Homosaurus

1

Jaebum just got back home from his long, boring day in his office spent documenting his observations on some fossils he was sent to examine. He threw his bag and coat on the couch in his living room, dropping himself down onto the cushions along with it.

He'd usually be tired from a long day of field work, going out into often dessert or rocky areas to try and find any prehistoric bones that he could test, examine, and take samples from once he gets back to the lab. Though recently, his work had been little to nothing. He'd been set back to office work after a month of digging and finding remains of some sort of aquatic animal in a now long dried up rocky terrain, he had to test every bit of the fossil he found and record literally every piece of evidence.

The actual 'fun' part of being a paleontologist often only takes a few weeks of digging on a site, but the dozens of office hours and paperwork to be done afterwards would really make one rethink their choice of a seemingly 'exciting' job. Though Jaebum couldn't do that, he found studying the lives of creatures that lived long before him way too interesting. It was amazing that completely different species than the ones on present in current years ruled the Earth. Jaebum was infatuated with how they looked, lived, and managed to survive for so long up until the end.

So yeah, office work was quite tiring and boring. But it was damn worth it at the end of the day when Jaebum possibly discovers a new unknown species or uncovers another hidden secret of our long gone world before time. Jaebum was often one to take work home with him, and as much as he despised the thought of taking out his laptop and continuing his report of the prehistoric fish he was working on, he couldn't really think of anything else to do with himself aside from sitting there and staring at the wall.

So his laptop was pulled out of his bag and placed on his lap, the cover opening and the screen lighting up to show off the paragraphs of observation Jaebum had already typed up. He didn't have the remains with him, as it's against the code to take them out of the storing facility unless it's for examination or testing, but he did have dozens of images that a coworker sent him, so he did his best to continue off of those.

From the perifial vision of his eye Jaebum caught a notification of a new email he received ten minutes ago. He hated responding to email, it was much quicker to just call him or talk face to face. But in the age of technology and a job that required a lot of communication and collaboration with others, ignoring texts and emails was nearly illegal. He switched tabs over to his open email account, ready to open, read, and respond to another boring letter from a higher up or a dumb question from a co-worker.

His eyes glazed over the sender's name, his entire mood lifting as he realized the letter wasn't from neither his boss or a co-worker, but in fact a close friend who always gave him exciting news about their work as a scientist in the lab. He shared the same fascination/obsession of fossils and prehistoric life that Jaebum had, so of course the two bond over the subject. Jaebum quickly clicked open the email, skimming over the words that popped up on the screen.

"From: Park Jinyoung
Subject: Read! Important!
Jaebum! How's my favorite paleontologist doing? I saw you just last week but it feels like forever. Well a lot can happen in a week. Guess what I did?? Go ahead, guess!
...
Times up! Was that corny? Sorry haha. Anyway, I was able to get that claw you wanted to examine cleared for you! I knew you would be happy if you could examine it up close, so I pulled some strings and they're assigning you to write a report on it. Sorry, I know it's more work for you, but I know you love it. Anyway, come down and get it, I can show you the new lab while you're here and some things I've been working on! You'll be super shocked at some of the stuff I have down here. Does tomorrow sound good? I'll send you directions!

See you then!

Jinyoung~"

Jaebum sat back against the cushions of his couch, reading over the letter again. He'd forgotten that Jinyoung's team was moved to a new lab. Jaebum often visited Jinyoung in the lab, the latter always working on something new. He was the experimental type, always trying things that probably should be left alone. You could tell him that oil and water don't mix, yet the dumbass would still try to make it happen anyway.

And that's exactly why Jaebum loved him and was clearing his schedule for the next day to show up at the new lab to see what recklessness Jinyoung's been up to.

"Hey Jinyoung! I'm totally down to come tomorrow, send me the directions and I'll be there bright and early in the morning. You better show me everything you got, don't hold back on me. You got a new lab, I hope you're using it well!"

Jaebum pressed send and received a response from Jinyoung with the directions to the lab just five minutes later. Now he was too excited to work, all he could think about was what shocking stuff Jinyoung was working on. His curiosity was piqued, and like a kid on the night before Christmas, he quickly went to bed so he could wake up faster and be on his way the next morning.