Chapter Text
All agents of the Disaster Management Bureau were, without a doubt, upstanding people of the highest virtue. They had to be, in order to pass the incredibly selective hiring process. Agents were those who protected civilians from supernatural disasters, risking not only their lives, but their entire existences. The erasure of proof that they had lived as humans in this world.
They sacrificed their sanity, limbs, and lives in order to protect just one more person. It was that kind of agent that Ryu Jaekwan admired. Just like that agent who had rescued him long ago. Since then, Ryu Jaekwan knew he wanted to be an agent.
But… what was this, then??? In front of him, a man with a scarred neck was squatting on the lounge table in Hyunmoo Team 1’s break room. “Hey, so you’re the new rookie?”
He spoke flippantly with a wide grin, his bureau-issued jacket slung over his shoulders like a cape. His voice was slightly garbled due to a lollipop between his teeth, gleaming red from the harsh fluorescent lights overhead. “Guess I got a new cute junior, huh? Let’s have a lot of fun, okay~?”
…Ryu Jaekwan wanted to scream. Was this really an agent??? He seemed more like a high school delinquent… He had imagined agents to be more, more… put together. Like on TV. No, thinking back on it, only this agent was different. Every other agent he’d met before was professional and polite. Even the agent who’d saved him, while in a hopeless situation. It was because that agent remained principled in the face of death– because of that, Ryu Jaekwan had been able to stay calm.
Glancing over the agent in front of him once more, he let out a quiet breath. No, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Maybe this agent only looked strange at first. He shouldn’t judge based on appearances.
“Yes, I am the new agent assigned to Hyunmoo Team 1. Agent Bronze. I look forward to working with you.”
“Hmmm,”
The agent watched Ryu Jaekwan bow his head with a thoughtful expression. Cold sweat ran down Ryu Jaekwan’s back. He couldn’t tell what the other agent was thinking. He could only peek up at his senior with worry.
Suddenly, the agent leaped off the table, landing in front of him. Ryu Jaekwan snapped up with surprise, taking a step back. The agent pressed closer to him, eyes and lips stretched wide with excitement. “I’m Agent Choi, and from now on I’ll be your reliable senior. Glad to meet you, Jaekwan-ie~.”
Ryu Jaekwan felt faint. Was it normal for seniors to be so aggressive? Was this some kind of workplace hazing? He suddenly felt worried for his future career at the bureau. Also, who used their real name as an agent codename? That was extremely bold… and dangerous. Was his senior not afraid of disasters?
Agent Choi clapped him on the back, walking past him. “I’m going out for a smoke. These nicotine lollipops aren’t working.”
“...”
The door closed with a creak, leaving Ryu Jaekwan alone. So, his senior smoked? Was that okay for a government agent? And… he’d never told Agent Choi his real name. How did he know?! It was, he had to admit, a very bad first impression.
He didn’t learn until later that Agent Choi had just lost his entire team the week before. His (un)reliable senior had survived every wipeout of Hyunmoo Team 1, even the Team Leader’s incapacitation.
Later, he would learn that his senior was the loneliest, most caring man he’d ever met.
Later, he would sincerely wish for that senior’s happiness.
But for now, rookie Agent Bronze feared for his future as an agent.
***
“Agent Bronze, prepare for deployment.”
“Yes. May I ask what disaster I’ll be entering?”
“...”
The voice on the line went silent for a few moments. Ryu Jaekwan felt a sense of foreboding. Oh no, there was suddenly a strong feeling of deja-vu. No, he definitely had experienced this before. The ghost of a grinning face filled his sight and he closed his eyes in an attempt to stop the nightmare. It didn’t work. The hallucination only grew stronger.
“...Hello?” He asked in trepidation.
“Um, we got another call from the police. Agent Choi is waiting for you at the station.”
“...”
It was already one month since Ryu Jaekwan had joined Hyunmoo Team 1 and already his senior had been arrested six times. Each time it was something ridiculous.
“This man was caught stalking two high schoolers.”
“I swear there’s a good reason for that, Jaekwan-ie! Wait– no, trust me! They were a little suspicious, you know~?”
“The only one suspicious here is you, sunbae.”
“...”
And, another time–
“We apprehended this man after we received a call that he was shoplifting.”
“I was going to pay, I promise. There was just something weird with the product, so I needed to get it out of there in a hurry. Wouldn’t want the other products to get contaminated, right? It could have seriously harmed the other customers. Really, I was doing my part as a member of this country. It’s my duty to protect civil order.”
“Sir, may I ask if you’ve taken any substances in the last 48 hours?”
“...I don’t do drugs. I’ve sold my soul to cigarettes, you see.”
“I regret to inform you, sir, but you are the one who caused civic disorder. I think you might have failed your duty.”
“...”
“Ouch, officer. If only you knew. Jaekwan-ie, show him the papers.”
“Oh! Oh, well I suppose that changes things. Thank you for your hard work, agent-nim.”
“Hehe, works everytime~.”
“Sunbae…”
After a whole month of events like this, Ryu Jaekwan found his already low respect for his senior dropping to the negatives. Like this, he wondered how Agent Choi had even managed to become an agent at the Disaster Management Bureau. Apparently, he had a sizable criminal record full of petty crimes. Of course, the bureau dealt with it, but it still wasn’t a very good look.
Heading to the station felt like routine at this point. He still hadn’t entered a single disaster yet. Sighing, he opened the door only to be met with loud wailing. By the benches along the wall, children covered in salt, blood, and some strange black substance cried as they huddled around Agent Choi.
Agent Choi himself was covered in more substance than the children, his clothes ripped with cuts and gashes along his body. He hugged and patted the children as they grasped his legs, laughing and cooing at them softly.
“Haha, don’t worry, you’re all safe now. You’ll be meeting your parents soon.”
One child smooshed his face into the agent’s leg, wiping tears and snot on Choi’s already dirty pants.
“Awww… was it that scary? Shhhh, we’re in the police station, see? Lots of nice adults.”
He gestured at the police officers hovering around anxiously. When the children looked up, the officers smiled nervously, waving. One of them held a stack of towels with a first aid kit on top, and Agent Choi took the towels and wrapped the children up, wiping their faces gently.
“Um, the first aid kit…?”
Agent Choi nodded his thanks to the officer and turned back to the children. “Did any of you get hurt?”
The children shook their heads. “Oh, it looks like they don’t need it,” Agent Choi said apologetically.
“No… you’re hurt?”
The officer pointed at Agent Choi, who was still bleeding. “Ah, I’m fine. Thanks for the concern.”
Ryu Jaekwan was stunned. This… was definitely the result of some disaster. Somehow, while walking around outside, Agent Choi had managed to fall into a disaster and rescue civilians all by himself.
Putting aside his confusion, Ryu Jaekwan approached Agent Choi, taking the first aid kit from the officer.
“Jaekwan! Wow~, I’m touched, you came to pick up your senior? Probably not the situation you were expecting though, haha…”
“Agent. We can’t leave your wounds untended. It might lead to contamination.”
“Hmmm…. I guess you’re right.” He wore a thoughtful expression for a moment, before grinning. There was a strange gleam in his eyes. “So, will my cute hubae patch me up?”
“...Yes.”
Agent Choi chuckled before bending to speak to the children. “Hyung’s going to move a little, okay? Can you sit down over there for a little while?”
One of the children peeked up at him. “...Ahjussi has an ouchie?”
“Ahjussi??? Uh, that’s right. I have an ouchie. It hurts a lot. Owie.”
The children moved towards the chairs, watching as Ryu Jaekwan dumped a towel on Agent Choi’s head.
“How did this even happen?”
Ryu Jaekwan asked, starting to clean the agent’s wounds with antiseptic wipes. Agent Choi flinched at the sting, his hands wiping his face and hair with the towel.
“Well, Jaekwan-ie… it was a bright and cheerful morning when I ran into this preschool class on a field trip. Apparently, they’d lost a few of their kids at the aquarium, and only realized when they were half-way back…”
Ryu Jaekwan focused on placing gauze and bandages over broken skin. The pattern of the wounds were jagged and short, but deep. Like teeth marks.
“...And that’s how I battled a real-life shark! Whew, the movies don’t do it justice. I imagine it was an epic fight. It might have been… what are they called? The prehistoric ones. Oh, right, Megalodon! Honestly, I’m lucky I didn’t lose any limbs or anything. Good reflexes, huh?”
Ryu Jaekwan could feel a headache forming. His senior really got into wild situations… But, at the same time, he thought he could understand just a little now. Why his senior was an agent.
Agent Choi truly cared about saving people.
It was true when you looked at the way he cared for the children.
The way they trusted him.
The way he managed to rescue them safely without a scratch.
Sacrificing his own body to protect civilians.
It was something the kind of agents he admired would do.
Maybe Agent Choi, despite his unconventional personality, was truly an admirable agent.
…But he could never know that Ryu Jaekwan looked up to him even for a moment. It was probably a secret he would take to his grave. That this senior was maybe reliable after all.