Work Text:
Kim Soleum wasn't having fun today.
Really, when was he ever having fun? Ever since he got shoved into this strange new world after winning that prize at the pop-up store, he had to work for a black company sending it's employees into Darknesses. And he hardly got any days off, working diligently in order to get a Wish Ticket. He'd probably die before he did, though, so his hard work would likely go to waste.
But, back to the point. Soleum was having a bad day. And like most days, it was caused by a Darkness.
He, Go Youngeun and Baek Saheon were sent to maintain a Darkness and to collect Dream Essence. It was supposed to be a regular day. But for some reason, something went wrong, and he exited the Darkness different to how he entered it.
He had boobs.
Yes, you heard him right—Soleum had boobs. And long hair, too, but the most shocking part of his new body was the fact that he had two masses on his chest.
Soleum had turned into a girl. Did he have to use "she" pronouns now? That would be strange to get used to.
And unfortunately, he— she, Soleum was now a she— was the only one who had changed genders upon exiting. The sight had sent Kwak Jaekang into a fit of giggles, born of a twisted adoration for Darknesses and contamination, but the reactions from her two batch mates were different.
Youngeun, the kinder one of the three, simply gasped. An opportunity to play dress up and practice her makeup skills had opened! And best of all, it was with her best and kindest coworker! She wanted to doll the newly turned girl up and make her even prettier than she already was.
However, Saheon had a different reaction. He simply stared at Soleum, his face slowly growing redder the longer he looked at her. When she looked back, the man shrieked and ran off.
That. That was certainly a response? Soleum didn't know whether or not to be offended by it. Was her face that ugly in this form?
(No, he would find out later, it was not.)
~~~
As soon as Eun Haje saw Soleum, who had managed to find her address through Lee Jaheon, she burst into laughter.
"Haha! You're a girl now, Roe?" She managed to say, in-between her giggles at seeing her old junior in this form.
"Assistant Manager, please..." She muttered quietly, feeling her ears burn.
"Haa, you're so much cuter now, it makes me feel bad for bullying you. What did you want?"
Soleum resisted the urge to wring her hands, before reluctantly spitting out an answer, her voice quiet as to not be heard. "I... Can I have a bra?"
It would be difficult to get one now, and she needed one in order to not accidentally flash someone whenever her jacket opened too wide. Her shirt was already strained enough, so she had to button up her suit jacket. But she couldn't do that all the time, so she needed a bra until the contamination slowly wore off.
Of course, she could have asked Youngeun, but there was something humiliating about asking someone who she still worked with for a bra, even if it was temporary. Haje, though, had left Daydream Inc. and was the only other woman she was comfortable with asking for one. Even if it meant she would deal with the teasing.
Her face burned even brighter when Haje started laughing louder. But, at least she was given a bra in the end.
~~~
When she came back home, she had to deal with Saheon.
The man was in the kitchen, having hoped to quickly make some dinner before Soleum returned and terrorised him.
Saheon tried to look away from her, but his eyes accidentally darted to her chest. He muffled a yelp, accidentally banging his head on a cupboard he was opening.
Never wasting an opportunity to scare Saheon out of his wits, she walked up to him, placing a hand on his back and leaning towards him with a smile.
"What's wrong, Saheon-ssi?"
Her boob poked his arm. Oops. She forgot she had those when doing her regular intimidation tactics.
"N-Nothing! I'm sorry, sir— ma'am. I'm sorry, ma'am."
Saheon's face burned red, but he tried to hide it by bowing his head. It didn't work.
"That's good then. Make me some food too, okay?"
The man suppressed the urge to curse, and instead nodded obediently like a good boy.
It seemed she had trained him well. Now she was even getting a personal servant!
~~~
This contamination wasn't wearing off.
Soleum had been tempted to go to the Fox Counselling Room again, but she didn't want to have to get even more contaminated through talking to the entity that controlled the space.
And now, Soleum was even more tempted to go than before.
The woman had been deployed to a Darkness again, alone this time. But coincidentally, she had found himself meeting a certain agent again. The agent that had been at the Mountain Lodge, the one who had been at Sekwang Technical Highschool. Agent Bronze. This time, Bronze was with his partner.
Holy shit, was that Agent Choi? Not much was known about the man's appearance, but there were three things that stuck out to everyone who read the DER wiki: his jakdu; his bright personality; and, most unforgettably, the jagged and raised scar that ran across his neck.
The inner otaku in Soleum was screaming and desperate to bow down to the man who had been her favourite character on the DER wiki.
The coward in Soleum, though, wanted to scream and run away from Choi. She did not want to be arrested today, no thank you!
"Grapes?" Bronze muttered, wide eyed at the assets that were on her chest. Of course, he was respectful, and tried to avert his eyes to it, but it was hard when they were right there when they hadn't been before.
"Agent-nim." She bowed her head politely, trying to avoid talking about the elephant in the room.
"Ah, Bronzie? You called her Grapes?" Choi, the only man ever, had asked playfully. Oh lord, she was going to freak out about this later. This was the only positive of getting thrown into this world—he got to meet Agent Choi before he got irreversibly contaminated at Looky Mart!
Agent Bronze looked a bit like he wanted to run away and take her with him. Kind of like a young child knowing he was about to get playfully scolded by a parent or an older sibling. "Agent Choi, this is Grapes. She's a civilian."
"She looks awfully like a cultist though, hm? Are you keeping secrets, Bronzie?" He said, ruffling his junior's hair roughly.
After a bit more of this, she quietly butted back in. "You should continue this later. I heard a little girl over there, so if that's your rescue, you should get her." She bowed again, for extra measure.
"Thank you, civilian-nim! For a cultist, you aren't that bad! You should keep it that way." How ominous. Soleum hated that she liked Choi even more for that.
"Goodbye, Grapes."
Soleum nodded, before continuing her work.
~~~
After a while of the contamination not fading, she finally sucked it up and went to the Fox Counselling Room.
Once she placed the nameplate on the door and changed into the appropriate clothes, leaving Braun behind as the Counsellor wanted, she entered the sunny room.
A mirror image of herself stood there, smiling at her.
And so, they began the session.
~~~
Soleum sighed once he returned to normal, happy that he didn't have to be stuck in the body of a girl. Periods were things that he hated, and he would never miss the female body he possessed.
Braun, of course, had been ecstatic the entire time. He always liked watching his Good Friend go about his life, especially when faced with new and difficult situations.
[The offer to join my talk show is always available, Friend!]
Soleum smiled at his Good Friend, stroking the plush toy's head with a slight, nervous smile.
"No thanks, Braun."
Being a girl was exhausting, and he was glad that it was over.