Archive of Our Own

After a fitful night of rest, Kim Soleum wakes with a buzzing under his skin. 

Not now… he despairs. 

Despite dreading it, Soleum drags himself out of bed. He can’t call out so early into his employment at the Disaster Management Bureau, having not accumulated the time-off hours for it. 

No matter what, he has to go to work. 

Soleum sighs. 

After officially getting assigned to Hyunmoo-1 despite his best efforts, Agent Bronze and Agent Choi seemed to warm up to him. The dispatch assignments have gone very well, surprisingly.

His best efforts seem to have thrown the attention off of him being a Daydream Inc. spy, luckily. Even if they suspect it, they won’t act on it as long as he’s benefiting the bureau. 

Even better, his current persona doesn’t need to put on an act—being nervous and scared comes naturally to him! The adjustment was easy. 

In no time at all, Hyunmoo-1 figured out how to work together so efficiently it’s as if they’ve been a team their entire lives. 

The disasters were just as awful as ever, but Soleum has felt just a bit better at facing them. It’s not so bad when Choi takes the lead so readily, and Bronze is always watching their backs. 

This morning, though, he wakes up all wrong, which doesn’t bode well for the day ahead.  

It doesn’t feel like the usual cold or flu. He feels feverish, yes, but not congested. Just…restless, and unsettled, and achey. Everything feels wrong. 

The dokkaebi flame waves at him from inside his glass arm, flashing in warning. Without his input, his hand is held up in a ‘stop!’ motion. 

“I have to go,” Soleum says weakly.

The little will-o-wisp dances laps around him, bobbing worriedly. Soleum pats it gently. “I’ll be okay, I promise. Today is the last workday before a day off. I promise I’ll rest then.” 

Eventually, after much persuading, the dokkaebi flame begrudgingly allows him to leave.

He’s glad to have the little flame with him, even if it likes to meddle. With Braun still being down one plush body, he doesn’t have his good friend to comfort him right now. 

He tries to not let it show, but the buzzing is starting to develop into sharp, needling pains echoing through his body. It slows him down, almost causing him to miss the first train. 

Soleum scratches his neck, the glands on them feeling swollen and itchy. People give him looks on the train that morning. Strange looks. Once, he thinks someone sniffs the air beside him. It makes him so uncomfortable that he gets off at an earlier stop and walks the rest of the way. 

Does he smell bad? Does he look that awful? 

The buzzing grows.

It feels just like when he first ended up in this ghost story world, struggling to adapt. 

In this world, there are secondary characteristics for each person. Kim Soleum never had anything like that in his home world, so it was all new to him when he first arrived. 

It was utterly overwhelming. This world has an abundance of smells, sensations, and sounds that are overly loud, bright, and foreign to him. 

Luckily, though, his medical evaluation required for employment lists his designation as a beta. It’s the most simple and straightforward designation to him. He’s grateful for that, as it’s one less thing to worry about while he’s trying to survive. 

Soleum still did research, of course, to understand each secondary gender, but for the most part he does not need to participate in it. Daydream Inc. provides high-grade suppressants to every employee, so after orientation it was much easier to deal with. 

Even without them, everyone mostly acts the same as people he’s used to, just with some extra urges and instincts. 

As a beta, he should have duller senses than others, but apparently he’s one of the rare few who have heightened sensory issues, unfortunately. 

It’s come in handy in a few ghost stories, where he’s been able to notice things no one else does. But it’s mostly awful. 

He spent many sleepless nights under the covers, clutching his head and twitching under the onslaught on his senses, heart beating out of his chest. That terrible, wretched burning under his skin. 

It’s been a while since it's acted up like this, though. 

Some of the buzzing can definitely be attributed to sensory overload. His skin feels flushed and tight, jaw clenched, head aching at the strain. 

Ugh. 

He just has to push through, maybe take some pain medication. It eventually dies down, it always does. 

By the time he arrives, he’s sweating profusely and shivering. He’s the first in the office that morning, so thankfully nobody stares at him as he shuffles in like a zombie. 

The Disaster Management Bureau has a much laxer policy on suppressants, and he’s still trying to get used to the onslaught instead of expecting Daydream’s sterile hospital-like environment. 

The mess of smells burns his sensitive nose today, causing those sharp pains to strike back at him in retaliation. He swallows back a gag. 

He’s made it this far, he can do this, he can do this…

At least it’s only been administrative paperwork this past week. No frightening missions or anything. He can easily handle deskwork, no problem. 

Soleum sits at his desk. 

No problem.

…For only a moment, before the uneasiness drags him away. 

It’s too open, too musty, this office. His chair is too hard, the computer monitor too bright, the stale pheromones of other civil servants nauseating. 

It’s choking. 

He hates it, hates this! 

That pounding headache ripples behind his eyes, blurring his vision. 

The dokkaebi flame flashes again, his right hand pressing to the walls to stop him before he collapses. Soleum blindly walks while his little flame keeps him steady.

Running on fumes and pure instinct, he drags his body to the one place that sounds safe in this entire wretched place. 

The Hyunmoo-1 waiting room.

Four walls, a comfortable couch, a door that locks, a fridge with cold drinks—heavenly compared to this.

The alpha scents of Agent Bronze and Agent Choi permeate the room in a thick haze, familiar and strangely soothing. For some reason, these scents don’t invoke disgust. It’s just—good. Nice. Refreshing. 

Instantly, his mind blanks, the buzzing quieting. So much better…!

In a daze, he dims the lights and buries himself in the couch, soaking up the comfort of the cushions as a fever burns through him. 

Just for a moment, he’ll rest. His body aches and burns so painfully, he doesn’t think he could move if he tried. Then, he’ll get up and go to work. He will. He can.

Just a moment. 

…

Some time passes that way, lost in a haze. 

Kim Soleum wouldn’t know. He’s safe. That’s all that matters. 

…

Then.

The door suddenly opens. 

“...smell…coming in during a heat, sheesh, really—Kim Soleum!?” 

Soleum peeks his eyes open. Agent Choi stands there, frozen and slack-jawed. He stammers, off-guard. “You—heat—I thought—beta?” 

Heat. He is feeling quite heated, yes. With Choi’s entrance brings a waft of that fresh, heady scent he likes so much. Soleum feels his throat vibrate and warble strangely, pleased. 

Choi slaps a hand over his mouth and nose, voice muffled. “Oh no, oh. You’re presenting. You haven’t…you’re an omega?”  

Presenting…? Omega? Heat?

He’s a beta. Betas don’t get heats.

So why…

All of a sudden, Kim Soleum slams back into full consciousness. 

What is he doing right now!? Carelessly loafing around at the office? In front of his sunbae, who’s watching him pathetically writhe and sweat to pieces!? 

Soleum’s scent sours sharply, distress and anxiety permeating the room. Agent Choi’s grip on the doorframe tightens so harshly that the wood splinters. 

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Kim Soleum murmurs, shaking. Words pour out of him, trying to justify, jumbled and disorganized and far too honest. “I don’t…it hurts so much. Everywhere.” 

“Soleum-ah, you gotta—you need to go home—no, no, it’s not safe for you out there this late in your heat, there’s rooms here for that, okay? You need to go there.” Choi’s voice is tight, controlled. Harsh and clipped. 

The thought of leaving this room makes him so viscerally upset that a fresh lance of pain spikes through him. Agent Choi, his sunbae, his pack alpha, wants him to leave his room…his…nest?

Yes, that feels right. This is his nest. His safe place. And his protector wants him gone from it. 

Soleum whines sharply, distressed. 

No! 

Heats and ruts manifest in many different ways. Some get overly aggressive and territorial, some experience intense sexual urges, and some sleep the entire time. It individually varies for both cycles.

For Soleum, especially as his first, very belated presentation, it seems his heat is manifesting as a very vulnerable one, needing to hide and ride it out in safety. His pheromones practically scream help me, comfort me, protect me! 

Agent Choi, as a result, is on the verge of snapping. 

A man who has a tight grasp on his self-control, he has never threatened to give into his base urges so easily. 

Choi has always maintained a professional stance at the workplace, though he does have very expressive alpha-like tendencies. He tends to heavily guard those younger than him during assignments, for one, something which others at the office have joked with him about before. 

It’s a part of him that’s most difficult to suppress, his protective urges, and it’s the driving force that makes him so effective on rescue missions. 

When faced with Kim Soleum, his clever, shy, secretive hoobae, who is in such intense agony that he’s practically screaming for help, so scared and defenseless—

He slips. 

Choi’s pupils blow wide. “Soleum-ah, Grapes-ie, it’s okay,” Choi coos. He quickly steps into the room, closing the door behind him. Guarding it from intruders. “You’re safe here. You don’t have to leave. Shh, don’t cry, I’m here, alpha’s here. Shh…”

He crouches by his junior, his poor omega, and holds out his wrist. Kim Soleum, hesitatingly, presses his cheek to it. A burst of syrupy-smooth alpha scent pours over him. 

Soothing relief washes through him like cool water. The purr returns.

Choi’s expression lights up, smiling wide. “Good, right? Let me help you. Can I visit your nest? Sit with you?” 

Nest. He knows his nest. Is that where the feeling of safety comes from? 

Sunken back into that vulnerable headspace, Soleum nods. Then hesitates. 

“Not…right. Nest isn’t…good.” 

Choi pets through his hair. “What’s wrong? It’s very nice. Are you uncomfortable? Cold?” 

Soleum squirms on the couch. It’s missing something. He feels much better with his alpha here, but not enough. He tries to articulate his liquid thoughts. “Rough. Needs to be soft. Too open. Can’t hide. I don’t like…being watched.” 

Choi stands and opens a cupboard, revealing a few blankets and pillows. 

“Good thing I stashed these! Slept here enough to need ‘em.” Choi holds out the mound of comfort items in offering. “Use these! Make your nest yours.”

“...I don’t know how to. I don’t…I can’t be an omega. I can’t do this.” Soleum fights the immediate instinct to gather and curls into a miserable ball instead. 

He’s at work. He needs to go to work. He needs to go home. He needs to go to work to go home. 

He can’t deal with these instincts and also survive the horrors. For once, Kim Soleum is at a total loss of what to do. He can’t move, paralyzed at the conflicting thoughts and overwhelming instincts. 

Everything hurts. 

All he wants is to go home, right now. 

Arms wrap around him, tight and grounding. Choi presses him into the couch cushions as he frantically scents him. 

“You’re okay, everything is okay. The first presentation is hard, always is, but you’ll feel better if you lean into it a little. I’ll keep you safe. You’re doing fine, you’re still you. Here, feel this…” 

Soleum’s hand is lifted and placed into the blanket pile. Soft. Body-warm. His grip tightens on it, liking the sensation as it runs over his fingertips.

Carefully, uncertain, following his intuition, he drapes the blanket over the couch back. Choi coos again, encouraging him on, so he grabs another. 

By the time the haze lifts slightly, he’s buried in the couch, pillows propping up blankets to make a warm cavern for him to lie in. Just outside the opening, Choi strokes his hair, smiling widely. 

“Very nice. Your nest is so nice, Soleum-ah, you’re so cute. My hoobae. My omega.” 

Finally feeling safe, Soleum rests his head on Choi’s thigh, purring loudly. The pain fully recedes in a dizzying rush of relief. 

So this is what it’s like on the other side. To be an omega, Soleum muses. Maybe it isn’t so bad, if it could feel good and safe like this all the time. 

He still doesn't know why he is so suddenly experiencing this intense hormonal shift, but he just can’t focus on that now. 

Maybe…Work can wait. Just this once. 

As Soleum drifts off into a healing sleep, he remains oblivious to a commotion building around the office. 

By the time Ryu Jaekwan arrives to work, later than usual due to a prior appointment, every floor agent is clustered in front of the Hyunmoo-1 waiting room.

Ryu Jaekwan pauses. He doesn’t even have time to wonder why everyone is standing around—the powerful scent is enough to shock him into stillness with everyone else. 

There’s an omega presenting in his team’s room. 

It’s a sweet, pleasing scent with undertones of sour fear, undoubtedly due to the shock of such an unexpected situation. Presentations usually happen in your teens, not to adults working full-time at the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.

It’s—strangely familiar. It couldn’t be from his team, who are all established in their characteristics. So who…?

As soon as he appears, he notices Agent Haegeum of Team 3 and a new hire from the investigation team—Agent Mint, he thinks—peel off from the group and quickly jog to him.

“Agent Bronze, you’re here, thank god,” Agent Haegeum says with relief. Sweat beads at her brow, her usual cool demeanor broken. 

“...What happened?”

“Well, as you can see, your team is…” she sighs. “It seems Kim Soleum-ssi is experiencing his first heat.” 

Kim Soleum, the beta? His heat?

The cataclysmic aura of an omega in distress is overwhelming. It breaks through scent blockers and suppressing medication with ease. Every person in the office is on-edge, agitated. Even Agent Haegeum, a stalwart beta, is severely affected. 

For Jaekwan, an alpha who is uniquely close to his newest teammate, the wave of concern is much, much stronger. 

His arm is suddenly held in a tight grip. “Calm yourself,” Agent Haegeum scolds, which is when he realizes that his body was instinctively trying to move towards the door.

With extreme self-restraint, he stops himself, internally rebelling at not moving to comfort his teammate right now. Soleum needs him. Why is he out here when he should be in there? 

“He’s a beta,” Bronze chokes out. 

Agent Haegeum shrugs. “It’s rare, but it can happen.” 

“How?” 

“Well, usually, a person presents late if their body never felt comfortable enough to present. Wrong environment, too many stressors, things like that. Anyone can have a false presentation until their body decides to have the suppressed one. I guess Soleum-ssi’s decided that now’s the time.” 

The Kim Soleum he knows now, after Daydream Inc., is a timid man. Bronze worries for him on every mission as much as he relies on him. It’s no wonder he never truly presented in that negligent pharmaceutical company, forced to always be on edge to protect himself. 

He has been more relaxed lately. Everyone at the Bureau has become quite friendly with their Destruction King Rookie, who is gradually adjusting to the positive attention. 

The fact that Soleum’s hidden side felt safe enough in his team to show his true self makes his inner alpha preen. 

The logical, non-hormonal part of his brain that retains the professionalism and discipline of a hardened civil servant balks that this is all happening at the office. Jaekwan distinctly remembers how miserable his own presentation was. 

Poor Soleum-ssi…

The investigation team member Agent Mint, Go Yeongeun, is holding a multitude of items, stacked so high she has to peek around them. Towels, water bottles, snacks, blankets, blockers—it goes on and on. 

“We tried to get him out, but it’s been…difficult. I can’t even pass them any supplies,” she explains, a worried furrow to her brow. 

…Them?

The confusion must show on his face. Agent Haegeum waves a hand towards the waiting room. 

“Agent Choi was the first to find him. He has been—unusually reluctant to part with Agent Grapes.” 

“...He growls when we open the door,” Go Yeongeun elaborates. 

Suddenly, the familiar scent makes a lot more sense. It’s his sunbae’s soothing pheromones, underlying Soleum’s newly-presented ones flooding the floor.  

Unconsciously, Jaekwan takes one more step towards the door. His team is in there. His pack. He needs to go to them. They need him. 

Stop. Patience. He has to wait until he has all the information. 

Agent Haegeum nods to a few agents clustered around a computer screen. “We’re keeping an eye on them through security cameras, and so far Soleum-ssi hasn’t given any indication that he’s uncomfortable or in danger. He doesn’t seem like he’s being coerced, either. Agent Choi is overly protective, but isn’t a threat to him.” 

Jaekwan severely doubts Agent Choi could be a threat to Soleum right now. He’s seen the man during rescue missions. Overly reckless and intensely determined, all to save just one more soul. 

Growling and snapping at his fellow agents means Choi must be quite deep in his instincts. But if Kim Soleum asked him for anything right now, he’s sure Choi would eagerly do it with a smile. 

Agent Haegeum seems to agree, but is still strictly following Bureau regulations. 

“Still, per protocol, we’d like him to be isolated in a heat room. We’re ready to go in and get Soleum-ssi out by force if the situation changes, but we’d rather do this peacefully.” 

A wave of revulsion courses through Jaekwan at the thought of Soleum leaving the Hyunmoo-1 waiting room, a place of comfort and safety, but…maybe it would be better for him somewhere else…? 

There is something else that bothers him, though.  

“Standard procedure means emergency contacts should be reached out to in a medical emergency. Was Soleum-ssi’s family contacted?” Jaekwan asks.

Agent Haegeum looks aggrieved. “...There’s nobody.” 

“...?”

“Nobody was written on the emergency sheet. It’s an oversight. We should have checked before filing it, but either it was a mistake or…”

The words go unsaid. Or he had nobody to write down. 

Jaekwan’s hands shake with the urge to pick Kim Soleum up and squeeze him. Tightly. Then tuck him into a cozy corner he can easily guard and never let him go. The weight of the thought presses down on him, clouding his mind. 

He’s lonely, he’s alone, not here, he’s not alone here, Choi is here, alpha is here, I’m here, I can—

Turmoil does not show on his face. Only an eyebrow twitches. 

Shaking off the somber mood, Agent Haegeum claps him on the shoulder. “Please try and convince that Choi to move him. You might be our only shot, as part of their pack.” 

“I’ll do my best, Haegeum-ssi.” 

He might resemble stone, but internally, Ryu Jaekwan is in tatters.

The truth is, Jaekwan doesn’t know how long he can resist! 

Although an alpha himself, he’s never felt the need to engage in posturing. With mild instincts and a calm personality, Bronze easily gave way for Choi to lead their team without challenge. To be under his protection. 

Since then, they’ve had a close-knit pack relationship, officially registered with the Bureau and everything. It makes surviving dispatch and rescue missions easier with a trusted pack-team at your side. 

Many other agents have joined, left, or…never returned to Hyunmoo-1. But Choi and Jaekwan have always remained. Their team leader was once just as steady, but no longer. They have to suffice with only visiting her in the dream realm, and relying on each other. 

Kim Soleum had been the first major disruption in their little group for a while, but not an unwelcome one. It’s as if he was always meant to be here. 

Even knowing he might be a spy, it doesn’t deter them. Trust has to be present in a job like theirs. 

He knows he definitely has the best shot as Haegeum says. 

But he’s not the unflappable alpha everyone thinks he is. His two greatest weaknesses lie in that room with the world’s most enticing scents, lighting up every instinct he tries to suppress. 

He’s going haywire over here!

As he prepares to walk in, Agent Mint shoves some of the items she’s collected into his arms. Burden-free, she now wrings her hands.

“Please give these to him, the blankets should be scent-free, and he likes these snacks. He doesn’t—he doesn’t like surprises even if he’s really good at not showing it, so this is probably a lot for him.” 

Jaekwan blinks down at her. He didn’t know Soleum had a close friend like this in another department. That’s good—he needs more attachments. “Thank you.”

“Please help him feel safe.” With a grateful nod, the fellow agent stands aside for Jaekwan to move in. 

Heartwarmed at the kind gesture, he feels emboldened. 

Jaekwan carefully opens the door, treating it as he would an unfamiliar disaster. 

The blast of pure, unfiltered scents weaken his knees, stumbling. A content omega in the height of heat and his alpha sunbae blanketing the room in his comforting presence. 

A snarl starts to echo as Agent Choi hears the door click. When Jaekwan peeks in, the growls stop, and the voice turns soft, wheedling. 

“Jaekwan-ah, you’re here! You’re late, are you well? Come, come, look at our Grapes-ie. Isn’t he sweet?” 

Soleum’s sleeping face is soft and gentle, relaxed in a way it never is. 

A strong urge to protect that innocence overwhelms him, so intense the impulse that his breaths grow short and his heartbeat speeds up. 

Choi’s scent, sharp and domineering, beckons him closer. Fighting against the urge to give in, Jaekwan swallows. 

“...Choi-sunbae. You should—Soleum-ssi should be moved to a heat room. There’s…coworkers, they’re worried that…”

Choi’s eyes narrow, blue light glowing. Jaekwan resists the urge to bow.

“Soleum is safe here, with me. He’s finally comfortable. I won’t move him this late in his heat.” 

“...It’s just down the hall.” 

“He doesn’t want to be looked at. He shouldn’t be alone.” Burning in the air, smoke. Alpha is upset. 

“For his protection,” Jaekwan weakly argues. 

“I can protect him best.” Choi leans forward, gaze locked on Jaekwan yet not stopping his soothing petting of Soleum’s soft-looking hair. “Do you care so much for what those guys think? As if they know better? Your pack is right here. Listen to me.” 

Jaekwan knows that Choi sees this waiting room as his territory, possibly even more so than his own apartment. It’s been said many times over a few drunken team dinners, along with declarations of love and affection for their little pack. 

Trying to drag him out of here in the height of his instincts would be near impossible at this stage, with Kim Soleum so vulnerable. Everyone knows how protective Choi gets around his juniors when he’s antsy.

He was sent in to fight a losing battle! 

Noticing the bundle of items Jaekwan is clutching for dear life, Choi lights up. “You brought supplies! You’re so good, such a good alpha, providing for your pack. Bring those here, come take care of our omega.” 

Nevermind the fact that Ryu Jaekwan didn’t gather them himself. He mentally apologizes for taking Agent Mint’s credit, but this is a desperate situation. 

The phrase so good has the incredibly powerful effect of whittling his resolve down to almost nothing. He’s doing good. He’s providing for his pack. 

Only the last vestiges of his strength keep him standing. No, no, he must maintain discipline. There’s rules and regulations for a reason. 

“Choi, please—professionalism is…it matters to…” 

“Agent Bronze…?” Soleum suddenly mumbles, waking up. His voice is tender, warm, sleepy, a balm on the senses. 

The nest he built looks so inviting, so cozy. 

A hint of fear still sours the edge of his scent. He should never feel fear, not ever again. 

Jaekwan shatters, falling head first into a protective alpha frenzy. 

Zero for two. 

Rapidly approaching, he drops the bundle of items at the foot of the couch, grabbing a blanket before it falls and scenting it, coating it in his pheromones. 

Dutifully, he offers the scented blanket to Choi, who takes it with a pleased rumble. Choi’s own is added to the blanket before it is offered to a confused Kim Soleum, blinking up at them. 

They don’t rush him. They eagerly await their packmate's verdict, hoping it’s worthy of his nest. 

Soleum reaches a hesitant hand out to touch it, sniffing the air. There’s a silence that lasts a worrying amount of time. 

Then, with a pleased sigh, he bundles himself into the blanket and the accompanying fort, allowing the comforting pack pheromones to surround him. The purr resumes, louder than ever. 

Both the alphas immediately relax, basking in the glow of their happy junior. 

Choi beckons at Jaekwan, and this time he follows without a fight. Ryu Jaekwan folds into Choi to be thoroughly scented, his sunbae’s strong hand settling him just as well as it did for Soleum. 

Although he can’t purr, he still makes a pleased noise as the comfort of his pack alpha washes over him. His mission has certainly failed by now, but he doesn’t feel bad about it all. This is so much better. 

From the side of Jaekwan’s neck, Choi speaks. “Soleum, can Jaekwan visit your nest? Don’t worry if not. It’s yours, and nobody will be upset with you if you say no. It might feel nice, though. Your sunbae gives really great hugs.” 

Soleum peeks out like a mouse, clutching the cushions tightly. After a long moment, he nods. “Sounds nice...” 

Choi beams. “It does, doesn’t it?”

“...try. I want to try.” 

The cushions are patted. “Come up here, Jaekwan-ah, hold him tight, okay?” 

Hyunmoo-1’s well-worn couch is large and comfortable, but is still a bit of a squeeze for two adult men to lie down without the extension pulled out. Choi and Jaekwan have crammed into it together many times after a difficult assignment, craving the comfort of another to hold themselves together. 

Carefully watching for any signs that Soleum is uncomfortable, Jaekwan lies down, having to pull Soleum half on top of himself to fit. 

Soleum easily leans into it, snuffling around and getting cozy as Jaekwan’s arms warp around him. Perfect. 

With Jaekwan now safeguarding their delicate teammate, Choi can finally work on situating the room. 

First, he grabs a spare chair and lodges it under the doorknob, jamming it. He paces each corner of his territory, checking behind the fridge, under the desk, the ceiling fan. No unwanted intruders will be entering under his watch.

Then, he grabs the snacks and drinks Jaekwan brought in, putting them in easy reach of the couch. 

Finally, he stares up at the security camera blinking in the corner of the room. 

His piercing gaze is wild, gait prowling, but he still has enough reason to recognize that he’s being watched. 

Choi smiles at the camera. It’s a reassuring grin on the surface, but his dark eyes burn through the camera lens to the interlopers watching. A warning. 

Don’t disturb us, or else. 

Message sent, Choi makes his way back over to his little pack.

Attentively, he coaxes them to eat and drink, coddling and scenting them in approval, then fully pulls out the couch extension to make space.

His two packmates are blissed out, sunken into the nest. No trace of fear remains in Soleum, so relaxed it’s as if he’s melting in Jaekwan. 

“Good?” Choi asks softly.

“Good. So good,” Soleum mumbles, lost in the fog of heat. Still, he shifts slightly, unsettled. 

Ah. That’s what’s missing. 

Soleum reaches his arms out for Choi with an inviting purr. 

Even in the dim room light, he can see how affected Choi is, marveling at the sight before him as if he can’t believe his good fortune. “Of course. Anything you want, Grapes-ie.”

Then, and only then, does Choi chuff and curl around his pack, tucking them under his wing, keeping them warm and close. A little slice of paradise just for them. 

A home. 

“Well,” Agent Haegeum sighs, pinching her brows. “That didn’t go as planned.” 

“Agent Haegeum-ssi, should we prepare to extract them?” Another agent nervously asks as they watch the live security footage.

Technically this is breaking quite a few protocols, but this situation has been far from normal. Hyunmoo-1 has always been one to carve their own path, she supposes. 

She watches the pack-team band together to protect their youngest. Due to his late presentation, Kim Soleum was almost certainly in a lot of pain as his omega characteristics were so suddenly forced out, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at him now. 

It’s a miracle that he’s resting at all now. Even that little dokkaebi flame is bobbing around, happily playing and bouncing around the nest. 

In this room, there is only peace. 

There is so much suffering in their world. So much they have to face every day for the sake of humanity. Ripping them away from this solace would be beyond cruel.

…

She makes an executive decision. 

“...No. Block off this area, leave them be. Keep an eye on them over the feed, but I highly doubt we’ll need to step in.”

The other agents look surprised, but agree. With that, Haegeum spins on her heel and walks away, a small smile on her face. 

If anyone asks, she sure she can convince any concerned higher-ups to listen. Wherever is most comfortable for Soleum-ssi to ride this out is good enough to follow protocol, and right now there is no place safer for him. 

They deserve this comfort.