codename:LURKER..

miaxasa​:

(...) “you really gotta fix these doors, they keep getting louder.” she says, a pout placing itself on her lips. she doesn’t move more than a few feet inside the space, letting her eyes roam around the room for a few extra seconds before finally looking at the older woman, wide smile pulling on her features. “coffee?” hyeri asks, lifting one of the two cups she had in her hands for yejin to see before finally  stepping further in. “i didn’t message you, wanted to surprise you.” she explains, despite knowing it wasn’t necessary. they were both busy women, both hand their own lives outside of this little things they did together. she stops not too far from the desk, extending yejin’s cup for her to take. “it’s just how you like it, i promise.” the medic says, smiling even wider as possible, as if she didn’t know how yejin liked her coffee, considering the amount of times she had seen her make it herself.

        yejin had glanced at the clock before, kind of wondering. it was a habit, a hobbie, maybe some sort of secret indulgence or something to look forward to. but yejin had the feeling that her friend, the medic, would show up at any time. it brought a grin to her lips, gently tugging at the corner of them to curve them upwards. a medic bringing someone coffee in the middle of the night – that certainly wouldn’t be recommended in any other circumstance. but hyeri was different and yejin didn’t mind. it was rarely that she even took her time off to just let her mind be at ease, to talk to someone and maybe just let out her thoughts. the sound of her door had her bring her attention towards it and she already knew who would come through it only a few seconds after. 

(...)

“i’m going to do my best to get us all in and out of there in one piece.” he finally says, falling into the position that has been given to him. doubtful that he might be, he knows there is no way to change it. “i think thermal readers could be useful. demons run pretty hot so we could give ourselves some warning if one – or even all of us–were wearing them.” he leans against the table with the file open in his hand. considering the location and the details of the mission. “it’d be so useful if we still had the … what did they call them? helicopters? and they say we’re advanced yet our ancestors could fly.” he chuckles to himself.

        daesu amused her, yet at the same time she was glad that he had relaxed a little. with a soft chuckle, she shook her head at his words. “you know, after all these years working here and still being a woman who consists of ... well, one entire piece, it would be quite tragic if we didn’t come out of there in one piece.”, there was some truth to her words, but she was mostly joking with the younger agent. “no, but i am absolutely sure you will do great. you got it in you, so don’t even worry about it.”, she knew it was easier said than done, but maybe some more encouragement would help him out. 

        she took notes of his words, scribbling down ‘thermal reader’ onto her piece of paper. with a hum, she nodded. “yes, radars and general perimeters checks should be good. after all, we don’t really know what’s going on in river block and we should secure the area. if that is even possible.”, lurker definitely had her doubts about the mission, something was going on and it sounded like it was somehow worse than usual. 

(...)

“yeah,” he mutters, just loud enough for yejin to hear. he knows daesu has been on edge all day. seb isn’t sure if the others know how much his partner doubts his own ability to lead, though. “aren’t we all, though?” he adds with a quiet sigh of a laugh.

“we should probably search a little. if we go too far forward without checking the area thoroughly, we run the risk of demons cutting us off from helios and janus,” he decides. he pauses and takes in the area– the buildings around them, which look like they have dangerous structural damage, which could provide hiding places for demons, or them should they end up needing it.

he hears something then, like a single footstep, or a rock hitting the ground– he isn’t sure what. it’s enough for him to raise his gun, however, and point it in the direction he thinks the noise came from. “over there?”

        she knew exactly that the bickering was distracting seb as much as herself, a noise in the background that couldn’t be ignored. yejin immediately tensed up at the sound that didn’t fit in and the feeling she had felt so often kicked in – tension, anxiety, adrenaline... a dangerous mixture after all. 

        as seb raised his weapon, so did she, checking the radar with her free hand. “no movement detected...”, she said, a slight tone of surprise in her voice. she understood why the senior agents had been sent to the river block. something was definitely lurking. yejin didn’t know where to point her gun to, scanning the area. it was foggy, cold and it somehow smelled bad. 

        the last thing she wanted to do was to seek out the danger, but with a sigh she gave seb a nod. it was her job after all. “be careful, maybe they’re up to something.”, it did sound like a rock had hit the ground, maybe something that was thrown on purpose. or maybe something was trying to move. her fingers gripped her gun tighter as she slowly walked forward, towards a building. maybe it housed families once, a long time ago, but what was left of it could only be a temporary hideout for demons or similar. 

       once again, silence hung in the air, the occasional louder word being muttered in the background. she tried to not let her footsteps make any sounds to not distract them and at the same time, to not attract any unwanted attention. even with all of the experience she had gathered over the years, she wasn’t sure how to feel about the mission – their leader was somewhere further back and they were pushing forward into the unknown. 

        looking through the sights of her rifle, she reached out with one hand, touching the other agent’s shoulder. “in between the rubble.”, she indicated, words almost hushed. “they’re just... idling.”, she continued as she pointed out the presence of two demons. it was still hard for her to understand. sometimes, she herself felt like her emotions were lacking, but she couldn’t imagine how it would feel to be like them. 

miajina​:

(...)

“i’m not sure,” she finally says to agent lurker, biting down on her lower lip. in a way, it feels weird – they’d been told that they had come at the perfect age, that no agents younger than 18 were permitted, but at the same time, she doesn’t feel anything like an adult. “armour is good,” she agrees quickly, the sound of bulletproof but not heavy armour appealing, of course – anything that can protect her and her twin from being hurt is something that she would heavily favour. “i’ve been fighting mostly close-ranged this past year,” she offers up uncertainly, taking the vest into her hands. it is surprisingly light, and her eyes widen. is this what technology can provide?

        “you have been fighting close range?”, she asked, feigning a little bit of surprise as she had already gone through her file. the young girl was impressing her, at least a little. she looked back at her for a moment, the racks of weapons in front of her being forgotten. “you must be pretty good at that, huh...?”, yejin asked, having seen her fair share of gruesome wounds on others, mostly from fighting at a close range. some of the scars on her hands and arms reminded her of that as well. 

        with a small smirk, she brought her attention back to the weapons. grabbing onto a dagger – completely black, light weighted and comfortable to handle. she showed it to jina, unsheathing it from its protection, showing off the blade. “would you fancy something like this?”, she spoke as she stepped closer to the younger once again, eyeing her curiously. “but you know, maybe you want to try something else...? there really aren’t many limits here. alistair likes to go crazy sometimes.”, she suggested, motioning with a nod of her head towards the guns. 

        with the racks being decorated with all sorts of firearms, yejin stood before them, arms folded behind her back as she mused. clearing her throat, she tried to explain herself. “you and your brother seem pretty close, and while i am sure you two make just the perfect team, maybe you would work more effectively if you give him cover?”, not that she wasn’t certain that jina would be more than capable to take out anyone at a closer range, but yejin had to always think about team forrmation and the logistics that went on behind the scenes. and sometimes, some things were just meant to be. 

(...)

real tears for the wrong reason, everything he does is playing a part.

he doesn’t answer the questions she had asked just before he had let the tears spill down his face, covering his face with his hands. once the tears start, it builds into soft crying all too easily, so many pent up emotions in him that even if he’s not crying for the reason she thinks he is, it still feels like a weight lifted off his chest. he gasps in between sobs, trying to stifle them like most people would, but it’s hard when his chest hurts continuously as he gasps for breath in between soft, muffled cries, malnourished frame trembling.

        one of the reasons yejin had never considered having children was the fear of not knowing how to handle situations. it was easy, way too easy, to break a child’s heart and they would carry that memory with them forever. it would shape them, decide upon the person they would end up being while growing up. so, while juwon was already a grown man, she remembered him differently. younger, with more fervor. it didn’t quite seem like him, the person who was quietly sobbing in bed before her. 

        the silence hung heavy over her head while she was trying to figure out what to say. she was trying to think, but the words wouldn’t form the right sentences. she was right. at least he said it. it wasn’t like she didn’t expect this reply, but somehow it made her heart feel heavy either way. she wasn’t sure if she should reach out, maybe offer him a hand. but her hand would be cold and maybe even unloving. so, they stayed folded in her lap as she quietly watched him come undone. 

        “i didn’t want to be right.”, she finally said, her voice almost a mumble. raising a child must be hard, specially if the world isn’t in the right situation for it. everything could be dangerous, from the smallest things– ... reaching for a tissue from the bedside table, she carefully offered it to the young man. “you’re safe now, alright? and you took care of yourself. you did it.”, yejin spoke, trying to encourage him, even if it would most likely be futile. knowing his parents, she had a feeling that whatever he went through, must have been something certainly nobody else would wish to go through. 

(...)

One more year? Two more? Even the previous agency head lost herself to negative energy, and she was human. Cheng felt like everything that he was doing was just him desperately buying time against a ticking clock. His time will run out one day, and whenever he thought about that fact too hard he felt a sense of hopelessness. “You’ll take care of my plants for me, right?” There should be enough room on Yejin’s shelf for Plenty and Lucky. 

        “lucky?...”, the senior agent mused, eyes still glued to the little plant. after all, it did kind of suit it. plants were sort of like animals in a sense, being able to thrive off of human kindness, unlike humans themselves at times. and in the end, it was indeed a fortunate name. “that is a cute name for a plant, you are right.”, she agreed with him, a gentle smile on her lips. setting down her glass of water, she folded her arms on the table, eyes wandering over the chess board. it wouldn’t help her headache, but she would at least try. 

        “you know, chess was never my thing. i learned eventually, but it takes much thought. i sometimes like to do things on a whim.”, she admitted, even though she knew she usually appeared as a calculated person. sometimes it was hard to figure out castle, she had heard about the one or another outburst – which seemed almost natural to his situation, so seeing him sitting in the sun calmly seemed like a totally different side to the man. and still, she moved one of the chess pieces towards the middle of the board, knowing that he would probably defeat her within no time either way. “your step-father was a farmer? must have been nice. i often think about how it would be to live somewhere peaceful with animals, growing your own vegetables.”, lurker let out a rather loud laugh, shaking her head. the time for that had been over and dreams would just stay dreams after all. 

        her eyes had wandered towards the other agent, seeing him sprawl out in the sunlight. his words almost sounded surreal, but in the end, they were true. he was most likely going to lose his mind sometime – just like everyone. for a moment she pondered if there was a way to cheer him up, to deny facts, a little white lie, just about anything that could be weighed down with some positivity. not like positivity was really a thing as of lately, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt, just sometimes. “you are strong-willed, aren’t you?”, she asked as she propped up her head against the palm of her hand, watching him. “maybe there is something more for you, who knows?”, she asked, maybe he had that belief himself as well. “maybe there will be a way to... fix... this.”, yejin said, her voice trailing off as she spoke. this had been going on for so long. the entirety of seaside had gone down, meia was a bit of hope left in this world, but it wasn’t looking great after all. 

        “oh my god.”, yejin mumbled against the yoga mat that she had come face to face with – quite literally as her nose had already come in contact with it and she was resisting the urge to let her head completely rest against it. deep down she knew, that these sessions would help her in the end, but she was quite puzzled as to how she would survive it. every time. agent puresnow seemed to be doing better, and yejin had started making up excuses in her head as to why, after all, she was younger, she was a medic, she was enhanced, her diet was probably better... just anything besides admitting she herself just wasn’t as flexible. 

        “is it really supposed to hurt this much?”, lurker spat out as she finally managed to move her body out of the position she had just been in, sitting down onto the mat. chest heaving with deep breaths, she used the back of her hand to wipe some of her sweat from her forehead. “i feel like i am about to snap in half.”, she admitted with a soft laugh, but the feeling was indeed there. 

        pushing her hair back behind her ears, she eyed the other for a moment. she felt at ease in her presence, luckily, and was glad to have her on her team as a medic. after all, good habits would hopefully last a lifetime and stretching once or twice a week was indeed something she had considered as a good habit - even if it made her suffer a little bit. 

(...)

he looks up when he hears yejin, eyes landing on the older agent and he’s sure his struggle is clear as day for her. someone who has been here since he arrived. he sighs when she confirms his wonder, not surprised she noticed something wrong. a hand raising to rub his forehead before he hands and gives her a small smile. “nothing really, just thinking about the mission is all. I’m surprised you were dragged onto the field though it sounds like the target is something… tech related?” He grabs the folder from the table and flips it open. attempting to continue seeming unbothered, the mask of a senior agent who has it all under control.

        she thought about his question for a moment, shrugging her shoulders lightly. she wasn’t sure, after all. “they probably thought having me around would be useful, but i am unsure whether dragging this old lady along is a good idea after all. i might slow everyone down.”, yejin said, in a joking manner – maybe she would get the newly-assigned leader of their team to loosen up a little. 

        watching him go through the folder, she leaned a little over the table, shaking her head lightly. “don’t worry, you will do a good job. you always take good care of everyone, it will come naturally to you.”, she said, giving him more assurance. it wasn’t a lie either as she was certain that he wouldn’t be a bad leader in any case, no matter what. there was even a little bit of surprise when she first saw his reaction, somehow expecting him to take the decision with pride and joy. 

(...)

with his eyes closed, he senses the approach of an unfamiliar presence. well – everyone’s presence in meia is unfamiliar. he hadn’t even recognized aera’s presence when he’d first woken up. rather than opening his eyes to look over, he keeps his eyes closed, waiting for the presence to speak or leave. the silence stretches on for much longer than he expects, and when the person clears their throat, he opens his eyes at the same time that the person speaks. no matter what juwon had expected, he could not have prepared himself to hear the voice he does, and he turns his head towards the speaker. it’s a voice he doesn’t think he could forget, and the shock is evident in his eyes as he breathes out a disbelieving question.

“… auntie yejin… is that you?”

        she waited a moment before she spoke again, taking in the sight she had in front of her. she didn’t quite remember him like that, he had grown - at least a little - and at the same time he was looking as weak as ever. pale, malnourished and somehow heartbroken. or maybe it was the feeling she was associating with him. yejin gave him a nod and a soft smile. “yes, it’s me. i didn’t expect to see you here.”, she said, almost in a playful tone. in reality, she really didn’t expect to see him at meia, even if she knew that the situation with his parents wouldn’t last too long. 

        carefully, she pulled a chair towards the side of the bed, sitting down on it. leaning forward, she folded her hands in her lap, fingers tapping against her own skin as she tried to process the situation. after all, him being at meia, alone, in the med wing had red flags written all over it. something had to have gone wrong, very wrong, and with his parents not in sight only worrisome thoughts had entered her head. or at least she hoped that his parents wouldn’t be anywhere close. but with a simple glance around the room, she could be certain that it was just him. 

        “how are you holding up? you look like you had a bit of a rough time.”, she suggested, raising her brows a little as her eyes wandered over his face. she didn’t want to pity him, neither did she want to stress him out by asking too many questions. after all, there wasn’t much he could do besides laying there, and fellow agents probably had already asked the same few questions over and over. how did this happen, where did you go, what did you do... and yejin understood how annoying that could be if the answers hard to repeated over and over and over... 

        briefings like these definitely weren’t her favorite. she didn’t think that anyone really liked them. before any mission, it always felt like the air was sparkling with electricity, nobody knowing what the superiors had planned. throughout the briefing, yejin couldn’t help but to fumble with the stack of papers she had in front of her, hoping she wouldn’t get thrown into action. she wasn’t in the mood for another injury. however, her wishes didn’t come true as she heard that she would have to push forward into the river block along with the other senior agents. biting her lower lip, she just gave a nod at the suggestion – after all, she wanted to help. 

        when agent helios ​was announced as leader of the team, she could lean back and relax a little. she feared, maybe, just maybe, she would have to lead everyone and the pressure of that was always immense: if anyone got hurt, it would be partly the leader’s fault. taking notes during the meeting, she finally closed her laptop when they finished, waiting until most people left the room. when her gaze wandered over daesu, someone she had worked with for a while now, she could tell he wasn’t exactly looking ecstatic. for a few moments, she thought of something to say, maybe smalltalk would break the thick silence surrounding them. 

self-discovery ,

a story in the past, with @miayejin !

(...)

knocking on the door uncertainly, she twists the handle, pushing the door open. “hello…? i’m j– i’m agent ivy. i was told to come to the weapons keep to be outfitted?”

        she did indeed have a weapon fitting on her schedule that day, however the thought of it had somehow escaped her over her cup of steaming hot coffee she had just gotten from the café. she had been blowing on it, trying to cool it down as the knocking on the door took her by surprise. the young woman standing in the doorframe had her even more surprised. she had heard of the twins, she had to be one of them. carefully placing her cup back down onto the table, yejin stood up from her sitting position and greeted the younger with a slight bow. “ah yes, come in.”, she motioned with her hands for the other to step into the space. “it’s nice to meet you, agent ivy. i am agent lurker, i work with alistair.”, she explained with a polite smile on her lips. 

        grabbing onto the file she had of the other woman, she went through it, her brown orbs flying over the words written on it. it seemed like she was experienced already, in some ways at least, but sometimes handling alistair’s weaponry wasn’t the same as fending for oneself somewhere out there. placing the file down, yejin kept the thought of jina and her brother being rather... straightforward - as written down in her notes - in her head, but she wanted to find out for herself. 

one sunny afternoon.

(...)

“I have adopted a new friend.” He gestured towards the little pot of succulent. It was new to Cheng but not new to the organization. You see, until about two days ago, this pot was sitting on another agent’s desk, where it had been for the past several months. A loyal companion, who had unfortunately lost its owner. Cheng wasn’t close with the person who died, but since nobody else was taking the plant, he figured he might as well. His aloe vera at home could use a friend and this succulent should do just fine. “It doesn’t have a name yet.” That was a prompt, but who knows if agent Lurker would be in the mood to entertain.

        she had been rubbing her temples as she wandered through the hallways, glass of water in her other hand. it felt like work was piling onto her and while working with celest almost always seemed like a pleasantry, working with alistair sometimes gave her a headache. sometimes things would just explode and she didn’t quite understand how nobody was fearing for their lives just existing anywhere close to the first floor of the building. at least she was done with that today and the medicine that had dissolved into her water, giving it a slight prickle, would solve the rest of her problems. 

        someone calling out her name had her stop in her tracks, the sunlight emerging from the room making her squint her eyes. she had been in her dark office all day, trying to avoid about any situation. with birds chirping in the background, she could make out agent castle sitting in front of a chess board, looking proud of himself. if she could have discreetly rolled her eyes at the sight, she would have. but having self-control was still an art of hers. he looked like right out of a movie scene, light flooding around him, looking freshened up, practicing his mental skill – probably a man that would appear in one or the other’s dreams. she couldn’t help but let out a laugh as she saw him sitting there, a slight shake of her head to discard her funny thoughts. 

        “a new friend, you say?”, she asked as she walked over to him, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear as she looked at the little succulent. “you picked a friend who won’t complain much if you take the right care of it. good choice.”, lurker said, pulling out the chair across from him to take a seat. not long, she thought, the thought of work creeping back into her head. as her eyes kept on the little plant, she noticed the pot as well. gripping a little more tightly onto her glass of water, she cleared her throat, pulling her eyes away from it. “you might need a fortunate name for it, let’s just hope that pot doesn’t carry any fate with it.”, she explained, a faint smile on her lips as she leaned back against the chair. 

        “it has been a while.”, yejin admitted as she went over a list of weapons on her laptop. “sometimes i even try to avoid going out on missions – when i know it is potentially very dangerous.”, the older said while raising a brow at her teammate, lips curling into a small smirk. these younglings probably enjoyed all the thrill... “the last few times i went out, i came back in pain – and...”, the other probably didn’t want to listen to an older woman ramble on, but it wasn’t like he had a choice. “it’s not like the pain just goes away the next day.”, after all, she wasn’t just a housewife and the wear and tear of different sorts of missions, the stress, the fights and the consequences all affecting her. 

        raising up from her sitting position at a table, she leaned against it, arms crossing in front of her chest. “what do you think we need for the mission?”, she asked, even if she already had made a list in her head of things to bring. knowing johan, she expected him to make a beeline for the handguns, or maybe even wanting to try out some sort of new dagger. however, that was going against her plans – even if johan was known for doing his job well at close range, they were heading into the unknown and she didn’t anyone getting hurt. a soft sigh escaped her lips, knowing that she wasn’t leading the mission, but there was still a sense of responsibility lurking within her, being the one who had been doing her job for the longest time. 

        it took her a few more glances back, making sure the two bickering agents were staying in place. her clothes felt heavy, a variety of weapons shoved into the pockets of her coat, handguns hanging from her belt. it was hard to not make noises while walking, but yejin tried her best. she felt tense, she hadn’t been on an outward mission in a while. the rifle in her hands reassured her at least a little bit, but somehow she wished she could hold onto it harder. “wait, let’s secure the perimeter.”, she whispered towards seb who had been walking to her side. at least she had him close, somehow easing the feeling of dread. 

        taking out a little device from her backpack, she placed it onto the floor. syncing it up with a small monitor, she gave the other a nod. “if any demons try to pass through here, it will alert us.”, she explained shortly, getting back up from her kneeling position. the cold and fear was sinking into her bones, making her feel her age a little. adjusting the gear around her body, she continued to walk slowly.  

        with her fingerless gloves, she could feel the cold metal against her fingertips, taking a deep breath. squinting her eyes, she tried to make out the distance, knowing something might just be lurker around every corner. “i hope they are fine.”, she mentioned to seb, guessing that leaving the two other agents behind probably wasn’t his preferred move either. “daesu had been on edge all day.”, she explained, even if the senior agent’s mood surely hadn’t gone unnoticed by anyone in their team. 

        her fingers were hovering over the keyboard of her computer, silence filling the air. usually, it was a mixture of low voices flooding through the door frame into her office, or the soft sound of typing. even the smells were different that day; her coffee had gone cold, the calming aroma of it long gone. her mind was elsewhere and it had been for a few days now. the hiring of new agents didn’t pahase her, as there was a distance between her and them. obviously, she was curious, as anyone else would be, but... this time it was different. the name was too familiar. a name that brought her back to seaside, to a different time. 

        some nights, the things she had seen in her past, things she had experienced and people she had met, would keep her awake. staring up at the ceiling, she would remember. sometimes, she doubted her memories. some things were so far away, that only a fraction of what had happened was still in her brain – some memories were more vivid than others. one of them was hwang juwon. yejin would not often find herself wondering about him, as sometimes people’s fate were unchangeable, and most of the times, out of her hands. but even back then, there was something about the young man that was just so convincing that his life would be different. so many hardships that could have been avoided. and maybe, just maybe, she could have done more. 

        with a sigh, yejin leaned back against her chair, arms folding in front of her chest as she looked at the monitor of her computer. 

𝚑𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚓𝚞𝚠𝚘𝚗. 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚜: 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐.

        it wouldn’t hurt to confirm her suspicious sooner than later. putting on the jacket of her suit, the tech agent made her way through the building, wondering if there would be secret places she hadn’t been at. maybe the solution to all problems was somewhere behind one of these thick walls. her steps were resonating through the hallway, reminding that she was alone, until she reached the medical wing of meia. with a soft knock, she pushed the door open, being greeted by a few beds and a feeling of misery – she wouldn’t wish sickness upon anyone there.

        the little chart hanging from his bed told his name, but she recognized him. he had changed. in her memory, he looked sad – but not this sick. yejin approached him carefully, not wanting to startle the young man. her hands felt clammy and she could feel her throat closing up a little – she knew she could have done more. how could parents abandon their own child? make anyone go through such misery? at least he was safe now.