Work Text:
Yoo Joonghyuk sat in the guest chair next to the hospital bed and looked at Kim Dokja’s face. He’d been sitting here often recently, thinking of everything that had happened starting from the beginning of the scenarios.
It was quiet in the room, save for the beeping of the heart monitor. The curtains were opened to let in sunlight that shined on the white bed sheets in streaks.
He thought of the memories he had gotten from the turn that Kim Dokja had been sent to by the Secretive Plotter. How he had been smacked in the head by Kim Dokja. How he was told to eat dirt.
How those eyes.. that were always filled with a brightness that captivated his heart, had looked at him with a hint of something he couldn’t quite comprehend.
~
Kim Dokja looked up into Yoo Joonghyuk’s blank, unfocused eyes as he told him “Wait for me here. Think of happy thoughts, ok?” with a smile that lightly crinkled the corners of his eyes. Although his memories from that moment felt hazy, for a moment, he thought he saw something deep in those eyes that seemed to hold an endless universe.
Then, Kim Dokja leaned his head onto his chest while looking down before opening his mouth again. “..At least...you have to be happy.”
After taking a step back, Kim Dokja left, and he stared at that small back go further away from him. He looked away from the figure that had disappeared from view and focused on his feet.
A sentence remained in his head. At least...you have to be happy.
He didn’t understand.
~
He opened his eyes after recalling the memory. Looking at the sleeping face that looked peaceful, he thought of all the times this person before him had died. How many times he had sacrificed himself for the sake of his comrades. For him. For their happiness.
But.. in those situations, this person had never counted himself in their happiness. He had always hid his thoughts behind that blinding smile, never showing how he felt properly. As if there was a wall that separated them from ever reaching him. And everytime he tried to reach across that wall, the other figure seemed to get further away.
“Kim Dokja. Why do you never think of your own happiness?” He knew he wouldn’t receive an answer. But he continued to talk. “Why is it that you try to decide our happy ending for us? And why does that ending not include you?”
“For me, an ending without you is meaningless. So please...come back. There are many things I have yet to say to you. Things I wished to do after everything ended. Things I could only think of because of you. Things I could only hope for because for once, I thought everyone would remain until the end.”
He took a deep breath to calm his voice that started to sound strained. “..Everyone is waiting for you to wake up. We will wait for you as long as needed. So... you must come back to us. Do you understand. Kim Dokja.”
His sight blurred as his hands clenched into fists on his lap. Something slid down his face as he looked at the small person laying, unmoving.
Beep. Beep. Beep. The constant rhythm filled his head.
Closing his eyes, the light surrounding him dimmed. He tuned out the distant sounds of murmurs, crying, laughter; the drone of car engines from the street across the hospital; chirps from birds sitting on the trees outside.
Think happy thoughts.