Work Text:
On the day of her birthday, Youngeun was surprise-gifted with a meeting with Daydream Human Resources, where she was told that legally, she did not exist.
"I'm sorry?" She repeated, despite knowing full well what she heard.
The hiring manager in front of her shook his head apologetically. "I'm sorry, you're just not coming up as a citizen of South Korea. Your information's been bounced back to us for a couple of months, now. Apologies that you're only just now being made aware -- we've had a couple of team restructurings due to Qterw-B-1982. Of course, this won't be an issue regarding your employment with Daydream, but we just wanted to give you a heads up in case you require documentation in the future."
"I must have entered something wrong," Youngeun said, after a moment. "Can I look over my information?"
Kindly, the hiring manager handed her the manila folder full of her employee details. She flipped through it.
> NAME: GO YOUNGEUN
> BIRTHDAY: 19XX/03/24
> SEX: F
> RESIDENT REGISTRATION NUMBER: 002 724 334
"...Okay," Youngeun said at last, closing the manila folder again. "Okay. Well, the information is all right... To my knowledge. So I'm not really sure why it's not coming up..."
"Just to reiterate, this has no influence on the legitimacy of your employment with Daydream," the hiring manager reassured her. And wasn't that worrying? What kind of black company was this?
--
But thank goodness that Daydream was a black company.
--
As soon as Youngeun opened the door to her apartment, she was greeted with the sight of Kang Yihak with a party hat on, extending a hand out.
"Happy birthday," Kang Yihak said. "I ordered a cake for you; it should be coming in two hours, and it was 30,000 won. I take KakaoPay."
Youngeun was really too tired of this. Silently, she took out her wallet and handed Yihak a couple of bills.
"You're 5,000 won short."
"You know full well that the cake didn't cost 30,000," Youngeun snapped, and stalked to her room. She could hear Yihak's surprised laughter behind her-- and she really did sound like a horse-- as Youngeun slammed her bedroom door shut.
As Youngeun collapsed on her bed, all she could think was:
Sekwang really was gone, wasn't it?
--
Five years ago, when Go Youngeun tried to go home for Chuseok, she found that Sekwang train station no longer existed, and in fact, had never existed before in the history of Korea. At that point, her family had already been radio-silent for a month; but Youngeun only became truly panicked at the train station, where she frantically began texting her former high-school friends, only to be met with either more radio silence or, "Sorry, do I know you?"
At that point, Youngeun, who had once before been stranded and saved by a certain government agency, promptly dialled the rescue number she had kept on her phone ever since the incident.
"Name?"
"Go Youngeun," Youngeun said. She couldn't help but pace where she stood next to the ticket vending machine, eyes darting around Seoul Central terminal.
"Emergency description?"
"Uhm, lost city? ...My city has disappeared."
"Emergency location?"
"Um. Um. Well, it's Sekwang city, though obviously I'm not in--"
BEEEP.
I'M SORRY. THE NUMBER YOU DIALLED IS NOT IN SERVICE--
Youngeun took her phone away from her ear and gaped at it.
By the fourth attempt at dialling, it became clear the trigger word was "Sekwang" -- and so she tried again a fifth time.
"Name?"
"Go Youngeun," Youngeun said.
"Emergency description?"
"...Lost city, I seem to belong to a city that no longer exists."
"Emergency location?"
"I'm at Seoul Central Station right now."
"Please hold."
RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RII--
"Due to a lack of immediate danger, you will be connected to the New Investigations team. Please hold."
RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RII--
Suddenly, somebody picked up the other end of the line. "New Investigations team, what seems to be the problem today, citizen?"
Youngeun breathed in. Then out. Then back in again. "Well, my city seems to have disappeared."
"Name of the city?"
"I can't say the name," Youngeun said. "Because whenever I say it, this stupid line gets disconnected."
"Unfortunately, we won't be able to investigate the Disaster without further--"
"Fine. It's Sekwang, okay? Sekwang C--"
BEEEP.
I'M SORRY. THE NUMBER YOU DIALLED IS NOT IN SERVICE--
"Oh, goddammit."
--
"New Investigations team, what seems to be the problem today, citizen?"
Youngeun breathed in. Then out. Then back in again. "I just tried to go home to a city that no longer exists, and I've dialled your number fifteen times, now. Every time I say my city's name, the line gets disconnected."
"...Unfortunately, we--"
"You're Agent Orchid," Youngeun burst out. "And you're currently wearing green socks, and you have a dog named Signet, and we've talked ten times now, but somehow you never remember it!"
"...I see. Let me connect you to the Records office; they might be able to help."
"Wai--"
RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RII--
--
"Records office, how may I help you?"
"My name is G--"
"Sorry, we don't take legal names here. Security reasons, you know? Can I get your Agent name?"
"I'm not an Agent."
"...I'm sorry, how did you get this number?"
"The New Investigations team connected me. I'm trying to locate a lost city, but the line keeps getting disconnected whenever I say the city's name."
"I... see." A pause for a moment, and the sound of static. "This is unorthodox. Let me ask my supervisor about the process here."
"Hold on--"
RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING.
Youngeun sighed, sitting down on her luggage. Phone still clasped to her ear, she squinted at the clock across the hall. 18:47. The sun was setting outside.
RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING.
RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING. RIIING.
RII--
"Hello, Ms. Citizen?"
Youngeun leapt upright. "Yes, I'm still here."
"Yes, so unfortunately we're unable to release official Disaster records to non-affiliated-personnel, so I'll transfer you back to the New Investigations team. Tell them to open up a new ticket and submit an investigation access form--"
--
"New Investigations team, what seems to be the problem today, citizen?"
"Agent Orchid?"
"Ah, Ms. Citizen. Was the Records office able to help?"
"No," Youngeun said. "They said that you had to open up a new ticket and submit an investigation access form for, quote, 'lost slash missing slash nonexistent slash fictitious locations.'"
"I see. Given the aforementioned difficulty of communicating over telephone, would it be possible for you to come to the Seoul Bureau headquarters?"
Youngeun straightened. Finally, they were getting somewhere! "Y-yes, definitely, where can I--"
"Unfortunately, my shift is just about going to end, but I come back into office tomorrow at 8 AM."
--
After trudging back to the university dorms, luggage in tow, Youngeun had nearly resigned herself to a sleepless and anxious night, when she found--
> BEEEEEEEP
> Access Denied.
"...What?"
Youngeun flashed her student ID at the doorway again, only for the light at the scanner to shine red again.
> BEEEEEEEP
> Access Denied.
"...Oh, goddamn it."
Youngeun was sick, and tired, and anxious, and hungry, and now it seems as though she could no longer go back to her own apartment. Thankfully, the Resident Assistant was able to let her in, and solve the entire issue...
--
Not.
"What do you mean, I'm not technically a student here?"
At three in the morning, Youngeun opened her door to see the Resident Assistant standing apologetically in the hallway.
"Yeah, so it turns out this facility is actually unoccupied..."
"I've been living here for half a year," Youngeun said, exasperated, gesturing to her furnished living room. "And Admin is only telling you now that I'm not actually listed as a resident? How come my ID's been working for the past couple of months, then?"
The Resident Assistant put her hands up. "Hey, don't blame me, blame the system. I believe you. It seems like a freak error in the computer, or something."
Youngeun was beginning to suspect that this was not, in fact, some freak error in a computer. She dragged her hand over her face. "Okay. Um. Okay... Thank you for letting me know."
The Resident Assistant was already walking away. "Just clear it up by the end of break, okay? Otherwise, they'll be moving transfer students in."
Great.
--
At eight in the morning, Youngeun arrived promptly at the Seoul headquarters of the National Disaster Management Bureau. For being something so cloaked in mystery, the building seemed strangely mundane... and so did the secretary at the front desk.
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, how may I help you today?"
"I have an appointment with Agent Orchid of the New Investigations team. My name is Go Youngeun."
"Just a moment."
--
Agent Orchid turned out to be a heavyset woman in her 40s, who guided her to a conference room-- and who knew that people who literally worked with the supernatural also used normal conference rooms like the rest of them?
Youngeun was startled to see the presence of another person there, and hurriedly bowed her head. Agent Orchid slapped her on the back.
"No need to be uptight, kid. We're all just here to help you. This fellow is my boss. But don't sweat... It's just that this case is a bit, eh, unorthodox."
That was just the thing to make Youngeun relax. Being told that her situation was unorthodox. Gingerly, Youngeun sat herself down at one end of the conference table. Orchid's boss lit a cigarette-- was that allowed? -- and blew out a plume of smoke.
...In the closed conference room?
Orchid's boss folded her gloved hands over themselves. "I'm Agent Pocket, and as Orchid said, I'm the department manager of the New Investigations unit. I've heard vaguely about your circumstances, but why don't you tell us again?"
"...Okay," Youngeun said, wiping her sweaty hands discreetly on her trousers. "Well. Nobody from my hometown has been responding to external communication for a month, now. I normally take the train back to my city's central station when I'm visiting home, but yesterday, when I tried to buy the tickets, I found that the city's station no longer existed. When I asked the ticketing vendors, they acted like they had never heard of my city before, and that the station never existed. They also seemed to forget me whenever I left their line of sight..."
Pocket was nodding along, cigarette between her teeth as if this were all perfectly routine. Besides her, Orchid was jotting something down on a clipboard. Youngeun's shoulders loosened minutely.
"Then, I felt like something was wrong. I had the Bureau's outreach number from-- ah, from an incident that I had been in in the past, so I dialled it... And then I kept getting connected to your team-- the New Investigations team-- specifically, I kept getting connected to Orchid. But whenever I mentioned my city's name, the call disconnected, and Orchid seemed to forget having ever spoken to me..."
At this, Pocket held up a gloved hand, and Youngeun immediately fell silent. Pocket took the cigarette out of her mouth.
"Let's test something. I'll exit the room, and you tell Orchid here the name of your city. Then, knock on the door twice and I'll come back in. Okay?"
"...Okay," Youngeun said, feeling strangely nervous.
Pocket left, and then it was just Youngeun and Orchid. Orchid and Youngeun. Youngeun and Orchid.
"...Well?" Orchid asked impatiently. "What are you waiting for?"
Youngeun opened her mouth. "Sekw--"
--
"Boss, are you sure this isn't a supernatural entity in disguise?" Orchid whispered conspicuously, darting suspicious glances at Youngeun, who she had, apparently, 'never seen or talked to before in her life.'
Pocket gently led Orchid out of the room. "This goes beyond your paygrade, I'm afraid. Go work on the Red Poppy incident."
A bead of sweat trailed down the back of Youngeun's neck. Beyond Orchid's paygrade. Great. That was... great. No, but at least she was getting somewhere, wasn't she?
As Pocket closed the door quietly behind Orchid, she turned back to Youngeun. Youngeun wiped her hands on her pants again. For no reason, obviously, because, nervous? She wasn't nervous.
"Listen," Pocket said. "I don't think we'll be able to help you."
"...I'm sorry?"
Youngeun couldn't believe her ears.
Pocket scratched her head. "Have you ever found yourself repulsing supernatural influences? Ever been cursed?"
"No, and no," Youngeun said. "I'm sorry, what does that have to do with--"
"We received a Bureau-wide memo that a Catastrophe-level memory seal has been executed this month," Pocket interrupted. "Do you know what that means?"
...Youngeun could guess. She wasn't stupid.
"And do you know why the entire Bureau received the memo on it?"
Youngeun kept silent. She looked down at her clenched fist.
"Because we're not to tamper with it," Pocket said. "I'm sorry, Go Youngeun-ssi. But I believe your missing hometown has to do with the memory seal. It's exactly the kind of scope that would be classified as 'Catastrophe-level.' The only thing I'm unsure of is why you seem to be unaffected by the seal."
"Then," Youngeun said, then stopped. She didn't really know what to say. "...Then, my family...?"
"If you'd like, I can see about giving you another memory wipe," Pocket offered.
Youngeun immediately stood up and fled the conference room.
"Wait--! Citizen!"
"Oh, fuck off!" Youngeun was barely aware of the words coming out of her mouth. "Even if you give up, I'm finding Sekwang if it's the last thing I--"
--
Four days later, Youngeun found herself at the Seoul headquarters of the National Disaster Management Bureau again. It really was... the most disgusting building in the world.
--
"Hello, how may I help you today?"
Youngeun inhaled. Then exhaled. Then inhaled again. "I'm a Disaster victim, here for aftermath assistance."
"Alright. Please take a seat in the waiting room over there."
--
"Name?"
"Go Youngeun."
"Birthdate?"
"19XX, March 24."
"Resident registration number?"
"002 724 334."
"Assistance requested?"
"Neither my hometown nor I seem to exist anymore," Youngeun said.
--
Three days after that first disastrous visit to the Bureau of Disaster Management, Youngeun found herself evicted from her apartment and expelled from medical school.
"Well, you can't be expelled if you technically were never a student," the Dean said, very apologetically.
Youngeun wanted to cry. Instead, she found herself laughing hysterically.
"I've... Ha. I... I paid your school tuition! Where did all of my money go, then? Hahaha. Into the sewers?"
"I'm sorry, we have no record of a 'Go Youngeun' ever having financial transactions with our institution. Would you be able to provide any proof of that?"
Proof? Yes, Youngeun had proof! She insisted as such as she frantically pulled out her documents briefcase, in which she had kept all of her personal and financial receipts. At last, she brandished a packet of paper triumphantly.
"Every semester, my term bill and its payments! Listed to Go Youngeun, student ID 27800456!"
"...I'm sorry, is this a joke? That's a blank sheet of paper."
Youngeun's heart dropped. She set her briefcase on the Dean's desk and opened it fully. "B-but--" She took out another piece of paper. Her acceptance letter. "This! What about this! My acceptance to the Seoul National University College of Medicine, two years ago!"
"...I'm sorry? I really must ask you to leave."
"No, no, but then-- what about-- what about this, my transcript! My GPA! L-look, the printer timestamps--"
"Security!"
--
And so, Youngeun was here. Again.
In bureaucratic hell.
--
"And you're sure this isn't a separate dimension, or perhaps a fictitious universe--"
"For the last time," Youngeun said, leaning closer to the plastic divider. "My case is part of the Catastrophe-level memory seal executed about a month ago."
"...I'm sorry, that really is above my level of clearance. Might I direct you to the--"
"No!"
Youngeun found herself snapping, then dragged a hand over her face. What was she doing, snapping at overworked civil servants?
"I'm sorry," Youngeun said at last. "Sorry, it's been a rough couple of days. I've already gone through this at least eight times already. It's just that I keep messing up and saying my city's name. All I need is documentation. Documentation, alright?"
"Yes, we can certainly provide that for you!"
At last, Youngeun was getting somewhere.
"We just need some proof that you've been involved in a Disaster. Could you name the Agent(s) involved in your case, or the Disaster name that it might be listed under? If you don't know the exact names, a description could be fine too--"
"Oh my God. For the last time, I said there was a Catastrophe-level memory--"
--
"But you understand it, don't you? We can't just accept any undocumented individual that walks in and asks for false documentation."
"You're the government! It's not false, is it!" Youngeun was about to tear her (unwashed) hair out from stress. "Look, don't you have supernatural items that verify if someone is telling the truth? Please, feel free!"
"...Okay, citizen, calm down, will you? The policy on truth-telling devices is that due to the loopholes present in their administration--"
"Oh my God."
--
"Youngeun. Youngeun. Youngeunnnnn. Your cake is here."
Covered in a sheen of sweat, Youngeun startled upright. That was a terrible nightmare... Since when had she fallen asleep? Blinking blearily in the dark room, she saw the silhouette of her demonic roommate in the doorway.
"The receipt is on the cake too," Yihak said, flicking on the lights. "With delivery, it's actually 29,000 won."
"...Ugh. Coming."
Maybe Daydream wasn't so bad, compared to the alternatives...
