'What the hell was that?'
I froze, half convinced I'd stumbled into an anomaly.
'No, seriously — this has to be some kind of fever dream.'
The silence that followed was almost comical. The faint hum of the ceiling lights buzzed like white noise against my spinning thoughts.
"Yuwon."
Sera's voice cut through the haze — flat, monotone, back to her usual self.
I blinked, grounding myself. "…Yeah?"
"I apologize for the sudden visit," she said evenly, "and for… that display."
"Right…" I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "More importantly — do you really think it's okay to just… shove the Vice Director out like that?"
"It's fine," she said simply. "Though it wouldn't be if anyone else did it."
I stared at her. 'What kind of answer is that?'
My curiosity won out. "And why exactly is it fine for you to do it?"
She paused — her gaze, sharp as ever, met mine with a rare hint of hesitation.
"I've told you that I had a benefactor once. Do you remember?"
"I do," I said slowly, trying to piece it together. "But… wait — are you saying the Vice Director's the one who recruited you?"
"More than that," she said quietly. "He's the one who adopted me when I was little."
The words hung in the air like dust caught in sunlight.
"So you're… Sera Dojin?" I asked after a moment.
"Correct." Her voice softened, almost imperceptibly. "He taught me everything I needed to know and gave me financial support until I could stand on my own."
'That's… generous,' I thought, watching her expression. 'He must've been close to her parents or something. I can't imagine him doing that for a stranger's kid.'
"So is he like… your stepfather?" I asked cautiously.
She folded her arms, thinking. "He never crossed any such boundaries — he respected me and my feelings. But yes… I do view him as a parental figure."
For the first time, a faint smile tugged at her lips — small, but sincere.
I blinked, momentarily thrown off by how human she looked like that.
'Great,' I thought, half-jokingly. 'Being friends with her probably just put me right back on his radar.'
"So why'd he come to visit you anyway?" Sera asked, leaning back slightly. "It's not often the Vice Director personally checks on someone — unless you two have history."
'Shit, better come up with something.'
"He uhh... he wasn't here for me." I glanced toward the door he'd just been shoved through. "He was looking for my team leader, actually. She's on paid leave right now." I lied casually.
She raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced, her eyes flicked toward me-- sharp, probing. "Ah. Makes sense." she didnt press any further.
The air between us settled into an awkward quiet.
"So," I asked carefully, "why'd you visit me, Sera?"
"Ah… I wanted to ask you out for lunch."
'Eh…?'
"Well," I said, trying to mask my surprise, "we'd better get going then. Almost half our lunch break's gone already."
——
Masking my surprise got harder when she led me into a fast-food joint.
We sat by the window, the air thick with the smell of oil and grilled meat. Sunlight glared off the glass counter, catching the reflection of two Bureau agents in pressed suits among students and office workers.
Sera sat across from me, unwrapping her burger with surgical precision while I tried not to drop mine.
The adopted daughter of the Vice Director eating greasy fast food… I half expected her to order gold-plated steak.
I finally took a bite, ignoring the glances from nearby tables.
"Say, Sera," I said between bites, "I don't mind this, but why here of all places?"
She swallowed, then answered, "Han used to take me here when I was younger. I like it. Feels like home."
'Makes sense.'
We ate in silence for a while. Then she set her burger down, her tone softening.
"Listen, Yuwon. I wanted to apologize."
"Apologize?"
"Yes. I heard things got… difficult inside the anomaly after I escaped. I didn't know that would happen. I'm glad you made it out — but I am sorry."
I took a drink, the straw rattling in the ice. "Speaking of that, how did you even find the exit so fast? I didn't see you anywhere inside."
"Ah, that." She tapped a finger against her cup. "Anomalies of that tier don't hand over exits easily. Finding one on a random floor sounded too simple, so I asked one of the guard anomalies if there was a hidden floor. It led me there."
I stared. That's it? We just had to ask?
All the running, fighting, near-death panic — all for nothing.
"That's… all it took?" I muttered.
"Yes." She looked almost smug. "You just have to know how to trick them."
Her tone was calm, but something in it — a quiet pride — made me wonder how much she really knew.
The light outside dimmed to amber, casting gold across her face for a fleeting moment. The silence that followed wasn't awkward anymore. It felt… familiar.
---
We left after finishing our food, walking side by side through the Bureau's courtyard.
"Have you gotten your investigator codename yet?" I asked.
"Yes. I'm Investigator Vale." She nodded. "What about you, Yuwon?"
I groaned. "You wouldn't believe it — I'm Investigator Weaver."
A quiet chuckle escaped her.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," I said. "Whoever came up with it must really hate me."
"I doubt that," she replied. "The person in charge of assigning codenames in the Field Investigation Department is Vice Director Han."
"Great," I sighed. "He probably had a good laugh naming me."
Sera smiled faintly. "He does have a strange sense of humor."
We talked a little as we walked back. When I mentioned his name origin, her expression darkened slightly.
"I never asked much about his past," she said quietly. "The name confused me too, but I stopped wondering. I only know he used to be a middle school teacher before joining the Bureau."
He doesn't look a day over twenty-five…
"I can see that," I said. "He's got that weirdly approachable teacher energy."
We reached HQ soon after, exchanging numbers before parting ways.
---
When I got back to the office, Mira was sitting at her desk, eating a donut. Theo's chair was empty.
"Hey," I said, dropping into my seat. "How'd your meeting go?"
She looked up, crumbs on her lips. "Wasn't work-related. Don't worry."
"I wasn't worried. Just curious."
She mock gasped. "Honest type, huh?"
"Painfully so."
I nodded toward Theo's empty chair. "Where's he?"
"Went for a smoke. Said he'd be quick."
"But break's over."
She shrugged. "Not like we've got much to do anyway."
Can't argue with that.
Then she added, "Speaking of which — didn't take you for a tea person, Yuwon."
"Excuse me?"
"The new pack of black tea bags near the coffee machine. You bought those, right?"
I blinked. "Uh… what?"
"We ran out a week ago," she said. "So thanks, I guess."
'We didn't have any last I checked. And it wouldn't make sense for the Vice Director to buy them for us... i'll just act like I bought them to avoid the situation getting any weirder.'
"Oh, right," I said quickly. "Had a blackout, I guess. Sorry about that."
Mira smiled faintly. "You should get those checked if they keep up."
'I've been lying way too much since I got dropped into this world.'
Theo came back soon after, and the rest of the day blurred into soft chatter and the hum of monitors. I didn't do much the entire shift, really. Just got accustomed to the Bureau and read through random manuals inside the database.
——
By the time I got home, the sky had deepened to violet.
The memory of Han Dojin's gold eyes lingered longer than it should have —
like light you still see after closing your eyes.