Chapter Text
The loud bang of a door being thrown open interrupted the two and they untangled themselves to see what had happened. Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung stood by the door with their hands on their legs, trying to catch their breath, stunned expressions on their faces.
Upon glancing at Yoo Joonghyuk’s face, Lee Hyunsung quickly averted his eyes whilst Jung Heewon drily remarked, “Getting it on with Dokja already are we? What happened to your ‘Three Restraints’ skill?”
“It seems like their NPC versions have been replaced with their human selves,” Dokja concluded.
The pair walked closer to Dokja, despite Yoo Joonghyuk’s scowling face, and plopped themselves in front of the two.
Lee Hyunsung turned to the taller man, “Joonghyuk-nim… Is it really him?”
He grunted in response, nodding his head. Then came the waterworks, as Lee Hyunsung started to cry into Heewon’s shoulder. Kim Dokja hurriedly went to comfort the huge man, awkwardly patting his back and offering tissues to him.
“Hyung!”
“Ahjussi!”
“Ugly ahjussi!”
Three sniffly voices resounded from the door frame again and Kim Dokja tore his attention away from Hyunsung. Gilyoung, Yoosung and Jihye stood tentatively by the door, hesitant to step inside before seeing Dokja’s gaze on them and immediately running to hug him.
Kim Dokja was overwhelmed. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that anyone would miss him to such an extent, especially not people who seemed so strong and important; people who were similar to the protagonists of stories. He let each of them berate him for disappearing, comforting them in the process and promising not to leave again.
“Hyung, will you really stay with us now?” Lee Gilyoung looked at him with expectant eyes.
It seemed like he once had a bad habit of leaving his companions.
“Yes, of course I will Gilyoung-ah,” he reassured him, patting his head whilst the boy beamed up at him before being pushed to the side by Shin Yoosung.
“Ahjussi! Can you promise us that?” she asked, reaching out her pinky finger to him.
“Pinky promise,” he replied, sealing his words by intertwining his own pinky with hers.
***
By the time everyone left the once-crowded room, hours had passed and the silvery evening glow of the moon cast shadows across his face. Yoo Joonghyuk still remained at Dokja’s side as he started to doze off, adjusting his position so he could sleep soundly. Although Dokja was still trying to process everything that had happened, he allowed himself to be lulled to sleep by the steady pace of Joonghyuk’s heartbeat before tackling the problems of the future.