression shifted at the mention of 001, but, for once, he held his tongue.
The officer looks between them suspiciously, clearly not believing her.
"Could I have your names, please?" He asks, pulling out a notebook.
"Uhh.. Sure, I'm Dayeon Yu." She responds.
The man turns to look at the Numbers, who look apprehensive.
"Bjornic Yu," 008 says, nudging 004 to respond as well.
"Azar Yu," 004 states, sending an annoyed glare at the officer.
He jots down the names quickly, eager to get this over with.
"Thank you for your cooperation. I'm sorry to have stopped you. Have a nice day." The officer says as he begins to walk off.
Dayeon gives him a curt bow and a slight wave before turning back to the Numbers.
"Let's head home!" She says, smiling.
004 and 008 remain cautious as they walk, but fortunately, they didn't have any further encounters with the public. But a new challenge arose when they got home. Cooking with Dayeon and 001.
"Why the hell are you here!?" 004 asks angrily as 001 puts on his family apron.
"I want to cook too." He states, looking to Dayeon for confirmation, who nods enthusiastically.
004 grumbles, putting on the red apron. 008 smiles at the interaction, donning the pink apron.
"Okay!" Dayeon starts, clapping her hands together. "Ijin, you already know how to make everything, so you'll be my eyes."
001 nods excitedly, wearing the light blue family apron.
"First thing we should do is make the paste for the Kimchi." She says.
She quickly explains the process of chopping and blending the vegetables, then combining them with fish sauce to create the paste. She assigns everyone a task, and they eagerly get to work.
Despite plenty of arguments amongst the cooks (004), they managed to make a very nice meal that tasted great, much to their delight. Even 004 managed a genuine smile when he tasted the food.
Overall, it was a good day for the Numbers.