Work Text:
“...Damn. You look like a corpse. I mean, you usually do, but you look way more like a corpse today,” the voice of Han Sooyoung rang in Kim Dokja’s ears. Blearily, Dokja forced his vision to focus on his best friend, who was standing over his desk looking very judgmental.
“Yah, Sooyoung, can’t you let a guy sleep for once?” Dokja grumbled, running a hand through his already messy dark hair.
“Nope. Especially if it means I get to annoy my best friend,” Sooyoung playfully swatted at Dokja’s head, earning her a wince and a glare from the sleep-deprived teen. “Is the cause of your ridiculous sleep schedule those ghosts you can see?”
Dokja had been getting the same dream over and over: the view of a building engulfed in flame as he stood outside, while the sounds of people accusing him as the culprit echoed around him.
Though for some reason, Dokja had gotten the overwhelming feeling in the dream that he wasn’t to blame for the fire.
But then the shadowy figure of a hooded ghost would grab him by the arm and drag him to a bridge, and unable to free himself, Dokja was left struggling until the ghost unceremoniously tossed him into the river.
He always ended up waking up before he drowned.
But Dokja managed to nod as he pointed out, “You’re one to lecture on sleep schedules,” to which Sooyoung shrugged.
“I guess you have a point,” Sooyoung conceded. “But at least I don’t sleepwalk into school. You probably left a pretty bad impression on the new transfer student,” she added, producing a lemon lollipop from seemingly out of nowhere and popping it into her mouth.
“New transfer student…?” Dokja repeated, his eyebrows furrowing. That almost deja vu-like feeling filled his chest. It was usually a bad omen, like something “life-changing” was about to happen. He normally got this feeling before he exorcised a ghost.
“Yep, just arrived today. What was his name? Joonghyuk?” Sooyoung replied flippantly, then noticed the look on Dokja’s face. “What, have you got a bad premonition about this guy already? I mean, I really don’t know much about shamanism, but I guess he did carry this sort of heavy atmosphere around him when I walked past him earlier.” Dokja seemed to straighten at Sooyoung’s words, so she took that as a sign to keep talking. “He looked like he was two seconds away from becoming emo, too. Really handsome, but brooding. Definitely not my type.” At that, Dokja rolled his eyes.
“I don’t need your unnecessary commentary, Sooyoung,” Dokja responded dryly, a thoughtful look crossing his face. “Heavy atmosphere, you said?”
Sooyoung plucked the lollipop from her mouth, fiddling with it as she answered, “Yep. I think he might be in our homeroom.” She then leaned in closer, her voice now a loud stage whisper, “Do you think he’s got a ghost on him?”
Dokja grimaced, hoping that nobody was listening. He gave Sooyoung a good smack on the head, which had her immediately taking a step backwards. “Jeez, tell him that then, why don’t you?” Dokja retorted.
He would’ve said more had he not frozen in his seat, that feeling from earlier coming back tenfold to submerge him- like he was being hit by a wave and sent crashing toward shore, the water pulling him under even as he fought to the surface.
“...Dokja? Dokja?” Sooyoung’s voice. Or at least, Dokja thought that she was speaking to him.
Drawn like a magnet, Dokja’s head turned slowly, breathing a little too fast as he made eye contact with the source of that feeling.
And instead of a ghostly apparition, Dokja was met with eyes that seemed like they’d been cut out of dark jewels.
And that was how Kim Dokja met Yoo Joonghyuk.
…
Well, correction: Dokja didn’t technically meet Joonghyuk in the regular sense, per se.
It was more like he fainted and slid to the floor in front of an unassuming transfer student kind of meet.
“So like a meet-cute, right?” Sooyoung couldn’t help but tease when Dokja finally woke up in the infirmary.
“...What.” Dokja managed to croak, his throat dryer than that time he’d attempted to make fried chicken that wasn’t of the freezer variety. Terrible idea, which he should’ve known because one, Dokja somehow set off the fire alarm by boiling water, and two, he very simply put, just didn’t know how to cook.
It then occurred to a very out-of-it Dokja what his best friend was referring to.
“...What…?!” Dokja repeated, sitting up in a flash as he fixed Sooyoung with the sharpest glare he could muster, despite instantly regretting how quickly he sat up as he was overcome with a sudden dizziness. “That was not a ‘meet-cute,’ I literally passed out because there was some sort of crazy suicide ghost following him…!”
Sooyoung tilted her head to the side like this was news, which it was. “Huh… really? Well, might want to repeat that to him.”
“What?” At this rate, Dokja was going to sound like a broken record.
“Repeat it. I mean, he is right there,” Sooyoung casually jerked her chin towards somewhere to Dokja’s right.
And to his horror, sitting at his right was a rather miffed Joonghyuk. “...WHAT?!” Dokja squawked.
…Did Sooyoung really just suggest that he had a meet-cute with this guy?! He literally looked like he could walk out of the room and model for Vogue’s cover.
…What. The. Fuck.
…
“So… I have a suicide ghost following me?” Dokja finally heard Joonghyuk actually speak after a long silence, where Dokja had just gawked at Joonghyuk.
“Well, yes, and-” Dokja spluttered as he watched Joonghyuk raise an infuriating eyebrow at him.
Dokja stopped. “Wait. You’re taking this surprisingly well,” Dokja squinted at him suspiciously.
Joonghyuk shrugged. “Well, you’re obviously not in your right mind right now. Or you’re just crazy in general. Either way, it doesn’t matter.” Joonghyuk stood from his chair. “You’re awake now, so I’m free to leave.”
Wait, wait, wait- did this guy just seriously dismiss him? To be fair, shamanism was on the mystical side of things, which was why Dokja didn’t bother letting people know that he was a baksu- it just complicated things- but this guy was just seriously going to leave without politely asking if he was okay? And maybe Joonghyuk hadn’t actually directly done anything to cause Dokja’s little fainting spell, but he had a really serious suicide ghost following him way too closely. At this rate, Joonghyuk would-
In the midst of Dokja being trapped in his own thoughts, Joonghyuk had left the infirmary, and he was left preaching silently to thin air with the trail of one suicide ghost and his closest friend, who was looking at him with that judgmental look of hers again.
…Shit.
…
“To get rid of his suicide ghost, you’re going to what.” Sooyoung spoke plainly, though she blinked at Dokja like she thought he was crazy, which seemed to be becoming a recurring occurrence.
“I’m going to become a human amulet,” Dokja declared with grim determination. “I call it ‘Operation: Keep the Stupid Sunfish Bastard Alive.’ Get it? Because of that game-”
Sooyoung cut him off. “Yeah, yeah, I get it,” she started exasperatedly. “But you literally have attempted suicide, so now you plan on stopping him from doing the same thing by… becoming an amulet? What, are you going to turn into a rock and have him carry it around or something?”
Dokja sighed as if he were explaining something to a rather impertinent child. “One: that was once, and I failed. But I eventually came to learn that although death is a social construct,” Dokja noticed the look on Sooyoung’s face but continued anyway, “there are certain things to live for. Like webnovels. And instant ramyeon. And two: I’m just going to paint a talisman onto myself that will hopefully drive feelings of warmth and happiness into that thick skull of his with my presence.” There was a rather steely look of resolve on Dokja’s face as he pumped a clenched fist in the air. “And then the suicide ghost will drift farther and farther away from him until eventually Joonghyuk will have to accept the fact that he will be living to the fullest of his lifespan.”
Sooyoung leveled Dokja with another look. “You can’t just brush off your suicide attempt like that!” She scoffed in disbelief. “Besides, what do you mean you’re going to just ‘paint a talisman’ onto yourself? How is that going to ‘drive feelings of warmth and happiness’ into him?”
“You’re right.” Dokja began pacing around the empty classroom, his lunch almost certainly cold by now. “I’m going to need to be around that sunfish bastard a lot for this human amulet thing to work.” He suddenly stopped mid-stride, his gaze snapping to Sooyoung.
“...Sooyoung. I need your help.”
“...I need to learn how to make friends. Or rather, how to befriend one stupid sunfish.”
…
“This is a terrible idea,” Sooyoung announced as they made their way to the library. “The worst in the history of ideas,” Sooyoung continued, “First you ask me for help on how to make friends, then proceed to ignore any and all advice I give you, and instead march on over to him and ask if he wants to join our booth for the school festival? Besides, we haven’t even mentioned this to Sangah! What are we going to tell her when we show up with that emotionless bastard, assuming he does agree? Go, ‘hey, Sangah! We know this is short notice, but he’s going to help us with our skewer stand!’”
“Yep,” Dokja chirped in response, far too cheerfully for Sooyoung’s liking. “Besides, I already texted Sangah about it.” And before Sooyoung could stop him, Dokja was already breezing into the library, scanning the space before landing on one dark-haired, emotionally unavailable teen.
And to Sooyoung’s further horror, Dokja just walked right up to Joonghyuk’s table, where he was reading peacefully, slammed his hands on the table, and then declared in a far too loud voice for the library, “Join our group for the school festival.” The librarian shot them a warning glare, while other students glanced at the three of them curiously.
…Sooyoung was getting tremendous secondhand embarrassment. Maybe she should rethink who she associates with.
She was also half-expecting Joonghyuk just to straight-up ignore her and Dokja, as they were all practically strangers.
But then again, this was Kim Dokja who was involved.
Joonghyuk slowly put down his book. “...You want me to what?” He asked calmly. Way too calmly.
Unfortunately for him, Dokja was well-versed in calm-but-batshit crazy. “Join our group. We’re hosting a skewer booth. It’ll be right next to Heewon and Hyunsung’s.”
Somewhere off to the side, Sooyoung silently groaned.
Joonghyuk gave Dokja a suspicious once-over. “And why exactly should I join you guys? I don’t even know you guys.”
“Exactly!” Dokja slammed his hands onto the table again. Sooyoung really wished that he’d stop doing that. “Which is why you should join us! Get to know your classmates better, am I right? Besides, you need to join a group anyway. Why not us?”
Joonghyuk merely looked unamused.
“We’ll pay you,” Dokja added slyly, much to Sooyoung’s shock.
“WHAT?!” Sooyoung exclaimed, “Why am I not getting paid?!” but her cries fell on deaf ears.
“...Deal.” Joonghyuk eventually accepted.
“WHAT?!” Sooyoung protested once more.
…The three of them were kicked out of the library.
…
Dodgeball.
Dokja swore on his life that it was just a means of legal torture.
Yet here he was, on the gym court, clutching one like it was keeping him afloat as foam balls sailed in the air around him like missiles.
Oh, and ducking behind one tall sunfish bastard.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Joonghyuk shot Dokja a disapproving glare.
“Hiding behind you,” Dokja stated the obvious, as suave as ever.
“Why exactly?” Joonghyuk’s face scrunched up in distaste at Dokja’s response as he effortlessly caught a dodgeball before throwing it at the other team.
Damn athletic Michelangelo-sculpture-looking sunfish.
“Because you’re tall,” Dokja replied bluntly. “And you’re basically being one of those anti-missile interceptor things the military uses for me.” Dokja conveniently left out the part where he had to be around Joonghyuk as much as possible for the “human charm” plan to work.
Joonghyuk scowled at Dokja’s answer, and when a ball came flying at him, he easily took a step aside, letting the ball hit Dokja square in the chest.
“How’s that for being your ‘anti-missile interceptor’?” Joonghyuk asked dryly to one offended Dokja.
…This fucker.
Accepting his fate, Dokja made his way to the sidelines where everyone else who’d gotten out was watching. At least he didn’t have to participate in that hellhole of a “sport.”
“Welcome to the dark side, my friend,” Sooyoung greeted him, surprisingly already out.
“And how’d you get eliminated?” Dokja glared at her.
Sooyoung whipped out another lemon lollipop from thin air as she replied, “Didn’t feel like trying.”
Dokja took that response with a grain of salt. “...Sure.”
Dokja watched the rest of the dodgeball game play out with disinterest, zoning out when there were only about five people on each side.
In fact, Dokja was so engrossed in his zoning out that he didn’t notice a stray dodgeball rapidly zipping towards him.
But before it made contact, Dokja slowly looked up to find a hand had shot out and caught it at the last moment.
“...What the actual fuck,” Sooyoung breathed from somewhere off to the side.
Dokja couldn’t have put it any better.
The ball was in Joonghyuk’s hand, who proceeded to throw a perfect curveball at an opposing player, knocking them out of the game.
And before Dokja could manage some sort of intelligent comment, Joonghyuk turned to give him a critical glance. “What’s someone like you standing so close to the baseline for? One hit and you’re going to be crumpled on the floor unconscious again. Maybe you should eat more- at least then if you do pass out, you won’t break any bones.”
“...What.” That was all Dokja could manage while that aggravating sunfish turned his back to him to continue playing. “...Did that fucker just call me skinny?”
“Holy shit,” Sooyoung supplied intelligibly. “Forget you being a shaman. You’re a literal cliché rom-com main character.”
“Shut up, Han Sooyoung.”
Dokja could’ve sworn that sunfish bastard had a smug smirk plastered on his infuriating face.
“...Asshole.”
But when Dokja glanced around for any sign of the suicide ghost, he found that the accursed apparition was now roughly five meters away from Joonghyuk. Still closer than Dokja would’ve liked, but it was progress.
“It’s working,” Dokja murmured, his voice carrying the faintest hint of underlying relief.
…
Dokja had just settled down in his seat, cup of ready-to-eat instant ramyeon in hand, when the love of his life was snatched away from him. “Hey! That’s my ramyeon!” Dokja yelped indignantly, looking on with horror as the thief, Joonghyuk, stood from his seat, walked over to one of the library trash cans, and threw the whole cup in there. “That was perfectly good ramyeon! I hope you’re planning on paying for that!” Dokja continued to sulk while Joonghyuk reassumed his seat at their table as if nothing had happened.
“I know I told you to eat more, but not that garbage. No wonder you’re built like a twig just waiting to be snapped in two,” Joonghyuk cast Dokja a displeased look.
“I’m built like a what?” Dokja exclaimed in disbelief as Sangah hid her face behind her notebook while Sooyoung openly snickered.
“How about you try something healthier, hm? At that rate, you won’t live to see thirty.” Joonghyuk continued, his words practically scathing. “Here, try this. Maybe this’ll add five minutes to your lifespan.” He slid a container of kimbap in Dokja’s direction.
“I know what kimbap tastes like, thank you very much,” Dokja grumbled as he reluctantly picked up the chopsticks placed on top of the container. “I’m Korean too, y’know.” Dokja stuffed one piece of kimbap into his mouth as he added sullenly, “I was only aiming for fifty, anyway.” He would’ve said more had he not paused. “...Is this homemade?” Dokja spluttered around a mouthful of kimbap.
Joonghyuk crossed his arms and gave Dokja a nasty side-eye. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be? What, are the kimbap you’ve eaten only from the convenience store or something?”
Wounded as Joonghyuk was, unfortunately, correct, Dokja dramatically clutched the container to his chest. Refusing to admit how tasty the kimbap was, Dokja retorted, “I’m taking all of this as collateral for your unwarranted and blatantly mean-ass opinions.”
To that, Joonghyuk just raised an eyebrow as he leaned in closer. “What, can’t handle the truth?”
Dokja managed a strangled, scandalized gasp, opening his mouth to argue further.
But Joonghyuk unexpectedly reached out and pushed Dokja’s chin up, effectively closing his mouth to shut him up. “Talking while you’re eating in front of others is bad manners,” Joonghyuk chided. Dokja could’ve sworn the corners of that bastard’s lips were quirking upwards.
“Yoo Joonghyuk, you son of a bitch…! Get your overbearing hands off of me…!”
Across the table, Sangah and Sooyoung were left utterly speechless.
“...Oh my,” Sangah whispered, her eyes wide as she observed the two bickering.
“...Are we seriously third wheeling right now?” Sooyoung voiced aloud in disbelief. “Weren’t we supposed to be preparing for the school festival?” Sooyoung watched as Dokja angrily shoved a piece of kimbap into Joonghyuk’s mouth- was he seriously feeding Joonghyuk right now?
“...You know what, forget it. We really are just side characters in this shitty rom-com,” Sooyoung groaned, resigned to her fate.
Far outside of the library, some eight or so meters away, was the suicide ghost.
…
Luckily, despite Dokja unwittingly revealing that Joonghyuk had a suicide ghost following him around, Joonghyuk seemed not to have believed him and had therefore dismissed the subject.
Though on one sweltering day, Dokja made the mistake of wearing a shirt with loose sleeves under his uniform jacket.
As they ran laps, Dokja had slipped his jacket off to let himself breathe, and as he stretched, one sleeve dipped, exposing the skin of his arm all the way down to his elbow, which revealed the talisman Dokja had painted on his skin.
And of course, Joonghyuk just had to notice. “What’s that?” his eyebrows furrowed at the unfamiliar markings.
Dokja covered it up hastily the moment Joonghyuk pointed it out. “Nothing. Just got bored in math class,” Dokja fibbed quickly. In the corner of his eye, Sooyoung noticed her tilting her head significantly at him, to which he shot a quick glare at her. “Don’t say a word,” Dokja mouthed threateningly.
Luckily, Joonghyuk just seemed to shrug the whole thing off, accepting Dokja’s answer. “But you do realize that if you’re caught with that, they’ll make you rinse it off, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m well aware of that, Joonghyuk. No need to be such a mother hen,” Dokja muttered dismissively, feeling too relieved to really pay attention to Joonghyuk’s warning.
Though he did make a mental note to paint the talisman somewhere else next time (he never did).
…
“...What hell?! How the hell are you so good at this?!” Dokja gawked in disbelief as Joonghyuk effortlessly crushed his high score. “This just isn’t fair! How can you be so good at everything?!” Dokja glanced over at the bastard beside him. He was smirking again. “...Asshole,” Dokja grumbled as Joonghyuk maneuvered the arcade machine’s controls with ease. But the sound of his phone notifications broke him out of his exasperation. It was Sooyoung.
Han Sooyoung
wtf are you up to
3:04 PM
_______________________________________
|
Han Sooyoung
you’re normally bothering me with your webnovel predictions at this time
3:05 PM
_______________________________________
|
Kim Dokja
awww do you miss me??
3:05 PM
_______________________________________
|
Kim Dokja
i’m touched
3:05 PM
_______________________________________
|
Han Sooyoung
bitch absolutely not
3:05 PM
_______________________________________
|
Han Sooyoung
i was js checking up on you to tell your kidnapper to go easy on you or else you’ll prob die within 4 secs and then you can’t be used for ransom
3:06 PM
_______________________________________
|
Kim Dokja
it can’t be THAT hard to say you’re worried :(
3:07 PM
_______________________________________
|
Han Sooyoung
bitch stfu wya
3:07 PM
_______________________________________
|
Kim Dokja
at the arcade :3
3:07 PM
_______________________________________
|
Han Sooyoung
w yoo joonghyuk?? 😒
3:08 PM
_______________________________________
|
Kim Dokja
how’d you know??
3:08 PM
_______________________________________
|
Kim Dokja
did you want to come?? 🤨
3:08 PM
_______________________________________
|
Han Sooyoung
fuck no you couldn’t even PAY me to third wheel
3:08 PM
_______________________________________
|
Han Sooyoung
besides i just had a feeling that you’d be w that bastard
3:08 PM
_______________________________________
|
Han Sooyoung
are you sure you’re just sticking around him bc of the amulet thing?? or smth else 🤨
3:09 PM
_______________________________________
|
Kim Dokja
??
3:09 PM
_______________________________________
|
Kim Dokja
han sooyoung wth are you talking abt
3:09 PM
_______________________________________
|
Kim Dokja
besides i think the ghost moved away like four more meters
3:09 PM
_______________________________________
|
Kim Dokja
it’s working!!
3:09 PM
_______________________________________
|
Han Sooyoung
…
3:10 PM
_______________________________________
|
Han Sooyoung
you gay ass bitch
3:10 PM
_______________________________________
|
Han Sooyoung
wtv have fun ig
3:10 PM
_______________________________________
|
Han Sooyoung
and tell joonghyuk for me that he better be treating you right from now on
3:10 PM
_______________________________________
|
Kim Dokja
??
3:10 PM
_______________________________________
|
Kim Dokja
whats that supposed to mean??
3:10 PM
_______________________________________
In the comfort of her room, Han Sooyoung sighed in exasperation at how dense her best friend was.
…
The day of the school festival, Sooyoung felt like she was in a fever dream.
She and Sangah had somehow managed to prevent Dokja from burning himself more times than they could count, and it was a miracle that nothing had burned down by now.
To make matters worse, Dokja seemed to have taken to competing with Joonghyuk to make and sell more skewers, which was a terrible idea considering the fact that Dokja literally can’t cook.
And worst of all, Joonghyuk had an infuriating smirk on his face that suggested he was enjoying this… and was probably winning.
At one point, Dokja’s sleeve was two seconds away from catching on fire, but Sooyoung batted his arm away just in time. “Are we even certified to be doing this…?” Sooyoung grumbled under her breath until she noticed the familiar markings of what seemed to be a seal painted on Dokja’s arm. “Is that…?” Sooyoung blinked in faint surprise.
“Yep,” Dokja couldn’t help but grin wickledly triumphantly. “It’s the charm,” he murmured, rolling up his sleeve a little to show Sooyoung his handiwork. “And I think it’s working. The suicide ghost is way farther than before. Not exactly far enough yet, but it’s a good start. The bastard looks like he’s having fun, at least,” Dokja mused in satisfaction.
“Was it worth practically bribing the guy?” Sooyoung groused, clearly still disgruntled about the whole payment thing.
“Of course!” Dokja responded airily. “He’s a good magnet for business, anyway.” Dokja eyed the people who approached their stand, all because of Joonghyuk’s looks (and probably because of Sangah’s kindness).
…
And that was when Dokja really did catch on fire.
He hadn’t noticed- perhaps too busy with observing Joonghyuk and the lurking suicide ghost a few meters away.
He only finally looked down when he started to feel uncomfortably hot, which was when he realized that his shirt was on fire. “Oh sh-,” Dokja immediately took a step back so the fire wouldn’t spread anywhere else. What was the thing that they were taught to do when they caught on fire? Stop, drop, and roll, right?
But before Dokja could possibly make a fool of himself by dropping to the ground and rolling around, he found himself being splashed with cold water. The fire was immediately put out, with Dokja left soaked to the bone (and thankfully not burnt to a crisp). “Thanks, Sangah,” Dokja managed through chattering teeth.
She nodded readily, pointing to the three other buckets on the ground which Dokja hadn’t noticed before. “Those are all for you.” Dokja might have been offended by the lack of trust if he hadn’t just been saved by one of those buckets.
“That’s the Dokja Fire Prevention Service for you,” Sooyoung chimed in with a very entertained expression. “Nice shirt you got on there, Dokja.”
Dokja rolled his eyes, still shivering slightly, as he turned to both ignore Sooyoung and to get back to work despite his charred outfit, only to notice Joonghyuk frozen in place, staring at him like a ghost.
“What are you staring at? Did my hair catch on fire, too?” Dokja rambled mindlessly. But then he noticed.
The suicide ghost was way closer now. Closer than before. Dokja blinked. How was that possible? It was like dying in a game right before a save checkpoint. All the possible progress he’d made with himself as the human amulet had just been reset, and then some.
But at the sound of Dokja’s voice, Joonghyuk seemed to snap out of it, returning to grilling skewers as if nothing happened. No are you okay’s, no acknowledgement, no nothing. Instead, Joonghyuk’s mood seemed to have darkened, and he was far more silent than before, if that was even possible.
And Dokja couldn’t help but get a sinking feeling.
Something was going to happen.
But he was going to stop it.
…
"Joonghyuk!”
“Hey, Joonghyuk!”
"Yah, Joonghyuk!”
Many days went on like this, where Dokja would bother chat with Joonghyuk when he could, which he cheerily named “forced proximity,” as that was the only way for the charm he’d put on himself to work.
But not all things went to plan.
The charm, although it should’ve worked as Dokja had repainted the seal over and over again, didn’t work.
And every day, the suicide ghost crept closer and closer to Joonghyuk.
The moment it was close enough to touch Joonghyuk, it was all over.
Dokja figured that he had plenty of time.
He could work out a solution- after all, he’d been in worse situations before.
…Right?
…
“So I did some research on our sunfish bastard,” Sooyoung announced, ever the supportive friend as she slid her phone across the table during one particular lunch period. “And it turns out he was expelled from his last school for accused arson even though he was practically a perfect student. Apparently, one teacher who’d caught on fire even got really bad burns. No solid proof was found that indicated that it was him, but the school board just booted him out.”
Dokja could feel that foreboding feeling from before return as he picked up Sooyoung’s cell phone. There, a picture under a headline dated from last year, was the same burning building that Dokja had been seeing in his dream.
Dokja’s chopsticks slid from his grasp, landing onto his tray with a deafening clatter. “...Sooyoung… have you seen Joonghyuk at all today?”
“...No…? Why?” Sooyoung asked, visibly confused.
That terrible feeling only worsened as a feeling of dread welled up inside of Dokja’s chest.
…Did the fire trigger something in Joonghyuk?
His intuition when it pertained to the supernatural was never wrong.
That’s why he’d become a shaman when he learned that he had the talent and aptitude for it.
“...Cover for me,” Dokja spoke suddenly with an underlying urgency as he abruptly got to his feet and grabbed his bag.
“What? Yah, Kim Dokja! You need to tell me what’s going on, or I swear I’ll-” Sooyoung objected almost immediately.
“Please, Sooyoung. Joonghyuk might…” Dokja couldn’t finish his sentence.
But upon seeing the look on her best friend’s face, Sooyoung reluctantly relented. “...Fine. But turn your location on. I don’t want to find out that you’re dead when I inevitably get my ass in detention.”
…
Dokja hurriedly rushed off the school campus, his head flipping through possible scenarios not unlike how one would skim through a page.
How far away was the suicide ghost when Dokja had last seen it?
Less than a meter?
Shit, shit, shit…
You stupid sunfish bastard…
Where could you have gone?
The memory of Dokja’s dream from before came rushing back.
“...The bridge,” Dokja breathed in mortified realization.
…You better be alive when I get there, you stupid sunfish.
…
Dokja finally arrived, breathless and his bangs uncomfortably plastered to his sweaty forehead. But that didn’t matter.
There Joonghyuk was, practically in the suicide ghost’s embrace as he stared hollowly out into the dark waters below from where he was, perched on the concrete railing of the bridge.
It was that same hollow look Dokja remembered seeing on his much younger self’s reflection before he’d attempted to do the very thing Joonghyuk was about to do.
Dokja’s body knew what was about to happen before his brain did.
“Yoo Joonghyuk, you son of a bitch…!”
Dokja wasn’t entirely sure what happened.
But something took over, and he dove after Joonghyuk despite his swimming skills being next to none.
Miraculously, he somehow dragged the stupidly tall (and heavy) bastard to shore.
“...CPR. I need to perform CPR,” Dokja panted out breathlessly as he desperately recalled his CPR lessons from his unsuccessful stint at getting a job as a lifeguard. He pressed his hands to Joonghyuk’s chest as hard and as fast as he could, and without thinking too much about it, pressed his lips over Joonghyuk’s to give him air.
He repeated the cycle over and over for what felt like forever, each moment that passed only heightening his anxiety. “...Shit… you stupid sunfish, you can’t die on me now, not when I went through all that trouble to become a living happy charm.” Dokja kept at it, desperately waiting for something, anything.
Then finally, Joonghyuk’s chest heaved once. Then twice. Then he was coughing up river water all over himself. Dokja couldn’t find it in him to be disgusted when all he felt was relief.
“...You stupid motherfucker. I’d kill you myself if I hadn’t just spent the past five minutes trying to bring you back to life.” Then, because Dokja wasn’t heartless, “...Thank God you’re alive.” A pause. “You’re such an idiot for even thinking to attempt that, do you hear me? Never do that ever again. I don’t know what you’ve gone through, but-”
It was then that it all came spilling out from Joonghyuk’s lips.
“The fire… they kicked me out because I had notoriously bad luck,” he breathed. “My parents died in an accident on the way to my elementary school graduation. I won a schoolwide cooking contest, but half of the judges were later hospitalized for severe food poisoning. The few people I managed to befriend at my middle school all had close relatives unexpectedly pass away.” Joonghyuk’s eyes closed at the memory. “My life had turned to shit, yet I still had a little sister to care for. To shield her from the source of all her grief. But that source was me. And if I'm being honest, I've just been waiting for something disastrous to happen again.”
A long silence passed between them.
“...Are you done trauma dumping yet?” Dokja managed dryly, but didn’t wait for an answer. “I tried to end it all, too. Just because I was known as the son of a murderer. I mean, could you really blame me? I was labelled as just that, and bullied practically my whole life. But I failed, and ended up in a hospital bed, everything hurting like hell. Living after that attempt was hard. My life was shit too. But I just held on. And if someone like me could do that, so can you.” Dokja watched Joonghyuk’s eyes almost reluctantly fluttered open.
“Besides, there’s still a lot for you to live through,” Dokja nudged Joonghyuk’s shoulder with an uncharacteristic gentleness. “We’ve gotta graduate high school, and I still have to prove to you that I can, in fact, cook.”
And at that, Joonghyuk actually laughed.
It was strained and short, but it was a laugh all the same.
Something warm spread within Dokja’s chest.
“...Let’s leave the cooking to me. Heaven knows what’ll happen the second you’re left unattended,” Joonghyuk muttered wryly. “I don’t feel like getting food poisoning myself anytime soon, too.”
“Oh, come on, my cooking isn’t that bad,” Dokja huffed as he swatted at Joonghyuk half-heartedly.
A smile pulled at the corners of Joonghyuk’s lips. “Maybe I should’ve listened to you about that whole suicide ghost thing. You really were right about that, huh?”
“Of course I was. I’m an experienced shaman,” Dokja scoffed self-righteously, his gaze scanning the area around them for any sign of the suicide-inducing apparition. “Luckily, it seems to be nowhere in sight.” Dokja smiled down at Joonghyuk. “But just in case…,” Dokja dug through his waterlogged bag and pulled out a bujeok, which was somehow dry, then took Joonghyuk’s hand and all but slapped the bujeok onto Joonghyuk’s palm. “Keep this with you at all times, ‘kay? Shaman’s orders. I don’t want to have to go through all of this again. This’ll probably keep your bad luck at bay, too.”
Joonghyuk slowly sat up, examining the talisman carefully. “...Right.” He then fixed Dokja with a long look. “Did you just run over here in the middle of the school day instead of calling emergency services?”
Dokja had the sense to at least look a little sheepish. “It was a matter of your life or death, okay…?! There was no time to think. Jeez, you haven’t even thanked me.” Dokja crossed his arms, the sight comparable to that of a pouting child.
Joonghyuk actually laughed again.
Dokja figured that he should be awarded some sort of medal for this achievement.
“...Fine. Thank you for saving my life, Dokja. Really.” Joonghyuk’s smile grew a little as he spoke.
It might’ve been a touching and heartfelt moment had Joonghyuk not added, “But you still have to pay me for that whole fiasco that was our skewers booth, remember? I still haven’t been paid.”
…What.
“Excuse me?!” Dokja spluttered. “We were having a nice moment there…! What makes you think I’m paying you now, out of all times, right after you almost died?! You’re a crazy bastard, you do realize that, right?”
But this time, both of them laughed, still drenched from river water but alive.
“...Y’know, that was kind of a group therapy session, wasn’t it?” Dokja mused thoughtfully. “Just admitting all our trauma.”
An exasperated sigh escaped Joonghyuk’s lips.
“Shut up, Kim Dokja.”
…
“Yippee! Everyone’s alive and well!” Sooyoung exclaimed the next day after that… incident as she shot Joonghyuk and Dokja pointed looks. “Never stress me out that much ever again, you two got it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” both Joonghyuk and Dokja spoke in unison as they feigned contrition.
Sooyoung rolled her eyes at them both. “And now you two have to clean classrooms.”
“...What?!” Dokja yelped in surprise. “I thought I told you to cover for me!”
“Well, I tried, but there are these things called ‘security cameras.’ So now you two have to stay after school and clean the classrooms for skipping.” Sooyoung announced breezily, probably thankful that she wasn’t the one having to do all of that.
“You’re joking,” Dokja groaned, while Joonghyuk just shrugged- the bastard.
“Good luck~!” Sooyoung grinned, probably reveling in their Dokja’s suffering.
…
And that was how Dokja found himself sweeping under desks with Joonghyuk after school. Joonghyuk still seemed rather okay with their predicament, which Dokja found mildly irritating. “Do you usually like cleaning, or are you just a masochist?” Dokja broke the silence, tone rather dour.
“I do most of the cleaning around my house,” Joonghyuk explained, completely unbothered. “I’ve grown to find it relaxing, in a way.”
“Relaxing, right,” Dokja resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but it was clear that he was skeptical as he added dryly, “Is that one of the things on your list?” Dokja had referred Joonghyuk to the same therapist he’d gone to after his own attempt, so he had an idea of the things Joonghyuk likely would’ve done during his sessions, such as participating in an activity that involved listing positive things that made life worth living.
Joonghyuk shrugged. “I guess you could say so.”
“Really?” Dokja scrunched up his face as if that were preposterous. “No way.”
“It is.”
Dokja couldn’t believe it. “Is your whole list as boring as that?”
Joonghyuk’s eyebrows furrowed. “Of course not. I have taste.”
“Then what’s on your list?” Dokja was genuinely curious despite his earlier sarcasm.
Joonghyuk simply raised an eyebrow at him. “You go first.”
Dokja’s expression immediately soured. He would’ve glared at Joonghyuk had his curiosity not overpowered his irritation. “Fine. My list was ramyeon, webnovels-”
Joonghyuk had stopped sweeping by then to listen.
He might have even taken a few steps closer.
“-the feeling of going home, video games, and… omurice,” Dokja finished, an expectant expression on his face as he added, “Now your turn.”
Joonghyuk hummed thoughtfully, reaching out to lean his broomstick against a nearby desk. “Cleaniness, Murim dumplings, gaming, and cooking.”
Dokja made a face at that. “That’s it? That’s your whole list?” Dokja squinted at Joonghyuk dubiously. “Sounds pretty boring to me. And it’s pretty short.”
“You listed five things. I listed one less than that. What do you mean my list is ‘pretty short’?” Joonghyuk sounded slightly irked.
Dokja crossed his arms haughtily. “Well, that’s just my honest opinion. Sorry you couldn’t take it.”
In response, Joonghyuk rolled his eyes. Then paused.
“...Actually, I have one more thing on my list.”
“And what’s that? Watching paint dry? Berating others for fun?” Dokja rambled on rather obliviously. “Maybe you like watching people suff- mmmph-!” He was cut off rather unceremoniously by the feeling of Joonghyuk’s lips over his.
…Wait.
What.
Dokja’s eyes widened, and he could practically feel his ears turning red.
Joonghyuk was kissing him.
Like actually kissing him.
As in, the stuff the two leads in a romance drama normally did at the end of the first season.
…Doesn’t that only happen if the two leads actually-
Well, like each other?
The kiss itself was rather short, just a simple press of the lips when Joonghyuk finally pulled away.
But Dokja felt like he was experiencing tachycardia with how fast his heart was beating.
…So then… does that mean he liked Joonghyuk?
And if so… did Joonghyuk feel the same?
“...There. My fifth reason to live,” Joonghyuk breathed, and Dokja could see that Joonghyuk was just as affected as he was, thankfully.
After a few moments of Dokja just staring wide-eyed at Joonghyuk, he managed to collect himself enough to register Joonghyuk’s words.
And that was when Dokja was certain of one thing in that moment.
“...I only placed fifth?” Dokja managed to tease, though his voice was a little shaky.
The faint red tinge on Joonghyuk’s cheeks actually darkened a touch, much to Dokja’s amusement. “You can’t be serious-”
And this time, it was Joonghyuk who was interrupted.
Dokja screwed his eyes shut the moment his lips met Joonghyuk’s once more, the flush on his face bright enough to rival a tomato.
And when he felt Joonghyuk’s hand at his nape, guiding him forward as Dokja tiptoed to match his height, Dokja may or may not have let out a rather embarrassing flustered squeak, which he’d later vehemently deny making such a noise.
“Operation: Keep the Stupid Sunfish Bastard Alive” succeeded, and then some, Dokja later supposed.
…If all of his supernatural cases ended like this- with “this” being Dokja in Joonghyuk’s arms- he would gladly suffer through nightmares and having to become a human amulet all over again.
…Maybe not with all the “saving someone’s life” next time, though.
…
Sooyoung was right about the cliché rom-com part. Not that Dokja would admit it to her himself, though.