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A buzzing bee is not hard to come by, but a buzzing Kim Dokja is.
Due to the bee’s underdeveloped wings, he flies much slower than an average bee, to the point that the hive had called him crippled before he buzzed off with a few friends on his trail. Although this makes him better at going unnoticed, it also makes it hard to scare predators away!
But if Kim Dokja is a weak bee, why is this bug buzzing around so much knowing the strain on his wings that he’ll no doubt suffer from later? The answer is quite simple: this bee has found a patch of blue flowers!
Flowers with cool tones are especially attractive to bees, and blue happens to be our little bee’s favorite. From the visible nectar guide, and such vibrant color — simply the best!
Buzz!
The vibration intensities, and despite the bug’s negligible weight, the flower may as well be shaking from the constant buzzing and rolling around, but even the potential threat of a predator lurking nearby does not scare this bee in the slightest, because…
‘This… is a pot of gold!’
That’s right, because this flower is rich in both pollen AND nectar. Not only does he get a quick snack to replenish some energy, but he’s found a secret patch for his friends to taste, too. And more than that, pollen for the kids!
Although Shin Yoosung, Lee Gilyoung, and Yoo Mia followed on their own accord, it still makes him feel guilty that his group broke away from the hive to follow him, but even without a home, Kim Dokja hopes that they will grow to be stronger bees like Yoo Joonghyuk and Lee Hyunsung, and pollen happens to be quite nutritious!
‘Hm, this should be enough…’
Now that he’s fully covered in pollen, Kim Dokja stops rolling around, admiring his work. Although he’s not as fuzzy as Lee Hyunsung or Yoo Joonghyuk, he’s managed to gather a lot due to the abundance of pollen in the flower.
Satisfied with his work, Kim Dokja flutters his wings, preparing to take off, but this is when he realizes the dilemma he’s found himself in.
‘Uh oh…’
For as much as Kim Dokja loves blue flowers, all flowers seem to love him just the same.
~•~
“Whoa, Sooyoung-ahjumma looks like she got mauled by a hornet. Did something happen?”
Though Lee Jihye looks as free-spirited as usual, there is an underlying concern in her curiosity, which becomes more prominent when Han Sooyoung does not respond to her teasing as she usually does and only grunts with a grimace.
“Shut it, brat. We got ourselves a new home.”
Lee Seolhwa, who’s helping Yoo Joonghyuk clean off the pollen on his fur, perks up at this, while Lee Hyunsung looks excited even as the kids continue to pet the pollen off his fur.
“Ah, is that why Heewon-ssi and Sangah-ssi are not here yet? Are they preparing the new hive?”
While smoothing out her wings, Han Sooyoung nods approvingly at the behaved male bees, making Yoo Joonghyuk glare at her hard, but all he can really do is glower since he knows she had the right to yell at them from buzzing pollens off their fuzz.
Now that they travel in a much smaller group, they can’t afford to waste their harvests, and so buzzing pollens off their body is not an ideal way of delivering when they don’t have a place to safely store them yet… at least, back then, but now…
“No, the nest is fine, a little sheltered for my taste, but probably for the best. Those two stayed behind to get rid of the body.”
“A… nest? Oh, then did you fight with a bird?”
“Killed it, and Yoo Sangah wants it gone. Something about the body attracting predators.”
“I see.”
Nodding in understanding, Lee Seolhwa smiles, then it turns into a curious one when Han Sooyoung continues glancing around, a look of discontent on her face.
“Ah, are you looking for Dokja-ssi?”
“... is he not back yet?”
“No, not since they went out together.”
A look of pity to the two males, who managed to lose sight of their smallest companion after a harvesting run together. While the largest bee can only sweat in worry, Yoo Joonghyuk only pouts petulantly, though his brows are pinched in concern.
Sighing, Han Sooyoung looks exasperated.
“That idiot got stuck inside a flower again, didn’t he?”
“I believe so…”
Lee Jihye winces with pity.
“That ahjussi again, aish!”
~•~
Standing on the branch that holds their new nest, Yoo Sangah glares him down, while Kim Dokja can only smile sheepishly with a few pollens still attached to his fuzz.
Jung Heewon is busy trying to get rid of the dead oriole bird on the ground, while Lee Seolhwa is tucking the kids inside the cocoon and getting used to their new home.
Yoo Joonghyuk and Lee Hyunsung buzzed off from the tension, collecting more pollen from the patch they found Kim Dokja in, leaving the smaller male to cower pathetically under Yoo Sangah’s glare.
“Dokja-ssi, with how often this happens, I assumed you’ve already learned your lesson, but it seems like your experiences with always getting trapped in flowers are not enough to keep you from wandering off on your own. Should we just trap you here? Hyunsung-ssi and Joonghyuk-ssi are fuzzy enough to collect a lot in a single journey, so it won’t be much of a loss.”
Although she means well, Kim Dokja droops at basically being called useless. Since his fuzz is shorter than the other two males, he collects much less pollen than the pair. In addition to his weak wings, he has the least contributions among the group, and to think that he’s the reason why they’re not in a hive right now… Kim Dokja can only sulk in shame.
“Sorry, Sangah-ssi. I caused trouble again.”
With a forlorn smile, Yoo Sangah can only stay silent at the depressing sight. Though it’s become less worrying the more it happens, it’s a tedious routine to fetch their missing member for every harvest run, especially when the smaller male likes to wander around uncharted territories.
Their de facto leader has luck finding places rich in resources, but he also tends to attract danger like honeytraps for danger. Moreover, the places he tends to stumble on are difficult to find, and his smaller body also makes him difficult to locate.
It’s dangerous for a bee to get stuck in flowers, especially for males who lack the same stingers that females use against enemies.
Unfortunately, Kim Dokja has a habit of overlooking his own safety in favor of providing for their group, especially when he feels responsible for taking them away from their hive, and such habits are hard to curb when dealing with a bug as stubborn as Kim Dokja.
“As long as you try harder next time.”
Kim Dokja looks chastised, but Yoo Sangah lacks faith.
She’ll have to scold Yoo Joonghyuk and Lee Hyunsung later, if only so they can be more mindful of their little member.
~•~
“You… you never learn, do you?”
Han Sooyoung greets in lieu of calling him an ‘idiot,’ making Kim Dokja bristle from his sulk.
He gets tired quickly, the buzzing of his wings ceasing its flutter once the strain becomes too much, having been stuck inside a flower for too long. He looks tired, even more saddened than usual.
Being scolded by Yoo Sangah is a common occurrence at this point, but he looks pathetic this time, more somber and…
“Hey, stop looking like that.”
Nudging him firmly, Han Sooyoung shakes him out of whatever grim mood he’s in, not liking the look on his face, which is uglier than usual. She sighs, looking at the bright moon in the sky, knowing that the last thing the other wants is to be seen right now.
“It was our choice to follow you.”
The admission only brings silence, and even knowing that the stubborn bastard never listens, Han Sooyoung still and will continue to tell him otherwise, no matter how many times it takes to get it through his thick little skull that···
“It’s not your fault, so stop blaming yourself.”
It was inevitable, from the start. The queen was dying, and the two-legged giants continued to destroy their main source of pollen and nectar near the hive. Their colony had grown too weak to migrate safely, and it’s become so hostile that Kim Dokja was in danger of simply existing among the more competent bees.
They were doomed from the start, and with nothing left to lose, Kim Dokja had taken a leap of faith and fled the hive, breaking away from the laws of nature to live not as a bee, but as a bug who wanted to survive.
The rest took this risk, knowing the dangers and hardships they would face, but they decided to go because they also wanted to take that chance, and losing Kim Dokja was simply not an option, not when he was the only bee they could count on, and they held no attachment to their former hive.
Pursing his lips, Kim Dokja looks down.
At the cocoon that holds his family safe.
“I just want to try my best, while I still can.”
It stings, more than Han Sooyoung expected.
Since they started to live this wild life unusual for bees, Kim Dokja tries too much to compensate for the struggles he put them through, even if he doesn’t need to. Even if it’s hard, they are strong enough to survive by far.
Moreover, male bees aren’t even supposed to work, but without a queen around, their main purpose has been rendered null. Kim Dokja had been the first to offer himself to gather food, and the other two agreed to help since they were also capable of the task.
But this isn’t what Kim Dokja meant.
No, although life is much harder now, it’s bearable even with three youngs and one barely-adult bee in tow. Not for the long term, but that doesn’t matter when bees don’t have much time to live anyway. Even the reason for fleeing is just an excuse to enjoy their last moments in life.
Being born earlier than everyone, Kim Dokja will go first.
And soon, the rest will follow, and by then their only consolation would be the fact that the younger bees will be old enough to survive on their own, maybe find a new colony someday if the house they’ve built doesn’t suffice as a home anymore.
“Idiot.”
She tells him, glistened eyes reflecting moonshine as Kim Dokja rests his head on her shoulder, making Han Sooyoung slump to cushion his head.
“It’s too early to worry about that.”
More like, there’s no time to spare worrying about it.
In this short life, every second is as sweet as honey.