Chapter Text
It wasn’t until he’d already left the scene that Agent Choi realized his mistake.
The fact that he’d been right next to Kim Soleum without realizing it- and he’d just walked away. Six months of searching, and their efforts had almost gone down the drain because of him. Because he’d been too distracted by his hostility towards Daydream that he’d failed to truly assess the situation, and he’d missed the hesitation and clues in that security guard’s behavior. The one who might know what happened to Kim Soleum.
After resolving [The Man in the Screen], Agent Choi rushed as quickly as possible to meet Agent Bronze.
For the first time in six months, they had found a lead. All Daydream Employees they’d managed to question only knew the official story: Kim Soleum was declared dead after disappearing for a month. No one knew where he was now, and as they found dead end after dead end, their desperation increased.
Hyunmoo Team 1 was empty in a way it had never been before Kim Soleum, which was crazy, wasn't it? How had a Daydream spy become the center of their team so quickly? Agent Grapes, despite being a spy, had solved countless disasters in genius ways, saving more civilians than any rookie or even any veteran agent had in a long time. Even so, their rookie was… really too cute. His shy blushes and earnest concern were too endearing- Agent Choi couldn’t help but love him.
At first, he’d reminded himself that this was all temporary. Agent Grapes would soon betray them or die in a disaster. But as time went on, Agent Choi wanted to hold on to him, especially after seeing how much Agent Bronze cared about Kim Soleum. By the time Agent Grapes left, it was too late.
The only thing left they had from him was a letter and a note on the board. These days, no one came by to talk to Hyunmoo Team 1. Apparently, their despair was so palpable it could be felt out the door.
Agent Choi found Agent Bronze in the break room, reading some documents. Dark circles hung heavy beneath his eyes, and his straight posture was two centimeters hunched. His short black hair was messy and his clothes were wrinkled. He looked awful. Agent Choi probably didn’t look that much better.
Agent Bronze lifted his eyes as Agent Choi approached, his eyes narrowing at the strange smile on Agent Choi’s face. “I found a lead,” he announced.
Agent Choi proceeded to recount his conversation with Daydream’s security guard and possibly Kim Soleum’s friend(J3). “Grapes-ie won the wish ticket. That security guard seems to know more, but I didn’t get a chance to pry it out of him.”
For the first time in weeks, Agent Bronze had hope. Agent Choi could see it in the way his eyes lit up, his posture straightening back up those two centimeters. “We need to find him.”
Agent Choi wasn’t sure if he meant Kim Soleum or the security guard. It was probably both.
The sound of slow footsteps broke the silence, and both agents looked up as Agent Haegeum entered the break room. She let out a groan, cracking her neck with a disgruntled expression. “Those Daydream bastards finally learned how to leash supernatural entities.”
“Hm? Noona, you finished talking to that Daydream employee we caught?” Agent Choi asked, getting up to make her a cup of coffee.
“...Yes, but do you remember that transport cage from earlier?” Agent Haegeum motioned for Agent Choi to make tea instead of coffee. Even if she was stuck doing overtime, it was too late for coffee. “I recognized the entity in it. It worked at a certain theme park as a resort owner. And for an entity, it was very kind. It saved civilians. Adults did temporary labor if they couldn’t pay, and children got a free experience pass. All of them went back home safely. Maybe because entities like that are so pure, but it seems Daydream tricked it into working for them… I feel sorry for it. It would be a better match here.”
Agent Choi blinked. Something about that story felt vaguely familiar… His intuition was screaming that he was missing something important, but he didn’t know what it was. “Noona, can you tell us more about this entity?”
After hearing the entire story of the Golden Flower Mascot from Agent Haegeum, Agent Choi and Agent Bronze were sure it was Kim Soleum. The mascot’s kindness, creativity, and way of solving disasters was exactly like their rookie. It was then that Agent Choi remembered the security guard looking down at the transport cage earlier when talking about Kim Soleum. There. It was almost confirmed.
Now, they just needed to find that security guard again. It wouldn’t be long until Hyunmoo Team 1 was complete again.
***
A few days after speaking to the agents, J3 sat in the annex with Kim Soleum and Badger. He watched with boredom as employees passed them as quickly as possible, averting their eyes and speaking quickly with poorly concealed fear. They seemed especially cautious of the locked transport cage behind the desk. J3 almost laughed at their wariness. It wasn’t that long ago that Kim Soleum was one of those employees. Fresh with hope and life, desperately afraid of ghost stories and death. Admittedly, Kim Soleum was better than most at hiding his fear. But J3 could smell it in the air, and could see the slight tremble in his hands.
Now, no tremble nor scent of fear lingered. 130666 smelled of smoke and emptiness deeper than death. It made J3 want to eat his heart in the way sadness and frustration throbbed in his chest. When Kim Soleum had won his wish ticket, J3 had been indescribably happy. It had almost felt like J3 himself had won a wish ticket- like he himself still had a wish to fulfill. But Kim Soleum had returned as an entity more inhuman than J3.
…Somtimes that was all life amounted to. There were no happy endings in Daydream Inc.
On the other side of the transport cage, Badger brought out a deck of cards, yawning slightly. “Want to play?” He asked, offering the box to J3.
J3 almost smiled with pride. Badger was still oftentimes nervous and twitchy, a little too rigid and adherent to rules and protocol, but he was slowly relaxing. Breaking through his contamination and caution to become a true security guard: a former field exploration team veteran who didn’t give a lick of dream essence about anything.
While immersed in their game of cards, Lee Seonghae arrived in the annex. J3 visibly perked up at her arrival, already anticipating her daily gift of snacks. Today it was donuts.
“Hello! Today’s another peaceful day, it seems. Are any of you scheduled to deploy into a darkness soon?”
Lee Seonghae seemed very interested in their deployments recently. J3 guessed that it was more than friendly concern that motivated her questions. But… he didn’t really care to figure out her intentions. Besides, she was on Team B… so he felt slightly more inclined to help out. “Tomorrow… heading into… a darkness…”
Lee Seonghae wore a bright smile, leaning in closer. “Oh? Which one? I’d like to help!”
Badger glanced up from his hand of cards, furrowing his brows in concentration. “Hm… We’d appreciate it, of course, but aren’t you busy, Ms. Elite Team Member?”
Lee Seonghae puffed her cheeks in pride. It was an undeniably cute expression. “Don’t worry about it! I’m always happy to help good people. I can just take time off.”
J3 took a bite out of a chocolate glazed donut. “Qterw-C-1004…”
Qterw-C-1004 [Memories of Home]
Drive down the highway at midnight carrying a mysterious letter inviting you to “return home for the first time in a while.” The letter seems to be sent by a childhood friend, urging you to return home for a celebration called ■r■■m-■i■’s Welcome. Once on the highway, the letter’s recipient(s) will find themselves walking into a town appearing to be from the Joseon era. Be careful not to reveal you are from a different time period or you will whatishomewhereisitImustgobackIseethetruthnowweareallnamelessundertheallseeing■r■■m-■i■. The town appears to be readying itself for a celebration the next day. You will be taken to your childhood home. Entrants must search the childhood home for a “transport key” to exit the darkness. The transport key is in the shape of a household item. Survivors stated that transport keys took shapes similar to cherished objects from childhood.
“Ohhhh [Memories of Home]. I don’t think I’ve ever gone into that one. I’ve heard that all teams who don’t escape before dawn are wiped out. Otherwise it has a relatively low death rate.” Lee Seonghae nodded her head, putting a finger to her chin in a thoughtful gesture.
Thanks to Kim Soleum, J3 was once again heading into ghost stories. He wasn’t bothered by it, but… it was a waste of energy. Well… whatever. If he was ordered to deploy, he would. Finishing his chocolate glazed donut, he yawned.
***
Agent Choi bit down on a yelp as he almost slammed into the car's wall. The sound of a blinker was the only thing heard in the silence, and the occasional rustling of clothes. A stifled cough. Cheerful humming. A yawn. He was currently hiding in the trunk of a Daydream Inc. issued car, sneaking along with the security team into the [Memories of Home] ghost story.
After getting a list of Daydream Employees who knew the Golden Flower Mascot from Agent Haegeum, Agent Choi managed to secure Team B Assistant Manager Dolphin’s support through his Daydream persona Lee Kangheon. He and Agent Bronze had met her in person at a cafe, where she promised to alert them when Kim Soleum left the annex on a mission.
Although he’d prefer to confront them before they entered the disaster, Lee Seonghae had only managed to smuggle him into the car before the security team arrived. Once they were already on the road, Agent Choi still couldn’t make a move, because, well, it was dangerous to have an altercation in a moving automobile, and as a government agent, Agent Choi was unwilling to involve civilians in supernatural fights. The only real option was to wait until they had already entered the disaster, which also wasn’t ideal because once it got to that point survival was the main goal. However, that didn’t mean the agents wouldn’t try. Agent Grapes would be coming back with them.
Now, you might have been wondering, where is Agent Bronze? It is widely known that car trunks are not made for transporting people. Especially two men. Agent Choi, being the smaller one of the two, was now crouched in the trunk, Agent Bronze in the glass prison on his belt. Agent Choi remembered their earlier argument with a little grin on his face. “Haaa… As much as it pains me to admit this, Jaekwan-ie, your hyung is slightly smaller than you, so listen to me and go into the glass prison.”
Agent Bronze glared at Agent Choi, unmoved. “Agent. While in the glass prison, I will be unable to move until you release me. And given your track record, I don’t trust you will refrain from reckless behavior.”
Agent Choi pouted. “Am I such an unreliable sunbae? You wound me, dear hubae.”
Agent Bronze was not impressed. In the end, Agent Choi won. He bullied Agent Bronze into reluctantly agreeing, and that now brought them to their current situation.
“Whew. Two minutes until midnight,” the security guard called Badger sighed.
“Are you… comfortable in there…?” J3 asked.
There was quiet for a moment as everyone waited for a response. Then one tap. Agent Choi could hear the smile in J3’s voice as he responded. “...That’s good.”
“Don’t worry, Roe, you can come out once we enter the darkness,” Badger added reassuringly.
“Hmm… But why deploy Mr. Employee to this darkness?” Lee Seonghae wondered.
“...”
There was a tense silence before Badger spoke. “That crazy researcher always had it out for Roe.”
“...This time… Director Cheong picked the darkness…” J3 revealed hesitantly.
After that no one spoke again. The sound of the engine filled the air, and soon it grew so loud it was the only thing Agent Choi could hear-
Rumble. RUMBLE.