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Just a couple of shots of soju were enough for Kim Soleum's face to flush. His cheeks were tinged a light dust of pink, the color spread to his chest, and he began to feel warm.
Kim Soleum didn't notice any of that. He was busy deciding what snack to try. The array of fried food and salads was spread across the table, open for the taking. As Kim Soleum picked up a piece of twigim, Agent Choi wondered if choosing to go out for drinks again was a bad idea.
He didn't dislike Kim Soleum. If anything, Agent Choi was too fond of the rookie.
He knew how suspicious Kim Soleum was, but Agent Choi couldn't rid himself of how he felt. An ex-Baekilmong employee was his new hubae, having earned Agent Bronze's trust easily despite how many walls the kid put up.
It troubled Agent Choi to be so fond of someone he thought was a traitor.
He kept on a smile as Kim Soleum ate his food, and then offered, "Want another cup, seonbae-nim?"
Agent Choi nodded, gesturing to which alcohol he wanted. He must keep a clear, level head while in the presence of a possible spy, so he chose the weakest soju. Kim Soleum poured the contents into a glass quickly.
As Kim Soleum then filled his own cup with a different soju, one that was much more potent, and abandoned the idea of taking small shots, Agent Choi hummed in approval.
He had invited Kim Soleum out again with one reason in mind. It wasn't just to look at a pretty face, though Agent Choi enjoyed that too. He was hoping that Kim Soleum would relax around him, become loose-lipped, and spill personal details about himself.
To put it bluntly, Agent Choi was hoping Kim Soleum was a blabbering drunk. Kim Soleum didn't even need to get drunk—he merely needed to be tipsy. As long as he spoke about his past or commented on his true thoughts about his current position in Hyeonmu-1, Agent Choi would call this a win.
"Do they have hotteok here?" asked Kim Soleum, eyes bright and clear. He wasn't nearly drunk enough to spill his sob story.
Agent Choi needed Kim Soleum not to eat. The more he ate, the less the alcohol would affect him. Agent Choi had claimed to be a good seonbae before. He was retracting that statement now.
"I don't think so," he replied pensively. Agent Choi pointed to a different bottle he ordered. "How about we just drink?"
Was he coming on too hard? Agent Choi wasn't sure what was suspicious any longer. He had been around Kim Soleum enough not to know when he was putting on a charade. He was becoming too comfortable with Agent Grapes.
"We are celebrating our latest assignment," Kim Soleum murmured, convincing himself he was allowed to break some pre-set rules of his mind.
He finished off his cup and then poured himself some more.
Agent Choi smiled brilliantly, inwardly cheering that his plan was working. He felt guilty for it, but he couldn't trust Kim Soleum. Not really. Not when Agent Bronze did.
He had to be the one to stay on guard, question those innocent dark eyes, and demand answers for why a Baekilmong agent would transfer to the bureau.
"If I drink, will you drink?"
Agent Choi raised his glass. "Of course!" He added with a wink, "Anything for my cute hubae-nim. Don't you know I'll do anything as long as you bat your lashes?"
Kim Soleum's blush increased, his glass wobbling in the air. He tried to hide like a turtle inside the shell of his civil servant jacket, but it was futile. Agent Choi had flustered the man! Ha!
Their glasses joined for a moment in a cheer, Kim Soleum avoiding his gaze. And then they drank. Agent Choi paced himself with a laid back grin placed to the lip of his glass, but noted happily that Kim Soleum did not.
The rookie finished his glass, and then he poured another glass, perhaps not knowing how potent his drinks were.
That then caused Agent Choi to wonder if Kim Soleum had a high tolerance for alcohol. It was a possibility he had to consider.
He had learned while undercover as Lee Kangheon that many squads at Baekilmong had weekly gatherings to celebrate living through the harsh conditions of their job. Kim Soleum had been a super rookie, hadn't he? He must have been well-liked and attended many of those outings.
"Do you normally celebrate with Agent Bronze?" Kim Soleum inquired as he pecked at the food.
Agent Choi faintly chuckled. He couldn't let it be too known that he had purposely chosen today to celebrate because he knew Agent Bronze wouldn't attend.
"We usually celebrate together, yes."
A wave of confusion passed through Kim Soleum's expression. "Why isn't he here—?"
Agent Choi picked up his glass and drank it all. Kim Soleum's mouth fell open, shocked to see the events. 'I still got it,' Agent Choi thought to himself as he set down the empty glass.
He would do anything to convince Kim Soleum this was a normal outing.
"You are too uptight," Agent Choi accused, not letting Kim Soleum ask him any further questions at the moment.
He jabbed a finger as Kim Soleum, going so far as to poke the rookie's chest. Kim Soleum flinched, but he didn't back away. Agent Choi's lips quirked up into a smirk as he jabbed his finger against the younger man's chest again, driving in his point.
"Soleum-ah should relax. May I suggest we stop talking about work…?"
Kim Soleum blubbered like a fish for a few moments, and then he gave in. "Alright." He took a sip from his cup as Agent Choi's hand retreated. "Then what do you suggest we speak of?"
"I would love to know how you style your hair to look so adorable." Agent Choi gestured to the way-too-cute style of Agent Grapes, who hid behind his wide-rimmed glasses and bangs.
Kim Soleum did as Agent Choi expected. He pulled on his sleeve until it covered his hand, and then he raised his hand up, trying to shield his embarrassed face from Agent Choi.
The rookie was too easy to tease. How could Agent Choi resist him? The words were too easy to say; they practically rolled off his tongue before he was aware of what he said.
The silence between them didn't last long. Agent Choi nudged a plate of mandu toward the rookie. Kim Soleum accepted it, eating one slowly while still avoiding looking directly at his superior.
What really helped get them back into the swing of things was Agent Choi asking for another refill. Kim Soleum served him dutifully. Agent Choi continued to drink lethargically.
Perhaps he should have eaten more. Or at least ate a little. He had been overconfident and overeager to prove himself to Kim Soleum.
This kid, who ranted about time loops for 3 hours last week, had a piercing gaze. Sultry, Agent Choi would say. Kim Soleum's eyes were no longer clear, the clarity dropping to show shadows instead.
"Is seonbae-nim feeling okay?" Kim Soleum asked, his dark look focused on Agent Choi, swallowing him whole. "Why are you so red?"
His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed dryly. Agent Choi hadn't prepared for this—for Kim Soleum to get some alcohol in him and turn into the type of guy who used blunt words and poor excuses to touch someone else.
Kim Soleum leaned across the table, sitting up tall enough for his arm to reach out. A frail hand with long fingers came near Agent Choi.
As soon as the back of Kim Soleum's cold hand pressed against Agent Choi's forehead, he knew he was fucked.
Since when was his hubae such a player!? Kim Soleum had never been like this before! Agent Choi was supposed to be the one with flirty undertones to every sentence he spoke! He had claimed all the cheesy pick-up lines. He had left none for his hubaes!
A lip pushed out, a pout of concern forming on Kim Soleum's face. Dammit, it should have looked pitiful, but instead it was only alluring.
"You feel hot," Kim Soleum said, eyes so wide and full of honest care.
Agent Choi knew Kim Solem well enough. This was not Kim Soleum's attempt at flirting. This was Kim Soleum showing concern for his well-being. Yet…
This was insane. Agent Choi was going to turn raving mad. With each passing moment of Kim Soleum's hand lingering on his face, he was losing decades of his life.
Kim Soleum's hand cupped his cheek, his fingers untrembling. Unconcerned. He was doing all of this with confidence, not reading anything into his movements.
"Do you need to cool down in some way?" asked the bane of Agent Choi's existence.
How dare Kim Soleum sound so innocent when he was anything but that!? His dark gaze and wet lips were too enthralling. Agent Choi choked, holding back a noise as Kim Soleum's fingers trailed down his neck and then settled on the exposed skin above his shirt.
Kim Soleum licked his lips nervously. Agent Choi would not survive the night.
He wanted the dorky Kim Soleum, who was nonchalant about any euphemisms, back. Not once since Kim Soleum had joined Hyeonmu-1, had Kim Soleum noticed the words that Agent Choi said. It all breezed right above his head. He had no care for what his seonbae's words implied.
But surely Kim Soleum had to realize what he was saying, right? If he didn't, Agent Choi was going to have a stern talk with him later. The rookie would have to attend a class or something. He couldn't be let out in public until he was taught what to and what not to say while in the company of others.
Kim Soleum was ignorantly coming onto Agent Choi. This was the same man who had once told Agent Choi that no, he didn't understand why he was being asked if it hurt when he fell from heaven.
Hell, Kim Soleum was ignorantly pursuing him. At the very least, that's what his words were implying.
"For your sake," Agent Choi said, heart hammering against his ribs, "you need to stop touching me."
Kim Soleum's hand, which had trailed its way down Agent Choi's face, and was now fiddling with the older man's collar, paused.
"What's wrong?" Kim Soleum's eyes went on high alert. He tugged on Agent Choi's shirt, almost like he was excited. Whispering conspiratorially, he asked, "Is it a new assignment?"
He was too close!
Agent Choi grabbed Kim Soleum's wrist before his mind could catch up to his actions. The younger man didn't squeak from the abrupt contact. He was staring at Agent Choi, nonplussed, waiting for a confirmation.
"No, nothing like that. Just..." Agent Choi didn't have a reason other than that he was getting hot and bothered. "You seem to be warm, too. Should we head home?"
He felt bad for getting Kim Soleum to drink so much that he had no filter on his words. Agent Choi was hoping for revelations of his past, not the ways that Kim Soleum would hit on him.
"Nngh, no." Kim Soleum moved around in his seat.
Agent Choi slumped over, his chin propped up by his elbow. Excitement stirred in his stomach. More time for his interrogation had been granted. He tried to give the rookie an out, but since he didn't take it
Kim Soleum slowly stripped off his jacket, shrugging it off his shoulders, and discarding it on the seat.
His eyes caught Agent Choi's, and an excuse rolled out. "I want to continue looking at seonbae-nim."
The gall this kid had…
With the hand of his propped-up elbow, Agent Choi hid behind his fingers. Shoulders trembled from the words of his blasé hubae. He was hot, just as Kim Soleum had said. Every single word that came from the rookie's mouth further spiraled Agent Choi's emotions.
He couldn't even look at Kim Soleum without feeling as if he were going to explode.
As if feeling the same wave of heat as him, Kim Soleum undid the top buttons on his shirt. His pale blue jacket lay forgotten on the seat, draped carelessly, as Kim Soleum's collarbones and flushed skin were exposed for anyone to see.
Agent Choi was looking. Staring openly, some would say. Ingraining it into his memory. Why not? Why shouldn't he look at his hubae? There was a treat in front of him. What was he supposed to do, deny himself the view? Even if he wasn't that good a person, a saint would have taken a peek.
"Why aren't you looking at me?" Kim Soleum asked, a whine in his voice.
His fingers picked up a utensil. He used it to spin around a plate of vegetables as his gaze remained locked on Agent Choi. The rookie was pouting and hunched over, practically begging for Agent Choi to pay attention to him.
"Hah." Agent Choi released a sigh. He sat up, raking his fingers through his hair before slumping into a more relaxed position.
Kim Soleum's eyes were still dark, but it was more like the fractured colors of oil meeting water—a rainbow shine gleaming across his irises. His lip was bitten from where he was holding back from asking Agent Choi more questions.
"Are you even aware that you look like this?" Agent Choi breathed out, relieved to finally speak the words he had been holding back all this time.
Kim Soleum couldn't have known how he looked. He couldn't have known how Agent Choi felt while in his presence. If Kim Soleum knew, the rookie wouldn't be so friendly. He would be shoving Agent Choi away and telling him to stop cracking jokes while they were in a Disaster.
Lifting his glass to his lips, Kim Soleum's eyes only sparkled more. He smiled as he drank, eyebrows lifted. He was no longer Agent Grapes, who would never be caught doing anything but solving problems while on the clock. This was Kim Soleum, who had drunk one too many drinks and decided that he could do what he never allowed himself to do before.
"Does seonbae-nim like what he sees?" Kim Soleum spoke with a tilt of his head as he set his empty glass down loudly.
No, it wasn't loud. It only felt loud because Agent Choi was ultra-aware of every slight movement Kim Soleum made.
Every time Kim Soleum shifted in his seat, gnawed his lip nervously with anticipation, and his throat bobbed as if he needed something more to quench his thirst, Agent Choi had noticed it all.
He needed to get out of here while he still had some sanity. Agent Choi raised his hand. He would pay the bill before he lost all of his inhibitions and decided to fall for Kim Soleum's charms.
"You need to get home."
There was no telling how long Agent Choi could last without giving in. He was supposed to be interrogating Kim Soleum, but he couldn't form any functional words. No logical lines of thinking existed here!
"There are still things to eat." Kim Soleum poked his finger at a half-filled bowl. "Isn't it a waste to leave now?"
It was a waste, but Agent Choi was barely keeping it together. He stood up, walked around the booth, and pulled Kim Soleum to his feet. Kim Soleum didn't fight against him, his body swaying easily.
At the last minute, Agent Choi bent over to fetch Kim Soleum's jacket. He hung it over his free shoulder, the other one occupied by Kim Soleum leaning against him for support.
"You're warm," Kim Soleum murmured, voice full of awe and comfort. His eyelashes fluttered when he glanced up to his seonbae.
"You are too." Agent Choi chuckled lightly.
He grabbed Kim Soleum's waist to steady him, and thus began their trek outside. Spending time in the cold, fresh air would sober him up.
They made it three steps outside before Kim Soleum lost his footing and tripped. Agent Choi caught him, but was served with Kim Soleum's hands groping his chest in return.
He shouldn't have devised a plan to interrogate his hubae. It only led to things like this.
Him feeling guilty as Kim Soleum was presented to him with a ribbon wrapped around his arms with a bow across his chest.
Warm breath exhaled across Agent Choi's neck. There was a giggle erupting from Kim Soleum's mouth. His fingers squeezed gently, pinching the fabric protecting Agent Choi's skin, trying to test the muscles underneath.
"You are quite firm," Kim Soleum noted, as if he were casually talking about his theory on why a Disaster was constructed the way it was. He beamed up at Agent Choi, complimenting him. "He doesn't look like it, but seonbae-nim is fit, isn't he?"
The walk home was going to be long, he could tell.
They were stuck together, Kim Soleum clinging to Agent Choi so that he would stay upright. Agent Choi, who was a little over the edge of tipsy as well, was only able to walk well because he was used to this.
He should have known that someone as straight-laced as Agent Grapes wouldn't have a high tolerance. He was a lightweight, someone who'd have a couple of shots and be buzzing a few minutes later.
The drunken ramblings began when they were only a block away from their starting position.
"You're the best." Kim Soleum was looking at him with starry eyes when he wasn't tripping over his feet. "Since you're the best, you deserve the best in life, too."
Agent Choi should have called a taxi cab. He should have, but didn't, because he was still hopeful of learning more about his hubae's interests in the bureau.
"Y'know, I wish nothing but the best for my seonbae-nim."
"I know, Soleum-ah." Agent Choi was going to break out in hives. He could handle only so many compliments and aspirations for his future. "You've said so—"
"I just really, really need you to know that. I didn't ask to be here or to be on your team, upsetting the dynamics that were already in place."
He was too drunk. His words were beginning to slur. Kim Soleum was a certified lightweight; Agent Choi was officially a sleaze bag.
"Soleum-ah has helped us a lot." He rubbed Kim Soleum's shoulder up and down. "Don't try to disappear on us now, hubae-nim."
Since when did Agent Choi take care of rookies like this? He had never done this for Agent Bronze, and his Jaekwan-ie was a treasure to the world.
With a shaking voice, Kim Soleum asked, "You don't hate me, then?"
Was he going to start crying? His eyelashes clumped together with tears threatening to fall. His irises were like a television reflection, dark but clear.
He refrained from sighing. "I don't hate you."
"But do you like me?"
The puppy eyes were pulled out. Or maybe that was simply the way Kim Soleum's eyes looked just before he cried. He looked so heartbroken at the idea of not being well-liked at the office. It left a fizzy, tingling sensation in Agent Choi's chest.
He coughed as he turned his head, and then admitted, "I don't mind you."
"So it's not hate." Kim Soleum grumbled, his hand gripping tightly around Agent Choi's arm. "If you don't like me, you must hate me."
"I'm neutral on it."
Naturally, he was lying.
Agent Choi was the opposite of neutral about the man known as Kim Soleum. He had too much yet too little information on the bureau's recruit. He couldn't hand over his trust right now, but there were some things Agent Choi couldn't hold back.
"If I went on an assignment tomorrow and didn't return for a month, would you mourn me?"
This diabolical rookie of his... What the hell was he talking about?
Agent Choi's face turned blank as Kim Soleum looked at him earnestly. Tears fell from his eyes, but no new ones accumulated. It felt like a late response.
"I've been MIA before, seonbae-nim," Kim Soleum explained, voice turning mellow. Detached. "I thought I was being protected by a friend. Turned out, he was controlling. I made it out, made it back to this reality, but sometimes I think about how I could have stayed on the show and not have to deal with any of this."
Agent Choi, or rather K.Lee, was aware that the field agent Roe Deer had gone MIA. Was Kim Soleum telling him about that time?
He was surprised. He assumed that Kim Soleum would never talk about his time as a Baekilmong field agent.
"I returned," Kim Soleum repeated. A serene smile stretched across his face, and his fingers dug into Agent Choi's arm. "Maybe it was just to save you."
Agent Choi chuckled, a forced thing. "Sure, you saved me." It was sarcastic in every meaning of the word.
A rookie, no matter how talented, couldn't have saved him. They had only gone on a few assignments together. They were all relatively safe. How did Kim Soleum get it in his head that he had saved Agent Choi?
Kim Soleum was anything but sarcastic. In a serious tone, he continued, "Looky Mart... I'm so glad you didn't die there, seonbae-nim. I would have been really upset if I had never gotten to meet the infamous Agent Choi."
"Ah?" Agent Choi stopped, standing in the middle of the sidewalk with his sorry excuse of a hubae leaning on him. "So you knew of me?"
The said hubae's head was resting on his shoulder, his glasses crooked across his face. He looked more like a university student and not the star-studded rookie of the bureau who destroyed Disasters when given an afternoon.
"Yeah..." Kim Soleum grinned, his breath exhaling across Agent Choi's neck. He reeked of alcohol, but it had sweet undertones. "Coming to the bureau was worth it just to see how handsome you are in person."
Ahahaha, this kid was going to give him a heart attack. You couldn't just say those things, you know?
"Soleum-ah is too drunk to find his way home." It was just dawning on him that the rookie wouldn't be able to go home alone. No attempt at sobering up would help. He readjusted his grip on the younger man. "What's your address?"
Agent Choi couldn't help but ensure that Kim Soleum got home safely. It was his fault for his current situation, after all.
He regretted trying to salvage his title as a good seonbae. He shouldn't have helped Kim Soleum get home at all. He should have left him on the street.
The motel was the first sign of something off-kilter happening. Agent Choi half thought it was Kim Soleum trying to stay secretive. He'd pay for a room so that Agent Choi didn't know where he lived.
But then Kim Soleum leaned against the door as Agent Choi checked the jacket for keys. Inside Kim Soleum's jacket, he found the younger man's phone and keys. A key that went to the very motel room they were at.
The rookie wasn't leading him on a wild goose chase. Kim Soleum lived in this dump, probably ever since he left Baekilmong. Did it mean that Kim Soleum was innocent?
With a hand shaking from excitement, Agent Choi unlocked the room. He then stuffed the keys into his pocket and pulled Kim Soleum against him.
Turning against him, using the leverage, Kim Soleum pushed Agent Choi against the motel's door. The movement happened so quickly that the air from Agent Choi's lungs disappeared.
Practically whispering in his ear, the rookie said on his tippytoes, "Seonbae-nim is very fetching. Has anyone told you that before?"
The kiss pressed against his neck wasn't entirely unexpected. Agent Choi could read between the lines, even if those lines were Kim Soleum's nonchalant face versus his drunken actions.
Agent Choi dropped his chin, and he didn't have any time to think before Kim Soleum pressed their lips together. He tasted bitter, strong. Agent Choi wanted more. He lifted his hands and grabbed Kim Soleum's head, taking what he was giving.
Humming against his lips, Kim Soleum made it fun. Agent Choi licked into Kim Soleum's mouth, pushing their chests together. Kim Soleum made a keening noise, like he had never tasted anything sweeter, before pulling away to breathe. Saliva glistened on both their mouths.
"Fuck." Agent Choi gazed down at Kim Soleum, unsure if he could walk away after all of this.
Kim Soleum raised a hand, wiping his mouth. He looked more innocent all of a sudden, doe-eyed. Agent Choi groaned. This was doing nothing to help him out. It was only causing him to want to stay longer.
With that nonchalant face, he said in slight awe, "You're good at this."
What did Kim Soleum expect him to do? Not to try to devour him? After hearing that, Agent Choi had no restraints. Agent Choi was a starving man in need of another's presence.
They walked to the bed, a series of misplaced limbs and heated air. Agent Choi was already thinking of how he was going to unwrap his present. Kim Soleum's hands were on the older man's pants, trying to undo the belt without looking at him, his mind more occupied with kissing Agent Choi.
He leaned Kim Soleum against the mattress gently, cradling his back as he fell backward. Kim Soleum let out an airy huff, similar to a laugh. Agent Choi grinned to himself.
So he didn't exactly interrogate his hubae. He still got something out of it—a possible relationship with someone who would brush off his flirtations but think of him fondly.
Agent Choi's fingers gripped the edge of his shirt. He was thrilled, feeling more alive and clear-headed than he had been for weeks. He ripped off his shirt, tossing it to the ground.
However, when he went in for a kiss, he realized that Kim Soleum was no longer moving. A small noise, a mixture of a moan and a groan, slipped out of Kim Soleum's lips.
The rookie had fallen asleep just as soon as they began to make progress.
Deflating, Agent Choi sat on the end of the bed. He couldn't even be mad. This was karmic retribution. He went into the night believing that he'd interrogate his intoxicated hubae, and instead got a handsy rookie who was too charming for his own good.
Pressing a hand to his forehead, all Agent Choi could do was release a wry laugh as he looked back to Kim Soleum's relaxed, unstressed form.
As he took off Kim Soleum's glasses, setting them on the side table, he had one thought. 'He's too damn cute for me anyway.' It was better for this to fail now rather than later.
He ended up falling asleep beside Kim Soleum. Neither of them were in good condition, and the adrenaline for getting Kim Soleum home safely faded. Aches and pains returned.
Agent Choi was woken up by Kim Soleum wiggling around on the bed. He opened his eyes, already wanting to go back to resting. It was too early, hubae! Did you not sleep?
But then he saw Kim Soleum. The rookie had a fierce blush across his cheeks, even the tips of his ears turning redder by the second.
He croaked out, "D– Did I say…?"
Agent Choi didn't miss his moment. He grinned from below and said, "Soleum-ah likes me for more than just my body, is that it?"
Kim Soleum tried to hide behind his hands, and then he realized that wasn't enough, and burrowed under the covers. That was the Kim Soleum whom Agent Choi was more familiar with.