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The first time Kim Soleum saw Agent Bronze's "extra features," as Agent Choi so aptly put it later, it was… an interesting affair, for lack of a better phrase.
Soleum had been the last person to arrive in the waiting room that morning. He'd ended up getting caught up in something on the way, and… Well, that didn't really need any elaboration. The point was that he was just a little bit late to arrive. But he'd noticed it the moment he walked through the door.
Immediately, Agent Choi had flagged him down from somewhere beyond Bronze's field of view. He said nothing, just grinning as he pressed his finger to his lips and used his other hand to point at Agent Bronze.
Soleum had barely registered that action. He was too busy staring at the fluffy ears atop Bronze's head, at the tail behind him that began wagging the moment his eyes landed on Soleum. He could feel his glasses slipping down his face ever so slowly, but he paid it little mind.
"Grapes-ah," Bronze greeted. He looked tired, like he hadn't slept much the previous night, which might have had some connection to his current appearance, but there were a lot of dots that he was failing to connect. "Good morning. How did you sleep last night?"
Agent Choi's wild gesturing from behind Bronze grew more frantic. Bronze seemed entirely unaware of this. Soleum was still stuck on the idea of Bronze's tail wagging at him, so it took him an embarrassingly long time to answer. More time to come up with a normal, casual response that normal people would say to normal human beings. Which wasn't to say that Bronze wasn't–
Right. At this point, he was just digging himself a hole.
"Well enough," he finally managed to say, walking to his computer and sitting down in the chair. He very carefully did not look at the big ears or the slightly curled tail. The curled tail that was still wagging. That was none of his business. Choi, finally seeming to realize that Soleum wasn't going to say anything, calmed down his frantic movements. The older agent seemed overjoyed by whatever was going on. "How did you sleep, senior?"
Bronze hummed. "I slept alright," he said. "A little late, though. I had something to finish up."
Does he know they're there? Soleum wondered, perhaps a little bit more concerned than he needed to be. Are… Are they supposed to be there? Has he always had those? The fact that Bronze wasn't a named character in the wiki was coming back to haunt him.
Whatever the case was, Bronze didn't seem bothered. Actually, rather than bothered, he seemed to be in a better mood than he usually was. Despite his greatest attempts to ignore it, Soleum's eyes kept trailing back to Bronze. To the ears, to the tail.
Oh God, Soleum thought, filled with despair. I want to pet him. That was not a normal thought that normal people had towards other normal people. But then again, was Soleum really a normal person at this point?
His hand twitched. Once more, his gaze flickered back up to Bronze.
"Is there anything you need, Grapes-ah?" Bronze asked. Soleum must have been too obvious in his staring. Embarrassing. "If you need help with anything…"
"No, I'm alright. Thank you, senior," he quickly said, trying to wrench his eyes away once more.
Oh God. Did Bronze's ears just droop? Is… Is he disappointed? For some reason, Soleum wanted to look for something for the other agent to help with if only so that he would perk back up again. He looked to Agent Choi for some assistance.
…He didn't know what he'd been expecting. Agent Choi was just giving him a knowing, amused look. His damned senior was definitely enjoying his plight. Soleum sent him a pleading look, hoping he would cave. Choi rolled his eyes.
"Bronze-ie~" Choi called, grabbing the paper he had in front of him. "Could you take a look at this for me? I wanted to ask for your input on something."
Immediately, Bronze's ears perked back up and the wag in his tail that had slowed began to pick up again. He stood, crossing over to Choi to take the paper. "Of course. Let me take a look."
Oh my God, Soleum thought once more, in a state of complete and utter distress. I want to pet him. He sent Choi a grateful look, and Choi winked at him. I owe you one, senior…
Agent Bronze had always been a little bit difficult to get a proper read on. He tended to lean more on the stoic, serious side. At worst, he had a tendency to appear irritated or exasperated when being bothered by Choi. Emphasis on appear, because if Soleum was currently reading him right…
Bronze was absolutely delighted to be around. Almost all the time, even if it wasn't clearly shown on his face. He acted exasperated when Choi began bothering him about something or other, but his tail was still wagging. Soleum had seldom seen Choi look so thrilled.
Maybe it wasn't accurate to attempt to gauge Bronze's mood like he was an actual dog, but thus far it seemed to be accurate. Every time Soleum or Choi needed something from him, his tail would start wagging. It had gotten to a point where Soleum started acting like he needed help with random things just in the interest of making Bronze happy.
He was about ninety percent certain that Choi was doing the same thing. Soleum knew damn well that Choi didn't need Bronze's help reaching something on a high shelf. Soleum was pretty sure that Bronze should have known that as well, yet he still complied with the request.
…Why? Soleum couldn't tell, but Bronze certainly seemed happy to help. God, I want to pet him. He was getting used to that thought by now. He was also certain that he'd seen Choi's arm about to reach to pat Bronze's head as well. At least once, if not more than that. He'd clearly attempted to play it off by instead putting his hand somewhere else or leaning awkwardly on the wall.
Still, there was one question burning in his mind. Does he know that those are there?
It seemed almost impossible for him to not know. But then again, if he did know, then surely he would have mentioned it? Maybe offer up an explanation? It only made sense. Soleum almost made himself dizzy trying to reason through the whole thing. Was he really completely unaware? But how?
Ah, I give up on thinking about it, he thought tiredly. He let out a yawn, blinking slowly at his computer screen. He hadn't actually slept all that well the night before, so maybe a break was in order for him.
His eyes drifted towards the couch. Bronze was currently there, eyes scanning a sheet of paper. Soleum got up from his chair and approached, sitting on the couch next to the agent.
"Grapes-ah?" Bronze asked, looking confused.
"I'm taking a nap," Soleum tiredly announced, leaning against Bronze and allowing his eyes to close. "Wake me up in twenty minutes, please."
"Ah, alright." Thump, thump, thump…
…The sound of a tail hitting the couch. Soleum smiled as he drifted off.
Later on, when Bronze left the room to use the restroom, Soleum finally found his chance to bombard Choi with questions. Surely the older agent would know more, right?
…Right?
"Does he know those are there?" Soleum asked the moment he was certain Bronze wouldn't be able to hear him. He even took into consideration the idea of him having sharper hearing, asking the question in low tones. "He has to know, right?"
"He most certainly doesn't," Choi said, voice just as quiet as Soleum's. He was still grinning, eyes lingering on the door that Bronze had just exited through. But how? Soleum thought almost hysterically.
"Are they supposed to be there?" Soleum tried.
"I have no idea."
Okay. Agent Choi was completely useless. Soleum would never ask him for any information ever again.
"Should we tell him they're there? I feel like–"
"He'll figure it out," Choi said, cutting him off. He pouted as he gestured towards the door. "He's probably going to see the ears when he looks in the mirror to wash his hands or something. Then he's going to come back in here and ask us why we didn't tell him about it. Watch."
"Uh-huh." Did he come off as sounding too skeptical? He really thought that Bronze should have known by now, since it wasn't as though it had been a subtle change. "I still think we should have told him."
"Yeah, but you didn't because you thought it was cute, right?" There was going to be a murder. Choi was going to be the victim, and the murderer was going to get away with it. "Right~?"
He chose that as the perfect moment to remove himself from the conversation. He turned around to walk away, trying to ignore the way he could feel his ears heating up. Unfortunately, he knew Choi wouldn't do him the same courtesy.
"See~! You're pink! You agree that it's cute!" Choi teased.
"I'm getting back to work," Soleum said resolutely, returning to his desk. "You should too, senior."
"Aww, my junior is so cold." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Choi wipe a faux tear from his eye, pouting. Then, solemnly, he said, "I'm gonna miss it, though. It was really cute."
True to Choi's word, when Bronze returned to the room five minutes later, he was breathless like he had just run all the way back. His cheeks were stained pink, but Soleum couldn't tell if it was because he actually ran back to the waiting room or if it was because he was embarrassed. Maybe it was a combination of both. The ears and tails were gone, and whatever drowsiness he'd been fighting off earlier had disappeared without a trace.
Soleum cursed himself for feeling disappointed. He had no reason to be disappointed. Why would he be disappointed? Why did he feel like he was in mourning?
"Why didn't you guys tell me?" Bronze asked the moment the door shut behind him. With that, Soleum confirmed that he was definitely feeling embarrassed.
"I thought you knew," Soleum said. Not entirely a lie, but at the same time, Choi said, "I thought it was cute."
Soleum turned to his senior, giving him a dead look and hoping his exasperation translated over appropriately. You're not helping our case, Agent. Choi conveniently averted his eyes, clearly trying to feign innocence.
"I wish you guys had said something." Oh, God. The worst part of all of this was that Soleum could still practically see Bronze's ears drooping slightly at that, even though they weren't there anymore. He had to force himself not to tear his eyes away. "I can't believe… All day…"
He'd already been feeling bad about the whole thing, but the feeling was exacerbated by the way Bronze buried his face into his hands at his desk, clearly embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, Agent," Soleum apologized, hoping that his sincerity was clear. "I genuinely thought you were aware." It… It should have been hard not to know. Right? Was he insane for thinking that? He wanted to ask more about it, but he wasn't sure if he'd be overstepping his boundaries by doing so. At this point, the last thing he wanted to do was make the other agent feel more uncomfortable than he already was.
Choi, apparently, did not have the same reservations.
"Can I ask, Bronze-ie?" he asked, raising a hand from his place in the room. He didn't elaborate any further on what he was asking about, but Soleum was pretty sure that that was clear. What's with the ears and tail?
"They're just there," Bronze muttered, clearly avoiding looking at either of them by focusing on whatever was on his computer. "They don't serve much purpose."
"You should let us see them more often," Choi continued.
Bronze gave Choi a look, before becoming thoughtful. Then, after a moment's pause, he said, "Maybe."
Soleum tried to ignore the small amount of excitement he felt.
The next time Soleum was able to lay his eyes upon Bronze's ears and tail was shortly longer than a week after the first incident. This time, it hadn't been accidental.
Over that course of time, Choi had been practically begging to see them again. Bronze, however, had remained steadfast in his refusal. Until today, that was.
Well, maybe his initial release of them hadn't been intentional. Soleum and Bronze been sent into a Disaster the day of, and it seemed as though something inside had managed to interfere with whatever usually kept them concealed. Soleum had pointed them out when they appeared, but Bronze didn't seem terribly bothered by it.
He's probably more worried about getting out, Soleum thought. That was something he could agree with. He wanted nothing more than to leave. A shiver crawled up his spine, cold sweat trailing down his face and neck.
But even after they'd gotten the civilians out of the Disaster a while later, he didn't make any moves to conceal them once more. Once more, Soleum pointed them out.
Bronze hovered a hand over one of his ears. He hummed tiredly. "I can't be bothered right now." Soleum was in no position to judge that decision, so he just nodded.
He, for one, was still shaken. He usually was after getting out of a Disaster or whatever have you. This one hadn't been particularly dangerous by any means, but it had still been… Well, Soleum was always shaken by such things. That would probably never change.
Now that they were out and all the adrenaline was leaving him, he wanted nothing more than to crash. Maybe he just wasn't in his right mind, but…
His eyes kept drifting up towards Bronze's head. Had his hair always looked that soft? Maybe it had and Soleum's eyes were just playing tricks on him. He'd had a long day, after all, so it wasn't like that was far-fetched. I wonder what it would feel like.
If it'd been any other day, at any other time, Soleum would have resisted. Maybe he would have come to the very reasonable conclusion that Bronze was, in fact, a grown man and would likely not appreciate being pet like he were a dog. Perhaps he would have wrenched his eyes away.
Soleum's inhibitions were not currently working.
He lifted a hand and placed it on Bronze's head, burying it in the soft hair. Damn it, he thought, both spiteful and victorious, it is soft. Bronze froze for a moment, and just as Soleum was about to retrieve his hand and apologize frantically, the other agent bowed down toward him slightly as if to give him better access. It was nearly hidden by the angle, but Soleum could see that he was blushing. Just ever so slightly.
Almost immediately, some of the tension and exhaustion melted off of his shoulders. This is really nice, he thought, continuing to run his hand through the strands. "Thank you," he told Bronze. Just then, Soleum caught a glimpse of his tail swishing back and forth.
Experimentally, he scratched at the base of one of his ears. Bronze leaned into his touch. Soleum felt his own face begin to heat up. Oh God. He's cute. If Choi ever found out about this, he'd never let Soleum live it down. That, and he'd probably whine about Bronze not letting him do the same thing.
Soleum had to remove his hand eventually given that they still had to get back to the Bureau, but he found that he missed it as soon as it was gone.
"Did that help?" Bronze asked, clearly averting his gaze. He was covering part of his face with his arm under the guise of wiping dirt (or something adjacent) off of his cheek, but the slightest bit of a blush was still visible.
"Yeah," Soleum breathed. He was now feeling more sobered up, which also meant that the embarrassment of what he'd just done was catching up with him. Still, despite everything… He glanced downward. Even without looking, he could practically sense the agent's tail waving through the air. "Thank you, Agent."
Bronze seemed to hesitate for a moment, licking his lips before saying, "Anytime."
Well, if he was offering, then maybe Soleum would have to take advantage of that. At a later time, of course.
As he'd expected, Choi was more than gleeful to see the return of Bronze's features. Bronze ended up spending about five minutes attempting to dodge Choi's hands before eventually giving in and allowing the older agent to have his way with his head.
Bronze looked displeased with this, but at this point Soleum could tell it was all appearances.
"Oh," Choi said, stopping. He had a thoughtful look on his face, but it was difficult to take it very seriously when both of his hands were actively buried in Bronze's hair. The scene playing out before Soleum was, overall, something odd. "This is actually really nice."
Soleum mindlessly nodded in agreement. It had been nice.
"Hmm?" Choi hummed. He seemed to notice something before his expression grew amused. "Bronze-ie, aren't you actually–"
Bronze suddenly straightened and beelined for his desk, leaving Choi standing awkwardly with his hands still in the air. "I have a report I need to write," he said stiffly. Choi sent Soleum a confused look, but Soleum just shrugged. You did that to yourself.
Choi had always been weak to his juniors. He'd also always been particularly weak when it came to Agent Bronze. That weakness was steadily growing worse, it seemed, especially now that Bronze had come around to showing his tail and ears more readily.
Really, it wasn't good for his heart. His junior hadn't been particularly expressive before, but now he was horrifically easy to read on the days he didn't suppress those features.
He'd been fairly certain that this particular weakness of his hadn't been too obvious, but now he was starting to wonder otherwise. It seemed like his junior was catching on. But emotional manipulation? Really, Bronze-ie?
Maybe he wasn't doing it on purpose. Whatever the case was, Choi could never help but cave in.
The first time they'd been used against him was when he was out on a smoke break. Bronze didn't usually come out when Choi was on his breaks, but they did occasionally cross paths. The conversations were usually the same, a routine they'd developed at this point. Bronze would scold him for not taking proper care of his health, and Choi would laugh it off.
This time was… slightly different. The beginning of the conversation had been the same, at least.
"Senior, you should really take better care of yourself," he heard from behind him. Choi had turned around, a witty remark prepared on his tongue, but Bronze's appearance gave him pause.
Choi was no expert on dogs, but he at least knew much about their body language to figure this out. Which wasn't to say that his junior was a dog, of course, but at least his ears and tail seemed to replicate the same behaviors.
Bronze's ears were turned slightly downward and back, drooping as if he were upset. As if that weren't bad enough on his conscience, his tail was quite literally tucked slightly between his legs. Choi froze, mouth open. He turned away for a moment, looking back at his lit cigarette in contemplation.
Then he sighed defeatedly and put the cigarette out. Maybe not around Bronze-ie, he thought to himself. Bronze seemed surprised by this action, which only served to make his guilty conscience worse. "Well, I was about to head back in, anyway," he said. He had not been, but Bronze didn't need to know that part.
He could see the doubt in Bronze's eyes too, but at least he didn't question him verbally.
As they both returned to the waiting room, he self-consciously sniffed his jacket. He knew the scent of smoke had a tendency to cling to him, but… He glanced at Bronze. Is his sense of smell stronger too? Would it be odd of him to ask?
Choi furrowed his eyebrows. Would he even know? But now that he was thinking about it, he was pretty sure that Bronze had always been more sensitive to smell than he was… Aigoo… My conscience.
He'd have to be more careful. Wash his clothes better, too, just to make sure all of the smell got out.
Stuff like that continued like a pattern. Whenever Choi or even Grapes did something that was detrimental to them in any manner, Choi could just about guarantee that he would turn around to see Bronze with his tail tucked between his legs or his ears slightly pressed back against his head, even if his expression didn't exactly reflect that.
Choi would be the first to admit that he'd ended up changing some of his habits as a result. He was pretty sure that Grapes had begun to do much the same.
"Do you know what you're doing to me?" Choi asked. Bronze, for his part, looked genuinely confused by the question. It probably was completely unintentional, then. Choi wasn't sure if that was better or worse. This junior of mine, he really… He shook his head. "No, nevermind."
Oh, there it was. That slight downward turn of his ears. Choi silently resigned himself to his fate. "Did I do something wrong?" Bronze asked.
Choi was exercising great levels of restraint. Part of him wanted to bury his face into his hands and scream out all of his emotions while another part of him wanted nothing more than to grab Bronze and—
He'd spare the details.
He did neither of those things. Instead, he carefully stomped down the heat in his face before turning to ruffle his junior's hair. "Nope," Choi said. "That's all me." The attempt at reassurance didn't seem to do much in the way of helping with Bronze's confusion, but at least his ears were back up.
Choi could practically feel Grapes's gaze burning into him. He wasn't exactly sure what he'd been expecting to see in his eyes, but when he turned to look, all he found was an odd amount of sympathy and understanding. Right. You too, huh?
Regardless of whether Bronze was doing it consciously or not, Choi found that he couldn't be too upset about it, if at all. Even if it occasionally made him feel like he was actively going into heart failure.
Jaekwan had it figured out pretty quickly, if he was to be honest. It hadn't begun as something intentional, and he was fairly certain it still wasn't something he was doing consciously, but it certainly worked in his favor.
It's a give and take relationship, he told himself. Jaekwan got to see Choi and Grapes take better care of themselves, and in exchange he'd give in to their odd requests. He nodded to himself in satisfaction. Yes, this is good.
Despite having lived with the tail and ears for as long as he could remember, he was still unfamiliar with them. After all, he'd spent his entire life trying to hide and suppress them, so he'd never given himself the chance to really live with them.
That hadn't changed until recently, at the insistence of his teammates. It was still somewhat difficult to navigate. It was odd trying to get used to seeing positive reactions. That being the case, it naturally followed that he was terrible at controlling his expressions.
Choi and Grapes had quickly caught onto that fact, and Jaekwan had caught onto the idea that, for some reason, they both seemed eager to please. So while he had been subjected to endless teasing from his senior, it hadn't all been for nothing.
Jaekwan pushed open the door to the Hyunmoo Team 1 waiting room. Immediately, he scanned the room to look for his teammates.
"Speak of the devil," he heard Choi say. He directed his eyes towards the couch, where he saw Choi and Grapes sitting side by side. They must have just been talking, their conversation interrupted by Jaekwan entering the room. Choi was waving him over.
Obediently, he trailed over. "Were you talking about me?" he asked. Choi slid over on the couch, leaving space enough for Jaekwan to take a seat.
"Only wondering where you were. Come on, sit, sit." Jaekwan huffed in amusement and took his spot between them. Grapes leaned into his side and Choi immediately buried his hand in his hair to ruffle it. Jaekwan took in all of the contact eagerly. Yeah, he thought, a sense of satisfaction overtaking him. This is good.
…
"Aw, Bronze-ie, you're so cute. Your tail is wagging again."