Chapter Text
Enchanting, midnight grey eyes stared in front, the blue panel casting a faint glow across his sharp yet soft features, highlighting him, mocking him.
Kim Dokja wanted to kill himself right then and there, and never come back again if it meant not having to do this absolute nightmare of a scenario floating in front of him, courtesy of Uriel. Fuck you and your fujoshi tendencies, Uriel.
[Sub-Scenario: Secrets]
Category: Hidden
Difficulty: ???
Clear Conditions: Incarnations ‘Kim Dokja’ & ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ must share one of their most vulnerable, most profound, darkest secrets with one another.
Time Limit: 24 hours
Compensation: 1,000,000 coins + a deepened bond
Failure: Deduction of 1,000,000 coins from both incarnations each + All skills and abilities will be nullified for 98 hours.
Kim Dokja glared up at the sky. His grip on the hilt of his Unbroken Faith’ tightened. He could only ask one question, “Uriel, why?”
His wannabe-menacing and intimidating facade broke right when Uriel sent an indirect message.
[The constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ tells you to calm down.]
"Calm down?!" he hissed, almost whining.
[The constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ explains that you are too private about your past and this scenario will help you and your dearest companion in many ways.]
Kim Dokja did not like the sound of that. There was a reason why he was always so secretive about his past, of how he was before the world went to ruins. He wished he would never have to disclose that information to anyone because it would ruin everything he had oh-so-carefully built over the past years.
Everyone would loathe him if they ever found out. While he could endure being shoved at, beaten, and bullied by his peers, and being the victim of the prying eyes of bloodthirsty reporters crowding around him, not mentioning the disapproving glances of basically everyone in his past life, Kim Dokja doesn’t think he can endure such treatment from his companions , ever.
Before Kim Dokja can spiral into his less-than-pleasant thoughts, he is startled by the barrage of the seemingly endless stream of indirect messages.
[The constellation ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’ says that this will be fun!]
[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ is roaring in delight.]
[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ is excited to see the incarnations suffer.]
[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ is telling you to hurry up and get started already.]
[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ tells ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ to stop looking so desperate.]
[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ is telling the monkey to ◻️◻️◻️◻️ off.]
[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ accuses ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ of trying to act cool by downplaying his excitement.]
Ah, yes. These two were good obviously bantering while Kim Dokja here just got his life turned upside down. How considerate of them.
Kim Dokja was about to bash his fucking head into a wall when another ding! sounded.
[The constellation ‘Secretive Plotter’ is looking forward to the sub-scenario.]
What.
[The constellation ‘Secretive Plotter’ is watching with amused and interested eyes.]
What. What. Why is he so interested? Alarm bells went off in Kim Dokja’s head. This can't be happening, no. He can't know-
[1,863,000 coins have been sponsored.]
...
Ok maybe he can know, after all.
Kim Dokja’s shameless brain could only think of two things. The first one being, ‘BITCH??? WHAT ARE YOU WASTING YOUR MONEY FOR??’, and the second one being, ‘ Damn, that’s a lot of coins. Just how rich is this bastard? Hmm, maybe sacrificing my non-existent self-esteem for some coins isn’t so much of a bad idea. I should thank Uriel later.’
Lost in his thoughts, Kim Dokja didn’t sense a certain protagonist stomping toward him until he was right in front of him, startling him out of his reverie.
“Yoo Joonghyuk! You bastard, you almost scared me half to death!” Kim Dokja exclaimed when he noticed the hand gripping the hilt of Yoo Joonghyuk’s sword slowly tightening. He let out a nervous chuckle.
“Yah, Yoo Joonghyuk, calm down, I swear it’s not my fault this time! This was all Uriel.”
At this, Yoo Joonghyuk glanced at the scenario window still floating, then toward the twinkling evening sky.
After an excruciatingly long time, his obsidian eyes finally found their way back to his companion’s pale face. His voice was like honey and warmth when he spoke. (or maybe he’s still being rude, and Kim Dokja’s deduction on his tone of voice is wrong, but he supposes it’s always been like that for him.)
“Kim Dokja.”
Kim Dokja gulped, his growing anxiety clearly showing on his face. Having read about the entire life of a certain protagonist for almost 10 years of his own pathetic, meaningless life, he is sure that there is no secret he isn’t aware of by now, and judging from Yoo Joonghyuk’s glares boring a hole into his skull right now, Kim Dokja knows that Yoo Joonghyuk knows.
‘There is no getting out of this, is there?’ Kim Dokja smiles wryly and sighs. Going back and forth in his head, suddenly his enchanting grey eyes twinkle - ( with amusement? Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t know, but it’s close. It’s not like Yoo Joonghyuk can ever fully understand the man in front of him, no matter how hard he tries, and he still hasn’t stopped trying, he will never.) - and Yoo Joonghyuk notices the minute shift of his perfectly carved eyebrows that indicates he’s also noticed that Yoo Joonghyuk has noticed .
Yoo Joonghyuk opens his mouth to question him,- ( and maybe also grab him by the collar and shake him around until he’s grown dizzy and incoherent enough to even think of dodging the question or consider lying) - but Kim Dokja’s tongue is faster as he beats him to it. Yoo Joonghyuk inwardly sighs.
“Let’s just get this over with already, shall we?” and for making himself feel a little better- ( because if he must really reveal everything, he supposes he should be allowed to have a little fun with it, no? And also to be a little shit, just because.) - he adds an infuriating pet name that he knows will grate at the handsome protagonist’s nerves for at least the rest of the day, with a shit-eating grin.
“Hyuk-ie.”
Kim Dokja immediately makes a run for it. He doesn’t need to look behind to know Yoo Joonghyuk is chasing him with his unsheathed sword now.
He’ll just have to survive till they reach the industrial complex, where he can hide behind Yoosung-ah and Gilyoung-ah.
For a moment, they forget about the ticking time limit of the sub-scenario, and simply take some time to indulge in this thin veneer of peace.
It’s fine, really.