Work Text:
“Welcome to Looky Mart!”
Ryu Jaekwan clicked the recorder again.
“So, I’m on the third floor, and I’ve just found a door reaching to the fourth floor.”
The cold air of Hyunmoo-1’s waiting room sunk into Ryu Jaekwan’s bones as his monitor glared at him. It had been a week since Choi had gone missing - Days since Jaekwan had found his recorder.
He had insisted on writing the report, seeking the comfort of his home each time he replayed the recording. Could he even call this place home anymore when it felt so empty?
After the elder’s injury, it had just been him and Agent Choi. Occasionally, there would be a new rookie that they’d train and welcome to the team. However, both of them knew better than to lower their walls and grow fully attached to someone who likely wouldn’t last long.
Sometimes, a rookie would survive long enough to transfer out. When curious agents asked about their experience in the rookies chat, all they could say was, ‘They were warm and welcoming. Both of them tried their best to look out for me. But sometimes it felt a little strange. It was like I couldn’t understand them the same way they understood each other.’
‘Agent Choi, who realized the rescue targets were all dead, decided to challenge it.’
Maybe Jaekwan didn’t understand Choi at all.
“Isn’t it recorded that nearly a hundred people have gone missing after going upstairs?”
An agent's life should be prioritised. Choi could have waited, could have used the five-coloured shoelaces. He could have done anything besides go up to the fourth floor. He knew about the missing cases, so why? Why throw away his life so recklessly? Why throw away the home that they built together just like that? Jaekwan couldn’t understand.
Jaekwan could feel the eyebags forming when he finished the report. The report had taken longer than it should have and the city was silent as he headed back to his dorm. He knew that the bureau would have understood if he finished it the next day, but it didn’t feel right leaving this particular report unfinished. He could afford fewer hours of sleep anyways. Ever since he had found Choi’s recorder, the bureau had assigned him mostly to paperwork and lower-level disasters. He made sure to pick up more paperwork to make up for it though.
When Jaekwan returned to work, he could feel the exhaustion that came with his lack of sleep. Despite how tired he had been after finishing the report, he could only lie in bed and stare at the ceiling until his alarm went off. His heart felt heavy as he glanced at the empty coaster sitting on his desk. He couldn’t help but wish that it was a bad dream. That Choi would waltz into the room at any moment going, “Jaekwan~” before handing him a vanilla latte to start the day.
The waiting room felt colder than before.
The sound of a phone ringing woke Jaekwan up. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep on the job but it was already night.
“Agent Haegeum?”
“Agent Bronze, head to the hospital right now.”
“I’m on the way, did something happen?”
“They found him. They found Agent Choi. He’s in room 48- Agent Bronze, stop running.”
“I’ll be fine. What are the details?”
“He was brought to one of the bureau fronts by a civilian who thought he was a regular government worker. Right now, Agent Choi is unconscious and dehydrated but doesn’t seem to be physically hurt besides a few minor wounds. He’s also being contained and monitored for contamination while he receives treatment.”
“A civilian brought him? Wasn’t he last in the Looky Mart disaster? Is the civilian alright?”
“The civilian is unharmed. They found Agent Choi passed out in front of the Looky Mart building. No entry was attempted since they were busy helping Agent Choi. The civilian also didn’t know anything about Looky Mart or disasters in general.”
“Is the civilian still around?”
“No, they left after handing Agent Choi to us and answering our questions.”
“Thank you, Agent Haegeum.”
“It’s nothing. Agent Bronze?”
“Hm?”
“I know you’re worried about him but don’t do anything reckless when you’re there, ok?”
“I won’t.”
Cracked lips and heavy eyebags. Agent Choi looked awful but Jaekwan could only feel one thing. Relief. Choi was there, he was in one piece. He was alive and not lost in some disaster. Choi was home, his home was home. He hadn’t woken up yet so they couldn’t confirm if he was experiencing any more effects from going up to the fourth floor. But, at the very least, Jaekwan could let himself hope now, just a little, that Choi would be alright.
Jaekwan had so many questions. He wanted to know why he would do that. Wanted to know how he got out, if he was alright. Admittedly, he was afraid of what Choi would choose to do next, what if whatever drove him to go up was still there? What if he did something reckless again? He had been lucky that a civilian found him this time, but what if he wasn’t so lucky in the future? Grateful, Jaekwan was also grateful to that civilian who had brought Choi back. He wanted nothing more than to at least thank them but he knew that he couldn’t look or really ask about them to maintain confidentiality.
“Jaekwan-” A weak voice startled the agent out of his thoughts. “You’re here.”
“Choi-” was all he could choke out as scarred hands wrapped around his own trembling ones. The room was silent as Agent Choi stared at Jaekwan’s wrist, gingerly tracing a finger along the patterns that his veins made. Sometimes, he’d just gently press down, listening, feeling.
“I should call the doctor to check on y-”
“You look almost as bad as me.” It came out softer and more tired than Choi’s normal voice. It wasn’t the first time Jaekwan had seen Choi like this. In the past, when Choi had gotten badly injured or gone through something that shook his mental state, he’d always become quieter. It was as if all of his usual energy had suddenly disappeared.
“I’m just tired. I really need to call the doctors in, ok?”
Choi didn’t say anything after that but he just stayed there, hands still grasping Jaekwan’s wrist.
Jaekwan let him. They stayed there for as long as they both needed.
A few days had passed before Jaekwan was allowed to visit again. The doctors had wanted to monitor Agent Choi for a few days after he regained consciousness before allowing visits.
“Please actually alert us this time if anything happens.” The doctor, who had previously told him off for not calling them immediately, warned before allowing Jaekwan to step in.
“Jaekwan!” Choi grinned at Jaekwan as he entered the room. His eyes were more focused and his eyebags had begun to clear up. It lifted a weight off of Jaekwan's shoulders to see his senior recovering well. However, that weight was doubled in the form of worry since Choi looked as though he was about to jump out of the bed with how energetic, or bored, he had become.
“Senior. I brought you some porridge.”
Choi really may have jumped out of the bed, “Is it your cooking? I haven’t tasted it in so long~”
“Sit back down- Yes, I made it." Jaekwan moved to pour the porridge into a bowl.
“Your cooking is the best as always, you should cook more often.”
“It's just porridge.”
“Anything cooked by you is always delicious. My junior is the best~” Choi was absolutely delighted at the pink tinting his Jaekwan's cheeks as he wolfed down the food he brought. Staying cooped up in the hospital was boring, who could blame him for teasing Jaekwan a little.
Neither of them said much for a little while. Choi was too busy devouring the meal and Jaekwan didn't want to disturb him. Both were enjoying the warmth that came with the other's presence in the room.
It’s Choi who breaks the silence, “Bronze-ah, I heard from Agent Haegeum that you’re in charge of the report for my case?”
“I am. I have to reopen it and get your statement now that you’re back though. I’ll only do it when you’re ready. ”
“I’m ready.”
“Right now? Are you sure?”
“As long as I get another round of your cooking in return for giving the statement.”
It hadn’t been too bad after Agent Choi went to the fourth floor. While he didn’t remember what exactly he saw in the moments before he had gotten contaminated, he still had a recollection of what happened after he had become an employee at Looky Mart.
Weirdly enough, it had been more like a never-ending retail job than a supernatural disaster once Choi was contaminated. When the store opened, he worked one of the retail positions. He greeted customers, processed their purchases - occasionally got yelled at by them because they were in a bad mood. Then, when the store closed, he would leave whatever station he was at and join the other employees in wandering around the mart to sort and process products. Even the after hours felt more like restocking the mart if he didn’t think too closely about it.
The process had kept repeating with little to note. So much so that the days started blurring together for Choi. It was only when he was stationed to butcher duty that something interesting had finally occurred.
Due to how expansive the third floor was, most produce sections rarely saw any customers. Thus, Choi could only be thankful that he would get a quieter shift after being put on cashier duty during a sale. He liked butcher duty, it let him put his anatomy knowledge to use and it reminded him of his days of field work with his junior.
Jakdu had, unfortunately, been repurposed as an overglorified meat cleaver.
As Choi prepared the next batch of meat, a group of customers had come in. He put on his (self proclaimed) award-winning customer service smile and voice. “Welcome to Looky Mart! Would you like to participate in our BBQ event? We’re giving out gift certificates based on the cuts of meat you bring in today.”
He took the time and observed the trio that had entered, he couldn’t help it. The shift was slow, he was bored and old habits die hard. Suits and animal masks, didn’t that just scream Daydream. If Choi had still been an agent instead of a humble butcher, he’d be more pissed at seeing them in a disaster. But as an employee, he couldn’t be happier that they chose Looky Mart as their go to shopping establishment.
A falcon mask, a badger mask and-
Holy.
Was that him? The legendary top rookie Roe Deer that he had heard so much about when he was still an agent? Choi never thought he’d run into him after his job change. Though, the rookie seemed to be glancing at him every so often as he conversed with his coworkers.
And then Roe Deer took out a large butcher's knife.
A brutalization. That’s what Choi would have called it as he watched the employee hack away at his arm. The use of the wrong tool and the lack of precision made it a painful watch for Choi. So much so that he almost offered up Jakdu to make the process cleaner.
As Choi observed Roe Deer, a small and old part of him couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Why aren’t his coworkers stopping him? Daydream bastards.’ And then said employee placed a chunk of his right arm on the event grill. Choi couldn’t be happier, he’d surely get a small bonus for managing to sell the event, right?
“Thank you for participating in our event! Here’s your gift certificate, happy shopping!”
The trio placed the rest of the severed arm on the grill next.
There was no way Choi wasn’t going to get an incentive now, he loved working at Looky Mart.
“Here’s your second gift certi-”
The rookie, who had somehow regrown his arm, gripped his wrist instead of the gift certificate.
“Are you not used to your new ar-” The employee yanked Choi forward and shoved something between his teeth.
Bile rose through Choi’s throat and before he knew it he was uncontrollably throwing up, water?
He didn’t know why it was water or what he had been fed. He needed to stop puking. To get away from these Daydream employees and find a way to contact the bureau so they could examine him. He needed to-
“And when I woke up I was greeted by my cute junior!” Choi had the audacity to grin at the other agent.
Jaekwan was speechless. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts on what he wanted to say. After some deliberation he ended up relying on protocol. “Are you feeling ok after sharing that?”
Choi pressed a finger gently into his wrist. He'd grabbed them at some point during his statement and Jaekwan had assumed it was for comfort. But, should Jaekwan be worried after hearing about his butchering? No, he trusted his senior and he hadn't had any other signs of contamination or aggression so far.
“Bronze-ah, you worry too much. Like I said, it was weirdly just like working a job.”
The younger furrowed his eyebrows and Choi knew he was doomed. “You were missing for a week, fed something strange by Daydream and vomited abnormal amounts-”
“When you put it like that-”
“What if you weren't lucky enough to be found?”
“...”
“You would have been lost in the disaster for good.”
“Jaekwan,” the pressure on his hands increased slightly, a desperate attempt at grounding the other. “I'm here now, I know that it could have ended up worse, but I'm not going anywhere, okay?”
The other didn't bring up the fact that Choi had already left once. Instead he just nodded, Choi was right, he was here at least. Even if he couldn't quell the worry that his senior would do something stupid again.
Kim Soleum was fucked. He had one very real Jakdu on his dorm table. A Jakdu that he had no idea how to return without blowing his cover as a normal civilian who found Agent Choi injured. After the agent had passed out in Looky Mart, he had shoved both him and the weapon into his wrist storage. However, in his rush to leave the bureau before they could grow suspicious of him, he had forgotten to take out and return the weapon with Choi.
Maybe he could try and sell it on the Salmon Market to get rid of it?