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Agent Choi placed the last item on the altar and stood stiffly, silently waiting for something to happen. At first, nothing occurred. Jewelries, cash, wine— all of those items that were laid out on the red altar remained as they were, neither disappearing nor moving. The agent maintained his calm state, continuing to stare warily at it until his vision started to blur.
Agent Choi blinked and his clouded vision instantly cleared up. There was no longer an altar in front of him. He was instead met by the sight of an unfamiliar setting, a place different from where he’d just been in. Agent Choi was wrapped in darkness, surrounded by nothing but silence and an eerie chill crawling up his skin.
He raised his head slightly, carefully darting his gaze from side to side.
This was it.
He’d been successfully pulled into the darkness.
Just then, a chilling breeze brushed past his back. Instinctively, Agent Choi had the urge to turn around but a quiet whisper caused his body to freeze in place.
“… My husband.”
Agent Choi’s gaze landed on a figure standing in front of him. The figure was adorned with the color red from head to toe, dressed in a traditional chinese styled wedding gown and a thin veil covering “her” face.
“Ghost bride...” The agent whispered softly under his breath.
The ghost bride remained still, standing only a few inches away from Agent Choi. “Her” presence was alluring, tempting the agent to move forward. Fortunately, Agent Choi was experienced with handling these types of ghosts. Still, he took a step forward. He wasn’t a person easily swayed by desires but for this particular darkness, it was necessary for him to be “lured” by the ghost.
When Agent Choi finally closed the distance between them, the ghost bride slowly extended “her” pale hand towards him. Hesitantly, Agent Choi raised a hand then reached out to touch it. His skin was immediately met with a chilling temperature as the pale hand wrapped itself tightly around his.
Unexpectedly, the ghost suddenly leaned closer towards him, their faces only inches apart with only the thin veil separating them. From how close they were now, Agent Choi could faintly make out a small smile visible behind the veil covering “her” face.
“My dear husband,” the ghost’s soft whisper echoed throughout Agent Choi’s ears and caused his head to buzz a little, as if a strange spell had been cast on him. At that moment, the agent’s other hand shot out to seize the ghost’s shoulder. A heavy breath left his lips as his expression shifted completely.
“You...” Agent Choi spoke up, staring intensely at the pair of eyes hidden behind the piece of fabric. His heart started to pick up its pace, thumping loudly as he breathed out, “Agent Grapes?”
“.…”
This was him, right?
No, hold on—
“Hah,” Agent Choi sighed with trembling lips.
It shouldn’t be.
“Just a ghost,” he muttered.
A ghost bride taking the form of his hoobae, Kim Soleum—Agent Grapes.
After realization had sunk, the agent took a step backwards calmly, just enough to not anger the ghost while creating a small distance in the process. Agent Choi was indeed not one to be swayed by desires but this—
He averted his gaze away from the ghost.
“Shit,” he cursed softly.
Wasn’t this too fucking crazy?
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Agent Choi let himself be lured by the ghost, carefully trailing behind it with their hands intertwined tightly. He dryly swallowed, resisting the urge to glance at the ghost bride every few seconds. Although the ghost’s face wasn’t completely visible, his eyes could still make out the features hidden under the veil. It was definitely Agent Grapes’ face and this ghost bride— he was sure that it was male too.
‘Grapes-ie…’ His thoughts trailed off.
His hoobae should be at home right now, enjoying his day off. As for Agent Choi’s current situation, it was best if he didn’t let his curiosity wander too far. He was only here to rescue a civilian then leave immediately. Agent Choi quickly got rid of the distracting thoughts and lowered his head.
“Huh?”
The hand he’d been clinging onto—
He raised his head, footsteps instantly coming to an abrupt pause.
The ghost was gone, leaving only a faint coolness lingering on Agent Choi’s skin.
Before the agent could even move, multiple figures suddenly appeared, approaching him from all sides. Agent Choi swept a firm gaze past each of them and realised that their faces were all blurred with mosaic as if they'd been censored. He took a step back but he was a second too late— one of them had already gotten to him. A zombie-like figure with its face obscured by mosaic was clutching his arm tightly.
“Groom…” It muttered.
As if on queue, the rest of the strange figures surrounding him also started to repeat the same word, chanting in unison, “Groom! Groom! Groom!”
Agent Choi pressed his lips together with his eyes narrowing. Without resistance, he let himself be dragged away until he was eventually shoved into a room with the door clicking shut behind him. The smell of incense immediately assaulted his nose, making him feel slightly drowsy. The color red dominated his sight as he scanned the unfamiliar room. With the large bed right in front of him and the decorations around, it was obvious what kind of room this was.
It was the bridal chamber.
The incense placed on the table nearby continued to burn, its dizzying scent caused Agent Choi’s eyes to droop.
“Fuck—“ A curse left the agent’s lips before his vision completely blacked out.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Agent Choi awoke with a startle and realised that he was currently sitting on the bed wearing a completely different outfit from the usual Bureau uniform he’d entered this darkness in. He was now dressed in all red, wearing a traditional Chinese style attire for grooms. His brows furrowed as he tried to comb through his memories but all he recalled was blacking out from the smell of incense.
The agent swallowed a curse and quietly sighed. The only way to navigate this darkness was to let himself get dragged around by those ghosts in order to find the civilian who had presumably been forced into becoming a groom. Instead of finding the groom, Agent Choi had now become the one himself. If the ghost bride came now and proceeded with the wedding ceremony then—
Agent Choi averted his gaze towards the closed door. From beyond it, he could hear sounds of approaching footsteps. The moment he stood up, the door swung open, revealing a bizarre sight. There was a group of people with censored faces carrying a sedan chair. In the next second, a red mat was carefully placed on the ground and Agent Choi could only watch curiously as a figure stepped out.
Like a man who’d been possessed, Agent Choi stood still without making a single sound. His shaking pupils kept obsessively scanning the bride ghost from head to toe. It seemed to be the same ghost he’d met earlier but this time, something was definitely strange.
A sudden thought crossed his mind at that moment.
‘If I’m the groom then…’
The civilian should’ve been the groom, so who—
‘Who called for rescue?’
The ghost bride approached quietly with the door shutting gently behind him. Agent Choi’s throat went dry. He wanted to move but couldn’t take his eyes off the person in front of him. When the ghost finally stopped, they were standing face to face with only a small distance between them.
The figure, dressed in a red wedding dress, leaned his face forward and muttered in a familiar sounding voice, “My husband, won’t you lift up my veil?”
With his heart almost thumping out of his chest, Agent Choi took a step forward, practically throwing himself towards the other. His hands shook as he reached out to clutch the red veil. Before he could even muster the courage to lift it up, a pale hand was lifted to rest on Agent Choi’s cheek, gently caressing it. The hand was cold. It was the same type of coolness he’d felt from before but it felt more human— the touch was familiar.
Agent Choi moved another hand to grasp the wrist that was caressing his cheek and lifted the veil up with his other hand. His breathing quickened as soon as his eyes locked with another pair of familiar eyes.
“Agent Grapes,” he called out.
In front of him was none other than his hoobae, Agent Grapes. He was blankly staring back at him with deathly pale skin, giving off the vibe of a cold beauty. He truly looked and felt like a dead person. Despite that, Kim Soleum was beautiful, chillingly so. It stirred an unknown emotion buried deep within Agent Choi’s heart.
“Kim Soleum,” Agent Choi pulled him closer and called out once more.
Upon hearing his name, Kim Soleum’s gaze flickered and his expression seemed to have shifted but only for a split second. Nonetheless, that brief second was enough for Agent Choi’s sharp eyes to catch it.
“I don’t know why you’re here but…” He mumbled with his eyes clouded with an unreadable emotion. Agent Choi swiftly moved an arm to wrap around Kim Soleum’s waist and continued, “You’re contaminated, Grapes-ie.”
It was clear who sent the rescue signal.
Instead of snatching the groom and running away with them as planned, Agent Choi now had to steal the bride. A groom running away with his bride on their wedding day. The more he thought about it, the more amusing it sounded. Wasn’t this simply unheard of?
The thought of marrying Kim Soleum gave Agent Choi’s heart a tug but—
“I can’t marry you without a proper proposal.” He grinned and lowered the hand that was resting on Kim Soleum’s waist. Without warning, he lifted the other’s body, scooping him up into his arms and carrying him in bridal style.
Kim Soleum’s expression wavered in response, lips slightly falling open in surprise. Agent Choi was convinced that his hoobae would’ve screamed in shock if he wasn’t contaminated right now.
“Where…”
Agent Choi hurriedly cut him off, “We’re running away.”
“No,” Kim Soleum shook his head, his expression darkening as he tightly gripped Agent Choi’s shoulders. “We have to get married! We have to get married—“ Thrashing wildly in Agent Choi’s arms, he repeated those phrases endlessly with his shaking pupils flashing blood red.
Agent Choi should be scared but for some reason, an unexplainable feeling crept up in his chest.
“Shit,” He cursed out loud, pushing back the burning desires that had slipped out.
If he didn’t run away with Kim Soleum now, he might really end up as the groom.
Suddenly, the door slammed open with a loud bang. Agent Choi held onto Kim Soleum tightly and lifted his head up to glare at the crowd of people with censored faces outside.
“Soleum-ah,” He mumbled softly. “We’ll still get married, okay?”
Kim Soleum’s thrashing body instantly stilled.
“… But not here,” he glanced down, locking eyes with his hoobae and continued, “Let’s get married somewhere nicer.” It was supposed to be an excuse to coax his bride but Agent Choi’s tone was serious, almost as if he was making a promise.
Kim Soleum fell silent. A faint blush appeared on his cheek before he wordlessly averted his gaze, burying his face into Agent Choi’s chest.
Agent Choi’s lips twitched.
“Hold onto me tightly, okay?”
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
“Agent,” Ryu Jaekwan called out as he approached Agent Choi’s desk.
Agent Choi, who was practically burying his whole head into the pile of documents in front of him, silently lifted his head up. He looked like a complete mess and had remained in such a state for almost a month now. Ever since he rescued Agent Grapes from that darkness, he had been dragging himself around the office with a depressed look.
Ryu Jaekwan understood him to a certain extent and had also been feeling down ever since Agent Grapes was sent away to cleanse his contamination but unlike his senior…
He stared at Agent Choi in pity.
His senior truly resembled a widow who had lost her husband, except it was the complete opposite.
“About Agent Grapes…” Agent Choi immediately sat up straight and nodded his head, urging his hoobae to continue. “You can meet him now—“
Thud.
The chair Agent Choi had been sitting on was knocked over as stood up abruptly.
“I’ll go!”
“Wait—“ Ryu Jaekwan’s eyes widened. “Agent!” He shouted, trying to stop the other but it was too late. Agent Choi had already bolted straight out of the room. “Seriously—“ He cursed, rushing after his senior but was met by an empty hallway instead.
Sighing in disbelief, Ryu Jaekwan muttered under his breath, “With how eager you are, you might trigger his contamination again…”
Agent Grapes’ contamination recognised Agent Choi as his “groom”. That was the main reason why he wasn’t allowed to see Agent Grapes for a while. The contamination would be triggered if they met. Now that Agent Grapes was somewhat “cured” from it, it was safe for them to see each other again but the Bureau still couldn’t guarantee that Agent Choi wouldn’t trigger something.
Ryu Jaekwan could only hope that everything would be fine.
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Agent Choi burst into the room, breathing heavily. His gaze instantly landed on the figure sitting in the middle of the room. When their eyes met, Kim Soleum’s pupils visibly shook with mixed emotions displayed on his face. Agent Choi stumbled forward, approaching the other with a trembling voice, “Agent Grapes—“
Kim Soleum stood up and the senior agent’s body immediately crashed into him. Agent Choi wrapped his arms around him, tightly pressing him into his embrace. Kim Soleum was taken aback but wasted no time to also wrap his arms around the other.
Agent Choi clung onto the warmth of his hoobae’s body. Kim Soleum no longer felt like a dead man in his arms. It brought him relief but most of all, he was happy that he could finally see him again— the man his heart yearned for ever since they had to separate.
“Missed you,” he breathed out.
“Mm…” Kim Soleum hummed, feeling his cheeks heat up from how flustered he was.
“You feel okay now, right?” Agent Choi asked, pulling his head to look at Kim Soleum who nodded in response.
“Yes, I do.”
He didn’t question why Kim Soleum was in that darkness that day nor did he ask him about how he'd gotten contaminated in the first place. Instead, Agent Choi flashed a bright smile, pulling Kim Soleum even closer and said, “I’m glad.”
With the thumping of his own heart ringing loudly in ears, Kim Soleum quietly mumbled something unknowingly.
“… My husband.”
Agent Choi froze, staring at him with wide eyes.
“What did you just say?”
“Huh?” Kim Soleum reacted with furrowed brows.
“You said something and then added another word.”
Kim Soleum’s expression only became more confused. He couldn’t remember the words that had slipped out of lips because of how loud the beating of his heart had been but the last word he said—
Kim Soleum immediately covered his own mouth in shock.
He could only recall the last two words.
At that moment, he made the mistake of locking eyes with Agent Choi. His senior’s eyes had already clouded over with an unknown ominous emotion.
Kim Soleum cursed.
‘I’m screwed.’