Work Text:
The world ended on a normal afternoon. Han Yoojin was 22-years-old working at a convenience store. It’s not like Han Yoojin was unaccustomed to working odd and sometimes bizarre jobs. He had been doing so for years, ever since his parents died leaving him to raise Han Yoohyun.
Han Yoojin was pulling out cigarettes for the couple that came into the store. They also bought some sour candy and a few bottles of beer. Han Yoojin wondered if he should change jobs. Surely working here wouldn’t be enough. He’d need to add on at least a part-time job so that he could put more towards his dongsaeng’s college fund. He was graduating soon.
Han Yoojin was already starting to ring up the order when a strange blur passed by the window. He paused in shock, then waved it off as sleep deprivation. He was up late the night before to help his Yoohyun-ie study for exams. Then, after Han Yoohyun went to bed, Han Yoojin remembered that he needed to prepare their lunches for the next day.
It was sufficient to say that seeing blurred blobs wasn’t abnormal. What was abnormal was that the blob was seen by others as well. He realized belatedly that the couple that was previously at the counter had ducked down and screamed. Han Yoojin followed suit— not the screaming part, though, because he was still wondering if he had somehow fallen asleep while at work.
The sound of glass breaking was much more real than the pixelated blur. The crack was loud. Han Yoojin wanted to stay behind the counter but he heard the customers screaming and yelling. He knew that if that was Han Yoohyun out there, then he would be doing everything he could to protect them.
Han Yoojin lifted his head from behind the counter to see a dinosaur-like monster. It had warped wings and a triangular head. The beak was pointed and showed a few lines of teeth. It unnerved Han Yoojin but then he noticed that the monster wasn’t attacking them.
He raised his head further, leaning over the counter. The others in the store continued to freak out, running away from where the monster had crashed into the store. Han Yoojin definitely didn’t get paid enough for this shit but he was also fairly certain that no one could get paid to deal with monsters.
Han Yoojin jumped over the counter with the sort of strength and ease he knew only came from adrenaline. He landed beside the couple, then ushered them to go behind the counter. The customers quickly did so, their hands shaking as they searched for a phone to call for help. Han Yoojin noted that they were all still after that, and the convenience store was nearly silent, aside from ragged breathing.
Han Yoojin calmed his own breathing down before holding up his hands. He approached the monster carefully, his steps soft as his palms laid out in the air.
He asked gently, “Are you okay?”
The monster didn’t respond in a noise or language that Han Yoojin could decipher. However, the monster did snap their beak together to show that it was docile. No more teeth were on display. Han Yoojin got closer but the monster didn’t attack him. Instead, the monster turned to their wings.
Right. Han Yoojin had noticed that something was off about the monster’s wings.
When he stepped even closer, he saw the dark, viscous blood running down the monster’s wings. Its beak snapped again, this time nearly taking Han Yoojin’s head off. However, instead of hurting him, the beak caught the convenience store-branded cap that Han Yoojin wore. It was part of the uniform.
The monster threw the cap off to the side, then snapped its beak again at Han Yoojin. It puzzled him. The monster could attack him easily but it wasn’t. Why was that? Han Yoojin shook his head and approached further. The monster flinched when Han Yoojin petted its beak. It was quite understandable. They didn’t know one another and Han Yoojin was still wondering if he was dreaming.
“Where does it hurt?” he asked softly, his eyes searching for where the blood was coming from.
The monster slowly opened its beak again. Han Yoojin retracted his hand. He then watched as the monster pointed to a strange spike in the monster’s back. Han Yoojin approached it steadily, taking in the wound.
It was a sword. A fucking sword. Was he dreaming? He had to be. Why else would there be a sword in this day and time? Not to mention that the sword was in the monster.
Han Yoojin gripped the sword steadily, then pulled it out with all of his might. The monster screeched, which caused the hiding customers to scream, and that made Han Yoojin yell as well. They all screamed as one, making bypassers keep running when they looked at the scene and realized that it wasn’t safe in the store.
Once the sword was plopped onto the ground and kicked away, the monster froze as it looked at Han Yoojin.
Han Yoojin was confused, so he petted the beak in front of him. A weird thing happened after that. The monster leaned into his touch for just a moment. Han Yoojin let out the breath he had been holding in.
And then the monster left out through the broken glass and metal doors as if nothing happened.
Han Yoojin stood there, blinking, as he saw the dinosaur-like monster fly into the sky. The monster didn’t make it very long before it fell out of the sky from its injury. From there, the monster traveled by foot. Han Yoojin barely understood it when the customers came out and watched with him as they saw what was outside of the store.
Dozens of monsters ran and flew around. Humans ran around too, most hiding but some were fighting back. Han Yoojin stood there in a trance until another monster came up to them. This monster resembled more of a chicken than a dinosaur and it didn’t have wings. The teeth on this monster were much larger as well and it caused Han Yoojin to flinch back.
That was when a screen appeared in front of him. It felt like he was seeing things but that couldn’t be. Was this… Was this like a video game?
[Congratulations on your Awakening, Han Yoojin!]
[The Legendary title ‘Friend to the Powerful’ has been granted!]
Han Yoojin didn’t know what that meant. If anything, it felt like he was still asleep. Perhaps he dozed off while Han Yoohyun took a break from studying in order to play a game on the television? Han Yoojin honestly didn’t know what he was doing.
And yet, as he put his hands up, the chicken-like monster stopped. Its sharp teeth clacked together loudly as it stared down Han Yoojin. He nervously stayed in place, only moving when he heard a door open.
His co-worker stepped out from the storage area. She had been there all day organizing and getting ready for a new shipment. She must have stayed in there hiding until all of the commotion died down. She went white when she noticed Han Yoojin standing near another monster.
“Yoojin-ssi,” she gasped out, eyes wide and rounded, “what is going on?”
“I have no idea.” Han Yoojin admitted it easily.
He felt the need to do something, though. He pushed his hands forward. His eyes lit up gold as he did so. There was a translucent barrier that only he saw. He pushed the barrier forward until it entered the monster. The monster’s pupils became outlined by gold.
As if following a command, the monster under his trance walked away. Han Yoojin heard the customers and his co-worker gasp at the sight. He slowly turned toward them, his hands shaking as he blinked, feeling like he was in a daze.
He lifted his fingers up to the Status Window and opened up what his title meant. His fingers were numb and his heart was racing. Yet he was calm as destruction continued around him. He wasn’t afraid anymore. He had powers and he just saved three people.
[Friend to the Powerful(Legendary): proof of a powerful creature being treated kindly by a warrior.]
[Resistance(L): Holder is completely immune to poisons, curses, and pressures of Legendary level and below.
Tamer of the Powerful(SS): Allows all monsters to be tameable as long as they are a higher-class than the holder. The more time spent taming a monster means the more the monster is under the user’s thrall. Taming higher-class monsters will require more effort(for example, taming an E-Class monster will take less time than taming an A-Class monster).
Draconic Friend(SS): Doubles the effectiveness of all skills against draconic creatures, and similarly, degrades all draconic skills used against the user.]
“Yoojin-ssi?” his co-worker called out once more.
Han Yoojin looked up from his screen, then dismissed it. He looked at the three people who were staring at him in both fascination and horror. Then he smiled bitterly. He may feel old but he knew what had just happened. The strange black windows that had been appearing around the world were dungeons and he just awakened with powers.
Time passed slowly. Han Yoojin quickly realized that he had no idea if his dongsaeng was safe. He heard the customers and his co-worker shout but he had better things to do. He ran past monsters and forced back large beasts if they got in his way.
When he arrived at the high school Han Yoohyun attended, there was a large monster flying above the school. Han Yoojin nearly threw up as a dozen scenarios of his dongsaeng’s death entered his mind.
That all ended, though, when the smog cleared out to reveal another monster. Half of the new monster was ashes. The corpse fell to the ground. There were two flying beasts battling each other where han Yoohyun was. Han Yoojin felt only fear and a fierce push of protection.
Han Yoojin lifted his hands in the air. The other monster who wasn’t dead and on the ground in front of the school froze in mid-air. Han Yoojin pushed his barrier towards it. The dragon monster tried to fight it but Han Yoojin had multiple skills in use. His taming skill was doubled because he was facing a dragon.
He sent the dragon away with one final push of his hands. Someone else could deal with it. Han Yoojin needed to find his dongsaeng.
Han Yoojin looked up to see a herd of students at the door. That’s when he heard the yells. Han Yoohyun stood there with his arms out and above his head, trying to wave down Han Yoojin.
Han Yoohyun looked up and continued to yell for his hyung. Han Yoojin ran, uncaring that the rubber on his shoes melted on the hot ash as he bypassed the corpse of the beast the dragon killed.
He captured Han Yoohyun in a hug just inside of the school building.
“Yoohyun-ah,” he whispered into his dongaseng’s neck.
Han Yoohyun echoed back, “Hyung.”
Han Yoojin didn’t want to let go. He sank into the warmth. He needed to know that his brother was safe. He needed to assure himself that they were both alive and that this wasn’t a dream. He pressed a kiss to Han Yoohyun’s forehead, then backed away to talk to him.
“I love you, my dongsaeng. I always have and I always will. Even…” Han Yoojin swallowed roughly. “Even with the strange oddities that just occurred.”
Han Yoohyun nodded absently, but he was smiling now. Han Yoojin’s heart swelled. His dongsaeng needed to always smile. He loved his Yoohyun-ie. Han Yoojin barely noticed the notification of another legendary title being granted to him.
[The Legendary title ‘Perfect Caregiver’ has been granted!]
Han Yoojin frowned at the screen, then turned back to Han Yoohyun. There was ash in his hair and dirt covered his uniform. Han Yoojin probably didn’t look too good either. He ran over half a dozen blocks just to even see the school. Then he had to run the rest of the way. Adrenaline was an amazing thing.
“Are you unhurt?”
“I’m fine,” grumbled Han Yoohyun.
Han Yoojin wiped some of his dongsaeng’s bangs out of the way. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” confirmed Han Yoohyun. His own hand then reached out and checked on his hyung. “Are you okay?”
“I—” Han Yoojin was going to say the truth, but then it turned into a lie. He actually felt a little faint, in truth. He furrowed his brow as his mouth closed against his will. The world swirled around him before white dots appeared in his vision.
The last thing he saw was Han Yoohyun’s concerned face hovering above him. He would later learn that he experienced mana depletion, and since he was an F-Class, his body couldn’t stand up to physical events that well.
When Han Yoojin woke later that day, Han Yoohyun had the news on the television. The government was announcing an emergency order as well as preparing to create an association of some sort so that the dungeons wouldn’t spill out again. Any high-class Awakened personnel were being called forward.
The call to action didn’t seem to apply to Han Yoojin since he was an F-Class despite his high-ranked skills. And it didn’t apply to Han Yoohyun until a couple of weeks later when there was another dungeon incident. By the time Han Yoojin saw the events on the news, Han Yoohyun had already been taken to speak with the other S-Classes so that the government could use them to protect the country.
When Han Yoohyun came home, he acted differently from before. If Han Yoojin didn’t know any better, it was like Han Yoohyun was afraid of something.