Chapter Text
When you think of police officers, you think of dogs. Thus, it was only natural that Go Hyuntak, an Appenzeller Sennenhund, decided to become a policeman. Not that it's the breed of dogs that are the most common in the police, unlike German Shepherds or Labrador Retrievers, so his dog peers are more skeptical of him than of the usual newbies; but that's a beef among dogs, because to the other animals, they can't really tell the difference. They just see that Hyuntak is a newbie, and that's enough material to make fun of him, for now.
But Go Hyuntak isn't any newbie. He's a newbie that is very determined to prove himself, as being a police officer has always been his dream.
The problem? The job of his dreams and the job he's currently doing… are literally worlds apart.
Because why is he being tasked with parking duty when he should be on-site, tracking down criminals and investigating serious cases?
He sighs. None of his peers believe in him, especially because of his injured knee. It doesn't prevent him from running or jumping, he's even able to kick, but everyone still sees him as a sorry thing who can't fight. That annoys him: sure, his knee sometimes throbs him, but that's it. It doesn't make him less of a police officer.
Apparently, it does.
As he goes back to the Zootopia Police Department, ZPD, he sighs. His shift ended, and he put one hundred tickets on cars. Great.
"Hey, welcome back," Hyoman says, watching a video on his phone. "What'd you do? Put one more ticket than yesterday?"
Hyoman grins, fully mocking, and Hyuntak glares at him. There comes the usual front desk dispatcher: Choi Hyoman, a German Shepherd. He's stupid and incompetent, but because of his breed, no one undermines his skill, and it pisses Hyuntak off. He does nothing and is still acknowledged as a decent police officer, when Hyuntak does everything and is still shat on. How fair.
Well, at least he's not a bunny. If he were a bunny trying to be a police officer… god, his time here would be far worse.
"Get fucking lost," Hyuntak curses, walking away.
Hyoman laughs, all loud and annoying. "A cattle dog like you should watch his language, don't you think?"
"The fuck did you say?" he bites, turning around as he straightens up.
Hyoman jumps. What a fucking spineless asshole. Hyuntak hates him.
He bares his fangs at him, them pushing through as he slowly transforms further into his animal form. Hyoman drops his head down, ears lowering, busy pretending to be very invested in his video.
Yeah, right.
Hyuntak sighs and continues walking as he reverts back to his human form, spots of brown and black disappearing from his skin, fangs retreating to a normal size. Only his triangle-shaped black ears and thin tail stay, and he clicks his tongue. He just wants a good case, can't he have one? One to prove himself, one to prove that he deserves more than to be putting tickets on cars.
"Well well well, if it isn't the cattle-herder Officer Go."
Jeon Yeongbin appears from the corridor with a mocking smile, accompanied with Jeon Seokdae who just eyes him quietly. Being cousins, they both belong to the same breed, Belgian Malinois. Tall, pointy ears and strong build, they're a favorable breed for police officers, too.
Unlike him.
Hyuntak growls, glaring at them. "Fuck off."
"Oh, the small puppy can bark. Woof woof, so cute," Yeongbin mocks. Anger builds up in Hyuntak's chest but he knows he can't do anything. It would cost him his job, to get back at his better graded colleagues. "Alright, meter maid. We, real police officers, have better things to do."
"Get lost," Hyuntak barks and Yeongbin laughs, followed by Seokdae.
Seriously, he hates his guts too. He hates everyone's guts at the police station, but he doesn't want to give up on that job. It was his dream, and a dream he's finally accomplishing. He can't give up when he knows that one day, he'll be recognized for his work and that his colleagues will stop making fun of him.
Plus, he wants to prove that he can do very well even if he decided to leave him.
His heart starts to rot with an annoying feeling, and Hyuntak decides to ignore it. Whatever. Until headquarters finally realize his worth, Go Hyuntak will do an excellent job, even that one of parking attendant.
He walks to the office of Chef Kim but before he knocks on the door to give his report, he overhears his current conversation.
"Fourteen people missing, and we still don't have a single lead! What are you going to do about that?"
"I'm sorry," one police officer says, and Hyuntak recognizes that voice.
It's from one of the senior police officers, Kim Taejoon.
"Find them quickly before it becomes too big of a problem."
"Yes, sir."
Hyuntak steps aside as Kim Taejoon is dismissed, and the latter doesn't even spare him a glance, looking crestfallen.
Right.
That could be a good case he could take on, to prove his worth.
Those fourteen people? Hyuntak will find them.
He knocks on the door, and Chief Kim lets him in. He's a sturdy big man, a German Shepherd just like Choi Hyoman, but contrary to him, he's actually not a coward. He doesn't smile much, is authoritative and reliable but sadly, still doesn't seen the potential Hyuntak has, all because of his knee.
"Good job today. You're dismissed," Chief Kim says once Hyuntak has done his report.
Hyuntak nods, but he has something else to ask. He takes a deep breath in, gathering up his courage before speaking.
"Chief, I have a request. About those fourteen-"
"Dismissed."
"But-"
"Dismissed."
Hyuntak shuts his mouth. Okay. Fine. The chief won't even hear him out. He's completely disregarding him, not even willing to give him a chance.
Alright then. He'll prove himself on his own.
He steps out of the room, jaw tense, fists clenched.
All of those who are mocking or not even looking at him, he'll teach them to regret that.
However, Go Hyuntak realizes that it isn't easy to find fourteen individuals missing, especially when he's not assigned to the case. Indeed, he can only know their identities from the missing posters on the city boards. That's enough to draw the interesting conclusion that they're all predators: wolves, foxes, tigers, cheetahs, bears… dogs. But other than that, as Hyuntak does his research as he's handing out tickets in the streets, interrogating people around, he realizes that these fourteen people have nothing in common. They come from different backgrounds, frequent different places, have different jobs and situations.
What caused them to disappear?
As Hyuntak ends another shift, going back to the ZPD as he sighs, his black tail dropping behind him, he hears some commotion in the hall. Hyoman at the front desk is facing someone who is apparently pissed off.
A wolf.
His tail is sprung high behind him, but that's the only sign of anger he's showcasing.
"Listen, dud- I mean, sir, we can't do anything more than that for the moment," Hyoman says, his two hands raised. "I understand that he's missing, but all we can do is to file a report and investigate-"
"Are you fucking police officers or not? That's all you're going to do? Fill up your database with another person missing and do literally nothing about it? I've seen how long the other people have been missing, you know."
That confirmed it.
His voice is the same as the one from his memories.
It stings.
Hyuntak wishes he could look away, but he can't.
In front of the desk is standing Geum Seongje, still with his stupid wolfcut and glasses, tall gray tail following him, pointy gray ears on the top of his head. And as always, his anger seethes calmly, coldly. There's no outbursts with Geum Seongje, no. Only cold and calm indifference, or, at best, a quick laugh escaping his lips, his eyes widening as he nods, before he strikes.
It used to be different with him, though. When they were children, chasing each other around, playing together. When they were still around the same size, when it was hard to tell them apart, because dogs and wolves weren't that different from each other.
But then, they grew up to be different, Seongje's tail growing thicker and Hyuntak keeping his drooping ears and thin tail.
That's when something sparked between them, and stolen glances and quick touches became kisses and hugs. Playing times bled into making outs, and Hyuntak gave him his first everything. His first love, his first kiss, his first time.
Until Geum Seongje destroyed it all.
His knee throbs, and his jaw clenches.
"Du- Sir, as much as I'd like to help you, I can't do anything more for you. Sorry," Hyoman says, giving his best puppy eyes.
Seongje clicks his tongue. "Fucking dog. I knew the police would be useless."
Seongje turns around, and their gazes lock.
Time stills.
Surprise spreads across Seongje's face, his eyes widening, jaw losing some of its tension. But he quickly recovers and stands there, staring at him. Hyuntak stays still, watching him back.
He hasn't changed much, over the years. Still those dark eyes, still those full lips, still that tall figure he gets from being a wolf. His tail stands behind him, pointy ears merging in his brown hair that Hyuntak loved to caress.
Hyunak hates him.
They stand there for what seems an eternity, like two predators sizing each other up, evaluating if it's worth it to strike or not. Hyuntak tries to think of something to say, something to bite back at him for all that pain he caused to him, but he musters nothing.
He guesses he cursed him so much, he has nothing to say to him anymore.
Without a word, Seongje breaks their gaze and walks away, and Hyuntak lets out the breath he didn't know he was holding in. Tension bleeds out of his body, his thoughts back to normal, but one inhale is enough to bring him back to anger.
Smoke.
Of course.
That damn smoke.
He hates that Seongje still smells the same.
He clenches his jaw and looks at Hyoman, and remembers what they were talking about.
"What was that?" he asks.
"Yeah, hi…"
Hyoman seems so tired he's not even mocking him.
He runs a hand in his hair, sighing. "There's a fifteenth person missing, now. A wolf, called Na Baekjin. He's twenty-four, just like us. But the guy from earlier didn't stay to file a report, so I guess we'll have to gather information on that person ourselves."
Na Baekjin.
Na Baekjin disappeared.
So that's why Seongje was here.
Because Baekjin disappeared…
Hyuntak's chest tightens. Yeah, his pack or nothing, huh.
But then, Hyuntak remembers the case. That's the investigation case he wants to tackle to prove his worth, right.
And coincidentally, Seongje happens to know someone who has disappeared.
If Hyuntak could get him to talk and help him… then, maybe…
No.
No, he can't do that.
He'd rather die than talk to Geum Seongje.
He shakes his head to get the idea out of his head, and walks to Chief Kim's office.
Apparently he didn't shake his head hard enough as he's now in front of Seongje's house.
At least, if he didn't move out in all those years, but Hyuntak is (unfortunately) pretty confident that Seongje still lives here, now that he's standing at his doorstep. After all, he can already smell him: there's this distinctive scent of smoke hanging in the air. Muted, but present. And as a police officer, Hyuntak is used to use his nose to track down criminals.
It's not surprising he still recognizes Seongje's smell, even after all those years. The smell of a past lover is hard to forget, particularly for one you grew up with.
Hyuntak sighs. He just… doesn't have any other good alternative. He's not on the case, so he can't investigate outright like Kim Taejoon can. What he can is snoop behind people's back and get any piece of information he can.
And now, the opportunity's right with him, with Geum Seongje. Seeing how mad Seongje was about filing a report and police doing nothing, maybe he'll be up to look for Baekjin with Hyuntak.
Well. If he's fine with talking to the ex he broke up with, that is.
He exhales. Inhales.
He's definitely not ready, but he's got to be. He knows he's going to be humiliated. Seongje is going to rub into his face how pathetic he is, running to him with his tail between his legs, begging him to help him. Seongje will enjoy that. He has always enjoyed being into power, doesn't he?
He inhales one more time, and knocks on the door.
There's a possibility that Seongje isn't even home. Night has fallen, meaning Seongje is probably done with his job, but that's supposing he has a job with regular hours. And even if he does have a day job, it doesn't mean he isn't out doing whatever that doesn't concern Hyuntak.
If he isn't home, well. Hyuntak doesn't know where else he could be.
He doesn't know him anymore, after all.
They're just strangers who know everything about the other.
However, his ears perk up as they pick up on some shuffling behind the door and he braces himself, standing straighter as if he wanted to appear more intimidating.
But it's useless, when you stand before a wolf.
The gray door opens, and the smell of smoke overwhelms him.
A shiver runs on Hyuntak's spine, making every hair of his stand up, his tail held up in the air; a dog on its guard.
Seongje doesn't look surprised to see him here. Of course he isn't: just like him, Seongje must have recognized his smell before he even opened the door. Wolves can never forget their once bonded mate, after all.
Slow amusement stretches on Seongje's face and he leans against the door, crossing his arms, his fluffy tail curling behind him as he can't hide how amused he is.
For a short while, they stare at each other in complete silence. Seongje is letting the moment linger on purpose, and Hyuntak's patience is shrinking second by second. He can't stand it, can't stand this situation where he's in front of Seongje who looks like he did in his memories. Like time hasn't slipped between them, like they're still those two innocent teenagers in love.
Like Seongje never betrayed him.
"Well, well, well," Seongje finally says, voice laced with amusement. "If it isn't a cute dog knocking right on my door."
Hyuntak frowns, jaw tense with anger. His tail stiffens and his dark eyes lock into Seongje's as an automatic response, fangs he can't help but bare at him, losing a bit of the control over his human form.
Seongje laughs. "You trying to intimidate me, puppy?"
No. No, he isn't, but Hyuntak feels such a violent hatred rising from his chest, he can't help it but let it out. The betrayal from all these years ago still stings, still burns him, and seeing Seongje right in front of him doesn't make it better.
He wants to shove him against the wall, strangle him as he'd ask why he did it. If he regretted it. If he misses him, sometimes.
But that'd be pathetic, so he doesn't do any of that. Instead, he takes a deep breath, and forces himself to calm down. Fangs disappear, but his tail still stands straight behind him, too stiff. The only body part that a dog can't control is his own tail, after all. It'll always betray him, no matter what.
"I'm willing to help you."
Seongje has the decency to look at least amused. "Help me? You think you can? For what?"
"Baekjin."
As if it was a magic word, Seongje stiffens. His ears quirk up, leaning away from the wall, and Hyuntak is even more pissed off.
Ready for anything if it's for the leader of his damn pack, huh.
What's so important about a pack?
You wouldn't understand, Seongje would say. You're not a wolf.
He clenches his teeth.
Seongje's tail wraps around him as he stares down at Hyuntak, arms still crossed but his index is now tapping on his arm.
"Go on," he says, eyebrows raised.
Hyuntak breathes out. "I know the investigation on these cases isn't advancing at all. The police isn't going to help you, they're going nowhere. So… I'm willing to put extra hours to help look for Baekjin. I have access to many resources that could help the search. People will cooperate as long as I show my police officer ID."
Seongje remains unfazed, his perfect stoic face still staring down at Hyuntak. His dark eyes glisten with low interest, like a king in front of a boring jester.
"Why?" He smirks. "You want to help me that much? You still love me?"
Hyuntak's tail straightens and all of his body goes rigid, anger burning him from the inside. As a reaction, Seongje simply chuckles. "No, you fucker. I just need a promotion, and if I can solve this case, I'm sure I'm gonna get one. I'll get ahead of them, find these people missing, and get promoted. That's it."
"'Them', huh. Puppy, are you having a hard time dealing with the fact that your cute dog chief didn't assign you to this case?"
Hyuntak wants to punch him but he controls himself in time, his arm simply twitching. Seongje's eyes fall to it and he smirks, making no comment on it.
"Not the point," Hyuntak answers, breathing through his nose. "I'll help you. Will you help me back or not?"
Seongje takes some time to answer. Or, rather, he lets silence linger again because Hyuntak is sure Seongje isn't someone who thinks his decisions through. He's just like him, he's the type to move according to his emotions, whether it's the right or wrong decision to make. As long as he feels in tune with his feelings, it'll always be right for him. That's what leading a romantic life means for him, Seongje once explained to him.
Hyuntak hates that he works in the same way. Not as unhinged as Seongje, but he also follows his every impulsion if he deems them right. That's precisely why Hyuntak is damn sure that Seongje isn't actually thinking about his offer, he's simply letting him bathe in that short moment of uncertainty, where he's not sure he's won the argument.
Seongje likes having power way too much, and Hyuntak hates that.
"Okay," he agrees with his stupid annoying tone, which pisses Hyuntak off. "Sure. I don't see why not. My pack is all disorganized and in disarray ever since Baekjin disappeared. They're all relying on me to find him back."
Hyuntak frowns at that. "Why you, in particular?"
Seongje smiles. "I know him the best, and am the closest to him."
Something dark gnaws at Hyuntak, sour and unpleasant. He's the closest to him? Not that Hyuntak didn't expect that, but… he thought Baekjin would've had his mate already, who would obviously be the closest to him. Why is Seongje describing himself as that? Did they… No, there's no way. Wolves only mate once.
And yet, Seongje still decided to leave him.
Hyuntak shakes that annoying voice away, and thinks more about Baekjin and Seongje.
It's true, wolves only mate once, but there are exceptions. For example, in the case where wolves lose their mate to death, they can still mate again afterwards. Seongje might have chosen him once but that's over, now. Now that he stayed in the pack and Baekjin still didn't have a mate yet… there would be only one natural conclusion.
It bugs Hyuntak.
"Baekjin doesn't have a mate yet?" he asks despite himself, his tail dropping.
Seongje shoots a glance behind Hyuntak, quite amused. "No, he doesn't."
"Why?"
Seongje scoffs, looking away. "'Why'? Ask him that question yourself once we find him. Let's get to work, puppy."
He brushes past him and closes the door behind him, his smoke scent even stronger to Hyuntak who scrunches up his nose in discomfort.
Hyuntak turns around to follow him, a hand on his nose. "Stop that."
"Stop what?"
"Calling me 'puppy'."
Seongje snorts. "Okay, Officer Go."
Hyuntak scowls, and Seongje laughs, hands in his pockets.
They walk in silence for a short while. Hyuntak feels tense, his every hair standing as he glances at the man walking aside of him, who's busy lighting a cigarette. Of course he never stopped smoking, he had no reason to anymore when the only person who wanted him to stop was Hyuntak.
The small orange light flickers, dots of orange and yellow reflected in Seongje's glasses before the tip of the cigarette is lighted, and he takes a drag. Hyuntak scrunches up his nose, but he's not going to pick a meaningless fight with Seongje on that topic. If Seongje wants to smoke, it's none of his concern. The only reason he's even working with Seongje is to get promoted, that's all.
He ignores the way his chest tightens by simply standing beside a man he once loved, and speaks up:
"So, you have any clues?"
Seongje snickers. Smoke is exhaled from his nose and mouth, and Hyuntak averts his eyes. "Aren't you the police officer? Shouldn't I be asking you that, Officer Go?"
Hyuntak rolls his eyes. "Concerning Baekjin, I don't yet. I just know that the victims are all predators, but they have nothing in common, which makes the choice of kidnapping them in particular quite mysterious."
Seongje only hums as an answer. Irritating.
"When was Baekjin seen for the last time?" Hyuntak asks.
"Around here."
Seongje stops in front of a shop, or rather, a restaurant. Its neon sign spells "BAKU'S SALAD", written in green and big letters that shine in the fallen night.
Hyuntak sniffs. There's a multitude of scents mixed together since it's a place a lot of people frequent, but he still manages to pick up on Baekjin's scent. It's faint but still quite present, like he has frequented this place so many times, his scent has now imbued the walls. Another smell Hyuntak will never forget, since it's related to a traumatic incident.
"There's his smell," he nods.
"You don't say," Seongje deadpans.
Hyuntak glares at him, which Seongje shrugs off.
He expects Seongje to go in first, but Seongje doesn't. He stands there, smoking like they have all the time in the world and aren't in a rush to look for Baekjin, and Hyuntak can't believe him. Isn't he panicked to find Baekjin back? Why does he look so calm? Doesn't he know the first forty-eight hours of a disappearance are critical to find the victim back?
Hyuntak doesn't wait for him and pushes the door first, a doorbell ringing. The restaurant smells strongly of veggies, which isn't too surprising. It's lighted in green, people eating at tables with different servings: apparently, it's a salad bar, all self-service and you check out at the end with the ingredients you chose.
Hyuntak gulps, because he's hungry. The tomatoes smell wonderful, especially. He wouldn't be against a small salad bowl himself, but that's not the priority right now.
Ignoring the line, he goes straight to the cashier who looks like he's been having the worst day of his life, with deep eyebags and corners of his mouth dropping too low. Looking at his rounded brown ears, he's a bear, which is also confirmed by his size: he's huge. Broad shoulders, muscles that can be guessed from the folds of his shirt… yeah, Hyuntak wouldn't take him on if he was given the choice.
The bear frowns, jutting his chin out to point at the end of the line. "Hey, sir, you can't cut down the line like that. You have to-"
Hyuntak shows his police officer ID, looking as intimidating as he can. He'll pretend he has the rights to investigate this place; not like the bear owner can guess he's actually not the police officer who can do that.
"Police, sir. We'd like to have your cooperation."
The bear straightens immediately, hands lifted in the air as he looks at Hyuntak, wide-eyed. "Oh my god, what did I do?"
Hyuntak tilts his head, vaguely pointing at the people in the shop. "Can you be closed for tonight? I'd like to chat privately with you."
The bear gulps, hands still held up in the air. "Yeah. Yeah, sure."
By the time all customers are shooed away, Hyuntak has had the time to examine the place.
And it's weird.
Weird, because Baekjin's smell is nowhere inside of the restaurant. It was so prominent when he was standing outside but now that he's inside, why can't he smell him anymore?
Hyuntak frowns, leg bouncing off the floor, tail wagging behind him as he thinks. Is that the wrong place that Baekjin has been frequenting? But Hyuntak's nose couldn't have been wrong. Baekjin's smell was the strongest in front of this place. It just doesn't make sense: does it mean Baekjin was used to hang in front of the restaurant, never stepping inside? What kind of business did he have to be doing that? It just doesn't make sense.
Seongje joins him once all customers have evacuated the restaurant, an amused smile quirking his lips up.
"You really can never wait. Dogs are so bad at this, huh," he says as he sits down next to him at the table.
Hyuntak scoots his chair away to put more distance between them, glaring at him. "I don't know what you're talking about. Dogs can be patient, thank you."
Seongje leans in, smiling as his arm lays on the backrest of Hyuntak's chair. "Yeah, if they're trained. Clearly, it shows that you've been lacking training. Missing your master, puppy?"
Seongje's fingers brush Hyuntak's wagging tail and Hyuntak starts, flustered as he lowers it. "I've never had a master, you freak."
Seongje's smile grows wider, like it usually did when he had fun.
"You sure?" he growls in a low voice.
Hyuntak doesn't even know what Seongje is playing at, and it's infuriating. He's so dumbfounded he finds nothing to bite back, heart beating a bit too fast, hands gripping his chair. Instead, it's the bear who clears his throat, sitting in front of him.
"So, uh, police officers. Know that I'm innocent, like, one hundred percent. I have not hurt a single person in my whole life. I didn't even steal anything! I had the opportunity when I was eight, but-"
"Okay, whatever," Hyuntak cuts him off. "What's your name?"
"Um. Bak Humin."
"Okay, Bak Humin," he sighs. "Do you know that man?"
Hyuntak pulls the picture of Na Baekjin he managed to find in the files of the ZPD: a shot that makes Baekjin look like the caricature of a villain, with the way he looks at the camera. Baekjin has never been the type to be friendly, but still. Seeing his face again was not a friendly memory for Hyuntak.
Apparently, it isn't either for Humin whose eyes widen in shock like he's just seen a ghost, and panic takes over his body. He stands up, the table shoved towards them, chair falling down the floor behind him as he overwhelms them both, leaning in. "What? You know anything about him? What happened? Did he-"
"You're going to tell us what happened, teddy bear," Seongje stands up and grabs the bear's collar.
He tilts his head, watches Humin in utter calmness as his lips quirk a little, pupils growing slimmer. Anyone could think Geum Seongje was calm now, but it actually was the contrary. He was feeling so much anger, his tail was sprung up behind him, his fist showing his veins.
"What do you know, hm? How come it looks like you know Baekjin?" Seongje asks in a honey voice, eyes widening.
Humin frowns, not intimidated by the wolf but Hyuntak stands up and puts a hand on both of their shoulders. "Okay, uh, let's calm down and discuss that calmly, okay? Sir, we'll need you to tell us how you know Na Baekjin."
"First, you tell me what happened to him."
The bear looks suddenly much less welcoming, wariness spreading in his eyes, his jaw tense. Whoever Baekjin is to him, he looks like he's important.
Hyuntak sighs and runs a hand in his hair, rubbing his triangle-shaped black ear a bit as he sits back down. "Well, all we know is that Na Baekjin disappeared this afternoon. We're now trying to look for him."
Humin's eyes widen, shock stunning him for a second. "He disappeared?" His voice cracks, like the news is breaking him entirely, hammering a cracked glass.
Hyuntak is intrigued, watching him curiously. "Yeah, he did. And apparently, the last time he was seen was in front of your restaurant. Do you know anything about that?"
Humin doesn't answer immediately. He looks like the weight of the entire world has fallen on his shoulders, stumbling to stand still until he pulls the chair next to him and drops down on it, eyes lost in space. Seongje sits back down too, calmer down, just watching him. His arms are crossed, his ears pointed upwards, moving slightly as he was trying to pick up on Humin's emotions by simply listening.
"I… No, I… Baekjin… He-"
Glass shatters and something plants itself in Humin's neck.
He falls down the floor and Hyuntak bends under the table by pulling Seongje with him too, alerted. What the fuck?
Humin is lying on the floor, groaning.
"Sir, are you okay?" Hyuntak asks while creeping to him, before he shakes him.
Humin doesn't respond, twitching on the floor, making unintelligible noises and Hyuntak frowns. Shit, what happened? It's the first time he's ever heard of an attack like that. Where are the assailants and what the fuck is in Humin's body now?
He crawls over Humin, trying to reach for the needle that's planted in Humin's neck-
"Hyuntak!" Seongje barks.
Before he even knows what's happening, he's hauled backwards and what happens next is… terrifying.
As he lays down on the floor, tightly maintained in place by two arms around him, he watches Bak Humin transform from a human to… a beast.
A bear.
His skin grows brown fur, covering his entire body as he grows in size, clothes ripping from his body. His face changes, his human features gone as he now looks entirely like a bear. Usually, Hyuntak would only be freaked out: everyone does have the ability to revert back to their animal forms but they don't do it. Being in your animal form means to be naked, vulnerable, and only closed ones can see your true form.
Humin suddenly transforming in a bear is definitely weird, but what's weirder is how… unhinged he looks, now. When people transform in their primitive forms, they still retain their personality.
Hyuntak remembers the first time he saw Seongje as a wolf, after all.
He looked entirely like a wolf but he still had those features Hyuntak loved so much about him: his eyes, his damn eyes, and his amused look.
Humin doesn't look like himself at all.
He looks like an… animal.
Humin roars, standing on his feet, or rather, paws?
"Fuck, Hyuntak, we're getting out of here," Seongje mutters.
Before he can make a decision, he's dragged away by Seongje and the bear lunges at where they were a second before, destroying the furniture. What the fuck?
What the fuck?
They get out of the restaurant at the same time the bear passes through the shattered window, pieces of glasses stumbling all around the place. People in the street scream and it brings Hyuntak back to reality: he's not supposed to be running away, he's a police officer! He needs to protect people!
"Hyuntak?" Seongje asks when Hyuntak stops them and turns around, facing the bear who's now standing on his four paws, roaring.
"I need to stop him," Hyuntak grits through his teeth, pulling out his gun and aiming it at the bear.
"Fuck that, have you even fired once in your life?" Seongje growls, slamming down his gun.
"Fuck off, Geum Seongje! There's a bear running wild right now, I need to-"
Seongje pulls him away and they both roll over on the ground, the bear crashing on the floor right at the spot where they were.
Hyuntak gets up on one knee, anger blazing in his chest, panic drilling in his ears and he tries to stabilize his shaking arms as he's aiming at the bear. He has to fire. He has to fire, the bear has gone completely crazy. It's authorized for any police agent to fire to take control of the situation, especially in ones where there is no alternative solution available.
But Hyuntak's shaking so much and he bites down his lips, trying to take deep breaths, his heartbeat drilling in his ears. He doesn't understand a single thing of what's going on, but he'll figure that later. He has to put an end to this chaos, now. It's his role.
But the bear turns his head to him, and Hyuntak's mind blanks.
It might look like it's gone crazy, but there's someone, beneath that.
Someone is here.
Bak Humin is here.
Hyuntak can't fire.
He can't risk someone losing their life because he'd made a hasty decision.
The bear jumps to them and Hyuntak sees his life rolling in front of his eyes: his mom smiling at him, Seongje and he playing as kids, touches that became kisses, Baekjin's eyes looking down on him, Seongje's silhouette as he walked away from him, and then, and then-
Someone picks him up and runs.
He's hauled up like a potato sack on Seongje's shoulder who's running away from Humin.
"What the fuck? Geum Seongje, put me down!" Hyuntak yells, hitting Seongje's back.
"I'm not watching you get killed," Seongje grumbles.
Frustration gnaws at him, and he curses Seongje. "Why would you even care?" he screams.
Seongje doesn't answer. He continues to run, and Hyuntak watches the bear's silhouette grow smaller and smaller, but he sees it has stopped going on a rampage. Instead, it's as if he had been called by someone: his head looks up, like he's trying to find the source of a voiceless sound, and finally runs away. Hyuntak frowns at that, but sees police sirens driving closer to the place of incident, blue and red covering the streets, and all Hyuntak feels is shame.
How did he have the guts to pretend he was made to be a police officer when put in a crisis, he couldn't even react appropriately? He'd have gotten himself killed, weren't it for Seongje.
Ashamed, he drops his head, his ears dropping with him as he lets Seongje carry them away, his warmth bringing some sort of comfort.