쇠사슬

[4thsabbath]

lee wontaek / 33 years old / siren song.

intro

dossier

biog.

interactions

[tamsoj]

Charles Bukowski, "no title," from What Matters Most is How Well You Walk through the Fire

[dreaminterlude]

WOO DO HWAN in BLOODHOUNDS 사냥개들 (2023) Dir. Kim Joo Hwan

[4thsabbath]

as true as ever, dried paint upon the concrete, the fireflies sigil is clear. the motley crew look towards the two of them, fatigue pulling at their countenances. wontaek lowers his rifle, pivots away from them where he faces @sangvislunae. ‘can we talk?’ he doesn’t wait for her answer, instead leads her away from earshot, a hand hovering precariously at the small of her back.

‘protocol states that we take them with us.’ a cursory glance thrown over his shoulder, a beat. it occurs to him in ones and zeros. after all, it really is that simple. take them back to camp and there’s more mouths to feed, more bodies to keep alive. leave them and go against the fireflies’ code. if wontaek is one thing he is a man of honour thus he is resolute. alas, it is under sunhwa's gaze that he remembers he doesn’t think solely for himself now but for a team of fourteen, so he adds, ‘but if you don’t like the sound of that, i’m willing to hear you out.’

[4thsabbath]

SITUATION #01-02b

YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO GO RIGHT.  as you wander further into the tunnel, you notice a source of light that seems to be coming from a fire. you also hear the echo of quiet chatter. these are people. you catch the sight of three civilians as you near the fire, and they quickly raise their hands in surrender. “don’t shoot!” in the light, you notice the spray-painted fireflies logo above where they have chosen to set up camp. when you’re lost in the darkness… do you honour the fireflies’ code and bring them back?

EXECUTION

TASK 1b  it seems that wontaek and sunhwa’s decision has led them to a civilian camp, and they’re all eager to join the fireflies! these are playable characters that may be added to division four’s roster. choosing to bring them back to camp will trigger a voting event. please message the main once you have plotted with your partner and made your decision.

please post this prompt once you have received it. you can incorporate this into a thread with your night watch partner, headcanon what happens during the watch, or write a solo about the aftermath if you wish!

[4thsabbath]

eunji:

"but the collision back there has left the buildings in this area relatively untouched. it might be worth it to send people in for supplies. in the few places i entered i saw enough water bottles to last us days." she nodded her head to the right. "i have one more thing to show you. follow me."

he hears them before he sees them. as they get closer, the whisper of saja’s paws against the tarmac and his own muted steps are swallowed by the sound of loss; loss of control, inhibition, motor skills. he forgets that they were once beings with individual lives and not some fungal collective consciousness. some of them still utter actual words, the remnants of their humanity fighting to be heard. others shriek, unhuman, long gone.

he sidles up beside eunji into a crouched position, pulling his handgun out with a silencer attached. nodding, he hangs on her every word and when he’s chewed on her diagnosis for a little, he finally whispers, ‘i was hoping you wouldn’t say that, seems like the tunnels are really our best bet.’ wontaek’s disappointment is palpable. who’s to say what’s underneath there isn’t the same as above, or worse. 

his jaw tenses, then relaxes and tenses again before he continues, ‘nice work, by the way, we’ll get a team up to collect.’ already he’s running the odds in his mind, imagining whom would be tackling the infected, allowing the scavengers to make their moves. like wooden soldiers against a scaled map.  absentmindedly, he ruffles saja’s ears before poking his head up for a better view. ‘alright, i’ve got your six. lead the way.’

[4thsabbath]

sera:

"i promise, but only if you promise to do the same." there is demand in the way her gaze darkens when she redirects her attention to him, requesting some kind of approval from him, a pledge that he will let her know as well . it's a two-way street and she needs to be reassured that he will meet her halfway. "how do you feel about all this, leader wontaek? do you think it'll be okay?" do you think we will be okay goes unspoken, but sera's expressive eyes ask the question anyway.

‘that much, i know.’ he holds his hands up in mock surrender. it’s easy for wontaek to forget that friendship, actual friendship, and not the farcical tolerances that the apocalypse demands is a two way street. and for this trust thing to work, he has to open himself up, if only a little. 

but how exactly does he admit that the world, as he knew it, stopped turning on its tilted axis after outbreak day. and that this new normal was his normal. death and decay is a guarantee, the only thing he can be certain of. he can only struggle against the current or be pulled under it. he decides on the former; he’s got shit to do, people to see alive.

his gaze oozing with scrutiny, he observes one of those people now. notes the sudden dip in energy. he’s not equipped with words of comfort so he offers her something lighthearted instead. dare he say it, an uncanny douse of vulnerability. ‘i didn’t know i was so unbearable to work with, sera… but if it means anything, i’m glad you’ve agreed to be here. i couldn’t do it without you.’ and he couldn’t have. her support means more than she could ever know, more than he could ever put into words. 

moving his arms into a stretch, he laughs again before taking another peach slice into his mouth. ‘y’know, i don’t do promises but for you kid? yeah, i promise.’ he holds out his pinky finger, the gesture more for her than anything. when did he get so soft…

he lets out a sigh, turning away slightly to look out into the expanse. ‘i don’t have the luxury of worrying about whether or not it’s going to be okay, i’m afraid. what i can tell you is that i’m going to do everything in my power to make it okay.’ it comes out severe but the notion remains the same. in other words, he willing to go the distance to make sure everyone makes it back to busan alive, when all of this is done. the leader status isn’t just for show, he’s convinced himself of this from early. ‘what? you doubting me already?’ he jeers, nudging her leg slightly.

[geryone]

The Kingdom of Surfaces, Sally Wen Mao

[4thsabbath]

sunhwa:

deciding you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, sunhwa walked to his quarters with a bottle of whiskey in hand. an olive branch of sorts that she hoped would say the things she refused to say aloud. she was no longer the bleeding heart she was when he departed and though she was glad he was alive and well, saying too much would be dangerous and she wasn't willing to get that close to the flame again. "knock knock." she announced herself, holding up the bottle with a rueful smile. "got any spare time for an old friend?"

transitory. 

an apt adjective for the faces he’s seen come ago. he tries his best to not form attachments, wontaek knows how easy it is for him to do so. but when sunhwa’s name stains the parchment, that feeling of familiarity is as poignant as a broken dream, a faded memory. he’s not sure he’s ever allowed himself to vocalise a thank you at her expense, an apology even more untoward considering the man he is. but when she shows up with a bottle in hand and the twinge in his knee promises a sleepness night, it climbs his throat like bile despite his best efforts.

‘well if it isn’t seo sunhwa?’ he begins, shameless being another adjective to contend with. ‘how you been?’ he clears his throat, shaking his head. he can hear seohee now, reprimanding him. you think you’re so fucking cool, lee wontaek. just say sorry already.

‘take a seat.’ he’s rummaging through his pack for two tin cups, producing them with a slight clink as they meet each other angrily. the last time he saw her was on a night not so different from this one. under the stars, a drink shared between comrades. back then he would have found some way to give her a lecture, practically beg her to not wear her heart on her sleeve. looking at her now, he can’t detect what he once saw as weakness. however, whatever it means to be weak anymore, wontaek’s unsure.

anyway.

holding out the two cups, he grins. ‘let’s see what you’re working with, i haven’t had a drink in fuck knows how long.’

[1liv]

WOO DO-HWAN in 'BLOODHOUNDS'

[4thsabbath]

ammo check for sera & wontaek 🫣

here & now: wontaek, despite the surly demeanour, actually regards sera quite highly. sometimes he's unsure if she's made for this unforgiving world but she always surprises him. he looks for her happygolucky attitude for grounding, in a way, and when it's not there, then he knows they're in the shit.

breathing exercises: sera's aquaphobia is unfortunate, being on a boat team during his udt days he knows of the terrors that come with deep waters. thrown into busan qz after the trauma of it all, he becomes a safe space for her after a while and he's taught her different exercises to help with attacks if things ever get bad.

on the other side: perhaps they could have been neighbours. the kind that throw dinner parties, drink expensive wine and buy each other gifts. if she lived alone and had a spider problem, he would deal with it. if seohee made too many side dishes, he would deliver the surplus. that sort of repartee.

[4thsabbath]

hanna

at the end of her gun is one such man now. from his lips, a challenge. and here, the grit of her teeth is a muscle memory to precede the loud bang she never quite got used to. “oh, i will,” she assures much in the same way she did her parents on her thirteenth birthday, a large grin without ever really knowing what it truly meant, “just like how you killed doyun.” a pause. “a slow, painful death.”

he laughs, he’s always been one to laugh in moments that didn’t warrant mirth or any sort of merriment. it means something’s ticked, something’s amiss. cruel, stark, lifeless. he’s stopped fearing death a while ago, his own mortality not the issue at hand. sometimes, in the trap of thoughts awry and forlorn, he wishes it was him to have taken the bite, believing that seohee and the kid would have survived that fall too, believing that two lives would have been better than the one. eyes flickering to the kid on the ground, doyun, he takes him in. somehow he can’t convince himself, this time, that it isn’t better on the other side.

his gaze falters, hits the deck before it lands back on the girl before him. maybe she hasn’t seen it, the handgun tucked neatly under doyun’s arm. the idea’s comes to him as folly but it wouldn’t be a first for the soldier; bad ideas go hand in hand when life so often hangs in the balance. 

‘you want to play games, kid?’ 

the movement is all too quick, it’s execution all too hasty. one minute he’s upright with his hands raised, the next he’s in the thick of it, an amalgamation of dirt and blood marring his uniform. the mouth of the pistol points upwards to the other, an apparition of a smirk to cut his face in quarters.

‘let’s play some fucking ga-’

the entrance of another pilfers the rest of his sentence from his lips, a familiar face changing the scene. he’s yelling stop and it takes wontaek a minute to disengage fight mode, his finger ever so close to squeezing.

‘shit, haneul?’

[hellboys]

PARKS AND RECREATION 7.04 – leslie and ron

[4thsabbath]

Honesty hour - is there a part of you that could believe that this mission is a trap?

he'll be honest, there have been moments (little tendrils of thought twisting and twirling together violently to weave an idea) where the mission seemed certainly suicidal. but the trust, whether it be blind or not, he has in the fireflies eclipses the doubt tenfold. if there are such rewards that come with believing in anything then it is their cause that he throws all caution to wind for. his shoulders move up and down, his head cocking to the side. the trick is to believe in now. this is the hand i've been dealt and fuck knows, i'm going to play it.

[4thsabbath]

[EYES ON TARGET] which member of the division would be the easiest for you to abandon in the case of a crisis?

hanna.

[4thsabbath]

what will you feel if you lose members of your team or fail the mission?

failure is not an option, wontaek hisses through gritted teeth. the question is a simple one, one that has haunted him from when he first accepted the position. no one else can die, he thinks. no one else and not on my watch. a desperate plea. if i have to fucking drag whomever from hell myself, then i will. i'm not letting anyone die. i'm not letting anyone down.

[4thsabbath]

would you still join and lead division four if your fiance and child survived?

he's never thought that far. clinging to the memory of her smile, the crease in the middle of her forehead when he irked her, the cosmic luminescence of her skin after sex left her dewy... the time before. part of him wishes, and allow him this sweet delusion, she had lived. then there would be no kdrt, no fireflies, no division four. but if wishes were horses, well, beggars would ride. i'd like to think i would, he says, his tongue coiling around the words as if they were foreign. but the missus would have the say at the end of the day. who am i kidding? she would make sure my ass would be here still, front and centre.