time diplomat | kim taehyung ✔

| December 30, 2026 |

After a particular, fixed amount of time, Blue Field was witnessing rain. There were no clouds, they just—fell out of nowhere. Astra was in her office room with Yeonjun sitting on a couch, nearly falling asleep.

Everything was very quiet except the random screeching of robot birds in the hallways. Honestly, why are they having these shits flying around?

The opened hologram in front of Astra's eyes, just above her white table, gave away the reports of famous people who died the next day and to her luck, there was no one. The girl was swaying right and left—as if she'll faint any second.

Yeonjun, who has been side-eyeing her for a while commented, "You look like a zombie early in the morning—" the girl threw a vase right at his chest but, it passed through him, dividing him into pixels that soon turned back into one. "Hope you're glad that you're just a hologram right now."

"Yep, I am," he was glitching a little now, his voice sounding robotic. 

A little ringing sound resonated in the room and a little robot with pink eyes on a black screen trodded closer to her. The screen on its chest showed a unique code as Astra used her index finger to swipe over the call. 

She was shaking but managed to still talk—she was sure it was gonna be about business. She just took a deep breath. The next name the call was gonna list had less than 28,000 breaths left in them—the average number of breaths a normal, nondying human took in the last century. These days, people could go on for days without breathing—their lungs have already adapted to it. 

"Hello, Banjo. I'm calling from the Historical Branch. You there, Banjo?"

"You've got the wrong person," Astra told calming but inside, she was losing her mind, and Yeonjun on the side enjoying his snacks didn't make it any better. "I'm Astra."

Hologram-ic and buzzing sounds came from the person's side, giving Astra the idea that they were looking through lists to find her name and retinal scan. "Oh? Apologies. Banjo was the lady I just got off the call with. You're Xanthe Astra, right?"

And just like that, she knew she'd have to play the grim reaper again.

"Xanthe Astra, please confirm it's you. I have so many other calls to make." The robotic voice urgently called, sounding bored and fed up with their job. "Okay. It's me. I am Xanthe Astra, Time Diplomat 07."

"Great! Okay, Astra, in the next 48 hours, you and your partner, who I suppose is Choi Daniel, will have to get to work again. Year: 2026, place: Seoul, South Korea. Please keep your diplomatic time passports handy and sign in to timediplomats.com to make sure that you're safe during your journey and if so you face any problems traveling, the time patrol will have your back. Goodby—" Yes, they were repeating the same script they mastered already.

"What's the name of this person?"

"Oop—sorry," the person giggled, making it clear that it was female behind the voice changer.

"Kim Taehyung, 29, turning 30. Death date: December 30. Have a good week ahead, Banjo!"

"It's Astra. Why are you messing it up?!"

Beep.

"Hehe—" Yeonjun snorted and before Astra would turn around and glare at him, he yelled, "Oh-oh, the battery's low. Gotta go, Banjo. Bye-bye!" The hologram disappeared, leaving the girl to fall limp onto the couch. The little robot suddenly rushed forward and grabbed her hand. Very soon, all her health conditions were displayed on the black screen with bold pink letters as Astra closed her eyes, not wanting to hear it ramble about exercising and staying fit.