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“Okay, so let me get this straight. You like Joonghyuk, right?”
Kim Dokja nodded his head.
“So what’s the problem?”
“I just— I dunno wether he’s the one.”
“Oho, I see your dilemma.”
Han Sooyoung grinned, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. Perhaps she could finally find out more about how her best friends new lover treated him.
“Well then. I present to you, the great Han Sooyoung’s five ways to tell if he’s the right person.”
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1. Does he overthink when it comes to you?
Kim Dokja sat uncomfortably at the dining table. He and Yoo Joonghyuk had just started dating recently, and he had come to his partners house for the first time.
“Huh? Who are you?”
Kim Dokja’s eyes met a young girl’s. She had long black pigtails, and donned a plain white shirt and light blue shorts.
“Ah- my name is Kim Dokja. You must be Joonghyuk’s sister?”
Kim Dokja replied, pointing a finger at himself.
“I’m Mia.”
Yoo Mia waved her hand at Kim Dokja, before leaving to somewhere else.
“Oppa, who is that?”
Yoo Mia asked, as she approached her elder brother, who was in the kitchen.
“Ah.. that’s Kim Dokja.”
“Yeah I know. I mean like— what’s your relationship with him?”
“We’re dating.”
Yoo Joonghyuk replied, without taking his eyes off the omelette he was making.
“Huh? You started dating? How come you never told me?”
Yoo Mia asked, grinning as she absorbed this newfound information.
“You never asked.”
Honestly, why didn’t Yoo Joonghyuk tell her? Perhaps he was afraid. Afraid that Yoo Mia might not approve. His previous relationship didn’t go well, after all. But he truly liked Kim Dokja, and didn’t want their relationship to end.
Yoo Joonghyuk brought the omelette out to the dining room, with Yoo Mia trailing behind him.
Yoo Joonghyuk placed the plate in front of Kim Dokja, who smiled at him appreciatively.
Kim Dokja looked down at the omelette, and his mouth turned slightly agape.
The omelette was a golden brown colour, wrapped slightly in half around the most horrendous fruits in all of history.
Wrinkly tomatoes, coloured a bright red. The one sworn enemy Kim Dokja had in life.
His eyes darted between Yoo Joonghyuk and the dish, unsure of what to say. He picked up a fork and nudged at the tomato, slowly pushing it off the omelette.
“Do you not like it?”
“Ah no.. it’s just..”
Yoo Joonghyuk swiftly took the plate from Kim Dokja, heading back to the kitchen without saying a word.
A few seconds later, he returned with another omelette, free of the gross fruit.
“Did you make a new one?”
Kim Dokja asked, rather surprised. Yoo Joonghyuk shook his head.
“I already prepared it before hand in case you disliked it.”
“Oh..”
He left to another room, one which Kim Dokja didn’t get a glimpse of yet.
Yoo Mia, who had been eyeing the two, decided to speak up.
“Oppa also prepared like 5 other dishes in case you were allergic to eggs or any other ingredients.”
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2. Does he know your habits?
“Joonghyuk-ssi!”
Yoo Joonghyuk lifted his head from his homework. He saw a girl with long brown hair, an urgent expression on her face. She wore a white cotton shirt and a coffee-coloured jacket with the schools crest on its top left, the jacket being a few shades lighter than her luscious hair.
“What is it?”
“It’s about Kim Dokja-ssi.”
Yoo Joonghyuk’s attentiveness tripled upon hearing his partners name.
“He ran out of the classroom randomly during class, after one of the boys provoked him.”
Yoo Sangah explained, making various hasty hand gestures.
Yoo Joonghyuk nodded, telling her that he would settle everything.
He had a pretty good idea of where Kim Dokja might have went.
He approached the school library, colourful cheesy posters stuck with blu tack on the walls beside the library doors.
He recalled a conversation he had with Kim Dokja once.
“The library is something like a safe space to me, now that I think about it.”
They had been browsing through books there, per Kim Dokja’s request.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, as you know, I simply love books. And here, it’s filled to the brim with those.”
Kim Dokja had chuckled, as he pulled out a book from the shelf and skimmed through the first few pages.
“ That makes sense.”
He slotted the book back into the shelf.
“Hmm. Well, I used to escape to the library whenever Father got mad and seemed like he would burst as well.”
Kim Dokja had said it lightly, as if it was no big deal. Yoo Joonghyuk knew that Kim Dokja didn’t have an amazing relationship with his family, but had never questioned the boy in depth on his background.
Now, Yoo Joonghyuk entered the library, getting hit with a wave of coolness, coming from the air conditioner.
He walked to the back of the library, into a small nook with a single bean bag.
Sitting on it was a boy, cheeks stained with tears.
Yoo Joonghyuk crouched down, such that he was at the boys level, and wiped away the remaining tears.
“How did you find me?”
“Mm.”
He passed Kim Dokja a pack of chocolate milk, which was of the older’s favourite brand.
Kim Dokja took it, muttering his thanks.
“You can’t drink or eat in the library though.”
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3. You can picture your future together
“Joonghyuk-ah!”
It had been 3 months since Yoo Joonghyuk and him started dating.
“Hmm?”
Kim Dokja wrapped his arms around the neck of Yoo Joonghyuk from behind, who was sitting at his study desk.
“Let’s play a game.”
“Depends. What game?”
Yoo Joonghyuk eyed Kim Dokja suspiciously. The older boy had a tendency to drag him into weird activities.
“Let’s play pretend.”
“What?”
Yoo Joonghyuk furrowed his eyebrows.
“It’s this new game i saw couples play online! Basically, you state something you want to happen to the two of you in the future, and the second person will elaborate, before switching back to the first, so on and so forth.”
It didn’t seem that bad.
“Alright. You start first.”
Yoo Joonghyuk said, closing his laptop.
“We’ll live in.. a big house.”
“With a white picket fence at the front.”
Yoo Joonghyuk continued after Kim Dokja.
“Somewhere close to a school in case we ever adopt.”
“Nearby a park so we can take evening strolls.”
“Ooh. I never took you for one to bring people out on romantic dates!”
Kim Dokja giggled.
“Shut up.”
“Alright, alright. The house will have a huge living room, in case our friends ever come for game night and whatnot.”
“A mini library for you to read as well.”
“And a giant kitchen with every kind of cooking utensil for you to cook three course meals!”
They were getting excited now.
“Two separate guest rooms in case your parents ever come to stay.”
“One bedroom with a queen sized bed for us.”
“With pure white sheets.”
“Ooh- the thick kinds!”
Yoo Joonghyuk chuckled at Kim Dokja’s remark.
“A backyard with a barbecue grill.”
“And a dog house! Let’s adopt a dog next time!”
“Hmm. We’ll name it Biyoo.”
“That’s a nice name!”
Kim Dokja exclaimed, gasping.
“The house is somewhere close to our office places.”
“We’ll work in the same office.”
“Yes! Then we can leave together!”
They continued to chatter for the next hour, laughing and losing track of time. They had practically planned out their next 20 years by the time they finished.
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4. You don’t feel the need to change each other
The two had gotten married recently, and Kim Dokja had moved into Yoo Joonghyuk’s apartment.
The lights were off when Kim Dokja entered, lugging the last of his belongings in. Yoo Joonghyuk had probably went to get groceries.
They hadn’t moved into that big house they dreamed of, but Kim Dokja was more than pleased with this.
He hummed the tune of a trending song, as he dragged his bags to their shared room.
He unzipped his bag, and took out his clothes. Khaki shorts, black and white dress shirts, a white coat Yoo Joonghyuk had bought him for his birthday.
He opened the closet and saw that Yoo Joonghyuk had already sat aside half of the space for him.
Just as he was placing the clothes into the closet, he heard the soft click of the door, signalling that someone had entered.
“Kim Dokja?”
“Joonghyuk-ah! I’m in here!”
Yoo Joonghyuk entered the bedroom, and his gaze softened upon seeing the crouching man, sorting his underwear into the drawers, before firmly closing them shut.
Kim Dokja rose, and hugged Yoo Joonghyuk, lightly giving him a peck on the cheek.
“I have to start streaming soon.”
Yoo Joonghyuk whispered reluctantly, giving Kim Dokja a tight smile.
“Alright. Go do whatever it is that you do.”
Yoo Joonghyuk nodded, before planting a kiss on the others forehead, and leaving into his room, the one he uses for gaming.
An hour later, when Kim Dokja was done packing away everything, he left the bedroom to check on Yoo Joonghyuk. The door to his room was still closed, signalling that the stream wasn’t over yet.
If he strained his ear, he could faintly hear the sounds of shooting and a voice coming from Yoo Joonghyuk’s game character.
He walked around the apartment, unsure of what to do, before settling down on the couch in the living room, and taking out his phone to read Webnovels.
When Yoo Joonghyuk found his husband, he was already sound asleep on the couch, phone in hand.
The stream had overrun by a few hours, which wasn’t really unusual. Yoo Joonghyuk picked up Kim Dokja, ensuring he wouldn’t awake the man, before carrying him back to their room.
Kim Dokja awoke in the morning, when the sun was already up. It was a Saturday, meaning he didn’t have anything on.
His eyes fixed on a note stuck on the pillow beside him.
‘ Breakfast is on the counter’
Yoo Joonghyuk had probably started streaming again if it meant breakfast had been prepared in advance.
Kim Dokja was aware that his husbands schedule had always been packed, but he realised that he hadn’t really felt the effect until he moved in.
Fast forward three weeks, Kim Dokja was meeting up with Han Sooyoung.
“What’s wrong this time?”
“No.. nothing.”
“You keep checking your phone. Did Joonghyuk do something?”
Han Sooyoung asked, suspicious. Little did she know that she had hit the nail on the head.
“What? Of course not!”
A sigh.
“Kim Dokja. Spill. Now.”
“It’s no big deal. He’s just really busy with streaming and all.”
“And you feel he has no time for you?”
“I never said that!”
“Mm.”
Han Sooyoung waved, in a sign of surrender, before changing the topic.
When Kim Dokja left the cafe, leaving Han Sooyoung alone, she pulled out her phone.
Me: Hey, you sunfish.
🐟 : What is it, Han Sooyoung.
Me: Your husband thinks you’re neglecting him.
🐟 : What?
Me: Just saying.
There. That should knock some sense into Yoo Joonghyuk.
Yoo Joonghyuk took off his headset, upon hearing the familiar voice of his lover, stating that he was home.
“Kim Dokja.”
“Hmm? Yes, Joonghyuk-ah?”
“I cleared my schedule.”
“Huh? What’s the occasion?”
Kim Dokja asked, as he was swept into a hug, feeling Yoo Joonghyuk’s calloused hand moving gently through his hair.
“No reason. I’m sorry if you thought I didn’t care about you.”
Yoo Joonghyuk mumbled, avoiding Kim Dokja’s eyes as he pulled away.
“Did Sooyoung tell you something?”
“I-“
“I know what you’re doing is helping to keep us afloat, okay? Don’t think for one second that I would want to change your occupation or schedule. I understand that you’re putting in hard work and effort.”
He stated as he poked Yoo Joonghyuk’s cheek with his index finger.
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5. He comforts you when you’re down
Kim Dokja entered the house, sighing as he dumped his work bag on the floor.
“Are you okay?”
Yoo Joonghyuk asked, frowning at the sight of his husband looking weary.
“It’s nothing, just a long day at work.”
“Tell me.”
Kim Dokja complained to Yoo Joonghyuk about how everything was so unfair, the way the department head dumped all of his work on Kim Dokja, and sent him to do trivial things, such as buy coffee or print papers.
“You should just stay at home and quit your job. I can bring in enough.”
Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t usually talk about how much he earned, but from his popularity, it was rather obvious that even if he retired then, he’d still have enough to live a relaxed life till the end of his life.
“What would I even do at home?”
Kim Dokja muttered, chuckling to himself.
“Whatever you want.”
“If you want, I can complain to the boss about the department head. We’re close.”
Minosoft, the company Kim Dokja worked at, recently had a collaboration with Yoo Joonghyuk, causing Yoo Joonghyuk to become familiar with the boss.
“No. I wouldn’t want to trouble you or him with these kinds of small things.”
Kim Dokja smiled, shaking his head. Well, his mood had brightened after talking to Yoo Joonghyuk, that was for sure.
“You have a stream in a few minutes, don’t you?”
“I cancelled it.”
“What? Why?”
Yoo Sangah, who had become colleagues with Kim Dokja, had texted Yoo Joonghyuk beforehand that Kim Dokja looked blue, and Yoo Joonghyuk had planned to spend some time with the other.
“Hmm. I just wanted to take the night off.”
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Kim Dokja was old now. His hair was greying, white strands of hair visible and paler skin, if that was even possible. He still frequently met up with Han Sooyoung, at their usual cafe, and today was one of those days.
“You didn’t age well.”
Han Sooyoung laughed, jabbing a finger in Kim Dokja’s direction.
“I could say the same about you.”
Kim Dokja retorted.
“Hey, Sooyoung.”
“What.”
“Remember when we were still in our youth? When you told me about your five ways to check wether Joonghyuk was the one for me?”
“Hmm. Vaguely.”
“Yeah. I think he is my soulmate after all.”
Han Sooyoung scoffed.
“Don’t tell me it took you this many decades to figure it out.”
“Mm.”
They heard the familiar jingle of the cafes bell.
“Eh? Joonghyuk-ah! What are you doing here?”
A pleasant surprise.
“The kids are waiting for you at home. Don’t tell me you forgot?”
Oh yeah. Today, Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung, two children the couple had adopted, were returning home for the first time in months.
“Hah.. Kim Dokja, you dumbass. Go spend time with your family.”
Han Sooyoung said, shooing Kim Dokja away with a wave of her hand.
Kim Dokja nodded, standing up and wincing as his back felt a sharp pain, before heading to Yoo Joonghyuk’s side.
He grabbed the taller man’s hand, and they left the cafe. Han Sooyoung watched them, before muttering to herself,
“Stupid lovebirds.”