Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was Sunday, Cassian ought to be relaxing. Or maybe catching up on chores or last minute assignments—who gives out class work so close to winter break? Instead, he knows he’s wasted half the day watching his phone with a vigilance he normally reserved for high stakes operations. It’s as if the device had turned into a ticking bomb, countdown remaining: unknown. Tip-toeing around it wasn’t going to help, so around 2 pm—his morning completely wasted—he tried his best to carry on like normal. There was still another week or so of class until break, and his classwork wasn’t going to finish itself, now was it?

I do NOT remember homework taking up so much time. Or being this hard, Cassian thought for the nth time this year. Is this what regular high schools are like compared to psyker academies? Thinking back to his teen years, he can’t help but feel doubtful. One thing for certain, Korean Literature was killing him. He may have spent countless hours of his youth reading to fill the time, but that didn’t mean he knew how to analyze texts the ways his teachers expected him to.

His phone rattled against the table and he winced. I really hope that’s Yuri…

He set his phone down before the inevitable reply could come in. Maybe he should have deliberated about the matter longer before shooting the teen down, or at least waited awhile before texting her to make it seem like he did. She clearly meant well, but no matter how he looked at it, the risks outweighed the rewards. The prospect of adding her skill to his hand of cards was appealing, he hadn’t hesitated to utilize Uchan when the opportunity arose—but the redhead had training. Naeun wasn’t prepared to be sucked into the world of psykers, villains, and worse. Cassian didn’t want to worry about having another person to protect.

His track record in that department wasn’t the best.

The black blob that was Moros caught the corner of his eye. It wasn’t uncommon for Moros to read over his shoulder—a fact which had taken some getting used to—but this time the entity in question stared at his phone with an unnerving intensity. Cassian didn’t like it one bit.

“I’m beginning to see a trend here.” Oh yes, Cassian most definitely did NOT enjoy the judgy look Moros somehow managed to impart despite being little more than a single eye.

“What are you talking about?” he demanded testily, annoyed as he’d been on edge all day.

“Cassian, you are a terrible texter.”

What? No he wasn’t! He was just fine at texting! His inner circle would agree—Rick would send him videos and horrible memes, and he’d respond with equally bad ones. Exchanges with Raul were always brief, to the point but consistent.

As for Tuppence? The only thing scarier than a phone call from Tuppence was a text. He still remembered the last message he received from her, just two words, “You're Late,” they sent a chill down his spine even now.

And Jeff…

Cassian scowled. “Like you’d know. Aren’t you ancient? I thought you’d have more trouble with modern technology, but you seem just fine with everything.”

“Hmph! If you don’t know something, just admit it,” Moros replied haughtily.

Attention diverted from his phone, Cassian leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. Okay, he thought, you want to play this game? Fine.

“You never mentioned how Jeff came upon your amulet. Was he the one who taught you about the modern world? Or were there others before him that kept you up to date?” Cassian pressed.

Moros didn’t respond, but he didn’t drift any further away, either. Dark tendrils wisped out from him like tongues of flame, eager to spread. Cassian’s phone vibrated against the table.

“You ought to get that,” Moros said, sullenly.

“It’s a text, not a phone call,” Cassian muttered under his breath even as he reached for the phone. He watched as the disembodied soul began drifting across the room again, an aura of gloominess surrounded him. Well, so much for that attempt to fish for information, he thought grimly. Not that I'd expecting much of it. Still, it’d be nice to learn something about the one-eyed menace, for once. A glance at his phone, no surprise—it’s Naeun. He suppressed a laugh as he read.

Cassian mulled over his answer, only to have his internal debate interrupted. “Meeting with the ‘other office managers?’ What does that mean—did Driver schedule something with the other vilzone bosses?”

“If he did, he didn't tell me about it,” Cassian responded, typing then deleting and typing again.

Moros bobbed up and down as he read the response in progress, “is it really necessary to lie to the girl? Her skill would be a great asset. And you need to learn how to cook Korean food. I should know, I saw you look up how to cook rice that time.”

Cassian ignored the jab as he switched convos to Yuri’s and scrolled way back. ^[1] Besides, that was ONE time, he didn’t know how to use the rice cooker then, so sue him! ...okay, now that he was thinking about it—being confronted with undeniable evidence helped—he could admit, maybe Moros had a point. He’d been putting less and less effort into his replies to Yuri lately. The realization left a bitter taste in his mouth. Yuri deserves so much more... Moving forward he'd have to push himself to do better.

Aloud, he told a different story.

“Yeah, but her brother already hates my civilian identity enough as it is. Spending more time around his sister is not going to help that. I don’t need to explain why that kind of attention is a bad idea, do I?”

Moros huffed at that. “Such a trivial concern considering the stakes you’ve been dealing with. Not to mention, with her skill, she’ll need protection no matter what.”

He’s got a point there, he admitted, with great reluctance. Maybe I can have Driver keep tabs on her? But then I might need to give him a reason for it. Will “because I’m the boss and I said so,” do the trick? Somehow, Cassian doubted it, the engineer’s curiosity was boundless. Maybe Shadow Ghost could do it? He's strong enough to handle most situations and I know I could tell him “keep tabs on this girl, no questions asked. And take out any creeps following her, trouble likes to find her.”

Then again, what if the situation got misunderstood, and he was the one mistaken for being a stalker?? A shudder threatened to run through him. Oh, the irony.

He hit send.

A nerve Cassian didn’t know he had in him sang as if struck. Who did he even consider a friend these days? The answer didn’t bear thinking. Sure, he’d been getting more comfortable with the other vilzone members lately, that revelation had been unsettling in of itself. (No, he wasn’t in denial—Shut Up!) But with Naeun, it never even occurred to him that her motivations could be entirely selfless. A wave of shame rolled over him. He'd gotten so used to everyone having their own agenda regarding him, from Moros to Driver, Neo Centry to Winterbell; Cassian was just another instrument in their grand design. Had it been any different with Lampas?

God dammit! He set his phone down as if burned.

…he hadn’t vacuumed in a while, had he? That’d be a better way to spend his time, right? Something unambiguous and productive to clear his head. Besides, last he'd seen him, Driver had insisted Cassian take a break, so the training room was a no-go. Mind set, he marched across the room to the closet, pulled the appliance out and got it set up.

“Cassian?” Moros sounded confused. “It’s not like you to run away from anything, much less something so small.”

“I’ll deal with it when I deal with it. It’s not going anywhere, is it?” he responded, refusing to look up.

“Suit yourself,” the being hesitated a moment. Then, realizing that nothing could be done to change Cassian's mind, Moros disappeared into his pendant. Any other occasion, and the prospect of having a night of peace and quiet would have had the villain elated. As it was, there was enough chatter in his head to make up the difference.

~~~ ⁂ ~~~

He never did get back to answering Naeun that night. Or the following one, for that matter. It wasn’t entirely intentional. Every time he returned to their conversation, the right words just…wouldn’t come. “Sorry, I forgot there were nice people out there,” nope, not that! “I didn’t realize you were being sincere,” oh, did that sound terrible. “I don’t have any friends, actually,” well that was just sad. And wrong, but Cassian wasn’t ready to admit it out loud yet.

On Wednesday, his inaction caught up with him.

ARE YOU OKAY YOU DIDN'T GET IN A FIGHT DID YOU? The words scrawled across the screen as soon as he unlocked his phone.

Moros laughed when he saw that. “She knows you have a problem picking fights, I see.”

“That’s not exactly special knowledge,” Cassian retorted.

“Knowing you have a problem is always the first step,” Moros pronounced with smug finality.

Cassian wasn’t in the mood for criticism or analysis. Or Moros’s pompous, know-it-all attitude. He began typing another excuse when he felt the mood of the room take on a frosty chill.

“You shouldn’t keep turning the poor girl down, you know.”

Moros’ words came as such a surprise, Cassian failed to hit send. Instead, he looked up to the floating eyeball. “What’s it to you?” he challenged. “You keep telling me not to blow her off but I thought you’d be glad I wasn’t getting sidetracked by something unnecessary again. Don’t tell me it’s ‘cause I, ‘need to learn how to cook,’ nonsense again. I can always watch some Newtube videos to learn how to make something impressive enough.”

The noble soul remained silent, but his form flickered, and dark tendrils threaded out from him. Cassian was left with the impression that the being was annoyed and searching for a reason to explain his objection. A shareable one, that is.

Cassian had decided: he was going to get to the bottom of this.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually worried about my relationship with Yuri, ‘cause I don’t buy it.”

“What relationship? You go out of your way to avoid her at every turn,” Moros retaliated.

Cassian blinked. What? Where the hell did that come from? He scrubbed at his face, annoyed. I already have enough to deal with, now I gotta take care of whatever the hell this is before it gets out of hand, too? “What’s your problem?” Aaand he’s off to a great start!

Moros remained tight-lipped as ever—what a shocker. Well, if the Almighty Soul didn’t feel like answering, then it was time for Cassian to do what he did best—instigate. An idea popped into his head and he grinned.

“Are you bored?” At this point, Moros had started to float off and was facing away. The way his tendrils rippled up and down told Cassian he wasn’t far off the mark—how unexpected! He pressed his attack.

“You could have just told me you were bored, you know. I would have turned on the TV or something.” Cassian considered that statement for a moment. Moros didn’t need to be exactly by his side at all times, he’d allowed the distance between them to stretch on numerous occasions. The exact limitations of their connection remained a mystery; the dark, one-eyed soul didn’t see fit to share the exact conditions anytime soon. “Or I could have gotten you a tablet, what kind of show do you think you’d like watching?”

It was uncanny how the being rotated around and closed the distance across the room in an instant. If not for years of training, the former psyker might have flinched. “I am an Ancient and Noble soul! Not some child in need of a distraction!”

Cassian continued on, seemingly nonplussed (he always was good at ignoring small, barking dogs). “What kind of genre do you think you’d enjoy more,” he asked while toggling through the options under Yuri’s account. “A drama or maybe a documentary? Oh, I know. Reality TV.” He gave Moros a smirk. “You have a lot to catch up on, being an ancient and noble soul, right?”

And then he hit play.

Cassian liked to think he wasn’t just petty, but also practical, so he was glad he was finally getting using the noise-cancelling headphones he’d bought several months ago, again. Only reason he didn’t use them more often was because a Certain Someone liked to pull the fun game of “Didn’t I tell you that before? Oh, it must have been When Your Headphones Were On.” It got old real fast. (To his credit, Moros did give him breaks from the non-stop criticism after that.) Evenso, Cassian was willing to risk another round of that game, no way was he actually going to listen to whatever nonsense he had playing on his laptop.

Of course, the best noise-cancelling headphones in the world didn’t mean jack shit when Moros was angrily hovering an inch from his face.

“You are a terrible and poorly mannered child,” he heard as he removed his headphones.

That got a bark of laughter out of him. “Is that your idea of insulting me, calling me names like that? You’re going to have to do way better—I haven’t heard such lame insults since the orphanage.” The caregivers, not the other kids.

The tendrils that composed of Moros’s outline thrashed rapidly, his eye still narrowed. Then, as if thinking the better of it, the being rotated away. “Hmph, still haven’t grown up, I see.”

That caused the villain to roll his eyes. “Let me guess, everyone must seem childish to you, ‘an ancient and mighty soul.’” He paused, thinking. “If it was really so terrible, you could have just gone back into the pendant. Why stick arou–?” The question hadn’t even fully left his lips and Moros was gone. Well look who's running away now? he thought bitterly. Come to think of it, there had been so many occasions where Cassian asked difficult questions only to be ignored or deflected—what had prevented Moros from noping out the way he had just now? Cassian couldn't help but re-envision all those previous occasions. Only now, the scenarios end with a certain ball of dark flames pulling a disappearing act. Poof, swoosh, gone!

Sure, It never happened that way, but the idea it could have pissed him off!

…I’m going to start a coin jar for all the times he calls himself “ancient,” or “noble,” or “mighty soul,” he thought, spitefully. And when it’s full, I’m going to find the most obnoxious thing I can to buy with it.

No. Cassian wasn't petty at all.

~~~ ⁂ ~~~

It’s Saturday evening when he hears from Naeun next. He never did finish his response to her Wednesday night after his squabble with Moros; it was still there uselessly in his drafts.

Cassian stared at the message, he’d called many a bluff in his career, facing off against villains and the like. He knew what a bluff looked like and what situations he could get away with it if he were wrong.

This…wasn’t one of those occasions.

While he had no intention of testing her, his mind couldn’t help but run through all the possible ways having her wander into the vilzone could go wrong. Depending on who she encountered first, she'd either end up in trouble and need rescuing or far, far worse—drawing a crowd looking for entertainment. He can picture it now, somehow the idiot trio have managed to round up a good chunk of the vilzone as an audience to the impending train wreck. Shadow Ghost was there because, well, why would he miss it? Driver was handing out bags of fresh popcorn to the crowd (how did he always manage to have them on hand?). Drones broadcast the show for all not present.

Oh no, no way was he risking that!

“Well, well! It seems like you don’t have a choice now!” Moros announced, entirely too smugly for Cassian’s liking.

“Can it,” he snapped. There's only one answer he can give, still he hesitated.

Cassian liked to think he had a decent sense of direction (combat training with Lampas had drilled into him the importance of quickly memorizing layouts and identifying all exit routes, among other things), he thought he had a general idea of the apartment building he had walked Naeun to, but, as he had promptly headed topside, catapulted himself from one shadow to the next until he reached the vilzone…it was better to play it safe than end up on the wrong side of town.

Maybe, if I’m really lucky, this won’t be that bad.

Wishful thinking was all he had at this point.

~~~ ⁂ ~~~

Turns out Naeun sending her address to him had been a good thing, Cassian had been completely wrong about the direction of her apartment. Luckily, he’d only walked a block before catching his mistake. It wouldn’t have been half so annoying if Moros hadn’t razzed him about it. Guess he was still pissed about the recent headphones episode.

Mentally, Cassian ran through what to expect once he arrived (as if he hadn’t already gone through a half dozen scenarios the night before). Naeun was a friendly, albeit tentative ally. She said she was taking care of the Uchan problem, he could only hope she followed through on that front. The psyker really needed to gain better control over his fire, he shouldn't be affecting the environment like that! A regular civilian would get hurt. Not to mention, it was a dead give away to his mental state, made him easy to manipulate.

The entire train of thought caused him to sigh as he waited for Naeun to meet him at the building's entrance (though inconvenient, he'd honestly been relieved when she had enough sense to not just give the building's code out to him). Much as Cassian found it rewarding, he really needed to drop the whole mentoring Uchan thing. The psyker had improved by leaps and bounds thanks to his tutelage leading up to the Festival of Corruption, but eventually there would be a limit to how far Red Mask could go. And once he fully joined the ranks as a regular, who knew what Lampas would ask of the red head? They had managed to not cross paths as enemies since the Bloodrain incident, it’d be nice if it stayed that way.

Should he be so lucky.

“Welcome in!” Naeun’s greeting was warm, as she opened the door for them both and stepped past the threshold. It’s enough to lessen some of the unease coiled in his gut. A quick glance around as he toed off his shoes, and tried not to feel awkward about it—but this is the first time he’s been invited to another’s house since the whole dying and being reborn thing (roaming the vilzone or popping into Driver’s workshop didn’t count). But it finally looked like fortune was with him—there was no Uchan in sight. Thank goodness for small miracles.

After slipping into her house slippers, Naeun made her way around to the small dining table that separated the kitchen and living room. “Have a seat, oppa.”

Cassian shouldn’t be so caught off guard by the honorific again, he really, really shouldn’t! Still, he fails to fully suppress the jolt of discomfort it sent through him. At school, he’s avoided by one and all (the occasional run ins with Uchan notwithstanding). Whatever spark of Gangu remained inside of him only responded with confusion at “oppa” being directed at him, of all people!^[2] When it came to the vilzone, regular society rules weren’t really a thing there. Besides, he was The Boss! No one was going to give him grief over something like that.

Of course, this entire issue took him back to one of the several problems he’d been trying to avoid: Rick and Raul. They were the only ones to regularly use honorifics with him that he actually felt comfortable with. Since early on they’d called him hyeong, his Korean had been so rusty back then he hadn’t even remembered what the word meant. Once he understood, it became their thing, and secretly or not-so-secretly he’d been thrilled! He had been trying his absolute best, but wasn’t sure if he was pulling off the whole, teacher-mentor-big brother thing. How had Jeff made it look so easy? Guess the fact that he only had one little brother to deal with had helped.

Earning the pair's trust hadn't been easy, Cassian had been glad he never gave up. But now after Lampas’s betrayal and months of waiting, what did their time together amount to anymore? He tried reminding himself to be patient and trust in them, but every day was an exercise in suppressing thoughts of all that he lost. It was a matter of routine, same as pretending to move on and adapt to his present circumstances.

But maybe he didn’t have to adapt to everything just yet.

“Just ‘Gangu’s’ fine, you don’t have to use ‘oppa’ for me. Really.” Now that the words were out of his mouth, Cassian wished he could take them back. That had to be the strangest sounding request ever, he berated himself, why did I have to go and do that? He resisted the urge to facepalm.

Naeun looked surprised but not put off. Okay, so maybe it’s not as huge a deal after all…

Surprise was quickly replaced with curiosity, and the teen seemed caught in her own internal debate. “Did you only just move back to Korea recently or…?”

Now it’s his turn to be surprised. Had he been doing that bad of a job blending in?

“Sorry!” She raised her hands apologetically. “That was probably insensitive of me. I should have noticed it sooner—you looked uncomfortable and you mentioned before that your sister is in the US and, um–”

Cassian scrubbed at his face, annoyed. “That wasn’t a normal request.”

“It’s not super uncommon to tell someone they can drop honorifics with you, if that’s what you like!” she smiled reassuringly. “You could say it was a lucky guess. For one project, my friend and I had to work with a lead photographer from Vancouver for several shoots. He messed up honorifics all the time until he just gave up. Your request just reminded me of him.”

“But that’d make him Canadian,” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Naeun looked excited, her guesswork had paid off! “Where did you use to live, then?”

The villain resisted the urge to facepalm (again!), and forced his aggravation down. I’ve been cooped up for so long with no one but Moros and villains to talk to, I wind up spilling more than I should about myself to the first normal person I speak with? Cassian lamented the sad reality of the matter even as he ran through his options. On one hand, it’s a perfectly convenient cover story to explain away any future weirdness, because apparently I’ve been screwing up and not knowing it! On the other, Ga-er, Gwon Gangu’s never lived anywhere but Seoul.

…But Naeun’s not going to know that unless she meets Yuri. I can definitely prevent that from happening.

“I used to live in DC,” he finally admitted. “That’s—”

“That's the US capital!”

“—yes, but I was going to say it’s on the other side of the continent from Vancouver.”

Naeun smiled at that. “Because that’s what really matters?” she joked.

Cassian could feel Moros’s gaze as it bore a hole in his side. And what’s his problem, he thought testily. This was his idea in the first place! At least he had been granted the small mercy of the talking eye’s silence. “It makes a difference,” he said, walls shifting back into place. Distance. He needed distance.

Seeing that he had started to withdraw again—apparently he could only open up for so long—Naeun decided to drop it and returned to the real problem at hand. Picking up Uchan’s copy of the cookbook, she asked, “what recipe should we try out first?”

That got Cassian to perk up, and he reached into his bag. “I brought my copy too, I was looking at some of the soup and stew recipes last night.” And if there was a buzzing in his ear angrily declaring, “no you didn’t!” Well, he ignored it. It was fine, he had looked at one point for sure.

Naeun lit up, “you know what would be perfect in this weather? Doenjang jjigae! It’s perfect with mixed rice, gyeran-mari and gaji-namul!”

That was the soybean paste stew, wasn’t it? Cassian flipped his own cookbook open to the recipe. “I didn’t want to worry about any banchan recipes yet, I was going to focus on the main dishes before I bother with them,” no idea what gaji-namul is, at least I know gyeran-mari is a rolled omelette. “Besides, I can just get ready-made banchan from the market, no problem.”

The other teen looked delighted, “that seems like a plan, F-mart isn’t far from here, but Litte’s has the best banchan, we’d have to take the train but it’s not too many stops away.”

Cassian considered the two options. “I’d rather go to F-mart, there’s no sense in making a big deal over the first try. Carrying groceries on the subway is a pain we might as well avoid.” That and the memory of the multi-level grocery store was too much to handle._[3]

Rick and Raul had dragged him there to buy all the snacks they had been missing but couldn’t find in DC. The trip had been an ordeal.

Naeun nodded, looking happy enough. “Good thinking! Let’s head out in a couple of minutes, I want to grab my coat real quick. Can you be in charge of the shopping list?”

“Sure,” he agreed easily enough, before Naeun disappeared around a corner. He snapped a picture of the recipe with his phone before pausing. Should I bring my bag with me or leave it here, he debated. He wasn’t going to need it in the store, it ought to be perfectly safe in the Kims’ home, but he also wasn’t in the habit of leaving his things lying around. Naeun seemed trustworthy enough but she was clearly curious about him. That settles it. He slung his bag over his shoulder, made his way to the door and waited.

Hopefully Naeun isn’t the type who takes forever to get out the door,

The streets of Seoul didn’t have the same feel to them as DC, but a big city was a big city. Cassian had been growing used to it over the past six months, it was no longer strange going from side streets with no sidewalk to speak of to more familiar, wide avenues with eight lanes of traffic._[4]

Still, he followed Naeun’s lead as she expertly navigated the sidewalks, pointing out some of her favorite places along the way—"that stand has the best tteokbokki, don’t go there, they’re overpriced. That’s my favorite stationery shop! If you need a gift for your sister and she likes that kinda thing." He hadn’t been expecting the neighborhood tour as part and parcel of the bargain, but the info was helpful all the same. This part of the neighborhood was new to him, he didn’t get any sense of familiarity from Gangu either, though he rarely got any feedback from that inner spark these days. He tried not to dwell on it.

Walking in, the two waffled around for a moment, deciding between a handbasket or a shopping cart. Fortunately, Cassian had a coin in his pocket, so a cart it was.

“Do you want to split up or…?” Naeun trailed off.

Cassian shook his head. “Nah, it’d be best to stick together,” he replied. What else was he going to do? Stand around outside and try to avoid getting drawn into another arguement with Moros?

“Are you worried you’ll turn around and find her in trouble again?” Moros's question floated in behind him.

What is she, twelve? He frowned, “I wasn’t before, thanks,” he said under his breath, hoping to go unnoticed.

Naeun raised an eyebrow at his seemingly out of turn response. “Was that your ‘friend?’”

“‘Pest’ is more like it,” he grumbled in response, which earned him a look of amusement and a glare accordingly. That was fine, he’d been getting lots of practice at being polarizing, lately.

Naeun’s expression took a complex turn, and Cassian wasn’t sure what to make of it. Like he was being assessed or evaluated for something. “Maybe you can tell me about him sometime,” she offered quietly. “If you’re comfortable with it, I mean,” she added.

The villain nearly startled visibly with alarm. Really, he’d been lucky she hadn’t brought up Moros again until this point. How the hell was he supposed to explain away their relationship? Yeah, about that. So I got MURDERED but brought back to life by this eyeball looking thing with claims of nobility or something. Now I’m stuck with him at all times because LAMPAS may be willing to stop at nothing to get their hands on the amulet he’s tied to. And they probably wouldn’t mind killing me again while they're at it… And yep, that IS the same Lampas your brother works for.

Yeah, that would go over really well.

Looking back over her shoulder, Naeun gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, you can think about it. Right now let’s find the vegetables we need, how’s that?”

Relief washed over him, and he pushed himself into action. He unlocked his phone for the recipe. “We need zucchini, onion, radish, green onion and chili pepper” he rattled off. “There’s also pork and tofu. And garlic.” He frowned, “wait, do you think you have any of this in your house?” Green onion, garlic and onion were staple ingredients, right?

“Um,” the girl looked chagrined. “I guess we should have checked before we left, huh?”

Cassian felt beleaguered but had no room to judge, he hadn’t thought of it before, either. But then he had a good idea what was and wasn’t in his home.

“Already things are off to a great start, I see.”

“Don’t be rude,” he said over his shoulder before facing Naeun. “We’ll check next time, right?” Guess I’m committed now.

“Definitely!” Green onions spotted, he grabbed a pack and added it to the cart. While he was at it, he grabbed a bag of peeled garlic, it’s not like garlic goes bad, right? Besides, I don't feel like dealing with paperwork.

He glanced at the recipe again and noticed, “huh, there’s some other stuff we’ll need if we make the broth from scratch.”

Naeun craned her neck to look, “like what?”

With a sigh and glance heavenwards, Cassian handed over his phone, “see for yourself.” If Naeun’s surprised by the show of trust, she doesn’t let on (she kept his secret this long, hadn’t she?). Instead, she starts mumbling as she reads.

“I know we have gochugaru and doenjang, Uchan said he was getting some last week.” She squinted at his phone in concentration, “we definitely have myeolchi at home, I see them in the freezer every time I get ice.” She stuck out her tongue at that. “They’re the big ones too."

Oh, Cassian realized. So it's normal to have anchovies in the freezer. Yuri must have been using them to make different soups. He recalled when, not long after his sister's departure, he had been searching the freezer for something to eat. Expecting a premade meal, he had stared at the bag and it's contents, perplexed. The multitude stared back at him and into the freezer it went, face down. As per the usual, it was another convenience store dinner that night.

… I really should have been using my cookbook more often.

“I’m not sure about the dashima though,” she said, sounding unhappy with the admission. “I know we ought to haven't used any recently.”

“Better to play it safe and get some, then.” Then he realizes, I have no idea where to even find that in this place. It’s kelp, right? It’s not like shopping in a regular US grocery chain, where he can go to the “Asian aisle” and find everything all at once. “Where should we look for that?”

“The dry seafood aisle?” her shaky tone didn’t inspire confidence. “No, it’s in the seaweed aisle.”

There’s a whole aisle for that? He doesn’t think he looks surprised by that (maybe overwhelmed), but he must because Naeun looked sympathetic.

“I guess everything here is different from what you’d gotten used to, huh?” Chili pepper acquired, into the cart it went.

He shrugged, non-committal. “I just stick with what I know mostly, I got used to western food, on my own that’s what I normally make. Yuri’s the one that likes to make the more traditional Korean meals. I want to treat her while she’s home.” Maybe then she won't nag me as much, goes unsaid.

Naeun listened and nodded along–she knew what it was like being the younger sibling–and she examined a white and green root vegetable Cassian could only infer was the radish. It almost looked like a daikon, though white and green and far thicker. “I don’t think we need that much radish to make the soup…”

“I know, but no one takes just half a radish home. Besides, Uchan makes really good musaengchae. So—!” she shrugged as if it couldn’t be helped, then added it to the cart. Which raised an important question, what was going to happen to the leftovers? Cassian had considered the issue last night but hadn't arrived at a conclusion. He wasn't quite sure what musaengchae was either, something to look up later.

“Don’t tell me you’re using ‘helping me’ as an excuse for a free meal?” Maybe it's just the fact that the whole situation is utterly absurb, but honestly—using one of the most feared villains in the city as a meal ticket? It's hilarious!

That earned him an annoyed glare. “Do you want to do something nice for your sister or not?” the psyker challenged. He’d been right in his previous assessment of the teen. Bold and argumentative.

“I could have figured it out,” he responded as nonchalantly as he could, Lampas coaching for media interviews having kicked in. With all the supplemental damage control and crisis management courses he had to take, Lampas’ strategy to minimize was practically ingrained in him.

Naeun scoffed. “You would have spent an hour looking for one ingredient.”

He couldn't help raising an eyebrow at that. What about this situation says “make fun of the vilzone boss?” He kept his tone unbothered. “Don’t be ridiculous. I would have just ordered some.”

“Pfft!”

Okay, Cassian thought as he felt his mood begin to lighten. Maybe it’s nice talking to someone who treats me like I’m normal, for once. I shouldn’t get too used to it, though. It’s not like this is going to become a regular thing!

“Where do you normally shop at, not here, right?” the teen asked suddenly.

The same conversation he had with Yuri almost every phone call replayed in a split second’s time, Cassian braced himself for the worst case scenario before mumbling. “Normally I just go to the convenience store by my apartment.”

Naeun blinked, “oh really?” Though her tone was polite, Cassian didn't trust it.

“Yeah, what about it?” Nope, that definitely wasn’t him sounding defensive! And what was there to be defensive about? Lots of people ate at convenience stores every day!

The psyker covered her mouth and turned away. “Having a good laugh?”

“Yes, but it’s not like that!” Now recovered, she brushed her hair to the side. “It’s not a big deal or anything, it’s just so normal. Honestly, If it wasn’t for Uchan, I’d probably be at the convenience store every day, too.”

That’s a pleasant surprise, actually. “Really?”

“Sure! It's called convenient for a reason, right?” She smiled briefly before continuing. “So when we first moved back to Seoul we weren’t really ready to be on our own, but living with our aunt and uncle was…” the teen paused, searching for a diplomatic way to phrase things. “...not good for anyone,” Cassian knew understatement when he heard it. Did he have some relatives that needed to be taught a lesson? He took note of that bit of info, promising to follow up with it later should he hear anything else of concern.

“It was such a relief to move back. I think we lived off convenience store and market food the first couple of weeks. When classes started, I got my breakfast from the shop on the way to school.” Cassian winced when he heard that, remembering Bloodrain’s modus operandi. If Naeun caught the fleeting expression, she didn’t show it. “It’s just easier like that, especially now that I’m busy with classes and modelling.” She glanced up at him, her expression serious. “Next year is going to be the worst, if I don't bring up my grades soon my uncle's gonna make me do after school classes AND tutoring, ugh!” She heaved a dramatic sigh and fumed. “I don’t need to do well in literature to be a designer.”

Cassian couldn’t help but sympathize. His CSAT score in the subject had been abysmal, psyker academy hadn’t really been concerned with metaphors or identifying literary themes. Naeun picked up a packaged pair of zucchini.

“We only need one,” Cassian pointed out.

She shrugged before adding it to the cart. “Well now we have two. I don’t see any single ones, do you?” A quick glance around the produce bins proved Naeun right.

“She has a point,” Cassian’s ever present critic piped up.

The villain shrugged and they pressed on. Luckily there were single onions available, he didn’t know what he’d do if he’d been stuck with a bulk bag of them. French onion soup was good and all, but it took forever to make. Waiting for the onions to caramelize with a critical eye hovering over your shoulder couldn’t possibly turn out well. He’d already been stuck with more than one ruined meal thanks to Moros distracting him. After the third time, the pain in the neck had the actual gall to say, “you really ought to pay more attention to what you’re doing, Cassian.” As if he wasn’t the source of the problem!

Now past the produce section, Cassian spotted the different tofus. “The recipe said, ‘soft tofu.’”

Naeun pulled a face. “What, really? That’s not the right kind of tofu for this stew. I’ve only ever used the extra firm kind in doenjang jjigae.”

The pair stared at Cassian’s phone for a moment, baffled. “Is there a ‘regular’ tofu?”

Picking out the pork is relatively simple enough. Only problem, Cassian realized, was the recipe called for a mere 85–90 grams, the smallest package they found was for 190 grams. Which brought up an even bigger problem…

Cassian's sense of metric measurements was absolute shit.

How many ounces is 190 grams? He used his phone to look up the conversion. The package felt light, less than a pound, for sure. The converter confirmed it, only 6.7 ounces. That's even less than I expected. He slid his phone back into his pocket. Thanks to the convenient cover story he had inadvertently stumbled into earlier, he had the perfect excuse to explain why he's used to imperial measurements. Still, the less he has to admit to being utterly lost, the better!

Now he was beginning to remember why he hadn’t been using his cookbook as much as he expected to. In The Past, if a recipe called for half a cup of some vegetable, he had a good enough sense of what that looked like that he could eyeball it. But 85 grams pork, 115 grams radish, 255 grams tofu and 500 ml anchovy stock? No clue!

Better I’m confused now than having Yuri get on my case later, he supposed. He resolved to write down the converted measurements in his cookbook later.

The dashima wasn’t in the dry seafood aisle, that was where the dried anchovies, which they didn’t need, were. Instead, the dashima was with the other seaweeds, so good enough. Naeun selected a packet that looked familiar while Cassian glanced at the shelves packed with seaweed, roasted and unroasted, seasoned and unseasoned, gim sheets designed specifically for triangle gimbap. If he ever got ambitious, he knew what to buy to make tuna mayo triangle gimbap at home.

A project for another day.

Now with all the ingredients acquired, Cassian wondered, is this soup going to be enough for a whole meal? His only solid frame of reference was soybean sprout soup, and that had been relatively light fare. It probably needs some banchan to go with it. Maybe they have some of the ones Naeun mentioned earlier? Cassian hadn’t lied earlier, he really had been sticking to what he recognized this whole time. With everything in his life turned upside down, having something small and familiar helped give him a shred of normalcy he desperately needed. It had been awhile and he’d acclimated…enough. Maybe with some extra guidance, he could try something different for once.

“Where are the banchan at?”

They find the aisle with little fuss, turns out there’s a lot. Even with some spots empty, the assortment of ready-made sides is impressive. Some he recognized, others were completely foreign. He scanned the labels, I think Naeun was talking about blanched eggplant before. I didn’t even know you could blanch eggplant.^[5]

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the psyker make a discovery she found exciting.

“Have you ever tried this before?” she asked while holding up a container labeled beoseot gangjeong.

Candy…mushrooms? ^[6]

How does that even work?? “Um, no?” Why would anyone do that??

Eyebrows scrunched up at his confusion, Naeun reexamined the container for an answer to the current misunderstanding. “Oh, the mushrooms are fried like the traditional sweet but they’re not actually covered in a super sweet syrup.” Reading the ingredients a bit more, she added, “this one has gochujang and honey in the sauce, so it should be spicy and sweet.” She smiles brightly, ”you should try it!”

Well, that sounded a lot less alarming. He accepted the proffered container and added it to the cart. “Sure, fine. I was trying to look for gaji-namul but I haven’t seen any. But I don’t really know what it looks like,” he admitted.

Fortunately for him (or maybe unfortunately? Jury was still out on that one), Naeun is quite good at reading between the lines.

“A lot of these are new to you, I’m guessing?” At least she doesn’t sound judgemental about it.

“I recognize a few.” Braised lotus root and tri-colored rolled omelette catch his eye, as do soy braised beef, braised soybeans ^[7]and seasoned spinach. Everything else? Maybe he tried them once upon a time but he struggled to place them.

“Mind if I pick a couple more out?” Naeun asks. “It’s better than taking the time to make it, not liking it and being stuck with it.”

“It’s a good thing you’re getting her help,” the words floated up from his side before Moros came into view. “She has more sense than you do.” Ah, Cassian had been wondering when the levitating eyeball was going to weigh in again. This afternoon hadn’t shaped up to be quite the debacle yet, and okay, maybe he was actually learning a thing or two.

For all Cassian liked to stick to “the usual” out of habit, he was by no means a picky eater. All the time he spent in the orphanage and the occasions where food was withheld from him taught him the importance of overlooking textures and flavors. When he was finally out of the orphanage, it had been quite an experience learning what he did and didn’t like.

So most things he’s willing to try once.

“What were you thinking of?”

The teen took a moment to browse the selection before picking out another container. “How about this? It’s kkaennip kimchi.”

Perilla leaf kimchi, huh. Cassian recognized the name from Korean barbecue nights with Rick and Raul back in DC. “What else?”

Naeun glanced back to the sides and pulled out another container packed with skewers. “This is a good one. They’re better with dipping sauce but that’s easy to make. I bet we can reheat them in a pan.”

The label identifies the side as sanjeok, vegetable and meat skewers. While unfamiliar, they look inoffensive enough. Glancing at the cart, Cassian realized, that added up fast! “Sure, but I think that should be the last one, we still have to carry all of this back.”

“That’s fine, I brought my shopping bag, so I can carry my fair share back.” And with that they make their way to the checkout lines.

They almost manage to make it through checkout without event. But, while waiting in line, Naeun pulled out her wallet and fidgeted for a moment before speaking up. “I can pay,” Cassian angled towards her to listen as she spoke. “It’s the least I can do, since this was all my idea.” Alright, maybe she felt a teensy bit guilty about the whole threatening to march into the vilzone to find him thing. Considering all the mayhem the Gadam vilzone has been wrapped up in lately, he probably hadn’t needed the extra hassle.

Internally Cassian railed at the offer, he was an adult, accepting money from a kid felt weird. Not that Naeun realized that. Trying to be a high school student was proving itself to be harder than expected. “If that’s what you want, fine. I’m not too worried about it, maybe my sister will be happy to see I went to a regular grocery store for once.”

Intrigued by the mention, Naeun asked, “what’s your sister like?”

For a split second, Cassian is mortified to realize he isn’t sure how to answer, Moros’s accusation from a few days ago still ringing in his ears. “Oh well, y’know,” he started awkwardly. “She worries, a lot.”

Naeun looked amused at his unenlightening response, “besides that. She’s older than you, right? Is she going to school or work?”

“She works,” he responded. “Her job sent her to their main branch for training. They’re paying for everything, so it wasn’t an opportunity she could pass up on.”

“That must be nice, I’ve never left Korea.” Suddenly Naeun’s eyes light up with excitement, “after I graduate, I’m going to go travelling with my best friend, Minyeong! It’s going to be great!”

Cassian couldn’t help the smirk that spread across his face. “I’m sure your brother will love that.”

The joyful grin slipped from Naeun’s lips to be replaced by a scowl. “I was planning on having fun,” she sulked, "not be boring and responsible. Besides, Uchan wouldn’t be able to come even if he wanted to.” She deflated and went silent.

The villain matched her silence with his own introspection. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out, come Naeun’s graduation her brother would be a full-fledged psyker working for Lampas. A fact that she didn’t like. “You don’t want your brother to join Lampas.”

She shrugged, having long since accepted defeat. “It doesn’t matter what I want, it’s what he’s wanted since he was little.”

Well, if that doesn’t sound painfully familiar…it’s enough to make him wince. A gesture that unfortunately doesn’t go unnoticed. “I take it that’s a familiar story for you?”

The implication was clear, but all the same, Cassian remained silent. Let Mr. Know-it-all fill in the blanks. Besides, it wasn’t fair Moros knew so much about him while Cassian knew next to nothing of Moros in return.

I wish I could tell her she doesn't have to worry so much about him. But then I'd be lying. Luckily, it was their turn in line, and they loaded their items onto the belt in silence. When it came time to pay, Cassian let Naeun cover half. He still had his pride, after all.

The former psyker had a lot to think about on the walk back to Naeun’s apartment. As far as information gathering goes, she’s not doing a bad job, he admitted. Not that anything I’ve said so far has been important, but that’s how all good intel starts. He can imagine the mental image of him that’s being constructed in her mind. Of him, Cassian, the villain, and of Gwon Gangu, the student who was, okay—maybe—just a little out of his depth.

Good thing she’s not working for Lampas, her reaction at the café and just now had been too genuine to be an act. On top of that, she’s obviously curious about him. It can’t be helped. Truth be told, he was in the same boat when it came to the other vilzone members. Just what did they do all day? He can imagine Driver, caught up in some new project, distracted for days on end—but what about the others? Do they have double lives like he does? Has he crossed paths with one of them and not realized it? Considering his run-ins with Mujin—who probably didn’t even live in Gadam—the possibility seemed high.

Now back in Naeun’s apartment, the two set about unpacking their items. Pork, tofu and banchan now safely in the fridge, while the vegetables piled up next to the sink, waiting to be cleaned. Thanks to the smallness of the Kims’ kitchen, counter space was limited. If Cassian was being honest, it surprised him to see what a small and modest apartment the two had. Sure, it was bigger than the first studio apartment Cassian had back in DC, but that was a low bar to reach. The building itself seemed well maintained, though a bit dated, in comparison to the building he and Yuri lived in. Then again, how expensive was their own apartment? He had a rough idea of how much such a large apartment would go for in DC, was it just as expensive here in Seoul?

While his professional psyker career hadn’t gone as expected, he was nevertheless with Lampas long enough to know of several insurance payouts. Every time a fellow psyker was killed in the line of duty, the suits showed up to settle what was owed to whom. With the Kims’ father having been a top class psyker, the amount of money the two should have been awarded was surely no small amount. They’ve probably been getting installment payments over the years, managed by relatives or a trust. He shook his head, as if to end that train of thought. Not that it’s my business or anything.

From the freezer, Naeun retrieved a large zippered bag. “We should get started on the soup base first. That’s what we need the anchovies for, right?” Not that Naeun had forgotten, she just wanted to reconfirm.

Cassian retrieved his cookbook from his bag. “Yeah, the dashima too. Hold on, let me see what else,” he added, while flipping through the book to the correct page. “I was wondering, do you think we have enough to double the recipe?”

Naeun froze in place, a dark earthenware pot in her hands. “Maybe, I guess? How come?” She hadn’t been paying attention to the measurements when she’d been looking at the recipe on Gangu’s phone earlier, and truthfully, it had been ages since she last helped make doenjang jjigae.

“Well, no one takes half a zucchini home,” turn about was fair play, right? “And it’d be nice to use up all this pork instead just some of it.” What are we going to do with the leftovers anyhow, Cassian wondered once again. On one hand, it’d be less hassle if she kept them. But then again, if he’s going through all this effort to make something, then shouldn’t he get to keep at least some of it?

The teen looked thoughtful as she considered his proposal. “Let me see if we have a big enough pot,” she said before returning to rummaging about the cabinet. A brief clattering of metal ensued, followed by an “ah-Ha!” and she emerged victorious, large pot in hand. “Okay, let’s get started!”

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FOOTNOTES

¹ Gangu only had a handful of text threads in his phone when Cassian took over. Obviously there was the one with Yuri, then their phone service provider. Of course there were threads from Gangu’s bullies too, Cassian was more than happy to block and delete those. But somewhere along the line Gangu's number got accidentally signed up for ads from a shop in Ulsan, even though he’d never been. The kid never unsubscribed or blocked the number. Whoever the intended recipient, the shop always referred to them in a fond and caring manner. It made him feel like there was one other person out that cared about him too. Cassian let it go.^{[return to text]}

² Hearing namdongseang, or little brother, brought equal parts sadness and joy. ^{[return to text]}

³Cassian is thinking of Lotte (Litte) Mart at Seoul Station or Zettaplex location, which is four stories. ^{[return to text]}

⁴Having watched a variety of city walk thrus of Seoul, one thing that caught my attention was on smaller side streets there were times when there was no sidewalk at all. Just the road all the way up to the building and people walking in the street as a result. ^{[return to text]}

⁵Cassian has misunderstood what “namul” means due to his limited exposure to the term via the cookbook. Every namul style banchan he came across involved blanching, so he assumed the name was referring to that cooking technique. Really, namul covers a wide variety of vegetable dishes that are seasoned and stir-fried or blanched. ^{[return to text]}

⁶Another misunderstanding based on technique! Gangjeong refers to a confectionery treat, a rice puff that has been deep-fried and coated in a sticky syrup, it also refers to the overall technique of deep-frying and coating in a syrup/sauce. There’s also dakgangjeong or sweet crispy fried chicken, among others. ^{[return to text]}

⁷I tried identifying the foods that Yuri made back in episode 7, gyeran-mari is pretty iconic and kimchi seems like a given. Kongjang (soy braised soybeans), jangjorim (soy braised beef) are educated guesses. I’m less certain about oi sobagi (stuffed cucumber kimchi) and well, I just like lotus root.^{[return to text]}