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Getting up from his desk, Choi cracked his back and started rummaging in his jacket’s pockets under Ryu Jaekwan’s somewhat passive, somewhat curious gaze.
He’d been sitting at his desk for what must have been hours, yet the paperwork never seemed to decrease. It was one of those parts of Bureau work that he hated, because there was no gratification behind it, no relief at the lives saved and deaths prevented; it was just boring, repetitive, bureaucratic work.
Finally getting a hold of what he’d been scouring his pockets for, Choi takes out a pack of cigarettes and feels his exhaustion simultaneously almost disappear. Not reacting to the disapproving glare of his hoobae, he shoves the pack into his pants pocket and makes a beeline for the door with a satisfied beam.
“Smoke break! Keep working hard, Jaekwan~.”
Ignoring (again) his dearest hoobae’s resigned sigh, Choi finds himself walking to the back of the Bureau’s main building. A small gap between two buildings, he’d learned about that spot after sneaking out for a break with one of his seniors way back then.
It was a hidden corner where he’d crouch with his sunbaes and swallow in the smoke for a moment: after a particularly tough mission to calm their nerves; after an easy rescue operation where nobody got injured, physically or supernaturally; to grieve; to celebrate.
Though now he was mostly alone on these breaks, save for the traces of ash he’d find there on occasion—whoever also came here was one hell of a smoker…maybe he should wait around and catch them for a drink. The youngsters at the bureau don’t seem interested in the more hidden spots of the site, and, well, his hoobaes, ever the goodie two-shoes, don’t smoke.
Speaking of his juniors, he had to stop himself from chuckling at the thought of Jaekwan’s almost pouty frown whenever he excused himself for a smoke. Really, his hoobae was too adorable and too worried about him. The last thing that could kill Choi was a cigarette, if only because it would lack the time to finish the job.
And the rookie…well, to think about him is to open a whole other can of worms, and Choi’s out for a smoke to get his mind off things. Though Grapes had been gone from his desk—bathroom break, he said—for a while… Well, if the youngster just wanted to slack off a little, who was Choi to reprimand him? That was Jaekwan’s specialty!
When he finally approached his spot, he took out a cigarette in anticipation, only to realise he didn’t have a light.
He had left his lighter in his jacket.
At his desk.
“...”
Before he could steel himself to walk all the way back to get it, he caught the faint smell of smoke right around the corner. Somebody else must be smoking; he’d just have to ask to borrow a lighter.
Somebody a little more introverted might’ve gone back to get the lighter and find another spot, but honestly, Choi had been taking his smoke breaks alone for so long, a little company wouldn’t hurt.
Turning the corner, he almost dropped his cigarette case.
Kim Soleum was squatting there, looking like a delinquent skipping class, with his glasses hanging on his shirt collar and a half-empty pack of cigarettes in his hand. His bangs, hanging in front of his eyes as per usual, did nothing to soften the impression he gave off. Really, this was the complete opposite of everything “Grapes” stood for! The image of the cute, innocent, yet scarily dependent junior of his is all gone! Replaced by a scary-looking delinquent letting out sinful puffs of smoke in back alleys!
If Choi wasn’t frozen in surprise, he would’ve sworn.
“Ah!...”
Grapes, too, seemed taken by surprise as he almost let go of his cigarette—judging by the amount of fresh ash under his shoe, it wasn’t his first— before straightening himself and politely greeting his senior.
“Agent Choi…”
The other only hummed non-commitally, before slipping back into his cheery charade. Sliding an arm around Kim Soleum’s shoulder, he let out a chuckle and gently squeezed the other's arm.
“Ah, Grapes! I didn’t know you smoked.”
The other nodded briefly as he put on his glasses, the cigarette that was once between his fingers magically disappearing as he did. He tried to slip out of Choi's grasp, but that only caused him to tighten his grip.
“Where are you going? I’m not here to admonish you, you know! I’m a very laid-back senior!”
“Ah…yes, yes, I know, Agent, I just-”
“And also,” Choi interrupted, “could I borrow your lighter?”
After a (very awkward) smoke break, Kim Soleum got his lighter back and went straight to the bathroom to get the smell off him. With Agent Choi basically spilling ash into his hair, he’s sure it would stick a lot more.
Taking a small plastic bottle out of his pocket, he rubbed its contents—a mixture of hand soap and baking soda, something he’d seen online—into his hands and vigorously tried to get the smell off his hands and forearms. Then, wetting his hair in the sink and drying it with the hand dryer, he tried to get the remaining smell off, but—no thanks to agent Choi—it was particularly strong this time around. He settled for covering himself in perfume; a strong, citrusy scent was better than the smell of tobacco.
Walking out of the bathroom, he found Agent Choi waiting for him with a smile on his face.
“I’ll walk you back, hm?”
So Soleum let himself be strung along by his senior.
“Do you do all this every time you smoke?”
Soleum paused for a moment before nodding slowly.
“Yes, the smell tends to be quite strong. I don’t want to bother anybody with it.”
“Haha, what a dutiful junior we have here! Aigoo…it’s fine, none of us mind!”
“...”
Kim Soleum almost wanted to retort, maybe YOU don’t, after all, if Agent Choi didn’t announce his smoke breaks, you could guess what he went to do by the sheer strength of the smell. He’s sure Jaekwan minds at least a little, what with the disapproving look in his eyes every time their superior comes back smelling like tobacco and ash.
(He won’t say it out loud, but Kim Soleum didn’t want to be on the receiving end of those disappointed eyes.)
“Jaekwan! Were you lonely? haha!”
Once back inside the office, Soleum almost let out a sigh of relief.
Lifting his head from the computer screen, Ryu Jaekwan scowled before slightly sniffing the air. And as always, he will sigh disapprovingly at Agent Choi while looking at Soleum almost apologetically, and they will keep working.
Soleum feels a tingle in his spine when he doesn’t.
“Choi…”
“Jaekwan~”
The senior agent’s smile only widened at his junior’s inevitable lecture. And Jaekwan doesn’t disappoint, he almost sounds like a scripted PSA, citing sources and giving a structured reasoning why giving up smoking was the most logical choice.
But logic doesn’t really have a good track record of changing addicts’ minds. Especially the type of addict Choi was, which is to say, sly.
“Jaekwan-ah~ really, you’re so unfair, why am I the only one getting scolded?”
He then pointedly glanced at Soleum, and the latter had to stop himself from flinching. Still, his reactions must’ve given enough away, because Jaekwan’s originally incredulous expression suddenly hardened.
…Fuck.