time diplomat | kim taehyung ✔

| Living Or Existing? |

The warm scent of coffee and pastries floated about in the air, pulling the passing-by people into hungry fantasies. The dulcet tones of melodies suggesting a sunbath on a beach and parties in a club in the middle of Summer filled the four walls of Minnie Coffee Home. 

"Well . . ." Astra sighed as she frowned into her notepad, her other hand repeatedly tapping the wooden table, annoying her partner. Underlined as Interview, the entire page was messy and rough. All she was trying to do was understand her own handwriting and transfer the text neatly into another sheet of paper.

"I'm gonna flip this table if you don't stop that," Choi Yeonjun snapped, pulling the pen out of her grasp and throwing it back to the table. He soon turned his focus to the blueberry pastry in front of him and tuned Astra's tired whines. 

The sky of 1980 spread sunlight all over Miami when Yeonjun and Astra were just done with interviewing a famous artist. 

To be specific—an artist who was gonna die the next day.

"What if I tell you that you're gonna die tomorrow?" Astra whispered, reading the last question she asked the man before they fleed the place. "What did he reply to that?" Yeonjun sipped his tea while the girl continued decoding her scribblings.

"He said he'll miss his fans the most."

"This is why I don't like interviewing celebrities."

"Yeah. They get emotional talking about their fans."

Standing up, Astra took a last, big gulp from her milkshake and wiped her lips, watching Yeonjun trying to stuff the pastry and drink into his mouth as fast as he could. Once done, they left the shop, walking to an empty alley to just disappear into thin air with the click of a button on Astra's wristwatch.

_ _ _ _ _

"Xanthe Astra and Choi Daniel, please come in." A voice boomed from the speakers as the pair took a deep breath and walked in front of a huge white door with streaks of light blue on them. The entire hallway was white, with regular people who they called 'Clocks' and a few little robots who strolled around on wheels with trays of coffee.

After a few seconds of waiting, the door slid open, letting the two agents trod in. They faced the head of the Historical Branch, adorned in his white outfit, and two other buff men with advanced shock guns in the back. 

"Good evening, sir." Daniel, a.k.a Yeonjun, greeted and walked a few steps forward to lay the camera they filmed their 'interview' on the blue, translucent desk and backed away, letting the boss take control of their next moves.

"Perfect! I'm glad I trusted you both with this." He passed a smile but the agents knew better than making a move without being permitted to.

"Hmm . . . I know. This job is tiring—generally, traveling through time is. Half of our stored up energy is already eaten up. I hope you both carry your pills along all the time?" He nodded, letting Astra let out a loud breath causing the two bodyguards in the back to suddenly cock up their guns. She stumbled back a little on her heel, jerked by the noise that sounded loud in the ear-piercing silence.

"You know what?" He rose from his seat, "It is so entertaining to watch people react to being told that they'll die in the next 24 hours. I really have to thank Mr. Kang Terry for this idea. Our show is booming!" He spread his arms wide, as if encouraging the two for a hug but, none of them moved a muscle.

"Good. You both can leave- maybe even take a day off . . . No. Just—you know what? Continue your job."

_ _ _ _ _

As soon as the two left the room, their lungs released a very deep breath. Daniel looked over to the door which was now closed and turned to Astra. "My name's Yeonjun, not Daniel anymore! It sounds so foreign."

Walking through the hallways, Astra picked up a coffee cup from one of the robots' trays and brought it to her lips. "Well, both the names suit you pretty well if you ask me. I'm gonna call you 'Yeonjun'."

They sat down on one of the benches in the cafeteria, looking around to see more robots working than humans. There was once a time when these machines nearly took over but now, they have balanced it out and decided to let these heartless ones be servants rather than commanders of troops.

But, they had so many flaws, one of them being lack of emotions.

"YO!" A voice echoed through the entire room, causing a blast of silence to surf as a boy walked in. He had a full black attire, matching with his black with silver highlights hair, and his hands in the air.

"Choi freaking Beomgyu." 

He high-fived a few staff and those who didn't lift their palms received it on their faces.

Astra pushed Yeonjun away to make place for Beomgyu and so he sat there right next to her. "What's up? High on sugar again, Gyu?"

Beomgyu brought his cup of coffee to his mouth, grimacing later ahead on how it was not warm but instead, cold as ice. "Oh, my Optimus Prime. These little shits can't even make good coffee!"

"Stop complaining, Beomgyu." Yeonjun snarled.

"It's not Beomgyu. I'm Ben," he flicked his mullet away, still wondering a few insults to use on the other boy. "So . . . How did today go?"

"To be honest, this job is scary. I and Yeonjun have to act like grim reapers for those people we interviewed. This man was a sweet one, he would have lived happily performing. This is why I don't like interviewing celebrities—they get emotional talking about their fans."

"Talk about those scary people we met though," Beomgyu whispered.

"That dude we met a few years back was the scariest. I was just tryna speak, but my eyes were simply on the gun he had! I was so close to peeing in my pants!" Yeonjun shivered at the memory as Astra continued sipping her (cold) coffee.

"I'd do the same. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that's all." She spoke calmly.

"Since when did you start copying Oscar Wilde?" Beomgyu smirked, causing the girl to blush. "He said that when I asked him about life and death . . ."

"We're done for the day, guys. Let's go back home." Yeonjun got onto his feet, walking slowly to the exit but not before he patted his robot parrot that glided through the air with its white wings.