Work Text:
The day started as it did most days.
Choi dropped off a grape juice on Soleum's desk, and sat down on it, leering down at the newest addition to the team.
"Have you ever thought about dying?" Choi asked.
Of course, he did.
Soleum stared, nonplussed. He thought about his death too often. He expected to die every day.
"Grapes doesn't, I knew it!" Choi was creating a narrative of his own.
No, you were just too quick to take the silence as an answer.
"You're like me," Choi said, his voice growing more excited with every passing moment. "You were Chosen, too."
Was it too late to take back Director Ho's offer to earn a Wish Potion by being a spy?
"We aren't meant to die. We live."
What grand words from a dead man walking.
Choi patted Soleum's shoulder. At least he wasn't receiving a head pat this time.
"Stay strong, Grapes. We're the only ones who can stop what's coming."
No, that was wrong.
There was an apocalypse, yes, but Choi would be of no help and Soleum would be home before then.
"Agent Choi–"
Choi cut him off. "You'll protect Jaekwan-ie for me, and I'll protect civilians."
Could Jaekwan not protect himself?
"I can only trust you with this mission." Choi's voice turned somber. "Y'know, Jaekwan-ie isn't like us. We have to protect his innocent soul."
Soleum was sure that Jaekwan would keel over and die if he ever heard those words.
But Soleum didn't argue. He had grown accustomed to these strange dealings. He just wanted this to end.
"I'll protect him."
Choi grinned. "I knew I could count on you."
He sauntered over to his actual desk.
Soleum discreetly took out a napkin and wiped his own desk off. He needed the crazy to disappear.
-
They had fallen into a Disaster.
"It's the Darkness," Choi said, coming up with an excuse.
To clarify, the Darkness Choi was referring to was not Daydream's way of referring to ghost stories.
The Darkness was a separate entity, different from the bureau, Daydream, and the church. Supposedly.
It was an organization set on disrupting the Chosen from succeeding in protecting the world.
"We should find a way out."
Soleum was desperate. This cube was too small. He wouldn't last in such a contained area with his chuuni sunbae for long.
Choi bobbed his head. "Grapes is right. We need to escape. The Darkness is stopping us from saving people."
You're the one who activated this Disaster.
You're the one who dragged me with you.
Soleum took a breath. He couldn't yell at Choi. Jaekwan would be upset if Soleum and Choi fought.
"I know how to get out," Soleum said.
"Oho?" Choi was a freak.
"We need to speed up the time it takes for the cube to grow smaller."
They needed to get closer. The cube wouldn't kill them as long as they proactively tried to create more room around them.
"Come closer," Soleum explained as Choi blinked at him uselessly.
Choi paused, and then finally did.
It was uncomfortable. Soleum would never be able to forget the way Choi pressed against him.
But they escaped. Soleum had just a shred of his dignity left.
-
"Are you okay?"
Jaekwan pulled Soleum aside. Soleum must have looked rough.
Jaekwan pressed his hand to Soleum's forehead. He asked again, "Are you okay? Agent Choi hasn't done anything to you, has he?"
How was Soleum supposed to answer?
Choi did do something. Soleum wanted to rat him out.
He now had a permanent mark on his skin. Another tattoo.
Soleum was going to be called a chuuni when he returned home. His friends were going to mock him.
The tattoos on his wrists would go away once he left this world. Soleum was sure of that.
But the normal ink tattoo on his shoulder wouldn't.
It was a black angel wing, by the way.
"It represents our fight. As Chosen ones, we are good, but our hands are stained with blood," Choi said.
Soleum was too scared to argue as Choi suggested that Soleum get a matching one to his own. Choi showed off his biceps as he convinced Soleum to go through with it.
"I'm fine," Soleum lied.
Jaekwan's eyes shook.
Later that day, Jaekwan gave him a grape juice can. It was name brand, unlike the ones Choi gave.
-
Soleum had never thought that he would pity a delusional man as much as he did Choi.
Choi was holding his neck. It was a large scar. Soleum knew where Choi got it from.
The man was denying how he received it.
"It contains my powers," Choi said conversationally.
His voice was too steady. A repeated tale that he convinced himself of.
"If I don't keep them in control, it bursts through my skin." Choi gestured it his neck. "And things like this happen."
He was coping with his trauma in weird ways.
Maybe if Soleum were Choi, he would do the same.
-
"Ahahahhahaha."
There was a strange laugh coming from inside the office.
It stopped. And then started again, but differently.
"Mwahahahahaha."
Soleum shouldn't go in. He stepped away from the door.
The laughter began again.
"Kufufufufufu."
Soleum contemplated asking to switch teams. Jaekwan would understand. He wouldn't cry or beg Soleum to stay… Right?
He walked away, but the floor creaked. The laughter ended, and footsteps came near the door.
Choi widened the door and grinned innocently. "Grapes! What are you doing out here? Come in."
He didn't want to.
Choi continued to look at him expectantly.
Soleum stepped forward, his body trembling from the stress of being in Choi's presence.
He was surprised to see Jaekwan already waiting in the office. He was pale, but mustered up a smile.
"Good Morning," Jaekwan greeted in a strained voice.
Soleum ducked his head and sat down.
Choi remained standing. He stood in the middle of where Jaekwan and Soleum's desks resided.
"Which laugh sounds best?" Choi asked excitedly.