Chapter Text
"I can't believe this..."
The red hair is familiar but the face isn't. Well, obviously, it's the same but this face is plumpy, round and his eyes barely contain that of a scornful man.
Gone was his bravado sharp and attractive face instead he is faced with a cute, youthful version of himself on this... is this a convenience store!? And why's he so short!?
"No way-" Cale cursed underneath his breath.
Cale quickly looked around where he was, and he feels baffled, slightly terrified. He looked around once more, there are buildings that are tall and bland unlike the tamer and more naturalistic builds of his territory. He breathed out and then someone bumps into him. Cale considers acting rude but when he looks up, he freezes. Holy fuck. Black hair? Like the charcoal?
" 괜찮아요?" The person asked but their eyes widened when they see him, "O-oh, 미국 사람... uh, are you okay?"
"Shit shit shit." Cale moved away from the stranger and likewise. No way! The redhead moved his legs - unknown of where to go, looking throughout the whole thing, the whole place and then he realises.
"Am I in fucking Korea!?" The redhead grimaced in disbelief, there was no way he just got transported into a novel of all things!?
Cale stopped moving, having set himself far away from contact as he settles in a corner.
"I can't believe the one time I do something normal, it gets me into fucking trouble." The redhead mutters in absolute grief. Okay, he just needs to gather his thoughts.
First off, what did he do? Right. He was almost through that cursed novel, he remembers being quite abrasive because to be honest, even if it was well-written, the plot sucked arse. Like who the fuck makes a kick for their character being so abused to the point that their protagonist can't feel? By the way, though he is not a writer, he can tell the amount of brain cells rotting at the point of character growth.
Second, Kim Rok Soo is the protagonist - he becomes a strategist for Team... Team One? What was it again? Right, um. His friends, family, acquaintances die by probably a decade from now on and it's due to sacrificing themselves for him to leave, and after that, he's promoted to be a leader after his leader died. The apocalypse starts when Kim Rok Soo is seventeen or something, doing his part time job as a waiter(?).
Third, Cale's sure that Kim Rok Soo has quite a rough childhood, supporting himself by part time jobs and that he's mentioned before that he was an orphan. Okay, cool. He's getting the hang of this but where the hell would he find Kim Rok Soo?
And who is he? Despite the host supporting his soul looked quite similar to his original body sans the short genetics, what did that leave him? Besides, he appeared just in front of the convenience store(?) and with some thin clothing. Are these literally their clothes!? This looks like his undergarments!?
Cale heaved out a breath, no matter. He just needs something to do, how do people do this? Should he hit his head? I think it would work... maybe, at least it'll be helpful in getting some of this guy's memories and perhaps the knowledge to speak and understand-- wait.
Cale has an idea.
He runs.
Through the streets where people are, he runs, he's going through pass the stores and for a minute, he looks back to see if he actually went somewhere around until oof-
The red-headed child falls from the impact, he hissed in pain. He looks up with a glare, ready to retort when he gasped at the face in front of him.
The large man in front of him turns, black hair, slicked back and dark eyes. He is dressed in a polo shirt, some trousers and what seems to be an ID from the way it hangs on his neck.
He screeched.
"Lee Soo-hyuk!?"
The man startles at the shout of his name, looking down to find a young man with rare red hair. Was this foreign kid lost?
Cale feels his heart drop. He certainly looks younger, and quite busy.
Lee Soo-hyuk scratched the back of his head nervously, he doesn't know any foreigner, let alone a child. Well, you know what. Why not use his English skills?
"Uh... hello? How do you know my name?"
Cale's eyes widened. Oh shit. Nice. He can speak his language, no time to mind the accent. "Oh- uh, y-your ID? Do you know where I am? I am lost- can you help me?"
Well, great. He also doesn't know where his supposedly house is at. Wait, what if he's homeless!? No worse, what if he was actually about to be sold off and the host of the body ran!?
Lee Soo-hyuk breathed in. Okay, so the kid is lost. What was the English word for the thing again?
"Um, do you have phone?" Lee Soo-hyuk gestures, pulling out his own.
Cale blinked, is that the thing that's heavy in his pants? He brought it out, he sees Lee Soo-hyuk calm down and nodding. The young man asks politely, "You can use the phone... to um, to call your uh mother? Father?"
He shows him the 'contacts', apparently, these are communication devices. Okay. Cool. It's not powered by magic. Well that's expected. He sees a few names on the said contact and there are three icons next to it. Lee Soo-hyuk explains as best as he can by motioning.
"Okay, I got it." Cale considers to do something, if he remembers correctly, the novel mentioned that you can get people's number and that would allow you to communicate even in long distant places like the comm orb. Since Lee Soo-hyuk is a... very important character and a part of Kim Rok Soo's life, should he keep tabs on him as well?
He'd feel really guilty if he somehow knew what's going to happen and let Kim Rok Soo be such a sad destructive man.
Hesitantly, he gives his phone to the confused scholar. "Number! I want to keep in contact so I can give you my thanks!"
Lee Soo-hyuk looks to be dazed for a minute, probably figuring out his worlds before shaking his head. "No, no. It's fine."
Cale pressed on, "Please?"
The young man looks constipated, Cale jutted out his bottom lip, he relented. The redhead smirked in victory, he is handed back his phone and he sees Lee Soo-hyuk's name on the thing.
"Okay, have a good day, Mister!" Cale quickly fled the scene, leaving a sputtering scholar while tapping onto the first number he sees.
It rings, "Young master! Where are you!?"
An unfamiliar voice but Cale takes it, "I'm lost! I'm..." Cale looks around and notices a fancy shop with bigger square thingies. "Near a cosmetics?" And oh God, why are there women undergarments shown-" In front of a clothing store."
"Oh my God, why are you- we'll be right there. Please wait!"
The call ended and Cale is stuck staring at the screen. Wow. They actually sounded worried, and they sounded desperate and quite thankful. Oh. Uh. Ugh.
This was ridiculous. So what he got is that he's still apparently a young master - though, he is not sure if he has anyone else. Seeing as there is no name or parental terms in his contacts.
Hmm. Well conveniences. That meant his moves aren't restricted. He looked towards the glass that reflected his body. Since he looks quite young, he looks like he just turned into his double digits. Probably.
"Young Master!" A young woman cried out, she is dressed like a man. Cale likes the change though it would be called disgusting amd improper if they were at his world.
He brought up a hand to wave, the said woman glares worriedly as she runs up tp him. "Do you know how worried we all were? We thought our one and only young master disappeared through a small fit!"
Cale blushed, he did not like how he was technically called a fussy brat that gets dramatic and runs away from home.
"I- I wasn't!" Cale lies, he doesn't really know but he's going to wing this however he wants it, "A-anyway, let's go!"
The young woman nodded, indulgently. "Yes yes. We will, and we are going to get your favourite shortcake, and you will be doing your work, as we speak."
She grabs his wrist and he feels a bit helpless. He really is treated like he's a toddler that barely knows how to walk.
Cale is getting a whiplash, no one's ever treated him like this. It's going to take a few more days to let this sink in.