Chapter Text
It’s been days and the group were getting antsy at not finding Kim Dokja. Originally they assumed he just left on some childish temper tantrum, or to maybe teach them a weird lesson, or just to be his usual dramatic self. Yoo Joonghyuk still believed so, or at least, that’s what he’s been telling everyone.
“Do you think… he might be…”
Yoo Joonghyuk glared at Lee Seolhwa before she could finish her sentence.
“He better not.”
“You realise you’re threatening a dead man?” Han Sooyoung said blandly.
“He’s not dead.” He gritted his teeth.
“Ok ok let’s not fight that won’t help.” Lee Seolhwa tried to calm them down. She sighed and looked through her pockets. “I think I have something that might help.”
“You’re telling us this now?”
“Well, I wasn’t sure if it would… I didn’t want to give false hope.” She took out a small bottle. “If he’s dreaming about at least one of us, then we can contact him through there and ask where he is.”
“That’s weirdly specific.” Han Sooyoung said.
“And how would we know what he dreams about?” Yoo Joonghyuk deadpanned.
Everyone stared at him.
“What?”
“Well… he does talk about you all the time…”
His eye twitched. “He complains about me.”
“Yeah! Maybe he’s dreaming about sword fighting you!” Han Sooyoung joked.
“I think it’ll be worth a try. If nothing happens, we’ll just have to go back to waiting…” Lee Seolhwa said.
Yoo Joonghyuk stared at the bottle. It glistened, much like the lost reader’s eyes. There wasn’t anything to lose. It either worked or didn’t.
“Or he’s thinking about his crush~” Han Sooyoung said immaturely.
“Well, we don’t know who that is?” Lee Seolhwa said. “Unless all of the girls try it, it could work with at least one of us-“
She flinched when Yoo Joonghyuk snatched the bottle from her hands. “No need,” he grunted then went to sit somewhere, far away from the group.
“We’ll watch over your body if it works.” Lee Seolhwa said.
“What happens when he drinks it?” Han Sooyoung asked.
Thump.
Yoo Joonghyuk was passed out face plant on the ground a few feet away from them.
“Oh.”
It was dark.
It was morning a second ago. It was a lot colder here too, wherever he was. It felt… strange. He couldn’t feel his body, or move it at all. It felt like a dream…
When he opened his eyes again, he was met with another pair staring back, sparkling like stars with long eyelashes fluttering around them. He was about to step back but was already cornered into a wall.
Kim Dokja stepped closer with a sly smirk. Yoo Joonghyuk was about to ask the bastard where he’s been but suddenly his hands moved on their own against his will. They went to cup Kim Dokja’s face, who leaned into the touch with a soft smile and a content sigh.
What.
Was.
Happening?
The shorter boy stood on his tiptoes and leaned forwward, very close to him.
“You’re being so cute right now, you know you could’ve told me you wanted to kiss me from the start, I would’ve said yes so quickly.” The reader smiled, playing with his hair fondly.
He closed his eyes and they both… leaned closer…
The shock allowed Yoo Joonghyuk enough energy to awaken his control over his body and push the other away. It was a lot more rougher than he had intended. Kim Dokja fell onto the floor with a dazed expression, clearly not expecting that.
“What? Changed your mind?” He pouted, getting back up. “Are you actually getting shy about this? Even with all the things you were saying earlier?” He wrapped his arms around his shoulders and smiled at him.
Yoo Joonghyuk froze.
“Dokja…”
The shorter leaned in and whispered in his ear. “Kiss me, please? Joonghyuk-ah? Don’t you want to…?” He asked in a very sweet voice.
Yoo Joonghyuk went red and roughly put his hands on his shoulders, pushing him off, but tightened his grip as he stared at him with a flustered and angry expression.
“Dokja, where the hell are you?”
He tilted his head. “We’re in my room? You’re the one who dragged me here after all…”
Yoo Joonghyuk cursed under his breath and tried again. “We’ve been looking for you for days. I’m trying to contact you through a dream.”
He paused then chuckled. “Yeah I know this is a dream.” Then his smile fell a bit. “…Obviously it is.”
“No-“ he sighed. “I’m real, I’m visiting you in your dream because you can’t stop running away from us for five fucking seconds.”
Kim Dokja stared a bit, silently, as it registered to him what the other was saying. His eyes widened, and he struggled out of his grip, backing away with a mortified expression.
“Y-you’re… you’re real?” He whispered.
“Dokja, where are you?” Yoo Joonghyuk repeated again, desperately and with a vulnerable expression.
He’s glad to know the man was alive but this only meant Kim Dokja ran away on purpose. And for what? From his own friends? Who were worried sick looking for him? Did he think they didn’t care?
Kim Dokja anxiously wrapped his own arms around himself for comfort as reality hit him. He stared at the ground hardly, and a few tears fell.
“Dokja…”
Yoo Joonghyuk stepped forward, then the room started shaking. His eyes widened. It was falling apart, and Kim Dokja was starting to fade. He rushed to grab ahold of him.
“Wait no- Dokja! Don’t wake up! Where are you- tell me where you are!”
Tears still in his eyes, he shook his head quickly. The room was collapsing.
“Stop being so stubborn! We want to find you, we want to- we want to help you!”
Kim Dokja finally looked at him, his eyes glassy and lip quivering.
“You’d be better off… without…”
“No don’t say that! Dokja- Dokja!”
He disappeared.
Yoo Joonghyuk stood in the broken room as it began to become engulfed by a void. His vision blurred and his legs became weak, eventually he fell on the floor.
He couldn’t… help him…
His vision went black.