Chapter Text
A typical supermarket, filled with the sounds of employees rushing to do their job.
It was closing time, and nobody wanted to stay a second more inside. It was understandable. After all, who would actually enjoy working?
Na-na-nan, na-na-na-na, nan-na-na-na, na-na-nan~
A song chimed in, hypnotic to the ears, in a good way.
Employee Choi looked up, staring at the speakers from where the song played.
This was the song that indicated closing time.
Yet he hasn't moved an inch away from his post, he simply stood quietly, waiting for something to happen.
The humane-looking employees from before were gone, about to be replaced by balloons that did a poor job of mimicking their appearances.
"I want candy!"
A loud cry echoed through the store, making the remaining shoppers glance towards the source.
"Sweetie, we talked about this... If you eat any more you'll have to go to the dentist, you don't want that, do you?"
Employee Choi watched the scene of a mother comforting her child while trying to scare him into not buying candy at the same time.
The crying ceased almost immediately, it was obvious that he had a fear of going to the dentist.
Was I like that once too?
He couldn't remember, it wasn't that important to him anyways.
Hand in hand with her child, the mother quickened her steps to walk out after he stopped wailing.
"Goodbye!"
Immediately, Employee Choi smiled. He waved to the family leaving and repeated the same sentence he always does.
"Goodbye! Please visit Looky Mart again~!"
"..."
He stared at the people leaving.
He wanted to go home as well.
But he couldn't.
There was still work left to do here.
So instead he hopes that the customers were satisfied with his service.
He grabbed the groceries from the person next in-line. The amount of bananas they bought was absurd but it was clear they were passionate about them.
Loving something to the point of bankruptcy sounds like fun.
It sounded enjoyable at the very least, making him wonder if he would ever splurge that much on bananas.
"Total comes to 170,813 won."
He might've if only to annoy a certain someone.
The customer politely nodded and handed out the money, a slight blush making its way on their face.
Are they embarrassed about the bananas?
They immediately stuffed the remaining bananas into their bag. Then, they pushed a note onto his chest.
"Um... Here you go! Goodbye!"
Swiftly, they turned around and ran towards the exit.
...How fast, they'd be amazing at savi—
At this job!
Oh! He needs to say goodbye before they leave!
"Thank you for shopping at Looky Mart~! Please visit us again...!"
The bell chimed, signaling the fact that they had already left.
He could only hope they heard him asking them to visit Looky Mart again.
After that ordeal, it became relatively quiet. Other than him, there was nobody else left.
The lights were still on, it was almost time to close up.
A pen was left on the counter, it wasn't there before so the customer just now must've left it.
The note they slapped on his chest floated down, he couldn't tell if they left the pen on purpose.
Do they want me to write something on it?
He bent down and took the slightly crumpled paper, making a crackle when unfolding it.
Employee Choi stared at the words running around to form a sentence.
...Hm?
He felt that he was familiar with such phenomena, like he had once dealt with them on a daily basis.
Waiting for them to finish, he watched curiously as they rushed to fulfill their part.
Then, once a sentence was formed, he read it aloud.
"Do you still remember your beloved? Do you wish to see them again?"
Write their name here!
Employee Choi read the words out loud, yet for some reason he couldn't quite make them out.
Better to say he didn't understand it.
Beloved? Did he have such a person?
However, his body understood. Quite excellently at that.
He grabbed the pen the customer accidentally? purposely? left at the counter, and instinctively he wrote—
Ryu Jaekwan.
He didn't remember who that was.
But the longing he felt was there, it ate him alive the entire time he worked here.
His body knew clearly what he wanted right now.
And right now, he wanted to see this person again.
"Ryu Jaekwan..."
A sweet sensation lingered in his mouth after he said it.
"Ryu Jaekwan-ah"
A sweet aftertaste.
***
A large room consisting of chairs and sofas placed next to the bright TV on each side. On the lit-up screen was a number, he assumes it's something that is connected with this Darkness.
1/18
Currently, he is alone. There was nobody else to be seen in this room other than him.
The number must signify the amount of people needed to start.
Lee Jaheon looked around the room for a means to escape, and for more clues to help him figure out the current situation.
He got up from the chair he was originally seated and walked around, rarely was there no rules in an enclosed space.
Especially in a Darkness.
To avoid any violations he kept his presence down to a minimum. Before, he might've tried out many ways to escape.
However...
A memory residing deep inside made itself known again.
He remembered the voices of his acquaintances, the laughter and praises they once sung for him during serious situations.
An unconditional trust in him to save them.
Lee Jaheon flicked his lizardly tongue as he recalled his last encounter with them being at their funerals.
In this line of work, not being able to see your teammate the very next day was a normal occurrence.
That being the reason on why many refused to build relationships with each other, mainly only coming to ask for tips.
It made betrayal easier.
The only information known currently was that there was a human error that occurred during their time inside the "Tuesday Quiz Show", alongside an anomaly.
Lee Jaheon had requested for a more thorough search, but in the end, that was all there was to it.
A simple error.
Hence, there was no point in dragging it on any longer.
'We' have deemed it an unnecessary waste of time and resources to continue on.
Lee Jaheon moved on and continued with his work.
He had checked the room around long enough, it should be time to try something else.
His footsteps were quiet, he had walked over to the wall and placed a hand on it.
It was unnaturally thin to the touch, to the point where an ordinary human could punch a hole through it.
He had decided to use the amount of strength needed to carve out enough so that his body could fit through.
He curled his hand into a fist, and then—
Beep—Beep, Bzz
A shrill beep alerted him, making him turn around to see the source clearly.
"Fuck, my head..."
A familiar voice rang out.
"A-Assistant Manager?..."
The woman holding her head with her hand suddenly whipped her body around towards the one called her and let out a scoff.
"Hah, even in death I'm still hallucinating..."
"Assistant Manager... I'm pretty sure we're alive, although what you said just now is a bit concerning."
"Auditory hallucinations sure are dangerous..."
"..."
The supervisor of D-squad stared blankly at her, likely wondering if she lost it.
Lee Jaheon blinked.
He quietly stared at the sight unfolding in front of him, assessing whether they are real or not.
And...