just so you know: wow, okay, so Rookie Reds is my first fic that I've written for a different fandom, (I was writing Legend of Zelda for the past 6 years) so please bear with me. in addition to the summary, RR will be romantically centered about Dana who is Vice Chief of SPOON and Osu who is a member of Real Knife so this AU takes place before the canon storyline, but as the story progresses, there will be some characters and events aligned to canon-idwtkoh. what else, uhhh, idwtkoh is a Korean webtoon and so there will be honorifics and food and stuff that I'll be using and be sure to note for everyone!

one last thing, i've pretty much wanted to write this cause of an info bot on twitter that releases half-canon, half-not facts about idwtkoh, one tweet translating to: When Dana and Osu first met, they didn't like each other…

thanks for choosing to read RR :)

Rookie Reds

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1. the night is descending

.

If this mission was following the way Dana had planned it, then it might have well been doomed from the start.

All factors would point to the fact that her team wasn't unified in the first place, which was to be expected. They were mix-matched from different teams almost as though Chief SPOON decided to pluck a single jigsaw piece from multiple sets and then purposely left these pieces to figure out the whole picture as they were.

However, this was a problem Dana could handle as Vice Chief. Although she thought of herself as more of a whole-picture-solo-piece, she had to quiet down her teammates. Somehow, they separated into two people arguing from either side of her. Their combined voices of both aggravation and apathy were grating on her nerves. There appeared to be no other choice then to force them to calm her down, now.

"Shut up!" she interjected. It worked for one argument, but for the other, she shoved one head nearly to the ground. Now that everyone's attention was on her, she elaborated on the situation: "Even though the enemy knows our location, we were told to standby. I know that we're outnumbered, but that doesn't matter since I'll just crush everyone." For a moment, Dana motivated herself, but then she brought up, "Apparently that's against SPOON's rules, but for some inexplicable reason, I'm required to rollcall everyone. But that's just how we work, valuing uselessness over—"

"Dana."

"What, Dune?"

A hand raised in the air, cigarette smoke hazily streaming underneath. "Just follow them without any more grievance, alright?"

"Whatever. Claude?"

Another hand in the air, but along with gleaming eyes underneath a striped beanie and a low chuckle.

"Jelina-sunbae?"

A jellyfish-human hissed underneath her breath, side-eying glares at Claude.

"And Sunbaenim?"

From underneath her hand, she heard, "You can release me, Vice Chief." In that instant, Dana realized her mistake for snatching the head of their most experienced member. Consequently, she bowed hers in apology.

"It's okay. I'm not dead." Glasses askew, he took one glance around the darkened corner they were 'regrouping themselves' in. "Not yet anyway."

"See, Doyoung-sunbaenim, this is the kind of thinking that'll kill us in the end." Dune sighed.

Beside him, Claude nudged his shoulder and snickered. "I'd always imagine our deaths would be side by side."

"I can't do this anymore!" Jelina whipped her head left and right, causing every member to duck out of her proximity, knowing full well that the ends of her long tentacle-hair carried venom. Still, Dana returned cautiously toward her side just to pat her not-venomous shoulder. "If they don't get to us, then it's just going to be us grabbing at each other's throats! You, first!" Claude chuckled in face of her threat, but the Vice Chief couldn't suffer through another argument. "If you don't quit smiling like that for another second, I'll—"

"Stop right there, sunbae." Of course, Dana had to speak up when her teammates were halfway convinced that Jelina was right. As the leader, she stepped forward for everyone to see and declared, "It was my first plan has gotten us cornered, so I thought of a new one."

Claude edged closer to the Vice Chief. "That will also get us cornered?"

Realistic, she replied, "Yeah, actually." Crouching down where everyone can see the center, she lowered a blueprint upon her phone. With a tap, the screen enlarged to a corner of a rectangular room, which everyone took a stab as their current location. "We're not stuck here. We have the advantage cause the villains are complete morons. Thanks to Claude," she added in, causing the aforementioned to flash a smug smile, "this entire room is in darkness, and that threw off our enemy. But pretty soon, I'm saying in like two minutes, they're going to find our exact location, and we need to be at the opposite corner. Look, where those double doors are. You see? So here's what we need to do."

"Jelina-sunbae." Arms crossed, she would meet eyes only with the Vice Chief. "I know you're more suited for stealth missions, but I need you to distract. Dune and I will back you up, but we're attacking on my call. Our roles are only to knock out as many as possible, if not all." That sounded simple enough to Jelina and Dune. They nodded. To the last two, Dana instructed, "Claude, I think they have enough brains to think that you're going to escape, and you are, kinda. But I want you to fight with us, but your role is to shadow Sunbaenim until he gets to those double doors."

There was no need to specify Doyoung's part when he and Claude simultaneously gave a thumbs-up to Dana, then to each other. A hush fell over them as their leader attempted to instinctively detect the locations of their enemies. Some say her capability was due to her animalistic nature, a few swore it was echolocation, but whatever it was–it wasn't working for her now.

"Looks like we're staying put a while longer," growled Dana, continuously checking over her shoulder.

For the others, they were somewhat exasperated with their stationary positions, but made no movements to rush into battle. The Vice Chief's orders were final, even when they go against her own impulses. This was all the more frustrating for her, however what good could her team do? As if answering all their thoughts, their eldest member shuffled around in his seat, before clicking on a flashlight, just beaming it below his throat.

"Children, look."

"Nice bowtie."

"Don't encourage him, Claude."

"Why're we looking at your tie?"

Before either Dune or Dana could stop Jelina from saying exactly that, Doyoung answered at once, "I'm glad you asked because I wouldn't be wearing this if it wasn't for my dearest, darling, devoted, beloved as love itself, adorably adorable—"

"I immediately regret this."

"—the brightest in both appearance and intelligence, oh, brighter than sunshine, lovely as love itself—"

"As you should be."

"—my daughter. She's my daughter," he repeated as though none of them could've guessed it. They didn't, but not because they weren't thinking hard enough. "This morning, the light of my life observed my collar was a tad bare, and she's well aware of my dislike for neckties, so she suggested a bowtie."

To make up for her mistake, Jelina replied, "Why does it matter?"

Wrong, thought Dana and chanced another glance behind. No sign of those morons. No one blamed her knocking the back of her head against the wall when Doyoung continued to talk. "Because now I can teach all of you how to tie a bowtie. It's interesting, this process." Then the light pointed before him brightened his other palm which was cluttered with a rainbow of undone bowties. "We have time to kill, do we not?"

Blockhead understanding blockhead logic, Claude reached for two, one black-striped and the other basic brown, and handed the brown to Dune. "Sounds fun."

"Wait, wait, I don't understand," protested Dune, staring down distastefully at the tie. At least, he thought he was. "Are we really going to tie a bowtie in the dark?"

This was a serious concern, but Claude simply waved his hand, the darkness succumbing just enough, and he laughed, "C'mon, babe, you know I'll handle it."

"I'm already wearing a bow," retorted Jelina, pinching her purplish-pink ribbon.

With an offhand shrug, Doyoung handed her a purplish-pink bowtie. "Wear another, Jelina-ssi." The others were a breeze to convince, compared to the Vice Chief who was ignoring the irrelevant chatter as the enemies were nowhere nearby. Honestly, it wasn't hard to find the heroes, when their voices were not completely enveloped in the darkness, but then again they weren't here. A line of fabric brushed her knee and, groaning, Dana frowned at Doyoung's smile. "Indulge me a little, Vice Chief?"

If it was considered disrespectful to decline a senior's ridiculous favor, Dana didn't know. Still she wouldn't take her chances since there really was no harm. Not physically, when she picked up the scarlet bowtie and held it up to her glare, which was coincidentally scarlet.

Having no notice, or pretending not to, Doyoung undid his bowtie and started off, "First, you must position one end of the tie lower than the other…"

Somehow, the others were obediently following his instructions, but Dana was somewhat off. Not that she wasn't tying a bowtie in the middle of a mission, in fact it might had been a good call to do exactly that, the only reason being that she needed to keep her hands busy. Everyone could tell that she was the most anxious to get into the action, nonetheless Dana was also the most obligated to follow the most basics of strategies. She had to wonder if Doyoung had noticed how balled her fists were, practically trembling to deck someone in the throat, however she scoffed. In all likelihood, he wanted to brag about his daughter.

"Grab the left and right sides to tweak them before the lowest end… Yeah, you got it, Dune-ssi."

Unexpectedly, no one else but Dana's eyes widened. Footsteps were distant, but they were definitely there. Fingers twitching, she narrowly ripped the bowtie in half. Half of her attention was hanging onto Doyoung's words, but the other strained to hear the villains' voices.

"Pull just half of that lowest end through the gap behind the bow… Vice Chief, you've done—"

At that moment, the others took notice that their leader was onto something. It was when she turned to them with such urgency that they'd no need to even glance into her exuberant expression. Hands lowering from their necks, the team slowly stood when Dana correctly estimated the second the villains walked past their hiding spot.

Shattered boards of wood showered the enemies who were predictably caught off guard. And then in a fashion alike to injured disorientated bunnies did they stare up upon the pack of ravenous wolves, their alpha without a snarl full of fangs, but with a much more terrifying scarlet glower.

Not that the others weren't as less terrifying.

Just as vehement as the Vice Chief, Jelina skipped into the ambush with her doll-like dress and her tentacles poised to sting. Flowing as though the battlefield was underwater, she pierced a villainous nobody behind her, then paralyzed a knife-wielder meters away. No longer were their bodies their own when the toxins penetrated their skin, sending them to a state of unconsciousness. As if she didn't know the meaning of 'stealth missions', Jelina attempted a flashy display as she envenomed the four surrounding her. It was truly terrifying to see that for her first time, she succeeded quite easily.

Unfortunately for her, one tentacle-lock hooked into a fallen enemy. What's more, a pair noticed her struggle with the light glinting off their metal bats. Hoping to instill fear, Jelina raised her other tentacles even as she yanked on the stubborn lock, refusing to budge. Yet their bats were moving, closing, rising above her.

But then she couldn't mistake that infuriating, low chuckle when their shadows quivered, before swallowing them up. No longer tied to their owners, the shadows then slipped to where a mass of darkness took control of the corner. There the two were released in what appeared to them as a lightless room, unknown of where or how far away the walls were. This simple realization triggered one hooligan's grip to loosen his metal bat, but they didn't hear the sound of metal meeting concrete. Rather, they felt the metal meeting the back of their heads.

A moment later, their unconscious bodies were returned to the bright outside. Lucky for them, being knocked out meant they couldn't feel a foot in their shoulder. Dune noticed right away with a glance behind him, and he faced forward just to duck a fist in his face. A breath of smoke from his lips, Dune whipped his hand through to strike his enemy aside the neck. Fixating back to Claude, he mumbled to himself that as long as he was smoking, he needed to stay away from the heroes' skill-users.

Especially the one who was eliminating the enemies so drastically.

He, plus Claude and Jelina, had to know how their Vice Chief was faring. Keeping their lips together, they swept their eyes over the dozens of people scattered around her feet. Without a hint of mercy, she kicked a body out of the way before striding to Jelina's aid. A jellyfish-human wasn't meant to be venomous for continuous close combat. She dodged then cheered for the Vice Chief as she gripped the throat of one poor hoodlum. Like a ragdoll, he was tossed backward, momentarily flying, and then plunged upon another poorer soul. Both knocked out instantly. A third was roundhouse kicked in the gut and then into oblivion. Dune didn't need to tell her, but Jelina observed that Dana favored her legs more. It was a series of repetition as she kicked a face here, one in the nose there, and rather harsh and literal takes on "kicking major ass."

A few villains were left, however, the heroes should've known the mission couldn't be this easy. They could deduce that because Dune was farthest away from them, the villains' boss singled him out, before charging him into the air.

When he plummeted, wooden boxes broke his fall, but it was worse than the floor. Immediately, Claude ended whoever he was fighting to check Dune, finding that his side was conspicuously gored and a sharp-edged board in his shoulder. Even in this situation, he fussed with a strained smile as Dana and Jelina protectively stood between them and the boss.

Slow, but surely, he ambled toward them and paid no attention to his comrades escaping. It was good news that they've only one villain left, nonetheless the heroes eyed the thick cords of muscle roping around his rooms and those humongous horns alongside his temple. Their jaws clenched, they heard Dune calmly inform that his horns were coated with steel.

"Steel?" repeated Dana, punching a red-beaten fist against her palm. "No problem."

Joined by her blatant self-confidence, Jelina and Claude whooped in unison, "Go, Vice Chief! Kick his ass!"

On the other hand, Dune coughed then advised, "A bull-hybrid can't be all brute strength." Below his breath, he warned, "Neither should you."

"I got it, I got it, just stay put."

With that, she closed the distance between her and the enemy. She thought she had the advantage with her strength plus speed, but his was those huge horns. Since her fist was aimed for his gut, all he had to do was drop his head toward her abdomen, almost gutting her. It probably wasn't the best idea to aim any lower, she reasoned inwardly, throwing her head back, and hardly missing a horn to the brain. Thinking quickly, she trained her sights upon his back.

Just as quickly, Dana sidestepped behind him, this time chucking her left leg toward his head. To her surprise, he heaved his head back. Somehow, his body did not fold in half when he stared down Dana upside-down. In this situation, she would've scoffed, but her ankle had caught into his horn.

"Shit," she muttered, before being flung over his head and crashing, splitting the ground.

Cries of "Vice Chief!" and "Dana!" echoed across the room, but she got up just fine even with blood trailing down her temple. This time around, as Dana rushed head-first into the fight, she called in return, "Jelina! Claude!"

What was left was to hope the heroes understood when she halted by her enemy's side where the horn blocked his peripheral vision. Still, that didn't matter to him. Those hulking horns swept right over, but Dana was prepared. After she ducked, she seized both horns, perilously close to the steeled tips. The bull-hybrid knew she was struggling to overpower him, and her team were to aid her attempt. Again, no matter, as he glanced back at them—unmoving, on the edge of their seats—before slighting his head. The sharpened tips were suddenly digging through her palms.

As tough as she was, Dana wasn't obvious with her weakening, however, her fingers couldn't wrap around his horns when they were digging into her hands. The bull-hybrid shared the same belief as her; showing no mercy with the bulk of his strength digging further, further until his horns penetrated through, slick with blood. Time couldn't have moved any slower as she bared gritted teeth and eyed the shadows slithering to the villain's side, before releasing Jelina upon him.

Starry-eyed, she embraced the Vice Chief and exclaimed, "Wow! You didn't even need to kick his ass to kick his ass! And-and I've never seen so many villains' open graves before!"

"They're not dead," she said, clenching her fists. Blood seeped through the front and back of her hands, but the pain was dulled. Her gaze to the other side of the room, she walked. "But they should feel like it."

With his arm looped across Claude's shoulders, Dune muttered, "You alright, Dana?" Just a nod. "You had to be over the top?"

"You know it."

"I thought you were impressive, my love," laughed Claude, twining their fingers on his shoulder, "but damn, Dana, that's a record for the largest lot of losers in one room."

"Thanks, Claude."

"Hello, young'uns." The four before Doyoung didn't appear to exhibit their supposed youth when they were worn out from the fight. Wiggling his fingers, Doyoung teased, "Need some magic touch?" With their consent, he touched and healed Jelina's and Claude's minor injuries, but for Dana and Dune, he pressed his fingers into their wounds for a while longer. After rolling down his shirt, Dune finally brought up, "What happened to the doors?"

Where the keyhole should be was blasted away, conspicuously emitting a line of smoke. Doyoung inquired, "Whatever did happen to the doors?"

Indifferent, Dana clapped his shoulder. "Good job, Sunbaenim." Then to everyone else, she said, "Alright. When we pass these doors, we have one mission, right?" For those who didn't know, there was the slightest drop to their expressions, but Dune shook his head for them anyway. "We're looking for any evidence of that dangerous something-or-other drug. Alright? We're in."

With a single kick to the double doors, the heroes were exposed to the heart of the warehouse, which was a room impossibly larger than the darkened room they'd hidden in. If they thought there was a lot of boxes before, there were innumerably much more in here, stacked perilously close to the lights above. Even the space between each row was just enough for a moving vehicle.

They all thought that it was impossible to not find evidence with so much of it right before their eyes.

Yet, for some reason, only three villains were posted. Two of them appeared to be twins with their white hair and their white wings. The few differences were that the left had bed hair and was decked in a lab coat, but the right had straighter hair and was decked in mom's yellow apron. Both were talking amongst themselves, or really yelling back and forth, and they paid little attention to the boy between them.

The blue curtains matched the blue drapes. An almost innocent shade of blue if it wasn't for his entire appearance. The way he slouched his blue head onto his arm, the way a lollipop was shoved into his left cheek, and especially the way his blue eyes lazily roved over a MAXIM. The magazine was held vertically instead of horizontally, and in Dana's ear, Doyoung had helpfully whispered that was so he could see the main spread, the 'good stuff'.

That didn't excuse his apathetic posture any more than it already did. Just staring at him any moment longer incited Dana to ball her fists, ready to beat the shit outta him, just because he looked like he needed one. The other heroes must had been thinking the same thing, however, they did not move.

The twins still squabbling behind him, he finally looked up. First, scanning the other heroes at the back, before landing upon Dana. In that moment, what she felt was a pushier urge to slam his head against his chair, but he'd let go both his magazine, his lollipop, and lazily rose to a stand.

"Guys," Dana spoke through grinding teeth, "I'm ready to clobber him into the next dimension whenever you are."

"Uurgh."

"Ahhh."

"Da… na…"

Puzzled, Doyoung pointed to them and pointed out the obvious, "Something's the matter with those three."

"I don't see how that—!" Her head wheeled to the front, meeting the blue boy a foot before her. Total rage was an understatement. How dare a senseless villain like him have the audacity to stand so close to her without receiving a proper ass-whooping? "You…"

The rest of her words drifted away. Thankfully, Doyoung spoke up even if it didn't carry the explicit threat she'd preferred. "Is this where you keep your dangerous drug—the Oz?"

Ignoring Doyoung, the villain closed the distance between him and Dana. Every nerve of her was sparking to attack—clock him across the head, slam his nose into her knee, flying kick him right where it would hurt the most—and yet she did none of those things. Rather she stood shakily put as he fingered a stray lock of her hair, slightly damp with her blood.

All he said was "Hmm."

Whatever he got on those three had to be affecting her, she thought. Since she was as doomed as they were, Dana had no clue if they were feeling these symptoms as well; this vast room somehow skyrocketed a hundred degrees, all she could see was red, whether that be the blood in her head or the blood she ached to spill, the very same blood rushing in her ears was loud enough to drown out her terrifying thinking, and it was as though her blood was pumping too fast, about to send her heart into overdrive and eventually explode like everyone had always described her temperament—

Thin fingers trailed from her hair to her neck where the red bowtie had stayed in place, even after everything. If she could not release her fury of a thousand mad dogs, she could at least swallow and look down. Up close, his appearance really could deceive of an innocence he didn't have.

Wait. She knew what was wrong. With her, at least.

"It appears," the blue boy murmured, "SPOON has sent me a gift."

This had to be what they called…

His index finger tucked into her bow, he tugged her down so he could slant his lips over hers.

… Hate at first sight.

—

Sunbae: in this context, a senior in the workplace, exactly like senpai in Japanese

Sunbaenim: formal of sunbae, i guess Dana reserves for seniors with a lot more experience than her.

Ssi: uhhh sorta like (-san) so mister and miss.

Dana, Jelina, and Dune are supposed to fit their canon selves… Claude is a Darkness/Shadow manipulator since his power (if any) wasn't specified in canon. Doyoung is my OC and he's special to somebody :D (not his daughter lol). also Osu is a bit older than Dana in here, but he's still shorter hahaha. and please i'd love to know what you think so far. feedback/comments are very much appreciated!