Archive of Our Own

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[Flip the switch / (B) Class]

: A ghost story featured in <Dark Exploration Records>

: Daydream Inc. Identification code: Qterw - B - 367

A darkness that entertains itself by giving the people in it specific tasks to carry out. The tasks can range from weird to highly embarrassing.

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Kim Soleum had only been at Daydream Inc. for a couple of months, yet they had already given him another high-ranking darkness. This company sure loved to give his good friend trouble time and time again. This time it was a darkness that he didn't know much about; rather, the description was so vague, and the records showed many different experiences, none quite similar to the others. Though there was no need to worry, after all his good friend would be with him!

He would have to go with his psycho roommate, Baek Saheon. He'd been in a darkness with him before but wasn't sure if he would listen to him again or start rebelling against him. Though it seemed he just might listen, if not for his own survival. He might even be able to bribe him with items.

Anyways, back to the darkness, it was one with many possibilities, and that was what made it more difficult to complete, even with the manual and Darkness Records. Adding Baek Saheon to the matter made Kim Soleum not sure if he would be able to do this, but he had his Good Friend, Braun, there to help him!

As Soleum walked to the research lab and opened the door, he saw his bum roommate, Saheon. Sitting on a chair was Kwak Jekang. As soon as the researcher's eyes landed on Kim Soleum, his eyes lit up, unlike Saheon, who flinched at the sight of him. Kim Soleum walked right beside his disgusting roommate. His roommate didn't dare to look at him, only staring at the manual in his hand.

The annoyance researcher started speaking: "Saheon-ssi, give the manual to Soleum-ssi so he can read it."

He didn't even look him in the eye as he passed the manual to his roommate. After all, he was too scared to look at him directly. Soleum's eyes skimmed over the paper as he confirmed what he already knew. The information was vague; it only said that they would have to entertain the darkness entity.

Now it was time for the entry method, since both required people were here. They had to write their names on a heart-shaped piece of paper. It was oddly cute and oddly similar to a certain way to enter a talk show. They slowly started feeling dizzy. The last thing they heard was a "Have fun!" from the nusiance researcher.

When I woke up, my vision was blurry before returning to normal. I could see a path in front of me, and there were a few different paths, and they all had signs. But before that, I had to get my roommate. I got up and saw Saheon on the ground a couple of feet away from me. I walked up to him, crouched down, and slapped his cheek hard. The slap made his cheek redden. It seemed the slap woke him right up because as soon as I did that, his eyes opened and he looked at me in shock.

"What the hell, you psycho! I-I mean, sir, why would you do that?" He looked at me nervously. I rolled my eyes at him. "It was the fastest and most efficient way of waking you up, of course." He looked at me in disbelief. At least it seems like my tactic is working, I guess.

Why, yes, I think so too, friend!

It was comforting to hear Braun's voice in this darkness, although I might not need his help, just in case. It was always good to have his company, even if he's scary. I patted Braun on the head and got up, walking to the paths. I heard Saheon stumble to his feet and run up to me, clearly expecting me to decide by myself as always.

Ahead of me, there were three paths. Each had a sign written in a language unknown to me. Before I could even think of which path I should choose, a letter appeared in front of me. The letter was also written in a language unknown to me. Braun, are you able to read this for me?

Of course, my good friend! Anything for you. It says, 'Choose the path which brings enjoyment and entertainment. I hope your acting is good! ;)'

I sighed. I would have to choose the least scary-looking path. I looked at all the paths, though it seemed I didn't even have a choice in the first place, as it dragged both of us to the entrance of a set of blue doors with a cute-looking swan on top of it.

I made eye contact with Saheon, seeing the confusion in his eyes. Friend, it seems as if this host wants you to go a specific route. I would recommend you follow it; that way, there's a higher chance of making the host happy.

I see. Thank you, Braun.

The set of doors opened, and it seemed to be an amusement park. Though there were few people around, I could see vendors and park rides. Looking down, attached to Saheon's pinky and mine was a red string. I tapped on his shoulder, and he flinched. "Look down." He looked confused for a moment before looking at our fingers connected by the string.

"Ah," Was all he said before he started walking. Suddenly, an arrow appeared on the floor, pointing to a ride. The ride was a roller coaster that looked similar to a swan, the mascot of the park. He looked at me, as if asking if it was a good idea to go on the ride. I nodded my head, and we walked towards the ride. There was a mascot at the front, and it stamped our wristbands. So far, this place was eerily similar to Cheerful Institute's theme park. We sat down and buckled ourselves into the seats, sitting side by side.

The mascot started the ride. It started slow, before getting faster and faster. I was starting to feel nauseous, but we were already here, so what could I do? As I felt the ride getting as fast as I thought was possible, I looked over at my roommate, who looked like he was about to vomit. I hope this is over sooner rather than later…

The ride slowly came to a stop, and Saheon quickly rushed off the roller coaster and started throwing up. I stood beside him and lifted his hair so that it wouldn't get in his face. Thankfully, he didn't give me shit about that, or if he was about to, he couldn't have, because right after he was done and I let go of his hair, another arrow appeared in front of us.

"Let's go," I said, dragging him with the string. When I looked back at him, he looked mildly annoyed at me, not that it mattered. As we kept walking, more arrows appeared until we arrived at our destination. It seemed to be a stall with water. I flashed a smile at the vendor and showed him my wristband. God, this is scary. The vendor, who, now that I got a closer look, seemed faceless, stamped my wristband as I grabbed a bottle of water.

As I held the water bottle out to him, I heard him ask, "Sir, are you sure it's safe to drink this?"

"Would I give it to you if it wasn't? Although I must admit it would be fun to see how you would react if it wasn't safe." After saying that, I flashed a creepy grin. It seemed to be working as he shivered and reached for the water bottle. Good, it's working. As I recalled all the <D.E.R.> records, there was a specific one that I remembered.

[Flip the switch / (B) Class]

Record 29:

An employee drank water from a vendor's stall. The vendor was faceless. After the employee drank the water, they were said to have acted a bit differently. The only thing said was, " You're bound to end up closer than before you came in!"

It was definitely safe, at least in my view. After all, becoming closer didn't seem that bad to me. After he finished drinking the water, we headed to the next ride the arrows pointed to, a ride on a river. There was a swan-shaped boat that looked like the theme park's mascot. From far away, I saw flowers and lily pads in the water. The flowers varied in color, but they were all pink. There were also heart-shaped lanterns hanging up. They cast a pink light over me and Saheon. The light illuminated his face, showing the bridge of his nose, the fluffiness of his hair, the slight frown on his mouth, and the fullness of his lashes.

A note was dropped down, interrupting my thoughts. The note was heart-shaped, like the one we wrote our names on to enter the darkness. This time, it was surprisingly in Korean.

It said, "Ride the boat until the ride is over and hold hands :)"

I looked at Saheon, searching his expression. He was smiling for some reason. He better not be plotting something. I dragged Saheon with me over the ride and pushed him onto the seat. He scowled at me as I sat down and signaled the mascot to start the boat. Once I sat down, Saheon quickly took my hand and held it. It seemed he had made a mistake because his face looked like it was losing color. It was then that a new note dropped down, a bit different from the others.

"ಠ⁠益⁠ಠ Grrrr, you have to interlock hands together!!!"

I quickly adjusted our hands so that they met the requirements of the darkness's demand. Saheon's face seemed to gain a bit of color back when we held hands properly. Now that was finished, I looked more closely at our surroundings.

There were lily pads and flowers. Two of the types of flowers I knew were Lilys and Lotus. The rest were just random flowers created by the darkness. The flowers varied in shapes and colors, but they all had one thing in common: they were all a shade of pink.

Looking in the water, there were different types of fish. I saw Koi and goldfish in the water. Looking closely at the fish, I could see that most of them had heart-like patterns on them. They all varied in color: some Pink, some Red, and some Orange or Yellow.

Looking further down in the water, there were some plants. Most of them were different shades of green, but there was also coral. The coral had many different colors, like Pink, Red, Orange, and White. Some coral had all of those colors together.

Looking back up, I saw the lanterns. They all had different shades of pink, but they were all heart-shaped. There were also some lanterns on the boat we were riding in. Isn't that a safety hazard? Well, we are in a darkness after all.

I looked back at Saheon, and he seemed to be… Blushing? His face was as pink as those lanterns. Is he embarrassed to hold my hand? Not my problem.

Then my hand slipped off of the corner where it was resting on the boat, and I fell into the river. It was shockingly cold. The water was thoroughly soaking every inch of me. As I fell, since our hands were still connected, Saheon was dragged into the water with me.

I raised my head, gasping, taking a breath. Maybe this will cool down his face. It was quite red after all. I looked at his shocked face. Shit, we aren't holding hands anymore. I grinned at him and said, "You broke the one rule."

He looked at me, his eyes wide in fear. He quickly reached for my hand, sighing in relief when he didn't receive a punishment. He may have not recieved a punishment, but I did. I could feel a migraine slowly forming, my head throbbing. My ears were ringing, but I couldn't show any sign of weakness in front of him.

I got back onto the boat and reached my hand out, looking at his expression. He hesitated for a moment before taking it. He quickly sat down and looked at the water, as if he could stare holes into it.

Wait, Braun is completely drenched. Braun, are you okay?

Haha, well, I'm a bit soaked, if I do say so myself, my friend.

I'm so sorry, Braun!

It's fine. I know you didn't do it on purpose.

Okay…

A sudden wind picked up, drying me off little by little. Until I was mostly dry but cold from the freezing water. Thankfully, Braun was also dry. It seemed that I was dried off by something from the darkness.

When the boat stopped, he quickly got off and ran away to the next destination the arrows pointed to. But as he got farther and farther, and the string connected to my pinky got longer and longer, I could hear my heart beating in my ears, loud and fast. Fuck this must be a punishment for straying too far away from the person I came with.

I quickly caught up to him and saw him running my way too. His face was flushed red; so was mine, probably, from running fast. He just stared at me. As if I was the one who ran away without thinking. He was out of breath as he talked to me.

"Why didn't you warn me?!"

"You didn't ask, obviously."

He looked at me in disbelief and rolled his eyes. I started walking, walking a bit faster with each step, but not far enough to get punished by the darkness.

"Where are you going?!"

"Not my fault you're slow."

He caught up with me and looked annoyed. He probably thought something along the lines of: This psycho! He's freaking crazy. Using my life for his enjoyment!

We finally arrived at the next ride: a Ferris wheel

Well shit. This isn't good. I'm afraid of heights. I just hope I can keep my poker face on.

Friend, would you like me to incinerate the ride for you?

No, no, I'm okay, Braun. It might make the darkness mad.

Ah, I see, my friend! Well then, good luck!

Before we got on, the mascot stamped our bands, and we went onto the ride. Once we were in the ride and sat down, yet another note dropped down.

"Hold both of your partners' hands and tell them what you like most about them!"

Well, this isn't good.

I could tell Baek Saheon was thinking the same thing by the look on his face.

The ride started moving, and I quickly grabbed Saheon's hands and interlocked them with mine.

"You go first." I nodded to him.

"Fine, I… Like how you always find the best ways to help everyone in the darkness escape and how decisive you are."

That was surprising. I didn't think he would like a single thing about me. Well, the only thing I thought he would like would be my items.

It was my turn to share what I like about him.

"I like your face. Specifically your eyes. Or should I say eye?" I smirked. As soon as I finished speaking, his expression turned shocked.

"You…" He seemed a bit frustrated at the last comment. It seemed as if he was really thinking about what I just said. As if wanting to know whether what I said was true. Of course it was true. I'd most likely get punished if I told a lie, even a small one.

Suddenly, throughout the dark sky there was a burst of light. Fireworks were blooming throughout the night sky. The fireworks were different colored hearts and flowers.

With that, we were done and could hopefully get out soon… Or not. Because as soon as we left the Ferris wheel, we were at a different entrance.

We opened the set of doors and saw the inside of what seemed to be a spa. There was a desk with a few faceless people, and there were more faceless people working.

Once we entered, one person grabbed each of us and dragged us to separate rooms. Thankfully, the rooms were right next to each other, so we wouldn't have to be punished for being too far apart.

They gave me a towel to change into. The towel was white and soft with heart patterns scattered on it. I took off all my clothes and wrapped the towel around my waist, so that my chest, arms, and legs were the only things visible to the eye.

Oh, my! You're quite the view, my friend.

Thank you?

I tilted my head in confusion.

Suddenly another note dropped down from the sky.

"Get a massage from the workers!"

Easy enough.

The worker guided me to a cushioned seat. As I sat down, I could hear the worker moving around and uncapping something. I felt something cold and wet touch my shoulders. I shivered from the coldness as the worker started massaging my shoulders.

From what I could tell, the worker was using a massage oil, and it seemed to be rose-scented. The worker kept massaging me; I slowly became less and less tense until it was over.

Next the employee led me to a different room. It seemed to be a secluded area. In the room was a bath, big enough to fit two people.

I have to get in with Saheon, don't I… I might as well prepare mentally.

It was then that Saheon walked in. Once we were close enough, another letter dropped.

"Get in the bath together and help each other bathe ;)"

Looking at Saheon, I could see how flustered he was. His eyes were wide in shock; he was biting his lip, and his face was flushed red.

Even if he couldn't see it from the outside, I was flustered and panicking on the inside.

I looked him in the eyes and said, "You can go in first."

"I-ugh, fine."

With a little bit of reluctance, he sat in the tub, looking anywhere except at me. The next part I was dreading. Since there wasn't exactly much space, I would have to sit directly in front of him, so that his chest was facing my back.

I carefully got in the tub and sat in front of him, feeling his chest against my back. God, this is awkward.

A bottle of soap appeared in front of me. "Saheon." As I said his name, I could feel his hair brush against my back. I gave him the soap, and he carefully started washing my back. He started from my shoulders, going further down my back until he reached the small of my back.

He finished helping me wash, and I took the soap from him to wash the rest of my body. Once I was finished, I tried my best to switch places with Saheon, though it was a bit of a struggle, as it was already a tight fit.

Once we had switched places, I started washing his shoulders and eventually moved to his back. I went further down until I reached the small of his back and passed him the soap so he could wash the rest.

After that was finished, and the darkness seemed satisfied, he walked out of the tub first, accompanied by me.

After we got out, we were dragged by separate workers back to our changing rooms. I changed back into my clothes after drying myself off and was once again dragged by the workers to a different secluded area. I saw Saheon again, also changed back into his regular clothes. The area we were in had sets of tables and chairs. The walls seemed to be sea-themed, with different coral and ocean posters scattered on the walls. As we sat down, a note dropped.

"Paint each other's nails, then move on to the last place! :)"

Then one of the employees placed a bottle of hot pink nail polish on a table.

I hope this won't do anything strange.

Don't worry, friend! I checked, and it won't harm you in any way.

Thank you, Braun.

Of course, anything for my good friend!

We sat down, and when I looked at Saheon, his expression looked a bit worried. He was biting his lip again.

"What's wrong? You can start on me if you want to."

"Well, sir, are you sure this is safe?"

"Of course it is. I wouldn't be telling you to use it on me if it wasn't."

At that he nodded his head and uncapped the bottle. He started painting my nails one by one, coloring the bland nails to a vibrant pink. And once he reached the last one I felt something change.

It started small, with my hair growing a bit longer. Until I noticed something a bit more important. It seemed that my chest had grown a bit bigger. The buttons were threatening to snap, and Braun being squished.

What the fuck. What the fuck. What the actual fuck. Uhhh shit. This isn't good… Ugh let me check on Braun real quick…

Are you alright, Braun?

Of course, my friend! I am quite comfortable.

Alright, if you say so.

Baek Saheon looked shocked, with his eyes wide. He started backing away, little by little.

Seriously, sigh, if I get to suffer, he suffers with me.

"Baek Saheon," he flinched as I said his name.

"Y-y-yes, sir! I mean, ma'am…"

"You do realize that if you don't do this, you could get punished or even killed by the darkness if you don't accept its demands? And well, if you choose to die, that's simply not my problem." At that last remark, I grinned at him, looking menacing.

This seemed to get him to comply; even with that terrified expression on his face, he sat down and handed me the nail polish.

I quickly made work of his nails, painting them hot pink. When I was finished, his- or should I say her hair grew a bit longer and her chest a little bit bigger.

Oh? Saheon actually looks good like this, hm.

Then I heard… giggling?

Ah, that is the host!

Oh, thank you, Braun.

Of course, friend!

Now that I paid more attention, the voice sounded like a child. It's not as if I haven't heard of child darknesses; I just hadn't experienced one in person.

Saheon looked confused as he heard the giggling.

"Is that… The darkness's voice? It sounds like a child."

I just nodded, confirming his beliefs. A note dropped.

"Go to the last area, answer the questions, and leave."

This note is different. It seems to have a more serious tone to it.

I heard a ringing in my ears, so unbearable I had to cover them. Saheon looked at me in distress and mouthed something to me. But whatever he said to me, I couldn't hear because of the obnoxious ringing. Saheon abruptly grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the door and opened it, leading me to a corner in the dark space.

Outside it seemed like it was the amusement park we started at. The only source of light in the darkness was a few lamps scattered around here and there. Saheon was staring at me, and I could feel something warm dripping from my nose.

"Something wrong? You sure love staring, don't you?" I chuckled.

He didn't respond and just handed me a handkerchief.

"For your nose."

I finally looked down and saw blood. Is this related to the ringing I heard earlier? I don't know why my nose started bleeding just from that, but I am in a darkness after all. Once we get back I should go get my contamination checked…

I quickly snatched the handkerchief from his hand and started wiping away the blood. It stained the handkerchief, red blooming upon the white. I folded it in half and stuffed it into the pocket of my pants.

"Let's go." I said, quickly grabbing his hand and dragging him toward a path. Then that a mascot appeared in front of us. Saheon dragged me back, wary of the newcomer.

The mascot was the same one we saw earlier, when it was light outside. The mascot was a white swan.

Then, from somewhere within the sky, words attached to strings appeared, creating a question. I looked up at the words. The letters were a collage, looking like they were taken out of a book or magazine.

The question was as follows: "What is your true fear?"

This question wouldn't be easy to answer. I really have to tell the truth for this…

I'm fucked.

Whatever… Let's just get this over with.

I turned to face the mascot and tried to speak my answer as quietly as possible.

"Everything. I'm afraid of everything. That is my final answer."

I stepped back, beside Saheon. Then I heard a buzzing sound. A sound you might hear in a game show, telling you that your answer is correct. When I heard the buzzing sound, I then saw a checkmark appear, falling down from the sky, attached by strings.

I sighed in relief. Telling the truth really does work as I thought. It was now Saheon's turn, and if she wasn't stupid, she would surely tell the truth, right? I could only watch and hope. I gave her a little push, and she glared at me; then she strode over to the mascot. From where I was, I couldn't hear what she uttered to the mascot, but it must've been wrong because I heard a loud, incorrect buzzing sound, and from the sky I saw a crossmark.

Then another mascot, a different color from the one standing in front of us, appeared. I could tell I had to escape. Another one appearing couldn't be good after all. I could especially tell that it wasn't good because there was a wheel brought out, seemingly a wheel of punishments.

Paying no attention to Saheon, I ran. I ran as fast as I could so that the mascots wouldn't be able to catch up to me. Behind me, I heard footsteps. I could tell the footsteps were Saheon's. They weren't too heavy, nor too light; plus, they were hurried, unlike how the mascots would be.

"Hey! Why did you run away, not even warning me?!" Saheon shouted.

At first I was going to ignore her, but I could be nice this once. But did she really have to yell…From that yelling, I could already see a couple of the faceless vendors looking at us.

Saheon finally caught up to me, and I whispered my reasoning to her.

"If you were actually using your brain, you would realise that one, there were punishments on the wheel, and two, that there might be a couple of things watching us and that we need to get away as fast as possible."

I turned a corner and, although it might be a tight fit, we would be able to hide there. It was in an alleyway, between two buildings. I grabbed Saheon's hand and dragged her into the space with me. Thankfully, it was a bit hidden, so if you weren't looking closely, you wouldn't see it that easily.

It was a tight fit, squishing me and Saheon against each other. Thankfully, we were around the same height, so none of the… new adjustments on our bodies would do much. The alley was too narrow to move much without it resulting in discomfort.

Looking around, I didn't see any of the mascots or vendors. Earlier, when I was running, I had noticed a couple of vendors looking at me. The vendors had some sort of device, most likely used to talk to something, possibly the mascots, to find us.

It was then that I actually looked at my surroundings more closely. There was graffiti on the walls of the alleyway, but there was something that stood out. It was a question addressed to me and Saheon.

"Saheon, look." I tilted my head in the direction of the question. She turned her head and took a glance at the question. The question was a bit weird… Although I guess that could be expected from a darkness.

The question was this: "How does the other feel about touching meat of any kind?"

We both looked at it in confusion, though at least I knew the answer to this from Dark Exploration Records. Saheon might not know this answer, which would be bad for our escape, though I guess I would have to see if her guess was good enough for the darkness.

In Darkness Exploration Records, there were some clues that Viper preferred meat over vegetables, so I thought he would probably be more comfortable with touching meat. I had my answer and I was ready to speak, although it might be a bit difficult. On second thought, it should be fine, since I shouldn't have to move at all, although Braun is a bit squished so I would have to move him.

I reached my hand towards my breast pocket, adjusting Braun so that he wasn't so squished.

Why thank you friend, although I was fine where I was this is much better!

Ah, that's good then.

I was just thankful he wasn't mad at me for not moving sooner. After all, what would he do if he was mad at me? I really don't want to find out.

I faced the question on the wall and spoke: "Saheon-ah is more comfortable with touching meat of any kind than vegetables."

Oh what the hell. Did I just use a term of endearment on that psycho? God, the contamination is getting to me. Whatever, it was Saheon's turn and I could only hope she would get it right.

She faced fully towards the question so that she wasn't looking at me, and spoke: "She prefers touching vegetables over meat, from what I've noticed."

Now thats interesting. "From what you've noticed? Do elaborate Saheon-ah."

There was a blush creeping up her face after I asked that. It was going up her neck, ears and face.

Psssh

There was a sound like paint being sprayed. Saheon looked relieved since that had distracted me for the time being. Below the question the word: "Correct" was displayed.

I really hope this is over soon. The sooner the better. I really don't want to be with Baek Saheon any longer.

As if reading my mind, our last task appeared outside of the alley.

Ah shoot… I would have to get out for this, which might be a little difficult…

"Saheon-ah, would you move a bit?"

With that she moved a little and I was able to move out of the alley to grab the note. I beckoned Saheon back over. My eyes drifted over the note and widened in shock.

The note said : "Your final task to leave is to kiss each other. Short and simple <3"

This—Fuck, I really don't want to do this… Shit… Ugh lets just hope Saheon doesn't talk about this after.

I turned my head to see Saheon's expression, just as shocked, and her face red. I smirked.

"What, Saheon-ah? Too afraid to kiss me? Pfft!" I laughed.

I could see her eyes darken. She was clearly mad at me.

Fuck, I just hope this will end well for me.

Though I expected her to get mad, I didn't expect her next move.

Suddenly I felt Saheon roughly grab my jaw and place her lips on mine, kissing me.

"Hmph?!"

Fuck, I hadn't expected her to actually do this. God damn it.

Using my shock to her advantage, she slotted her tongue in my mouth, sloppily kissing me. We were already back, and—damn it all! The researcher was staring at us, seemingly the last one here besides us. I hit Saheon's chest, once, twice, before she let me go to catch my breath. I wiped my mouth off and straightened my suit.

"Well, look what we have here! Now I've got to say I didn't expect to see that from you two as soon as you got back." The white-haired researcher grinned.

I knew even without looking that both mine and Saheon's expressions looked mortified. Well, should've thought of the consequences of our own actions, I guess. With an expressionless face I replied: "It was a task from the darkness."

"Was it now? Well, Goat-ssi sure looked eager if you ask me!" He smirked.

I looked back at Saheon and could see her face getting redder and redder.

"Although you seemed to like it too, Roe Deer-ssi!" He continued, quite happily.

I'm going to die from embarrassment.