Hongbin was stalling. He could feel his heart beat synch up with the music pumping dully from inside, sounding almost subterranean from the pavement where he stood. He dilly-dallied at the entrance of the club, relishing on the fresh air before he succumbs to the sticky humidity of the interior, and sighed. This was his least favorite place to deal but he had to make his living somehow, and these days that was where his most current “business partners” tended to dwell.

He took a few deep breaths and walked up to the bouncer. He needn’t say a word, as the selector was well acquainted with Hongbin and what he did. A brisk nod was all he offered in order to gain entrance to the sweat parade going on in the premise… and maybe a symbolic token of appreciation on his way out, but that was up to the bouncer.

The soft drone amplified to a deafening bass when Hongbin stepped onto the dance floor, and for a moment he wasn’t sure what exactly he was inhaling- fumes of spilt alcohol or the musky scent of pheromones being released into the air. Either way it was making him lightheaded.

He spent a split second pondering over the possibility of going over to the bar and ordering a drink, but the space around the bar was completely overflowing with mouths yearning for something spirited and he wasn’t that desperate. He also quickly resolved that this is a job better done sober, as was much more of a pushover under the influence and the last thing he needed was to be haggled out of his fresh material.

He almost chuckled then, realizing how shady his business felt. Easily mistaken for a drug deal by the untrained ear, the experiences Hongbin was selling could in fact compare to narcotics in a way… depending the nature of said experience, that is. This particular crowd was more interested in the exhilarating types of experiences- skydiving for the height phobics, a one night stand for the insecure, and even… well, an actual high for those who don’t want to experiment with drugs.

His client that night was no particularly different in that sense, seeking a thrill that he himself couldn’t achieve, a thrill Hongbin had encapsulated in a small grapefruit flavored Tic Tac.

He was still searching for him among the crowd, attempting to keep a safe distance from the actual life of the party, when a friendly hand clapped him on the shoulder from behind, startling him slightly. Hongbin spun around to meet Sanghyuk’s wide boyish smile, his hand still gripping the curve where his shoulder met his bicep. Hongbin smiled back because despite loathing the environment Sanghyuk demanded they meet, he was still somewhat fond of him, something that couldn’t be said about all his clients.

“Hongbin Hyung!” Sanghyuk mouthed, or maybe said, Hongbin couldn’t tell over the music.

He motioned for Hongbin to step over to the side with him and Hongbin was more than happy to oblige.

“What do you have for me this time?” Sanghyuk asked once more secluded, still straining slightly to keep his voice louder than the booming techno beat. Hongbin craned his neck to speak directly into his ear.

“The Taman Negra Bridge in Malaysia,” He said, lacing his voice with importance.

“A bridge? That’s all?” Sanghyuk frowned.

“During a monsoon,” Hongbin added. “You’ll thank me when you feel how much it was swaying.”

“We’ll see about that.” Sangyuk warned, more of a friendly jab than an actual threat. Sanghyuk was more tall than harmful, really.

Hongbin emptied the capsule from his dispenser into Sanghyuk’s hand, the latter then placing it on his tongue and waiting for it to disintegrate on his tongue. Sanghyuk then went on to give his dealer a skeptical look while waiting for the experience to register, and Hongbin replied with a raised eyebrow of his own, knowing fair and well that this memory would be a breathtaking one.

“Whoa!” Sanghyuk’s cynical expression soon turned awestruck and he stumbled back in accordance. “I was almost flipped completely over! I mean, you were!” He stammered.

The Taman Negra National Park Bridge was thin and scraggily looking, a challenging obstacle on a clear day, not to mention during a raging rainstorm, but Hongbin had bills to pay and wasn’t particularly faint hearted. And thus, much to Hongbin’s delight, he formed an experience worth almost twice than its original price.

“Told you!” Hongbin laughed, glad his near death experience translated well.

“Wow this was intense…” Sanghyuk mused. “I could actually feel the rain soak my clothes… and that wind! You really are good… When do you even have time to do all these things?”

Though he might have said “this ”, Hongbin was still having a hard time hearing him clearly.

Hongbin had returned from Malaysia about a month ago, and he had plenty of experiences to convert into edibles and profit off of, this one being definitely one of the best. And being so intense, it took him a while to be able to transfer it into a physical form so he was definitely worried about the quality of the final product. But he trusted Sanghyuk to be an honest critic when it came to his craft, though he was spending quite a lot of money to achieve a very certain effect, so it was almost a given. Their exchanges were somewhat symbiotic in that sense.

He shrugged. “It’s my job.”

Sanghyuk was a med student in his second year. He wasn’t one of Hongbin’s richest clients, but he had enough money to seek the joys in life that he couldn’t pursue. His studies took up all his time, so when he had a moment to spare he used it either to party or to ingest a memory that isn’t his.

So far Hongbin had provided him with a Carnival in Rio, a mud run in California, a stolen kiss with a French model, and about three other different experiences he gathered throughout his life as a Collector. Those were not exclusive experiences, as Sanghyuk wasn’t paying him that much to be his personal Collector, but he seemed content with the variety he supplied thus far. Hongbin did try to give him high quality memories, and that loyalty was happily returned in the form of recurring purchases.

But not all of Hongbin’s were jaded college students. There was a time he worked as a personal Collector for a wealthy CEO of a high grossing company in South Korea, but bankruptcy was a and Hongbin was eventually let go. Now he was freelancing wherever he could, which meant he was also lowering his standards substantially when it came to the final product, and which also meant that he couldn’t escape the occasional intrusive thought of his father rolling in his grave whenever Hongbin sold a Tic Tac in a nightclub.

His father used to be a chocolatier whose entire business was based off of experience-laced truffles, and he made quite a living doing just that. He maintained a reputation among regular and “special” customers alike and taught his son all he knew. Hongbin proved to be a highly skillful collector… but not nearly as successful a chocolatier. He stuck to the simple remedies, passing his experiences onto alcohol and cheap candy, “the millennial way”, as his father called it, but It didn’t bother Hongbin much. Chocolate wasn't for everyone and he wasn’t a millennial anyway. But his father eventually died and Hongbin was left to continue a legacy not entirely his, as he did in his own slightly underwhelming way.

Sanghyuk went on to reach into his pocket and retrieved a stack of crumpled bills, handing them to Hongbin with his eyes still glinting.

“You should really get a wallet, Hyuk.” Hongbin commented as he fished his own out of his jeans.

“Maybe I’ll just buy that experience from you.” Sanghyuk winked, now swaying somewhat involuntarily to the music.

“That would be a waste of fifty bucks.” He deadpanned, stuffing the now fuller wallet into his back pocket.

“Not when you’re the experiencer!”

“Collector.”

“Whatever,” Sanghyuk gave him a playful shove. “I’d buy an experience of you drinking coffee in Starbucks for all I care, you’re just that good!”

Hongbin rolled his eyes but allowed a smile. He always loved hearing the feedback from his regulars. He was known for being an exceptionally perceptive collector, making his experiences extremely vivid once ingested by a customer. He even kept a tally of clients who cried after experiencing a memory of his (both happy and sad tears), and the score was currently set on five.

“I’ll write that on my business card.” He retorted, already half turned towards the exit before being stopped by Sanghyuk again.

“Hey, why don’t you stay and party for a bit?” The music seemed to have quieted down slightly and Sanghyuk’s smile was nothing but inviting, but as much as Hongbin was fond of that giant toddler he could feel a migraine coming on and needed to escape immediately.

“Nah I have an early morning experience tomorrow, I’ll catch you later.”

“Ugh,” Sanghyuk groaned. “All I have tomorrow morning is a stupid anatomy class.”

“Well, I know people who’d pay some serious cash for that experience.” Hongbin chuckled.

“I know. I’m one of them.” Sanghyuk looked so unamused that Hongbin had to reach over and ruffle his hair. Who was he kidding, he loved that kid.

That is, until he didn’t.

Hongbin had five more hours of sleep but his eyes just wouldn’t stay closed. His head was filled with a determined buzzing, undoubtedly caused by the club music that was apparently loud enough to echo in his head even then. He swore inaudibly, reminding himself to slip a stubbing of a toe in Sanghyuk’s next experience cocktail and tried to squeeze his eyes shut again. The last thing he needed was an experience soiled by a ing headache, with a refund to match.

He had an international tennis match to attend early next morning featuring one of the client’s favorite players, and he needed to be on his A Game. A migraine would surely make it hard for him to follow the movement of the ball on the court, not to mention the grunts and groans and the squeaking of the sneakers over the clay and god knows what else goes on there… but he simply couldn’t fall asleep.

He loved his job, but those who don’t deal in experiences couldn’t even imagine the amount of energy that went into the craft, both the transfer of the memory and the experiencing itself. He needed to be as alert or as hazy as the customer requested him to be, and those special requests were usually the hardest on him. All that considered, he was now facing the possibility of an experience riddled with static background noise. Fantastic.

Hongbin loved his job but he often wondered whether the pay was worth the effort he had to put in it all.

It’s either that or actually selling drugs, he thought.

With that final musing he eventually fell asleep with three hours to spare.

Hello everyone and thank you for reading the first chapter!
I'm writing this fic as I go so more characters and tags might be added with time.
Hope you enjoyed this first enstallment!