Chapter Text
Pink flower petals grazed his shoulders as Kim Dokja cycled to Shinhwa High, on his way to deliver a dry-cleaned school uniform.
‘...Wow. This really is the school of the rich.’
Every single brick on the campus had an air of elegance; every single tree had this… this inexplicable aura that was so high-class; every single student walked and talked in such a manner so that it was impossible to not know they were children born with diamond spoons…
‘After this delivery, I’ll have to toil away at my other five part time jobs…’
Dokja worked for countless hours of the day, just to survive.
A worker at the dry cleaner’s.
A waiter and dishwasher at the local restaurant.
A car-washer at the car wash.
A barista and waiter at the cafe.
A delivery driver at the pizza place.
This wasn’t even the full list of all his jobs.
‘I bet none of these kids have touched a dishcloth before.’
Han Donghoon.
That was the name of the student who he had to deliver this uniform to.
“Hey, he’s on the rooftop! Han Donghoon! Don’t jump, not until we’re there to see it!”
“That transfer student? Hah, what did I say? Three days. Three days and he’ll finally give up!”
Following the chatter of the crowd, Kim Dokja made his way up to the rooftop.
A scruffy teenager, clothed in a bloodstained hoodie and sweatpants, most likely the physical education uniform, stood at the edge of the roof.
“Donghoon-ya… Don’t chicken out, alright!” Students crowded around him, almost cheering.
So Han Donghoon, the guy that Kim Dokja had to deliver the uniform to and collect fifty dollars from, was just about to jump.
Kim Dokja couldn’t let him do that.
Not out of some kind gesture or hero complex, but because…
“Hey, you’re Han Donghoon, right?” Kim Dokja approached the individual standing at the edge.
“What? ...Yeah.” The individual replied.
“I just need you to pay me fifty dollars for this dry-cleaned uniform.”
“...When I’m dead you can bill it to my house.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept that. My boss has his rules, and I’m afraid you’ll have to pay me now.”
“Gosh… Why do you care so much?” It’s just fifty dollars, and I’m about to die.
“If you don’t give me the fifty dollars, I’m going to lose my job.”
“Does it really matter that much?”
“What would you know, you go to the great Shinhwa High .”
“This isn’t a school… It’s hell.”
‘Hell? Oh, this prim and posh little school you go to is hell?’
“Hell… The real ‘hell’ is outside of this campus.” Where people are barely scraping by, fighting for every cent to survive.
“...Have you heard about F4?”
‘F4? Like I don’t give a-’
“F4,” Han Donghoon continued, “The moment you get a red card from them, everyone in the school becomes a predator, ready to maul you.”
Kim Dokja was so tired of this person’s elaboration (which he clearly did not ask for!) that he almost forgot about the fifty dollars.
“Look,” Kim Dokja began, “I’m not going to deliver some passionate spiel on why you should keep living. I’ve jumped.
Ended up with some broken bones and more trauma. Honestly, I couldn’t care less what you do, but is it so hard to give me fifty dollars? Do you not have any on you? Can you – please! – just go back to your dorm and just grab fifty doll-”
He had jumped. Before anything else, Kim Dokja’s instincts kicked in.
Kim Dokja had to survive.
To do that, he needed this job.
To keep this job, he needed to get the money.
To get the money, he needed Han Donghoon to be alive. For now, at least.
Han Donghoon had almost died, save for Kim Dokja’s bony, pale, dry hands that had an unexpectedly tight grip on his shoulders.
- - -
“Wonder Boy”. “Commoner”. “Savior”. That was what they called Dokja.
It was all over the newspapers, the television, everything.
“ Commoner Dubbed Wonder Boy Saves Elite School Student”
“Reverse Cinderella: Commoner Is the Savior of Shinhwa High Student”
“Group Bullying in Shinhwa High Revealed After Commoner Rescues Student”
“Kim Dokja, I actually feel proud of you!”
Kim Namwoon, Dokja’s co-worker at the restaurant had a smug smirk plastered on his face since the very moment he had heard about this via watching the news.
“Oh my god, would you please shut up?” Doka sighed, his ears almost bleeding from Namwoon’s unending stream of flattery.
“Say, did you manage to see F4?” Namwoon chirped, his eyes lighting up.
“No…”
“Aww, there are rumors… That they’re really hot! You should’ve seized the opportunity…” He pouted.
After a long day’s work, Dokja returned home where a surprise was waiting.
His aunt and uncle, who were typically cold and disregarded his existence, spoke to him.
“ Dokja-ya , there’s a man who says he’s here on behalf of Shinhwa Group’s CEO… He says she’s impressed with you and,” his aunt gulped, “They want to accept you as a scholarship student.”
‘They- They what?’
This was a chance to turn his life around. To escape poverty. Maybe he’d even get accepted into a university after this.
But… it was so unbelievable. Why would they even want him there? It sounded a little… like a trap.
“A-are you sure?” Dokja turned to the man who came to his house.
“Yes, very. We want you in Shinhwa High. We believe… you can help make a change.” He replied, a perfect smile plastered on his slightly-wrinkled, middle-aged face.
Something wasn’t right. As Dokja had seen first-hand, the students there mistreated people unjustly. If he were to enter such a place, as some “scholarship student”, so poor and weak, he’d just end up as fresh meat in a pool of sharks.
‘“Make a change,” more like save us from getting slandered by the public…’
“Okay.”
Even if it’s the devil that's offering you a ticket out of hell… You might as well try.