Work Text:
“AaaAh, here he comes!!”
The screech resounded throughout the apartment. Kim Dokja was currently seated on the soft couch, enveloped in several blankets, working on his book. His eyes were glued to his laptop, trying his best to ignore the people around him.. To the left of him was his close work friend Yoo Sangah, and to his right was his best friend from university Han Sooyoung. They both were wrapped in their own blankets, staring rapturedly at the TV.
Kim Dokja should have always known introducing them to each other was a mistake. They had a sense of rivalry which created a slight rift between them, until the day Han Sooyoung saw Yoo Sangah watching a popular kdrama on her phone, My Foreign Love. That was the day they discovered their first similarity, with more to come.
Today was the day My Foreign Love was supposedly ending the first season, and (as Han Sooyoung’s younger sister had hogged their TV, same for Yoo Sangah except it was her roommate and her friend watching a cooking show finale) the two of them decided to come to the grand household of Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk to exploit their friends' TV which was rarely watched during the day.
Dokja had reluctantly allowed them to come in and make themselves comfortable. He never expected the comfort to go this far. His traitor of a boyfriend had also left him the moment they had entered and was confined in his gaming room streaming until they left.
Kim Dokja decided he might as well get some work done while they were watching and continued drafting the book he was writing on the side.
The unearthly screams continued, a sound only true fangirls would be able to pull off.
“Dokja-ssi, look! Look, how hot is he ?”, Sangah asked, her rare bouts of losing her composure upon them.
“I’d fuck him. And then play Nintendo Super Smash Bros with him.” Han Sooyoung said, her eyes not leaving the screen once. Dokja rolled his eyes.
“I doubt “he”’s anywhere close to be as fuckable as my-”
“It’s a world fact that this man’s face was crafted by a God that makes your god forsaken emotionally constipated boyfriend seem to have been made in a budget ToysRUs factory.” Han Sooyoung cut him off. Kim Dokja gasped and sent her a dirty look for the dishonor brought upon his boyfriend.
“You liar.”
“You can’t lie if what you’re saying is the tru-” Han Sooyoung was interrupted by another screech from Yoo Sangah and flipped his attention back to the TV.
“Dokja-ssi, you have to look at him. Just a glance will change your life forever.” Yoo Sangah said dreamily.
Dokja took a deep inhale and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was too fucking early for this type of nonsense. He set his laptop down and looked up at the TV.
On the screen there was a beautiful young woman crying at Seoul Airport as a man wearing a bike helmet lifted her chin up. He dipped his head down to the woman’s ears and whispered, “Until the world crashes.” The woman banged on his chest but he held her hand and handed her over to some other girl who must’ve been her friend.
The man walks away, but turns around at the last second. He takes off his helmet and-
Oh. Oh . Ah.
Even more screeches were heard, but the difference this time was that Kim Dokja was within them.
The man on the TV winked and did that finger heart thing before entering the doors of the airport. The show flashed to the end as the credits rolled in. Han Sooyoung was looking at the TV despondent. Yoo Sangah looked on the verge of tears. And Kim Dokja-
“W-Who was that?” he asked, sounding that kind of shook . Yoo Sangah and Han Sooyoung exchanged smirks.
“It’s the man who beat your ‘worldwide handsome’ boyfriend and left him in the goddamn DUST.” Kim Dokja wanted to argue, but he couldn’t. Don’t get him wrong, he wasn’t a promiscuous type of person. His emotions toward his boyfriend hadn’t changed a bit, but the fact that the actor was a hell of a sexy looking beast was an undeniable fact.
“Lim Yoon-wong” Han Sooyoung gave a more helpful answer, looking more dazed. Kim Dokja swallowed thickly.
“I guess you were right. He is pretty good looking.” he says, trying to sound nonchalant.
“You like him.”
“I’m very taken.”
“So am I, but nobody cares.”
“I didn’t know you referred to your girlfriend as nobody.”
“I didn’t know you referred to your face as nobody.”
“That comeback doesn’t even make sense.”
“Your life doesn't even make sense.”
“Alright, lets not fight about who had the worst sense of sexual appeal.” Yoo Sangah said. The distinct despite the fact is that it’s Kim Dokja was not left unheard.
“What did you say his name was?” Kim Dokja asked Han Sooyoung.
“Lim Yoon-wong.” Sooyoung repeated, her eyes flashing as if speaking the very name of the man was a blessing. Dokja looked him up and was astonished that My Foreign Love was his first and only drama so far. Then again he was pretty young (LOOKING, Kim Dokja definitely did not visit his Wikipedia page.)
“Tell us, bastard. Isn’t he the hottest man to breathe Korean air?”
“No,” Kim Dokja, but his mouth moved on its own after that, “He’s the hottest man to breathe the same air as the world.”
The declaration seemed to delight Han Sooyoung and Yoo Sangah, as they slowly but progressively louder started chanting “One of us. One of us. One of us.” It got to the point where they were so loud that Yoo Joonghyuk actually poked his head out of the gaming room to make sure that his boyfriend and his boyfriend’s girlfriends weren’t starting a cult.
He was met with a sight of Kim Dokja’s ear and neck flushing red as he hid behind his hands, yet allowing his eyes to peek out and stare at the TV, although it was faced away from Yoo Joonghyuk.
“Is everyone okay? No one was mauled?” he asked gruffly. Han Sooyoung snickered when she saw him.
“You have some competition now motherfucker.” is all she yelled out to be heard over Sangah’s incessant chants, that were still going. “Yoo Sangah and I are going now,” she said dramatically, “Enjoy watching your boyfriend fall for a hot-as-hell kdrama actor.”
Yoo Joonghyuk frowned as a cackling Han Sooyoung dragged a delusioned Yoo Sangah out of the Yoo/Kim apartment.
“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk said softly, “Th-those girls didn’t break you…did they?”
Kim Dokja slowly turned his head to meet Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes. “No.” he whispered. “Lim Yoon-wong did.'' he fell back onto the couch hysterically giggling as his boyfriend looked on with deeply disturbed eyes.
~~~~~
It had been a few days, but a lot had happened.
On Tuesday, Kim Dokja had refused to come to bed the day the finale of My Foreign Love had released and had stayed up all night binge watching 16 hour-long episodes.
The next morning, a groggy, bed-headed Yoo Joonghyuk emerged from their bedroom only to see his boyfriend completely enveloped in a maroon blanket, tears streaming down his face as he drunkenly held his coffee cup.
“Dokja-yah!” Yoo Joonghyuk rushed to his boyfriend's side and immediately checked his vitals. Once it was clear that Kim Dokja definitely had a strong pulse and his head was completely fine, Yoo Joonghyuk asked, “What happened, why are you awake so early?”
Kim Dokja sniffled before collapsing onto Yoo Joonghyuk's chest and wailing, “Sung Eun-won didn’t deserve it! She was too young. The beautiful bastard broke her heart and I can’t even be mad at him!”
Yoo Joonghyuk had no words. He simply turned around, and went back to sleep.
On Tuesday, Yoo Joonghyuk's gaming agent company had given him two passes to go see a free movie on Friday. It was supposed to be a hot new thriller. Yoo Joonghyuk loved thriller-style. He was never affected by them but he loved to watch Dokja’s cute reactions, so he was looking forward to it as a nice relaxing date night for the two of them.
He decided he would keep the tickets a fun surprise. Little did he know, Kim Dokja was busy making plans with Han Sooyoung to visit a fan signing of Foreign Lover at the mall on Friday. When the day arrived Yoo Joonghyuk finished work only to exit his gaming room (“It’s not a gaming room if I work there”) only to be met with an empty apartment and a sticky note on the table saying, “At the mall with Han Sooyoung.” It didn’t even include a ‘love you’ or ‘be back at 7’.
Yoo Joonghyuk sighed and transferred the tickets to his sister.
Yoo Mia (Sister)
5:13PM KST, 29 November 20XX
>>Here, take these tickets and go to a movie with your friend.
>>[movie ticket link]
Woah thx oppa<<
Why dont u go with dokja hyung??<<
>>Do you want them or not?
>:c<<
No need to get so defensive >:|<<
Ill go with jaewon<<
>>Who is that?
>>A boy?
-
Let’s stop that conversation there.
Movie or not, Yoo Joonghyuk surveyed the empty Friday room apartment.
So this is how Kim Dokja feels when I have my work fits, he thought, walking to the top cupboard where he knew Kim Dokja hid his ‘lonely wine’ and got out a bottle.
On Sunday- well on Sunday basically nothing happened but that was the problem.
You see, Sundays were often days where both Yoo Joonghyuk and Kim Dokja were completely reenergized after their long weeks and engaged in…activities that they usually were too tired to…engage in most other days.
That Sunday, however, Kim Dokja was researching something on his computer, leaving Yoo Joonghyuk feeling horny and bored.
“...”
“Kim Dokja.”
“...”
“Kim Dokja.”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“Dokja-yaaaah.” Yoo Joonhyuk whined , a feat that had never been witnessed before. That caused Kim Dokja to look up.
“Yes, Joonghyuk-ie?”
“What are you doing?” Yoo Joonghyuk demanded.
Kim Dokja turned his computer around revealing a fanpage.
“Chatting with my people.”
“Aren’t I one of ‘your people’?” Yoo Joonghyuk asked.
“Are you a fanboy of Lim Yoon-wong?” asked Kim Dokja back. Yoo Joonghyuk frowned.
“No. You keep talking about him. People are going to start thinking that you’re in love with him more than me.” Kim Dokja pouted.
“That’s not true. I simply just admire him-”
The doorbell rang. Yoo Joonghyuk opened the door to reveal a middle aged delivery man.
“Package for Kim Dokja.” said the man looking bored.
7 minutes later
“You bought a poster of him?” Yoo Joonghyuk said, feeling flabbergasted. And also slightly scared.
“Okay, I know this looks bad, but it's not just Yoon-wong-ie-”
“Yoon-wong-ie?! You haven’t even met the man!” Yoo Joonghyuk said, flabbergastation growing like a linear equation.
“I did, at the fansigning event.” Dokja insisted before quietly adding. “That didn’t help my case, did it?”
Yoo Joonghyuk scoffed in disbelief. “You have a real problem.”
There was a painful silence.
“...Do you like him more than me?” Yoo Joonghyuk asked, sounding slightly vulnerable.
“No. No, of course not, Hyuk.” Kim Dokja looked down. “I’ve never had a celebrity crush kind of thing on a real person before.” he said, embarrassment tinging the words. He looked around. “I took it a little too far didn’t I?” Yoo Joonghyuk scoffs again.
“A little ?”
“I’m sorry if I made you feel neglected.” When Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t stop glaring at the space behind Kim Dokja’s head, Dokja sighed. “Would you like to go to the mall with me tomorrow?”
“There’s a merchandise sale tomorrow isn’t there?”
“...” Kim Dokja got up and walked away, leaving a frustrated Yoo Joonghyuk glaring at an innocent poster.
~~~~~
“You know sir, if you’re feeling jealous you should find out who you’re being jealous of.” said Lee Jihye, while casually slaughtering a herd of trolls.
Lee Jihye was Yoo Joonghyuk’s protege. At least, that’s what she referred to herself as. To Yoo Joonghyuk, she was more of a tenacious, yet annoyingly endearing pest. She was one of the first people to learn that Yoo Joonghyuk was in a relationship when he had texted her a very suggestive text meant for Kim Dokja. After the incredibly uncomfortable situation that had definitely exceeded his boundaries with work personnel had been sorted out, Lee Jihye had devoted herself to making sure her Master’s relationship stayed strong.
That didn’t mean being given romance advice by an eighteen year old was appreciated. Yoo Joonghyuk decided to keep his dignity and ignore the young girl, instead focusing on wiping out a village. Lee Jihye persisted.
“I mean, if anything it sounds like you haven’t even done research on the man your lover is interested in.”
“Please don’t say the word ‘lover’ in my presence again.” Yoo Joonghyuk muttered. This time, Lee Jihye was the one who ignored him.
“You need to watch a few of this man’s interviews and see for yourself what made your lover fall for him, and then try incorporating some of those traits within yourself.” she finished, exaggerating the word this time.
Yoo Joonghyuk considered the advice. It did make sense, but was he really willing to change himself to be like a Kdrama actor- all for his boyfriend.
Absolutely.
~~~~~
The first thing Yoo Joonghuk did to capture the essence of Lim Yoon-wong was meet Han Sooyoung, as she might be able to give him a rough idea of what things he would need to focus on.
Han Sooyoung (KDJ Friend)
7:12AM KST 5 December 20XX
>>Hello. Can you meet me at a convenience store today for lunch?
Oo. what for??<<
>>I need some information.
Ngl man that sounds lowkey sus<<
>>It’s to strengthen my relationship with Kim Dokja.
Eh why not if its free. Also stop texting so formally its annoying<<
-
So at 12, Yoo Joonghyuk and Han Sooyoung were sitting on two flimsy chairs in a GS25, eating quality discount ramen.
“So tell me Pecs, what did you want to talk about?” Han Sooyoung said, swirling her spoon in the air.
Yoo Joonghyuk cringed at the nickname but didn’t comment on it. “This new actor Kim Dokja has this obsession on-”
“Mmh- Lim Yoon-wong?” Sooyoung clarified, mouth full of soupy ramen. Yoo Joonghyuk grimaced and offered her a napkin which she gracefully ignored.
“Yes. Anyways, I was wondering what Kim Dokja sees in that man which he likes so much?” Han Sooyoung grinned.
“He’s taking it too far isn’t he?”
“He’s definitely taking it too far.”
“Well, Yoon-wong is a lot more smiley. Yknow, he has this friendly air. And he takes better care of his hair. And dresses more colourfully. Not to mention he’s not afraid to try new things. He onced dyed his hair lavender. Oh! And also-”
“I’m adventurous.” Yoo Joonghyuk interrupted.
“Mm, nah,” replied Han Sooyoung, seesaw-ing her hand, “You don’t like change. During Heewon-ssi’s housewarming, we put you in charge of grilling and you refused to let Lee Hyunsung assemble the burgers because ‘his sauce ratio was off-putting’.”
“The patties were drowning.” Yoo Joonghyuk mumbled. “So I need to be more colorful and happy?” he asked cocking his head.
Han Sooyoung stared at him. “Are you considering changing yourself? That’s not a good idea Pec’s. You’ll be both embarrassing yourself and mocking Lim Yoon-wong.”
“Well I have to do something. I can’t lose my boyfriend to a glorified culture mascot.”
Han Sooyoung frowned. “Look, we both know Dokja-ssi well. He’s not good at superficial commitments. This’ll be another phase that’s going to pass in due time.”
“He’s bought merchandise.”
“Maybe it’s just a little more serious. That’s no reason to refit yourself with another personality that definitely won’t work.” Han Sooyoung said seriously.
“It almost sounds like you care about me.” Yoo Joonghyuk said coolly.
Han Sooyoung wrinkled her nose. “What’s there to care about?”
~~~~~
Yoo Joonghyuk had watched 47 of the 325 interviews of the celebrity that existed online. It baffled him why people would spend that much time to interview someone who already had so much information about him out in the world. But he kept going, for the sake of love.
When he was 212 interviews in, he decided to take a break, declaring signs of stir-craziness. Instead he reviewed his notes so far.
What he noticed about Lim Yoon-wong was that he was very open about everything, whether it was about himself or trying new things. He also talked to everyone very gently and courteously, yet still enthusiastically. He also took note of his clothes since Han Sooyoung had mentioned them. If it had been a local interview, he often wore light, pastel colored sweaters with darker pants. But if the interview was a big one or an international one, he would wear a suit with a tacky design.
(it also baffled Yoo Joonghyuk on why someone would intentionally wear something tacky).
There were more, like the way his entire demeanor was inviting or the way he would smile with eyes like Kim Dokja, but Yoo Joonghyuk decided to just settle on the previous ones.
He wrote texted Lee Jihye and then wrote a sticky note for Dokja:
I’m at the mall. Call me if you need anything. <3
He put a heart at the end. Yoo Joonghyuk was making progress.
~~~~~
Lee Jihye had no idea why her teacher had abruptly called her to the mall, but she dropped everything as he never was the one to reach out on most occasions.
They met each other at the food court, and Lee Jihye automatically sensed something was wrong. For one thing, Master wasn’t just wearing his regular black turtleneck, but instead he was wearing a red dress shirt that looked two sizes too small. She frowned and walked towards him. He looked over to her and smiled a smile, distinctly fake. She was now taken aback.
In her 1 year and 7 months of knowing Yoo Joonghyuk, he had smiled twice at her and both times had been centered on his boyfriend.
Lee Jihye cautiously approached the large man and got straight to the point. “Master, what did you want meeting me today?”
Master stared down at her, his fake smile still gracing his face. “Lee Jihye, do you have a boyfriend?”
Jihye stared in confusion until a thought struck her. “Oh Master- I mean - I’m your student. I can’t - and you also have a boyfriend and so do I-”
“No.” Yoo Joonghyuk said, his smile dropping and his regular stoic expression taking over once again. “I meant, I needed advice.” Lee Jihye’s eyes grew. Master wanted her advice? “You see,” Yoo Joonghyuk continued, his eyes casting to the floor, “I was wondering if you had a boyfriend because I wanted to know what kind of styles of clothing people find attractive on men.”
Lee Jihye didn’t question his intentions and led him through the mall. “You’ll pay for the clothes, right?”
“Does it look like you have enough money?”
~~~~~
Yoo Joonghyuk was extremely uncomfortable. It was the day after he had gone shopping with Lee Jihye, although it was more insulting than helpful because after everything he tried on, she would always keep comparing him to her boyfriend, Kim Namwoon, who after looking at photos wasn’t even that good looking.
He was now sitting on the couch practicing a smile while wearing a white and blue striped shirt.
Looking in the mirror he felt he didn’t look like himself.
The door opened.
Kim Dokja entered the apartment. He set down an armload of groceries and stretched out his shoulders. “Why, thank you stranger, for helping me with these groceries.” He opened his eyes to lazily smile at Yoo Joonghyuk, but froze. “...why are you dressed so fancy? Are we going out today? Is it a holiday?” Kim Dokja asked panicked.
Yoo Joonghyuk tried smiling to reassure him. It did not reassure Kim Dokja, and instead made it seem as if Yoo Joonghyuk was being passive aggressive.
“Kim Dokja, what would you like to eat today?” Yoo Joonghyuk said, still grinning. “I was thinking salmon would be nice.” Kim Dokja slightly backed away at the new friendly demeanor. Then he strode over to Yoo Joonghyuk and took his head in his hands.
“Are you okay?” he asked, looking into his boyfriend’s eyes. Yoo Joonghyuk’s smile (which was very forced, despite how much the man had practiced) melted.
“Forget it.” he mumbled gruffly under his breath, and got up to change.
“Wait, Joonghyuk-ah.” Kim Dokja said, trying to hold the much bigger and stronger man in place. “Why are you acting so differently today? Did I forget something special?”
“You like a celebrity better than your own boyfriend.” Yoo Joonghyuk accused except it was posed more like a declaration. Kim Dokja looked taken aback before scanning Yoo Joonghyuk, looking enlightened and slightly amused.
“You tried dressing like Lim Yoon-wong?”
“I went through your search history. You’re obsessed with the man.”
“Joonghyuk-ah.” Kim Dokja sat down on his boyfriend's lap and Yoo Joonghyuk begrudgingly wrapped his hands around the latter’s waist. “I don’t want you to change for me. I fell in love with you because you’re you. And for the record, I was only attracted to the man’s appearance. I don’t care much for his personality. It’s too friendly and trusting to me.” Yoo Joonghyuk glared.
“Then why were you ignoring me for the past week and a half?” Kim Dokja shrugged.
“I already told you. This was my first celebrity crush. I’m starting to get over him, anyways.” he stopped to look Yoo Joonhyuk in the eye. “Were you jealous of a celebrity, I’m-practically-a-celebrity-too?”
“I’m not a celebrity.”
“You have 3M followers on 90% of your social platforms.”
“Lim Yoon-wong has 5M.”
“Stop comparing yourself to him.” Kim Dokja said exasperatedly. He paused. “Also, how did you manage to go through my search history? I delete my browser history all the-”
“I learned a little bit of hacking while I was still learning how to play games.”
“Yep. Of course you did.”
“I should go change.”
“Please do, this shirt looks nice but your baggy style is hotter.”
“I spent 260,000 won on these.” Yoo Joonghyuk grumbled, setting down Kim Dokja.
Peace was once again restored to the household.
~~~~~
“Why do I smell smoke- OH MY FUCK YOO JOONGHYUK WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Kim Dokja exclaimed.
“What I should have done a long time ago.” Yoo Joonghyuk replied, mouth in a set line while Kim Dokja’s poster was engulfed in flames.