The year was 2023. 

Surfing off the coattails of the new decade, Baekhyun landed himself in the most inconspicuous place he could think of: just outside a university theatre that already had a ton of miscellaneous props and sets that Baekhyun didn’t think his time machine would look that goofy next to. Though as he looked at it when he took a step back and took in the scenery, he knew that he might be the one who brought a prop that was under-dressed. Go figure.

The city was lively despite the time of night, and as Baekhyun decided to settle in at a small bar he had seen open back in the 1960s, he felt the chill of October seep through his leather jacket. 

This decade in particular was hard to come back to. It wasn’t the typical decade that came after the invention of the smartphone or the internet, since it was still so new to them… Yet it was ingrained in every facet of the people’s lives. Baekhyun wished he could study it more, but his job as a time traveller wasn’t about him researching history, but about other means.

And those other means could wait until he got drunk enough to fall asleep for a few hours. Information on his hit had yet to be sent to him, which was, in a way, Suho’s way of telling Baekhyun he had a day off. Or a few hours off. Measurements of time had become pretty irrelevant to Baekhyun, at least the way humans measured it in seconds or hours or whatever it is they did, though Baekhyun had to learn them… He did his best to try and not scoff at how rudimentary humans were, yet they acted like they were living in some sort of tech-utopia.

If anything, Baekhyun enjoyed the humble bar. He went inside, low-lighting and smelling of cigars. A jazzy tune played over the speakers, mostly instrumental, but at times, Baekhyun could hear the soulful croning of a singer long passed. If there was one thing humans in the 2020s could achieve, it was atmosphere, whether artificial or not. 

The bartender, who Baekhyun knew to be called Minjeong, looked at Baekhyun with something of a glare as he came and sat down at her bar. He gave her the smile he usually gave her, friendly and -eating.

“You decide to come here and show your face after disappearing for six months?” Minjeong was wiping one of the glasses down, almost as if she expected him to walk in and already started preparing his preferred drink. “You better have money this time.” 

Baekhyun tried to hide his sheepish laugh as a genuine one, like he did have the mony for her. She saw right through him and sharpened her glare. 

“Well, you know, I would have money but there are just… You know.” He attempted at making an excuse, but he knew she saw right through him so he slumped his shoulders and answered honestly. “Okay, okay. I don’t have any money. You know work is hard these days.” 

“ Baekhyun ,” Minjeong sighed, putting the empty glass down on the counter. “You still haven’t paid off your very big bill from the last time you decided to pop in. Things haven’t changed since you disappeared, we are still struggling with money.” She gestured out to the empty bar behind him, with only a few customers who looked old enough to be Minjeong’s grandfather and a couple other alcoholics who liked the quiet atmosphere. She was right, this wasn’t exactly the most hip and happening place on the strip. “So, either pay your bill or leave.”

“Aw, come on, Minjeong, you know I-” Baekhyun spoke, trying to use his charm to hopefully persuade her.

“No, Baekhyun, I don’t know.” Minjeong looked at him dead in the eyes, a look Baekhyun knew all too well… One that made him finally shut up. “I don’t know anything about you other than you’re an annoying prick who uses his charms to try and get information out of me.”

She wasn’t wrong. Of course she wasn’t. That was why he always came to her, or the family she descended from, for information regarding his hits. Even if they were across the city in an entirely unreachable class that Minjeong could only dream of receiving a fraction of their wealth, she somehow knew their deepest and darkest secrets. 

He used to pay her kindly. And he will, sometime in the future-past when he would finally get the stick out of his superior’s and get the promotion he definitely deserved. But he was still here not paying her, because gigs were hard to come by even at this promotion, due to the dwindling effects of the future that Minjeong would never live to see. Where Baekhyun was trying his best to get by on his rackety time machine and taking hits that were so easy for him and paid so little just so he wasn’t completely wasting away on his couch. 

Baekhyun’s job of working for the EXO Force, one that crossed borders of space and time, killing those off who had either huge bounties on them, or those who violated the EXOPlanetary Code of Time and Space of 2899, or those who associated themselves with the rivalling militia known only as the “Red Force”, Baekhyun was the one who took care of them. He was an assassin, that what he would be called in the year 1023 and the year 2023, yet his job had a different name in 2899. But that was basically it. He killed those who broke the laws of physics.

And it’s not like those people were becoming non-existent. If Baekhyun knew anything about humans it was that they were selfish. Even if it meant ripping the fabric of reality, they wanted something that would benefit them .

Baekhyun sighed. “I promise I will pay you back soon, Minjeong. Not just for the drinks but for everything else you’ve given me. I just need a place to stay for tonight and a drink. Is that too much to ask?”

Minjeong didn’t budge. “Yes. It is. Leave.”

He knew better than to fight her, so he sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets, before making a move to stand. 

“Put it on my tab.”

Baekhyun turned around and saw a ghost he had been trying to escape from. 

Perfect, porcelain skin framed by long black hair stared at him with a small smiling playing on her scarlet lips. In this lighting, her typically grey-ish skin looked perfectly corpse-like, like she was just like any other nightcrawler who barely saw the sun. Yet, that is what she was. And Baekhyun couldn’t help the stunned look on his face as she stared at him like he was a prey she was hunting, smirking. 

“Tae-”

“But unnie .” Minjeong whined, her once firm and intimidating behaviour melting away to one that suited her age better. “I’ve been waiting for this guy to come around so I can hound him for all the