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Kim Dokja has a high amount of confidence in his ability to deal with plot twists.
This is totally unjustified, of course. He hasn’t had plot armor for a while now, and he no longer has the benefit of knowing how the story ends. Nowadays, he lives in a house with the rest of Kim Dokja’s company, and does his best to not die.
His best, however, has been characterized by his friends as “pathetic” and “nonexistent”, much to his chagrin, and unfortunately the Squid Incident, as it has been dubbed, has not helped things.
In his defense, Kim Dokja is just as caught off guard by the incident as all the rest of them are. It happens one day when they’re at the beach, on a rare summer day when the sky is clear and the water is a sparkling shade of blue, the very picture of a ‘happily ever after’ if it had been photographed and stamped on a postcard.
The problem with their ‘happily ever afters’, however, is that Kim Dokja is a tricky bastard to keep contained in any kind of Epilogue, and so the Story likes to fuck around with him every now and then.
One moment, he’s standing waist deep in ocean water, watching the kids splash each other and laugh in the bright afternoon sunlight. In the next, he’s collapsing in a splash like he’s been sucked underwater. The edges of the world seem to rise up and curve and warp around him like two hands cupping around his body.
He thrashes in an attempt to go up and get some air, but the harsh bright thing up above the water’s surface hurts his eyes. Instead, instinctively, he shoots off into the darkness.
Wait, the darkness?
To his horror, Kim Dokja realizes that this feels…familiar.
He’s been in this form before. And not just once, either. Once during the Scenario with the Returnees, and once after he had failed the Sun Wukong scenario at the end of the SSSS+ grade Journey to the West. His limbs had elongated, and his body had changed, becoming rubbery, just like this.
He tries to speak, but all that comes out is a useless blub blub blub. Above the surface, he can hear concerned cries of hyung! and Kim Dokja? Where did you go?
Luckily, even when the world is throwing plot twists at him, Kim Dokja has a high confidence in his ability to deal with them. Usually, when odd things happen to him, it’s a sign that the Story Core has started up again.
When that happens, Kim Dokja notices that other things tend to come back too. Unfortunately, none of his 4th Wall or Bookmark skills seem to work - they haven’t ever since he became a Character - but the Midday Tryst does seem to come back online just fine.
[Mayday! Mayday!] he sends through the Midday Tryst. Unfortunately, Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung aren’t in the group chat, and he has no way of being able to reassure them that he’s okay.
[What is it?] comes Yoo Junghyuk’s immediate reply. He doesn’t even sound fazed by the sudden reappearance of a skill that none of them had been able to use ever since entering this world line. Such is the adaptability of the protagonist who lived through 1863 world lines.
Kim Dokja can already imagine him getting to his feet, sword at the ready, prepared to strike down whatever monster has appeared on their shores. Unfortunately, their emergency this time has nothing to do with an external monster appearing.
[What the fuck is going on?] Han Sooyoung sends, right on his heels. Kim Dokja can already imagine her pissed off expression hiding her concern. [Why is the Midday Tryst back online? Did something happen?]
[I can explain,] Kim Dokja says hurriedly.
The Story Core flickers, and the power behind the Midday Tryst cuts out.
Alone in the darkness, Kim Dokja floats along the ocean currents, completely nonplussed.
Oh god, he thinks. The others are going to be so pissed at him.
He can imagine the chaos that will inevitably ensue, and surely it will end up all being his fault again this time, even though this was the one time he didn’t even choose to become a squid.
Why is it, he reflects, that whenever the Story Core flickers, it’s always me that ends up in trouble?
The ocean gives him no answer. All that remains above him is a steady stream of bubbles trailing in his wake.
When Kim Dokja disappears, nobody really panics or despairs. Not at first, anyway.
This has happened before. In fact, this has happened so many times to the point where the group has become accustomed to it. They’re professionals. Honestly, at this point, it sometimes feels like they live in a cycle of saving Kim Dokja and losing him over and over again.
Nonetheless, the entire team springs into action like a well-oiled machine. Lee Hyunsung notifies the National Coast Guard, and Lee Jihyue charters a boat to go hunting for - she doesn’t know what - something that vaguely resembles Kim Dokja out there. Jung Heewon goes off to intimidate some fishermen and question them for any strange sightings. None of them try to bring up the possibility that he’s drowned.
Yoo Junghyuk goes off to the Museum of Ark, to give the Story Core some percussive maintenance, or fiddle with it, or to do whatever he does with it, Han Sooyoung doesn’t know. The rest of them, the ones without potential reality warping powers, tend to stay as far away from that thing as humanly possible.
Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung take it the hardest. They had been with Kim Dokja when he’d disappeared, and in a way, they had designated themselves as his ‘watchers’ for that day. Losing him had been their fault, since it had happened on their watch. When Yoo Sangah realizes that they’re moping about it, she immediately stages an intervention and gives them a long lecture on the responsibilities of an adult versus the responsibilities of a child.
If anything, the rest of the team unanimously agreed, it was all Kim Dokja’s fault.
Kim Dokja has been missing for three weeks when Han Sooyoung finally thinks to hit up the aquarium.
It’s partly due to a hunch, and partly just to take a break. The rest of the team has gotten restless from the lack of progress. Jung Heewoon had captured some promising leads in the first week; some fishermen had admitted to seeing some kind of monster in the depths of the ocean. But any further details had not been forthcoming, and Han Sooyoung thinks that they shouldn’t be putting too much stock into what fishermen say anyway. They were all a superstitious sort, and would rather talk about ill omens than look at the weather report.
She wanders through the shark tanks, the massive whale exhibit, and spends a lot of time examining the colorful piranhas in the tropical section. None of them really give off that patented ‘Kim Dokja’ feeling to her, although she does very much enjoy seeing them dart around from one edge of the tank to the other.
In the arctic section, there are a couple of goofy looking penguins. Han Sooyoung spends a fair amount of time watching one penguin who is repeatedly trying and failing to climb up on a rock. She’s almost disappointed when it finally does, because if that penguin had been Kim Dokja, she would’ve had a hilarious story to bring back to the others.
He’s not in the swamp section either, where sleepy crocodiles and alligators lay up in the mud with content expressions, looking far too lazy to be the neurotic idiot that she’s looking for. She dismisses the dolphins and the seals too, because even though it would be fun to try to imagine Kim Dokja doing tricks with a ball in order to eat fish, she knows for a fact that all of them have been at the aquarium for over a year. They all have names, and unless Kim Dokja has eaten one of them and taken their place, and learned all their tricks, it is highly unlikely that she will find him performing in front of massive crowds and splashing kids with his tail.
She’s about to give up when she wanders past the Deep Sea exhibit, which is more dimly lit than all the other areas had been. Small portholes with glowing lights are the only source of illumination in the room, displaying pulsating jellyfish and massive sea crabs.
Han Sooyoung moves along until she comes into a wide open area, where an entire wall is made up of glass, showing pitch black water behind it.
“This large fish tank over here,” a guide’s voice says over the PA, “contains over 3,000 gallons of water and houses one of the largest specimens of Architeuthis dux ever found! These giant squid are found only in the deepest parts of the ocean. Can anyone see him hovering in the top right corner there? Everyone, please welcome our newest addition to the Yeunsa Aquarium!”
Han Sooyoung turns in slow motion to stare at the giant fish tank to her left. Behind several inches of thick glass, a giant squid barely visible in the dark waves several tentacles morosely at her.
With a little bzzst, the Midday Tryst comes back online.
“...” Han Sooyoung says.
“...” Kim Dokja says.
“Kim Dokja???” Han Sooyoung says.
“Hi,” Kim Dokja says through the Midday Tryst.
“Kim Dokja,” Han Sooyoung says, veins popping in her forehead, her right eye twitching. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Han Sooyoung presses herself up against the tank and heroically fights down the urge to pound her fists against the glass. There’s a very concerned-looking aquarium worker standing nearby, and she doesn’t want to look like she’s having a meltdown, or else she might be thrown out. It doesn’t help that she probably is having a meltdown, and that if they don’t throw her out soon, she might actually reach through the glass and do some bodily harm to the newly acquired showstopper of the Yeunsa Aquarium.
One of the benefits of the Star Stream fritzing back into action is that Han Sooyoung gets some of her powers back too. Not that any of it is doing her any good at the moment, since she can’t exactly burn Kim Dokja into calamari while he’s underwater.
“What happened to you?” she hisses into the water. “Do you know how worried the rest of us have been?”
Kim Dokja floats uncomfortably.
“I went to the beach with the kids,” he says in a small voice. “And when I went into the ocean, my memory became fuzzy, and the next thing I knew, I was in this tank. They were feeding me fish, and I didn’t even remember who I was until I saw you.”
“Great,” Han Sooyoung says, rubbing her forehead. “You must’ve been caught by some of the fishermen that Jung Heewoon was talking to, and then sold here.”
“Are the kids okay?”
“Yeah, they made it home just fine. They said they could still sense you down there, they just couldn’t figure out what was going on.”
Kim Dokja sinks a little. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry! Do something about it!”
“Do what?”
“Turn back,” Han Sooyoung orders.
“I can’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
Kim Dokja is silent for a long moment, floating in his tank.
“I can’t figure out how,” he says eventually.
“Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me.”
“I’m really not,” Kim Dokja says, sounding a little offended.
“You useless—“ Han Sooyoung cuts off, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You know what? I’m going to need backup for this. I can’t deal with you right now.”
“I’m not staying like this on purpose,” Kim Dokja says sulkily. “Do you want to try and change back into a human when you’re in the shape of a giant squid? Do you know how?Think it’s easy? You try it!”
Han Sooyoung ignores him. She goes over to grab the aquarium worker standing nervously to the side.
“Hi,” she says, smiling. “When does this place close?”
“Uh,” the woman stammers nervously. “Around nine PM?”
“Thank you,” Han Sooyoung says pleasantly. “Do you happen to know how likely it is that this guy—” she thumbs towards the giant squid, “—can stay alive for that long?”
“Hey,” Kim Dokja protests.
The woman’s eyes flickers toward the squid tank, and then back to Han Sooyoung.
“I don’t know,” she says. “We’ve never had a giant squid in our aquarium before, but he seems to be doing well?”
“Good,” Han Sooyoung lets go of her. “Cause I just want to make it very clear: if anything happens to him while I’m gone, if he’s so much as misses a single meal, this entire aquarium will be shut down, do you understand?”
The aquarium worker gulps and nods.
“Don’t let him die,” she orders, then storms off to make some calls.
She calls Jung Heewon off of her interrogation kick. Lee Jihye seems grateful that she can stop sailing around the ocean. Lee Hyunsung dutifully reports back to the house as well, and they all gather together to figure out what the hell they should do next.
Lee Gilyoung immediately begins to research giant squid facts. Shin Yoosung immediately begins worrying about giant squid lifespans. Lee Gilyoung finds out that it’s roughly anywhere from one to thirty-five years, and immediately begins to go down an internet rabbit hole.
Eventually, Yoo Sangah comes back from grocery shopping, and all the adults go off into a different room, leaving the kids to their own devices.
This turns out to be a mistake, because naturally, Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung decide to come up with their own rescue plan.
“How much does it cost to buy a three thousand gallon aquarium-grade fish-tank?” Lee Gilyoung asks.
Shin Yoosung looks up from her mobile phone. “I bet we could swing one for thirty thousand won on some secondhand sites.”
Lee Gilyoung smacks the back of her chair. “We’re not putting hyung in a second-rate tank!”
Shin Yoosung’s temper flares up. “You build one, then! All the big ones are over 6 million won!”
“WE’RE NOT PUTTING HIM IN A TANK!” Han Sooyoung howls from the other room.
Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung share a look.
Lee Gilyoung lowers his voice to a whisper. “We could hide him in my room.”
“Then where would you sleep?” Shin Yoosung hisses back.
“I’ll sleep in your room,” Lee Gilyoung says reasonably.
“You can’t sleep in my room!”
Han Sooyoung appears in the doorway, looking frazzled.
“I can still hear you,” she says. “Look, we have a plan, okay? Kim Dokja won’t stay as a giant squid forever.”
Shin Yoosung looks up.
“What’s your plan?” she asks.
Han Sooyoung sighs. She steps aside to reveal Yoo Junghyuk is standing in the doorway.
“Him,” she says sourly.
Shin Yoosung’s face breaks out into an incredulous, hopeful expression.
A couple hours later, they’re back in the aquarium again. Yoo Junghyuk lays down on the wet tile, getting his suit all wet. He reaches into the tank and grabs Kim Dokja by a tentacle, slowly reeling him in.
“Noooooo,” Kim Dokja whines. “I’m tired, I’m hungry. Give me some fish, and then I’ll try again.”
“No fish,” Yoo Junghyuk grunts, and then heaves Kim Dokja out of the water.
Now you may not know a lot about giant squids, but you can probably tell that they’re not supposed to be out of the water. Immediately, Kim Dokja starts thrashing as a ballooning sensation fills his entire body.
“You can’t get used to living like this,” Yoo Junghyuk says. His hold on the giant squid is tight and unforgiving, even as Kim Dokja drags himself to the edge of the tank and desperately tries to throw himself in. “Listen to me, Kim Dokja, listen.”
Kim Dokja calms down with the thrashing, but only by a little bit. Waving one tentacle rather sulkily, he indicates for Yoo Junghyuk to continue.
“In one of my regressions,” Yoo Junghyuk says. “This happened to me.”
Kim Dokja remembers reading about this one. One of the regressions in the thousands, one that explored the effects of turning into an Outer God. If he recalled correctly, Yoo Junghyuk had never recovered from that condition.
“The trick is to concentrate on your human memories,” Yoo Junghyuk says. “The people you care about, the connections you made. You have to want to be human again.”
Kim Dokja goes still.
Yoo Junghyuk drags him a little bit further from the edge.
“Come on,” he says. If Kim Dokja didn’t know him so well, he might have described Yoo Junghyuk’s tone as coaxing. “You can do it. I know you can.”
Kim Dokja squishes in on himself. “I’m not a very good human, Yoo Junghyuk.”
Yoo Junghyuk ignores his protest. Determinedly, he hauls Kim Dokja further and further away from the edge.
“Focus on me,” he says. Kim Dokja’s massive squid eye rolls towards him.
“You’re a little hard to see,” Kim Dokja says.
“Focus!”
Kim Dokja shuts up.
“You belong here,” Yoo Junghyuk says. He sits down, back against the wall, and Kim Dokja finds that he has somehow tangled all of his limbs together with Yoo Junghyuk’s. “You belong with us. Did you know that Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung were thinking of breaking you out of here and keeping you in a tank in their room?”
“Really?”
Yoo Junghyuk pats him on the head. Surprisingly, Kim Dokja can feel it, even though he can’t see it happening.
“Yeah,” he says. “And the others were going to talk to Gong Pildu about buying the entire aquarium so that they could try and get you out.”
“Really?”
Yoo Junghyuk laughs. “Yeah. They love you, Kim Dokja. They were willing to do anything to get you back.”
Kim Dokja closes his eyes. Yoo Junghyuk’s palm is warm.
“You’re not getting away from us,” Yoo Junghyuk says. “Even as a giant squid.”
“Even if I’m … not completely real?” Kim Dokja asks quietly. “I’m still missing some unknown percentage of my memories, aren’t I? That’s why you keep going to the Museum of the Ark. That’s why you’re still searching the other worldlines.”
Yoo Junghyuk pauses.
Kim Dokja is now completely flopped over him, tentacles splayed everywhere, his main body resting on Yoo Junghyuk’s lap.
“I don’t want you to disappear again,” Yoo Junghyuk finally says. “You need Story fragments in order to keep your form.” His hands run over Kim Dokja’s head again. “Well, not this form. But I’m not searching the other world lines for the real you. You are the real you. And you’re a human, not a giant squid.”
Kim Dokja is silent for a long while. The only sign that he’s thinking is the slight twitching of his tentacles on the wet tiles.
“So turn back into a human, okay?”
Kim Dokja heaves a sigh. As a giant squid, this looks like his main body inflating and deflating again.
“Fine,” he says, then gathers himself.
It feels like his skin is stretching, and his head begins to pound like he has a headache. He wriggles around, and slowly the tentacles retract and become fingers. His main body expands and forms into arms, legs, a torso, a head with two ears and two eyes and a normal, non-beak shaped mouth.
When it’s finally over, Yoo Junghyuk smiles at him. The look is so foreign on his face that Kim Dokja stares for a moment, wondering if his protagonist has gone somewhere else, only to be replaced by an alien shapeshifter who has learned how to smile.
“Well done,” Yoo Junghyuk says.
Kim Dokja is a little wobbly for a few minutes after his transformation, like a fish out of water. Thankfully, all his beach clothes are still on, so he rests against Yoo Junghyuk for a few moments and tries to remember how to breathe like a normal human would. Yoo Junghyuk lets him, which is as good an indication as any that he had secretly been worried.
“Later,” Yoo Junghyuk says, “You’ll probably need to get on your knees and beg for forgiveness.”
“Sure,” Kim Dokja says easily, too relieved to be back in a human form to care. “But give me a moment, will you? I just turned from a giant squid back into a human.”
“It’s not that hard,” Yoo Junghyuk tells him dryly. “Really, all you had to do was want to be human again. But that’s the problem with you, isn’t it?”
Kim Dokja shrugs, then sits up a little. “Being a squid was kind of cool,” he says defensively.
Yoo Junghyuk rolls his eyes, pushes him off, then gets to his feet.
“If you do it again,” he says. “There will be a tank in Lee Gilyoung’s room for you, and then we’ll see how fast you turn back into a human.”
Kim Dokja scoffs and looks away.
“Thanks,” he admits. “I really didn’t know how to turn back earlier. I sort of panicked. I thought I’d spend the rest of my life as a squid.”
Yoo Junghyuk smirks at him, not hiding his amusement at all.
“When it happened to me,” he says, not bragging at all, “I figured it out pretty much instantly. I guess you really can’t do anything without me doing it first, huh?”
Kim Dokja scowls at him.
“Yeah?” Kim Dokja says, and splashes Yoo Junghyuk with water. “Prove it.”
Hours later, after a pissed off Yoo Junghyuk finally turns from a sunfish back into a human, and Kim Dokja has finished groveling on his knees for his life, Han Sooyoung bans either of them from going to the beach ever again.