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Kim Soleum opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was the ceiling. A white ceiling he never saw before. He felt it was a long time since he saw one. He also felt his back touching a fluffy mattress and found out laying down in what it seemed a house or something similar in an unknown place and didn’t understand how he fell asleep or how he got there.
He felt tired to the point of not wanting to get up and at the same time the thought that this was the time when his mind felt the clearest, at least since he came to this world, didn’t leave his mind.
Kim Soleum looked at his side to grasp at the situation he was and start to form a plan to get out of that place. That is when he saw the entirety of what this room contained.
A lot of people laying in beds, all of them sleeping with him as the exception. The only person that has awoken in that enormous bedroom. The room was so large he couldn’t see the end of it with his eyes alone nor all the people resting there even when he sat up in his bed to see even farther.
A sharp pain in his head came from nowhere. So hurtful that he had to grab his head with his hands at the thought that if he didn’t, his head would open and explode. But nothing similar happened; instead, Kim Soleum now remembered. He remembered everything, all of what happened, how did he get in that weird place to rest and why were so many people and the identity of who they were, why were sleeping and why was he the only one to open his eyes.
He remembered who he was.
A lot of bubbled emotions raised up but one of them was intense than any of the others. A grin printed at his face.
Happiness.
“Ahh... haha... hahahaha... hahahahahahahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA”
He couldn’t stop his euphoric mind running with so much happiness, then his body followed he started laughing like a maniac. He felt so cathartic that he couldn’t stop his himself. He laughed so much his throat hurt but he kept laughing because it had been so long since he could speak, since he felt so different emotions, since he could breathe so much air, since he could hear his own voice.
So, he laughed and didn’t dare to stop and at some moment it felt more like a beast screaming than a human. If anyone saw him, they would thing he had finally lost his mind for good, but it didn’t matter anymore.
Because he was set free after so much time being trapped in an egg.
Because he was free from hearing that music box.
He could taste freedom after so long.
He was free.
Finally free.
Kim Soleum is free.
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After Kim Soleum calmed down a bit, he got up on his feet, still smiling. He saw down on himself to watch suit he was wearing. A suit belonging to another world, just like him. It was the suit he was wearing the day they kidnapped him.
That's right.
He was Kim Soleum.
The real one, and unlike the Good Friend Daydream created, he didn’t go back home in his real world. He was left in this world of nightmares and darknesses, but that reason was not enough for Kim Soleum to feel despair, because unlike his little portion taken from him, he wasn’t obsessed with returning to his original home. That was something the researchers created to keep the body of the Good Friend from melting to a chunk of flesh and scales.
Kim Soleum got up from the bed. It was time to get out of the Fox Counseling Room.
When he saw the gate that leading outside of the room he had been sleeping, he crossed it and found a large corridor with lots of gates closed.
Every time he walked towards one of those closed gates, Kim Soleum would open it just in case one of them could get him out of there, but he watched the same scenario in all those new opened rooms; lots of people sleeping peacefully in beds in rooms as large as the one he woke up.
Well, not something that would surprise Kim Soleum, after all, these rooms contained all the people caught in Segwang City’s catastrophe and had to be recovered from the contamination they suffered after all these years.
It was somewhat unnerving being the only one awake and walking in a place full of people sleeping, where the landlord was nowhere to be seen.
As if Kim Soleum was the only alive between them.
But he knew better.
A small smile printed his face.
These humans weren’t dead; they were recovering in a slow pace. The little fox was alive too doing a good work helping them to get free of the contamination. Even if Kim Soleum didn’t see him directly, he still could feel the cleansing power, but with so many people and a after so much time, the little fox was using his energy and had to rest at the same time to recover himself.
That made the perfect time to get out of there without anyone stopping him.
Finally, Kim Soleum found the gate that led to the outside, double doors with opaque glass windows at the end of the corridor, in front of him.
Kim Soleum took the handles and pushed open the last obstacles, the last doors.
With the greatest happiness he could feel, he stepped into the Fox Counseling Office, getting out of the darkness Ho Yuwon created and arranged for Sekwang’s people.
Now Kim Soleum was back and officially inside Daydream Inc.
What he didn’t expect was finding Park Minseong sleeping in the special room. When he was sleeping Inside that house, it was difficult to guess how much time had passed, even more if time in darkness fluctuated different form reality, but he was sure it should had been enough for his teammate to have recovered or at least had recovered his conscious.
When he got closer to inspect him, the front door was suddenly opened with a discrete screech.
“Oh...”
A voice Kim Soleum remember well was heard.
When he looked back at the door where he had come, he found a pair of surprised golden eyes looking back at him. He couldn’t help but find his reaction amusing.
“Why are you here... again?”
“Mm... Well, I was receiving treatment inside the Fox Counseling and I decide it was time come outside already.”
“No... I mean... Why are you in this world? That agent told me the wish worked and you went to your real world...”
“Oh, you meant that... Uhm, well, it is true that the wish worked but it sent the Kim Soleum back. The Good Friend this company made, you know.”
“Oh... I am sorry...”
J3 showed a subtle grim expression at Kim Soleum explanation. It was obvious he thought this time the wish worked, after all there didn’t look like there would be any plot holes, and based on J3 words, everyone seem to believe the same.
Kim Soleum couldn’t help but chuckle. They were good people that really wanted the best to him.
“It is fine, I am not obsessed with going back home anymore so don’t stress yourself over it. Anyways, what happened with Park Minseong?”
Kim Soleum was sure J3 calmed at his words, since he could see his facial returned to a normal and expressionless face. At his question, the golden eyes laid down on the sleeping man.
“No need to worry with him... He is just asleep... His condition is usually stable... and the biggest risk for him to go unstable has disappear.”
He was probably talking about how director Cheong was gone and lost all the power she possessed over the employees with the contracts she made when she lost against Kim Soleum and Yongyong, the blue dragon mascot.
Kim Soleum felt warm at his heart as his pride raised for saving his friends and defeat one of the directors at Daydream. He felt proud as if he just succeeded to win against the final boss in a game that nobody could beat before.
Proud for changing the stories in DER.
Knock. Knock.
Still getting the feelings at the back of his head, they could hear someone opening the door and getting inside the room where they were and stopped moving.
A large figure with a lizard head and red eyes was now staring at Kim Soleum without saying anything. Kim Soleum was happy to see chief Lee Jaheon again.
“Hello, chief Lizard! It's been a while.”
Lee Jaheon stayed silent and just blinked. Kim Soleum was somewhat sure he could read a confused expression -as if asking why he was here- in that inhuman face, something he was sure couldn’t have seen when they met.
After what it seemed a while, Lee Jaheon answered as he always does.
“Yes, hello.”
“Are you here to see Park Minseong too?”
“Yes”
While Kim Soleum and Lee Jaheon were talking, J3 woke up Park Minseong.
The boy still at the bed was still half asleep so the moment he opened his eyes he couldn’t register what was going on in that room, but as his mind was clearing and saw Kim Soleum, who shouldn’t be there, he yelped as if he just saw a ghost.
“WAAAAAHHH... aaahhh... uh?”
With that scream, three pair of eyes were focused on Park Minseong, now wide awake. And Kim Soleum gave him his best smile to lessen the worries the brunette boy could have.
“Ah... ahaha... Sorry, I didn’t expect to see you... uhm, Kim Soleum? The others told me you went home and wouldn’t come back”
After saying that, Park Minseong scratched his head and Kim Soleum smile again, seeing his friend didn’t change since last time they saw each other and the problem with contamination was solved.
“No... This is the real Kim Soleum... The one who went back was a Good Friend the company made.”
“Oh, I see... sorry.”
“It is fine, I don’t feel the need to go back anymore”
He tried to put an easy mood with his words, but it didn’t work well. Because after J3 kindly explained the situation, an awkward silence formed between them, not that J3 and Lee Jaheon would talk much anyway, but it seems Park Minseong didn’t know what else to say to comfort him, even though he just said everything was fine.
“By the way, do you know where are the others? I would like to greet them”
“Oh yeah, Eun Haje said she will go with those two agents and Go Youngeun to a cafeteria nearby”
“Thanks! I will go there then. it's been a while since last time I saw them all”
“Kim Soleum”
“Yes?”
Just went Kim Soleum was going to start walking, he was stopped by Lee Jaheon. His lizard pupils were fixed at him. Kim Soleum swore he could see some kind of emotion but was unable to identify what it was.
“Do you need advice?”
He was lost and didn’t know where this was going and his curiosity won, so he nodded his head slowly.
“You are still unstable. It is advised to stay inside Fox Counseling for longer time”
“You want me... to go back there to sleep again?”
“Yes, that is the best solution for your instability right now”
“...”
Kim Soleum eyebrows twitched almost imperceptible and his smile faltered.
Did they really want him to go back to sleep? And in that room? Why? Lee Jaheon talked as if he was contaminated but that was ridiculous. Kim Soleum was perfectly fine. Now that he was free, they wanted to enclose again? Why? Just why?
Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
He cut the thoughts that were spiralling and looked at the other two in the room searching for comfort, hoping just the chief lizard was the only one who was thinking that. But he was wrong, what he found was not what he had expected.
He realized that he read the mood wrong. What he thought it was awkwardness before, was actually uneasiness.
Kim Soleum looked at Park Minseong’s face and could see easily the expression of worry he had written on him, as if he feared his presence in the same room as him. The worse part was it appeared he wasn’t the only one.
Kim Soleum raised his head just to see J3 expression. Even if he always looked still, focusing on looking at his eyes Kim Soleum could find hints of concern for him and other emotions so hidden that couldn’t be clearly identified.
He looked back at Lee Jaheon and stayed there motionless, without saying or moving anymore, just thinking. If Lee Jaheon said he should go back into that room, to go back to sleep again, that he was unstable, Kim Soleum could confirm that Chief Lizard thought he was contaminated and was worried of him being awake and couldn’t control himself.
But he wasn’t so bad, he felt great, better than ever.
He felt perfectly fine and didn’t need to go back to that room. He had already been sleeping and restricted for too long.
He won’t go back.
Not again.
After a minute that felt an eternity for the others in the room, Kim Soleum smiled again with a soft move in his lips.
“Thanks for your concern, chief lizard, but I don’t think that will be necessary this time. I am perfectly fine.”
Kim Soleum started walking to get outside of the waiting room.
“I am going to greet the others! See you later!”
As he stepped outside, Kim Soleum still felt their eyes following him until the moment the door was closed.
The moment he was alone, he let the little smile on his face fade slowly until it completely disappeared and a blank face replaced his expression.
Kim Soleum resumed his walk again. He couldn’t help but recreate their expressions in his mind. That glint of wariness their eyes held towards him as if he was a dangerous and unpredictable being that shouldn’t be there.
Kim Soleum wasn’t sure what he had expected as a welcome. It was the second time he failed trying to go to his home with a wish ticket, so of course the incredibility, confusion and the disbelief of this happening again was a given. He even though one of the people he knows could mistake him for a darkness.
But they knew he was the real Kim Soleum since the first moment they saw him, not an alternative entity trying to usurp his identity or something like that. And so, he didn’t expect his first encounter with his former coworkers to be so cold and distant. The thought made his mood sour slightly.
He kept his path towards the cafeteria Park Minseong said Eun Haje and the others were.
Even if his first encounter went like this, he was sure the next one will be a little warmer, after all they were more emotional and expressive.
He tried to keep his positive thoughts.
He finally arrived at the place they were in and spot them easily since there weren't many costumers. Because they had their back at the door nobody saw Kim Soleum approaching slowly and silently, almost like a ghost.
"Hello! It's been so long!"
The moment he said his greetings he felt four pair of eyes on him and a heavy silence followed. He could feel the change in all their expressions; first it was surprise, then it was shock and then for Go Youngeun and Choi their faces transform into despair and for Eun Haje and Ryu Jaekwan their expression became into disbelieve.
"Oh? So surprised you can't talk?"
He moved his hand to cover the little chuckle that left his mouth. He couldn't help but be surprised and find it funny just how fast their faces changed.
"Kim... Soleum?"
Choi was the first to react and say something, still trying to process what was going on.
"No, wait, that's impossible. We made a wish for him to go home... This one must be a fake!"
Eun Haje said with complete convection. Not that was their fault, anyone who saw him would be this shocked, she just said aloud what the four were thinking.
"Yeah, maybe we got into a darkness without noticing"
"T-that's right! The wish couldn't be wrong this time. We even saw him go!"
"Yeah, you must be right! We did everything at our hands to send him back to his home! But... if this is fake it's truly well done, they cared for minor details included his veins"
With Choi words, a flash of doubt crossed their eyes. The four were absolutely confused but it seemed they set their mind on the Kim Soleum in front of them being fake.
When the group started to get on their guard to attack him the moment they saw an opening, Kim Soleum decided it was the right moment to explain himself.
...Again.
“Oh, no need to worry. The wish you made worked out perfectly, it’s just...”
He was dragging his explanation to choose carefully his next words.
All of them had contributed and worked hard to make Kim Soleum back to his words. Seeing him here would mostly affect them in a personal level and making them believe they had failed helping his friend, after all, two of them had died at his cause and the other two were directly responsible of perform the wish properly.
“Well, you see... the one who went back was the Good Friend Kim Soleum the one you saw and talk to, the one you knew and I, the real Kim Soleum, stayed in this world.”
He tried to lift the mood with a reassuring smile but his words here like cold water to them.
That was not what they wanted.
They wished for Kim Soleum to be back to his world safely and for him to be happy, not a division of him between the Kim Soleum they knew and the real one.
He saw the mood shift again to sour and their corporal posture, thought they didn’t relax, stopped being on defensive.
Kim Soleum tried again to calm the mood with words.
“But it’s fine, really! I don’t really want to go back to that other world anymore.”
And he meant it.
But nothing changed. They evaded his eyes, two of them looking at the floor deep in their own thoughts at the same time the other two were looking at their hands or outside the windows also thinking, probably still trying to assimilate the information.
A silence was created again, tense. No one knew what to do anymore.
Go Youngeun was the first to say something this time, the question at the back of her mind.
“Did I... did I made the wrong wish? Should have said something else?”
Her pale face was now directed at Kim Soleum, her eyes trembling at the unspoken question, afraid of the answer he could give.
Was it my fault?
He opened his mouth, but before he could answer another voice was heard.
“No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t be so carless. I am the one who came up with the plan and should have had a backup plan for if something like this happened... Of course something happened... Damn it!” Choi put his hands on his head, filled with sorrow.
Choi was angry at himself; he had been too confident on this plan. Way too much. He knew better than to trust a substance the shadiest company used for it’s own benefice.
With his jaw clenching, sighed and his shaking hands in front of him curled into fist. He looked at the table absently and still immersed in thoughts.
“Well, whatever. What is done is done! We can’t do anything about that wish and right now we can only be sure Kim Soleum is here in front of us.” Eun Haja looked at Kim Soleum and then look at the others sitting with here before continuing her speech. “Since that plan has failed, we just need to come with another and be sure this time it works, and no one is left behind.”
Everyone was looking at her and eventually nodded as new hope was rising.
With a new determined vibe, thanks to Eun Haje determination, the mood was lifted again and started talking about a new plan and things to take in count.
“Don’t worry, Kim Soleum, this time it will work, and you will be able to go home as you wished.” Choi said with a confident gaze, looking straight into Kim Soleum eyes. “This time we won’t fail, and we will help you for sure.”
Kim Soleum blinked.
“Uh?” He was confused. He was certain there was a misunderstanding. “No, I mean, it is really fine. I was serious when I said there is no need for me going back home. I actually like being here.”
Silence reigned again.
This time it was Ryu Jaekwan who opened his mouth.
“But... What about your wish of going back home? Don’t get me wrong, it’s just you look so desperate when we talked about it.”
His blank face went even more expressionless. Kim Soleum kept staring at him without saying anything. He saw the other shivering under his gaze. Until he took a large breath of air while regaining his smile again and finally answered.
“Oh, no, I see there is a misconception here, haha.” With a large gesture of his arms, he resumed his explanation. “You see, long story short, the one who kept an unhealthy obsession about turning home was my Good Friend version. You know, to prevent it from melting into a chunk of flesh.”
He stopped moving and silence reigned again between them.
When he opened his mouth again, his move slowed his pace and kept looking at him without blinking even once. “I on the other hand do not have this obsessive thought, I can keep living in this world without problem.”
After he finished his explanation, he dropped his arms on his sides again and tilted his head, waiting for someone to say something or some kind of gesture to show they understood this time.
But no one moved.
They looked like statues frozen in time. That was until Eun Haje tried to put what it looked like a nervous but gentle expression.
“Hey Kim Soleum, we are sorry. We were so confused to see you after all this time we jumped to conclusion on our own, right?” She exchanged gazes with the others sitting in the table with her with an unreadable expression in her eyes.
Seeing them nodding vigorously she continued. “So, how are you doing? Are you feeling well?”
With that complete change in the direction on the conversation, Kim Soleum felt better. It felt like they finally understood what was going on and go to how things used to be between them.
“Of course! In fact, I am feeling better than ever in a while, must be for all this time I was asleep, haha!” He laughed cheerfully. “How about you? It’s been a long time since last time we saw each other”
“O-oh we? We are fine. We’ve been missing you, you know it’s not the same when the group it's not complete!” Go Youngeun said with a more relaxed expression on her face.
“What about you and your plans for your new future? Are you keep working as agent grapes?” Choi asked with a smile plastered on his face and giving frequent glances at the others.
“Oh, no. I thought on get a new and safer work like the one I had in the other world. You know I prefer work behind a desk!”
He felt satisfied they accepted him again, not as the Good Friend but as Kim Soleum, he could return to his life as it was before exploded all that mess. Now he really felt as if he could start again without any holds.
Or at least that was what Kim Soleum thought until Ryu Jaekwan nervously asked something out of place again.
“By the way, did you do a check out on your condition? I-I mean after what happened in our last mission, maybe it’s a good idea to...” When Kim Soleum looked at him, he stopped talking, unable to finish his sentence, and looking away.
“You know, it’s good to make a revision just in case contamination has affected us without us knowing. How about going to Fox Counseling to check it?” Eun Haje chirmed in as if to try to make an excuse for him.
“You know I just came from there...”
“B-but maybe stay a litter longer is beneficious four your health” this time it was Go Youngeun who intervened.
This situation again.
It was just like when he woke up. was starting to get on Kim Soleum nerves “Are you suggesting I’m still contaminated?” Anger started to bloom again in his skin. He looked at Choi to know what he would say, daring him to speak.
“Kim Soleum, we are worried about you. We think you should rest for a little longer. Just for you to get better”
...
Get better?
“You also think I’m in an unstable state? Mmm... I see” Kim Soleum’s eyes turned sharp and cold as he cocked slightly his head to the side. He didn’t expect this outcome for a second time but now he could understand the real meaning of those glances between.
They were nervous and try to appease him with words, as if nothing was wrong just to send him to sleep in that place again.
That reminded him to when he was trapped by Braun. The same tactic.
An uncomfortable feeling started to arise in his chest, making twisted thoughts invading his mind.
Kim Soleum felt disgusted.
He hated what they were implying, indirect words of him being contaminated. Saying he was unstable as if he was someone crazy. Asking him to go back to the Fox Counseling to fall asleep for who knows how long, enclosed and abandoned again.
They want to trap him again, against his consent. Against his will.
They want to trap him.
They want to confin him again.
Again.
Again.
AGAIN.
Those he considered his friends wanted to confine him again.
ImprisonedAgainImprisonedAgainImprisonedAgainImprisonedAgainImprisonedAgainImprisonedAgainImprisonedAgainImprisonedAgainImprisonedAgainImprisonedAgainImprisonedAgainImprisonedAgain.
Crack.
“K-Kim Soleum?” A voice calling him was heard. He didn’t know who was the one calling him but recognized the emotion behind.
Terror.
When he focused his eyes to see what was happening in front of him, he saw the group of four people looking back. The same gaze as when he talked with Lee Jaheon, J3 and Park Minseong.
That wariness.
He saw their faces growing pale, filled with fear. The frown on their eyebrows.
Choi with his hand grabbing the handle of his divine sword, ready to attack. Ryu Jaekwan reaching his toy gun and Eun Haje taking out an item from her pants pocket.
“L-lets calm down! Y-you are bleeding, let me help you.” The numbness inside Kim Soleum’s mind when he saw them being so scared of him made him lose the words Go Youngeun said and when she tried to reach for his now bloody hand, with broken crystals stuck on his skin from a glass he had, he retracted his hand as if burned.
He was sure she could help to stop the bleeding, but he didn’t want to get touched. Not now.
Not by them.
He couldn’t trust them anymore.
The people that wanted to lock him again.
He wouldn’t trust them anymore.
“It is fine, the bleeding will stop.”
“Wha-? This is serious, what if it gets infected?” Go Youngeun felt flustered, her ethic as a medical student arose. The feeling of letting a patient unattended got her and tried to reach again.
“No.”
She flinched and ended retracting her hand slowly, avoiding his eyes. The pressure was too much. He knew she had good abilities as medic; she already helped him to survive more than once thanks to her advice and her care. But...
But.
“I’m not dumb, I can recognize when I’m not wanted anymore.”
“What? No! Wait! That’s not it!”
But Kim Soleum was already turning to get out of there, leaving them behind.
“Wait, Kim Soleum! We are just worried about you!”
“Yes! We didn’t mean we don’t want you here or harm you, just we worry you could feel unwell! Wait don’t go!”
Someone tried to catch him by his arm again, but he didn’t care anymore.
He kept walking, they voices were turning blurry, unable of distinct who said what and not understanding any more words they were speaking. As if they were talking in a foreign language.
Kim Soleum just gave up trying to reason with them. He was fine, he knew he was perfectly fine but trying to convince them was impossible. His words just falling to deaf ears, impossible to reason with.
He felt sick.
A nasty and disgusting feeling just kept growing inside him.
And like that, in a hurry, he just left the place where the ones, he once thought were his friends, were.
It happened for a second time; he was sure they would be happy to see him, things would become as before he disappeared and he could start a new life, just as Ryu Jaekwan said once. They would hang out together laughing at silly things and talking about mundane things.
Instead, he was received as a nuisance, a replace of their friend as if that thing was the original Kim Soleum instead. They wanted to lock him and make him go back to sleep as if he was a hassle to be avoid with the excuse of being contaminated.
He felt unwanted, with all those words about how he should be at his home in another world instead, not even once a welcome for him being with them again.
Their faces appeared on his mind again, those pale skins and the uneasy glint on their eyes, their expression of fear and wariness. And their defensive posture, readily to attack him at any moment he made a false move.
The accomplice exchange of glances trying to leave him out of their unspoken words.
He felt alone.
He was alone.
...
...
A being no one wanted around.
With nowhere to go he roamed for the city. No money to rent a room even the cheapest one. No friends to ask for a place to stay into.
Kim Soleum felt lost.
He just kept walking following an unknown path with no more places to go. He was just moving his feet, giving little steps with a controlled calm without stopping.
That was he did until he ended in front of a door he recognized. One building he knew way too well like the back of his hand for having spent so many days inside.
It was the dormitories of Daydream.
The place he was living for a long part of his stance in this word. The only place he could stay in that moment, away from the eyes of the rest of people that knows and cares about him but judging and wishing him away.
He moved his hand and grab the handle of the gate. And without a shrink of doubt, twisted it to open.
A smile came back to his face.
His legs started to move again and got inside the elevator. When the elevator opened its door, a hallway showing the front door of his apartment, welcoming him. He saw so many times that door he already memorized it.
He came closer to that door, and it unlocked fast and easy, still recognised as a worker inside the company. As if it said he had the right to enter the dorms.
He got inside his apartment and closed the door on his back. He inspected every part of it, the kitchen where he cooked all the meals of the day, the living room with the tv where he saw his cartoons to sleep better, his bedroom, plain in decoration.
Everything was the same as when he left.
Click.
Looking at the tv debating if he should turn it on, he heard the front door opening. Twisting fast his head to see the door, he saw a boy taking off his shoes, still unaware of his presence.
It was Baek Saheon.
He was probably returning from a mission inside darkness.
Kim Soleum was looking at him, still unmoving, waiting patiently for him to notice and see how he will react.
He remembered the faces and the expression of the other people he saw, and a pang of annoyance twisted his face for a split of second before returning to his neutral and blank expression.
And finally, Baek Saheon looked up and froze.
He stopped moving but Kim Soleum could see in slow motion the different reactions Baek Saheon had. All the facial expressions were showing his emotions clearly as light as he was assimilating what he was staring at.
He saw the shock in his face then he changed to a confused expression. After some seconds passed and still with doubt invading his face.
Kim Soleum saw him pull up the patch in his left eye to free his purple one and inspect the one in front of him.
He put the patch down again and with a sight full of resignation, Kim Soleum could hear him say something between the lines of “Of course is Kim Soleum” and “It’s always Kim Soleum”.
After another sight and dropping down his gaze he looked up at Kim Soleum that started showing smirking face, because he was finding the situation funny. “So, what do you need me for this time?”
Kim Soleum felt his grin widder and stayed in silence, feeling his bad mood improving slowly. With Baek Saheon’s reaction at seeing him again, Kim Soleum couldn’t help but tease him a little more, just for fun.
So, he kept staring at him with his smirk plastered on his face without moving more than for tilting his head.
And soon a reaction was shown as expected. Nervousness started to show through his trembling hands, and the avoidance of his gaze made it clear he was waiting for him to say something. Even so he knew the guy was cursing him internally, showing his annoyance reflected in his eye from time to time.
“Aren’t you surprised to see me here?” This time he asked an honest question, deep down he was surprised for Baek Saheon’s lack of reaction. After the initial moment he was showing annoyance more than curiosity or surprise.
“Why would I be? Last time you appeared after six months gone missing, just when I was going to the Fox Counseling. Now you reappeared after a year.” That’s right, Baek Saheon would just find it normal for Kim Soleum to disappear and reappear again after so much time.
“And aren’t you curious?”
“No” It was firm and quick answer. “I won’t have any benefices for knowing. Just tell me what you need me for this time already.”
Kim Soleum felt happy.
For once, no unnecessary questions were asked, no more people reacting negatively to his presence. Acceptance for him being there. No more tries to enclose him. Their teasing relationship didn’t change after all this time even if they didn’t saw each other for so long.
Kim Soleum kept his teasing demeanour. He missed doing his act after all this time, even if he was asleep. He felt joyful.
“Mm? Why would I need your help?”
He saw Baek Saheon annoyance made him put a funny face. “What the h-... U-uh! You don’t need me then?” He sighed and added an irritated screaming “My bad!” at the end when he saw Kim Soleum stare turning unreadable and crossing his arms.
Another moment of silence passed again. This time larger. Kim Soleum was inspecting Baek Saheon from head to toes immersed in his thoughts.
A thrilling sensation flowed through Kim Soleum body making him shiver. It was an addictive sensation he couldn’t shake off now that he has tasted it. A sensation he wanted from his friends but instead found it on the person he least expected.
Kim Soleum felt as if a deep, empty hole inside of him was getting full.
Baek Saheon treated him like always.
Nostalgia invaded Kim Soleum.
Warm as home.
When he finally reacted again. As if he made his mind on something, he smiled sweetly.
Unfortunately, his friends were genuinely scared of him as how he is and couldn’t act normal in his presence anymore, treating him like an unknown being that shouldn’t stay in this world because his presence felt like a menace to everyone.
Different to Baek Saheon who thought of him as a psychopath from the start, that is why he didn’t change his behaviour in front of him.
If he had noticed the danger, Baek Saheon would have fled from the apartment without a second doubt, but with Kim Soleum act, he thought he was acting as always, a psychopath.
“Actually, you can help me with something” Kim Soleum moved closer to him. “Come with me.” It was heard more as a command than a request for help.
“Uh? Where?” He let his guard down and confusion just grow. Baek Saheon was startled by the proximity he didn’t notice was closing, but he didn’t dare to move, as if his feet were glued in that place. “E-excuse me, sir?”
Kim Soleum put a hand on his shoulder, noticing the flinch he had, and with curved lips he got closer to his face.
“Come with me. I will reward you well enough”
“W-what? W-where?” He tried to step back but he couldn’t move, still being trapped in place by the hand in his shoulder. But the words didn’t get unnoticed. He saw as greed passed by his one eye. “What is the reward... Sir?”
“Mmm... What about a new home?”
“What!? Why would I want that?!” He felt offended by that propose. Just as if that reward was unnecessary. He tried to move a little but enough to get free from the grip but the hand stayed firm.
Kim Soleum got closer to his ear. “Why not?” His unsettling smile made Baek Saheon had goosebumps. “I could bring you protection. You will live an easier live and won’t have to worry about survival working in Daydream... Also...”
The hand on his shoulder moved down and stopped at his chest level. Baek Saheon could feel his skin and bones were the only thing that stopped that hand from grabbing his heart and shivered.
But he thought of Kim Soleum’s behaviour as completely normal, nothing out of character.
And that is why he didn’t notice the odd behaviour in Kim Soleum until it was too late.
That doomed Baek Saheon’s opportunity to scape.
He shuddered uncomfortable.
He knew he shouldn’t be listening to Kim Soleum’s words. He knew he had to fight with whatever he had to run and get out of that place. He knew he was in danger.
But the hand had him trapped and the black liquid coming from the melting floor were making it impossible for him to move in any way, trapped in complete fear like a butterfly caught in a spiderweb.
“It’s not like you have a place where you belong to...” Baek Saheon felt his feet didn’t stand on the hard floor anymore, as if it started to melt, making him sink slowly in what looks like black and dense water. “After all, to this company you are only an expendable piece which they can replace again once you are dead. You don’t have anyone who can be call family. Only people working for a ritual to kill people and killing the only one that loved you as true family. You don’t even have someone you can call friend.”
Kim Soleum got impossible closer, as if he was half hugging him, hand still on his chest. “You are alone in this world, with no one that will miss you if you disappear. Without a place you belong to.”
Just like me.
And a push.
Baek Saheon fell on his back but instead of hitting with the hard cold floor he wished was there, the black liquid welcomed him. He felt like he was sinking deeper every second that passed and tried to move his limbs to search for a place to lean again but it was fruitless.
And looking around to search for something, anything that could help him stop drowning, he saw Kim Soleum looking at him, unmoving.
“F-fuck!” He tried to scream but the liquid was getting inside of his mouth. “Y-you crazy bastard! Are you-... out of your mind-...! Uff” He tried to swim but the black thing was just too dense to keep him afloat.
Baek Saheon felt Kim Soleum’s voice resonate directly inside his brain.
“You are nothing to this world.”
Kim Soleum tilted his head, still making eye contact as he kept talking.
“Now you will be mine.”
Pupils glowed with unnaturally red and smile crept twisted“Don’t worry, I will protect you and give you a place that you can finally call home.”
Kim Soleum found what he was searching for.
“N-no... NO-...!” Baek Saheon was refusing and thrashing with all his might, he didn’t want to stay in whatever place Kim Soleum was teleporting him.
But just as his screams fell on deaf ears, his attempts to fight and go away were futile. He just kept sinking deeper and heavily until even his head was submerged.
Kim Soleum was finally ready to create a new place to live again, a place to stay and call home in this world.
And he would keep Baek Saheon as a gift from the world that abandoned him.
Even if he disappears no one will care after all.
So it was fine...
...Right?
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Darknes: Qterw-■-130■■6
A Darkness inside a dorm in D■y■■■m was found where former employees G■■■ and R■■ D■■r were assigned. Former employee has been seen at ■■■s■ay T■■k ■■■w and it is advice to get inside when is ongoing. Do not attempt to go before or after ■■e■■ay T■■k S■■w, else the entity ■■m S■■■■m will be there and will ■■■■ or make ■■■■■■ anyone he sees inside.
Former employee G■■■ can be seen living inside the apartment.
Do not harm him.
Do not attempt a rescue.
Keep him with a good mood to keep him stable. Do not remember him his live before getting in the Darkness. He will destabilise his perception and will become unstable. If that happens entity K■■ ■■■■■ or entity from ■■e■■ay T■■k S■■w known as B■■■n will appear and ■■■■ anyone inside.
If followed those advises, surviving chances are over 90%. Only those closer to former employee ■■■ S■■■■ survived breaking the warnings. No other workers were registered surviving skipping those warnings.
It is said entity K■■ ■■e■■ can get out of ■■■■■■■■ at will.
First evidence is the disappearance of an entire squad after an attempt to harm former employee B■■■ S■■■■n and successfully coming out of the darkness.
Second evidence was to find researcher K■■k J■■■ng without limbs after sending employees from squad D and employee G■■al on a rescue attempt. Former employee G■■■ reappeared inside the darkness and a note saying “He belongs here, don’t dare to try again, else assume the consequences” was found pinned on the door leading to the darkness.
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