Archive of Our Own

it's raining, because of course it is. 

rain has been a constant since he put foot in this town so really, jaehyun shouldn’t be that surprised. 

even less so that it is on the one night he leaves in such haste that he forgets his raincoat that an actual thunderstorm decides to happen. 

what is this city if not a sad amalgamation of clichés? 

sometimes, jaehyun thinks there’s no place out there he hates more than here.

that line of thought never lasts, though.

there’s always a voice inside his head calmly reminding him that it beats being dead, so he pushes all complaints to the corner of his mind that he’s gotten pretty good at ignoring. instead he tries to find some comfort in the towering skyscrapers, the thousands of flashing screens that paint the ever present smog in all sorts of colors, simultaneously too bright and too dark to be comfortable, and especially, in the crowds that move in every direction and give him the precious benefit of anonymity.

for that last one, jaehyun is ever grateful.

even if at this very moment he really regrets not taking a risk with his multipass. 

he had reasoned with himself that he wasn’t in the mood for getting into a chase with the security in the station if his pass was flagged as adulterated again.

the whole thing becomes moot now if he’s still running among swarms of people, and worst of all, getting increasingly wet because the sea of cars and pods above him does next to nothing to protect him from the rain.

water drops down his neck and he cringes, partly from the sensation, and partly because he can already hear new’s shrill voice accusing him of making the whole bar smell like a wet dog. 

speeding up through whatever gaps he can find, jaehyun’s brain does the jaehyun thing of sailing in questionable waters. 

[[ a far away voice, much calmer than it has any right being, would tell him that when you are stuck inside your head you always get to places fast. ]]

he wanders around very important matters such as does new even have the olfactory function, or any previous knowledge of how a wet dog smells like?

jaehyun supposes the first would make sense because of his current occupation, even if jacob had already given away new wasn’t actually built to be a bartender, he just does it to be with jacob — something that leads itself to a whole can of worms jaehyun promised not even to attempt to open because he learned better than to try understanding the myriad of human-android relationships since —

well , for a while now.

this attitude has been helpful to him, up until the point he has any sort of question about new.

the android flat out refuses to reveal even the slightest bit of detail about himself. jaehyun gets being private in this time and age but frustration bubbles up inside whenever he tries to know more about new’s obviously rare model, the name of whoever helps the android with his upkeep and, absolutely any spec of information of his past to only get silence or a snarky response, in the best of cases.

which brings forward the matter of the very likely possibility that regardless if new can smell things and knows what a wet dog smells like, he would just say such things with the sole purpose of antagonizing jaehyun, as this was often the motivation behind any of new’s jaehyun-related actions when jacob isn’t around to reel him in. 

jaehyun leaves his head for a bit to make a hasty turn out of the mass of bodies going up the street to lean into a nearby wall. 

he looks at the brand new (second-hand) catch-all!225th edition ™ on his wrist where a 01:21am blinks back at him. 

he’s going to be late, which will worry jacob and annoy new in equal measures. 

vicenity isn’t even that far from his shoddy capsule apartment, and by now he knows the path to the small door that leads to melting heart in sector 36, area 5 with his eyes closed.

it’s the unfortunate combination of the rain, the crowded streets, and above all how he slept through his alarm because he spent most of the afternoon playing and fussing over darong instead of being responsible and catching up on whatever sleep he could.

ultimately, jaehyun takes the executive decision to take a shortcut through boltsvalley. 

he’s been advised to avoid that area, but when he’s already going to arrive at his job that’s not really a job late and drenched, there’s really not that many ways in which this night can get worse.

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he had been wrong. 

boltsvalley chewed him up and spat him out.

that is to say, while attempting to navigate its dark and sinuous alleys, he had been mugged.

a pair of thugs took his catch-all-!225th edition ™ , the few pillars he likes to carry if he can’t, or doesn’t want to use his cards, and his multipass, besides stupidly attempted to take out the bioimplants in his arm through brute force when he tried to fight back.

in the end, the whole ordeal left him with an aching left arm, a limp, a split lip, and much more late than he initially was. 

he’s finally, finally limping his way through vicenity, trying his damn best to ignore how he feels less like a person and more like a bunch of useless aching limbs stacked together, bound by anger and powerlessness.

bitterly, he hopes whichever of them tried to use the pass was just as fast as he was right now, and did it on the one day the station security felt particularly vicious.

any satisfaction that scenario might have brought is replaced by the usual relief he feels when seeing the neon glow coming from above melting heart’s entrance. it is magnified tonight, even if it doesn’t do much for all the types of physical pain he’s feeling.

coming back to the subject of viciousness, a rehearsed gasp cuts through the air as he approaches the counter. “jesus, you look like you fell from a pod.”

“hello to you too, new. you, on the flip side looks as chrome as ever, did you get an enhancer for that, one of those attractiveness ones, maybe?” never had those worn leather stools felt better than when jaehyun could finally rest his body on them. still, there’s a painful twitch in his leg that he can’t help but wince at. “by the way, how do you even know jesus? and also can you smell things? if so, how?” 

if jaehyun was in any better state, the glare he receives would’ve made him laugh, he makes the observation that maybe there is some health benefit to being a nuisance, because it does make the soreness feel slightly better.

“i’m not answering any of that. jacob, come pick up your hyunjae mess!” with one last look towards jaehyun, he adds “he’s stinking up the place.”

jaehyun has an answer to that, he swears he does, it was the zing that went up his arm that cut any and all of his thoughts before he could get anything out. 

he groans between gritted teeth and lowers his head, closing his eyes and hoping that the cool metal would take all his problems away. 

faintly, he could hear new’s barely there footsteps getting farther towards the back of the bar where jacob’s office was located and back again, presumably with the man in tow.

the bar is thankfully empty, always in a lull on monday nights, and despite the comfort the sturdy stools provide him, he’s throwing wistful looks at the even comfier loveseats and couches further back.

“jesus, what happened to you?” jacob put his hand on his shoulder, trying to gently maneuver him into an upright position, beginning to pat him to check the injuries, once a field medic, always a field medic , jaehyun guesses.  

“is boltsvalley answer enough?” to which he got a matching set of expressions, a frown to his right and a scowl to the left.

“i remember our warning to avoid that place, especially at night, was very clear” new mumbles,  returning his place behind the bar, seemingly more interested in agressively scrubbing some already clean glasses.

jaehyun files that in the very small folder in his head that goes: new actually cares about my well-being? [favorable evidence] .

“i was trying to save time.” jaehyun hisses the moment jacob tries to touch the biometal structure of his implants. the touch was gentle but it hurt down to his soul. he was aware his assailants did a number on him for everything to be painful like this, but now it is the location of the pain that brings over him a new wave of dread.

if this isn’t something he can’t get over simply with the bar’s trustworthy first aid kit and some sleep, he’s pretty much fucked . 

no functional implants, no work; no work, no money to fix his implants.

“and look what that got you.”

jacob does that thing where he fixes a look on new and new stares back, and they keep that up for a bit until someone looks away, presumably reaching an unspecified level of communication through that alone. 

when jaehyun asked jacob if it was some sort of telepathic device or something, the latter just laughed. 

“take care of anyone that comes in, new.” jacob says, being the one to look away first this time. he then glances at jaehyun, worry clear in his face as the latter seems to be considering laying his head down on the countertop again. “hyunjae, can you walk to my office or do you need help?” 

jaehyun’s first impulse is to scoff and proudly limp his way to the back, but an idea pops up in his head.

a sweet little vicious idea.

“no, i don’t think so. can you carry me, please ?” making himself sound like the most pathetic and helpless thing to ever step into melting heart was surprisingly easy, and definitely worth it as he felt new’s eyes burning as jacob bridal carries him to the other room. 

jaehyun comes to the conclusion there’s definitely a health benefit to being annoying.

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jaehyun wakes up to small paws pressing all over his chest and shoulders, darong clearly on a mission to lick every inch of jaehyun’s face he can reach. 

by that, he surmises he slept through his alarm again, and the poor thing must have been starving before taking it upon himself to wake jaehyun up.

in between “ alright’s ” and “ it’s fine’s ”, he gets up.

he tries not to shiver as his feet make contact with the floor, a curse lost somewhere in his mouth. 

this apartment has heating, and he knew it was on before he went to bed, it just so happens that this town was unforgivingly cold all the time.

with a few long strides he quickly gets to the the bottom drawer that is his sorry excuse of a cupboard, blindly ransacking it, noticing he has what’s enough dog food to last them about a week, maybe a week and a half if he’s stingy and able to resist darong’s literal puppy eyes (but he isn’t, doesn’t even understand how he can consider that an option). 

he uses whatever sharp thing is nearby to open the packet, smiling as darong laps happily at his makeshift bowl.

jaehyun then uses that same pocket knife to scratch the 27th mark below the rug. stopping for a moment to stare at the irregular row of scratched lines he’s got.

it was meant to be this small thing. easy to hide and easy to paint over if ever seen. but to him, and only to him it stands for the 27 days it has been since he last woke up screaming from a nightmare, calling out to people long gone. 

he wonders if this is going to be the first time he makes it to a whole month, if that would make them proud .

he quickly shakes his head, as if rattling his brain will shove those thoughts and faces back into its rightful nooks and corners. to remember the good is to remember the bad and he has been doing so well… he’s not going to jeopardize his 27-day record.

there’s a crick in his neck, swiftly followed by one in his shoulder, jaehyun feels the slumber give way to the dull throbbing pain that took over his body after the mugging.

he’s tempted to go back to bed and to the newfound safety of sleep, but the gig at the bar is the only job he still has right now, and jacob’s patience is bound to run out at some point. 

a sigh escapes him. 

on the bright side, that action alone doesn’t bring him as much pain as it did yesterday, so there is some improvement happening.

it’s all good, he’s a big boy who’s had to withstand worse injuries than these. not to mention, he should have at least one more rem-pack lying around somewhere he can use to help with the pain.

he can play scavenger later though, first, jaehyun must deal with matters of feeding himself.

no one needs to know how whiny he gets in the quiet of his home, so with another sigh he opens the same drawer and hunts for anything that will assure his stomach doesn’t growl while he’s on his shift. 

there’s not much intimidation factor to a handler with a loud stomach. 

after some deliberation, he settles on an assortment of salt chips, one can of mush that is supposed to be spaghetti flavored and some dried cucumber sticks. 

the screen on his wall tells him it’s 10:28pm, which means he didn’t oversleep as much as he initially thought. following his easy routine, jaehyun clicks on the identical screen on the counter so it reveals he gets the full daily report. 

hello, [non-registered user]!

new east bay area.

april 17th 2206 a.c. / 104 a.a. 

■weather is overcast with slight chance of a rain shower. low 12º c. winds nnw at 8 to 16 km/h. humidity at 86%. uv index is 4 of 10… [see more]

■ad: have you been feeling lonely? have you been spending way, way too many nights alone, doing nothing but staring at the city lights? well, dreamlike inc. has just the solution for you! the brand new loverbot... [see more]

■ad: clovercorp . announces release of 232nd edition of their catch-all! ™ the irreplaceable gadget will come with all-new functions such as... [see more]

■ad: if you want safety through busy days and long nights, keeper security. can offer you a security service unlike any other on the market ... [see more]

■public service announcement: the new schedule for the 28-minute area power cuts ordained by act n. 382… [see more]

■public service announcement: the establishment of acts number 383; 384; 385… [see more]

a slight chance of a rain shower means a definitive chance of rain. this time jaehyun promises himself to not forget his raincoat home.

the  adverts are often useless to him for several reasons, ranging from lack of interest to poor finances, but the release of a new catch-all! ™ catches his eye, that means that the prices of the earlier versions will drop so he might actually be able to afford a new one soon, maybe even a better one.

“hey, darong!” jaehyun calls as the dog makes himself comfortable in the undone bed. “things might actually be looking up for us.” 

darong tilts his head and lets out a woof jaehyun’s not sure is excited or cautious.

going back to the report, jaehyun bites on something hard while chewing on the spaghetti mush. his whole jaw clenches on impact, and after spitting the offending object on his hand, he sees it is this small triangular thing, bleached white and with somewhat dull edges, to all appearances plastic in nature. 

the jaehyun he used to be would have been mortified and on his way to get rid of his whole meal.

the jaehyun he is now just hopes that whatever this is, is just a part of whatever machine that made it, and not something else entirely. he has enough problems as it is.

he continues eating and clicks on the last two items. 

ironically for a non-citizen, jaehyun does his best to keep up with the city business, if anything so he knows what to do to avoid any unwanted attention.

the first psa is this long and bulky file detailing which areas will be under government-sanctioned power cuts to allegedly “save the necessary electrical power for important city improvements”, it takes him about seven minutes to find out his area is scheduled for the next wednesday from 02:12pm to 02:30pm, which is not the worst time he could’ve gotten, he has to ask the odd kid with the fluorescent pink tattoos that supposedly handles all building maintenance if their generator will be back up and running by then, and if so he and darong can very easily sit quietly at home for half an hour, if not… he will figure something out.

the second p.s.a. is relatively more worrying.

act number 383 adds more animals to the list of banned pets — “ all known species of rodents ” this time — he momentarily feels sad for the @t-skating kids from his floor that he sometimes meets in the elevator. they tend to often sport a mole rat around their necks like a questionable scarf. they get blissfully quiet when he’s around, and are kind enough to not have said a peep about darong, even when the small dog chooses to bark up a storm, so he’s not going to tattletale on them and their freaky little rat.

in fact, he actually hopes they are able to keep it.

meanwhile, act number 385 just invents more inconsequential rules to the commercialization of certain items, none of which he’s really all that interested in. 

the devil lies in act number 384:

act number 384 - the buying, selling, and/or trading of goods on the ultranet without the appropriate government approval is strictly forbidden. sanctions and penalties are to be handled in accordance with act n. 44.

considering the amount of stuff jaehyun gets from shady sellers in ultranet marketsites, this does not bode well.

he feels a heavy weight settling into his gut.

he’s not going to call it panic because he knows what real panic feels like, but this is… something akin to it.

the fleeting thought of him being in a prison of his own making crosses jaehyun’s mind.

he had always been so stupidly careful with his purchases, no meeting in person, no traceable transaction, no saving any contact info, no repeated sellers.

look what that got you.

he knows it’s pointless by now, but he still gets his vianet out.

maybe it’s not time for alarm yet, he might have some luck left after all. with a deep breath, he types in any marketsite address he can recall.

they are all the same now: a blank page with nothing but the city government symbol and a transcription of act n. 384.

by the seventh one, he stops before he ends up on a government watchlist, if he isn’t in one already.

as he stares in darong’s sleepy form, jaehyun decides that the only reason why this moment right now wouldn’t be a good time for a complete meltdown is because it would make him look like a liar to darong.

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despite the light drizzle that has settled in the city and the heavy trepidation in his gut, jaehyun is able to arrive in melting heart ahead of the opening time in what’s mostly one piece, which should’ve given him the ample opportunity to talk to jacob and go through what his options are right now. however, the office door is locked, and there’s no sign of jacob anywhere.

there’s alarms blaring in his mind, but jaehyun attempts to remember the silly breathing exercises they were taught back home. he’s not going to cause a scene here . 

not all is lost yet, and even if everything that can get worse usually does exactly that, jaehyun’s well aware that the distress of all this is only partly caused by the dire predicament he finds himself in. 

it mostly came down to a ball of resentment ever growing inside of him. he was never fond of being dependent on someone, yet he always found himself in situations where he needed to beg for any scrap of help from people around him until he had bled them dry of any kindness. he could move cities, answer to different names, but he always ended up in that same position. 

regardless, he’s not going to lose his cool even if he feels like scratching his skin off and screaming at the sky. he’s not a kid anymore, he can handle his troubles the adult way. 

therefore when his heartbeat has calmed down, he swallows his prickly pride, much like an adult would, and directs himself to his second best option, who’s currently helping kevin set up his performing gear at the small stage on the furthest corner of the bar.

“this pains me greatly, but i need your help.”

new does an obvious attempt on schooling his features on neutrality while kevin blinks between the two of them. 

“i don’t think it pains you that much if you are still attempting it.”

to absolutely no one’s surprise, new has decided to be difficult. “jacob’s not here.” the android completes, turning his attention back to the cables and plugs in his hand.

there’s an itch in between the palms of his hands, somewhere between anxiety and a desire to find out if new would bleed if he breaks his face apart. 

“i can see that, that’s why it pains me. i would much rather have this conversation with him.”

“ can you guys not fight until after the friday shift is over question mark ” it startles both of them how kevin’s easyspeak implant can translate so much exhaustion in his tone despite the monotone inflection. “ things were hard as it is in the academy today dot dot dot ”

jaehyun catches from the corner of his eye the slightest sag in new’s shoulders before determining that as a win in chipping off the android’s defense, even if it comes from kevin’s suffering.

“what do you want, hyunjae?”

“many things.” he bites his tongue as the two gaze at him with different shades of unimpressed. “did you see about act number 384?” 

“unfortunately.”

“then, you must imagine it puts me in a quite uncomfortable spot.”

“it puts many of us in uncomfortable spots, hyunjae.”

there’s a single moment of silence between the two, soundtracked by the metronome-like clicking of kevin’s implant, and his offhand comment about how the underground markets on the south side of town will blow up with frenzied buyers and equally frenzied sellers now.

jaehyun reaches the dreadful conclusion that he's going to have to bite the bullet in this one. 

“new, you know i wouldn’t be asking if i wasn’t desperate.”

the android just stares at him, as if seizing his entire being, calculating how desperate jaehyun really is, before letting out an extensively long sigh. “what do you need to buy?”

“all sorts of things, actually.” jaehyun grunts it out, as much as it would be easier for him to spit it out a grocery list for new to get him through whatever means there still are, he would rather keep the tiniest bit of independence to his person.

“such as?” new pushes, eyes still analytical on him.

a groan leaves his mouth, unfettered. jaehyun knew going in there would be a push and pull prior to getting anything helpful from new, but this is proving to be a real test of character for him.  

the android stands unbothered. 

“ hyunjae just say it ” kevin implores.

at the edge of his last wits, he surrenders: “you know, health stuff, document stuff… dog stuff. just stuff .” 

“ you have a dog question mark ” kevin asks, going back to being more focused on organizing the mess of cables in his laps than whatever dispute new and jaehyun are going through. “ that’s gutsy exclamation mark i fear the day snakes will be added to the banlist i can't get rid of morty ”

new interjects, eyebrows furrowed. “it’s not gutsy, it’s reckless. hyunjae is, without shadow of a doubt, the most idiotic person i have ever met.”

“thank you.” 

“not a compliment.”

“well, it sounded like one.” jaehyun smiles crookedly, before remembering that antagonizing new, while always fun, is not all that beneficial to him at this very moment. ”can you please help me, my lovely android friend, please, pretty please?”

new repeats the sizing-look-followed-by-a-heavy-exhale routine.

jaehyun tries to think of another way to save this exchange when the other takes out the barely used notepad and pen he keeps in the pockets of his uniform and hastily writes what seems to be a list.

“i may know someone, their name is jelly_0.” new begins, still looking immeasurably vexed by the whole ordeal. “we do business with them often, so you absolutely cannot mess this up for us.”

jaehyun knows he’s smiling even if he doesn’t quite mean to. 

his previous agony somewhat evaporated, he doesn’t even think before pulling the android up for a bear hug. 

new swiftly worms his way out of his embrace, scorn all over his face, the note hidden behind his back. “do not make me regret doing this already.” 

“i will not. pinky promise! now gimme!”

“i will give it to you, but only after the shift is done.”

the conditional annoys jaehyun greatly, but he takes it without more complaints than a hushed grumble.

he can say many things about the android but he has never seen new going back on his words, and in any case, fridays are always so busy they go by in a flash.

sooner than he expects, he’s going home way lighter than how he left, carrying a very important note in his pocket.

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today is one of those weirdly empty days that have become increasingly more common in his routine. jaehyun has no shift at melting heart nor any sort of odd job scheduled.

he never liked idleness, but he especially doesn’t like it now. it’s one thing to use the noise in his head to distract himself from the eternal hustle and bustle of the city, in this room alone, the noise will only take him to bad places, so he figures it is as good a day as any to follow the very specific set of instructions left on new’s note to get in contact with jelly_0.

with darong taking a nap right next to him, he busts open his vianet and types in the address of echo.lou.

he doesn’t know what he expected, but he definitely did not expect some sort of love call website. 

for a moment, he debates whether new would be mean enough to prank him with something like this.

it doesn’t help that the next directions on paper are befuddlingly vague. 

talk to lupine . 

he goes through the options in the website, not really seeing anyone named lupine, or anything with a wolf related name.

out of the 16 caller options available at the moment, they seem to be all named after what he figures are obscure flowers names: hyacinth, daffodil, deadnettle, tigerlily, and so it goes.

it is only after a frankly abysmally long search into flower names that he figures out bluebonnet is what comes closest to the right pick.

when the simple conversation bubble pops up, there’s a warning that all communications would be back-to-back triple encrypted and bound to be deleted as soon as one of the parties close it. jaehyun feels a sense of relief at the discretion, but it’s soon replaced by a wave of embarrassment when he realizes he will have to deliver the coded messages new wrote as the next instructions.

bluebonnet.

hello there beautiful

caller_ 24945122

im just here for a friendly conversation

bluebonnet.

now, now we can do that…
but you already came this far

why don’t we have a little fun? 

caller_ 24945122

because you have a gaze that invites disaster 

bluebonnet.

was it the priest?

caller_ 24945122

what ?????

bluebonnet.

was it the priest android who sent you here?

caller_ 24945122

no ??

what the fuck
it was a bartender android

bluebonnet.

that’s the same person dummy!!

he always writes it as invites not invited 

i don't even know why, it’s not like he can’t remember the right one

anyways here are the rules for deals with jelly_0: 

• payment is done 60% when the deal is sealed, 40% after delivery. 
•  no weapons (fire-arms and/or cold weapons); no chemicals listed under act number 156; no living beings; no survivalist bulk-buys.
• absolute no return policy. don’t try to argue.
•  there is a max limit of 4 documents “re-issues” for every deal.
• all additional services will be charged accordingly.
• details about the payment, waiting period, delivery method and necessary additional services will all be discussed in the first meeting.

the next available meeting slot is tomorrow at 4pm. can you go?

caller_ 24945122

where?

bluebonnet.

can you go or not?

i need confirmation in advance

caller_ 24945122

god you guys are a hassle
uhh give me a second

yeah 4pm tomorrow sure

bluebonnet.

good 

the address is the first red door in the northside of the blue line of the sevenflag station

there will be a 67 written somewhere in the right door

the password is < our current starting line leads to a blissful path >

got it all down?

caller_ 24945122

absolutely not hold up

okay now i did

bluebonnet.

excellent!!

tell them lupine was your connection please

good luck and bye-bye!

when the window blinked closed, jaehyun feels like he was somewhere off his body, just floating above. nothing makes him miss the detached safe experience of the old marketsites like how he is feeling right now, holding a wrinkled note in a complete daze as the first lovecall website he’s ever been promises him good times if he clicks here or there. 

there are about a million questions in his mind ranging from what would be the social etiquette to meet a contrabandist in a bullet train station, and what does lupine mean when they said new was a priest android? .. .

his stupor is finally broken by the still asleep darong emitting something between a sneeze and a huff.

he heeds it as a warning and pets the dog in thanks, ultimately focusing on the first matter for now. 

the idea of meeting a stranger (or several ones) in what was a literal hole in the wall seemed like the recipe for a disaster, but jaehyun supposes desperate times call for desperate measures. 

as long as he doesn’t end up in an unmarked body bag, he will count his blessings. 

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the blue line of sevenflag station is an interesting one. that is to say, along with the other two older lines it had fallen into a predictable state of abandonment after the creation of the newer, bigger and flashier remaining 4 lines. as it currently stood, it was obviously taken up by wear and tear, on the brink of becoming too obsolete and dilapidated to keep active. notwithstanding, there was still a considerable part of the city’s population that went through it on a daily basis.

jaehyun supposes it is a good place to arrange meetings that deal with illegal matters — public, but discreet; busy, but not filled with wandering eyes and ears. 

it takes him a while to find the red door, as without his greatly missed stolen catch-all!225th edition ™ on him, he was as useful telling north from south as he always had been, which is not at all. 

[[ a far away voice, muffled and obviously trying really hard to not sound choked, tells him that’s why he’s the one that has to leave the waters and - ]]

the small 67 is quite easy to find when you know to look for it.

jaehyun ogles around for any eyes on him and when he finds none, he knocks, three times in rapid succession.

time stretches agonizingly before he hears a stifled password from the other side.

“uhh, our current starting line leads to a blissful path?”

“why are you wording it like a question?”

“i don’t know, isn’t it a question? usually when people do these weird passwords, there’s a cryptic reply. i was just expecting you to say something weird back.”

“that password isn’t weird, it’s positive! and all i was going to say was come in, but now i’m not so sure.”

jaehyun is aware his patience runs thin on most days, but he feels particularly challenged right now. it’s just his luck he gets the annoying contrabandist, he hopes whoever’s on the other end of this door isn’t able to see him rolling his eyes.

“come on, new told me about you, it was lupine who set up the meeting, is that enough?”

when the voice doesn’t answer, jaehyun briefly wonders if there’s any prize award for messing up an illegal deal before even purchasing anything. or any punishment… should he start backing away from the door?

the opening of the lock reverberates above his musings.

he waits for the come in , but when hearing nothing, he figures he came this far and might as well push his luck and just open the door.

if worst comes to worst, jaehyun knows he can (probably) still outrun, and maybe even outfight, most people, and some things.

as the metal door creaks open, he’s greeted by the sight of a small room containing what must be all of the cleaning supplies the station has ever had for its upkeep.

paraphernalia climbs up the walls precariously, and if it wasn’t enough to make him apprehensive, the clinical smell that hits him full on makes his eyes water and his head hurt.

so much for a good meeting place. 

towards the back of the room, he can see someone standing awkwardly behind an orange container labeled dec supply 011-49. 

he presumes that to be jelly_0.

the figure doesn’t even glance at him, outwardly seeming very interested in the drawstrings of their hoodie.

an uneasiness rapidly spreads through jaehyun’s body. even with his most enthusiastic squint, with the way they are decked out all in black, this person’s silhouette almost blends into the background, in addition to their face being partially obscured by a solid black hypobreathing mask, jaehyun can’t really make up their… vibe , or anything about them, really. the mask does help to explain how smothered their voice sounded before, however it doesn’t help him feel very assured that this isn’t some type of very elaborate trap or scam.

“you didn’t say come in.”

“i thought it was implied clearly enough.” the person shrugs nonchalantly, and jaehyun feels a part of him goading him on to bark out something about shitty customer service. “you got in anyway, now close the door behind you.”

the click of the door resounds between them, and jaehyun makes the executive decision to not move half a step closer.

the other finally looks up, raking their eyes over jaehyun, the discomfort doesn’t take long to settle in jaehyun’s gut. abruptly they take a more upright position and clasp their hands in front of their chest, puffing it in preparation. jaehyun swallows down the impulse of lunging for the door.

“so, you may know me as jelly_0, but here, you can just call me jelly. i work as a provider, and i am glad to be at your service. how can i help you?”

this time, jaehyun has swallow down the impulse to snort.

he’s been torturing himself for his lack of knowledge on the ins-and-outs of a situation like this, but surely an obviously memorized introduction like that would sound just as goofy to any underground market veterans, wouldn’t it? as well as giving yourself the title of “provider” when your line of work is none other than smuggling.

jaehyun circles back to the belief that this has to be a prank designed by new, he really should’ve seen it coming when he ended up on the love call website.

the so called provider stares at him, quirking their head to the side, the latex of their gloves making an uncomfortable sound as he keeps them clasped. “i suppose this must be your first time. hm , listen, this is the part where you list the stuff you are looking for, and we, well, we negotiate.”

jaehyun nods but primarily chooses to scan the room hoping to find under whatever mess of cleaning products the android was hidden, waiting to jump out cackling at him.

“i assure you, we are alone in here, and we will continue to be until the negotiation goes south.” 

that is enough to bring him back, alarms blaring in his head, “can a negotiation go south?” 

“yes, sometimes, not often.” the smuggler shrugs noncommittally, and there’s the smallest creaking sound in one of the shelves on the left side of the room that jaehyun would ignore if it hadn’t made him question if it was a sign that this sale had just gone south and they weren’t that alone anymore. “anyways, how should i address you?”

the shelf he supposed was the creaking one doesn’t look too suspicious, so jaehyun acquiesces to giving his big city name,  “hyunjae.” 

“okay hyunjae, are you ready to order now?”

contrary to what his stint in boltsvalley might lead someone to think, jaehyun usually has good self preservation instincts so he sees the better opportunity of taking the plunge now than the alternative of finding out that the thing moving from one of the corners of that room is not new, or even something he can outrun.

“two weeks’ worth of dog food; a bioimplant self-maintenance kit, and a new multipass card.” he recites the order he has decided on the way here, amidst multiple crises.

jaehyun was aware that prices would be on the rise whilst his funds are on the low, henceforth he shouldn’t go for anything other than the essentials: darong; his arm and transportation.

it is all very thoughtful and responsible of his part, and secretly he wished he had an audience bigger than an unknown contrabandist (and whatever was there on the shelves waiting to end him) to witness all of his grown up logic.

[[ a far away voice teases, “look at you, all grown up, our brave little rascal - ]] 

“you have a dog !?” there’s a lilt in their voice that grates on jaehyun’s nerves.

he’s not fond of divulging to strangers he has a dog for obvious reasons, but that never saved him from his fair share of unwanted comments about banned pets and the people who are foolish enough to own them. 

one would think someone who makes a living out of breaking the law would be above being judgemental? if jelly is going to be condemnatory, he is allowed to be a little less thoughtful and responsible.

“no, i have unique appetites.”

the other gives him a measuring look that is oddly reminiscent of new, jaehyun again speculates how involved the android is with this contrabandist. 

“no need to be spiky. i don’t ask questions that aren’t relevant.” they cross their arms in front of their chest. 

a mop falls to the ground.

jaehyun all but snaps his neck to look at its general direction. jelly doesn’t.

“is it a puppy?”

jaehyun still has his eyes glued to the fallen mop, it was close enough to the shelf that creaked earlier that it wouldn’t be out of this world to say those incidents were connected… “what?”

“i asked, is your dog a puppy?”

“no, he’s very old.”

“does he have any dietary restrictions?”

this brings his attention back to the other. 

he hopes his expression hasn’t soured in any way that’s really noticeable, he would prefer if this conversation went on without him being reminded of the prospect of darong needing more than what he can supply. 

obviously, jelly seems to notice it right away. eyes fixed on his every move. jaehyun curses the lack of foresight on his part to not have also brought with him anything that would hide his face and protect him from giving this stranger any openings to be exploited. 

 “... not that i know of.” he relents.

“would you be interested in a veterinary visit?”

another bit of him is chipped away. 

“i don’t have that much money.” in a last attempt to save whatever pride he can, “not right now, at least.”

“i see.” 

jaehyun searches their face for whatever it is they see. frustratingly, he can only find a calculative distance.

he prepares himself for whatever next gut punch the other will throw at him.

“does he have any favorite flavors?”

that was not quite what he was expecting.

as jaehyun feels antsy, he scans the room again.

part of him wants to yell for the other to mind their business, another wants just to break something, preferably that hypobreathing mask. he grits his teeth to quieten both.

“ uhm , no, i don’t think so? he would gladly eat the walls, if he could.”

there’s a snort, which jaehyun quickly assesses as the most unsettling thing in this convo so far. it makes this jelly_0 individual sound far too normal, and even nice . “he sounds like a good boy.”

“yeah… yeah, he is.” jaehyun’s voice scrapes out of his throat. 

again, he finds himself in that out-of-body floating space. this entire meeting has fluctuated between annoying, dangerous and surreal too fast for his brain to process. maybe, it would be beneficial to him to look into getting some neuron advancements with his next paycheck. 

suddenly oblivious to jaehyun’s internal turmoil, jelly puts their hands on the container, tapping their fingers twice on the plastic.

“listen, about the self-maintenance kits, they have been tough to get by for a while now. something about protest attacks on some bioimplant factories… can it be delayed?”

jaehyun thinks back to the pulsing ache he tries to ignore most of the time he spends awake; the myriad of dark red and purple blotches spreaded on the edges where the metal fuses to skin; how his entire arm feels awfully tender to touch all the time, even while laying still, which renders it pretty much useless. “not really, no.”

the other sounds almost embarrassed, apologetic even. “it’s going to be much more expensive.”

“then, forget about it.”

it’s alright, he’s going to find another way, he always finds another way.

the smuggler exhales, as if jaehyun’s ways to deal with his troubles are deeply inconvenient to them. 

they go around the orange container and some others, leaning on one much closer to jaehyun, before rethinking that stance and straightening their posture once again. “what’s the extent of the damage?”

the contrabandist is marginally taller than jaehyun, which accomplishes the surprising task of making them even more annoying. “it’s nothing serious.”

“if it’s bad, i can hook you up with a bioware mechanic for a good price.”

jaehyun doesn’t bother being subtle about the mistrust in his face. he knows one shouldn’t bite the hand feeding you, no matter how good one is at that, and yet before regretting his early thoughts about shitty customer service, he’s going to do just that. “i thought all additional services would be charged accordingly.”

with the new proximity, jaehyun can’t still pick apart much of the other’s expressions, but he thinks he sees a tinge of annoyance. which is always a win in his book.

“i told you i can get you a discount, he owes me several favors.”

“why would you waste one of them on me?”

“i don’t want your dog to be in peril.”

things go silent in the room. 

jaehyun’s brain is almost frying itself trying to figure out all the ways this can go horribly wrong, when a particularly harsh sting reminds him of how things are already horribly wrong enough.

“fine, get me your mechanic friend.”

the contrabandist doesn’t seem relieved. they take one, two and three steps towards jaehyun, ever so slowly, before stopping at an arm’s length away.

“i still need to see the damage and the type of bioimplant beforehand, so he knows what he’s going to deal with.”

jaehyun almost surprises himself with the speed he wishes miserable endings upon about 120 different people in his mind. from his boltsvalley assailants; to whoever was deranged enough to come up with act number 384, and finally the one person standing before him.

with that relaxing mind chatter, he lets his raincoat go off, the jacket and shirt he was wearing under, soon following.

lips pressed in a firm line, he shows the other his wounded arm and turns his face away.

their glove feels cold on his wrist, but it’s hard to focus when there’s prickles of sharp pain all over his limb, sparking here and there as his arm is turned around for inspection.

“did you get this in the drowned cities?”

jaehyun just nods, he doesn’t trust his mouth to let out a mortifying whimper when he feels the slightest press of fingers at the top of the bioimplant structure.

“any major repair been done since you got here?”

a steadying breath, and a shake of his head. 

he stares at the creaking shelf, there’s a multitude of boxes stacked on it, mostly detergents. jaehyun feels the latex brushing into one of his worse bruises and refuses to recoil, distracting himself by thinking of what could be hiding among those boxes, it had to be something small...

“what happened for it to end up like this?”

of course the safety of yes or no questions would be taken away from him.

“someone tried to take it by force.” 

jelly pulls away, still far too close. “i see, that’s enough. here, you… you can put your clothes back on.”

jaehyun takes his clothes from the other’s hand and dresses in silence.

“it looks rough right now, but it’s not broken beyond repair. you’ll be brand new soon enough.” the relief jaehyun feels is promptly replaced by a well-known sort of anxiety as jelly continues on their rambling. “truly, you’ll be fine, he knows how to handle this sort of bioware. we’ve had friends from there… from the drowned cities, i mean...”

jaehyun’s not sure if jelly’s voice is growing farther from him, or if he’s just drowning down to a familiar awful place.

there’s humor in the intimacy he has with all the things he’s feeling right now. stomach in knots, tongue like sandpaper, eyes watering.

[[ a far away voice — no. it’s close this time . right next to him.

knots, sandpaper, water. 

it’s always what we know best, right, jaehyun? ]]

“hey, are you… alright?”

jelly comes into focus in his vision, hands raised, eyes worried, wary enough to not take a single step forward.

“yeah, i’m fine.”

he straightens up, trying to pass as the most put together as he could.

“are you sure?”

it’s only fair they don’t believe him. he switches strategies.

“yeah i just spaced out, sorry. anyways, hope your friends knew how to swim.”

“yeah, they had something like a submarine i think?”

jaehyun’s gonna vomit. or pass out. whatever comes first.

so he opts to let a more pressing concern take center stage.

“how much will all this cost me?”

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12700 towers is a ridiculous price. offensive, even. 

jaehyun might be new at this, but he’s not stupid. 

how does jelly make any profit if those are their rates? do they think jaehyun is so poor he can’t afford a more reasonably priced contraband service? is jelly the poor one and they have to accept any job at the most ludicrous conditions just to get by?

jaehyun wouldn’t say he’s obsessively overthinking this, but in the three days that have passed since the train meeting, this has consumed his thoughts for a considerable amount of time.

it just doesn’t make any sense to him. 

as a matter of fact, it makes him question jelly’s validity as a smuggler. no decent professional would accept to exchange their services for such a measly quantity.

if not for the way darong looked up when he put down the last crumbly bits of dog food they had earlier, he would totally bail on the meeting they have today.

it’s that look that gives him the courage to power walk through armageddon village as if this is not the first time he’s been there.

ironically, he avoided this neighborhood for the exact fear of being mugged, taking how even before dropping off the gigapod that got him here, he has heard all sorts of horror stories about mechanics and their lackeys with their eager eyes and desperate hands, vying for any implant parts that could help supply any of the shops in this district, regardless if those parts are attached to someone already or not.

shop-222s80 comes off as just as shady as all the others. which should be comforting, or in better words, it would be comforting if only jelly wasn’t crouched in front of the door, talking to a hologram doll that looks like it has been through a meat grinder. 

“ um , hi.” jaehyun attempts before the hologram scurries away making a high pitched sound between a yell and a cackle, it is almost as unnerving as its butchered appearance.

“hey, hyunjae. you’re early!” jelly springs up to their feet, straight as a rod with their voice sounding just enough strained to make the situation stranger.  

jaehyun does a humming sound, concluding that for his own well-being he should ignore everything that has transpired in the  last 2 minutes. he points to his injured arm. “as you well know, it’s kind of an urgent matter.” 

“ah, yes, of course, clearly, yes.” the other rambles, suddenly looking much somber. “let’s just get inside! quickly! eric should be waiting for us.” 

inside is exactly what you would expect from a mechanic shop, while simultaneously not at all. the whole place has purple and blue lights scattered everywhere, giving it all a very hazy atmosphere. there’s bits and parts of all sorts of things separated into clusters everywhere, nothing labeled but clearly in some sort of organized chaos, alien to strangers but probably functional to whoever works here.

jelly yells a “eric!” at the top of their lungs, making jaehyun jump out of his skin. “sorry, he just stays in the back all the time so…”

true to their word, a pink-haired kid with a single glowing blue eye comes out of a back door using the wheeled chair he’s sitting on to slide closer to them. he has a sandwich in hand and grime all over his face, but most importantly, he looks young .

jaehyun is now 100% sure he not only got the worst smuggler in the market, but on top of it, he managed to end up as a baby’s first mechanical project.

“hey! no need to yell, it’s not like you are paying me by the hour.” the supposed mechanic says, mouth half full. “i’m allowed a little snack, i have rights! constitutional ones!”

“sounding like a riserist, has lupine finally radicalized you?” there’s a hint of playfulness in jelly’s tone, even if the hypobreathing mask they have chosen to wear again does a great job of dulling it.

“you do know they would ask me to throw this at your head for saying that.” eric shakes the sandwich menacingly, and jaehyun’s stomach protests at the threat of food waste.

woefully, darong isn’t the only one with rationed food these past days… it’s dismaying just how much he desperately needs all this to work, so much so that he’s willing to take a chance on these people regardless of their service quality or character.

“i do know that you would do that only because you’re sweet on them.” 

eric glares, before puffing in a way that was oddly reminiscent of darong. 

“speaking of being sweet on… you’re hyunjae, right?”

“…yeah?” jaehyun croaks, confused at the segway, repeating it in what he hopes is more of a confident tone. “i mean, yes, i am.”

“do you see that bed thing over there?” eric points his half-eaten sandwich to what appears like a plush dentist examination bed, complete with overhead lights and several small tables connected around it. “sit there, i will take a look at you in a minute.”

jaehyun feels his teeth ache the closer he gets to the bed. it feels cold and unsurprisingly clinical and jaehyun refuses to seek for a way to sit comfortably in it.

he can see eric finishing his sandwich calmly as if he has all the time in the world. 

jelly tries and fails to subtly steal glances his way, which makes jaehyun feel somewhat offended. it’s not like he’s going to try to steal or break anything, even if the thought does come to the forefront of his mind in intervals.

his skin itches, he still tries to be as immobile as he can.

it takes them an eternity of 3 whole minutes for change in this song and dance.

“jelly, be a doll and get me a soda from the back, please ?” eric deliberately elongates the last syllable into a high pitched whine.

the request is received with a sigh and muttered words, jelly gives jaehyun one last look before doing as told.

the mechanic repeats the move of pushing the chair forward with his feet, it gets him to jaehyun fast but he manages to hit one of the tables that were outstretched, and jaehyun has the foresight to steel himself to not jump this time. 

“so, hyunjae, my good friend of a friend, show me the damage.” 

it takes all of his willpower to answer to that command. 

eric’s glowing eye whirs like a fan, the blue iris spinning as he hm ’s and ah ’s. 

“i don’t know why people attempt to take bioimplants out when they don’t know how to, like, this would be much more valuable intact and shiny chrome instead of badly ripped out... can you make a fist for me? open it. palms up. okay, good, good.”

jaehyun takes it that the mechanic is talking to himself and he doesn’t need to add to that, even if he wasn’t grinding his teeth at moving his swollen and sore arm.

jelly appears with a peach soda in hand. “what do you think?”

“it’s all light, i can do it in one session.” eric pops the soda open and drinks half of it in one gulp. “will you need some anesthesia to knock you out or are you a big tough guy?”

eric says the last few words as a clear jab, puffing up his chest and raising his chin.

the instinct to try and say something that will make him come out on top is quickly replaced by a more urgent instinct that screeches “ trap ” in his head. the thugs at boltsvalley might not have had the materials to take out his arm implants, but eric does. he’s not going to make that easier, if that’s what eric and jelly are expecting.

“just do your thing.” in his most venomous voice, he adds: “ my good friend of a friend .”

eric chokes on some of the soda while cackling, some going up his nose, it’s quite a sight. jaehyun still finds himself in a state of disbelief at how this is the one that will fix his arm. 

when eric seems to get his bearings back, he becomes more serious-looking, arranging the tables around them, putting on well-worn thick black gloves, and finally grabbing a small pen-like tool from nearby, regrettably all this build-up is ruined when he interjects a very dissonant: “okay, okay, okay, big tough guy, let’s go!” and promptly ties jaehyun up to the chair.

jaehyun doesn’t remember much of the bioimplant installation process but he remembers it didn’t require him being tied up. any questions or protests he might have are interrupted by a shrill he soon recognizes to be his own.

the tip of the pen tool shines hot white and as it goes around the implant structure. it makes his skin and muscle burn. and sting. and pulse painfully in tandem with his rapid heartbeat.

it gets harder and harder not to regret denying anesthesia.

he has been intimate with several levels of pain, but somehow this is a new one, something that hits him from skin to nerve to bone, the breath he releases when eric finishes his shoulder is almost as loud as his scream.

“you know, you can hold jelly’s hand, if you want to.” eric says offhandedly, adjusting the tip of the tool. “for pain management, you know.”

“ eric .”  jelly hisses from just behind the mechanic.

the tool is shining again and the air smells like burnt flesh.

“if i break your hand, will i have to pay damages?”

“uhh, no?” 

“then, come here.” 

their hand is not gloved today, and it feels cold in a very grounding way as he squeezes it. surprisingly, jelly doesn’t make a single complaint even though jaehyun knows it must be rapidly becoming painful for them. jaehyun doesn’t stop to check on him, focusing his energy on staring at the ceiling as eric works section by section. he identifies a single white light on it before his vision begins to blur. 

the dizziness that arrives potent makes him nauseated, if he passes out, what would have been the point of denying the anesthetic? 

stubbornly, he tries to bear it down, even as his strength depletes.

when eric finally finishes the section of his fingers, jaehyun inhales to the max capacity of his lungs. it doesn’t give him any reprieve, especially when his sigh is cut short by eric telling him to not move.

“don’t worry, the worst is over.” jelly’s voice rings sympathetic, much closer to jaehyun than he was expecting, hitting him with the reminder he hasn’t stopped holding the smuggler’s hand yet. which he does so with a speed one would think was not possible in his current state. 

jelly has a weird look on their eyes as they tuck their hands back in their lap, jaehyun ignores all of that to focus on the still blurry sight of the ceiling.

the ache appears to be subsiding, but jaehyun is unsure if that’s because he was in so much pain he has become delirious by now. he feels more than sees the tables moving around him.

“i’m going to turn on the fans to air out the smell, so you should, like, take that off.” 

eric’s voice sounds distant in a way that jaehyun recognizes as a tell-tale sign of unconsciousness. 

he spats out a groan of “ fuck, would a warning kill ” when something begins poking at the edges of the biometal again. the pain spikes up again, now spreading up and down his arm. 

despite his determination, jaehyun knows that anytime soon he will be a goner.

within the last moments of awareness, he wishes that in actuality he was very wrong about jelly and eric, and he won’t wake up somewhere in armageddon village with his bioimplants and a couple of organs taken out.

“eric… is he supposed to look this pale?” 

by the time jaehyun is able to assess the meaning of those words, where they came from and why they come off as so worried, a very pitiful and very anger-inducing thought has crossed his mind:

the contrabandist is very pretty without their mask.

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the ceiling looks different now that he isn’t dizzy with one of the worst pains he has ever felt.

for the record, he is even able to take note of what’s way more than a single white light, some wiring, even the fans eric mentioned before his whole world went dark.

as his senses return to him, he further notices he isn’t tied down to the bed anymore so jaehyun gets up, cracks his neck, swipes off the dried tears tracks he doesn’t remember crying and attempts to make a fist. 

blissfully, he realizes it doesn’t hurt. there’s absolutely no pain anywhere in his arm, and he can feel the bioimplant respond to his commands perfectly. 

jaehyun smiles, he could punch a hole in a wall right now, if he wanted to. perhaps even one in the ceiling, if he tries hard enough.

“eric said he can do some mods on it, if you want to.” 

jelly sits on the same wheeled chair eric was, fiddling with the arm rest, staring intently at a spot on their left, not fully acknowledging jaehyun, despite talking to him.

“you lied.”

this makes them acknowledge jaehyun straight on.

“what? i —? what?”

it feels good to finally get the upper hand on the other. jaehyun is not able to stop smiling.

“when you said the worst was over.”

jelly looks offended, they stop their fiddling, voice getting progressively louder. 

“well, everyone says that the splicing is the worst compared to the other steps! i didn’t expect the stitching to knock you out! you looked healthy enough to withstand it all!”

“so now, it’s my fault.” the contrabandist huffs and puffs. jaehyun has many terrible thoughts about it, he zeroes on how they look much less intimidating without the mask, voice and features out in the open. 

“that’s not what i said!”

“i’m pretty sure you were implying it, though.” jaehyun rolls his shoulders, with his bioimplants fixed it feels like his body is his own again. did the mechanic give him something to take the pain away after he passed out? He should ask, “where’s eric?”

“he had a house call to attend so he left.”

“he just left us here? alone ?”

“why wouldn’t he? nothing will happen.” jelly appears perturbed, with their eyes bouncing around the room. “he trusts me.”

“should he?” maybe the euphoria of being pain free and the fact that jelly did not scam him makes him feel comfortable enough to push their buttons. maybe it’s just fun to see them a little annoyed.

“you are not coming off as very thankful after all we did for you, hyunjae.”

“fine, fine. thank you, dear contrabandist, i clearly underestimated you, your excellent services and your incredible connections.”

jelly looks only mildly satisfied with the thanks, with a huff they change the subject, “can you walk?”

“i can stop a pod now that my arm is working.”

“you really don’t have to do that.” something in jelly’s expression tells jaehyun they knew he was only half joking. “you still look very pale though.”

“i just haven’t eaten much today, that’s all.”

“do you… nevermind.”

they glance back to the same spot of earlier. jaehyun sees nothing there but more cables and a stray screwdriver.

“no, say it.”

“do you want to go grab something to eat?”

“with you?” 

“who else?”

jaehyun stands there, arrested try as he might, he can’t understand the other, is this their usual modus operandi ? just flat out offering free service and food to clients. acting out as some sort of elaborate scheme to make him loyal to them and only them and that way not seek out any other smuggling services? 

“i don’t know, don’t you have to stay here until eric gets back?”

“no, i just had to stay until you wake up and then lock up when we leave.”

“ huh , he really trusts you.”

jelly is furrowing their eyebrows in a way jaehyun knows means frustrated but he can only think it reminds him of how people draw angry characters in children’s cartoons.

“waiting for the moment you stop assuming every word out of my mouth is a lie.”

“yeah, that’s going to take a little longer.”

they keep their eyes on him. jaehyun feels a familiar uneasiness. without the pain as a distraction, it spreads over him warmly.

“fine, so are we going, or…?”

there are contrasting points of jelly’s attitude, the demand in their voice that ends up wavering on the last word; the twisting of their sleeve in their hand, a single frayed loop being pulled on repeatedly. jaehyun focuses on that bit of fabric thread.

“i — i need to rest, probably.”

jelly holds back a laugh. “ hm , probably? you seem rested enough after those 3 hours snoring on eric’s operation table.”

jaehyun rolls his eyes, if he has to quickly weigh his options, he could make the informed guess that it would be better for him to get some food inside and potentially, he could be interested in finding out how he can be as aggravating to jelly as the smuggler is to him.

“right, you wouldn’t happen to know of some place that is as quiet and cheap as it can be now, would you, jelly?”

“actually, i do.”

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jaehyun has seen the ads for places like these ad nauseam , but he never entertained the possibility of actually having a meal in a bubble shuttle diner. 

it was odd how many first times he has had with jelly by his side already.

he doesn't let himself dwell on that for too long, a weird feeling brewing in his stomach. could be that it was the height, not he ever had any issues with it, but it was unusual to be above the skyscrapers, looking down to the usual bustle of pods in this strange egg shaped structure. 

could also be that he had underestimated how pathetic his hungry self is.

“sorry, there’s like 4000 different combos in here, i always take ages to find the ones that i like.”

jelly remarks while flipping through a plastified book, scanning through each page. from jaehyun’s upside down point of view, the combos all look the same but jelly’s dilly-dallying gives him the opportunity to finally get a full look at their face.

in the presumed safety of these pink walls, they have taken off their mask and put down their hood, and jaehyun can take his time just noticing things (— the black pins and tiny braids in their silver hair; the two little scars on the left side of their face and a bigger one on the right, that goes from behind their ear down their neck; the long dark lashes fanning over their cheeks; a mole here and there; how pink bounces off their skin…), it takes a lot from him to admit his previous thought about the contrabandist was not a product of a blurry vision and badly oxygenated brain. 

they are indeed very pretty.

the more that notion sits with him, the more off-balance he feels. 

“how often do you come here?”

“more than i should, it’s just a good place for inconspicuous meetings with cheap, mostly decent food.” 

jelly shrugs, and jaehyun would usually take it as it is, but he’s paying attention now and he sees the split second jelly directs him a look from the corner of their eye. they are paying attention too.

“is that what this is? an inconspicuous meeting?”

they fidget a bit on their seat, a clear expression of discomfort, as if jaehyun is a cat that has just dropped a dead rat in front of them. jaehyun ends with two statements in mind: first, it is much better to talk to the contrabandist without the mask as it is much easier to see their reactions, secondly he has been doing a good job of being equally aggravating.

“i don’t know, yes? maybe? no? you tell me.”

jaehyun lets out an incredulous chuckle, “how am i supposed to know? i’m just following your lead here.”

“just — forget it, okay? here choose your combo.”

jaehyun ignores the plastic book being shoved his way and stares at the other.

jelly stares back, their cheeks growing noticeably pink er.

“do you always say things and then take them back? that doesn’t sound like a good way to inspire trust in your clients.” the weird feeling jaehyun gets again is definitely his hunger so he relents and starts looking through the book, every picture manages to look intensely unappetizing and way too good to be true in comparison to his usual meals. 

“i inspire trust with my excellent service, hyunjae.” jelly has their chin raised, mouth twisted up in a tentative scowl. jaehyun remembers the angry cartoon comparison again. “it’s your own words. besides, why are you complaining right now? i’m indulging you.”

jaehyun stares at them for a tick of a moment, before he looks away, eyes rolling. “where are the chicken options? if you are indulging me.”

jelly, still in a scowl, flips the pages until several chicken centered combos begin to appear.

“you’re very talkative when you’re not agonizing in pain, i shouldn’t have asked eric for the painkillers.”

in a great display of selective thinking, jaehyun ignored the knowledge that it was jelly who asked for that extra bit of care and how that would possibly make him feel, and focused more on the victorious notion that he was able to recognize right away he’s been on something, “ha! i knew you guys gave me something!”

“it was nothing major, just some aerosol stuff to ease you back.” jelly’s cheeks are still pink, and part of jaehyun wants to tell them to take off their hoodie if they are that warm, but that surely would be crossing a line.

“it was against my wishes! i take back all my compliments about your service.”

a line they sort of, not really, crossed when their first meeting involved jaehyun taking his clothes off, but still . 

“they were stupid wishes to begin with,” jaehyun watches jelly’s tongue poking their corner of their mouth. “who even goes through bioware maintenance procedures without anesthesia?” 

“hey, that’s not fair!” jaehyun gestures in a way that he hopes that conveys all of jelly’s existence. “i thought if i went under i would end up in a ditch without my arm and several other parts.”

jelly blinks in surprise, opening their mouth before closing and opening again.

“that’s somewhere near a good point actually.” and then more sheepishingly, they add, “eric did suggest it as a joke, but i wouldn’t and, he wouldn’t either. you should just stop thinking the worst of me, us... maybe stop thinking the worst of people, hyunjae?” 

jaehyun feel the tension trickle into the muscles of his shoulders. 

he has heard that before, but he doesn’t allow himself to reminisce about distant voices and moral lessons from better people, instead he points to the most expensive combo he sees. “get me this one and i just might.”

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jaehyun barely has the time to close the door behind him before there is a rapid stomping coming his way.

new stops directly in front of him, anger etched into his features.

“i absolutely despise you.”

jaehyun can’t help but guffaw. it’s not the usual good evening greeting, but it is around the ballpark of it coming from new. “to what do i owe the pleasure of it today?”

new adamantly stops him from moving any step further from the door, his wires and bolts fuming away.

”i was very clear when i told you to not mess it up with our main supplier, and you decide that it means going on a date with them?”

without delay, jaehyun’s smile is wiped off his face, he is quick to correct, “it was not a date.”

“it was not not a date.”

if jaehyun had pocketed one of the many screwdrivers he saw laying around the nameless skyscraper construction site he had just done a grueling shift at, would he be able to loosen up any bolts in new’s jaw and achieve any sense of peace around here? it’s not that the banter isn’t amusing enough, it had just come to him this topic made him just the slightest bit uncomfortable. 

it was not a date. 

was it an uncanny display of kindness coming from what’s basically a criminal? yes. was it the most fun he had in this city that did not involve his dog or any of the melting heart staff? maybe. was it a date? no.

thus, rather than arguing about semantics and relationships with the other, he just inhales and yells a “jacob, your android is malfunctioning!”

new matches him in volume and accusational tone, “jacob, your charity case is taking jelly out on dates!” 

jaehyun tries to maneuver around the android, but every step he takes is immediately blocked by new. he supposes he’s going to spend the night looking up ‘ ways to disable an android’s motion panels ’. new crosses his arms. jaehyun cranes his neck to see if jacob will do the blessing of getting him out of this, alas the office door is closed. 

“i’m not dating them, i don’t even know how you got to that conclusion, new.”

new’s expression takes the form of a predator about to pounce, “don’t lie to me. i know you guys went out to eat two days ago.”

while that is true, jaehyun is absolutely sure that new is jumping the gun here. going out to eat together does not automatically mean anything similar to a date. soon, it would mean nothing but the knowledge that bubble shuttle chicken is not the worst he ever had and maybe not everyone in this city is a self-serving asshole only out for themselves.

new absolutely doesn’t need to know any of that, so he picks deflection.

“how would you even know that? were you spying on me, new? that’s a new low, but i always knew you had something for me.”

“you see, i would rather meet my makers.” jaehyun has become very intimate with all the variations of disgusted expressions new has in his programming, but somehow the one he sports right now might be the most repulsed one yet. “i wasn’t spying on anyone, i just have my sources.”

 jaehyun pushes, unstoppable force . “what sources?”

new remains, immovable object . “why? are you planning on dating them too?” 

“there’s no dating to be done around here, i’m just curious, i have been learning a lot about you lately…” jaehyun sees an opening, and as always, takes it. “for example, i’ve grown very interested in your opinion on churches, or maybe, temples?”

new’s entire body language changes in a hitch, arms uncrossed, shoulders tense, posture leaning back. “this conversation stops here.” 

“why? i’m not done!”

“but we are.”

now, jaehyun can’t help himself.

“what religion were you, at least? you reek of catholicism prudism sometimes, you know? am i spot on? is that why you can smell things, to know if the water is holy or just normal? what even goes into holy water?”

new ignores all questions as he moves to his position behind the bar.

“i’m not talking to you anymore.” and because jacob has impeccable timing, he chooses to finally come out of his office just as the android spits out, “and stop dating our supplier.”

jacob considers him, eyes alight with interest. “ oh ? jelly?”

“no.”

“i’m only asking.” jacob raises his hands, palms in view, the image of faultlessness.

“and that’s the answer!” jaehyun feels just the slightest bit betrayed, he doesn’t need both of them ganging up on him, jacob is supposed to be on his side, defending him from his rogue evil android. “new has taken a habit of making up stories now, you should reboot him.”

“no reboots.” they both say it at the same time and jaehyun wants to gag, it is not the time for their telepathic thing. 

“anyways, just out of curiosity...” jacob begins, approaching jaehyun carefully. ”is there any chance you will see them again any time soon?”

jaehyun does an immense effort to not look cornered. technically, jaehyun has to see them again as they have agreed to get his new multipass done on the following day. that does not mean they will go out on a date not date. even if the time jelly picked was coincidentally somewhat around lunchtime. 

jaehyun is not going to begin lying to jacob now, but something in him tells him maybe he should. ignoring any possible dilemmas, he goes for a third option and inquires, “why?”

jacob takes his question as a good enough answer. “interesting!”

“it’s not like that, we’re not done with all the stuff i needed, i still need to get the multipass done, that’s all.”

“of course, it’s still purely transactional.”

jacob’s tone makes it all sound wrong . jaehyun wants to turn around and leave both of them to their conspiratory looks.

“yes, exactly.” 

jacob smiles, patronizing in a way jaehyun didn’t think was possible coming from him. “tell jelly i send them and their puppy my regards.”

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jelly is not wearing a mask today. this is of note merely because it makes it easier for jaehyun to find them in the station.

another happy observation is that there’s no creepy hologram doll today. however, the lack of terrifying holograms gives jaehyun’s traitorous brain enough time to take stock of all the details of the smuggler's appearance. they are leaning against a wall of ad screens, still towering over most around them, wearing black from head to toe, but more than inconspicuous their clothes look fancier today, it is the same for the pins in the hair, now arranged in a more complex design than last time; there’s a sigil symbol near their eyes that jaehyun knows it’s an enhancer but can’t remember what for.

before he loses himself trying to figure that one out, he has to ask. 

“you have a puppy?”

“wow, okay, hi, hyunjae.” jelly stumbles, flustered. jaehyun finds himself unable to discern if their cheeks have gotten pink in this short meantime or if they are naturally like that, or just artificially made to be flushed at all times. “any other criminal activities of mine you want to yell about while we are in public?”

“i’m not yelling, i’m speaking in my normal conversational volume.” jaehyun takes a step closer to the other, just in case. for all intents and purposes, avoiding eavesdropping is in their best interests. “answer the question: do you have a puppy, yes or no?”

“i mean… technically bori’s not a puppy anymore, but yes.”

jaehyun gives them a double take, disbelieving. behind, loud colors announce an android part sale nearby.

“what, why? what’s wrong?”

“that’s…” deep down he knows what he is trying to say, he just can’t find a single word that would explain it without letting on how much he has thought about the other, with his brain refusing to cooperate, he settles on, “...unexpected.”

“ huh .” jelly has confusion all over their face. “is it?”

“yes?” jaehyun doesn’t mean to word it as a question, but the interrogation comes off in his voice anyway. “everything about you seems to be along those lines.”

“in a good or a bad way?” jelly tilts their head, their eyes shining.

jaehyun sucks a breath through his teeth, unreasonably nervous all of the sudden. “mostly good, i guess.”

jelly smiles, jewelike and something clicks. or better yet, it breaks. 

jaehyun could come up with about a million excuses for how his stomach is churning. none of them would change the fact that he wouldn’t mind seeing that smile again.

“well, we should get moving to —”

he stops the other by their arm, the fabric crinkles under his fingers. the stiff texture of it is a nice distraction from the tidal wave of new thoughts and feelings that have just popped up.

“why didn’t you tell me?”

“about bori?” there’s not much space between them, their voices hushed under the cacophony of lunchtime rush noises. “why do you want to know now?”

“just cause,” jaehyun pushes, belatedly remembering to let go of the other’s arm. “i’m curious, will you indulge me again, please?”

jelly had yielded before he even got the please out. jaehyun sees it, clear as day, in the shrug of their shoulders, the bite of their lips, the switching from one foot to the other. then, he remembers their previous meeting and the one before it. the perverse idea that jelly would cave to any of his requests, not because they are some eccentric criminal but because it’s for him makes his body run hot for the split second before he tucks those thoughts away. 

“i don’t know, hyunjae…” they begin, jaehyun’s pulse skips. “i wasn’t sure if you’d want to know more about —”

“the existence of another dog?”

jaehyun is nervous, he hopes it is well hidden under the hint of a laugh in his voice. the eye roll jelly gives him helps a little.

“no, like, about me. or just my life, generally speaking…”

they are noticeably avoiding jaehyun’s eyes, outwardly more interested in scanning the people passing by, ironically this avoidance prompts the latter further. jaehyun needs to know.

“why not?”

jelly scoffs. “let’s say you weren’t the most receptive to small talk in our first meeting.”

jaehyun mimics the scoffing. “of course i wasn’t! everything about it was shady, from the weird passwords to the creepy room.”

“hey! that password was not weird!” they protest, nudging jaehyun’s chest lightly. “it’s a book quote and it’s hopeful and bright, we’ve been through this, hyunjae.”

jaehyun has a bizarre sensation in his chest, right where jelly has touched it. concurrently much too tight and much too light. not entirely sure if he likes it, but knowing he doesn’t hate it, jaehyun doubles down, “yes, i still stand that it was a weird password, jelly.” 

“younghoon.”

their voice sounded so small, that even in the narrow space between them, jaehyun has to ask, “what?”

“it’s my name. like, my real name.”

jaehyun gets a little breathless. of all the rug pulls jel— younghoon had given him this feels the biggest, magnanimous in size for it to be just a whisper on what’s technically their third meeting.

his mouth moves before he’s been able to leave the daze the other had put him under.

“ oh , uh , mine’s jaehyun.”

“yeah.” they duck their head with a smile that can only be described as dazzling, jaehyun doesn’t think he’s currently capable of any coherent thinking. “anyways, how is a cleaning supplies room shady? it had exactly what you can expect, cleaning supplies.”

they say it so surely, jaehyun almost believes they mean it. the tickle of amusement in their eyes is what gives them away.

“okay, younghoon, does all the cleaning supplies rooms you know include stuff falling out of nowhere and weird creaking noises?”

jaehyun would expect their real name to sound odd coming out of his mouth, or that it would feel reckless to say in such a public place, but it didn’t. it was as if they were in their own little bubble, protected from anything in this city that had eyes and ears.

‘“it was only for safety measures, jaehyun.” 

younghoon seemed to share that line of thought.

“creepiness now works as safety measures?”

“yeah! you see, i don’t work alone, and my associates would rather if i don’t get killed or maimed in a meeting so i have an android friend that goes and watches over me.” they nudged jaehyun again, getting more and more comfortable by the second. “that’s it, i swear.”

“ huh .” was all jaehyun could say still too distracted by the swirl of feelings all over him. 

“i’m not lying!”

“i’m not saying you are… it does make sense, in a way.”

younghoon glances at the floor, crosses one leg in front of the other, jaehyun braces himself, already familiar with the other’s stalling techniques.

“so now you trust me?”

there's a taunt quality to the question, but jaehyun recognizes the look in their eyes, a mixture of hope and apprehension, almost as if he fears jaehyun saying no. maybe it is time jaehyun does some caving of his own.

“i’m here now, aren’t i?”

they smile again and jaehyun’s filled with a sense of pride he’s only going to feel the slightest bit ashamed about.

“okay, as much as i like talking to you —”

the tight feeling in his chest soars away.

“ oh , do you?”

the corners of younghoon’s mouth quiver, but they ultimately ignore him. “we should go now, we are supposed to arrive at the booth while the manager’s on her lunch break.”

jaehyun nods, more sad than he would like to admit.

“we could…”

feeling their hesitation, he demands. “say it.”

“i’m going to if you ever let me finish my sentences.” younghoon admonishes him, shaking their head but unable to hide their smile. “we could go out for lunch after, if that’s okay.”

jaehyun could admit that that is more than okay, but he could also tease the smuggler just a bit. he pursues his lips, letting the moment stretch between them, waiting for younghoon's lips to take the shape of a frown, before he grins.

“will you show me pictures of your puppy?”

“if you manage to behave.” 

jaehyun gasps, mock offended

“i always do as such, younghoon.”

“we will see about that, jaehyun.”

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you little rascal what were you thinking leaving us without any updates all this time / if it wasn’t for jacob doing that job for you whenever he could / i would have thought you died on the way over / it would be fitting of you to just trip and die hitting your head 2 steps away from the city / i’m not letting you get away with that one you hear me / we missed you jaehyun we miss darong more but we have to admit we miss you too / of course we are alive and well we fixed the submarine and went north for calmer waters / i don’t think we will be going back anytime soon but if we do you have to introduce us to this younghoon / so i can ask them how they handle you on top of all the noise in the city / at least here the water and the steel muffled you from a room over / likewise you have to elaborate on that convoluted religious cult thing / juyeon is extremely interested and i have to admit i am too / what do you mean they would be programmed as a exorcism priest and an exorcism victim / exorcisee / what’s even the correct word for that / anyways / please don’t be a stranger any longer / i’m not even going to be obnoxious and force you to admit that we were right about the city not being so bad / with love lsy