Work Text:
Choi Jungsoo really loves his partners. He loves them so much he wants to propose! Sure some might say they haven't been dating all that long but it's the apocalypse!! Better sooner than later he thinks, and besides, they've basically been dating since before they officially got together so it's definitely not too soon. Really, they've already been living together and sharing a room for so long it only makes sense to just tie the knot and say “let's get married!”
Well, all that said it's actually pretty difficult to prepare a proper proposal in the midst of an apocalypse, even with humanity slowly stabilizing itself. After all, it's not like he can just go to a jewelry store and browse for the perfect ring, or walk to a florist for a bouquet of roses.
But still! He wants to give his wonderful boyfriends a proper proposal, even in such a situation. So, instead of walking to a jewelers and spending an afternoon browsing shelves and discussing options, he sneaks away and walks into a half collapsed building and sorts his way through rings scattered across the floor.
‘Too delicate’
‘Too complex’
‘Not pretty enough!’
He's very picky, even if the world has ended, he wants them to have something they'll enjoy wearing.
Roksoo would probably like something simple but expensive looking, he's always wanted to be rich after all, but he's still pretty practical.
Lee Soohyuk would probably like something simple too, maybe he can get an engraving on the inside?
Oh! Engravings! He's going to have to think of one now.
‘Too unstable’
‘Too damaged’
‘This gem is way too big!”
Then, after several trips and multiple broken down buildings (some in worse states than others) he finds the perfect rings.
Now to make sure they'll fit.
…
Wouldn't asking their ring sizes spoil the surprise? Actually- do they even know their ring size? Jungsoo doesn't. He should probably check that, actually.
Jungsoo asks around, he learns about ring sizes from a middle aged woman who could talk about her husband for hours, he asked how her husband got hers, “measured it in my sleep!” She laughs, “I used to be a very heavy sleeper.”
He asks a coworker how she got her wife’s, “I'd borrowed her jewelry sometimes back then, didn't even notice me taking a ring to get measured” she smiled, fond.
Another coworker said, “I asked her family to help me out,” he laughs, “her sister took her out shopping and they tried some on, got it measured there and the result was dutifully reported!”
He nods, he takes notes, he asks questions.
They're all far too jumpy to measure rings in their sleep.
They don't have jewelry to share.
They do have friends to recruit.
He recruits their teammates.
It's a secret operation done under their team leader and strategist's noses. It was unbelievably difficult to not get caught. Yet also, somehow, laughably easy to do.
They were on something of a patrol, on guard of course, but not actively threatened, when they walked past a jewelry store, “Aww how nostalgic!” One of the girls excitedly calls as she scoops up a necklace.
“This looks just like a necklace I wore on my first date!” She giggles, “I wonder what else is in here!”
“Oo do you think they have rings?” Another chimes in, “I miss wearing mine, I used to have one on constantly!”
“Hey team leader, mind if we take a look at this place for a bit? Promise it won't be long!”
Choi jungsoo's heart feels like it's going to break itself out of his chest, he really hopes they can't hear it.
“Hmm,” Soohyuk looks to Roksoo who shrugs, then turns back and nods with a smile, “sure we can take a quick break.”
‘YES! Great work team!!!’ He internally celebrates.
They all scrounge around and joke and reminisce over the scattered jewels when one of the girls passes someone a ring, “I don't know if that'll fit actually, what's your ring size?”
“I'm not sure actually-”
She gives a dramatic gasp, “You don't?? We are remedying this now!”
This turns into passing rings around between everyone, and through the others' insistence, they even managed to get the grumpy Roksoo to try on a few.
Eventually they all leave with a ring that fits their ring fingers and all Choi Jungsoo has to do is measure the rings while Soohyuk and Roksoo are asleep.
He treats the team to a good meal for their hard work.
He makes sure the rings he picked are the right size, Roksoo's needs to be sized down a bit and Soohyuk's is just about perfect. His own ring fits fine, he picked it for himself after all.
To get them adjusted he once again asks around and is pointed to someone who helps with weapon construction and maintenance.
“I don't usually do that kind of delicate work, and I'm definitely lacking in tools, but I can still give it a try if you like.”
He agrees.
Two weeks later he leaves the workshop with a box in his back pocket and a beaming smile on his face.
Now time to put together the rest of the proposal!
—
Kim Roksoo walks into team 1's office holding a box. It's quiet.
His noisy coworkers are not at their desks, infact, many are empty of not just their presence, but their things.
The office is quiet.
The office is achingly empty.
He stands in the middle of the floorspace and closes his eyes to breathe.
.
.
.
He doesn't know how long he stood there but eventually, he manages to open them.
He stares just ahead at an empty wall a few moments more before turning to look at two specific desks.
Team leader, Lee Soohyuk and Choi Jungsoo's.
He stares.
His hand tightens and his nails dig uncomfortably into his palm.
He grits his teeth and walks over to Lee Soohyuk’s.
Slowly, he starts putting his things into a box.
A box.
As if a box can hold all that has ever been of Lee Soohyuk.
A photo, a mug, a notebook, a drawing. ‘Look Roksoo-yah it's your cute grumpy face!’
Slowly everything personal to the person who worked here, here at this desk just a few days ago he was sitting here alive and laughing and making plans for their futures, for their survival, they were supposed to live together, to be alive together, was placed in a box.
He clears out the surface, he clears out the drawers, and he pulls the spare jacket hung off the back of the chair and holds it in clenched fists.
His hands shake, then suddenly lose their tension. He stares at the jacket, runs the material under his fingers before carefully pulling the jacket over his shoulders like it's the most precious thing in the world.
He holds himself a moment, eyes closed.
.
.
.
He picks up the box.
The other desk is messier, more things strewn about, paperwork half heartedly placed around unfinished.
He starts putting those things in a box. ‘Roksoo-yah that's my favorite pen! Don't steal it!!’ a mug, a little figurine of a dog, a potted plant. ‘Let's have a farm together when we retire!'
He clears the surface. He opens the drawer.
A knife, a notebook, a box.
He stares at the box a moment, he doesn't remember seeing it before.
He opens it.
Inside the small box are three rings, and a drawing.
The drawing is glued to the inside of the lid and it's definitely Jungsoo's work. Practically stick figures holding hands with hearts. Each placed above one of the rings.
It's charming in a silly sort of way.
He stares.
He's not an idiot. He knows. God he knows what it means damnit.
His spare hand grabs the desk for support.
His chest hurts.
His eyes sting.
He slowly lowered himself, legs going weak as he hunched over the small box in his hand. His other hand squeezes the desk unbearably tight.
“I'm going to have a great big orchard after I retire. I'm gonna grow everything I can! There's going to be so many things you'll be able to grab something year round!”
Choi Jungsoos ring is golden, engraved with a simple vine pattern across its surface.
“Roksoo-yah, don't you have any plans for after all this? I'm going to get a farm, I think, set it up next to Jungsoo-yah's orchard.”
Lee Soohyuks ring is a simple silver band with a dark marbled stripe going through it, some sort of gem.
“I'll just join you two?” He said it like it was obvious, that it was silly to think he'd ever leave, “You guys can take care of the farm, I'll just lay around and slack, I'm not good with plants anyways.”
Kim Roksoo's ring is a gold band and the only one with proper cut gemstones, three small diamonds, set into the ring so they don't jut out.
All of the rings have a message carefully engraved on the inside,
“to being alive together”
‘Stay alive, being alive is the best!’
He really was a curse to all things good.
—
Cale Henituse wore three rings on a necklace under his shirt. He got them commissioned at some point after he met Choi Han.
Nobody really knows what they're for.
When asked, all he says is, “They're a promise.” Choi Han will make an odd face if in hearing distance, and Alberu Crossman's face will tighten briefly.
“What promise?”
To be alive, to keep living, to preserve what is left, to keep his people alive this time, to live together, to live, to live, to live, to stay alive because being alive is the best.
“To live as a slacker.” With a small farm. With an orchard. With people who keep living. “with a small garden.”
And the asker will nod.
And the world will keep moving.