Chapter Text
Baek Saheon was not the type to do the first move. In general, he would rather receive than give.
—???why not
—.Don't tell me you can't afford a day off
—!The bureau's lenient with stuff like that
But this person, the agent who saved him from Jisan Village, had changed something within him. After meeting his disguised form in Daydream Corp., he had been all curious about this agent’s true appearance. So ever since, he had kept insisting on meeting this guy.
Baek Saheon stared intently at the paper in front of him, waiting for a reply to pop up.
He had been waiting for 10 minutes by now.
“...”
Did this agent… leave him on read, again? He felt a vein bulging out on his forehead as he smiled instinctively—trying to mask his annoyance like he did in public. But as if recalling that he was alone in his apartment, he let his smile fall, brows furrow, and heat wrap his face.
The first time he took the initiative to meet someone had also become the first time he got stood up.
How great.
‘Are all agents like this? He’s probably making fun of me while staring at my note!’
His hands found their way to his hair, pulling it to relieve his embarrassment.
Should he just leave it as it is or explain his side more? As much as it was natural for him to threaten others for his own survival, it wouldn’t work with this agent. He knew that much.
After much deliberation, he decided to hold a grudge against this guy—whatever his name was—instead. Just as he was about to put aside the paper, some scribbles started to appear.
“!!!”
It quickly grabbed his attention and made him freeze in place.
—Fine.
For a moment, Baek Saheon’s eyes widened and a sense of tension lifted away from him. But he quickly dismissed it, remembering that it took this agent about 10 minutes to answer his reply.
Out of frustration, he grabbed his pen and started replying, ignoring the sense of joy creeping inside him.
—?Must you always respond the next day
—Took you so long to answer, just for me to receive a ‘fine’ from you? Is this funny to you? Don’t tell me you had to do something work related, it’s 2 in the morning
—Do you want me to cancel it?
He stopped himself from writing any more complaints.
—****** Let’s meet at
The agent didn’t bother replying back, but the Daydream employee took that as agreement. His eyes brightened before he caught it and corrected it.
After a while, his movements felt more relaxed as he placed the paper in the drawer. His heart thumped excitedly with every step towards bed. He would finally be able to see this agent’s face! Of course, that wasn’t the main reason why he was insisting on a meet-up. He wanted some information too! Finding out his true appearance was just a bonus.
‘That’s right. A bonus, nothing more.’ Baek Saheon told himself. He went to sleep that night with a proud smile and an excited mind. Not that he would ever admit it.
I stared at the paper on my desk.
There, written was a recent conversation, and at the very bottom, a time and place of a meet-up location. Confusion etched my face.
[Mr. Roe Deer, I never knew your former roommate may possess such tremendous interest towards you! Ah, doesn’t this excite you, friend?]
A voice from a talking tv show echoed through my brain.
‘No, not really.’ I replied back.
'Interest towards me? Who are we kidding?'
I believed that wasn’t the right word. Knowing Baek Saheon, I’d say he was more interested in the information I would give him.
But looking at our recent conversation, I couldn’t help but feel doubts creeping in.
‘What's he really up to?’
I understood that he was acting way different with this disguise of mine and with ‘Roe Deer’ because he didn’t know we were the same person. But still, to experience it first-hand was quite shocking.
‘I’m surprised he hasn’t thrown me as bait in a disaster yet.’
After all, that was how he was described in [Darkness Exploration Record]. Sure, there might be changes—maybe even because of me. But there was one fundamental thing about Baek Saheon’s character that made him who he was.
Someone whose priority was survival over anything else. Someone who wouldn’t even blink twice in throwing you down a cliff if that meant securing a spot in surviving.
He could be a friend today, a traitor tomorrow.
A shiver ran down my spine. What if that was exactly the reason why he wanted to meet up? He was planning to drag me into a darkness, then throw me as bait so he could have the extracted dream essence while leaving unharmed!
No, no. The likelihood of that happening was low. Baek Saheon might be a selfish, text-book Daydream employee, but he wasn’t the type to go that far.
I set the bunny plush doll on a cushion on the nightstand before lying myself down in bed. I felt the gaze of death taunting my tomorrow.
‘Kim Soleum, you coward.’
Let’s not overthink this. Sleeping was my top priority.
‘I’ll just think of an excuse tomorrow.’
I closed my eyes, hoping the god of sleep would bless me.
…
I didn’t sleep last night.
————
How long had it been since I had been standing in front of the cafe entrance?
Long enough to contemplate my life consequences for sure.
The moment I enter, I would meet Baek Saheon, who would probably be already sitting there, waiting for me.
I had just come out of four disasters; all that left my clothes tattered, my mind exhausted, and soul in disarray with all the exposure to the supernaturals.
I let out a sigh before I could stop myself. I felt my eye bags sinking in further just thinking of the later interaction.
Do I trust myself in staying a hundred percent alert after experiencing all that? Not at all. But at the very least, I had come prepared.
‘And I had to leave Braun behind.’
Once he see that stuffed plushie, he would quickly be able to connect the dots. I didn’t wanna risk it, or I would have to deal with more hurdles.
Still, at times like this, I would really appreciate some commentary to distract myself from the dreadful situation—if only he wasn’t a double-edged sword.
‘Not something I can afford when I’m this tired already.’
I unfortunately didn’t have any tools that might help disguise me—only my eyeglasses and a cap.
After a few seconds of silence, I gathered my courage, secured my cap, and reached for the doorknob.
But as I did so, a warm grasp on my shoulder left me startled.
“There you are.”
A feeling of horror washed over me. I quickly turned my head around, only to find myself facing Baek Saheon in the flesh.
‘This bastard. You can’t just sneak behind someone and touch them!!’
But as if my expression revealed my thoughts, he looked at me with that annoying confused look he always gave when he believed he wasn’t in the wrong.
“Agent.”
"...Mr. Civilian."
I nodded my head to greet him, hands clenching on my sides—feigning tense. He only stared at me silently. This guy truly had no respect, was it that hard to bow down and greet me too?
Notably, this guy was just too hard to talk to.
But still…
“H-how did you know it’s—me?” I asked, cursing myself inside for stuttering.
“You’re wearing the bureau’s uniform.” He pointed out. I followed his gaze to my jacket.
I was wearing a slightly oversized, navy-blue jacket.
‘Right.’ I let out a sigh of disbelief.
“But why are you wearing a cap?”
“Mr. Civilian, you do know that the Disaster Management Bureau erases the memories of civilians who got sucked into disasters, right?”
He nodded his head without any interest. So I continued, “Well, there’s a small chance that they’ll remember if they get in contact with something deeply related to the disasters…”
I gave a deliberate pause for dramatic effect.
“…such as agents.”
Baek Saheon looked at me with his arms crossed, as if contemplating. He had that one neutral expression that just pissed you off.
“But why don’t the other agents bother covering themselves?”
“A-ah! Well,” I made sure to scratch my neck and look away from him as if nervous, though I couldn’t say I wasn’t. I continued, “it’s more of a personal thing…? I’m a cautious person, you see.”
In the end, he nodded his head as if he understood.
…
That was a lie, of course.
Of course, not everything was false. It's true that the bureau erases the memories, and that there's a possibility for their memories to return...but it has no connections to the agents.
As they say, a good scam is 90% truth and 10% lie.
‘I could really be an actor someday…’
Still, I was also implying that he shouldn’t try any dirty tricks with me since I would have prepared myself before coming here.
But before I could rejoice inwardly in securing myself, he asked another question.
“But it’s eleven in the evening.”
“..!”
I looked at my watch under the sleeve.
10:43 pm
Shock was written all over my face.
We were supposed to meet at 9pm!!
“So there’s no reason for you to wear a cap—”
“I apologize Mr. Civilian!”
I cut in. According to the [Darkness Exploration Record], Viper was not the patient type. Who knew what he was doing for the past two hours?
“I had to work overtime due to a disaster. I hope you understand.”
But even with all that, I was pretty sure he was a reasonable person.
Baek Saheon’s face went into three phases: Confusion, realization, then dissatisfaction. Even with my head bowed down, I could sense his change of mood and him crossing his arms and glaring at me.
“And you didn’t even give me a heads up.”
“…Again, I apologize Mr. Civilian but I can’t contact you when I’m in a disaster.”
“Yes you can.”
“What—”
“With the paper boat I gave you.”
“…”
I take back my word.
Was this guy trying to pick a fight?
“I… didn’t have it with me then.”
There was no reason to bring it. Sure, it could work as two-way communication to the outside world to ask for help in case something happened, but—who in their right mind would ask help from this guy?
But just as I was considering punching him in the face, he responded.
“Then bring it with you next time. And don’t you know that you should look someone in the face when they talk to you?”
I was dumb-founded.
What else does he want from me!?
I spun myself around, facing the entrance of the cafe, still not showing my face to Baek Saheon.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Sometimes, I start missing being the psycho Kim Soleum this guy knew of. Back then, it was easier to manage this named character.
I stepped forward towards the door and entered. I could hear Baek Saheon exclaiming and cursing behind me but he soon followed as I sat on a table near the window. He sat himself down at the other end.
We both sat in silence, waiting for the other to speak.
...
Was this guy being for real?
‘You’re the one who invited me to the cafe, you should be the one initiating!’
But again, what did I expect from this prick? I opened my mouth to be the bigger person.
“Mr. Civilian, how are you—”
“I’m sure you know—”
We spoke at the same time.
“Ah, sorry, please continue.”
“Oh, well, to answer your question, I’m doing good. Uh, I’m sure you are too.”
“Yes, indeed. Do you still frequently enter ghost stories?”
“Obviously, it’s my job.”
Fuck you.
Have you never heard of small talk? Obviously not.
I was sure he wanted the information from me already, but as much as I was tired, I wasn’t leaving empty-handed. Still, he did save me some slack when I infiltrated the Daydream building, so it was only right from my part to entertain him for a while.
I let out a hum. Since I was already here, I might as well make the best out of it.
It had been fifteen minutes since Baek Saheon sat down with the agent and had small talks. But most of the time, it was filled with silence.
In other words, fifteen minutes of such an awkward atmosphere.
Maybe it was one-sided but he didn’t want that! As a matter of fact, he tried to stir the topic to the information he was asking for—to get things done, sure, but whenever he did, this agent deliberately changed the subject. It was as if this person in front of him was prying something off of him first.
‘Maybe that’s the actual reason.’
But this wasn’t the basis of his unease.
Baek Saheon’s gaze landed at the agent in front of him. Up until now, this person hadn’t bothered to meet his eyes or even show his face. His head always bowed down low, even when drinking the coffee in his hands.
And his responses were always too formal.
‘Is it because he’s a rookie in that bureau that he’s so stiff?’ His gaze started to linger elsewhere, deep in thought.
If he thought about it, the agent was a newbie when he went to save him from the Jisan Village; that was 8 months ago. Baek Saheon had been in Daydream 6 months since then. Overall, he had at least 14 months of experience. Then…
Didn’t that make him a sunbae?
The corners of his mouth twitched upward.
Maybe it was because he realized he had survived this far or maybe because he realized his collected experience, but he let himself be. Baek Saheon wasn’t that worried about controlling his expression at the moment anyway, it wasn’t like anyone was looking.
“...”
He stared at the agent’s lowered head once more.
‘Right, he’s not looking.’
The smile on his face vanished as quick as a whisper. For some reason, he was pretty pissed. Baek Saheon had a guess on why; it was obviously because of this guy.
He crossed his arms, back leaning on the headrest.
“…I don’t know when I’ll be available again to give you information so I will apologize in advance.”
It seemed like the agent had already been talking while he was in deep thought.
“Like I was saying, Mr. Civilian do you—”
“Baek Saheon.” He spoke before he could stop himself.
“Y-yes?” The agent tensed up a little with the sudden interruption.
“My name is Baek Saheon, not Mr. Civilian.”
“Ah, then shall I call you Baek—”
“And I’m not a civilian. You do know that I’ve been working for Daydream longer than when you joined the Government Bureau.”
“We usually call anyone who isn’t a part of our agency as that, Mr—”
“Our work is centered around the same thing—darkness, disasters, or whatever you call it. Then doesn’t that make me your sunbae?” He cut off once again.
Baek Saheon was pretty sure he was just rambling at this point. The agent looked annoyed by the minute.
The agent raised his head with a tired look, as if he was hearing nonsense and wanted to check if the person he was conversing with was still sane.
“Technically yes, Mr. Saheon—”
“Sunbae.”
“—Mr. Baek Saheon.” The agent said with a pause. His eyes boring holes into Baek Saheon’s while forcing a smile.
The moment Baek Saheon locked eyes with the agent, he couldn’t help but let out a smug.
'Bingo.'
“I’m sure you are my sunbae in terms of experience Mr. Saheon—”
“Sunbae.”
“…Civilian. But I’m not supposed to meet you in the first place. My team doesn’t like it when I interact with the people from your company. I’m sure you know the tension between them, right?”
Baek Saheon didn’t miss the babied voice entwined in the agent’s response. He felt his pride being punched; he naturally responded back defensively.
“Of course I do, I’m sure if you know, I know better. It’s because I’m your sunbae, you know? Or did you forget, just like when you had ‘forgotten’ to write to me multiple times to the paper boat I gave you, or had forgotten to give me a heads-up of you being late today?”
“Once again, I apologize for not telling you. I’ll make sure to inform you next time.”
The agent let out a sigh, his tone back to the formal one he had always used, but there was still a hint of forced indifference in it.
“Really?”
Baek Saheon asked suspiciously, in a tone that screamed he knew something the other didn't.
“Yes, Mr. Baek Saheon. I’ll inform you of what may be necessary for you.”
A moment of silence filled the area, as if something dreadful was coming. Baek Saheon smiled brightly once again, even tilting his head in the process.
“If that's the case, then you forgot to tell me that you wear glasses, agent.”
The agent’s whole body stiffened for a moment, retracing his actions for the past minutes. The sudden realization of raising his head to Baek Saheon sent a shiver down his spine.
“Now, shouldn’t you start ditching the cap? It’s not like it’ll hide anything now that I saw your face.”
“...”
This psycho.
Was it all part of his plan? To be such a stubborn person to deal with and catch me off guard?
He probably already knew that the cap was for him and not someone else.
Baek Saheon had always been a person who was able to act and survive with the little information he was given. So there was a definite chance that he may or may not have done so unconsciously in doing such a thorough tactic.
But I didn’t see any reason for him wanting to see my appearance in the first place. It wasn’t like it would be useful for his survival.
‘Maybe there’s something I haven’t considered yet.’
But what was done was done. I had already collected all the information I needed from him anyway.
I looked up and locked eyes with Baek Saheon with the little vision I had that wasn’t covered by my cap. He was looking at me with that expectant and curious look, although he tried to seem indifferent.
I sighed.
Well, there was no hurt in showing it now.
Slowly but surely, I removed the cap from my head. I could feel Baek Saheon’s intense stare.
The cap had ruffled my hair a bit, making it way messier than it should be. If you thought about it, don’t I really look like a tired and overworked junior?
Additionally, I looked way different to the ‘Kim Soleum’ Baek Saheon knew. No one would connect a scarily neat-looking psycho to a scrawny and socially awkward junior.
‘And with my bangs covering my eyes, he won’t be able to identify me as quickly as he had done in the past.’
Though, it would be a different case if he was using his purple eye.
“It’s quite embarrassing to say this, but I just came straight from work. So I’m not really in the best shape," I scratched my neck and looked away, a tinge of pink starting to form in my cheeks. I continued, “I didn’t want you to see me looking like this at our first meeting, I hope you understand…”
To be clear. I didn’t even wanna meet him in the first place.
It was honestly awkward to hear myself say such words to him. Fortunately, he seemed to have not properly registered what I said earlier.
I gazed back at him. His eyes were wandered to my hair, my face, my neck, and my hand covered with bandages before locking eyes with mine.
I let out a faint, shy smile.
Baek Saheon looked away.
Weird.
Why was he all red?
It wasn’t like I did anything to make him look all flustered.
But still, shouldn’t I be the one feeling this way between us? I was the one who said something cringey.
Before I could question any further, he muttered accusingly to my statement.
“If that was the case, then you shouldn’t even have bothered meeting me.”
If only it was as easy as you say it is, then I wouldn’t even bother meeting you at eleven in the evening.
“I’ll formally introduce myself this time,” I extended my right hand to him, then continued. “My name is Agent Grapes.”
A hint of incredulity flashed through his eyes when I mentioned my agent name before accepting the handshake begrudgingly.
A warm and firm hand captured mine. The tingling sensation slowly crept to my arm then to my whole body, but I ignored it while thinking of what to do next.
“What about your real name?” He asked.
“I’m afraid that’s confidential.”
Baek Saheon seemed to be cursing inside. If I were to guess, he probably was wondering why he said his real name to an agent.
I quickly let go of the handshake and grabbed something from my bag.
It was a long brown envelope sealed with a sticker. Inside were detailed information about ghost stories.
It was originally given to me by Agent Choi, but it had no use to me anyway; I have [Darkness Exploration Record] in my phone.
I handed it out to him, he took it from me as if he wasn’t blushing just a while ago. His eyes sparkled as he felt the texture of the envelope.
All of a sudden, he stopped, gaze landing on the sticker that was keeping it closed. He eyed me suspiciously.
?
What?
“Grapes sticker?”
My gaze landed on it too.
It was a purple cartoonish grape with a white outline. In the middle of the sticker, there were glasses hastily drawn in it.
‘Oh right.’
Didn’t it quite look like me? Because it was supposed to be me.
Agent Choi always like to stick stickers like that to anything he gives me. He even gave me a set of the same thing. I don't know why he casually had one but it was none of my business.
It wasn’t like it had any powers engraved on it. It was simply a sticker. Still, it was quite embarrassing to see now that Baek Saheon was staring at it. I hid any hint of genuine discomposure and put on my rookie act.
“Ah it’s something I just personally do…”
There was no reason for me to say it was from my sunbae.
“You know…to make it easier for people to know that it’s mine? It’s weird, I know.” I reached out my hand to the envelope.
“...”
“Here, let me remove it—”
“N-no!”
Baek Saheon covered the sticker with his hand and pulled it away from me. His eyes widened in sudden realization of his action.
“...!”
“A-ah…I meant it’s fine!”
I blinked once, twice. Did he think it was equipment?
“I’m saying it doesn’t bother me, it’s okay.” Baek Saheon rambled, his face all red again, although he tried to hide it with a frown.
I hesitantly placed my hand down, not knowing what to do with it.
‘What’s with this guy?’
“Okay…”
He stood up out of the blue, hands on the table, and swiftly looked outside. I looked outside too; it was very dark. He then abruptly spoke.
“I think I have to go, i-it’s already dark…”
I know.
But it had been dark since hours ago?
Why did he start caring about it now?
But before I could stop him, he left his seat and scrambled towards the door. He shut it with a bang, startling the few customers left at this time of night.
What??
I sat there all alone, trying to figure out what had just happened. But there was no logical reason I could think of for him to leave just like that.
“What the hell?”
I couldn’t help but mutter. I looked back outside the window just in case.
There really was nothing there. So why did he suddenly leave?
‘Is this a nightmare?’
I stared at the door where Baek Saheon had left just recently, contemplating if I should chase him.
In the end, I let myself lean on the headrest. I stared at the ceiling for a while, relishing the silence before closing my eyes for a little while.
I swear, my eye bags were growing by the minute.
"..."
He stared silently at the ceiling above him, replaying the scenes that happened at the cafe.
...
His face flushed bright red once again at the memory of him pulling the envelope away from the agent...and the scene after that—
BANG!
A sound of a pillow crashing through the wall was heard, it then dramatically fell to the floor due to gravity with a thud. Heavy breathing filled the whole room as Baek Saheon stared at the pillow, boring holes in it, though his mind wandered back to when he stood up and—
"You're so fucking stupid!!!!"
'Why did I run away like that!??!?!?!?'
His mind screamed in agony, he fell back down to his bed, hands covering his eyes, his whole body a tingling mess.
He won’t ever show his face to that agent again.
But...
Baek Saheon twisted his head slightly to the side, enough to get a good look at his night stand.
There, atop it, sat his phone—screen facing down the table, its dark green phone cover facing upwards, illuminated just enough by the light seeping out the window.
There, a purple sticker stood out awkwardly on his phone case.