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Three Times Kim Soleum Touched Baek Saheon’s Hair

Summary:

Baek Saheon gets a new look. Kim Soleum likes it, maybe.

(heavy spoilers for 201)

Notes:

Written for the hashtag challenge on twitter :

https://x.com/hashtag/백사헌밀크티에담갓다빼기챌린지

‘Dunk Baek Saheon in milk tea challenge’
It's a hashtag for people who kinda miss his old fanon design - light colored hair, light brown eyes, different looking bangs, etc,. If you’re unfamiliar, just visit the link.

Starts off from ep 169, the Necronomicon trade.

Work Text:

 

[Aren’t you going to trade, sir?]

That evening, Baek Saheon sent me a text.

So I met him at a secluded room café in Seoul.

He looked different from usual, wearing a deep-set hat, black mask, and even sunglasses. Didn’t he realize dressing like that just made him look more suspicious?

Ah well, if anyone were to suspect anything, they'd probably just assume it was some kind of secret romance between two guys.

I shrugged inwardly and paid the bill.

 

Once inside the room, I locked the door and sat down. Without much thought, I watched Baek Saheon take off his hat—and startled.

‘What’s with the hair?’

Instead of the usual perfectly styled dark brown hair, I was looking at a mess of light-colored strands.

I briefly wondered if he was wearing a wig for this ‘secret meeting’.

Then Baek Saheon took off his sunglasses—and I was even more thrown off. 

His eye color nearly matched his hair.

What, a wig and colored contact?

They were fairly convincing, too, probably high-end.

I rested my chin on one hand and watched him remove his mask with a bored expression - though I actually tensed a bit when he took off his mask, he looked the same under that, at least - and casually spoke.

“You got your hair done?”

 

Contrary to what I expected, Baek Saheon’s expression darkened instantly as if I had just struck a nerve.

“This...! This wasn’t something I wanted—”

I tilted my head slightly. Upon meeting my eyes, Baek Saheon—

 

“—Wait, are you curious about this?”

His expression flipped, as if he hadn’t been upset just a second ago.

 

“I mean, I’ve prepared plenty of other stuff too, but… Should I start with this?”

The obvious angling attitude made me snort.

 

“Just get to the main point. I don’t have all day.”

“...Hey, didn't we come here to make a fair exchange? It doesn't exactly feel good for me when you talk like that.”

Grumbling, Baek Saheon settled into his seat and looked as if he was trying to set the mood.

 

…but due to the changed appearance, it wasn’t working that well. 

I had always thought Baek Saheon looked a little too gentle for his reputation - now, he looked downright soft and vulnerable.

 

Unaware of my thoughts, Baek Saheon kept up the serious tone as he started.

 

“So, first… two people from our batch have disappeared.”

…Ha.

 

 

 

 

Time passed.

It felt like Baek Saheon was running out of stories. I was about to just hand over the Necronomicon when a sudden thought made me wave my hand and stop him.

“Let’s skip that story.”

“…Oh. Okay.”

Baek Saheon looked like he was starting to lose patience. I pointed at his head.

“So what’s the deal with that?”

“…This? Oh.”

“Yeah. You said there was a story behind it.”

People are most eager when talking about themselves. Baek Saheon was no exception—his eyes lit up again.

“No, seriously, my hair was fine until two days ago—”

 

To sum it up: he went into a darkness, screwed up, and came out with a permanent dye job.

To elaborate a bit: Squad F had recently entered a darkness that involved touring a “beverage factory.”

You know that children's book set in a food factory? The one about a chocolate factory? This darkness was a twisted parody of that story, where the punishments for naughty kids were made far more gruesome. Permanent extreme body transformations, being eaten alive by rats and roaches…

As I recalled some exploration reports I’d read, I concluded: Okah, getting your eye dyed is honestly getting off light.

 

“So, you fell into a milk tea tank?”

Now that he mentioned it, his hair color did look a bit like milk tea.

“That wasn’t even the worst part!”

Baek Saheon continued, looking genuinely wronged.

Apparently, after swimming for his life and barely escaping from the milk tea tank, he followed the manual and went to the dwarf workers, stating he’d completed the punishment and was ready to leave. But the dwarves jumped him, yelling, “You think you’re leaving like this?!”

—Then started drying his hair with full force.

Baek Saheon shuddered at the memory.

I couldn’t help wanting to burst into laughter. Since I had no reason not to, I laughed loud and hard.

Baek Saheon gave me a sour look as he continued to complain.

 

“If only I could’ve just left!”

Once your appearance is settled inside the factory, it becomes permanent. And that was how the fluffy hair with even fluffier bangs came to be.

Baek Saheon went on about how much trouble he had since—how his clothes and eye patch all got stained, so that he had to wear medical eyepatch to the office.

 

Still laughing, I reached out and ruffled his bangs.

“Ah—! Sir, you’re messing up my hair—!”

“You don’t have a style to mess up.”

“…Yes, but—! Still, suddenly touching someone’s hair like that without warning isn’t okay!”

“Really?”

 

I briefly pulled my hand back.

“I’m touching it.”

And then reached back out.

 

Since I’d gone to the trouble of warning him, I might as well do it right.

Baek Saheon grumbled a bit more, but didn’t dodge, seemingly resigned. So I spent a good while messing with his fluffy hair. 

Then, as if I had just remembered, I took out the Necronomicon I’d promised and handed it over, watching Baek Saheon’s face brighten noticeably.

 

It was a good trade.

 

 

 

 

A few days later, I met Baek Saheon again in Jisan Village.

My legs were tied up, and in order to escape the village alive, I had to convince him—

“So what exactly is this way for both of us to survive?”

— and succeeded.

 

From then on, Baek Saheon spent the whole night talking about the village and the ritual.

He even talked about things I hadn’t asked because I was feeling too drained to ask.

People really are most eager when talking about themselves.

 

Baek Saheon had started the conversation from the far side of the room, but as it continued, he edged closer and closer—until he was sitting right beside me.

I wondered if something had changed inside him, but I wasn’t curious enough to pry.

I just sat there, listening quietly to his resentment toward the village.

 

Isn't this a bit funny, I thought.

Just a little over week ago, I’d been listening to Baek Saheon rant about his own misfortunes, too.

…How had it felt, back then?

 

As Baek Saheon finally wrapped up his rant and sighed, he looked at me, clearly waiting for my next question.

Our eyes met—

 

And without thinking, I reached out and tousled his bangs with my fingers.

 

…I don’t know why I did it.

 

Baek Saheon looked at me in surprise.

I was just as startled, but pretended like nothing happened and withdrew my hand.

“I think I’ve understood enough about the rooster statue now. So, moving on to—”

“Wait, wait!”

Baek Saheon spoke in a trembling voice.

Why was he so tense? As I stared at him in confusion, he fidgeted and stared back. Then suddenly, he let out an “Ah!” and—

—Lifted his hand to take off his eye patch.

 

“Kim, Kim Soleum?!”

Ah.

 

 

 

 

The next day.

While the village’s ceremony fell into chaos, Baek Saheon hid nearby to observe the situation.

The pungmulnori troupe was dismantled, and after gathering his sister, he considered running—but decided against it.

‘Wherever Kim Soleum is, that is the safest place.’

It was a conclusion formed out of months of painful experience.

 

…Though Kim Soleum didn’t seem entirely in his right mind at the moment.

Baek Saheon still vividly remembered the shock from realizing the agent he’d been talking to all night was Kim Soleum.

What was with that complete vibe overhaul? He’d even wondered if a psychopath could possibly get depression.

 

Still… everything had gone just as Kim Soleum said it would.

That part was the same as always.

Despite the madness — the giant centipede, the sudden appearance of the Disaster Management Bureau agents — things seemed to be resolving.

Thinking this, Baek Saheon carefully tailed the agents, carrying his huge backpack.

 

…Until suddenly—

“What the hell?!”

A giant tiger appeared!

Lightning rained from the sky, blood poured like rain!

All while Kim Soleum was just lying there, flat on the ground, not even moving!

Hiding in a relatively safe blind spot, Baek Saheon peeked out every few seconds, cursing Kim Soleum internally.

‘You said we’d both make it out alive!’

…Sure, they’d survived the sacrificial ritual. That alone stirred something strange and emotional in him—

But if they both died right after, what was the point?

It was too late to run now, so he had no choice but to keep watching while swallowing his curses.

 

Then, surprisingly, things calmed down.

 

Kim Soleum got up and started talking normally with the agents. He even looked a bit brighter.

Baek Saheon cheered internally.

‘I was right after all.’

His instinct that Kim Soleum was the eye of the storm proved correct once again. He’d survived thanks to that.

He even saw the sacrificial ceremony go up in flames—very satisfying.

It might’ve been a good time to walk up to Kim Soleum and gloat a little, but with the agents still surrounding the man, Baek Saheon wasn’t sure it was a good idea.

Although these agent didn't know that he worked for the company —they were the ones who had tried to ditch him earlier, telling him that he belonged to the village.

‘Those agents should’ve died too.’

Why couldn't they have perished along with the darkness?

Thinking this, Baek Saheon was watching the agents with bitterness, when—

 

Something felt off.

…One of the agents was holding something shiny in their hand.

 

If a Disaster Management Bureau agent is holding a small, shiny object, it could only be one thing.

'The Glass Prison!'

A chill ran down Baek Saheon’s spine.

Kim Soleum didn’t seem to notice—he seemed to be talking with the agents.

…Or maybe he had a plan—

 

But Baek Saheon’s body moved before he could think further.

 

‘I worked so hard to keep that bastard alive—’

As a result, he’d even felt a certain emotion for the first time in his life.

Thinking all that effort might be undone in an instant had made him move on instinct.

 

Baek Saheon’s custom weapon was fired directly at the agent’s hand.

 

“Ah!”

The agent yelped, but also instantly pulled out a blade and hurled it with perfect aim. 

Baek Saheon barely dodged it, rolling on the ground. He was still in shock from his own actions.

He turned and saw Kim Soleum’s face go pale as he registered the situation.

“Bronze, behind—!”

“Agent Choi! What was that just now—?!”

The agent called Bronze hesitated instead of attacking Baek Saheon, glancing at the object in his partner’s hand in shock.

‘They weren’t on the same page?’

If that’s the case, now was his only chance.

Baek Saheon pulled out another equipment.

One of his latest creations.

 

Owner: Baek Saheon
Equipment Description: Liquid white-out; when squeezed, the liquid sprays like a squirt gun. Anyone hit will lose the last two minutes of memory for 30 seconds.
Manufactured from Qterw-E-99.

 

An escape equipment.

He fired it at the agent holding the glass prison—and hit the mark.

‘Got it!’

Then, just before running, he glanced back at Kim Soleum—

—And found himself meeting his gaze.

 

No time to talk.

Baek Saheon turned and bolted without looking back.

 

 

 

 

How long had he been running through the mountain path?

At this point, it seemed wise to stop for a moment and use a tracking disruption item.

That thought had just crossed Baek Saheon’s mind when he came to a brief halt—
and saw someone running toward him from afar.

 

‘...Kim Soleum!’

Kim Soleum was running straight toward him.

 

‘Shit, why isn’t he just running away on his own?! Why is he coming to me!’

 

No matter how many tracking disruption items he used, it would be meaningless if Kim Soleum got tracked.

At this point, there was no other choice. Holding back tears, Baek Saheon waited for him.

 

“Sir, just stand still for a sec—”

“Tracking disruptor? Hurry up.”

 

How does he even know what items I have…

At this point, Baek Saheon wasn’t even surprised anymore.

Without a word, he took a small rubber ball out of his pocket, rolled it between his hands, and handed it to Kim Soleum, who did the same before hurling it far into the distance.

 

That should interfere with tracking to some extent.

After catching his breath briefly, Baek Saheon once again began forging ahead through the mountain trail.

 

 

 

 

As the sun began to sink below the horizon, the two of them finally made it down the mountain.

“If we go just a little farther that way, there’s a bus stop. It doesn’t come often, but one should be coming soon, so we’ll have to run.”

Fortunately, the bus arrived on schedule.

Baek Saheon sat down and took a deep breath.

It would take a few dozen minutes to reach the express bus terminal.

 

Only then did he have the time to reflect on the past few hours.

 

 

 

 

 

Jisan Village was over.

The sacrificial ritual, the pungmulnori —everything was finished.

He had made it out of the village safely.

…Just like Kim Soleum said—the two of them had both made it out alive.

 

Baek Saheon thought back to his childhood, a time he had almost forgotten.

A promise he’d made with his sister, without even knowing its meaning.

That when they grew up, they would leave the village, the two of them together—

 

Ever since his sister had died, he’d lived with the belief that no matter what happened, he would be surving alone, by himself —

 

Overwhelmed and confused by a flood of mixed emotions, Baek Saheon clutched his backpack tightly and closed his eyes.

A while later, he felt Kim Soleum shift beside him.

 

 

 

 

Kim Soleum placed his hand on Baek Saheon’s head.

Silently, he began stroking his hair.