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It was late night, and Lee Gilyoung stared at the stars above him. He was resting on Kim Dokja’s lap, using his coat as a blanket, after insisting he couldn’t sleep, when actually he just missed him. Kim Dokja didn’t complain anyway, and quietly read his book as he waited for the boy to sleep before he could take him back to his room.
Something plopped down on the grass next to them.
Han Sooyoung.
The woman began to annoy him as she always did. Lee Gilyoung didn’t understand why he didn’t just tell her to leave if he didn’t like her. That’s what he did with Shin Yoosung, well, after he played a few games with her.
“Is the kid asleep?”
Kim Dokja looked down, and Lee Gilyoung stayed as still as possible. He was a bit curious of what they would talk about, as he was always asked to leave whenever adults had conversations, which offended him each time.
Kim Dokja assumed he was asleep and stroked his hair as he began talking to Han Sooyoung. Unfortunately, the boy couldn’t really understand what they were discussing, so ended up thinking to himself about something else. Then, one thing snapped him back to the conversation.
“I just hate myself.”
His thoughts halted for a second, before millions ran through his mind. He hated himself? Kim Dokja hated himself? Why? How?
He couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation, tuning out Kim Dokja making more self deprecating comments towards himself while Han Sooyoung sighed, showing a rare concern instead of bullying him. Lee Gilyoung continued to pretend sleeping but his eye brows were creased with worry.
He just couldn’t understand how Kim Dokja could ever hate himself. He was the best person there ever was, to Lee Gilyoung’s very unbiased opinion. Or, was it truly unbiased? He was sure if he went around asking the group if they thought the same they’d all agree with him… otherwise they’d be dumber than he thought.
That wouldn’t be possible. He’d prove it, he’d prove to his hyung that not loving himself was the most fooling thing he’s ever done. Kim Dokja seemed to notice his tense expression, so carefully got up, still holding the boy.
“I’m going to put him in bed,” he said tiredly to Han Sooyoung.
The girl nodded and ruffled the child’s hair, to Lee Gilyoung’s annoyance but he tried not to move away from the touch.
“Go get some rest as well,” she ordered, punching Kim Dokja’s arm.
He huffed and walked off with the boy to locate his room. Lee Gilyoung began drifting off in actual sleep already, but kept it in the back of his mind of what he needed to do.
The next day, the boy carried around a sheet of paper that said “draw a star if you think hyung is the best person in the world.” Of course, he went to Shin Yoosung first, who wouldn’t even question anything that had Kim Dokja involved. The girl excitedly drew a very big star, and spent awhile colouring it, to Lee Gilyoung’s annoyance.
“Yoosung! You’re taking up all the space!”
“Then get more paper!” She complained, still not handing it to him.
He decided to use a notebook instead, in case everyone else decided to draw giant, wonky stars. Next he found Biyoo floating around so got the baby’s attention.
“Biyoo Biyoo do you love your dad?”
The puffball squealed loudly as a “yes of course I do!”
He held the paper up and watched as she cutely tried her best to draw some resemblance of a star with her mouth.
“Baaht!” She chirped when she was done.
Lee Gilyoung smiled and complimented her art skills.
“Just keep it a secret, okay?”
She nodded and he patted her head before rushing off to search for the rest of the company. He bumped into Han Sooyoung but shrieked and turned the other direction. She really scared him sometimes, and she’d never agree to his experiment, as he professionally judged from the interactions she had with Kim Dokja. He went to find Lee Jihye instead, who was thankfully not with that bastard, also known as Yoo Joonghyuk.
“Noona what do you think of hyung?”
She looked at the notebook his was holding in confusion, wondering if she will be quoted on her answer. “Um, he’s alright? He can be funny sometimes, when he’s not being cringe. I like sparring with him because I always win.”
The boy nodded and pushed the notebook towards her. “Now turn those words into stars!”
“What?” She flipped through the pages. “Oh, I see what this is,” she chuckled and sat down, trying to draw the greatest star known to man.
Lee Gilyoung stared in silence at the wonky star. He gave a her an awkwardly polite smile and thanked her before rushing off. Yoo Mia was nearby, which made him weary if her brother was also near so he quickly gave her the notebook.
“Mia draw a star if you think Dokja hyung is the best person ever!”
The girl held the pen and gave a serious look. “Well, he’s not the best person ever, because my brother is the best of the best-“
He rolled his eyes. “Ugh fine! Just draw a star if you like hyung.”
She obliged and filled the page with stars, using her own rainbow pen because she didn’t like Lee Gilyoung’s.
“My brother says ahjussi reminds him of a star.”
Lee Gilyoung looked at her in confusion. “Your brother talks about hyung?”
“Yeah, all the time!”
“That’s weird…”
He took the notebook back, that information making him think a little. He walked around the area a couple of times, trying to find the quietest person he ever knew. When he couldn’t, he went to use his most trustworthy tactic.
“DONGHOON HYUNG WHERE ARE YOUUUUUUUUUU?! WAHHHHHHHHH.”
He looked to his left and the boy was standing right there, staring at him confused. He shoved the notebook in his face.
“If you love Dokja hyung can you draw a star!” He said excitedly.
The boy quietly stared at the notebook then grabbed the pen, intimated by the blank page. He wasn’t great at expressing himself with words, so at least all he had to do was draw. Instead of using the pen, he got his phone out. Lee Gilyoung peered at what he was doing, and noticed he was drawing a picture of stars using his keyboard.
“Oh is that the ass art?”
Han Donghoon covered his face, trying not to laugh when Lee Gilyoung couldn’t remember the name ASCII. He nodded, and continued until they found a printer to use and glue the image onto the page. It took awhile but the boy was happy to wait, especially as the notebook was looking great.
Once it was done, he ran off to continue his mission. He stopped in his tracks, realising he already got all the younger members to draw a star. Now he had to ask the adults, which was much more nerve racking. He decided to go with the nicer members first, such as Yoo Sangah and Lee Seolhwa.
“Oh, what an adorable idea,” Yoo Sangah praised, patting the boy’s head.
Lee Gilyoung had a wide smile at the compliment, and waited as Yoo Sangah spent a minute with hers. When she gave it back to him, she had drawn a doodle of Kim Dokja smiling and surrounded by a circle of stars.
“Wowwww!” Lee Gilyoung said in awe.
It was cut short when Han Sooyoung returned to Yoo Sangah’s side. He held the notebook up to cover his face. The woman stared at him with a neutral expression, but when they met eyes she barred her teeth. He shrieked then scampered away, and Han Sooyoung cackled.
“Don’t worry, I’ll give him candy,” she said when her girlfriend gave her an unamused look.
Next he found the doctor, who drew a star as a scientific diagram and added labels. The boy didn’t understand any of the detailed descriptions but found it interesting nonetheless. He also began to like how different everyone’s approaches were in drawing the stars. He managed to find Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung together as they always were, and they split their drawing in half between the two, which was typical for them.
Lee Gilyoung stared at the pages, wondering if they were enough. He wouldn’t need to ask Yoo Joonghyuk, would he? He’d say no, of course that bastard would. Maybe he could pretend to draw one and sign it with the man’s name? But that wouldn’t be convincing, because Yoo Joonghyuk would never agree in the first place, then Kim Dokja would think all the stars are fake!
His bitter expression must’ve been evident on his face, because soon a large shadow loomed over him. He shrieked.
“What’re you sulking about?” Yoo Joonghyuk’s monotone voice questioned.
The boy tried to make his stance more solid and appear taller than he was to seem intimidating.
“Do… do you love hyung?” He asked in a shaken voice, trying to be brave.
Unexpectedly, Yoo Joonghyuk paused, his eyes widening. Lee Gilyoung predicted the man would’ve just scoffed and told him to shut up, or silently walk away. Instead, he kneeled down with a serious look in his eye.
“Who told you?”
Lee Gilyoung blinked. “What?”
Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t understand his confusion. He thought he was being interrogated and exposed, or that the boy was mad at him and was going to give him the weakest shovel talk ever. Then his eyes fell to the notebook.
“…Why are you asking me this?” He tried.
“I told everyone that if they loved hyung they need to draw him a star,” he explained like it was obvious.
The taller stared. He sighed, heavily. A bit of relief and a bit of annoyance. He got up again and snatched the notebook.
“Hey!” The boy complained, trying to grab at it. “You emo bastard!” He kicked his leg but Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t budge.
He was about to release all the curse words he knew until he realised the man wasn’t ruining the notebook but he was… drawing a star? Lee Gilyoung paused his attacks, and waited for a bit. He wordlessly handed it back to him, and on the page was a small white star next to a small black star. The boy huffed.
“That’s such a bad drawing. You don’t love him at all.”
Yoo Joonghyuk glared at the accusation but thought better than to argue with a child.
“It’s better than nothing,” he said quietly.
Lee Gilyoung decided to agree with him. Before leaving, he stepped on his foot as hard as he could, then ran off. Yoo Joonghyuk hissed and glared at the giggling child. But his face softened after a bit. He had to admit, that was a bit amusing.
The boy looked at all the pages happily. This was great, it was amazing. He had everyone’s…
…
Han Sooyoung.
He gulped. It was hard enough asking Yoo Joonghyuk, but this was going to be much more worse. Once the woman put a plastic snake on Kim Dokja while he was asleep, and he was so tired too! She really hated him, Lee Gilyoung could tell. But… it would be nice to have the entire group’s love… and he could at least tell Kim Dokja he was brave enough to try his best. Gulping, he tracked down the woman. She wasn’t with Yoo Sangah, which was odd.
Then, he heard voices.
Around the corner he saw her talking to… Kim Dokja? Well, they did chat a lot. Which was weird for mortal enemies. However, it was pretty similar to him and Shin Yoosung if he thought about it.
They seemed to be arguing about a book plot point, but Han Sooyoung looked like she was making up opinions just to annoy him. Because she was evil. When Kim Dokja noticed Lee Gilyoung watching them, he gave the boy the warmest smile that made him rush over immediately without even thinking about it. He gave him a loving head pat, wondering where he’s been for most of the day. Han Sooyoung was about to get up and leave, assuming Lee Gilyoung wanted to spend time with him. That was until she felt her jacket getting tugged.
She turned, confused. “What? Gonna try and fight me again?”
He flinched and stepped back, retreating closer to Kim Dokja. The man was about to berate her, but spotted something.
“What’s that you got there, Gilyoung?”
The boy grew shy and held the notebook tighter. “Uhm… it’s uhm…”
He stepped back to face both of the two, Han Sooyoung leaned against the wall, deciding to stay and see where this was going.
“You said you hate yourself,” the boy mumbled unconfidently.
Kim Dokja stared, half surprised and half ashamed the boy heard that. Han Sooyoung winced, uncomfortably. The man opened his mouth but was cut off.
“And that’s weird!” Lee Gilyoung piped up, trying to gain more confidence. “And you shouldn’t because everyone loves you and I have proof!”
He shyly presented the notebook. Kim Dokja took it, flipping and staring at each page as the boy spoke.
“I told everyone to draw a star if they love you. Actually, maybe I should’ve said draw a heart? But stars are prettier,” he began rambling to himself.
Kim Dokja looked up at him, stars in his eyes. He’d never expect anyone to do anything like this for him. For anyone to think of such a sweet idea, and for all his friends to actually follow through.
“Gilyoung…” he muttered, unable to think of what to say, trying hard to not tear up.
“And now it’s noona’s turn but she hates you.”
Han Sooyoung laughed. “Wow, I guess I do then.”
Kim Dokja pouted at her.
“Oh come on Gilyoung, you couldn’t give me a chance?”
She held her hand out and he wearily handed her the pen. She played with it, spinning it around, then grinned at Kim Dokja.
“You know, my hand still hurts from writing all your stupid ideas. Care to return the favour?”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine, since you’re too lazy to draw a star.”
Secretly, he was touched that she was going along with this. He tried to steady his hand, both to draw and to not reveal how nervous he was from the information he had received. He still was trying to wrap his head around the fact he was holding a manifestation of everyone’s love for him, and in his favourite form of a book nonetheless.
He tried to figure out how Han Sooyoung would draw a star. Round? No, definitely pointy. And maybe large, like her ego. Probably bright too, so it can be for some sort of metaphor that the woman always liked to say.
As he drew, the other two watched intently which threw him off a bit. Han Sooyoung’s grin grew wider. Kim Dokja held the notebook up with a shy smile.
“There, all done. You did it Gilyoung, you got everyone’s.”
The boy smiled brightly, proud of himself. Han Sooyoung cackled and grabbed Kim Dokja’s shoulder to steady herself. He sighed, wondering if she really was evil enough to bully the poor boy.
“Sooyoung-“
“Gilyoung, I can’t believe it! I tricked the rat into drawing a star for himself!”
The reader stared confused. Lee Gilyoung’s eyes widened and he jumped up happily.
“That means hyung loves himself!”
Kim Dokja blinked. Did Han Sooyoung just wholesomely troll him? The woman and child high fived while he stared, dazed.
“That- that doesn’t count-“ he tried to argue.
He was almost tackled to the side. He looked down and Lee Gilyoung was hugging him, a smile still on his face. His heart melted, and he ruffled the boy’s hair, returning the smile.
“Alright, I’m hungry,” Han Sooyoung used as an excuse and got up, lightly punching Kim Dokja.
When she left, Kim Dokja sat back down, holding the boy tightly.
“Thank you, Gilyoung. This was very sweet…”
The boy smiled, leaning into the warmth. He watched Kim Dokja flip through the pages again. None of them were signed, but he could tell exactly who drew what. A light blush dusted on his face when he reached Yoo Joonghyuk’s page, for reasons Lee Gilyoung couldn’t figure out. He still felt the man put no effort into his. Meanwhile, Kim Dokja felt butterflies in his stomach from the simple drawing of the black star standing so close to the white star.
“Which one’s your favourite?” The boy piped up excitedly. “Is it mine?”
Kim Dokja chuckled, and flipped through the pages again. Though, he started feeling really bad. He thought he could tell who drew what, but couldn’t at all figure out which one was Gilyoung’s. Maybe he mistook his as one of the other kid’s? Guilty that this would hurt his feelings, he decided to ask instead of pretend.
“Which one is yours?”
Lee Gilyoung flipped through the pages. “It’s…! It’s…”
His eyes widened.
“Ah! I didn’t draw one!”
The world seemed to crash down on him. Now Kim Dokja was going to think he hated him! But instead of being upset, Kim Dokja burst into giggles. He put the book aside for a second and hugged the boy again.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he reassured, noticing the boy’s nervousness. “You still put the entire book together, didn’t you?”
“Mhm…”
He shyly twiddled with the pen in his hands, then grabbed the book and tried to come up with something more unique than the others. He smiled when he had an idea.
“Don’t look!”
Kim Dokja obliged, listening to the sounds of the pen scribbling. It was taking awhile, so he watched the clouds move by slowly above them and played with the boy’s messy hair, enjoying this small moment.
Finally, the book was pushed to his face.
“Done!”
He took it, his eyes having to adjust to what it was for a second. When it clicked, he smiled. The page was filled with small hearts that built up the outline of a star. He looked down at the boy shyly waiting for a response, so hugged him again. Lee Gilyoung happily hugged back.
“I love you, Gilyoung. I love all our friends.”
“We love you too, hyung!” The boy said in a chipper voice.
Kim Dokja believed him, having the evidence in his hands.