Chapter Text
Fuck, this just had to happen on his day off?
Lashing out at the corvid-type monster, Kim Roksoo saw Jung So Hoon trip backwards trying to escape a centipede-type monster from the corner of his eyes.
The monster's venom claws were click-clacking incredibly fast, nearly closing around Jang So Hoon's upper body. He’d be torn to shreds if it got a hold of him.
Jung So Hoon has a father he needs to head home to, unlike you, Roksoo.
All he needs is a split second.
Kim Roksoo ran for all he was worth, he ran despite the war Instant was declaring on his already-weakened body.
‘You aren't fast enough to save the both of you, den't you think?’
Instant’s duration was too close to ending for comfort.
"Move, you punk!" Kim Min-ah's voice felt like honey filling his ears. Her words dragged, yet there was a clear desperate undertone permeating them.
Jung So Hoon was too far. He'd never make it in time.
’You’re always too weak, too late, too ‘
’Shut up,’
He had a choice to make.
‘Everyone's better off if it ends this way, aren’t they?'
Instant ended three seconds too early(for the last time.)
He shoved Jung So Hoon away.
‘No one will mourn you. There's no one even left to do so.’
The world exploded into deafening sound after deafening sound.
’At least this way—’
"TEAM LEADER SSI!"
"ROKSOO-YA"
—it wouldn’t hurt anymore.’
Rip.
Crunch.
Tear.
Silence.
When Kim Roksoo was on the verge of heading home(it's not home without them) after the night shift’s end, an emergency call came through. An all hands on deck situation.
Kim Roksoo and Team 3, all packed into the company’s rattling van, strategized over what to do, the reappearance of monsters coming in waves sending everyone off-kilter. Dread pooled tow in his stomach, he had a bad feeling about this.
A wave of monsters, albeit small, shouldn't have burst into being out of nowhere, there were plenty of warning signs beforehand, but nobody listened.
Something is wrong, damn it!
Aiding Team 2 in the wave's aftermath—one dead and two injured—the dawn’s budding peace was shattered anew by a second monster wave.
Kim Roksoo's gut feeling was right.
With both on-shift attack teams on-sight, the chaos was swiftly brought under control.
All Kim Roksoo had to do was save a child and return them to their parents' trembling arms. How long has it been since someone, two someones, has held him that way, since someone his two hyungs worried and fretted over his health and safety?
His back was clawed to hell and back in the process.
Kim Roksoo requested the day after off.
It's cold.
Unbearably so.
Opening his eyes led to an unending white, dreary sky. The wind was nipping at Kim Roksoo's already numb skin.
“Ha?”
Is death supposed to be this cold and depressing? What happened to eternal rest?
Even for post-apocalypse Korea, this sky was unusual. Troublesome. ‘Well, it suits death, if I really am dead,’
The cold was unbearable. Tsk, he needed to do something about that soon.
Snow shifted under his weight as Kim Roksoo sat up, or, for lack of a better term, he tried to.
Fingers much shorter and scrawnier than his own greeted him, moving in tune with his brain. The pale, scarred arms that followed were undeniably connected to his body and his.
'Is it my body?'
'...' Roksoo sighed,
'It doesn't matter,'
Standing up took some some effort, what with his new child-sized body and newfound wings.
Wait…his wings??
Kim Roksoo strained to look at his back, where wings sprouted from his shoulder blades, staring incredulously at the new addition before—for the sake of his sanity—respectfully choosing to give up on the matter.
Should he be this calm when he died and is in a wintery wasteland? No, he shouldn’t. However, panicking has never led him to anything worthwhile.
Kim Roksoo trudged through the freshly fallen snow for what felt like hours, but were probably minutes.
There was no end in sight, not in the few dozen feet he could see in front of himself at a time.
His new-found wings had been a blessing in disguise, he found.
The howling wind contained sharp ice needles that weren’t pleasant to be hit by in the least. They made the biting cold seep even deeper. The thick plumes of feathers had held up pretty well so far under the ice needles’ unrelenting torrent, but it wouldn’t last for much longer.
Alongside his new limb and miniature body, came another benefit. Roksoo’s senses were now unbelievably heightened. It was how he was certain he was completely, utterly alone in this frozen desert.
Disgusting as his scars were, Roksoo was thankful he had had a reason to cover up. His clothes were somewhat warm, it had to be enough for now.
’What happened to being able to slack off?’ Sighing, Roksoo wished to give up. He left like crying for the first time in a long while.
Up ahead, he sensed something other than plains of snow.
Squinting, harsh light reflected off of a shiny surface...wait, reflected?
Tears welled up at the idea of coming across something new.
Roksoo knew it was illogical, but his stupid emotions were more intense in this body, and excitement overtook him.
'The closer I get, the softer the raging winds feels for some reason?' Roksoo shook his head, dispelling the idea as a product of his imagination.
'I must be more tired than I thought.'
Roksoo ran towards the object of his excitement, which turned out to be a frozen lake surrounded by snow-capped trees on most sides.
'This place could serve as a decent shelter until the weather eases up and I can leave...it'll ease up soon, right?' The snowstorm showed no sign of letting up in the near future, but surely it couldn't keep going forever?
—He’s here! He’s here!
—COLD! Death!! FROZEN!!!
—Is the angel meant to be a child?
—Who cares! Is he meant to be so cute??
—Poor thing’s about to freeze to death. Someone warm him up already!
‘Voices. Where are they coming from?’ Roksoo couldn’t see anyone. A warm breeze brushed past, easing the chill in his bones.
It made him hyper-aware of how cold he felt.
‘They sounded like they were coming from the lake?’ True to his thoughts, the voices only got louder and more numerous the closer he was to the frozen lake.
He hesitated to step onto the ice, kneeling at the edge of the soft snow. The frozen lake’s surface wasn’t perfectly reflective, but it was enough to see his face.
’I look like sixteen year old me,’ His skin seemed healthier than it did at that age, too. Yet, all the horrible scars he’d gained in adulthood were there.
—C’mon, where is everyone!
—FIRE! DESTRUCTION!! LAKE!!!
’Is the lake about to be destroyed?’ Roksoo frowned, scrunching up his face.
—They’re still rushing up from the World Tree.
’World Tree?’ Chills went through his body.
‘If this is another world, which it most likely is, then wouldn’t it be troublesome to be near the World Tree? That’s where the protagonists always gather.’ How irking.
No. He had to avoid it at all costs. Roksoo made up his mind to leave. He looked around for the quickest path to escape.
—He’s shaking! Warm him up again!
—Warm him up yourself, you’re the fire elemental.
—Shhh, you two. The elves are finally here
—Don’t forget Dragon-nim is here too!
—They certainly took their time, didn’t they?
Turning back around, a large hole silently rose up in place of the lake’s center. A dragon, too? It didn’t bode well for his plans to avoid anything troublesome.
He took a step back, then two. Seems like the perfect time to test out his wings, doesn’t it?
A suffocating presence spread, silencing everyone even remotely close to the lake. Roksoo froze, not so much at the pressure but at the way a blanket of silence fell over the area. Even the chatty elementals quieted down. He was in awe.
‘Wouldn’t it be great if I could do the same? The silence would be wonderful,’
He spent too long lost in thought, Roksoo notes, as a man? elf? crouches in front of him, previously unnoticed.
The pressure disappears just as suddenly as it came, but it doesn’t matter to Roksoo. He’s captivated by the being in front of him. The elf could easily put any person he’s seen before to shame.