Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ever since that festival, so many years ago, Baek Saheon has lived by one word. Survive. Or if you were being particular, six words: Do anything you can to survive. It doesn’t matter if he has to lie, cheat, or steal his way out of danger, Saheon will do whatever it takes. He will give people the shorter end of the stick for his own benefit.

He will attack someone and push them out of the way so that they may be unable to take an opportunity from him. Saheon will give up his eye with open hands, easily, if it means the whole of his parts remains intact.

Truth be told, even before he had learned what a raging lunatic Kim Soleum was, Saheon disliked him. The man on the subway hoping to lead everyone to safety. What a fucking joke. In this world, no one would help you, no one would keep you out of danger without a great benefit to them. Helping the others on the train had to have served some kind of purpose to this strange man, Saheon just couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Regardless, the only things worth grabbing and getting hold of were ones you work for yourselves.

And he was right, god damn it, Saheon was right. The moment they arrived back to continue orientation, he was vindicated. Every single person who didn’t contribute to escaping the Darkness got obliterated. This is exactly what Saheon meant, salvation isn’t real, it’s a pretty package those who want to take advantage of you sell you.

So yeah, Saheon had hated Soleum from the start. He listened to Soleum’s little spiel of how to get off safely with disdain. And maybe in some small part he would never let free, longing too.

Why had no one like Soleum been there at Jisan, years ago, when his sister got taken? Why had no one stepped up to be her knight in shining armor? Had she not been worthy of salvation?

But these feelings are much more hazy and hard to name, so he shoves them back in the vault. Focuses on the burning hot disgust and indignation, on the rage at being cheated out of his eye all for the amusement of some psychopath.

He tries not to focus on why it bothers him so much.

Instead he thanks his lucky stars every day he’s blessed with not having to interact with the man. He’s had quite the streak recently, which is why he’s so devastated to find out it ends today.

Saheon blinks blankly at the leader of the F-squad, waiting for the words to be repeated. Maybe he had misheard—

“You will be joining an initiative to extract essence from one of the C-grade darknesses. They need several contributors to make the process as efficient as possible, but it’s better to send employees from different squads.”

“Ah, sir, could I ask why,” Saheon attempts to ask politely. The endless corporate expectation of deferring to your superiors grates on his nerves, but he’ll do it. For survival. At Daydream, where each bastard is crazier than the last, you can never be too careful.

For example, the way that lady— Yeongeun, he remembers with a distasteful thought (how could she be so blind to Soleum’s true colours)— was offered up for sacrifice by her Squad Leader without a second thought. Saheon isn’t too keen on getting on these people’s bad sides, even if it does mean lowering himself every so often. He just needs more power, more items, and he’ll never have to bow down to another human being again.

“The more others know about you in this Darkness, the more it impedes the ability to clear.” The leader of the F-squad’s voice is dry and monotonous. He doesn’t seem to give a shit whether Saheon returns from the task or not.

He glances to the side where Hoeun twiddles with whatever paperwork he’s currently focused on completing— hapless as always. Saheon barely holds back from rolling his eyes. 500, 000 wish points and he’s out of here.

Five hundred thousand points and maybe he can bring back— No, he shouldn’t entertain foolish thoughts. God only knows what happens when he spirals with those thoughts.

Not for the first time, Saheon thinks of Soleum with unrestrained envy. The way he’s tearing through the point system and will no doubt be out of the company within another year— Well, Saheon would choke before admitting it to be admirable.

He accepts the guide the leader is handing to him with a heightened sense of resolve. He isn’t going to be outdone by anyone else.

Saheon’s thoughts only briefly flicker to who would be participating in the Darkness alongside him. He doesn’t expend too many mental facilities on the notion because it doesn’t matter.

Regardless of whoever enters that Darkness alongside Baek Saheon, he will end up on top.

Soleum eyes the guide being given to him by the lizard section chief, mind already running a mile a minute at the minimal information given to him so far.

His mind combs through all mentions of darknesses involving large groups of people in the wiki. There was the Hungry Hangman, but of course it wouldn’t be that again. He stifles a sigh of frustration as nothing comes to mind.

“I will not be partaking in the Darkness.”

Soleum glances up from the guide he had just started to read. Already, the ghost story had begun to seem familiar, but he hadn’t yet reached that crucial burst of understanding, that Eureka yet.

“Is there a particular reason why?”

Sometimes Soleum grows exasperated at the way his boss seems to speak in riddles, but he usually doesn’t mind that much. Like now. He’s almost horrified to realize there is a growing familiarity and fondness that arises whenever Lee Jaheon speaks in these curt, vague sentences.

He zones back in just in time to hear the Squad Leader’s response, “Only one participant is allowed from each group.”

Soleum’s gaze is curious, but the man doesn’t continue further. He inhales deeply, is he really going to have to ask why it can’t be the Lizard Squad Leader instead of him? That’s incredibly rude.

Of course he won’t ask. Instead he puts his mind to work a little bit and figures the man had probably been instructed that Soleum had been selected. As for why that’s the case— Well, squad leaders are less expendable, aren’t they?

He nods at the Lizard Chief in lieu of a response and proceeds in reading. Ah, this story. Soleum eyes his cracked popsocket with frustration. He closes his eyes, trying to remember the contents of the record, knowing it would be sure to help more than Daydream's guide. It sort of works, he even manages to remember one of the records he had read.

He has several hours before he has to gather at the mentioned floor, thanks to the requirements of the ghost story.

Dark Exploration Record / Ghost Story

[Mind of a Child]

: A ghost story featured in < Dark Exploration Records >

: Daydream Inc. identification code - Qterw-C-2341

A liminal space constructed by the subconscious of a friend. Those who violate the rules of the space are forbidden from exit.

He remembers the way to enter this Darkness and winces slightly. A show and tell using keepsakes from their childhoods, really? Soleum doesn’t even have something he can bring. He had been transported from home with nothing but the clothes on his back and that merch box.

Soleum sighs, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration.

     - Is my good friend having some trouble?

No, that’s not it. If enough people were there sharing stories actually from their past, then it wouldn’t matter whether Soleum had something actually from his childhood to talk about. He would get pulled into the Darkness simply by being involved in the conversation.

The issue is what can he pretend is from his childhood?

     - Me! You can use me as a childhood doll. I believe I am quite suited for this role.

It wasn’t so bad of an idea. The issue is primarily if Saheon is involved in the group. He would know, no doubt, if Soleum were to pull out the good friend doll and parade it as a keepsake from his younger years.

Then again, who cares?

Wouldn’t it just further push the idea that he’s a psychopath? One that doesn’t even bother to partake in company directives properly? He decides then that it should be okay if he pulls Braun out and introduces him as a doll from childhood.

There’s another issue, though.

Exploration Record #03

Too immersed in speaking about their childhoods the whole night, the pair of siblings remained unaware of how late it had become.

As soon as the clock struck 3:33, the world became hazy around the two, slowly shifting until they were nowhere close to the family room they had been sitting in before.

The man looked around desperately, trying to find his sister. He searched through the empty rooms of their childhood home in despair, sometimes hearing a giggle here and there.

The longer he searched, the weirder the world became. More and more moments from their pasts slipped in, little conversations they had had, fights that had taken them weeks to resolve.

“You’re no good at hide and seek!” He heard the voice of a petulant child. He turned around in horror. There stood his younger sister, regressed several years in the past.

But alas, he had found her! They could leave together!

“Come on,” he tried gently grabbing her arm, but she yanked it away vigorously. The man tried again, “Don’t you want to go back home?”

“What are you talking about,” tears rushed to the young girl’s eyes, “I love it here! I want to stay here forever!”

She paused, eyes growing strange. The girl moved in between the man and the exit.

“Hey, you’ll stay, won’t you? Let’s play forever.”

Unsuccessful escape attempt.

Essentially, one of the participants of the conversation would be transformed to a version of them as a child. There had been much discourse about this on the wiki, so it had never been made clear on whether the chosen participant was actually de-aged to a certain level, a ghost mimicking that state was involved, or a certain ‘idea’ of the past was being projected.

Thus, the verdict was up in the air, and every exploration record featuring the story was slightly different in the details. Though, by far the most popular idea, basically the consensus was—

The ghost story would root through memories and come up with a version closely resembling real life. Temporarily, their mental state and capacity would be reduced to those years. Memories could be used but whatever was unclear would be filled in one way or another.

Which is why Daydream instructed only one person from each team to enter. The more you know each other, the easier it would be to reconstruct a world in which you’d want to stay forever.

The issue is that Soleum absolutely does not, under any circumstances, want to be the one transformed into a child. Not only would he be rendered practically unable to use his memorial pop-socket and phone— it would be terrifying.

     - Ah, but wouldn’t it be constructed to make you as safe as possible?

Well, that’s correct. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad considering his ideal world would be full of nothing related to horror?

     - That’s right, friend, you’re getting it now!

But still, he would like to be cloaked from the view of the ghost story. It was imperative that Soleum keep his wits intact. But with the way Braun was talking—

     - Do you not trust this Braun?

Soleum winces. What a tough spot he’s been put in. He fumbles around with the words in his head a bit. ‘I just don’t know if you’ll be interested in keeping me out of the spotlight.’ Boisterous laughter sounds from the doll.

     - You are quite right. I think it will be fine. My friend will not be in danger, unlike the Hungry Hangman. This Braun will also take quite good care of your child body.

What could he even say to convince Braun otherwise? That it would be more entertaining to the talk show host if Soleum didn’t get transformed into a child? Even he can’t come up with a convincing argument for that.

So he gives up reasoning with the doll for now and settles for praying to any god out there that he may be spared from getting chosen by the ghost story later that night. For now, he can settle in their dorm until 2:30 A.M, watching children’s shows as a pre-emptive sort of way of calming down.

It’s a small moment of peace before hours later when everything goes to shit.

Saheon’s gut already starts sinking when he’s at the doorway, putting on his shoes, and out of the corner of his eye he spots Soleum.

For a brief few seconds he’s able to delude himself that the man is up and out of his bedroom for a reason that is completely unrelated to the one he’s out for. That Soleum, as a psychopath does, is simply roaming around in the main space in some sort of perverse psychological torture method.

Alas, the man is fully dressed in work clothes, which already dashes his measly hopes of a normal Darkness clear. The man sits next to Saheon to put on his own loafers.

Soleum sends him one of his creepy-ass smiles, “Let’s go, then, shall we?”

Like hell! Saheon would get caught dead in his underwear before he willingly follows Soleum anywhere.

…

A few minutes later he's following the psychopath down the hallway. Not because he’s prone to listening to that guy or whatever, no! But because realistically being in Soleum’s good graces (if those existed) before they entered the Darkness was a good idea.

But this guy, even though he had talked about heading out together with Saheon, sped out the door as soon as he was done putting his shoes on.

Saheon has to scramble after him, almost forgetting to lock the door. Not that anyone would dare to mess with Kim Soleum, Daydream’s prodigy. Out of pettiness, Saheon insists, he deigns to walk behind Soleum instead of beside.

Give that man a chance to speak to him? As if. Although, he supposes, if Soleum cared for social norms, they wouldn’t be in the odd relationship they’re in right now. Annoyed beyond words, Saheon clenches the tie he’s brought for the ghost story in his hands.

He had looked at the hand-made bracelet on his nightstand for a long, long time before ignoring it and walking over to his closet to grab a tie from who knows when instead. Everyone else would be contributing to the entry, so it didn’t particularly matter whether the item he brings is really from his past or not.

Saheon looks at the ceiling of the elevator in a mix of apprehension and irritation as he gets in after Soleum. He bemoans the fact that he caught Soleum so early in the journey to the real company building and now has to spend this time next to him either stewing in silence or playing along with whatever weird-ass whim had overtaken the man this time.

Luckily, Soleum stays silent. That is, until they encounter Go Yeongeun at the building entrance. Then she joins the group, engaging in polite conversation with the bastard.

Saheon’s eye twitches as he watches the two of them talk about whatever inane discussion topic had come up this time. What is he, a third wheel? He eyes Yeongeun with no small amount of derision as she chatters away.

What kind of idiot is unable to see past Soleum’s mask of being a normal person and able to talk to him so calmly? Did she not see when he pulled out that eyeball and waved it at Saheon through the door? She had to have seen it. So did Jang Hoeun, another person inexplicably bewitched by Saheon’s room-mate.

Saheon listens with half his attention as they make their way towards the meeting room that had been instructed to them by their seniors. He can’t help but wonder what item Soleum had brought; what could possibly be sentimental to someone like him?

When Saheon finds out the answer, less than an hour later, he almost bursts into hysterical laughter.

Soleum holds up that pink bunny doll he seems to carry around everywhere nowadays, speaking with a slight smile, “I was given this by a family member when I was younger. I’ve been quite fond of this stuffed toy since then.”

No way Soleum would have actually brought something from his childhood! Bastards like him don’t have human notions of nostalgia and sentimentality!

What had the man called the doll again, Braun? The one he had spoken to and painted Saheon as a fool when he talked to Soleum about. He has the distinct urge to pull his eyepatch down and check on its halo, to assure himself he’s not crazy, maybe. But doing so would mean exposing an ability in front of all of these employees, letting them in on an advantage.

So he resolves to take a peek at its hypothetical halo another time. For now he just sends Soleum a narrow-eyed stare as the conversation moves on to the next person’s childhood.

‘I know what you’re doing,’ he thinks. ‘You can’t hide forever,’ Saheon is sure.

He couldn't care less about everyone else here, so he zones out until it’s his turn.

More accurately, given that he’s sitting next to Yeongeun, he listens as she talks about her childhood item. 

“A friend from college,” she says in a light yet firm tone, “said we’d drink this together when we graduated.”

In the woman’s hands is an unopened bottle of soju. He feels a brief flicker of curiosity. Given that she had applied to Daydream and gotten hired, she had to have graduated by now. And yet it’s still unopened. He notes the slight furrow in her brow and tense jaw with a clinical eye. Must have died then. Maybe it was a Darkness.

Whatever. Everyone’s like that, it’s nothing new. So he moves past the thought just as fast.

“I brought a tie, my mother bought this for me for my first day of high school.”

He speaks with a slight smile, putting on a sense of charm sure to place him low on his colleagues’ lists of who to watch their back around. That’s right, think nothing of Saheon. So if he ever chooses to strike, you don’t have a chance to defend yourself, to hurt him instead.

As more irrelevant employees go on to talk about some corny moment from their childhood or teenage years, the clock dutifully ticks forward.

Saheon’s eye flicks towards the analog clock hanging on the wall just as the second hand reaches 12. It’s 3:33. He stiffens, bracing himself as they all get pulled into the Darkness.

One second Yeongeun is in a room filled with many other company employees, along with Kim Soleum and that asshole that’s his roommate— Baek Saheon— and the next she’s in a great white expanse. 

She frowns a bit. Isn’t this Darkness supposed to be one of their child-self’s fantasy world? There’s absolutely nothing here. No, it’s worse than that. There’s also no one here. She swallows, throat seeming like its swelling shut in her anxiety.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” The words escape like a frog out of her mouth. 

For a moment no one answers. And then—

“Yes. This is Baek Saheon.”

Her eyes shut as she quietly groans. Of all people. Then she winces a bit, hopefully he didn’t hear that, not that she cares so much. It would just be a bit of a hassle to deal with. Alas, any companion is another brain that can help clear the Darkness in this case. Hopefully it isn’t so hard to convince whoever has been turned into a child to leave this place.

Although, on top of that they have to find a way out.

“Ah, this is Go Yeongeun, where are you?” She asks because despite being able to hear his voice loud and clear, the man is nowhere to be seen. She steps forward, but nothing changes around her. Still miles and miles of an endless blank canvas.

“Your voice seems to be coming from my left, I think.”

She was glad he had the common sense to put their animosity to the side for now. Though it would be immensely easier had Soleum been the one nearby. She freezes, the person who the Darkness had deaged, could it be— Well, hopefully not. He was probably just placed somewhere else, though wherever that somewhere was, remains to be seen.

Yeongeun moves towards her right, before pausing. How the hell is she supposed to know where his left is?

A little annoyed, Yeongeun speaks up again, “Actually, could you just keep speaking? I think that would be easier.”

Even more frustrating is the extended delay until Saheon speaks up again, “No need. I managed to use yours.”

As he’s speaking, Yeongeun ignores his words and uses the noise to try and locate him. She discovers what he’s talking about as the words come out of his mouth.

“There’s a wall preventing me from coming any closer,” Saheon finishes off. Yeongeun taps the space in front of her, indeed meeting a solid substance. She feels the presence of her own breath bouncing off of the boundary.

“It’s the same for me too,” she mutters absentmindedly as she travels backwards to check. Sure enough, there’s a limit to how much she can travel backwards, too. A distance of about a metre and a half.

“I seem to be enclosed on both sides,” Yeongeun informs her companion, no longer quite so pissed off that they’re in the same place. Though he was quite self-serving, it currently serves him to interact with Yeongeun and find more about the space they’ve been transported to.

There’s some time, during which she assumes Saheon is checking the same, “Same here. And my left.”

Again with those arbitrary directions. His voice seems to be a bit further off when he speaks and Yeongeun realizes he’s moving away from her. She’s about to gripe and tell him they should travel together lest someone get separated, when she spots it.

Saheon pauses in whatever he was saying too, considering that his arm that had been tracing the wall in front of him as he moved right had now extended further, touching air. Meaning, that the wall ended there.

From where Yeongeun is standing, to her own left, some ways down the path that seems to be open (given that she hadn’t confirmed a wall in that direction), his hand is visible. That is, Yeongeun can see what she presumes to be Saheon’s arm just floating there, in space. The cut off is a clean straight line, and she surmises whatever is obstructing her view is one of the walls they had been observing.

Perfect, there seems to be white walls enclosing them in some space and the fun part is that unlike actual walls, they completely blend in with the rest of the space. She resigns herself to the absolute headache that escaping this place will be as she speaks again to Saheon.

“Try moving forward in the space your arm is, I think I can see you,” she raises her voice a bit this time, wanting to be sure the words will reach him.

Baek Saheon doesn’t respond, but he does as asked given that less than a second later the rest of his body comes into view. Yeongeun didn’t think she’d ever be relieved to see the man and curses the Darkness for bringing this moment into reality.

“So,” she begins awkwardly, now that it would be petty to default to their standard dynamic.

“I think we may be in some sort of labyrinth.” 

“I figured, with the way we’re enclosed in hallways,” Saheon sighs as he runs a hand through his curly hair.

Yeongeun grits her teeth. Of course the man has no such qualms. He moves past his rude comment just as quickly as it had exited his mouth.

“I wonder which bastard this space belongs to,” he mutters as he walks closer to her. Yeongeun just knows he’s rolling his eyes behind that goat mask of his. Which gives her the bright idea of doing the same. It seems she’s not been completely stripped of choice here.

Yeongeun looks around again and voices the thought she’s been having, “This emptiness reminds me of something else, though. It’s like when nothing is loading.”

“Yes?” Saheon’s tone is slightly irritated, which irks her, because she should be the one annoyed if anyone. The sentence wasn’t vague, he just spoke before she could explain further.

“I mean,” Yeongeun raps at the wall nearby her, “the space could be looking like this because the Darkness has nothing to work with.”

“Like the person has no memories of the past?” Saheon replies with a skeptical frown, but he doesn’t dismiss the notion entirely, for which she is mildly grateful. 

“More like, there is nothing that could possibly make them want to stay here.”

But was there anyone like that in this world? With no sort of desires that could lure them into spending eternity in the Darkness?

He nods, accepting the idea for the most part, “Okay, but even so. The guide says that people’s knowledge of each other could be used as information. The seniors tried to choose people from different groups, but we all know each other at least a little bit.”

“So you’re saying that… Soon enough, our notions of each other will be used to construct this place.”

He shrugs, “Maybe.”

As if speaking the situation into existence, the place around them begins to transform. No longer do they seem to be in a blank expanse. Instead the labyrinth becomes much more visible. Where white had used to go on and on, the walls are now made up of some sort of concrete. Dim lighting shines down upon them from above.

They are no longer in an invisible labyrinth, they are now in a warehouse labyrinth. How quaint.

“Is there anyone who would like this…” It doesn’t seem to be the kind of thing any normal human would be into.

Saheon notes their surroundings with a grimace, “I can think of one person.”

He uses the term ‘person’ very loosely. These days, Kim Soleum seems to be more and more like a Darkness. The rookie that climbs to the top immediately and will kill you if it so happens to amuse him.

Heh. Yeah that fits.

The brief blanket of silence is yanked off quite quickly as the sound of pounding footsteps gets louder and louder. Yeongeun and Saheon exchange a glance as a child comes into view. Is this it? Is this the subject of the Darkness?

“Ah! People!” The kid— a little boy— speaks with heavy breaths and a harried tone. He seems to have dashed all the way here.

He doesn’t bother to pause for introductions as he points down the hall in the direction he came from, directly across from where Saheon had turned into the space.

“There! Over there is a talking rabbit!” When Saheon looks closer, he realizes this kid looks terrified. The warehouse had reminded him of Soleum, but there’s no way this wimpy, twiggy child is the ruthless man he knows and loathes.

Yeongeun takes over the situation, speaking when she realizes Saheon has no intention of comforting the poor child, trembling and shaking in front of them.

“Don’t worry, we’re special agents, so you’ll be safe with us,” her first move is to reassure this kid. Even if she was purely interested in extracting information, calming the child down is important in order to do so.

“No, wouldn’t that be the Bureau,” Saheon mutters, earning another glare from Yeongeun. He luckily seems to have been out of earshot considering how the child is markedly less scared as he walks closer.

“It was a stuffed animal, but it kept saying weird things! So creepy.” The kid shivers, arms coming around him as he recalls the situation.

Saheon pauses, just now focusing on what he had been running away from. Hold on, a stuffed rabbit that talks.

“Kid.” He frowns at the child, who turns to him with wide eyes, “What’s your name?”

There was no way. It couldn’t be him, Saheon is sure, and yet—

“Kim Soleum…” He jumps, extending into a bow, before standing back up straight, “Right! How rude of me! What are your names?”

Yeongeun nods at the words, speaking before they even register, “Right, nice to meet you, Sol—” She freezes. “Did you just say your name is Soleum?”

He tilts his head, and Yeongeun feels a strong urge to pinch this child’s cheeks in spite of the situation they’re in, “Uh huh! I’m Soleum.”

“O-Oh.”

She purses her lips, trying to reconcile this fearful child with the Kim Soleum who cleared Darknesses like they were mere puzzles, without batting an eye. Ah, but Soleum— she winces internally, still finding the name weird— had asked her a question.

“I’m Go Yeongeun and this guy is Baek Saheon.” She gestures to the man as she introduces him.

Then, noting how much he seems to be trembling still, she adds on. “Ah, you can call me noona, and him hyung.”

The kid seems to be between 10 or 12, around. Allowing him to call them by those terms would hopefully help give him a sense of familiarity and allow him to be more comfortable.

He brightens up, “Ah, okay!”

But he seems to be too shy to use them just yet.

Saheon seems to still be examining the child with the same calculative gaze from earlier, prompting an eye roll. Can’t this guy give it a rest? When will he accept that Soleum was, at the very least, a better person than him? It’s clear with the way he can’t even let his guard down around a child.

But looking at Saheon reminds her that their Daydream masks can be quite— well, intimidating. She starts pulling her goral mask off, halted by Saheon’s grip on her wrist, which she roughly shakes off.

“The hell do you think you’re doing,” he whispers harshly. “You know the rules.”

Yeongeun ignores him to pull down her mask, this time making sure her eye roll is visible, “The Darkness affected by our perception of him, not his of us. In fact, if you were able to think a little harder maybe you’d realize this place is caused by your perception of him.”

She gestures around to the spooky atmosphere, which was indeed something Soleum would no doubt enjoy in Saheon’s opinion.

He frowns. Well. Saheon can’t deny that. He still refuses to take his own mask off, though, “Do what you want.”

Well, yes. Did she ever give the impression that she would follow along and listen blindly to his commands? She needs to work harder, then.

Yeongeun stiffens when her gaze returns to Soleum and his gaze is flickering between the two of them, seemingly deciphering their words. Right, if adult Soleum is a genius, it has to come from somewhere.

This child is probably also extremely intelligent, she would have to be careful on how they interact around him. 

“About this rabbit,” she smiles at him, pleased when he mirrors it, “could you tell us more?”

Before the boy can get a word out, Saheon speaks, “Better yet, you can just take us there.”

Soleum gapes, paling immediately at the words. “You want me to…”

He doesn’t even let the man reply before yelling, “Ah! No way! I’m not going back there, sorry hyung!”

Saheon grimaces, the word comes out as excessively wrong out of Soleum’s mouth. He feels like he’s getting hives at a single use, imagine if this kid gets used to it.

“We’ll be there with you,” Saheon crosses his arms, not looking forward to spending the next however long with this child, “We’ll walk in front too. Just take us there.”

There’s something he wanted to confirm and also something he wanted to do in order to prepare for the future. The only issue is that Soleum seems to be completely opposed to going back to whatever he had run away from.

Saheon supposes at the very least he can be happy that this means it shouldn’t be so hard to convince the child to escape the Darkness.

“No way,” Soleum shakes his head, “Sorry, but I’m not going back there. What if it tries speaking to me again?”

Okay. Great. Of course a child version of his roommate would be no easier to handle. Saheon rubs the middle of his forehead in frustration. At least Soleum seems to have de-aged to a point where his psychopathic tendencies haven’t manifested yet. It doesn’t quite make sense, but it’s the only explanation he can come up with for Soleum’s odd behaviour as a child.

The stubbornness tracks, but not the extreme fear. This kid is the epitome of ‘scaredy-cat’ if he’s ever seen it.

Yeongeun, fortunately, decides this isn’t something she should argue with him on because she actually speaks up in his favour.

“Saheon is right. We can get some more information and maybe find a way out of here. You want to leave here, right? Maybe you can give us directions to the doll.”

Soleum nods vigorously, almost tearing up, and Saheon barely refrains from ‘tsk’-ing at the difference in their treatment by the child.

“Okay… I’ll just tell you where to go, though.”

“Yes, that’s fine,” Saheon has grown more than a little impatient, “Just tell us. You don’t have to come with us if you’re scared.”

Yeah, fighting with a kid is insanely petty, but Saheon can’t help it. This might be the only win he’s gotten in recent memory. That is, if he’s ever won against Soleum.

“Not scared.” Saheon’s jaw drops at the statement, incredulous. Even Yeongeun has to stifle a laugh behind her hand. Woah, incredible.

“It’s a reasonable wariness to what could be a demon in that doll.” Soleum looks entirely too serious as he explains this to them.

Saheon’s eyebrows raise. ‘Wariness.’ Is that what they’re calling it nowadays?

“Sure,” he’s not sure what else would serve as a valid response to what the boy just said. “Reasonable wariness.”

The boy, satisfied with the affirmation grins, launching into instructions on how to reach the doll. It’s not a very long path, just turn into where he came from and walk all the way straight down.

At the very end of the hall, the doll will be lying on the floor. That is, unless someone had found it by the time they arrived. Or it got up and walked around. Yeongeun doesn’t voice this thought for fear of making the already jumpy boy more scared.

Saheon for his part is more than eager to make their way to the doll, already having his own suspicions on what, or rather ‘who,’ this doll was. Sure enough, when they reach the end of the corridor, there lies the doll Soleum could be seen carrying around constantly. The one he had called Braun.

“Isn’t that…” Yeongeun murmurs, as they stop a pace away from the object, still lying pitifully on the ground.

“The thing Soleum calls Braun, yeah.”

He ignores whatever Yeongeun says to him next. This is more important. Saheon inhales slightly, as he pulls his eyepatch down. He almost winces. An incredibly bright aura. And there’s no way Saheon is scared of this puny thing, which means it just inherently is that dangerous.

He grits its teeth. So it seems something actually is inhabiting the rabbit. Something that can still speak and communicate with Soleum, apparently, given that the boy had run away in distress.

Then, while Yeongeun is still giving him a weird look for his actions, he walks towards the doll and gingerly picks it up. Soleum will definitely owe him one after they successfully clear the Darkness. In fact, why stop there? If he takes care of Soleum’s child self and makes sure he’s well treated, wouldn’t the man be severely indebted?

Soleum may be many things, but he’s not someone who’d shirk on repaying a favour. That is, as long as he agrees that it’s a favour. 

‘That settles it,’ Saheon thinks with a little bit of a devious grin, ‘That little bastard will have the time of his life. He won’t even know what hit him.’

Yeongeun has long since given up on expecting anything normal from Baek Saheon, so when he ignores her warning against picking up the doll, she doesn’t try again.

Soleum will definitely be scared when they return with Bruan, but it would help in exiting this place, hopefully. 

She freezes when they turn around to see Soleum peeking from the end of the hallway. Upon being spotted, he jolts in alarm and darts out of view. A soft smile rises to Yeongeun’s face. How childlike.

Saheon remains oddly silent until they reach Soleum, who seems to be cowering against the farthest wall at where Yeongeun had spawned into the Darkness.

He stutters a bit as his gaze locks onto the pink doll in Saheon’s hand, “Hyung, why did you bring it with you?”

“Is this doll speaking to you?”

The boy nods timidly. “It’s calling me a friend.”

“Oh?” Yeongeun is curious about the personality of the entity that apparently travels with Soleum daily, “What’s it saying?”

Soleum looks away, “You don’t wanna know.”

Saheon’s brows raise in mild surprise. Then again, did he really expect whatever buddy Soleum had made and brought along with him everywhere to be benevolent? No, it’s more likely to be like those possessed, cursed dolls that keep on spawning more movies.

How hard is the memo— leave the cursed object alone— to understand? Then again, Saheon’s never understood horror movies or horror enthusiasts.

His gaze flickers around the space surrounding them. Creepy as ever. They should really start moving around, though, so he starts putting the doll in his pocket, pausing when the kid hesitantly speaks up.

“Um, hyung, I don’t think you should do that.”

“Is that so?” Saheon’s voice is deadpan, though less dry than first encountering the child. He figures he has to get used to treating child Soleum well so he is able to cash something in later.

Soleum nods, “He says he won’t like it there.”

The man notes the quick change in attitude, suspicious. Has this doll been contaminating Soleum? Then again, how much worse could the man possibly get?

“Ah… I can carry Braun with me.”

Yup. Definitely contaminated. He doesn’t quite care, though, so he hands the stuffed rabbit back over to Soleum with ease.

Yeongeun watches the interaction with concern; Soleum had been downright terrified of the doll a minute ago. What could it possibly have said to him to lower his guard so quickly? Is it taking advantage of the fact that he’s a child? The thought doesn’t sit right with Yeongeun at all. But then again, adult Soleum was so capable, and probably level headed and he chose to keep the doll around so what can she do?

“Let’s go, then.” Saheon is eager, as always, to get a move on.

“Don’t you think we should have some sort of strategy first?” She doesn’t want to bicker and argue in front of the child, worried it will give the impression that they’re unreliable, but heading out right away is such a rash decision.

“Well, what would you suggest,” Saheon bites out with crossed arms.

“There’s a strategy for solving mazes, you know?” She mirrors his pose, a spark almost visible in between their eyes. Yeongeun hates that she has to tilt her head upwards to make eye contact.

She can practically see Soleum vibrating where he stands so she gestures for him to speak, as he so clearly wants to.

“I know this! You run your hand along one side of the wall and walk until you reach the exit.”

He looks quite proud of his contribution. This lasts until Saheon spoils the mood, “You really think a Darkness will have a normal maze?”

Well, he does have a point. But he causes Soleum to deflate like a popped balloon and for this Yeongeun definitely will not forgive him. Except the man himself seems to realize his mistake because he crouches in front of Soleum to speak to him.

“Hey, this place will have more scary stuff, but if you stick with us, it’ll be okay.”

Soleum nods, listening to the man’s words intently.

“You want to escape together?” Saheon stiffly holds out a hand, as if waiting for a handshake.

The boy hesitates for a mere second before grinning, “Yup!” and smacking Saheon’s hand as a sort of high five, shaking it a second later and then holding a fist out, waiting for Saheon now.

He gingerly presses a fist back. It seems the boy was engaging in some sort of juvenile friendship ritual, something Saheon would know absolutely nothing about.

And with that, they’re finally able to start escaping the Darkness in earnest. They walk in a line, hands pressed to the right wall. Saheon out in front, then Soleum, then Yeongeun holding up the rear.

Somewhere after their second turn, Soleum begins giggling slightly. While the sound is slightly off putting to Yeongeun, given their setting of a Darkness, she finds it to be adorable more than anything.

“Is something funny, Soleum-ah?” She asks lightheartedly.

“Haha. Braun said we look like a family.”

And suddenly nothing’s funny anymore. Saheon and Yeongeun both freeze. She can’t say much about his reaction, given that his back is to them, but she blanches. Holds back a gag, even.

As if sensing the awkward tension that’s settled, Soleum rushes to explain, “Ah! Not that you two are old enough to be my parents. He said it’s like one of those TV specials where an odd group of people comes together to become family.”

Ah, how adorably naive children were. Aptly sensing something was up and yet failing to accurately diagnose the origin of the tension.

“That’s… Nice.”

Wow, Saheon’s attempt at being kind truly is laughable. Not even two words of politeness and he sounds like he’s dying. But before Yeongeun can even think to make a dig at him, he freezes at the front, halting the rest of the line.

She doesn’t have to inquire to find out what the hold up is.

“Hyung, what’s wrong?” Soleum tugs the back of Saheon’s suit jacket lightly. He gulps before whispering again, “Is there… something there?”

Saheon nods, still silent. Out of curiosity, and also a healthy sense of self preservation, she peeks out past where Saheon’s body is obstructing the view of the corridor. A mime waits at the end of the turn.

Sensing something is up, Soleum too begins to move and see. She doesn’t quite know what possesses her, but before Yeongeun can even register the movement, her hand has shot out to pull him back.

It just doesn’t seem right. Regardless of how talented and capable their coworker was as an adult, this Soleum feels different. He feels too much like someone she needs to protect.

“Should we head back and take a turn instead, or should we continue?” Yeongeun asks, mindful of Soleum’s newfound aversion to horror.

“The whole point of this method is to follow the right wall from start to finish.”

Except Saheon still hasn’t moved an inch.

“So what’s stopping you?”

“... It’s nothing.” Saheon mumbles as he resumes their trek forwards. Soleum trembles, quite aware that there is something scary waiting for them up ahead, but he doesn’t protest at all. Honestly, that bothers Yeongeun more than it relieves her.

He stops again shortly after, though.

“What is it now?” Yeongeun’s tone is not quite terse, well aware of the instincts Saheon would have developed as a Daydream employee.

“It just moved.”

Her heart drops, just a bit.

“What?”

Saheon’s words come out slightly quicker now, “That mime, it just moved.”

“... Is it still moving?”

“No,” but as he takes another step forward, this time Yeongeun too sees it. 

She hesitates to voice the words in case they act as some twisted form of manifestation, but the idea is too obvious to ignore.

“Do you think…” She inhales deeply, “That it’s mirroring you?”

Saheon takes a step forward, watching, then a step back. Indeed, the mime, with an odd expression painted on, seems to echo the movements. Well, that’s confirmed. He doesn’t move again, probably considering what to do.

“Hyung,” a small hand tugs at Saheon’s jacket again, and this time he actually deigns to look back at Soleum. Yeongeun represses the instinctual jolt that comes at realizing that the mime too, turns its head.

“Yeah?”

“What if…” Soleum’s voice is loud for a second before he freezes and gestures for Saheon to bend so he can speak into the man’s ear instead. Is he scared the Darkness will hear? It isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Yeongeun can’t hear what he whispers into the man’s ear nervously, the volume too low for her as well, but she can see Saheon’s nod afterwards.

“Okay.”

She raises a brow. Well isn’t someone being oddly agreeable today?

Soleum turns around, perhaps to repeat the plan for her, but Saheon begins moving before the little boy can. He walks forward until the mime is a mere couple meters away. Soleum startles, wanting to explain but not wanting to be left behind either.

She pats his shoulder, “It’s okay.”

It’s not like she needs to know the details of the plan, if Saheon had just forged on like that. Soleum gives her a grim nod incongruous to his age before scrambling in pursuit. She walks behind them slowly, the noise of her shoes clicking resounding across the hallway.

Saheon, instead of moving closer, presses himself against the right wall. He moves in a way that the mime mimics his movement, pressed against the left wall. Its expression has shifted from that discomfiting grin to anger. That’s always a good sign.

Yeongeun and Soleum quickly follow suit, not eager to be in the range of the mime once Saheon turns so he’s facing it again and starts walking backwards. The plan is executed without a hitch. Once they turn into the next hallway, Yeongeun instructs Saheon to move while she checks out the mime’s placement in the previous hall. It no longer moves, the connection to Saheon appearing to be severed.

“Even if you were the first one it saw,” Yeongeun murmurs once they are back on track, “It’s odd that it only mirrored you.”

“Hm. I think it tracks.”

Soleum does seem to have a vested interest in making Saheon miserable, so why would a space created to make him enjoy himself be any different?

“What does that mean?”

Saheon refuses to answer. Yeongeun takes in more air in an attempt to relax. This was going to be a long few hours, if they were lucky enough to escape that quickly.

Soleum doesn’t know how he ended up in this place, or much of what he had been doing before even. He might have been playing with friends at the park? Such is his best guess, given that’s how he often spends his time after school, but he can’t be sure since he doesn’t actually have a memory of doing so from today.

But he had woken up here, in this blank space. There had been a pink rabbit with him, adorned with a bowtie. Soleum had thought it was a bit cute, that was, until it spoke. Although Braun explained the situation quite well and they were back to being best buddies, the initial fear had indeed been visceral.

Yeah, he doesn’t really want to go through that again.

     - Ah, Soleum, buddy, you don’t remember it, but don’t worry. I would never let you get hurt!

Soleum doesn’t quite remember making this friend, but hey, why not? Braun says they’ve gone on many exciting adventures together. And that he can even get Soleum on TV! Isn’t that cool?

So he’s excited to make it out and follow Braun up on that offer. That is, if they can make it past all of these terrifying monsters first.

He walks quietly in between the two adults, the nice people he had ran into after the false alarm he had earlier. The lady seems to be very kind, but that guy… There’s something not quite right about him.

Soleum hasn’t figured out what it is yet so he doesn’t quite shirk away from him for now. Instead he pays closer attention, eyes lingering on Saheon’s body movements. Notes what his first response to danger is and how he instinctively froze at first.

Yeah, Saheon-hyung doesn’t seem scared (Soleum maintains this as someone very well versed in fear), but he does seem excessively uncomfortable. Or on high alert. Maybe he’s overly cautious?

Well, he has the rest of their escape to figure out exactly what’s going on, so he doesn’t worry too much.

Smaller issues occur along the way, an off putting pair of child twins, a corridor that’s completely dark, and so on. Each time, without fail, Soleum hides completely behind Saheon-hyung. The kind lady seems to be more prone to helping and caring for him, but she’s behind them. Asking her to defend Soleum from the front as well while she already has to worry about whatever’s behind her is too much.

This is something he can take into his own hands.

Saheon-hyung has gone from tensing into a rock everytime Soleum so much as grazes against his back to barely registering the touch. Upon one of their long stretches of silence without encountering a monster, Soleum decides to speak.

This silence makes him a little uncomfortable.

“Do you guys know what you were doing before you ended up here?”

There’s a silence, similar to the one Soleum’s parents make before they decide they want to hide something from him.

“No clue,” the man trudging in front of him says.

Soleum frowns. “But you said, earlier, you were talking like you know what’s going on. You called it a ‘Darkness’.”

He rubs at his bare arms, trying to flatten the goosebumps that have erupted all along his arms. He trusts the pair, really, he does, but it’s something that’s been bothering Soleum.

The lady from behind pats his head gently and Soleum jolts, not having anticipated the touch.

“We do know more about this space, but it’s something for us as adults to worry about, okay? It’s our responsibility to make sure you’re safe and happy.”

Hm. Well. He does like not having to interact with anything scary. And the sense of security present from travelling between the two of them does wonders for his peace of mind.

“Ah… Okay.” Soleum mumbles, not entirely satisfied, yet okay with the answer.

He focuses on the movement of his feet forward.

The next hour goes a lot better. They don’t encounter more monsters. Soleum starts speaking to fill the silence and while Saheon-hyung is annoyed by the questions at first, he grows too tired to be difficult and begins answering normally in an attempt to get through them quicker.

“So hyung, noona, do you guys have any siblings?”

Saheon-hyung doesn’t answer like before. He doesn’t even brush Soleum off. Instead his clenched fists are directly within Soleum’s line of vision, given that he’s been looking down in an attempt to avoid monster sightings.

Now that he thinks about it, Yeongeun-noona has also been quiet. Did Soleum say something weird?

The duo have been saved from whatever answer they had been unwilling to give by the sight in front of him. 

There, down the hallway they had just turned into, is an elevator. Soleum’s heart drops. He had thought they could eventually escape by following one wall. He didn’t realize it was possible for the labyrinth to have multiple floors.

What in the world are they going to do now?

Yeongeun-noona steps out from behind Soleum and moves closer to the elevator, examining it. Without the cover at the rear, he chooses to turn around and keep an eye on wherever they came from.

“Uh.”

Saheon-hyung looks at him after the involuntary noise, one that got caught up in his throat. Thanks to this, he doesn’t even have to voice the recent development that’s got his heart dropping again.

The turns behind them have all disappeared, now leaving only a dead end behind.

“It seems we have no choice but to use the lift,” Yeongeun-noona murmurs, having caught onto what had caused the abrupt shift in mood.

“Up or down,” Saheon-hyung voices the thought out loud, unable to discern what direction they should be going in.

Yeongeun hums in response, “Where do you think we should go, Soleum-ah?”

Ah? Him? Why is he deciding? He’s probably the least qualified one there. Saheon-hyung seems to agree, because when Soleum tentatively suggests going up, he presses the downwards button.

Yeongeun-noona’s brow furrows, “What are you doing?”

“The Darkness wants him to stay,” he shrugs, “Then shouldn’t we be doing the opposite of his gut?”

She shakes her head, “But if he was inclined to stay here already, though, why would it even need to try and keep him here? If it’s trying to get him to stay here through external measures, then his gut should lead him to the exit.”

While the two are conversing, Braun speaks to Soleum again.

     - Buddy, these two would be good on TV together, wouldn’t they? They’ve got the chemistry needed for any duet.

Would they, though? Yeongeun-noona doesn’t seem to like Saheon-hyung all that much. It feels like they’re only tolerating each other for Soleum’s sake, even. He doesn’t like that.

Saheon-hyung purses his lips before agreeing reluctantly, “I guess that makes sense. Let’s go up, then, kid.”

He presses the up button as well, not that it would do anything.

The door opens and a ferocious wolf comes bounding out. Soleum jumps in shock, barely having a second to scream before Saheon-hyung tackles it. The man looks up, eye honing in on Yeongeun-noona.

“Do something.”

He’s incapacitated with the way it rolls and fights, trying to escape his grip. Saheon grits his teeth. The hell was he doing? He should have swiftly moved out of the way and pressed against the wall, allowing it to go after the kid.

The item he’ll get after all of this probably won’t even be worth it. Saheon curses his decision making process. 

It isn’t long before Yeongeun pulls out a dagger (does she just carry that around?) and drives it into the wolf's skull from the top. Saheon is mildly impressed, it would take a lot of strength to break through the bone, though perhaps adrenaline was doing her a favour.

It twitches with a few more movements before going limp. She waits a few breaths before pulling the weapon out, enabling Saheon to get up off it and brush his hands on his pants. Miraculously, the doors still haven’t closed.

They wordlessly file in. Soleum doesn’t know what he’d say even if there was an opportunity to do so. 

‘Thank you for saving my life?’ Maybe?

Saheon-hyung grunts when the doors shut, “Press a button.”

Soleum ponders the question seriously, what is his heart telling him? That he doesn’t belong here and should escape, mostly, but aside from that… He doesn’t feel a particular longing. So Soleum considers the options. The elevator goes higher three floors and lower two. He already feels like nothing good would come of going down, only monsters lurk in basements after all, so that was out of the question.

Hm. Well, shouldn’t the top, if any of them were to have one, have an exit? Sometimes buildings would have roof access. It’s possible.

He gingerly reaches out to press the number. Behind him, he can feel some shifting. Soleum gets it. 4. Talk about unlucky. But they don’t say anything to him, trusting his judgement for a reason that’s a mystery to the child.

He hums as the lift shoots up. Despite all the horrors Soleum finds that standing like this, between the comforting warmth of the two adults, is not so bad.

Saheon feels like he’s been doing a pretty good job of keeping the little bastard happy and healthy. That slight grin hasn’t been wiped off the kid’s mouth since they’d seen that axe murderer (he knows exactly why that’s in this labyrinth), save for maybe the scare with the wolf.

Maybe that’s why Soleum’s hand brushes against his own slightly, as if he wants to grasp it but doesn’t quite have the courage to. Saheon winces, pulling it away. It’s uncomfortable. This Soleum is too similar to the Saheon from before that specific festival.

When Saheon’s eyes flick down back to the kid, he notes that Soleum has pulled his arm tight against his side, as if scared of intruding into Saheon’s space. His other hand is encased tightly in Yeongeun’s, though.

Clearly she had accepted the offer. Tch. What’s the point of kissing up to a child? There’s no guarantee Soleum will even remember this when they leave.

Of course this also poses a problem for Saheon, who hopes to reap the rewards of treating the man well. But, the difference is Soleum’s survival alone should be evidence Saheon took care of him.

His gaze returns to the elevator door in front of them, eye narrowed in fierce determination. So far the danger they’ve encountered hasn’t been customary of a C-grade darkness. Saheon pauses. Then again, there isn’t supposed to be any ‘danger,’ at all. The difficulty in clearing comes from convincing your friend to escape a world perfectly suited for them.

And yet, Soleum doesn’t want to be here a bit. Saheon can only hope that doesn’t change as they make their way closer and closer to the exit.

“Saheon.” Yeongeun whispers to him above Soleum’s head just as the doors open. He ignores her, temporarily, in favour of making sure the pathway is empty in front of them and stepping out.

“What is it?” Saheon’s eye is still scanning the surroundings for any monsters.

“Shouldn’t we have seen others by now?”

“Shit, probably.” The thought is only concerning because of what may have gotten rid of them, rather their disappearance itself.

He’s more flabbergasted by the sight in front of them, though. It’s no longer a maze. It now resembles a hotel more closely, hallway lined with numbered doors on both sides until some distant end. Saheon thinks he might see the faint glow of an ‘EXIT’ sign.

“Others?” The kid’s meek voice pipes up.

Saheon sighs, ripping his laser focus to glance at the boy, “We were with a number of others before coming here.”

“Oh.” He has this expression like he’s thinking very hard and Saheon has half a mind to tell Soleum not to hurt himself trying, but Soleum speaks up first, “Maybe they were on these other floors?”

Hm. Very possible. And a good reminder not to underestimate this kid, even if he’s seemingly harmless. He’s still Kim Soleum; a scorpion cannot change its nature. Even if it does the scorpion the favour of carrying him across the river, the frog will get stung in the end.

He knows this, and yet. It’s strangely difficult to ignore the earnest gaze of the boy. Snap out of it! No way he was going to lower his guard down. ‘Do anything you can to survive,’ Saheon reminds himself.

…

But taking care of this kid, acting human towards him, is necessary for survival, Saheon justifies. It’s a difficult position to be in. He despises children, feels revolted by their inherent vulnerability and helplessness. But he still lets Soleum’s unoccupied hand move to clutch the back of his jacket as they advance further into the hallway.

“Soleum-ah,” Yeongeun says from somewhere outside his vision.

“What do you think, should we enter one of these rooms or should we head for that exit sign?”

He stays silent, waiting for the answer and then wishing he didn’t when it comes out.

“That room,” Saheon looks towards where Soleum is pointing. Room 444.

…

Like hell! He pries the boy’s grip off his suit jacket, careful not to break any fingers at the very least, and stomps towards the exit.

“Are you serious?” Yeongeun calls out from behind.

“Suit yourself.” He responds over his shoulder without skipping a beat, “If you’re so keen on becoming another unsuccessful escape attempt, by all means, go ahead.”

Yeongeun clenches her fists. Always something new with this guy.

“Is he… I mean, is hyung always like this?” Soleum whispers to her.

She tilts her head, curious as to what the child’s evaluation of the man is. “Like what?”

“Ah.”

His eyes flicker down towards the doll in his t-shirt pocket, as if listening.

“He’s a bit defensive.”

Yeongeun snickers into her hand, oh this was gold. Ah, but they really don’t have time to waste around here.

“Do you want to head in, then?” She jiggles the boy’s hand a bit in sync with the question.

He shakes his head slowly, “Mm. I think we should wait here. We could lose Saheon-hyung if we close the door while he’s still outside.”

That could be a good thing, though… Yeongeun doesn’t end up having time to convince Soleum about this fact or opening him up to this possibility because Saheon trudges back with a constipated expression mere moments later.

“Whatever.”

“What happened?” She asks with more than a little glee, “Do tell us.”

Saheon huffs, but obliges, “Hallway just kept on going, the exit wouldn’t get any closer.”

“Let’s go, kid. Follow.” He barrels on before anyone (Yeongeun) can get a word in edgewise.

She raises a brow, having expected Saheon to push Soleum to the front and force him to lead. Except the growing tremble of his shoulders is perhaps too visible to ignore. Is the man growing something resembling sympathy? Baek Saheon? Yeongeun dismisses the thought.

Upon pushing open the door to the room Soleum had pointed out, room 444, there is nothing immediately out of the ordinary. It’s decorated exactly like how a hotel would look like. Of course, the moment they step in further the door shoots behind them with a loud click. But that’s not what occupies her mind.

Why a hotel of all things? In fact, in the first place, why a maze? The floor they had initially been in, despite being labelled as the ground floor, had been reminiscent of what you would expect to see in the underground floors of a building.

Hm. These would have to be things connected to Soleum and his subconscious, no doubt, but given that Soleum is currently incapacitated it isn’t like they can just ask him.

It drives Yeongeun mad, almost, the amount of little details and errors she’s noticed along the way. Not to mention the way the child version of Soleum has been acting. Even now he refuses to make it past further than the entrance of the hotel suite, despite no obvious indications that there’s something amok in the room.

He moves only when the two adults spread further across the suite. Somewhere in here is the key to escaping. Rather, somewhere in here should be a path to the outside, but they had been exploring the mind-numbing maze for so long they almost feel like the same thing, the key to freedom.

The three of them dutifully examine everything contained in the hotel with laser focus. Knicknacks upon knicknacks, a couple books scattered across the desk, a TV that’s still set to a specific channel.

It looks like it’s still in use.

Yeongeun isn’t easily spooked, but she almost shivers at the thought. No one had been there when they first entered, but it doesn’t mean it’s no longer possible for someone to barge in all upset that the trio had invaded their hotel room. As for what kind of entity is staying in room 444, she doesn’t want to find out.

But the more Yeongeun roots through things, the more she realizes. There’s locks and puzzles, but there are also clues.

“It’s like an escape room,” she mumbles. Soleum perks up, excited at the thought; he watches with rapt attention as Yeongeun quickly sets to assembling all the clues she’s found so far on the bed.

He’s about to rush to her side to join in on the fun before the voice of Saheon-hyung distracts him.

“Hey.” The call is loud enough to catch Soleum’s attention, but still quiet enough to leave Yeongeun engrossed in her devices.

Soleum turns to the man. He’s crouched in front of the nightstand to the side of one of the queen beds. It’s an older style, with a drawer on top and cupboard on the bottom. The door of which is currently thrown open, Saheon in front of it and dutifully inspecting the interior.

“Put your arm in here.”

Soleum blanches, all of the blood immediately draining out of his face. He doesn’t want to do that! His hand goes to clutch at the stuffed rabbit in his shirt, terrified.

Saheon rolls his eyes from behind his mask at the clear disapproval before putting his own arm into the space, “See, I’m doing it too.”

The kid chews his lip a bit before responding, “Okay…” He does something with his fist that Saheon can’t quite make out before dutifully doing as told. Thankfully, nothing bites out at Soleum’s arm, except…

He almost falls while extending his arm forward. There’s no back to this cabinet? Saheon backs out, allowing Soleum to pat around in his curiosity.

“Do you think you can check how far it goes?” Saheon is not forcing himself to fit into that space unless it’s a guaranteed exit. But Soleum looks like there’s about a million things he’d rather do before that.

He sighs. This won’t work. Saheon has to find another way to convince Soleum, without just shoving him in (though that’s his first instinct). Something that won’t get Saheon in trouble should the man actually remember what went on in the Darkness. Their arms have both retracted, by now.

As he’s pondering, the kid speaks.

“Are,” he swallows, “Are you not scared at all, right now?”

Saheon crosses his arms, “Not really. This much is routine.”

“How?” Soleum leans in too close and the man almost falls flat on his ass in an attempt to scramble out of the kid’s area of attack.

“What do you mean, how, it’s not scary.”

Yeah, maybe he’s affording the kid too little credit, given all they had come across until this point. But maybe not. Saheon had already learned the way of the world and the immutable laws by his age, after all.

“Then how do you combat your fear?”

“What?” Saheon’s brows draw up on his face. “I just told you, I’m not scared.”

“Not by the monsters, no,” Soleum shakes his head, “But something’s been scaring you, hyung. I’ve been watching you too.”

God, had he seriously let himself think, even for a second, that this kid would be normal despite being a younger version of Soleum?

“You’re tense, alert, in a way Yeongeun-noona isn’t. But you work in the same place.”

That’s right, something bounds after Saheon, chases him night after night with the enthusiasm of a hound out for blood. It nips at his heels and causes his blood to coagulate. The fear of death. It drives Saheon mad, every second spent assessing for new and possible threats.

He’s in a constant state of alarm, heartbeat ever-high, similar to the way your very DNA can change from stress.

But, hey, isn’t everyone afraid of dying?

Wouldn’t anybody do whatever it takes to survive?

He can’t fathom the thought that it may not be true. So he levels the child in front of him with a serious gaze and throws his words from earlier back at Soleum.

“It’s just reasonable wariness.”

Soleum stares at him for uncomfortably long. He doesn’t shirk away from the gaze, absentmindedly noting that Yeongeun is still tearing through the puzzles, not even noticing they haven’t lifted a finger to help.

The kid tilts his head, “Can I tell you a secret, hyung?”

What the hell, why not? It could end up being something he can throw back in the man’s face later on. Soleum gestures for Saheon to come closer and once more he lends the child his ear.

“You know,” he lifts his hand to demonstrate whatever he’s instructing Saheon to do, “When I get really scared I put my thumb across my palm like this and I squeeze my fingers around it.”

He shows Saheon the end result, which looks like the clenched fist he seemed to have seen earlier.

“It helps me remember the monsters aren’t real.”

Saheon doesn’t even know how to respond to that. How would that help? The monsters are real. In this world of Darknesses and Disasters, your worst fears will always come to life. He pities this child that has a notion that things might ever be different.

Then again, is that why Soleum is able to enter Darknesses like that and act so arrogantly? Because he got rid of his fear when he was younger? Was it worth it, though, if it ends up turning you into a psychopath?

“I found a key.” Yeongeun’s voice appears, startling them both out of their wits. Though, while Soleum falls back flat on his butt, Saheon’s eyes merely widen.

She continues on, “I’ve gone through all the puzzles and this is all it leads to.”

“Ah! Already! I wanted to help…” Soleum pouts, then, as if realizing there’s a bigger issue, “Sorry, noona!”

She smiles as she shakes her head, “No, don’t be, you’re not the one that should have been helping anyway.”

Yeongeun throws Saheon a dirty look but it slides straight off him, more than immune to hateful stares and hissed insults at this point. 

“We think there might be some sort of passageway in this cupboard.”

“Oh,” she moves a little closer to inspect, frowning at the inky darkness, “Why haven’t you checked by now?”

“Soleum was too scared to.” Saheon immediately sells him out.

Yeongeun raises a brow, “And you couldn’t?”

“Well, no, I don’t want to risk getting stuck for no reason,” his eyes fall upon Yeongeun’s slimmer shoulders as he speaks, “Oh, but you could easily fit.”

She rolls her eyes, reluctantly pulling a flashlight out of her pocket. The duo watching’s jaws drop, almost in sync.

“You had that this whole time?” It would have saved him the trouble of trying to force Soleum into it.

“No, it was behind one of the puzzles.”

No one speaks further as she shines a light across the inside. The cabinet extends for a few meters inside, ending with what seems like another door, though locked.

“Ah. Must be what the key is for,” Yeongeun murmurs.

“I feel…” Their gazes turn to Soleum when the kid starts speaking out of the blue, “I feel like the exit might be through there.”

Perfect.

“But.” Saheon’s heart stops a little bit at that word.

“Do we have to leave?”

They exchange glances immediately. Saheon wants to scream and rip his hair out. Really, this close to the end, does Soleum really have to pull this? He doesn’t even know if the kid knows they physically can’t leave without him, but he has no intention in offering the weakness up.

Yeongeun seems out of depth for the first time since entering and Saheon almost has to pinch himself not to feel too smug. Serves her right for trusting this creepy child.

“What do you mean, Soleum-ah?”

He looks embarrassed as he looks down, “Just, ah… It’s been fun walking around with you guys. I can’t remember much, but I feel like… I was really lonely.”

Yeongeun’s eyes soften, “If it’s just that, then there’s no need to worry, Soleum-ah. We’re friends, we can still hang out.”

“Why do I feel like that’s not the truth,” Soleum says the words hesitantly, as if afraid to offend. His eyes are trained on Saheon as he speaks.

Yeongeun nudges him, “Go on, assure him. You’re the untrustworthy one, after all.”

Well, he can’t particularly refute that. Such is obvious by the way he feels no qualm in immediately lying.

“I promise,” Saheon smiles, almost tasting freedom on his tongue, “We can stay friends once we leave.”

Something in Soleum’s eyes tells him that the kid doesn’t believe him. His gaze flickers once again to that stupid rabbit before back to Saheon.

“Okay.”

Wait, what? Had the rabbit, Braun, said something to agree with him, then? He doesn’t intend on looking a gift horse in the mouth, though, so he takes the key from Yeongeun while she’s still distracted.

“Hey!” She realizes it’s no point, though, and now that the exit is so close the fight all but drains out of her. “Whatever.”

She gestures for Soleum to crawl in front of her, still intent on enclosing him in a cocoon of safety.

They trudge down the small passage in a line, reminiscent of their exploration of the labyrinth. As Saheon hears the hastened breaths of the child behind him, he recognizes that Soleum is still scared.

He can’t believe the brief thought that escapes his iron tight mental fortress as he makes the final step out of the Darkness.

‘I might miss this little shit. Just a bit.’

Soleum’s mind is a haze after exiting; for some time, he can’t even surmise where he is. Then it hits him. All around are the Daydream agents, who have also exited the space. They seem to be talking about being able to escape despite doing nothing for a few hours. The situation starts to become quite clear.

‘Braun.’

     - Yes, friend?

‘Was I the one to be transformed into a child in that Darkness?’ He counts a couple beats before the unfortunate reply comes back.

     - Why, yes! You were quite the charmer too, everyone thought you were a cute child.

If he had a nickel for every time he got called a child by a Darkness… Well, it would only be two, but the point remains. Before he can ponder this fact any more, Braun delivers some more awful news.

     - You won’t believe who your companions were! It would have made for the kind of special that would achieve a viewership rate of 20 percent! Minimum!

That description doesn’t bode well for him, because as far as he could tell, the employees entering with him had been relatively normal people. In fact the only ones he had known by name… His gut sinks. 

‘Braun.’

     - It seems you already know.

He can’t get the sound of laughter out of his head. But the thought was truly terrifying, being a child around Baek Saheon. How had that guy even let Soleum go while he was vulnerable? Maybe because it would be something like killing the golden goose?

But, then again, wouldn’t it have been a benefit to Saheon to get rid of him as the prospective next top rookie? Ah. Right, he can’t believe he had almost forgotten the condition for escaping the Darkness. It had to have been him that made his way through the exit. This also allows for everyone to escape at once, but nevertheless, it meant he was indispensable.

“Soleum.”

A voice jolts him out of his thoughts. It’s Go Yeongeun. Is it just him, or has her gaze changed a bit? Soleum swallows, what exactly happened in there?

“Let’s go for a drink later.”

Soleum’s jaw drops, baffled even further now. “Ah, sure.”

But well, she’s perhaps the one normal person he knows at this company. While J3 is kind, under no circumstances can he be considered normal.

And with that, she’s off.

     - Haha, I told you that you were quite charismatic, my good friend.

But this much? What next, Saheon will come up to him and repent for being such a bad person his whole life? He shivers at the thought, hoping he didn’t send some message to the universe to work at making it a reality.

He resolves to text her later and set a time for actually hanging out together and drinking. It was an odd feeling. As much as Soleum likes Yeongeun, the thought of growing attached to this world… It practically makes his neck break out into hives.

Still… He can’t help but wonder exactly what had gone down in that Darkness.

     - Do you not remember what you promised me, then, Mr. Roe Deer?

Soleum freezes. Now, what was this? He grits his teeth, trying to buy time for now. ‘Hm, I seem to be missing my memories from the Darkness. It’s coming back in bits and pieces.’

     - I will wait, dutifully, then!

Yes, please do. He tries not to feel too relieved at the acquiescence, all too aware of Braun’s ever watchful eyes.

     - Let’s watch plenty of cartoons then, in the meantime!

Ah, right. They had completed their nightly routine before heading out, but Soleum doesn’t mind going another round, immensely spooked by the twilight zone it seems like he’s stepped into.

The researchers collect their Dream Essence, pleased by the successful clear. Well, the alternative would be losing around a dozen employees, so it seems right. Soon enough, they’re free and Soleum can finally, finally head back to the dormitories and maybe catch some rest.

Of course, things can only go well for so long because Saheon just so happens to fall into step alongside him as they exit the building.

Great. Yeah right, ‘coincidence.’ Clearly something had also gone down between the two of them because the man has this sharp grin as he walks by Soleum’s side.

“Sir.”

Soleum is already creeped out as hell, given that it’s still dark out; the liminal space had been divorced from time, as well. So now he walks down this desolate road in between the building right next to the craziest man he knows.

Where were all the other people? Had they all decided to stay back at the building? No, rather, in Soleum’s hastiness to reach the dorm he had taken a shortcut scarcely used.

Great, Soleum curses himself more than a little as he can feel the warmth from Saheon’s body on his left and cool air from the ivy-covered wall at his right. No escape.

“What is it,” Soleum speaks with a drawl, attempting desperately to remain in character.

“You know how I took such great care of you—”

Soleum interrupts him, stopping in place now that he’s gotten a sense of what the man is up to, “I don’t remember anything.”

“What?”

Saheon has stopped walking too, starting to grow infuriated by the words that the other man has just uttered.

“I don’t even remember turning into a child,” Soleum shrugs, leaning on the wall in an attempt to appear casual whilst he gets his bearings, “so how am I supposed to trust what you’re saying as the truth?”

Saheon lunges into Soleum’s space and he has to reflexively press himself against the wall, even with his dopamine-freak persona. It’s okay, it’s a natural human reaction.

“Isn’t the fact that you came out unscathed enough?” His eye is wide open, crazed.

Soleum tries his best to appear unbothered, “Is it? You wouldn’t have escaped either, if you killed me.”

Saheon curses, punching the wall beside Soleum’s head, “Fuck!”

Try as he might to act like someone he’s not, old habits die hard. As he forces his upper body into a slow blink, not even flinching from the sudden movement, down below his hands clench into his way of forming fists particular to when he was scared.

Saheon’s eyes flicker down at the movement and Soleum instinctually releases them. It’s okay, it’s okay, it could be taken as a sign of anger—

“Holy shit,” a laugh escapes Saheon’s lips and he covers his mouth with the back of his hand, in disbelief. Soleum sends a bored look his way, but it’s like the world has faded to just him and that clenched fist.

‘This bastard’s fucking afraid of me.’

Chapter Text

The past forty-eight hours have been so… incredibly weird. Soleum’s starting to believe he’s been transmigrated to yet another world the way nothing quite matches up. Well, according to the memories he had accumulated at work earlier today, it does match up, and yet.

Those memories had entered his brain with the same child-like lens he had been seeing the scenario with. Meaning, at one point, the burst of affection for Baek Saheon had almost right knocked him out. Imagine that—Kim Soleum, member of the D-Squad and monster rookie, passed out just because he had some incomprehensible emotions.

Of course, he had quickly identified the source to be his returning memories from the C-grade darkness, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still quite disgruntled. His train of thought had been driven straight off the rails and Soleum had quite literally stared in space for all of a minute.

Which… That conversation was a whole other ordeal. As Soleum returns to scrolling through the records on his phone, his mind drifts off to the odd things that have been happening all around him the past couple days instead.

ANOMALY NUMBER ONE:

The way Baek Saheon had been treating him, as if he were an animal under observation post scientific experiment. Sharp, calculative gaze… As if Saheon were no longer wary of Soleum. A very bad thought; unfortunately, Soleum has much to support this theory. 

He’s also got a bit of an unfortunate idea as to why this change has occurred, but he doesn't want it to be true. In fact, he's decided to very much not believe it's the case until proven otherwise. Soleum has a bunch of other matters to worry about anyways.

ANOMALY NUMBER TWO:

One that’s been solved—at least partially—by grabbing drinks with Yeongeun last night. Baek Saheon was a creepy bastard and prone to all sorts of unreasonable behaviour, but Yeongeun? Not quite.

So the way she had spoken to him after exiting the Darkness, all kind and soft, it perturbed Soleum. Mostly because while Yeongeun is a nice person, she had never treated him like that before. Like he was someone who should be protected, fragile, a thing of glass.

‘Just what happened in that Darkness?’

That had been the thought running through Soleum’s head for quite some time before his most recent conversation with Saheon, where he had gotten most of those memories back.

ANOMALY NUMBER THREE:

Braun. Just—Braun. He had been unusually insistent in his urging for Soleum to remember what had gone on in the Darkness, Soleum’s supposed ‘promise.’ Whatever it was, Soleum had been sure it wouldn’t be good. Which is why he had stalled the entity for as long as possible.

Though it had become impossible once his conversation with Saheon had revealed the return of the aforementioned memories. Then he had to have a nice, long conversation with Braun on the ethics of a verbal contract with a child.

Because Darknesses were known for their keen sense of ethics.

ANOMALY NUMBER FOUR:

He had mistakenly, unfortunately, thought he wasn’t due for an encounter with the mad scientist from the Darkness Exploration Records for a while. This turned out to be incorrect. Summoned for a deeper dive into the feedback from what his Dream Essence collector recorded. Soleum had been under the distinct impression this was done mostly for deceased employees, but of course he’d be the exception.

Kwak Jaekang… Not only did he creep Soleum out thanks to the numerous exploits detailed in the wiki, but he also had this creepy sense of observation. When he looked at Soleum, it almost felt like when a child has recently acquired a pet reptile and looms over the terrarium.

Come to think of it, a lot of people have been looking like that at Soleum nowadays.

The other one being— Baek Saheon, Soleum thinks just as he hears the door to their dorm swing open. Which was another thing, Saheon’s movements have become much louder. Whereas before he pushed the door open while hoping not to make a sound lest it alert his ‘psychopath roommate,’ he now waltzes around like he owns the place…

Bad example.

He now lives louder, taking up more space in the apartment, in a metaphorical sense. This is further evidenced by the fact that rather than retreating to his room, as was typical, he makes his way into the main area.

Forget that, Soleum’s disarray only heightens at his next movement—he sits down next to Soleum.

Though he feels like scooting away from Saheon, not interested in what that guy was going to get up to at all, he doesn’t. It won’t match his dopamine-freak persona, after all. Instead he lightly clenches his right fist, which is laying on the couch next to him and out of Saheon’s immediate field of view.

Or so he thinks.

The man’s light chuckle gives him a bad feeling and so he relaxes the best he can. Should he ask Saheon what he’s up to, or leave it? What would be the better option here, the more unreasonable option?

Soleum considers for a bit before speaking, hoping the words come out more confident than he feels right now.

“Here to beg for more items?”

“Something like that, I guess,” Saheon replies in a tone Soleum’s never heard from him, before he scoots even closer.

Soleum can’t fathom for the life of him why Saheon says what he does next: “Before that, though.”

He inhales deeply, sensing that something bad is coming. Of course, Braun remains frustratingly silent as ever at times like this. Wasn’t he just the sweetest.

“Let’s talk, me and you.”

HOUR ZERO.

A jolt of exhilaration runs through Saheon’s veins as he realizes what this means for him. Soleum was scared of him? Well, isn’t that just amazing news. He can hardly stop the grin from breaking clean onto his face.

No one can blame Saheon for whatever process his brain goes through next. It's only human.

‘He’s scared of me? He’s scared of me? Does that even make sense?’

At Soleum’s attempt at looking nonchalant and unbothered, which now registers as utterly pathetic to Saheon, his anger rises once again.

‘This is the guy that’s been tormenting me? Really?’

He leans further into Soleum’s space.

‘Well, shit. I should fucking give him a reason to be scared.’

Perhaps if he beats the shit out of Kim Soleum, he’ll have no choice but to be a slave to Saheon’s whims. Someone he can boss around and order instead of it being the other way around. Fear makes you weak, Saheon knows this, which is why the thought that he can totally take Soleum out right now floods his brain.

Except… A coward and a pushover are very much two completely different things. Soleum is a coward, Saheon is now learning, but Soleum is no pushover. No, had this been the case, Soleum would have rolled over like a dog when they met and taken it.

On that note, he might be a coward, but he’s still a psychopath. What kind of person watches another man walk out to what they know will be the loss of a crucial organ, knowing they had the solution? That if he just said, “Hey, wait a minute, there could be another meaning,” Saheon wouldn’t be navigating the world with half his vision?

Forget that, if he had just walked out with the eye himself or given it to another person over Saheon, it would have been understandable. Even he can admit he had done a rotten thing by pushing someone and hurting them to make it out. He doesn’t feel bad about it, of course not, but he can recognize why some people may dislike him for it.

But no, Soleum had wasted it. Had watched with those creepy-ass dead eyes as the subway hurtled away from the station. And that’s one thing Saheon will never understand. Though psychopaths tend to be like that—outside the realm of human comprehension.

Just how much of his behaviour is psychopathy and how much is pure cowardice, though?

Saheon resolves to find this out. The best course of action for which would be scaring the shit out of him right now and seeing how he behaves.

Soleum is still stagnant in front of him and, unbeknownst to Saheon, plotting a way to escape this situation the man’s got him in. Leaning against the wall, back crushing some leaves as Saheon leans way too far into his personal space for any human to be comfortable.

The cool night air breathes some relief into his lungs.

Saheon must be upset that Soleum won’t acknowledge his contribution to the Darkness and ensuring Soleum had escaped intact—like it wouldn’t kill him had he not done so—and wants compensation.

But according to the character he had built up, why would he agree to doing so? That’s right, he wouldn’t. So his only option is standing here and waiting for Saheon’s response while he looks for an opportunity to slip out and escape under the guise that Saheon is boring him.

Of course, that guy just so happens to act before he can find one.

His action being raising a hand in the air slowly. Soleum senses a slap may be coming his way. He tenses, getting ready to hit back harder and worse. After dodging, of course.

     - Humans are so capricious! That’s a far cry from before.

What? Soleum doesn’t quite have a chance to focus further on Braun’s words because Saheon doesn’t move further; he drops his arm back to his side and retreats out of Soleum’s space. The man blinks, baffled.

Of course, he had no way of knowing about the image that had flashed in Saheon’s mind at that moment.

As he got ready to start his first actual physical brawl with Soleum, as a measure of figuring out how scared Soleum is of him and just that, he was stopped straight in his tracks.

For a brief, split second, the image of a young Kim Soleum, wide-eyed and naive had overlaid with the man in front of him. Fucking hell, he was seeing things. Saheon grits his teeth, chasing the thought away with a pitchfork like villagers that had just uncovered a witch.

‘Begone, foul thought.’

But doing so doesn’t grant him any reprieve because his own voice echoes in his mind next.

‘I promise. We can stay friends after we leave.’

Fuck. Why did he say that? Had he been so blinded by the thought of freedom being so close that he had let zany bullshit fall out of his mouth? Now Saheon can’t do anything to the man.

Not because he feels remorse, guilt, or whatever useless emotion Saheon had shed in favour of building himself anew. No, he justifies, it’s because of the powerful dark entity nestled inside Soleum’s breast pocket.

One that he had confirmed the existence of in that Darkness and one that is clearly attached in some shape or form to Soleum.

Yeah, Saheon would have to be a right fool to mess with Soleum so recklessly after that. He needs to wait, to observe on his own just how close Soleum and Braun are, how much of Soleum’s personality is real and how much is a farce.

Saheon will let Soleum go, if only for a moment, as he learns the ins and outs of the man’s behaviour. There’s a reason Soleum tries so hard desperately to pretend he isn’t a coward, something Saheon is mildly impressed he had the good sense to do around him. Because if he catches the scent, even a mere whiff, of weakness, there’s not a chance in hell he’s going to let it go to waste.

So he lowers his arm, steps back, pretends that everything is dandy and they can return to their short trek home. 

He’ll lay there silently in the grass, and when it’s most opportune, before Soleum even has a chance to see the glint of his fangs, Saheon will strike. He’ll deal a lethal dose of venom.

HOUR FOUR.

In a special brand of unreasonableness that, truly, only Daydream is capable of, of course Soleum is expected to be in office bright and early the next day. Because why should overtime at 3:00 A.M. mean he gets to start later in the morning?

Such a notion would be unthinkable. Preposterous, even.

Thus, Soleum sets off for Daydream’s building at 8:30 on the dot. He makes it there in record time, earlier than he expected, even. Making his way to his desk and settling down for whatever affairs he had to get out of the way before he would inevitably have to enter another darkness was as unfortunate an ordeal as ever.

Although, these days, the doom and gloom seems to permeate the sturdy walls of the office more than ever. Without Supervisor Park’s cheery voice or Assistant Manager Eun’s dry humour, the room is prone to long and undisturbed bouts of silence.

His only beacon of hope in this desolate valley remains the cute plush that stares back at him from the Lizard Squad Leader’s desk. Of course, there’s definitely some sort of practical purpose it’s serving by sitting there, but looking cute is the one that’s helpful to Soleum.

As much as he complains and grumbles, the man isn’t so bad. In fact, the peaceful silence can even come as a beacon of peace to Soleum, at times. We’ll, he’d rather this than spend time with Saheon and pretend to be… well, like Saheon.

Unfortunately, Soleum’s day takes an unfortunate turn for the worse a mere hour in. Lizard Chief calls him over and informs him that the research division would like to speak to him, that they had some questions about the last Darkness he had gone into.

And that was all fine and dandy, but… Just what did they want to know about? Furthermore, he really hoped that interacting with the research department didn’t mean he had to speak with that guy. God knows how his last encounter with the man had gone, landing him into three days of punishment cleaning isolation B.

The shit this company puts him through, really. If he weren’t so desperate to return home, he would have quit working at Daydream long ago.

Regardless, when he’s informed of this development by the D-squad leader, a multitude of emotions bubble up in Soleum.

The man stares at him for quite some time; of course, it’s impossible to even begin to come to a hypothesis as to whatever was going on in his head behind the scenes. Well, it’s quite like the leader to be reliable. Maybe if Soleum asked, he’d tag along…

No, this is something he should face on his own.

He sends a grim nod back and starts making his way through Daydream’s familiar corridors. Before long, he’s made it to the Research Department.

Of course, the second Soleum pushes open the door, his fate is sealed. There, waiting in the room, is Researcher Kwak Jaekang.

Because of course making Soleum show up to work with less than half the amount of sleep a healthy adult needs is not enough.

He clears his throat, hoping it comes across as more aloof than awkward, and asks, “I was summoned?”

“Yes, take a seat.” He isn’t quite smiling, but there is nothing off-putting about the way he sits there. And yet, Soleum can feel himself tense as he pulls the chair on the other side of the table out.

He waits for the researcher to speak again, but there’s nothing. It’s not like there’s something he should be saying, though, so Soleum supposes the right move is silence. Perhaps? He resists the urge to drum his fingers across the grain of the table as he waits for whatever Kwak has called him over for.

“Can you describe what happened after entering the Darkness?”

Huh?

“Sorry, that’s a bit difficult, I don’t have my memories after entering.”

Yes, that was true, but there was also the fact that the researchers had already taken a preliminary account of the escape. Most of the employees maintained that practically nothing had happened, that they had wandered around for a couple hours before magically appearing outside the exit.

Saheon, of course, hadn’t bothered to say anything. There was nothing Soleum could say. So the responsibility had ended up falling onto Yeongeun’s shoulders; she went into relative detail about their escape and what happened. Because the Dream Essence obtained wasn’t higher than expected and no new way to clear seemed to have been found, interest had waned quickly and they were let out very soon.

So why is he back here, being questioned on that Darkness again?

“That’s alright.” Now, Kwak smiles, and Soleum actually finds it more disturbing. “I’ve got the recording from your Dream Essence Recorder.”

He’s starting to feel really uncomfortable.

Soleum frowns a bit, “I was under the impression those are only to be used if an employee is unable to report on the Darkness themselves.”

As in, deceased, missing, or in a recent case: erased from existence itself.

“Usually, sure. But, you see, they’re still Daydream’s property and subject to review at any time.”

Soleum nods. Nothing he can quite say in response to that. 

“You want to know something interesting, though, Kim Soleum?”

Not particularly, but Soleum has the distinct feeling the researcher doesn’t actually give a crap as to what Soleum’s answer for that question would be.

He gulps, starting to feel sweat accumulating on his back.

“Your recording, it was…”

Kwak is studying Soleum once again. He wonders if the man has perhaps forgotten he was asking Soleum a question in the first place.

“Well, the recording wasn’t too clear either.”

Soleum frowns. “What do you mean?”

Honestly, he’s pretty surprised that the conversation they’ve been having so far is pretty civil. With all the tales he’s read in the wiki of the mad researcher Kwak, he had expected this conversation to go a wildly different route.

There was also the matter of Soleum being sent to cleaning duty as punishment for not throwing Jang Heoun to the dogs. He has a feeling that the whole matter hasn’t been settled quite yet, but it doesn’t seem to be something the researcher’s interested in doing right now, at the very least. 

There’s a bright fire in Kwak Jaekang’s eyes the next time he speaks and Soleum has no idea what could inspire this much passion.

“Your recording showed signs of contamination.”

     - Wow! Isn’t that quite the interesting case, Mr. Roe Deer.

“What?”

The word comes out before he can stop it; had he thought a little more, well, Soleum would have said something along the same lines, though much more composed. 

“Because the Dream Essence Collectors are supposed to create unbiased descriptions of the truth, they are not to be influenced by the state of the employee.”

He recites the spiel in the scientific manner one would expect of a researcher, but Kwak’s cadence is something wicked. Something that makes Soleum feel like he is under the lens of a microscope operated by the man in front of him.

“Just because an employee has been transformed into a child,” Kwak adds, as if Soleum has not already got the point by now, “the information should not also be processed and recorded as if it were from the point of view of a child.”

He’s looking at Soleum like the man’s got any answers for him, but Soleum well and truly doesn’t. There’s nothing he can offer up to the man on why his Dream Essence Collector had corrupted footage.

In the first place, why had Kwak looked into it? Why did he find Soleum intriguing enough to do this all? Also, what would be his purpose in calling the man here when it was quite clear Soleum would also be unlikely to have an answer for the man?

“You can go now.”

With that Kwak returns to his devices as if Soleum isn’t even there. His eyes widen, mouth dropping open a little.

Really, that was all? He called Soleum all the way here and doesn’t even care if he receives something satisfactory in response? Perhaps his purpose had simply been to give Soleum this information. 

And why the hell would he do that? His brows furrow as he ponders the implications. Kwak’s mouth upturns in a grin at the scene. He watches quietly as Soleum exits the room, footsteps sluggish a symptom of his deep thought.

As for why Kwak believes Soleum’s Collector was contaminated… Well, they were built for humans. The security team is unable to use the Dream Essence Collectors specifically because they have been contaminated and they are no longer able to collect Dream Essence from the Darknesses.

Soleum’s case couldn’t be that, given that he was still bringing back full vials.

But… If Soleum were fully human, it wouldn’t have been affected in the first place.

Well, it’s just a hypothesis.

Kwak settles further into his chair; there were far more interesting things about Kim Soleum after all. He glances at his notes: virtuous and cowardly, huh.

The only proper thing to do after you’ve formed a hypothesis is to test it, after all. And if he gets more information on the second idea he’s been forming, it’s also not bad.

Out of all the Darknesses suited for the case…

Yes, the Train of Tamra will do just fine.

HOUR SEVENTEEN.

Freaking finally. It feels like Saheon’s been waiting forever for that man to return back from work. Realistically, it’s been almost half an hour. And it wasn’t even like he had been waiting the whole time.

He had entered a Darkness today.

Not the one he had been scheduled to go into, no, that was some boring and plain F-grade Darkness with nothing special to offer. Instead he had traded with Heoun and managed to snag an entry into another C-grade Darkness.

No, he wasn’t insane, but he had gathered intel on that particular Darkness, gotten some advice and information through smooth-talking and kissing up to his superiors. What Saheon had learned was this: Within the confines of that Darkness, you could find a number of Items. 

Of course, they wouldn’t be super high quality. Or if they were of a higher caliber, then they’d be single use. What Saheon had gone in to get, and exited successfully with, had been something of the latter category.

Two cherry-red solo cups connected to each other by a string. An item capable of allowing you to communicate with anyone you want. Short of the dead, of course, Saheon had confirmed with a bitter note.

Jang Hoeun had looked at him all bright eyed and dopey, gross, gushing about how kind he was to be trading their Darknesses when what he was giving him was so much less dangerous. Yeah, that’s the point. Which again lends to Saheon’s statement that no one would ever do something kind for you when they did not have anything to gain in return.

Funnily enough, the reason Saheon’s been waiting for his roommate to finally come home is completely unrelated to the item. (Of course it is, given that it’s something he’ll have to use in the dead of night, when that freak is asleep).

No, it’s because despite his plan to observe Soleum and figure out the man’s weaknesses, he hasn’t seen him again since the early morning! The one time Saheon is upset that he’s usually far, far away and out of Soleum’s vicinity inside Daydream.

The thought is disgusting, but it’s true. Saheon almost perks up in excitement when he can hear the click of the door.

Kim Soleum is finally here.

The man pauses upon spotting Saheon, probably not used to the man spending time in their shared space so brazenly.

Tch. Unlucky bastard. Doesn’t even know he’s lost practically the only thing he ever had over Saheon. He watches keenly as Soleum shrugs his dress shoes off and starts heading towards his room.

Shit! Why didn’t he consider that Soleum usually doesn’t spend much time outside of his room unless it’s to torment Saheon? He couldn’t possibly wait for the man’s creepy night-time cartoon watching routine to observe him.

Hold on, was the routine part of being a coward? A sort of decompression after a long day of entering Darknesses? Haha, no way.

Saheon drums his fingers across the countertop. Will ordering takeout for the two of them lure Soleum out? It’ll probably look poisoned; they don’t have that kind of relationship.

He hums in frustration as numerous plans get foiled without even leaving his head. In a moment of embarrassment he’s quite glad no one is around to witness, Saheon’s stomach growls quite lowly. Huh, he must have been thinking too hard. That and he had skipped lunch for that Darkness clear.

Well, Soleum wasn’t getting any easier to figure out while he starved himself. He finds himself in front of their dorm fridge shortly enough, searching for his next meal. Except his leftovers from yesterday are gone.

Saheon grits his teeth. Were there any lower depths for that bastard to stoop to?! He was hungry, damn it! His eyes widen, realizing this is it: this is his in. Dutifully, Saheon makes his way to Soleum’s door, an action he would walk on nails before doing normally, but now does with a hint of a grin.

He knocks on the closed door with purpose.

Of course, Soleum doesn’t answer.

Saheon does him the courtesy of waiting a few seconds before he knocks yet again. Silence, then, as he strains his ear he can hear footsteps padding towards the door. Seconds later, he’s met with the annoyed countenance of his roommate.

‘Ha, drop the act!’

…

Though he really could be annoyed.

Saheon huffs, “Hey, did you eat the leftovers in the fridge?”

Soleum tilts his head, as if he’s genuinely having trouble remembering the possible existence of these ‘leftovers.’

“I might have.”

It’s not even an act when his brow twitches and fists clench. “Those were mine! I was planning on eating that right now.”

“Oh. Is that so?”

“Whose else would they—” Saheon interrupts himself to take a deep breath lest he lose his cool, “Yes, they were mine. And now I have nothing to eat.”

Soleum closes his eyes and presses a hand to his forehead as if this conversation is excessively burdening him.

“I’ll order something, you don’t have to complain so much.”

Then he shuts the door in Saheon’s face. That easy? Wait, no, Saheon’s (only) purpose hadn’t been food, it had been staging a natural encounter. That was so short.

Does ordering food so quickly mean he was a complete pushover? Or was he genuinely bothered by Saheon’s presence, merely eager to get rid of him? He considers both possibilities extensively.

It’s only when he sits at their dining table that Saheon realizes… That asshole didn’t ask him what food he wanted! Saheon’s confident he hasn’t done something to clue the man in on his food preferences, so at least the chance that he’ll order something he dislikes is relatively low.

That is, if he’s even ordering! It is entirely possible that the man’s stringing Saheon along until he’s sufficiently satisfied, at which point he’ll inform Saheon that no food is coming after all.

Just when he’s about to stand up and knock at Soleum’s door again, Saheon’s phone vibrates. It’s a text.

Food’s at the lobby.

…! So he had ordered, but wouldn’t pay, and Saheon has to grab the food himself? God fucking damn it; Saheon utters several curses as he grabs his wallet and slips on some home slippers, angrily yanking the door open.

His displeasure lasts all the way until actually seeing their food, eyes widening slightly. Just how much does Soleum think he’s capable of eating? Is this his subtle way of calling him a glutton?

Not to mention he’s going to be paying for all that.

Or not. When he goes to pay, the delivery man informs him that it was paid for through the app, a mobile order. Saheon’s a little stunned, not moving until the man is long gone. With the bag in his hands he’s now actually able to read the label, too.

Ah, it’s the place the leftovers had been from. Then why—why did he act like it was such a pain to remember?! Clearly Soleum was quite cognizant of his crimes.

Saheon almost drops the bag upon re-entering their dorm; Soleum has set the table with two plates and cutlery pairs and is scrolling idly on his phone. Fuck! He even set up a plate and chair for that freaky rabbit doll! 

He gingerly sets the food on the table, moving his dinnerware to a seat further away from his roommate.

“You’re eating too?”

Holy shit, he needs to stop shooting himself in the foot. He wants Soleum out here, unfortunately, so this is actually quite a good thing.

Soleum raises a brow, “Should I not eat the food I paid for?”

“No, uh, that’s okay.” The words feel more plastic-y than ever. Of course, this attitude of deference he treated Soleum with was never real, but before he actually believed he had to.

Now as the words exit his throat, they leave with a taste of bile. It’s a little irritating, having to treat someone he’s now learned is below him, with this kind of respect.

Soleum wordlessly pulls his own food out, piling some on the rabbit—Braun’s—plate. Does he actually believe he’s feeding the doll? Why can’t Saheon tell? Then again, if Soleum’s been getting away with being terrified of his roommate without Saheon catching on, Soleum’s a better actor than he’s giving him credit for.

He reminds himself that observation of Soleum’s limits and personality isn’t going to be a quick and easy thing, Saheon’s going to have to put the work in. Although, he does have a trump card up his sleeve. One he’s hoping to get the chance to use tonight.

Soleum doesn’t exhibit any particularly strange behaviour, aside from staring at Saheon sometimes as he chews. Oh, and occasionally speaking to Braun. Except, now that he’s confirmed Braun as a real entity inhabiting the doll, is it so weird?

He shudders, brushing that thought away. Definitely weird. 

“So you really won’t consider giving me items?” Saheon blurts out in provocation at one point.

‘Come on, show me your true colours.’

At the man’s blank stare, he clears his throat and tacks on a half-hearted, “Sir.”

Soleum shrugs, “Why should I?”

“You have to admit that I took good care of you.”

“I can’t verify that.”

Saheon leans forward, eyes glinting, “You were quite scared, hiding behind me, tugging at my suit. I allowed it all without a word.”

Soleum looks surprised, mildly disturbed, even, which means he’s struck gold. Shit, why doesn’t it feel as satisfying, as vindicating, as he thought? Why is he even doing this?

‘Get your head in the game.’

He needs to remind himself of why he’s doing this. Soleum’s torment of Saheon stops now. That’s for certain. What he needs to ascertain now is how Soleum will react when he presses certain buttons, so he knows how far to push, how to get Soleum to not just fear him but obey him. Then he’ll use him like an item farm, or something like that. Maybe a less extreme version of the Round-off Squad where Soleum has to put Saheon’s safety above his own or Saheon will expose the truth that Kim Soleum is a coward.

Wouldn’t that be hilarious?

Sure enough, even as he prods and pokes at Soleum’s fear and agitations from the day before, the man doesn’t react. Doesn’t stand up and bash Saheon’s head into the table into the table, which is what any sane psychopath would do.

…

Sane psychopath. Shit. He really needs to adjust his thinking.

“Hey, if you don’t believe me we could call over that goat girl—”

He knows Yeongeun’s name, but he says it like that intentionally because, lo and behold, Soleum interrupts him.

“You’ve gotten complacent lately.”

Saheon gulps at the blank, desolate stare Soleum gives him. The kind of expression one makes upon making an irreversible decision. It unsettles him, much more than the dopamine-freak phrases. How can someone look like that?

Soleum’s voice is slightly thick as he rasps out, “Am I someone you should be speaking this casually to? Haha, you’re really too amusing.”

Ah, seems like that’s the limit, a sensitive zone. But what was so special about Go Yeongeun? Rather, even in the Manor of the Blind, Soleum had pulled what he thought was a random person into a vent and saved him. Then, in the lodge, he had come up with a way to exit the Darkness without a single death.

Was his danger zone, his sensitive spot, protecting other people? It aligns with the first impression he had of Soleum, kind of. In that while he doesn’t believe a single kind person exists, Soleum has done a lot of things that could be explained by the explanation he gave Saheon, but would be better explained by him being a kind person.

Yeah, right.

If only there wasn’t still the matter of the eye.

He backs off, though, not wanting to push further and trigger Soleum’s alarms before he has to.

“Sorry, sir.”

Soleum curls his lip, and Saheon hates that look. Like Soleum is better than him, above him, some sort of higher being. He wants Soleum to disappear, to leave his sight, but he’s still startled when Soleum actually gets up and seems to be leaving.

Wait, no, this doesn’t align with his plans.

He presses down on the knuckle of his pointer finger. What to do, what to do? Let Soleum leave? Or try and force him, somehow, to stay. Neither, of course. Gather information.

“Where are you going?” He tries to make his tone as non-accusatory as possible.

Soleum raises a brow, but doesn’t bother answering Saheon until he’s fully laced up his shoes. Seeing the man in casual wear is quite… jarring.

“Friend.” Soleum pauses, looking at Saheon with consideration. “If you’re unaware, a friend—”

“I know what a fucking friend is, you—” Saheon stops himself. “Just go.”

He locks the door behind Soleum. He hopes the bastard has keys because he’s sure as hell not getting up in the middle of the night to open the door for him.

Saheon cracks the knuckle of his other pointer finger.

He can’t quite tell if that was a productive conversation or not.

HOUR NINETEEN.

Soleum’s a bit nervous as he makes his way out of the dorm in a hoodie and trousers. It isn’t so weird that Yeongeun invited him for drinks. The fact that she didn’t want to go to a restaurant and instead wanted to meet up where they could sit secluded was a bit… more concerning.

But it’s Go Yeongeun.

He trusts Yeongeun. 

So he follows her directions without belief.

First he heads to a convenience store and picks up a bottle of decently-priced soju. Then he heads to the place Yeongeun had instructed him towards. He believes her when she tells him that she knows this spot that is usually used for outdoor seating, but since she knew the owner, they could use the place even after closing.

The stars have come out, dazzling bright over a pair of lawn-chairs. Huh, how quaint. With all the light pollution nowadays, he would have thought they’d have to travel much further into the countryside in order to see the dazzling sight.

…

He stops that line of thinking lest it trigger another Darkness. He’s still confident he remembers a chunk of the Darkness Exploration Records, but he can’t take any chances without a Memorial Popsocket to back him up.

His eyes widen as he sees Yeongeun crouch down to light up the firepit between the seats. It feels a bit like a campfire.

“How have you been doing, Soleum?” She says his name like something else had been about to come out of her mouth at first.

Hm? Also, it hasn’t even been a full day since they had exited the Darkness. Given that he had been able to survive another day at the company, it was more or less the same old same old.

“Alright? And you?” Soleum settles into the other seat after Yeongeun sits down. There’s still this strange sort of tension lighting up his skin, but it’s begun to fade.

“Haha, as well as one can be at Daydream.”

Right.

She pulls out a bottle and then a couple cups, causing Soleum’s eyes to widen. Hey, wasn’t that–

     - Oh? This is quite the intriguing twist.

“Yeongeun,” he clears his throat, “Isn’t that…”

“Yes?” She’s pouring some into the glass in front of her, so he can’t catch her eyes, but he notices the reedy quality of her voice.

What if it isn’t? He shouldn’t pry into old wounds just because he saw something he thought—

     - The markings, brand, and the message written on the wrapper are all the same, this Braun is sure!

Well.

“Ah, isn’t that the bottle you said you were going to open with a friend when you graduated?”

On the chance that she just hadn’t realized, he doesn’t want the bottle to just go to waste. Even if it hasn’t been opened, there must be some reason, some sentimentality—

“It’s no use anymore.”

Ah? Hold on, what does she—

“Drink up, Soleum. And it’s my turn to ask a question.”

He picks up the glass she poured for him obediently before pausing, had he always been that deferential? 

“Hm?”

He’s not sure why their meetup seems have turned into 20 questions, but the strange way Yeongeun’s been looking at him, he doesn’t find it in him to say no.

“Do you remember what happened yesterday?”

Oh. So it is because of that. He had expected it, but there it is, that uncomfortable feeling of having been so vulnerable in front of other people and not even being able to remember it afterwards.

That a raw, hidden part of him had been unearthed and he can’t even begin to start burying it again, because he can’t even see the dirt.

“Ah, not really.”

He had begun to get glimpses and flashes, the visceral feeling of constant fear (though it wasn’t much different to when he’s an adult), but nothing concrete.

“Is that so,” she mumbles slightly, downing the rest of her first glass. Soleum’s eyes widen. Are they drinking to get drunk?

“Your turn.”

Does she mean to drink, or to ask a question? He can’t quite tell.

He picks up his glass, fidgeting with it, drinking it at a much slower pace.

“If it isn’t too much,” he clears his throat. He doesn’t want to pry, but at the same time, Soleum is burning with curiosity. “You must have graduated, so why…”

There’s a slightly bitter smile on her face as she speaks, “It’s because I was the only one who ended up graduating.”

Ah, of course. In this world full of Darknesses and Disasters, he really shouldn’t have expected anything different. Why would an individual person be above the unyielding iron fist of universal law?

He should offer his condolences, probably, but nothing seems like it would be enough to remedy someone's grief. He wonders briefly if this is why Yeongeun’s been acting so strange. Perhaps the anniversary of their death had come.

“I…”

Would it be insensitive to suggest she use her eventual Wish Potion on reversing the death? Is it something she’s been planning on doing anyways? He thinks it could be. Soleum can’t imagine Yeongeun’s Wish to have anything to do with money or power. She isn’t greedy. And then his thoughts drift further, to what Saheon’s wish might be.

Something self-involved, surely, but at the expense of others? Or just to help himself?

He frowns. That man was getting in his head a lot these days, unfortunately.

Soleum hears bright laughter from her and he whips his gaze back to Yeongeun, realizing in his dilemma on how to console her that he hasn’t done anything at all.

“You’re really transparent you know?” He notes with alarm that she seems to have downed another glass, with the way she’s setting it down again. “Everything shows on your face.”

He doesn’t quite think so. The employees at Daydream have a drastically different perspective of Soleum than the truth. Although, it’s quite possible that she now knows he’s a coward. Maybe. More likely, she would have written it off as the childhood fear everyone grows out of.

“Is that so?” The words come out a little muted, unsure. Soleum’s not quite sure what he’s doing at all, anymore. Working at Daydream seems so… futile. He stills. That’s probably the alcohol?

“Yeah,” Yeongeun speaks slowly and he thinks it’s starting to have an effect on her, “You’re probably thinking I can use the wish to revive him, right?”

His eyes widen. Perhaps he is transparent.

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. I think everyone would think the same. But I’m not going to.”

He turns to her, confused, curious.

“I’m going to wish we never met in the first place.”

Soleum sits up straighter in his seat. “I’m not sure how…”

Yeongeun’s next words are muffled by her hands; Soleum watches as she drops her head into them, rife with an emotion he can’t quite place.

“If it weren’t for me, he’d be alive right now.”

His mouth drops open as he flounders to find some words to tell her that it’s not her fault, even though that may not be the truth.

“If it weren’t for him, I would have taken the national exam.”

Soleum can’t even get a word in, doesn’t know how to tackle the emotions loaded in those statements.

Yeongeun’s hands fall from her face and her eyes are red-rimmed. Soleum can’t tell if her next words are lined with bitterness or with honesty.

“Though after seeing Daydream, I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed the medical field either.”

“Daydream really is something… Huh?”

Amazing, his first words after her alcohol-induced downward spiral and they’re… that.

She doesn’t seem to mind, though, with the way she launches straight into another question, “What about you, Soleum?”

Hm? He tilts his head, asking for clarification. Yeongeun pours him another glass, which he reluctantly lifts to his lips.

“What did you want to do? Work at a pharmaceutical company?”

Oh. Right. It would be reasonable to assume Soleum had such aspirations, considering they had met at the company’s orientation for new employees.

What he used to do… His mind flashes to life in the previous world, a higher position, meetings with clients, the same day repeated.

But here…

Soleum furrows his brows. Come to think of it, was his setting here the same? If he had aged down, then what else had changed? Did this Kim Soleum have any such sort of attachment? Oh but, he seems to have just been transmigrated?

Though, in order to have a job, he must have some sort of origin or ID? What information does the government have on Kim Soleum, on his next of kin?

His head starts to pound.

Ack. The alcohol’s really getting to him, for him to be thinking of these things. What use is thinking of his identity here when the foremost goal is to get home? He needs to keep clearing Darknesses until he’s finally got a hold of that damn Wish Potion and he can go—

     - Friend, are you alright?

He blinks. Yeah, he’s fine, just… Wait, why has Braun been so silent, anyway?

     - Giving my dear friend some privacy!

Privacy… When Braun’s inside his head. That’s a funny thought. He shakes his head, trying to get rid of these thoughts of Darknesses and Daydream.

“More or less.”

He’s not sure there’s another appropriate answer. Can’t be too honest lest Yeongeun start asking questions he can’t answer.

“Interesting.” She leans back into the lawn-chair, finally taking a break from drinking.

He remembers why he tries not to drink with the company employees now, that latin or whatever-it-was phrase coming to mind.

     - In vino veritas.

Yeah, that. Thanks, Braun.

“You don’t want to know… My wish?” He’s not quite sure why he says it, but a part of him aches something tender. The desperate need for some sense of understanding that comes from an actual person.

“I wanted to respect your privacy,” she inhales deeply, “And… I think it’s going to make me sad.”

Soleum wonders what, or who, she sees in that far-away gaze. Is it the child version of his own self she had met the day before? Or is it someone else entirely?

Such fleeting thoughts run amok in Soleum’s head as his vision dims and head begins to droop. Just when he’s stopped hearing the chirp of crickets and hum of the night air—

“You remind me of him, you know?”

Hm? All at once, it feels like a majority of the sleep has left his body.

“Him?”

Of course, he has an idea, he knows, but he still asks.

“My friend. You and him are kind of similar.”

“Oh…”

“I realized that in the Darkness yesterday.”

And there it is, the reason Yeongeun’s been acting so strange, Soleum notes. But… Isn’t she talking about the child version of Soleum then? About someone who, for all she knows, is long gone? After all, they had never bothered to interact in this way before, so why now?

“You two are brave.”

Her sentences are shorter, less cohesive than he’d like. He wants to clasp her shoulder and ask, how? How could he possibly be considered brave?

“Your child self talked a lot about his fears… But he never ran away when we were there. Just with… that doll in the beginning.”

She eyes Braun, who he had taken with him in case of encountering a Darkness on the way to their meet-up, with wariness. Or disdain. Maybe even both.

“I was a child,” Soleum mumbles. He can’t go around having people know he’s still a coward.

“Maybe… But… Soleum, after seeing that. I think you’re still scared.”

Yeongeun is no fool. She’s observed both the differences and similarities between Soleum in the Darkness and as an employee.

“But, I think your strength is in other people.”

Shit, isn’t that the truth?

“Yeah. You two are really similar.”

He doesn’t know what to say to that. Soleum wonders if this means the newfound closeness he believes that’s started growing is simply a symptom of her grief. If she’s projecting her friend onto him.

He thinks he’s okay with that, though.

Soleum gets up, intending to get the both of them out of the place before they fall asleep and stay there the whole night. Knowing this world, they’re definitely going to wake up in a Darkness.

He offers Yeongeun a hand, yelping a bit when he almost falls, not anticipating her to not put any strength in. It’s his fault for expecting as much from a drunk person.

But then they’re finally standing, Soleum supporting some of Yeongeun’s weight with her arm around his shoulder. Had she knocked back more glasses when he wasn’t looking? He pauses, manoeuvring with some difficulty to grab the bottle and their glasses.

They stumble out near the road, Soleum pulling out his phone in an attempt to call a cab.

“Come on, Yeongeun, let’s…”

Go home. He stops the words before they leave his mouth, uncomfortable with the jarring wrong-ness.

“Let’s head back.”

HOUR TWENTY-ONE.

Saheon still doesn’t know which friend Soleum had gone out to meet, but it ends up being all the better for him.

He sits up higher on the couch with a grin when the man ambles in, slightly out of his wits. Seems the bastard’s drunk himself into incoherency. Which is even more evident by the way he doesn’t even bother with his creepy-ass routine of watching children’s shows every night.

Just, straight to bed.

Saheon wonders how long he needs to wait. Alcohol tends to put you in a deeper sleep, at least for some time, right?

Perfect. He forces down the upturn of his lips and instead waits stone-faced in the living room. He counts down the minutes until almost an hour has passed. Soleum should probably be asleep right now.

Saheon inhales deeply, the rough plan he had put together earlier in the day after the events of the night before were finally starting to come together. He creeps over to the bedroom door, pressing an ear against it.

…

Saheon waits for some time, but hears no movement on the other side. It would be easier if the other man were the type to snore, but for now he reckons the man is likely deep in sleep. Still, his movements are cautious, careful as he slowly turns the knob.

His breath hitches as he begins to push the door open. Saheon winces at the god-awful creak that sounds out because of course the company doors would do that, but no bout of righteous anger or otherwise noises of Soleum stirring sound out.

He’s in the clear. (For now.)

Of course, the room is cloaked in darkness. He had turned off the lights around the rest of the dorm earlier in an effort to reduce the likelihood that Soleum would wake up from his entrance, but there had still been the faint glow of moonlight in his own room. One that had spilled out into the main area.

Here, with Soleum’s curtains shut tight, there’s only an inky expanse awaiting him. Saheon stands there in the doorway until his eye begins to adjust and he can see the faint outline of furniture. Still… It’s practically impossible to discern anything further.

So Saheon switches his eyepatch to the other eye, not only able to see much better thanks to how long the eye had been adjusting in the dark, but able to immediately spot Braun and Soleum’s forms.

He notes, barely holding back a click of the tongue, that Soleum’s aura of danger hasn’t decreased. Meaning that his presence hadn’t been from Saheon’s fear of him in the first place, not that Saheon did have any. There’s also the fact that the light emanating seems to shake, as if vibrating. He furrows his brows; the man isn’t awake, that much is obvious, but he seems to be having a fitful sleep. Ah, alcohol can do that to you. 

Braun is just as scintillating as before. It makes him easier to spot, yes, but it does make Saheon wary.

He steps into the room carefully.

The air in Soleum’s bedroom is crisp and cool, he notes the fan in the corner. He pads further into the room with mild footsteps, nearing the table holding that pink stuffed rabbit.

Saheon crouches to be at eye-level with it.

“Please don’t wake Kim Soleum up,” he whispers, glancing over at his coworker’s form to make sure he hasn’t roused, “I promise I’ve got something really entertaining for you, Mr. Braun.”

He doesn’t know if it’s going to work. For all he knows, the entity is currently trying to get Soleum’s attention and wake the man up, even as Saheon speaks.

But he bets on it.

Because Saheon isn’t a fool. He has done his research. Surely there would be some information on this entity that Soleum was carrying around. He was extra sure now that he had confirmed its existence.

So he asked around, trying to subtly pry information out of his group members. One of the superiors on his team let him know that it sounded like the Tuesday TV Talk Show Host, a usually low-level Darkness that had recently caused a fuss.

And wouldn’t you know, it sounded almost exactly like the incident Soleum had been embroiled in shortly after joining.

A Darkness entity that valued entertainment above all; even if Saheon doesn’t recognize how he’s managed to confine the Darkness to that doll, surely it’s not stripped of its power.

The glowing aura is a bit irritating to look at, but he ignores it as he gently scoops the doll into its hands. No movement. He’s probably safe.

Ah, but while he’s here… Saheon pulls the curtain open, shedding moonlight around the room. He examines Soleum, who doesn’t stir. His quest to look around and see if the man’s got anything strange in here is halted by the expression on Soleum’s face.

He looks like he’s in pain, compounded by the fact that he’s twitching and trembling. Ever so often a groan slips from the man’s mouth.

A nightmare?

He supposes it’s possible, according to the newfound semblance of humanity he’s found out Soleum has. Well, sort of has. He’s capable of feeling fear, that’s for certain.

He grits his teeth. Not Saheon’s problem.

Still, he abandons his mission of snooping further, the longer he stays here the more he’s at risk of waking Soleum up anyway.

Saheon takes Braun out to the living room. While he knows it’s probably a better idea to bring him to his own bedroom, so that Soleum doesn’t accidentally stumble on the scene when going to the bathroom or something…

He doesn’t want Braun in his room.

Saheon places the bunny on the counter, retrieving the solo cups from the couch.

Here goes nothing. He places Braun’s legs in the cup to count as contact before tying a knot in the middle of the string coming out of it and holding the other cup in his hands, as required by the ritual.

The entity speaks before he does.

     - Give me one reason I shouldn’t devour you right now.

Saheon brushes away the thought that Soleum constantly has this menacing, creepy presence speaking to him to focus on the words.

Which were equally, if not more, concerning.

Of course, what Saheon doesn’t know is that Braun would let him live either way considering his role in Soleum’s life is much too entertaining to cut short.

“Uh…” He’s already promised to be entertaining, what more does this guy want?

“I’m sure you’d be able to get rid of me whenever, so why don’t you just listen to whatever I have to say first? It could be interesting.”

That and Saheon’s sure that this doll, as some strange offshoot of the real entity, isn't really able to do anything. Considering there are four possibilities:

1. The doll has higher power and is on good terms with Soleum. Discarded, it would have gotten rid of Saheon already and basically instantly cleared Darknesses for him.
2. The doll has higher power and isn’t on good terms with Soleum. Discarded, it wouldn’t bother listening to Soleum at all then, and would have gotten rid of him already.
3. The doll doesn’t have higher power and isn’t on good terms with Soleum. Discarded. There would be no use of keeping it around then, his roommate would have discarded it already. The way Soleum had spoken to it in his child form also said otherwise.
4. The doll doesn’t have higher power and is on good terms with Soleum. The most likely and the interpretation Saheon’s chosen to go with. He believes this thing is capable of providing knowledge, maybe even company, to Soleum but not much else.

Although… Now that he thinks about it, the technique Soleum had used to amplify his voice, could it have been thanks to the entity? What about the other times he had used an item, could he have known how to get the candle thanks to Braun? His mind flashes to the numerous times Soleum had kept the three of them alive in the Manor of the Blind. And again at the lodge, had it been Braun who had told Soleum how to satisfy the Darkness without killing anyone? He doesn’t suppose the host would be interested in such a scenario, but it would make Soleum’s nigh-omnipotent level of rationality understandable.

Regardless, he feels like he’s in no real danger at the moment. But he still plays along, hoping it’ll increase the odds of the doll going along with what he says and also feeling more benevolent if he does end up meeting the host in the future.

     - Acceptable. This Braun will listen to what you have to say.

Saheon exhales in relief. Great.

     - Though… I have to say, you do remember your promise to Mr. Roe Deer, correct?

He freezes. Promise? Could it be-

     - I seem to recall you assuring him the two of you would remain friends upon exit.

Well, yes, but did a promise of which the premise (them being friends) was incorrect count in the first place? It would be like him promising he’ll treat Soleum well as a Director at Daydream. Sure he could, were he director, but he’s not, thus the promise is moot. In the same vein, if they were never friends, then…

     - We take contracts very seriously here in show business.

Shit. Yeah, there doesn't seem to be a loophole he can exploit. Though he can work around the asinine stipulation. Saheon always finds a way.

“Right, may I ask, is the reason you’re with Soleum… also entertainment?”

     - … Mr. Roe Deer is my good friend, Mr. Goat. I don’t know what you’re implying, though Mr. Roe Deer would be excellent as a Talk Show Host. I agree.

Saheon tilts his head in consideration. An in?

“Why don’t you invite him onto your show, then?”

     - Of course I have! I’m committed to making my segment as enjoyable for viewers as possible.

“He said no, then?”

Clearly Soleum, walking around Daydream, had not accepted the offer. He wonders what Braun’s feelings are towards this fact.

     - You promised to show me something entertaining. Where are you going with this, Mr. Goat?

He couldn’t be sure, finicky as Darknesses were, but he’s getting the slight impression that Braun is growing slightly annoyed with him. He really should continue with his goal, then, although this information should prove to be very useful.

“If you don’t interfere in my conversation tomorrow with Soleum, I’ll continue to make his life fun.”

Braun doesn’t say anything for a moment. It’s neither agreement nor refusal. Saheon grins.

“You got a kick out of the hypnosis pen, didn’t you? Stuff like that.”

Saheon leans closer to the doll, “Also… I’ll help you get Soleum on your show.”

Finally, this prompts a response. Not quite the one he hopes for, though.

     - This Braun does not need the help of outsiders to hire Mr. Roe Deer. A place on the show is quite sought after!

“It wouldn’t hurt, though…” He steels himself for the gamble he’s about to take. “Also, you wouldn’t want Soleum to grow wary of your intentions, would you?”

Yeah, blackmail. And what would the bunny do about it? Had the Darkness of the host himself been standing in front of Saheon, this would be a very different conversation. But it wasn’t; he was quite sure the doll itself didn’t hold much power. On top of that, he’s unlikely to see the real Darkness in the near future. He’ll just find a way to get Soleum involved and distract the Darkness with the man, if that does happen.

Maybe that’s how he’ll fulfill his promise of getting Soleum onto Braun’s show, throwing him under the bus for his own sake. Then Braun will be too busy to remember he was blackmailed in the first place.

Wouldn’t that be fun, killing two birds with one stone?

     - Is Mr. Goat… threatening me? This is very serious business.

“Not at all,” he assures, grasping the edge of the counter with one hand in support as he bends closer, “I’m just suggesting a business partnership.”

He hopes, prays, even, that this much will be enough. That he’s not going to become the dust under this Darkness’ most definitely polished shoes.

      - I’ll agree. On one condition.

Saheon waits with bated breath.

      - Mr. Goat has to get my good friend’s memories back.

And how is he supposed to do that? He has given Soleum the hypnosis pen back, so that won’t be an option. Is there any other route?

Still, he nods. He’ll figure that out soon enough. For now, the important part is eliminating all obstacles for the conversation he’s going to have with Soleum tomorrow. Giddiness starts to fill his veins. Life is starting to look up.

He likes the thought of Soleum getting his memories from the Darkness. Wants to see the dawning horror as the man realizes just how badly he’s screwed up.

And just maybe a small part of him misses the peace that had settled without all of the wariness and psychopathy Soleum’s years had brought.

Who was he kidding? Surely, he was just enjoying the newfound vulnerability after months of getting tormented.

HOUR THIRTY-FOUR.

Soleum’s been feeling a little off-kilter lately. First, that conversation with Yeongeun the night before, and now…

He rubs his eyes harshly in an attempt to rid himself of the sleepiness. Last night had been as restless as ever. Though it was to be given with the way he had stumbled home slightly drunk and collapsed in bed without even watching a single episode.

Talk about a bad start to the day.

The Lizard Squad Leader had offered a nod in greeting in the morning and they hadn’t talked much since. Soleum had been pleased that the schedule for the day had pretty much been some paperwork and checking in on some Darknesses. Not his assigned one, but some new ones Daydream hadn’t assigned to anyone just yet.

It had been shaping up as a turn for the better. Soleum quite liked quiet days, he could almost delude himself into believing he was still working as a normal salaryman with some equally twisted and capitalistic company. Not that you could get much worse than Daydream, what with the Round-Off Team members, who are considered less than human.

And then he encountered Saheon. A brush in the hallway was alright, expected even, considering they work at the company. But then he had followed Soleum to D-squad’s office?

Saheon claimed the F-squad’s leader had a message he needed delivered to the Lizard Squad Leader. Er, D-squad’s leader. That was alright, though Soleum had his own doubts about the man’s intentions, but why isn’t he speaking to the man, then?

Saheon sits in a chair at the side. Soleum glances at Lee Jaheon. Why isn’t the man saying anything? He’s too passive, sometimes.

“Oh no, he’s gone.” Saheon speaks up placidly after the man exits for some task unknown to the both of them.

Soleum raises a brow, speaking in a drawl characteristic to his persona, “Is there something you need? You’re very idle.”

“Not gonna call me hyung anymore?”

Soleum freezes. Head turns slightly to Saheon. What? Before he can voice his instinctual alarm, it rushes back. Flashes of memory, his child self speaking to Saheon, calling him hyung.

“You’re speaking informally again.”

Saheon crosses his arms, having the nerve to act caught, “Ah. Sorry, my bad, sir.”

Soleum grits his teeth. His words don’t seem to be having the same effect anymore. The feeling that it has to do with the Darkness from a couple days ago grows stronger than ever.

“But you really should have more allowance amongst friends.”

The eye not hidden by an eyepatch scrutinizes Soleum with cold neutrality. He swallows, seeming to recall a phrase like that having occurred in there. He’s focusing, recalling more of what happened around then, when Saheon gets his attention again.

“Hey, that doll,” he points to Soleum’s breast pocket, where an oddly-silent Braun resides.

He laughs a bit. “You were scared of it. Do you remember that?”

Every sentence Saheon utters seems to bring memories cascading back. He tilts his head, remembering the start of the Darkness. Entering, scared, and having a seemingly haunted doll speak to him.

Soleum narrows his eyes, “What are you doing?”

“Just trying to help you out.” He shrugs, “You don’t like that you don’t recall what happened in the Darkness either, do you?”

Well, he’s right about that, but it strikes Soleum the wrong way. If Saheon wants him to remember what happened, clearly there’s some ulterior motive. Either because he gains something from Soleum knowing about it, or he wants to be owed a favour. Realistically, probably the second one…

“What do you know?” Soleum leans into Saheon’s space now, attempting a menacing demeanour that he’s not sure is working.

“I looked at some of the records Daydream kept for that Darkness.” Saheon blinks. “Most employees selected as the child go through the same thing you’re going through.”

“And?” Soleum raises a brow, tone impatient, trying to rush the man into getting to the point.

“Going over the events of the darkness helps bring it back,” he explains, “It triggers the memories lying just under the subconscious, so the employees end up recalling it after a simple run-through.”

He frowns. What are Saheon’s intentions? On top of that, what in the world would be an in character response? Should he shun the man and push him away? Ah, but he really wants to know. Although Braun had made a slightly disturbing comment about a promise his child self made, it’s better that he regain his memories.

Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t. Though, does he know either Braun or Saheon? He realizes more and more, these days, that his impression from the Darkness Exploration Records had been kind of superficial.

He needs to accept the offer that Saheon’s giving, for whatever reason it is, and do so like an asshole. Easy enough.

“Did I promise you an item in there, is that it? Are you going to hold the word of a child over my head?” He sneers slightly, “Damn, that’s low.”

Saheon doesn’t falter, or cower, as he’s done in the past.

“No. I’m doing this entirely out of good will.” He uncrosses his arms, holding up his right hand, “I swear I will not seek any compensation.”

A grin. “Happy?”

“Do what you want.”

Very poor choice of words, but Soleum can’t retract the statement. He glances at the door, wondering why the Lizard Chief isn’t back yet.

“I opened my eyes in a completely white labyrinth, near Goral. You came running in shortly after, scared shitless by some doll.” He pauses in his speech to gesture to Braun. “Happened to be that one right there. You sure recovered from your fear quickly, though. I assume it spoke to you.”

Soleum listens to the recountment intently.

“You wouldn’t leave it alone after that.”

Soleum zones out a bit, only half listening to Saheon talking about crazy mimes and wolves bursting out of elevators. His conversations with Braun flash like fireworks in his mind.

     - Do you remember now, friend?

He flinches. Shit. ‘I’ll talk to you soon, Braun, it would be rude of me to ignore this conversation.’

He’s got until Saheon finishes speaking to come up with something.

Except. Except the man suddenly halts, eye flashing to the bunny in his suit pocket with suspicious expectancy. He gets up abruptly.

“And that’s everything.”

Soleum’s face hardens. “You left out the promise you made to not harm me.”

“It was to stay friends,” he looks down at Soleum, expression unreadable, “And I figured you’d remember it anyway. The records said only a summary of events was needed.”

There was also that god-damn habit he told Saheon about. The one where he clenches his fists in an attempt to outrun his fear. But it's okay, he hadn't had the mental capacity to be doing that lately in the Darknesses, what with the problem at hand usually being too urgent.

Right? He's only talked to Saheon once after… It would explain the man's odd behaviour a bit, but… Wasn't Baek Saheon the kind of guy who would take advantage of this fact right away? Who would strike Soleum down the second he shows weakness?

Yeah, there's no way he's realized. And Soleum needs to take care to make sure it stays that way. He brushes the persistent anxiety away temporarily to return to the conversation.

“Yeah?” His face definitely conveys his disbelief.

“Yeah.” Saheon nods and bows slightly at the Lizard Chief, who enters just as he leaves, as a sign of respect.

Soleum frowns. Didn’t he have something to say to the D-squad leader? Or rather, it most definitely had been a ruse. And now…

Now he has to deal with Braun.

‘What did you want to talk about?’

     - Does Mr. Roe Deer remember? He said he wanted to be on TV!

Not this again… He had skirted around Braun’s offer to become a host on his talk show before, but he’d never had to walk back a promise he’d made.

It’s going to be hard, because it was a promise…

And Darknesses take promises very seriously, as a sort of twisted rule from the Darkness Exploration Records. Braun goes on, unaware of his inner turmoil. Or perhaps more accurately, uncaring.

     - A promise is a sort of contract, did you know? I can draft one up that resembles what we talked about.

Soleum closes his eyes, resisting the urge to curse. Why did the child version of him think being on TV was a good thing in the first place? He’s never had dreams of stardom before… This kid.

‘Braun, I wasn’t in my right mind…’

     - ! You seemed very coherent to me!

He eyes the Lizard Chief nervously, anxious at the tension that seems to be rising. The man is unaware as ever, though. He continues working dutifully, not so much as a glance in Soleum’s direction. Soleum wonders if that stuffed lizard on his desk speaks to him. 

‘Coherent, maybe, but a child is a child.’

     - What ever do you mean?

Soleum hesitates, not sure if the reasoning would work on Braun but deciding it was worth a shot regardless.

‘I mean, you can’t sign contracts as a minor, and isn't show business quite serious about contracts?’

     - Ah, but you’re mistaken Mr. Roe Deer, a minor can indeed sign a contract, so long as they know what they’re getting into! Mr. Fawn was quite adamant about appearing on TV.

‘Maybe. But then the party that was a minor can also leave these agreements at will, isn’t that right?’

An extended pause. He doesn’t hear anything at all on Braun’s end. And then finally:

     - It seems you are correct.

Soleum inhales deeply. Did he manage to navigate around that? Is Braun mad at him? Or would the effects of the Good Friend doll mitigate his frustration with Soleum?

“Kim Soleum.”

The man startles, looking up to see the Lizard Chief standing in front of his desk.

“Have you been using the fox counselling room?”

Huh? Did the chief think he was contaminated again? The researcher, Kwak, mentioned something along those lines as well. Soleum’s brows furrow in thought, considering the possibility.

“Not recently.”

The man stares at Soleum with his slitted pupils for some time before he says, “Make sure you visit.”

He turns, beginning to walk away, but he stops after only a couple steps. Without turning back around, Lee Jaheon speaks again.

“Would you like to hear my advice?”

Long since used to his peculiar way of speaking, Soleum responds in the affirmative without batting an eye.

Jaheon says shortly, “Don’t make deals with Darknesses.”

And just like that, Soleum is alone again.

…

He looks down at his breast pocket. Mostly alone.

HOUR FORTY-EIGHT.

And there it is. How his previous 48 hours have gone. Two days of absurdity that have ultimately culminated in Saheon interrupting his children’s show for whatever this is. He eyes the man with slight annoyance after recovering from his initial fear, having already started his nightly routine a little late.

“What did you want to talk about?”

His stare is half-lidded and head tilted, hoping it comes across as more debonair and less… Utterly baffled.

“Did you remember?” Saheon’s hand is clutching the couch headrest near Soleum’s face.

Saheon has this, this look on his face. “All those nice, fun details?”

When did the man stop calling him supervisor?

Soleum’s brow twitches, frustration now largely superseding any possible fear. “Get to the point.”

“You remember that habit you told me, right?” His eyes flicker towards Soleum’s fists, those which he’s horrified to find are still clenched.

The blood drains from his body. His heartbeat pounds so fucking loud it’s a wonder he’s able to hear Saheon’s amused puff of air. Soleum’s fists clench even tighter in instinct before he forces them to relax. His breathing has sped up, hasn’t it? He feels like he didn’t used to need to exert so much effort to inhale a healthy dose of oxygen.

Saheon bursts into real, genuine laughter now. “I think you know what I mean by now? Was it fun? Jerking me around all the while you were this close to shitting your fucking pants any time we spoke?”

Just what the fuck is he supposed to do now? His eyes dart around the room, taking in his surroundings once again in the hopes that the place he’s known and hasn’t changed a single bit in the past several months will somehow be different this time. Of course, there’s nothing around him that can help him. Except the remote, maybe if he swings it hard enough he can knock Saheon out. Or if he uses the hypnosis pen, he can erase—

“What are you thinking about?” Saheon’s hand, previously resting idle near Soleum, has moved on to gripping his jaw.

He laughs, “There’s no escape. Your friend Braun’s forsaken you and the two of us are going to be renegotiating the terms of this roommate agreement.”

“For one,” Saheon’s grip grows the slightest bit tighter and Soleum’s breath hitches, “I’m going to be needing more useful items. Thanks for the eye.”

At the mention of his good friend, it occurs to Soleum that he hasn’t been hearing much of Braun lately. His usually joyous commentary on the scenes playing out in the show were quite muted, and he hadn’t initiated much conversation either.

‘Braun?’ Soleum tries.

There’s no response. He tries again. Can Braun not hear him? Is that what Saheon did, through the use of some item, that’s why he’s so confident Soleum has no way out? He does! He can just hypnotize Saheon into forgetting the details of the Darkness, specifically what went on in Room 444.

But that would render the tool useless to use on anyone else. And Soleum is nothing if not pragmatic. He can leave the pen as a last resort, sure, but before that… He should try talking things out.

In the first place, although Saheon’s discovered Soleum’s scared of him, surely he probably thinks Soleum’s a psychopath? There’s not quite any amount of explaining away that would clue someone in on why he acted how he acted upon first seeing the man… And every moment since.

So he knows Soleum’s a coward. But he can still play the role of an unstable coward.

“You think that just because you think I’m scared of you, I’m suddenly going to fall at your feet and obey you? That’s not fun, though. It’s really boring, in fact.”

“Scared of me?” He snorts. “I know I’m not the only thing you’re scared of. I saw your hand position on the subway, figured it was a bit weird, but, hey, what the hell. I was preoccupied with getting my eyeball torn out.”

“You’re a coward.” He pokes at Soleum’s chest. Soleum’s hand moves in the manner of a zombie lurching towards life and grabs it, keeping the appendage in place. Saheon’s voice is bitter, hushed. “Through and through.”

“This,” his eyes flick down at Soleum’s grip, “is all bravado. Show’s over.”

“Sure, I’m scared.” Soleum shrugs. They’ve gotten this far, denying the fact would be sheer bull-headed stubbornness. “Does that change anything, though? Why should I be giving you items and following your orders?”

He wonders if he should become religious again. If he should throw a prayer to a random God and hope it lands and drags Soleum out of this absolute fucking mess of a situation he’s ensnared himself in.

“You wouldn’t want all of Daydream knowing this, would you?”

This time it’s Soleum who laughs derisively, and only about half of it is an act. “You really think they’re going to believe you?”

They wouldn’t, right? Saheon doesn’t even have evidence, on top of him being the top rookie. Yeah, they wouldn’t. It’s… a terrifying thought, though.

“They don’t have to. The second anyone has the thought to check, it’ll be enough. You think in a company like Daydream they won’t use anything they can against you, no matter how outlandish?”

Soleum’s apparent blank stare gets to Saheon.

A novel thought, considering the typhoon raging just past the surface if he so cares to look. Soleum’s hand tightens reflexively around Saheon’s as he moves closer. The man yanks his hand out of the grip to grab at Soleum’s shoulders.

“Do you not watch your back? How the fuck are you still alive?”

“They’re all after you,” he mutters. “Everyone’s after you.”

“Is that what you think?” Soleum questions, raising a brow even as his shoulders tremble, composure threatening to collapse under the scrutiny of the man’s stare. Maybe a psychological attack could work? Soleum’s mind, so frayed and fragmented before, starts stumbling with the notion of a plan.

“Is it your paranoia that makes you so wary of me?”

“What?” Saheon’s hands slip from his shoulders, falling at Soleum’s sides instead. “Who’s wary of you?”

“Am I wrong?” His heartbeat is just about beginning to drop to a pace that wouldn’t immediately get him sent to emergent care. “If you weren’t wary, scared, of me, why would you be so desperate to find a way to control me? Why would you try to hypnotize me into not noticing your existence?”

“I’m scared of everything.” His words are lined with an aching honesty that he’s longed to out to the world for a while now. It’s incredibly ironic that the person to hear this is not one he trusts, but the Viper.

He repeats the beginning of his sentence before continuing, “But you? You’re scared of me. So we’re back to square one.”

“Fear is also a type of adrenaline,” Soleum puts on a giddy smile, “and it makes exploring Darknesses fun.”

Saheon looks shaken, downright surprised by the words spilling out of Soleum’s mouth at this point. He almost has it in him to feel bad for the man, before all the things Viper has done, the ruthlessness, come rushing back. He chalks the moment of hesitation up to lingering feelings from his time as a child.

There’s no way he’s actually feeling sympathy towards Saheon.

Saheon finally speaks, responding to his taunt, “You’re a psychopath. You’re a danger to my life. Of course I’m fucking paranoid you’re gonna stab me in my sleep.”

That’s the image he’s painted to Saheon. He’s glad it’s been so effective. The part of him that naturally bristles in irritation when the man speaks yells at him to correct the mishap, that he’s a good person. That he saved Saheon in the Manor of the Blind, see? And he could have killed him in the Lodge, right? But he didn’t.

Soleum grits his teeth and ignores those thoughts. “An impasse, then.”

Take the bait, take it. Just leave Soleum alone. The two of them don’t have to interact again. Saheon should know by now he won’t be getting anything from Soleum. Soleum knows that Saheon will never be a normal person, someone who could hope to value someone else’s life above his own.

He doesn’t know why Saheon ignores the fishing rod entirely.

“What’s your basis for adrenaline?”

“What?” It’s the first time he’s let something so uncomposed slip out around the man, usually so wary of showing any sort of moment of weakness.

“When you say that fucking weird shit, that it gives you a high, I don’t believe you.”

Soleum’s behaviour’s grown too inconsistent for him to have a believable face as the persona he’s built.

“You just said that you don’t trust me, that I’d stab you in your sleep.”

“To prove your point, yeah. It occurred to me just now, you can’t even keep a consistent character. Why I never realized you were scared and why you do that.”

Soleum’s mouth opens slightly.

“You’re a good actor.” He thinks about what he said about Soleum’s inability to stay in character. “Mostly.”

And his mouth shuts, pupils trembling. Now that it seems Saheon doesn’t even believe that he’s crazy, is it time? For the last resort? The arm with the tattoo tenses.

“Why do you treat me like this? What did I do to you?” Saheon’s beyond baffled at what he’s ever done to attract Soleum’s ire.

He wants to know why the man is so benevolent to Goral and Bison, but can’t extend a smidgen of the same courtesy towards Saheon. He used to think he was putting up a farce for them, but if it’s the other way around? Why?

Soleum’s sick and tired of this rhetoric. “You’re not a good person! That’s why!”

“You abandoned me from the start, you taunted me with that eye.” Saheon snarls right back.

“Are we talking about the same subway car where you pushed someone over so that you could sacrifice your own eye instead?”

“You knew about that lost item from the start. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

Soleum offers him a blank stare, tired beyond his wits. He’s had to talk Braun down from forcefully contracting him into his talk show, had an uncomfortably emotional talk with Go Yeongeun, and now…

He’s just so tired.

“What would you have done if you had known that I had that item?”

He would have taken it, of course. Why in the world would he ever do something different? His silence speaks volumes.

“Exactly.”

There's something in him that doesn't want to tell Saheon that it was a female’s eye anyway, maybe hoping this could serve as somewhat of a lesson.

Saheon’s words are uncharacteristically quiet, “But how would you know that? Before I even did it?”

“I could tell.” Soleum’s moved away, now facing straight ahead with his head leaning back on the couch.

“You’re not a good person,” he echoes, voice calmer than before. 

Saheon mirrors his actions, eye turning to the television. Soleum seems to see more than others, able to tell his intentions when most are lured into a false sense of security. Or maybe it’s prejudice. He still can’t fathom he’d actually done anything to give away his personality.

But he can see more of Soleum too. Soleum’s a coward… And in some weird way, perhaps a good person too. A better person than Saheon, at the very least, he notes as he thinks of the child form of the man.

What’s he left with then?

No upper hand and this uncomfortable feeling in his chest.

“What’s so wrong with giving me items?” he asks with a sigh, tired.

He can’t place the emotions in Soleum’s voice. “I need to keep my guard up around you. You’re the type to strike when I least expect it. You don’t value anyone other than yourself.”

He’s not wrong, but it’s not a good feeling nonetheless. Why is Kim Soleum saying it like it’s such a bad thing? Like a sense of self-preservation isn’t something natural and inherent to every single human being? Soleum was the messed up one if his first instinct in a place full of murderous robots was to try and save someone else’s life.

He’s the weird one if he tries so desperately to come up with a way for the visitors at the Lodge to leave unscathed, instead of simply letting people die.

It’s exactly what he expects of the adult that kid would have grown up to be, though.

“It’s normal,” he replies to Soleum instead.

He supposes he’s gained something from this incident after all. There’s no reason to be scared of Soleum, for one. And if he aligns himself well enough, perhaps there’s something to be earned as well.

He’s still pondering if it should be the carrot or the stick. Soleum’s proven himself as exceptionally hard to bully. Probably the carrot, then.