'well, you're a pretty boy, aren't you?'
'thank you, sir,' jun-ho flushes.
''sir',' the soldier chuckles. 'as much as i like that, you can call me by my name, for now.'
*
where jun-ho befriends his superior
*
i couldn't find the artists for either o...
He'd been tasked with carrying the grotesque number of bodies out of the abyss below the tug of war platform and had just got done helping a fellow worker drop a casket off. He was walking down the hall, his 'coworker' a bit ahead of him, when something latched onto his arm from the right and pulled him towards itself into the darkness. On instinct, his hand reached for his gun just as the person caught him around the waist to prevent him falling over.
"Woah, there, Mr. Officer," the man chuckles, loosening his grip on Jun-Ho but not taking his hands off completely.
Jun-Ho goes red as he instantly recognizes the voice, pulls his hand out of his pocket and squirms out of Chin-Hwa's arms. Their position is one he's become all too familiar with after waking up this morning. "What the hell are you doing?" he hisses.
"Now, is that any way to talk to your superior?" Chin-Hwa says, and Jun-Ho can just hear his lips contort into a smirk.
Jun-Ho feels way too hot, and he needs to physically put some space between them by taking a step back. It's unfair that Chin-Hwa has the ability to make him feel this way. It only now registers that they're in some sort of small, dark closet full of cleaning supplies, if the smell of chemicals and freshly done laundry is anything to go by. The closed space is too poorly lit for them to really be able to see each other, and so cramped that there's barely room to move without brushing up against the other.
"What are you doing?" Jun-Ho repeats, the air between them stifling.
"What, can't I want to see my new friend?" Chin-Hwa nudges his shoulder, the touch unexpected but not unpleasant.
"I'm serious," Jun-Ho says, pretending to be annoyed despite the smile forcing its way onto his face.
"Okay, okay, so maybe there's more," Chin-Hwa reluctantly admits. "I have info on the games."
"Really?" Jun-Ho perks up immediately.
"Yeah, I did some digging, some big brain moves, some epic gamer hacking," he says so nonchalantly Jun-Ho can tell it's forced, stretching his arms and placing his hands behind his head.
"I have no idea what you've just said," Jun-Ho deadpans.
"I looked through the database," Chin-Hwa rolls his eyes behind the mask, annoyed at how much lamer that sounds.
"And?" Jun-Ho bursts impatiently. "Are you gonna tell me, or what?"
"Jeez, okay, calm your tits," Chin-Hwa says. "So I've found that there's this one folder of records titled 'past candidates'."
Jun-Ho's eyes widen. "They've done this before?" he says quietly, almost to himself.
"But it's locked up really tightly, I tried my best to get in but it is locked up tight. I'd suspect it'd be easier to get to the hard copies."
"They keep hard copies of the data here?"
"Yeah, but no one knows where they are," he nods, and his helmet bumps against Jun-Ho. Chin-Hwa giggles.
"Did you just giggle?" Jun-Ho asks, trying not to make his smile apparent in his voice.
"No," Chin-Hwa says seriously, and he might have made his voice go a few octaves deeper. "That was a manly laugh."
"Sure," Jun-Ho says. He's adorable, his mind supplies. "Whatever," Jun-Ho flushes. "I have some news too, although it's nothing major."
"Go on," Chin-Hwa prompts.
"It's weird and might just even all be a coincidence or a result of my overthinking, but Number 28's been acting strange," Jun-Ho rattles off.
"Strange how?" Chin-Hwa says, the genuine interest in his voice giving Jun-Ho confidence.
"Well, he'd always stare at me in the mornings or before we all went to bed, and I think he was coughing in morse code last night?" Jun-Ho says, prepared to hear Chin-Hwa's laughter any second now. Jun-Ho wouldn't blame him, it all sounds a bit silly.
He never does laugh, though.
"What did he say?"
"I think he just said Number 29, my number," Jun-Ho says, surprised at how seriously Chin-Hwa is taking him, the thought making him happy. "And now I'm thinking I should find him in private and see if he wants something."
Chin-Hwa sucks his teeth. "I don't know, Jun-Ho, that seems kinda risky," he says.
"Well, I need all the information I can gather," Jun-Ho argues.
"What if it's something dangerous?"
"I can take care of myself," Jun-Ho scoffs in offense.
"Okayyy," Chin-Hwa drags out, and Jun-Ho can tell he's not okay with this. "But what if I came with you?"
"I'm not a fucking child, Chin-Hwa," Jun-Ho replies, annoyed but kind of touched by how much he seems to care.
"Hey, I just don't want you getting hurt, pretty boy," Chin-Hwa says gently, deliberately bumping the forehead of his mask against Junho's in the dark. Jun-Ho's heart flutters.
"Whatever," he mutters, the butterflies in his stomach uncontrollable.
"I'll just...be nearby, okay?" Chin-Hwa negotiates. "Just to be safe."
"Oh my god, you're so annoying," Jun-Ho says, sounding exasperated.
