Archive of Our Own

It was 9:03 P.M. on a Tuesday in November when Kim Dokja hit one million followers on Twitch.

He was streaming his Minecraft world, grumbling about a creeper that had blown up half his storage 2 minutes ago, when the notification pasted itself across the screen.

“Holy shit,” he said, staring wide-eyed at his monitor.

His chat flooded with messages, as the follower pop-up danced across his screen, plotter_jh responsible for the milestone.

     [V†P] Uriloveshr: omg I’m so proud of you!!! yayy

     [M⌀d] tlsyaouri: woaw u finally reached smth somewhat impressiev lolol took u long enuf !

     rasptin: !!! oh my goodness

        ¤ First Time Chat from viewer

     plotter_jh: are all men this pretty

     [V†P] Wukong: Now you have to do the rivals rank thing right?

     [♪] gracefuldeer: Congrats Salvation-nim!!

     [M⌀d] tlsyaouri: my mans first thoght is how pretty dkos is 🤣 lord save us all

“Sooyoung, shut up,” Kim Dokja snapped, frowning at her terrible spelling. “Thank you so much, Plotter. I’m glad you think I’m pretty.” He flashed a smile at his camera, making sure to angle his face so that he looked as attractive as possible.

It was a cheap trick, but he knew that a large portion of his viewers remained so faithful because of his looks and voice. Throughout high school he’d been bullied for his looks, only embracing them when Han Sooyoung had gone on a three hour rant about how his ‘stupid feminine face’ was prettier than hers, and how much that pissed her off.

Of course, Kim Dokja knew there were viewers that he had that genuinely enjoyed his personality, whether it be his banter with Han Sooyoung, or how he played through story-based games.

     [V†P] Uriloveshr: I can’t tell if this is a confused lesbian or a gay awakening..

     [♪] gracefuldeer: Oh yes, don’t you have a challenge for 1 million followers?

     [M⌀d] tlsyaouri: its not my fault ur a dude magnet dkos 👅 we learned this in hs

     [M⌀d] tlsyaouri: @plotter_jh dw if ur pretty hed like yuo iykwim

“Sooyoung!” Kim Dokja hissed, glaring at his chat. “I’m not that shallow!”

     Animarie: !sens

     plotter_jh: people have told me im more handsome then pretty

     [M⌀d] tlsyaouri: yeah and im a natural blond

     [M⌀d] tlsyaouri: sybau u liar

     [M⌀d] BiyooBot: DKOS’ sens for [MINECRAFT] is 1.5

     [V†P] Uriloveshr: Why am I witnessing a gay awakening…?

     [V†P] Wukong: Can I request you play Angela?

     rasptin: ??

     [M⌀d] tlsyaouri: oh uri n luck plotter he likes them handsome too !!

Abruptly, Kim Dokja stood up, tugging his earbuds out and marching towards the door, which he slammed open and stormed out of, heading towards Han Sooyoung’s room.

“Han Sooyoung!” he barked, throwing her door open. His best friend—and current enemy—was lazing on her bed, hair pulled back in a messy bun, green face mask equipped, crunching on a pretzel. Her laptop was laying on her thighs, and she was smirking at what was most definitely Kim Dokja’s chat.

“What?” Han Sooyoung drawled, acting innocent. “You can’t just leave your stream, Dokja. It’s unprofessional.”

“Like what you’re saying in my chat isn’t unprofessional too?” questioned Kim Dokja incredulously, throwing his arms up. “Just because I look like a twink doesn’t mean you should go and try to get random men to think they can freely hit me!”

Han Sooyoung brought a finger to her chin, tapping it as if she was thinking hard. “I don’t recall doing that,” she said, lying through her teeth.

Whatever possessed Kim Dokja to become friends with this hag in high school, he doesn’t know. He must have been cursed or something. However, she was right and he did have to go back to his stream.

“I’ll de-mod you,” was his threat, which they both knew was bullshit.

Han Sooyoung let out a cackle, like the witch she was. “And I’ll start liking men. Get your ass back to your stream.”

“Fuck you,” Kim Dokja responded, turning and leaving, making sure to leave Han Sooyoung’s door wide open to piss her off.

When he got back to his room he dropped back into his chat, putting his earbuds back in and looking back at his chat.

     plotter_jh: did i scare him off ?

     [♪] gracefuldeer: Salvation-nim I thought we agreed that you couldn’t run away on stream anymore.

     [V†P] Uriloveshr: Sooyoung is getting fired :’(

     rasptin: where did this mf go

     [M⌀d] tlsyaouri: just got yelld at by boss man 😔💔😿

     [M⌀d] tlsyaouri: woe is me

Kim Dokja let out a laugh, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry guys, I had to go to the bathroom!”

Ignoring the influx of messages from Han Sooyoung that popped up, he instead closed his Minecraft application and opened his Steam account. “I know the goal for 1 million was to reach the highest rank in Marvel Rivals, so why don’t we just chat while I download the game?”

Navigating to the game’s page, Kim Dokja clicked install, squinting at the screen when he saw the game's requirements. “Why is it 100GB…?” he muttered, mouth pulling into a grimace. “Didn’t this game only release like a year ago?”

His chat responded with an overwhelming yes, and that apparently the devs suck ass at optimization.

“Alright,” Kim Dokja laughed, amused by how in sync his chat was. Everyone hated the Marvel Rivals devs, then. Some guys named Guang Guang and Zhiyong, too. “Who should I play?” he asked, chewing on his thumbnail as he clicked through the photos on the Steam page.

“Hmm?” he hummed, glancing at his chat. “Oh, I mainly played support in Overwatch, but I’m not particularly against any role.”

The chat zoomed by, and Kim Dokja could only get a glance at some names.

“Who the fuck is Jeff the Landshark??” he asked, pulling a face. His chat zoomed by some more, but the resounding answer was a look him up.

Kim Dokja shrugged, then navigated to Google before typing in the name, throwing in ‘Marvel Rivals’ after it.

And,

“Holy shit,” he exclaimed. It (he?) was adorable. “Oh my God.” said Kim Dokja, scrolling down through the pictures. “I didn’t know this cutie was a Marvel superhero. Why didn’t anyone tell me sooner?”

“Because you’re a loser,” came Han Sooyoung’s voice through the wall, annoyance obvious in her tone.

Kim Dokja ignored her, choosing to click on a picture that had Jeff in what appeared to be a duck costume. It was really cute, if he was being honest. “Is Jeff any good?” he asked, chewing on his bottom lip.

No, came his chat response, he’s a terrorist.

“Okay, but like in a good way or bad way?”

Bad, was the reply.

Kim Dokja sighed, letting his cheek rest in his hand. “Man, why are all the best characters always the worst ones to play with?”

Cuteness tax, said his chat.

¤

Kim Dokja was an idiot.

So was Yoo Joonghyuk, if Han Sooyoung was being truthful.

She hadn’t actually expected Yoo Joonghyuk to be attracted to Kim Dokja, let alone publicly voice it. Hell, she didn’t even know he liked men.

Then again, maybe that was her fault. Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t seem to like much of anybody at all.

When she’d sent him the link to Kim Dokja’s stream, she hadn’t thought that Yoo Joonghyuk would join it, but he even followed. It was originally a joke but…

Kim Dokja would totally fall for someone like Yoo Joonghyuk.

Tall, handsome, and brooding, it was almost like he was made for Kim Dokja.

Of course, Kim Dokja would also be totally terrified if he knew who was behind the account, Yoo Joonghyuk being one of the biggest streamers in the world. How, Han Sooyoung still didn’t know. He rarely talked on stream, spending most of the time staring blankly at the screen as he ran through his enemies with ease.

Surely not that many people would follow someone just for their face. But his streams were always populated, even the ones where the only words he said were at the end, when he was closing the stream.

Han Sooyoung didn’t understand Yoo Joonghyuk.

¤

Over the course of the next week, Kim Dokja streamed Marvel Rivals, instead of his usual story or more laid back games.

It took some time getting used to the play style and characters, especially some of the challenging but powerful heroes.

There were some things that Kim Dokja just didn't get. Like why a hero named Squirrel Girl had the highest primary fire damage in the game. A primary fire which was an acorn launched out of a slingshot. The game was bullshit, at some level.

After his week of exploration, he decided to hop into ranked, starting at the lowest rank there was. He'd mainly played FPS games before he started streaming, even reaching the top ranks, so Kim Dokja knew that his mechanical skills were far above average.

But Kim Dokja's skills didn't account for the fact that his other 5 teammates had to pass around the singular brain cell they shared.

The lower ranks were an eternal pit of hell, a game of chance to see if Kim Dokja would get teammates with any semblance of competency or not. By the time he reached Diamond, Kim Dokja had considered cloning himself, at least 4 times per stream.

Yet once he hit Diamond, it was smoother sailing. The ranks were easier to climb, less bickering and more focus.

Diamond turned into Grandmaster, then Celestial, which slowly bled into Eternity.

At Eternity Kim Dokja began to experience challenges for the first time. He'd queued into games with and against professional players, submitting to their call outs and strategies.

His chat gawked and laughed when he saved his team or made a silly mistake, Han Sooyoung cackling like a witch through the wall when the latter occurred.

Kim Dokja found himself having more fun than he usually did in the Eternity ranks, enjoying his time in the game more.

He started running into streamers too, and people started to recognize him as DKOS as well. His username didn't hide much—the name “Salvation” was now recognizable to many.

It was on a three game loss streak, however, that he first encountered Yoo Joonghyuk in his game. Nicknamed the Supreme King, Yoo Joonghyuk was generally regarded as the best Marvel Rivals player, highly sought after by the professional teams. Kim Dokja had heard of him even before he started playing.

Unfortunately for Kim Dokja, Yoo Joonghyuk was the type of player he hated most. Silent and brutish, Yoo Joonghyuk refused to bend to the will of his teammates, instead locking whichever character he wanted to play—most often a duelist—and refusing to swap.

To players like Kim Dokja, who generally filled for whatever role was needed, people like Yoo Joonghyuk were almost always the reason a game was lost.

Except that the player was Yoo Joonghyuk, not some inflated ego imbecile.

So when Kim Dokja queued into a game and heard—

“I'm going to play Widow,” grunted by the unmistakable voice of Yoo Joonghyuk, he had to close his eyes and take a few deep breaths.

“It's Yoo Joonghyuk,” he murmured to himself. “It's fine, he's not going to throw, it's Yoo Joonghyuk.”

His chat soared, laughing at his reaction.

“Playing Widow doesn't mean he's throwing,” Kim Dokja reassured himself, “he has the skill to perform well. It's Yoo Joonghyuk. It's fine.”

Pressing V, Kim Dokja opened the voice chat. “Do you want me to play Mant—”

“Yeah, fuck you too, bastard. If you're going to throw then I'm going to play Johnny.” Player 4 said angrily.

Fuck, Kim Dokja thought, now we have an actual thrower.

“It's fine,” he said into the voice chat, attempting to reason with Player 4. “He's Yoo Joonghyuk, he's not throwing.”

“No, y'know what? Fuck you too Salvation, defending this bum ass thrower.”

This is all Yoo Joonghyuk's fault, Kim Dokja thought miserably.

When they were able to lock in characters, Yoo Joonghyuk chose Widow and Player 4 chose Human Torch.

Kim Dokja stared blankly at his screen. “It's over,” he said to his chat. “We've lost.”

Eventually he locked his own hero, choosing a healer to balance the team comp.

Then, they got absolutely steam rolled. Yoo Joonghyuk, unsurprisingly, performed well. Player 4 threw himself off the map every time he respawned, ending up with 0 kills and 43 deaths. Kim Dokja didn't even know that was possible.

Logically, it was all Yoo Joonghyuk's fault. If he didn't have such a huge ego, the loss never would've happened.

Massaging his temples with his fingers, Kim Dokja sighed as he stared at the Defeat screen. “I'm going to make his life miserable,” he declared boldly, glaring at Yoo Joonghyuk's profile.

     [V†P] plotter_jh: ?

     [V†P] Wukong: what

     [V†P] Uriloveshr: maybe that's enough gaming for the day

     maritimeshipmaster: aight bro

“I'm going to make his life miserable!” Han Sooyoung’s high-pitched shriek came from the other room, her laughter following after it as Kim Dokja scowled.

“Sooyoung, be quiet!” He yelled to her, flipping off the wall that divided them.

     [♪] gracefuldeer: Salvation-nim be nice

     housedweller: who is this guy

     [V†P] plotter_jh: @tlsyaouri …

     [M⌀d] tlsyaouri: why m I being doxxed !?

“You're ruining my life,” was all Kim Dokja grumbled in response.

“Fuck you!” Han Sooyoung shouted back.

¤

Yoo Joonghyuk didn't realize that he was on a team with Kim Dokja until he spoke.

Kim Dokja, he called Salvation, because he'd bullied the man's name out of Han Sooyoung after the first stream he'd watched.

Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't ashamed to admit that he was captivated by Kim Dokja; the man was beautiful and exceptionally skilled for someone who didn't favor games such as Marvel Rivals.

Kim Dokja had long eyelashes and a slim face. His full lips were animated, showing off everything that he was thinking. When he laughed, Yoo Joonghyuk's stomach fluttered.

He'd already pestered Han Sooyoung for every fact about Kim Dokja that she'd been willing to give him.

Hell, he even spent less time streaming, in favor of watching Kim Dokja.

Yoo Joonghyuk didn't even know why he was so enraptured by Kim Dokja; maybe it was due to the way he interacted with his chat and Yoo Joonghyuk himself, carefree and easily amused.

When he announced that he was playing Widow, Yoo Joonghyuk didn't expect someone to actually go along with it.

He definitely didn't expect it to be Kim Dokja behind the hidden username, voice soft as he asked if Yoo Joonghyuk wanted him to play a synergetic character.

It was all ruined when Player 4 spoke, bold and brash and not a single brain cell floating around in his head.

Yoo Joonghyuk had Kim Dokja's stream pulled up on his 3rd monitor, chewing his lip as he saw Kim Dokja visibly wilt.

Fuck, he thought, annoyed by Player 4. Does he not know who I am?

Kim Dokja opened his mouth, trying to reason with Player 4 but was cut off.

Well, if Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't pissed off before, now he was. Maybe it was the fact that this single brain cell prokaryotic wintrading loser didn't know who he was, or maybe it was his disrespect towards Kim Dokja, or maybe it was a combination of both, Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't sure.

He didn't speak for the rest of the game, instead focusing on killing as many enemies as he could. Player 4 only irritated him further, jumping off the map every time he respawned.

They lost the game, narrowly, and Yoo Joonghyuk looked over to see Kim Dokja cursing him out on stream.

It was endearing, if he had to be honest.

Kim Dokja's face was red, brows furrowed as he spat out curses at Yoo Joonghyuk's Rivals profile.

“I'm going to make his life miserable,” Kim Dokja declared, and Yoo Joonghyuk frowned at the stream.

? He typed into the chat, only for Kim Dokja to sharply look to his left.

“Sooyoung, be quiet!” He barked, teeth clenched as he threw up a middle finger at the wall.

Huh?

Han Sooyoung hadn't told Yoo Joonghyuk that she lived with Kim Dokja. That traitorous hag.

@tlsyaouri …, he typed into Kim Dokja's chat, pulling up Han Sooyoung's contact on his phone. Aggressively pressing the call button, Yoo Joonghyuk ground his teeth together. Han Sooyoung, the lying witch.

“Hel—”

“Han Sooyoung you absolute hag,” Yoo Joonghyuk spat, fuming as he watched Kim Dokja blather on about something on his stream. “Why didn't you tell me?”

Han Sooyoung huffed, grumbling something to herself. “Tell you what? You're a brick wall, and I don't specialize in reading the minds of inanimate objects.”

“That you live with Kim Dokja.”

“Oh, that.” Han Sooyoung paused. “I thought you knew.”

Yoo Joonghyuk could feel a vein in his forehead throb. “Why didn't you tell me.”

“How is that of any relevance?”

“It is,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, teeth gritted as his eyes strayed back to Kim Dokja's stream. He was still ranting over Yoo Joonghyuk's profile. Cute.

“Yeah, I live with him. He's my best friend. Now can you stop being fucking weird so I can go back to my job?”

Yoo Joonghyuk closed his eyes, contemplating ways to kill Han Sooyoung. “Fine,” he said, punching the bridge of his nose. “Do whatever you want.”

“You're the one that called me you bas—”

Yoo Joonghyuk hung up, sighing as he put his phone down. He should have known Han Sooyoung wouldn't have told him everything. Being old friends only goes so far when you spend half of your life ignoring each other.

Turning back to Kim Dokja's stream, Yoo Joonghyuk can feel his stomach flutter as the man's lips pull into a pout.

Fuck.

Why is he like this??

¤

Kim Dokja had been studying Yoo Joonghyuk.

Watching his streams, digging up old clip compilations, analyzing every facial movement during tournaments.

What made him tick, what bothered him most, what made him angry, Kim Dokja was sure he knew all of it.

Han Sooyoung had teased him relentlessly when she caught him doing it, clutching her stomach as she rolled around on the floor, wheezing and laughing at him.

In response, he'd only scowled and returned to the video he was watching, a compilation of all the times Yoo Joonghyuk's left eyebrow twitched in the past six months.

So, the next time Kim Dokja ran into Yoo Joonghyuk in a game, he was prepared to make a fool of the man. To make him speak for once, rage into the mic, if Kim Dokja could successfully manipulate him.

He made sure that only Yoo Joonghyuk was streaming, wanting to avoid the clashing of their chats and the endless teasing that he would get from his own.

When he eventually queued into a game and heard Yoo Joonghyuk's distinct voice declare what hero he was playing, Kim Dokja couldn't help the giggle he let out.

Han Sooyoung, who was lazing on his floor, picked up a book and threw it at him.

“Ow!” Kim Dokja exclaimed, turning to glare at her. He rubbed his stinging arm, frowning at Han Sooyoung.

“Stop being a creep,” was all she said in response, already back on her phone.

“I'm not being a creep,” Kim Dokja huffed, before turning back to his PC to lock in a hero. “I'm just enacting revenge.”

“Yeah, by being a creep.”

“Han Sooyoung, be quiet. It's not creepy.”

Han Sooyoung only hummed in response, thoroughly engrossed with whatever she was typing in her phone.

Kim Dokja rolled his eyes, bringing his attention back toward the game and Yoo Joonghyuk's stream that he had opened on his second monitor. There was maybe twenty seconds before the game started, twenty seconds for Kim Dokja to enact as much psychological warfare as he could to tilt Yoo Joonghyuk.

Opening the voice channel, Kim Dokja leaned into his mic, grinning as he crooned at Yoo Joonghyuk. “Joonghyuk-ah, you'll peel for me, right?”

“What,” came Yoo Joonghyuk's choked voice.

“Well, I need a DPS that I can trust, y'know? Just be a good boy and peel for me, okay?” Kim Dokja purred out the last sentence, making sure he was close enough to his mic where it picked up every breath.

On stream, Kim Dokja can see a light flush spread across Yoo Joonghyuk's cheeks, mouth gaping.

“Can you do that for me, Joonghyukie?”

Yoo Joonghyuk, his character frozen in game, was opening and closing his mouth like a fish.

“You're actually such a freak,” Han Sooyoung commented, disgust audible in her voice.

“Shut up Han Sooyoung,” hissed Kim Dokja, focused on Yoo Joonghyuk's hilarious reaction.

“What,” Yoo Joonghyuk said again, finally reacting to the game's start.

“Can you do that for me, Joonghyuk-hyung?” Kim Dokja repeated in a sultry manner, half of his attention captured by his tanks who were rapidly dying.

“Dude, as much as I'd love to hear you two have e-sex while I'm fighting for my life,” started Kim Dokja's other healer, Luna Snow, audio so fried it was like he was eating the mic, “the Panther that's travelling at light speed to destroy my ass is not going to be stopped by Hawkeye.”

Ah.

Kim Dokja forgot that he was playing a six player game. And that whatever he said was going to be heard by five other people. And the 15,000 people currently watching Yoo Joonghyuk's stream.

But surely none of them knew who he was. Kim Dokja had leveled an unknown alt account, just for this purpose.

So therefore—

“Ki—Salvation,” Yoo Joonghyuk growled, glaring at his camera. “What do you think you're doing?”

Shit, thought Kim Dokja. Play dumb.

“Huh?” Kim Dokja pulled away from his mic, returning to his normal Salvation persona. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh my God dude,” the Luna Snow griped, avatar folding in half and ragdolling across Kim Dokja's screen as the Black Panther killed him, “foreplay later, win my rank up game now.”

“There is no foreplay,” spat Yoo Joonghyuk, brows furrowed and mouth pulled into a frown.

“Then stop fucking missing!” Screamed the Luna Snow, skating his way back to the fight as Yoo Joonghyuk missed his 5th shot in a row.

“Maybe he's just dogshit at the game, Luna. Have we ever considered that?” Kim Dokja glanced back at Yoo Joonghyuk's stream, and noticed how his left eyebrow was twitching.

Fabulous, he thought gleefully. It's working.

“I know he's not dogshit because he's Yoo Joonghyuk, and I know you're not as bad as you're playing right now because seven different pro teams have tried to sign you in the past month!” Luna Snow exclaimed, mic quality somehow even worse than before.

“Eight, actually.” Kim Dokja corrected, choosing to ignore how easily he was identified.

“Oh, whatever. Stop riding Yoo Joonghyuk's dick so he can actually play like himself, goddammit.”

Han Sooyoung coughed from behind Kim Dokja, diverting his attention. “I am not dealing with the aftermath of this.”

Kim Dokja scowled. “Fuck off, Sooyoung.”

Yoo Joonghyuk's only response to the exchange was a grunt, eyebrow stopping its twitching and the vein that was working its way to the surface of his forehead retreating.

Sighing, Kim Dokja focused on the game again, making sure that his team wasn't dying and helping his poor Luna Snow win the game.

At the end of the game, Victory screen displayed across his monitor, Kim Dokja pushing himself back from his PC, exhaling as he glanced over at Han Sooyoung.

She returned his look, one eyebrow raised. “You realize that's going to be plastered all over the Internet now, right?

Kim Dokja groaned, putting his face in his hands. “Shut up, Sooyoung.”

¤

Fuck, thought Yoo Joonghyuk. What was that?

After the game ended he'd continued his stream, choosing to ignore the incessant comments from his chat about Kim Dokja.

It was two hours after that when Yoo Joonghyuk finally ended his stream, and now he was sitting here, staring at the black screen of his monitor.

Kim Dokja had called him a good boy. Kim Dokja had blatantly flirted with him, in front of 15,000 people. Kim Dokja had called him Joonghyuk-hyung, for God's sake, even though Yoo Joonghyuk was sure that Han Sooyoung had told him that Kim Dokja was older than him.

In the moment, Yoo Joonghyuk didn't even realize what was going on. Plenty of desperate people had tried to flirt with him before, throwing themselves at him during tournaments, conventions, meet and greets.

He'd recognize Kim Dokja's voice anywhere; the sultry tone didn't change that. Maybe part of it was that Kim Dokja wasn't streaming. Yoo Joonghyuk didn't think that he'd ever encounter the man when he wasn’t streaming; many streamers seemed to vanish off the face of the earth when their streams ended, Salvation included.

When he finally registered what Kim Dokja was saying, Yoo Joonghyuk couldn’t help the flush he felt creep over his face and ears.

It was provocative, flirty.

A side to Kim Dokja he'd never seen before, even with how much he knew about the man.

Yoo Joonghyuk's trance was broken when the Luna Snow spoke up; not only were there four other people who could hear him, the entirety of Yoo Joonghyuk's stream also heard everything that Kim Dokja said.

Now, as Yoo Joonghyuk finds himself stuck on it, he remembers Kim Dokja's inane promise.

Ah, he thought, almost sadly. It's just a game.

¤

After his disaster of a second meeting with Yoo Joonghyuk, Kim Dokja was determined to successfully ragebait the man.

Banning Han Sooyoung from his room, Kim Dokja devoted his free time to researching—stalking—Yoo Joonghyuk. Before, he only had a surface level understanding of Yoo Joonghyuk's psyche.

Now, Kim Dokja was ready to psychologically manipulate this man into a fit of rage.

Flirting wouldn't work; the man had been victim to the feelings of hundreds of fans, never relenting or even showing a shred of emotion to them.

The only solid evidence of a shift in emotion that Kim Dokja could find was when Yoo Joonghyuk's teammates were incompetent imbeciles.

Which, much to Kim Dokja's glee, was a part he could play very well.

He gave it one week, before he began queuing on his alt account again. One week, for Yoo Joonghyuk to forget about him. One week, for all of the clips of him flirting with Yoo Joonghyuk to go away.

Surely one week would be enough time for Kim Dokja to return to his antics.

Surely nothing could go wrong.

¤

Eleven days after their second meeting, Kim Dokja queued into another game with Yoo Joonghyuk.

Kim Dokja locked in Luna Snow, choosing her so he could more easily avoid Yoo Joonghyuk when he was healing his team.

His name was hidden and he hadn't spoken yet, so Kim Dokja was sure that Yoo Joonghyuk wouldn't know who he was. Even when he did start speaking, the built in voice changer—set to Pumpkin Monster—would distort his voice enough to make him unrecognizable.

Early on in the game, Kim Dokja played normally, healing his teammates and freezing enemies that pushed too close to him.

If Yoo Joonghyuk's lack of communication signified anything, Kim Dokja was playing his part well.

Halfway through their push, Kim Dokja stopped healing Yoo Joonghyuk.

A minute after that, he started purposefully missing shots and freezes.

“Luna, what are you doing,” asked one of his tanks, Magneto, who was rapidly dying in the frontline.

“Huh?” Kim Dokja said, voice ridiculously distorted. “What are you talking about?”

“What are you doing,” repeated the tank, now dead.

“I didn't do anything,” Kim Dokja said cheerily, giggling when Yoo Joonghyuk's avatar crumpled to the ground.

“Then why am I not getting healed?” The other tank, Groot, lamented.

Kim Dokja scoffed, missing more shots. “I missed like two shots, okay, fine, you win.”

On his second monitor, Kim Dokja could see Yoo Joonghyuk's left eye twitching.

Good, he thought, grinning. He's annoyed.

The team went back to its usual silence, only interrupted by the occasional callout of an isolated enemy.

He cooperated through the third point, only missing his heals on Yoo Joonghyuk when it would result in his death.

When they switched sides, he stayed on Luna, opening his voice chat.

“Sorry if I'm missing shots guy,” he said cheerfully, voice garbled by the voice changer.

On stream, a vein bulged in Yoo Joonghyuk's forehead. “Stop doing it then,” he gritted out, glaring at his screen.

“Of course, Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi,” Kim Dokja crooned, skating his way off of the map. “Oops! Silly me.”

Yoo Joonghyuk's hero stopped moving, and Kim Dokja saw as the man pulled out his phone, rapidly typing something before putting it down and returning to the game.

Ding!

…What?

Kim Dokja felt his face pale. There's no way, he thought.

Left hand holding the W key to get back to his team, Kim Dokja shakily picked up his phone.

     ⌈ +82 XX XXXX XXX

     >> Kim Dokja I will kill you. ⌋

“Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi…” Kim Dokja laughed nervously. “There's no need to send me death threats.”

“I know where you live,” was all Yoo Joonghyuk said, face blank.

All of the blood left Kim Dokja's face. “What?” He asked, voice cracking.

“That's a little far man,” Magneto said, as the round started and the enemy team flooded out of the spawn door.

“He will die,” Yoo Joonghyuk stated, brows furrowed as he pulled an enemy out of the team. “Focus Hela.”

Kim Dokja played the rest of his game to his normal capabilities, only missing a few shots when his hand trembled.

“Don't ever throw my games again,” was all that Yoo Joonghyuk said as the Victory screen blazed across Kim Dokja's monitor.

“Okay,” Kim Dokja replied meekly.

Closing Marvel Rivals, Kim Dokja watched as Yoo Joonghyuk ended his stream, waving once before the screen went black.

Ding!

Kim Dokja whimpered, picking up his phone again.

     ⌈ +82 XX XXXX XXXX

     >> OO Apt, Hannam-dong, Yongsan District, Seoul. Password is 4951. ⌋

“Han Sooyoung!” Kim Dokja shrieked, throwing his phone away from him, onto the floor.

Not 3 seconds later, Han Sooyoung burst into his room, slipper in hand, panting as she looked around. “Spider?” She asked, chest heaving.

Shakily, Kim Dokja pointed at his phone. “We need to move.”

“What,” Han Sooyoung said, blinking. “There's no spider?”

“H–he knows where we live, Sooyoung!”

Han Sooyoung walked over, crouching down to pick up Kim Dokja's phone. She squinted at the open text messages, scrutinizing it.

“Sooyoungie, I'm going to die!” Kim Dokja exclaimed, still shaking in his chair. Tears burned in his eyes. Stupid Kim Dokja.

Abruptly, Han Sooyoung burst into laughter.

“This isn't funny!” Kim Dokja yelled, a tear falling down his cheek. “It's all my fault and now I'm going to die, and so are you probably, and—”

“Dokja, Dokja-yah,” Han Sooyoung wheezed, clutching her stomach as she laughed. “It's just Yoo Joonghyuk.”

“Yeah, and he's going to kill me!” Blubbered Kim Dokja, sniffling.

“No, no, no.” Han Sooyoung waved her hand at him, still laughing. “I told him where we live. He's a childhood friend of mine.”

“What.” Kim Dokja said, stilling.

“He’s, like, obsessed with you. He's not going to kill you, that's just how he texts.” Han Sooyoung pulled out her own phone, opening a chat with the same number, same creepy texting style.

“Obsessed and going to kill me,” gritted Kim Dokja, anger bubbling up. “Why would you tell this psychopath where we live?”

Han Sooyoung gave him an annoyed look. “He doesn't want to kill you, Kim Dokja. He thinks you're pretty and is half in love with you, but doesn't know it.”

“Yoo Joonghyuk doesn't like men. I don't like men. Has all the porn you write gotten to your head?” Kim Dokja scowled at Han Sooyoung, tears long forgotten.

Closing her eyes, Han Sooyoung mouthed a silent prayer to the gods. “Well, he's not going to kill you. He might randomly show up to cook you food, because he's a stupid tsundere who's so emotionally constipated it would put a brick wall to shame, but he won't kill us.”

Kim Dokja squinted at Han Sooyoung. “Are you on drugs?”

She sneered at him, disgust evident on her face. “I hope you both suffer miserable deaths.” With that, Han Sooyoung turned on her heel, slipper still in hand, and marched out of Kim Dokja's room, making sure to slam the door on the way out.

“Well fuck you too,” Kim Dokja grumbled to himself, crouching down to pick up his phone from where Han Sooyoung had dropped it.

     ⌈ +82 XX XXXX XXXX

     >> What is your favorite food. ⌋

Huh?

¤

The next time Kim Dokja ran into Yoo Joonghyuk in a game, he was streaming.

At this point, there were clips of them circulating all around the Internet.

To some extent, Kim Dokja didn't think that his repertoire could get any worse.

He'd been seen both flirting with and harassing Yoo Joonghyuk, both evoking similar reactions—minus the death threats—from the man. While the latter was likely to garner more death threats, Kim Dokja was still unsure about the flirting.

But perhaps he'd taken Han Sooyoung's words too harshly; there was no way that Yoo Joonghyuk held any fondness for him, let alone attraction.

The man was straight, for fucks sake.

Kim Dokja was straight too, thank you very much.

Probably. Most likely. He was still figuring it all out.

But Yoo Joonghyuk was most certainly not attracted to men, and definitely not attracted to Kim Dokja.

Even with Han Sooyoung's reassurance that she was childhood friends with Yoo Joonghyuk, Kim Dokja still didn't trust the man. He was definitely the type to murder someone.

All in all, flirting was probably the best way to ragebait Yoo Joonghyuk. After a certain amount, he surely had to break. Surely.

When the game started, Kim Dokja focused on his job as a healer, not wanting to anger Yoo Joonghyuk within the first minute.

27 seconds in, he got one shot by the enemy team's Hawkeye.

“Hyuk-ah,” he whined into his mic. “Why didn't you protect me?”

“What,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, blinking once.

Kim Dokja pouted at his webcam. “Protect me Hyukie, I need a big strong DPS to make sure I survive.”

“What,” repeated Yoo Joonghyuk, brows knitting together.

Sighing, Kim Dokja began his way back to the fight, chewing on his lip as he tried to decide the best course of action.

On one hand, he could fully commit to the helpless healer bit, but that also meant that Yoo Joonghyuk could easily ignore him.

On the other hand, if he just began to blatantly flirt, Yoo Joonghyuk would also probably ignore him.

“Kim Dokja!” Han Sooyoung screamed through the wall, “what the fuck are you doing?!”

Ah, shit, Kim Dokja thought. He had forgotten about Han Sooyoung.

But no matter. Her screaming wouldn't deter him from his mission.

“Joonghyuk-ah,” he purred into his mic, fingers scrambling across his keyboard as he attempted to keep his team alive, “if you kill the Bucky I'll give you a kiss.”

On stream, Yoo Joonghyuk's nostrils flared, jaw flexing. “Salvation,” he gritted out, landing a headshot on the enemy Bucky that killed him. “What are you doing.”

“Hmm?” Kim Dokja popped his ultimate, sighing as he shifted in his seat. Ten seconds of relaxation. “I'm not doing anything, other than busting my ass to keep you alive. If you kill their healers I'll give you another kiss, though!”

Kim Dokja saw a flush spreading across Yoo Joonghyuk's cheeks, and grinned to himself.

By the end of Kim Dokja's ult, Yoo Joonghyuk had killed both of the enemy healers, along with one of their tanks.

“Thank you, Hyukie!”

Yoo Joonghyuk only grunted in response, face now redder than before.

Kim Dokja snickered, ignoring his confused chat. Seeing Yoo Joonghyuk like this made all the attention he'd get worth it.

When the round finally ended, Yoo Joonghyuk switched to Rogue.

Biting his lip, Kim Dokja went through the hero select menu and switched to Gambit, opening his emote tab and pressing the wedding emote.

To his surprise, Yoo Joonghyuk reciprocated, and Gambit jumped into Rogue's arms.

“Wow,” Kim Dokja laughed, “it's almost like we're married, right?”

“Shut up, you fool,” was Yoo Joonghyuk's only response, the blush that was fading coming back in full force.

Kim Dokja giggled, Gambit hopping out of Rogue's arms as the second round started.

It was almost sad how quickly the second round ended. Maybe a minute passed before Kim Dokja's screen had VICTORY blazed across it and Yoo Joonghyuk disconnected from the voice chat.

Faintly, he could hear the telltale sound of Han Sooyoung stomping down the hallway towards his room.

“Ah,” he laughed nervously to his chat, scratching the back of his head. “I have to end the stream now, I think Sooyoungie is mad at me.”

With one final wave, Kim Dokja closed his stream, spinning his chair around as Han Sooyoung slammed his door open.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Han Sooyoung hissed, striding over to Kim Dokja and smacking him on the head. “If you keep this up, then he'll actually come to our apartment, and then I'll have to deal with your stupid sappy romance, and then—”

“Sooyoung,” Kim Dokja interrupted, annoyed. “Why would we have a ‘sappy romance’?” The last part he said sarcastically, a cold feeling running through him when he saw Han Sooyoung's eye twitching.

Han Sooyoung's nostrils flared, and she reached into her pocket, aggressively pulling out her phone. She opened it and flipped the screen toward Kim Dokja.

It was a message chain between Han Sooyoung and Yoo Joonghyuk.

<< Idk what hes doing, was the first message Kim Dokja could see, sent by Han Sooyoung.

>> Does he mean it? Yoo Joonghyuk had replied.

<< Mb but I nevr know w him

<< He could

>> Yes or no, Han Sooyoung.

<< Probably yes tbh

>> “Probably” not a yes.

<< Fuck u too man how am I supposed to know he's stupid and oblivious

>> Does he want to kiss me back?

Kim Dokja glared up at Han Sooyoung. “Is there any point in this other than insulting me?”

“Did you even read it?”

Sighing, Kim Dokja glanced back at the messages. “Yes, Sooyoung, I read—huh?”

Han Sooyoung threw her hands up, rolling her eyes. “Now do you see?!”

“You made this up,” Kim Dokja said flatly. Han Sooyoung was the type of witch to fabricate messages to get her way.

“Do you actually have rocks for brains?” Han Sooyoung hissed, hands reaching out as if to strangle Kim Dokja.

Kim Dokja pushed his chair back, gliding away from Han Sooyoung. “I was first in our class for high school, thank you very much. If I recall correctly, you were near the bottom because you refused to do your homework.”

Han Sooyoung wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, and then you totally failed your entrance exams, so how'd that work out for you?”

Clicking his tongue, Kim Dokja rolled his eyes. “Well I make a shit ton of money from streaming, so I guess it doesn't really matter. Remind me who pays you?”

“I hope you die in a ditch.” Han Sooyoung declared, turning in her heel and stomping out of Kim Dokja's room. “Keep flirting, see what he does!” She yelled from the hallway.

Kim Dokja sighed, leaning his head back against his chair.

Yoo Joonghyuk would never like someone like me.

¤

For the past week, Yoo Joonghyuk's social media had been filled with clips of Kim Dokja flirting with him.

“Joonghyuk-ah, if you kill the Bucky I'll give you a kiss.”

Fuck.

Kim Dokja was stuck in Yoo Joonghyuk's head refusing to leave like the pest he was.

A kiss, really? In what world would Yoo Joonghyuk ever accept that? He'd only killed the Bucky because that was the right thing to do at the time, of course.

He didn't want to be kissed by Kim Dokja. Definitely not.

Even the thought made him uncomfortable, face burning and stomach flipping.

But still, Yoo Joonghyuk couldn't deny his infatuation with Kim Dokja, how something about the man was so alluring, so appealing. He couldn't quite put his finger in it, but something was definitely there.

It didn't help that Yoo Joonghyuk found himself returning back to Kim Dokja's streams, almost obsessively.

Watching Kim Dokja's streams made him feel lonely. The silence in his apartment became more apparent, air heavy with the feeling.

Yoo Joonghyuk realized that before he'd met Kim Dokja, he'd gone days without speaking before, only sound coming from his PC or his kitchen appliances.

The only times he'd leave his apartment would be to buy groceries or other necessities, only talking to his teammates when they had tournaments together.

But with Kim Dokja, Yoo Joonghyuk felt himself being pulled in. Swept away into the whirlpool known as Salvation, replying to his ridiculous statements and requests.

He felt more alive, less alone.

Whenever he wasn't streaming, Kim Dokja most likely was. Even when he was tired, Yoo Joonghyuk would pull up Kim Dokja's stream, just listening to the man ramble on and on about some obscure game or web novel.

He knew that Kim Dokja's favorite food was omurice, and that his apartment was a ten minute walk away.

He knew that Kim Dokja preferred story games to Marvel Rivals, although he was better at the latter.

He knew that Kim Dokja lived with Han Sooyoung, and had inherited her pettiness.

He knew that Kim Dokja was one of the most beautiful people he'd ever seen, even if the man himself didn't believe that.

He knew that Kim Dokja didn't like men.

He knew that Yoo Joonghyuk liked one man.

He knew that Yoo Joonghyuk definitely wanted to be kissed by Kim Dokja.

He knew that Yoo Joonghyuk was probably in love with Kim Dokja, who would never love him back.

¤

“Dokja,” Han Sooyoung started one night at dinner, mouth full. “Do you even like women?”

Kim Dokja choked on his water, coughing into his glass. “What in the ever living fuck are you talking about?”

Chewing loudly, Han Sooyoung stabbed a piece of tofu with her chopsticks. “‘m just saying, I've never heard you talk about women. Are you sure you don't like men?”

“I like plenty of women,” huffed Kim Dokja, wiping his shirt with a napkin to try to siphon the water off of it.

“Yeah but like—are you attracted to them?”

Kim Dokja looked up sharply. “Of course I am. Women are great.”

Han Sooyoung didn't look impressed. “Name one woman you're attracted to.”

“That's easy,” Kim Dokja started, then stopped. Was it easy? No-one came to mind. He knew several women—Yoo Sangah, Jung Heewon, Han Sooyoung, but he wasn't attracted to any of them.

Biting his lip, he thought back to high school. There were popular girls, but he didn't recall ever liking any of them.

“Sangah-ssi is pretty,” Kim Dokja finally settled on.

Han Sooyoung growled. “That's my girlfriend, you piece of shit!”

Ah, Kim Dokja thought.

“Nononono,” he said hurriedly. “I'm not attracted to her. I just—”

He just what?

“—objectively, she is attractive. I think? No, yes she is.” Kim Dokja thought some more. “Her hair, especially, I think is pretty? It's very lovely. Her eyes are also a very nice color.”

Han Sooyoung gaped at him. “You're hopeless.”

Blinking, Kim Dokja tilted his head.

Groaning, Han Sooyoung rubbed her face with both hands. “So you've never been attracted to a woman before.”

“Well, I wouldn't say that—”

“Kim Dokja. You are 28. You should remember at least one woman you've wanted to kiss, or date, or fuck, or whatever.”

“But—”

“But you're willing to fully flirt with a man.”

Kim Dokja glared at Han Sooyoung. “As a joke!”

Abruptly, Han Sooyoung stood up. “I can't do this anymore,” she said. “I'm moving out. Sangah asked me to move in with her. I was on the fence, but I can't take you and your bullshit anymore.”

“What?!”

“You'll need a new roommate, of course. I'll find you one.” Han Sooyoung picked up her phone, glancing at a text she had just gotten. “I'll make sure they can cook too. Can't have you starving to death or burning down the apartment.”

Kim Dokja stared at Han Sooyoung, mouth gaping and eyes wide. His food sat in front of him, rapidly cooling. “Wha—but—I—y–you can't!”

Han Sooyoung glared at him. “I can, and I will.” With that, she turned on her heel, marching out of the kitchen, leaving Kim Dokja all by himself.

Huh?

¤

Yoo Joonghyuk didn't expect to get a text from Han Sooyoung at two in the morning, ever.

He also didn't expect her to ask him to move apartments, to become Kim Dokja's roommate of all things.

Groggily staring at his phone screen, Yoo Joonghyuk thought he was hallucinating. The text notification had woken him up, but he could still be dreaming.

<< you can cook right

<< dokja needs a roommate

<< im moving out in 3 dys move in tjen

He must be hallucinating.

He rubbed his eyes, squirting back at the screen.

The words were blurry, but they hadn't changed. Han Sooyoung was asking him to move into Kim Dokja's apartment.

???, he sent back, before turning off his phone and going back to sleep. It was probably just a dream, and he'd wake up to colossal disappointment.

¤

Han Sooyoung stood at the door of their apartment, surrounded by suitcases and boxes.

Kim Dokja stood awkwardly in the kitchen, watching her type something on her phone.

“Do I get to know who my new roommate is, at least?” Kim Dokja questioned, fiddling with his hands.

Raising an eyebrow, Han Sooyoung looked up at him and let out a short laugh. “You'll be fine,” she huffed, smirking. “I think you'll like your new roommate, in fact.”

Kim Dokja groaned, dropping his head. “That's the fifth time you've said that. It doesn't make me feel any better.”

“Mhm, well, Sangah is here, so help me move everything.”

Sighing, Kim Dokja shuffled over to the door, bending down to pick up some of Han Sooyoung's boxes. “I can't believe you're really abandoning me, Sooyoungie.”

Han Sooyoung scoffed, opening the door and dragging a suitcase out of it. “I'm not abandoning you. I'm moving in with my girlfriend so I can wife her up.”

“Legally, you can't get married.”

“Well fuck you too,” huffed Han Sooyoung, flipping a middle finger at Kim Dokja. “You won't be able to get married to anyone either, gayboy.”

“Shut up,” Kim Dokja muttered, unable to refute her statement.

“Sooyoungie?” Yoo Sangah’s voice called as she rounded the corner. “Ah! Hello, Dokja-ssi.”

Kim Dokja tilted his head. “Sangah-ssi.”

“Stop hitting on my girlfriend Mr. ‘Her Hair is Very Lovely’.”

“Han Sooyoung, shut up,” hissed Kim Dokja, glaring at her. “It's nice to see you again, Sangah-ssi.”

Yoo Sangah cocked her head. “Sooyoungie, what are you going on about?”

Laughing, Han Sooyoung waved the question off. “Just making fun of Dokja's silly thoughts.”

With one final glare, Kim Dokja shouldered his way past Han Sooyoung, walking towards the elevator.

Anything to get the witch out of his sight as soon as possible.

“You just want this in the car, right Sangah-ssi?” ask Kim Dokja, pressing the down button to summon the elevator.

“Yeah, it should be waiting outside. I'll grab the last of the stuff so we only have to do one trip.” Yoo Sangah hurried off towards Han Sooyoung, who stuck her tongue out at Kim Dokja.

Lovely hair, she mouthed at him.

Trip and eat shit, he mouthed back.

The elevator dinged, and its doors opened. Kim Dokja stepped in, making sure to keep his foot in the opening so that the doors would stay open.

A few moments later Han Sooyoung and Yoo Sangah hurried in, carrying the rest of Han Sooyoung's belongings. Kim Dokja pressed the button for the lobby, eyes flitting around the ceiling of the elevator as the two murmured to each other.

When the elevator finally reached the lobby, Kim Dokja scurried off, looking for the car that Yoo Sangah said was waiting.

It was idling near the front doors, the driver scrolling on his phone. Opening the trunk, Kim Dokja dropped his boxes inside, making sure to push them to the back so that there'd be enough space for everything else.

Han Sooyoung and Yoo Sangah followed in suit, neatly placing all of Han Sooyoung's belongings into the trunk.

“Well,” Han Sooyoung started, biting her lip. “I guess this is goodbye.”

Kim Dokja rolled his eyes. “What are you, my husband going off to die in war?”

Scowling, Han Sooyoung punched him in the arm. “Fuck you.”

“I'll come visit you, probably. Just don't cast any spells on me, you hag.”

“I'm literally 2 months older than you.”

“You practically knew the cavemen, my god…”

Han Sooyoung socked him in the stomach, and Kim Dokja doubled over, clutching his torso. “Fuck,” he gasped, wheezing. “Why are you so strong?”

“The gods favor me.”

“Dokja-ssi,” interjected Yoo Sangah, looking concerned. “Are you alright?”

Kim Dokja waved a hand, coughing out a laugh. “I'm fine. I'll see you later this week, Sooyoung.”

“You'd better,” Han Sooyoung said, pulling him up for a hug. Kim Dokja squeezed her tightly, smiling.

“When have I ever lied to you, Sooyoungie?”

“All the time, you bastard.”

Kim Dokja sighed, letting go of Han Sooyoung. “You wound me.”

“You annoy me,” Han Sooyoung retorted.

“This week,” Kim Dokja said.

“Friday,” Han Sooyoung declared.

Kim Dokja stuck his hand out, and Han Sooyoung shook it.

When she let go, she turned towards the passenger door, giving Kim Dokja one last smile. “See ya, Dokja.”

“Bye-bye, Sooyoungie.”

Han Sooyoung closed the taxi door, waving as it pulled away.

Kim Dokja watched as the car disappeared into the traffic, taking Han Sooyoung with it.

He turned and began his way back into his apartment building, stepping into the elevator and riding in silence back up to his floor. The ding of the doors opening echoed through his hallway, the sound ringing in Kim Dokja's ears.

When he opened the door to his apartment, Kim Dokja stood in the entryway.

Checking his phone, he saw that there were no new notifications. Han Sooyoung hadn't told him when his new roommate was going to move in, so Kim Dokja was stuck in the purgatory of waiting.

Chewing on his lip, Kim Dokja decided to take a nap. His sleep schedule was already terrible, and he was tired, so how much harm could it do?

Pulling his shoes off, Kim Dokja shuffled into his bedroom, stripping off his clothes and tugging on a set of pajamas that Han Sooyoung had gifted him. It was horrendous, neon green with dancing pineapples.

Shimmying under his covers, Kim Dokja sighed and closed his eyes. Peace and quiet, perfect for a short nap.

Just a little bit, maybe an hour.

Yes, just an hour, Kim Dokja thought sleepily. Just a short little hour.

¤

Yoo Joonghyuk knocked on Kim Dokja's door at exactly 5 P.M., not a minute early, not a minute late.

He'd dragged all of his belongings—all of them, including his full PC setup—into the building and up to Kim Dokja's floor, ignoring the weird stares he got.

Kim Dokja hadn't answered when he called him, so Yoo Joonghyuk was left to haul everything himself, a very awkward and uncomfortable journey.

Rapping on Kim Dokja's door, he couldn't hear anything happening behind it.

Hell, he didn't even know if Kim Dokja knew he was coming.

Han Sooyoung, the evil little witch, probably didn't even tell Kim Dokja when he was going to arrive.

Knocking harder, Yoo Joonghyuk glanced at his watch.

17:03.

Scowling, he pulled his phone from his back pocket, swiping through his contacts and pressing the call button on Kim Dokja's profile.

He could hear the ringing through the door.

At least this was Kim Dokja's apartment, and Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't making a fool of himself in front of some poor citizens' door.

“Kim Dokja,” he called, pounding on the door. “Open the door.”

Silence greeted him.

Yoo Joonghyuk could feel his eye twitching, anger rising.

“Kim Dok—”

The door opened.

Kim Dokja, wearing the most disgusting outfit Yoo Joonghyuk had ever seen, stood on the other side.

He was yawning, rubbing one eye with a hand as he glanced up at Yoo Joonghyuk.

“Mm, Hyuk-ah,” he mumbled, eyes fluttering. “Y’r prettier now…” Kim Dokja trailed off, covering his mouth as he yawned again.

“I—” Yoo Joonghyuk stared at Kim Dokja, who blinked hazily at him.

“Can I go back to bed now?” Kim Dokja asked, twiddling with his fingers.

Yoo Joonghyuk could only stare at Kim Dokja. This was the man who seemed so full of life, so energetic? This sleepy, docile puppy? “Okay,” was all he said, unsure of how to respond to Kim Dokja's question. Why was he asking Yoo Joonghyuk anyway?

“Great,” murmured Kim Dokja, before turning and shuffling away from Yoo Joonghyuk. “Get me when foods ready,” he said from what Yoo Joonghyuk assumed was his bedroom, before collapsing onto his bed.

At least, Yoo Joonghyuk hoped it was his bed, and not the floor.

Dazed, Yoo Joonghyuk turned and began to bring his belongings in, assuming the that empty room near the one Kim Dokja went into was to be his.

Han Sooyoung had left most of her furniture, so Yoo Joonghyuk hadn't brought any of his, just formatting his possessions around the setup of the room.

He realized, standing in Han Sooyoung's former room, that Han Sooyoung was, in fact, far smaller than him, and that Han Sooyoung's bed was also far smaller than what he was used to.

It was fine, for now, but he'd likely have to buy a new one at some point.

By the time he'd finished moving in, Yoo Joonghyuk realized that it was nearing 7 P.M. and he still hadn't heard a peep from Kim Dokja's room.

Had the man perished?

Did Kim Dokja hit his head while collapsing onto his bed and fall into a coma?

Creeping towards Kim Dokja's room, Yoo Joonghyuk peeked in, scanning the room.

Kim Dokja lay splayed out on his bed—his gigantic bed—next to what appeared to be a giant stuffed shark.

Other than the faint rise and fall of his chest, Yoo Joonghyuk didn't see any other signs of life from the man.

Quietly pulling his phone out, Yoo Joonghyuk took a picture and sent it to Han Sooyoung.

Is this normal? Yoo Joonghyuk asked, looking back up at Kim Dokja.

<< does he look like hes dead

Yes, responded Yoo Joonghyuk, slightly worried.

<< yeah ur fine

<< he just sleeps like that

Frowning, Yoo Joonghyuk looked up at Kim Dokja again. He really didn't appear to be moving.

Abruptly, Kim Dokja rolled over, clutching onto the stuffed shark like a child.

No, Yoo Joonghyuk corrected himself, like a squid.

Huffing out a laugh, Yoo Joonghyuk turned and walked to the kitchen, looking for something to make for dinner.

The contents of the refrigerator were highly questionable at best, but Yoo Joonghyuk spotted everything he needed to make an okay omurice.

After a bit of rummaging he found where all the pots and pans and plates were located, and set to work on making Kim Dokja the perfect omurice.

Searching for an apron, all that turned up was a horrible apron that matched the pattern of Kim Dokja's pajamas, neon green with humanoid pineapples.

Yoo Joonghyuk wrinkled his nose in disgust, but donned the apron anyway, promising himself that he'd buy a normal one soon. Preferably black.

Once he finished tying the apron around his waist, Yoo Joonghyuk began to make the omurice, whisking the eggs and delicately pushing them around the pan.

It wasn't too hard to make omurice, but if he stopped paying attention Yoo Joonghyuk was sure it'd somehow go to shit. He was even more motivated by the thought of making Kim Dokja happy, spoiling him with his favorite dish.

When the eggs were done Yoo Joonghyuk carefully plated them on top of the rice, making sure that it wouldn't burst open until cut.

Just as he was laying a small garnish in top, Kim Dokja shuffled into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

“Sooyoung,” he mumbled, staring unfocused at the counter. “You came back for me. I didn't know you—” Kim Dokja's eyes widened as he finally looked up. “Why are you here?!”

¤

Kim Dokja woke up to the smell of eggs.

It smelled good, really good in fact.

Detangling himself from Jeff, his stuffed shark, he slithered out of bed, flinching as his feet touched the cold floor.

Han Sooyoung must have come back, he concluded. She realized that she made a terrible decision and came back to rescue me.

Stretching his arms, Kim Dokja yawned as he shuffled towards the kitchen, following his nose.

He didn't know that Han Sooyoung could cook well, and she'd certainly never made anything that smelled this good.

Yawning and rubbing his eye, Kim Dokja turned the corner into the kitchen, zeroing in on the omurice on the kitchen counter.

“Sooyoung,” he mumbled, unfocused as he gazed longingly at the omurice. How thoughtful of Han Sooyoung. “You came back for me. I didn't know you—”

Yoo Joonghyuk was standing behind the kitchen counter, wearing the stupid apron that Han Sooyoung had bought, the one that matched the pajamas that Kim Dokja was wearing.

“Why are you here?!” Kim Dokja exclaimed, now fully awake.

Yoo Joonghyuk blinked at him. “What,” he asked, voice deeper than Kim Dokja expected it to be.

Shit, Kim Dokja thought, panicking. He's finally come to kill me.

“You—why—how,” spluttered Kim Dokja, reaching behind him to pick up the decorative vase that was sitting on the table behind him. If Yoo Joonghyuk was here to kill him, he'd at least do some damage to the man's handsome face first. “Why are you here,” he emphasized, hoisting the vase like it was a baseball bat.

Yoo Joonghyuk stared at him blankly. “I'm your roommate now. Han Sooyoung told me I was supposed to replace her.”

Slowly, Kim Dokja lowered the vase. “What,” he asked, voice cracking. “You?”

“Yes,” Yoo Joonghyuk said blandly. “Are you hungry?”

“No,” Kim Dokja snapped, glaring at Yoo Joonghyuk. “I don't want your food, you'll poison m—”

Grrwl, said Kim Dokja's stomach.

Flushing, Kim Dokja gritted his teeth. “What did you make,” he grumbled, putting the vase back down on the table behind him.

“Omurice,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, pushing the plate towards Kim Dokja.

Kim Dokja huffed, pulling out one of the bar stools and sitting down at the counter. “Thank you,” he muttered, pointedly not looking at Yoo Joonghyuk.

Yoo Joonghyuk hummed in response, handing over chopsticks to Kim Dokja and slicing down the middle of the egg, letting it fall over the rice.

Fuck, Kim Dokja thought. It smelled heavenly.

He took a small bite.

Fuck, Kim Dokja wailed internally. It tasted heavenly too.

“It's okay,” he said, chewing. “I guess.”

Yoo Joonghyuk pulled the chopsticks out of Kim Dokja's hand, taking a bite for himself.

Kim Dokja stared up at him, face warm. The man couldn't get his own chopsticks?

“Don't lie,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, slotting the chopsticks back into Kim Dokja's hand.

Kim Dokja looked away, face burning now. Did Yoo Joonghyuk have no shame?

Focusing his gaze on the food, Kim Dokja kept his head down as he ate the rest of the omurice. Yoo Joonghyuk was right, he was lying. It was really good. Much better than any of the crap that Han Sooyoung had ever made.

Yoo Joonghyuk turned to wash the dishes, scrubbing as Kim Dokja finished his meal. When he was done he turned back to Kim Dokja, hand out as he motioned for the plate.

Kim Dokja handed it over, avoiding Yoo Joonghyuk's gaze.

Yoo Joonghyuk rinsed the plate off, then put it in the dishwasher, turning back to Kim Dokja.

“Where can I,” he started, then stopped. Kim Dokja looked over questioningly. “Where do you want me to put my PC for streaming?” Yoo Joonghyuk asked, nodding at the boxes that were by the door.

“Oh,” Kim Dokja said, blinking. “You can put it in the same room as mine, I guess.”

Yoo Joonghyuk cocked his head. “You don't mind my set-up being in view of your stream?”

Kim Dokja shrugged. “Not really,” he admitted. “We don't usually stream at the same time anyway, so it should be fine.”

Nodding, Yoo Joonghyuk untied his apron and hung it up, striding over to his disassembled PC.

“Just don't put it next to mine,” Kim Dokja said abruptly. He didn't want to stream with Yoo Joonghyuk sitting next to him.

“Alright,” Yoo Joonghyuk agreed, picking up a box and bringing it to the streaming room.

Kim Dokja slid off of the bar stool, following him. Yoo Joonghyuk placed the box parallel to Kim Dokja's set-up, looking at him questioningly.

Biting his lip, Kim Dokja nodded, then went to go get one of the boxes by the door.

He might as well get used to Yoo Joonghyuk, it seemed.

¤

“Room change?” Kim Dokja read off from his chat. “Nope,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Same room.”

He leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms.

“I just got a—ngoh my God, my elbow just cracked—new roommate.” Kim Dokja shook his arm out, clenching and unclenching his fingers.

His chat zipped by, most viewers asking questions as Han Sooyoung attempted to herd them like cattle.

[V†P] Uriloveshr: who is it?

Kim Dokja grinned. “Who is it? I'm sure you'll get to know soon,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “Ah, here he comes now.”

Yoo Joonghyuk shuffled into the room, munching on a bowl of cereal. He gave a small nod to Kim Dokja, then continued to his own set-up, never facing Kim Dokja's webcam.

“Are you gonna play now?” Kim Dokja asked, spinning his chair around in circles as he waited for Marvel Rivals to launch.

Yoo Joonghyuk grunted in acknowledgement, giving another small nod as he booted up his PC.

“No stream?”

“Need to just get my alts to top ten,” was Yoo Joonghyuk's reply, and Kim Dokja scowled.

Greedy bastard.

Every season Yoo Joonghyuk leveled several of his accounts into the top ten spots, a tradition that had left Kim Dokja at 11th on the second page last season.

“Literally nobody likes you,” Kim Dokja grumbled, halting his spinning and spamming space as the loading screen opened.

Looking at his own webcam display, Kim Dokja watched as Yoo Joonghyuk loaded into the game and started his ranked queue.

Kim Dokja smiled, clicking the queue button and cackling when their screens lit up in synchrony as they joined the same match.

Yoo Joonghyuk's account, REGRESSOR, was on the other team, and Kim Dokja could feel a plot forming in his head.

It was awfully convenient that his opponent happened to be less than five meters away from him. Even more convenient that said opponent couldn't commit any crimes to Kim Dokja, since he was streaming.

“Salvation,” Yoo Joonghyuk said sharply.

Kim Dokja smiled sweetly. “Yes, roommate-nim?” He asked, putting on an innocent tone.

Pulling his earbuds out, Kim Dokja grabbed his mouse and pushed off of his desk and rolled back until his chair hit Yoo Joonghyuk's, unashamedly staring at the hero selection screen that Yoo Joonghyuk's team was on.

“Ban Magik,” he called across the room to his own team, pressing the chat button on his mouse.

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk hissed, nostrils flaring.

“Yes, Joonghyukie?” Kim Dokja breathed into Yoo Joonghyuk's ear, smirking as the man's ears flushed red.

It was so easy to anger Yoo Joonghyuk, to watch as his ears burned red and his brows furrowed when Kim Dokja got close.

Glancing one last time at Yoo Joonghyuk's screen, Kim Dokja propelled himself back over to his PC, opening the voice chat again. “Ban Groot, too.”

In his webcam Kim Dokja saw Yoo Joonghyuk's head whip around, eyes burning into the back of his skull.

“Ah!” Kim Dokja exclaimed, feigning innocence. “What an effective set of bans! Such a shame that Queenswoman and Bumps can't play their heroes!”

Yoo Joonghyuk growled from the other side of the room.

“How lucky of me,” sighed Kim Dokja, resting his cheek in his hand, “that I was able to oh–so–cleverly deduce who was on the other team even though their names were hidden!”

Abruptly Yoo Joonghyuk stood up, striding over to Kim Dokja. Pulling out his earbuds and covering his mic a hand, Yoo Joonghyuk leaned in. “I will poison your food and smother you in your sleep,” he murmured into Kim Dokja's ear, who looked at him with wide eyes.

“I—”

“Stop fucking around,” continued Yoo Joonghyuk, other hand fisting in Kim Dokja's collar. “Or I'll choke you to death, right here on your stream.”

With that he let go of Kim Dokja's shirt, walking back to his own PC and sitting down.

Kim Dokja swallowed thickly, putting his earbuds back in with shaky hands. He ignored his concerned chat, instead focusing on the newly begun game.

He played in silence, running around the map as Yoo Joonghyuk chased him, attempting to kill him. The game essentially became a 5v5, Kim Dokja's team complaining that he was throwing as he hauled ass away from Yoo Joonghyuk, who was flying after him on Angela.

“I'm sorry,” Kim Dokja said to his team, attempting to dive underground as Jeff the Landshark was scooped up on his screen.

“Fuck you, stupid bastard,” he growled, running around behind Yoo Joonghyuk’s Angela to avoid dying.

“You're not very good at this,” Yoo Joonghyuk called from behind him, Angela stabbing at Jeff.

Kim Dokja scowled, swimming up the wall of a building as Yoo Joonghyuk closed in ominously.

“Get away from me,” Kim Dokja hissed, shooting his spitwad attack at Yoo Joonghyuk, knocking Angela out of the air.

In return, Yoo Joonghyuk ulted, tying Kim Dokja's Jeff to the ground. Switching to his axes, Yoo Joonghyuk finally killed Kim Dokja after almost three minutes of cat and mouse.

“I should poison your food for that,” lamented Kim Dokja, slumping in his chair.

Yoo Joonghyuk huffed out a laugh. “You're not allowed anywhere near the food, everything you make is poison anyway.”

Kim Dokja kissed his teeth, rolling his eyes. “Bastard,” he grumbled, rejoining his team.

Not 3 seconds later Yoo Joonghyuk swooped down from the high ground, kidnapping Kim Dokja again.

Clenching his teeth, Kim Dokja spammed his shift key as he dove beneath the surface of the map again, zigzagging back towards his team.

“Fuckyoufuckyoufuckyou,” he chanted under his breath, resurfacing to heal his team. Yoo Joonghyuk only kidnapped him again, Jeff rolling over with a howl as he died a second time. “Have you ever considered killing yourself?” Kim Dokja growled, spinning his chair to look at Yoo Joonghyuk. “I think that would be a good idea.”

“I thought it was your goal to ragebait me,” Yoo Joonghyuk replied, killing more of Kim Dokja's teammates.

Fuck this man and his stupid logic, Kim Dokja thought, teeth gritted.

“Maybe I'll just throw out your 17 step haircare routine,” rebuked Kim Dokja, spinning back to his PC.

“I'd just buy another set,” Yoo Joonghyuk said plainly, unphased by Kim Dokja's threats.

Fuckyoufuckyoufuckyou, screamed Kim Dokja internally. Fuck you and your stupid handsome face.

Seething, Kim Dokja returned to the game, teeth clenched and jaw flexed for the remainder of it. Yoo Joonghyuk continued to harass him, targeting Kim Dokja until he died.

When the Defeat screen splashed across Kim Dokja's monitor he sighed, massaging his temples. “I'm going to call it,” he said to his chat, feeling an oncoming headache. “I need to go strangle Yoo Joonghyuk.”

With one last wave, Kim Dokja turned off his stream, shutting down his PC.

“Giving you that easily?” Yoo Joonghyuk commented, clicking around on his computer.

“Fuck off and die,” Kim Dokja replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Ruining my day.”

Yoo Joonghyuk rolled his chair back toward Kim Dokja. Tilting his head back, he reached out and grabbed Kim Dokja's face.

Kim Dokja let out a squawk, muffled by Yoo Joonghyuk's hand.

“Mm, you don't seem to have had your day ruined,” he noted, emotionless eyes surveying Kim Dokja's face.

Wretching his face out of Yoo Joonghyuk's hand, Kim Dokja glared at him. “It's not my fault you're a stupid sunfish bastard who can't see anything beyond your own nose.”

Yoo Joonghyuk cocked his head. “I'm making tomato soup for dinner tonight, by the way.”

Kim Dokja whipped his head towards Yoo Joonghyuk, something in his neck cracking. “You wouldn't,” he said.

“I am,” Yoo Joonghyuk replied, unfazed. “If that's all, I have more matches to win.”

He rolled back over to his PC, leaving Kim Dokja in stunned silence.

Seething to himself, Kim Dokja grabbed a pen off of his desk, hurling it at Yoo Joonghyuk.

It hit the man in the back of the head, and he whirled around, glaring at Kim Dokja. In return, Kim Dokja flipped Yoo Joonghyuk off, storming out of the room.

He stomped into the living room, throwing himself face first into the couch.

“Stupid Yoo Joonghyuk,” he muttered to himself, shaking his fist in Yoo Joonghyuk's general direction. “Fucking Yoo Joonghyuk, ruining my life.”

Yeah, Kim Dokja thought angrily. Stupid Yoo Joonghyuk and his stupid name and his stupid face.

¤

Kim Dokja yawned. It was so warm in the apartment, and he just wanted to go back to sleep. But any more would ruin his already shitty sleep schedule, and he'd just woken up from his midday nap.

Stretching across his bed, Kim Dokja groaned as his back popped and cracked.

With one final stretch he stood up, flexing his toes in the plush fibers of the carpet.

Fuck, he thought, before his vision went black. He leaned backwards, letting himself fall into his bed.

After some aggressive blinking his vision returned, and Kim Dokja squinted as he looked up at his ceiling. He hadn't been eating enough iron recently, then.

Standing up slower this time, Kim Dokja made his way out of his bedroom and into the kitchen, brushing past Yoo Joonghyuk as he reached for his bottle of iron supplements.

“Did you faint again?” Yoo Joonghyuk asked, turning to look at Kim Dokja.

Gulping down the pill dry, Kim Dokja shook his head. “Just couldn't see,” he replied once he'd swallowed the capsule. He glanced at the counter, where Yoo Joonghyuk was cooking dinner. “What are you making now? Dumplings again?”

Yoo Joonghyuk grunted in affirmation, returning back to wrapping the dumplings.

Kim Dokja glanced up, and caught sight of a girl sitting on their couch.

“Joonghyuk-ah,” he started warily. “Why is there a twelve year old on the couch?”

Yoo Joonghyuk looked up at the girl. “Oh,” he said before returning to wrapping the dumplings. “That's Yoo Mia, my sister. She has a day off from school, and I told her she could come here.”

Yoo Mia gave a half-hearted wave, busy with whatever was on her phone.

“Yoo Joonghyuk,” Kim Dokja said, annoyed. “We don't have space for another person.”

“Yes we do,” Yoo Joonghyuk replied, placing a dumpling into one of the pots in front of him. “She’ll sleep in my bed, and we'll share yours.”

Kim Dokja opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “What?”

“Did you not hear me? I said that we'll share and—”

“No, no, no,” Kim Dokja interrupted, trying to figure out what Yoo Joonghyuk's ulterior motive was. “What do you mean share?”

“Share. A verb. To partake or use something with one or more people.” Yoo Joonghyuk placed another dumpling into the pot, putting its lid on and placing it on the stove. “I thought you said you had a college degree.”

“Oppa,” Yoo Mia called from the other side of the room, halting Kim Dokja's train of conspiracy theories. “Stop flirting with ugly Ahjussi and make dinner faster, I'm hungry.”

“Ugly Ahjussi?” Kim Dokja spluttered, distracted from his previous train of thought.

“Mia-yah,” Yoo Joonghyuk said sharply. “Don't lie.”

Yoo Mia rolled her eyes, clicking her tongue. “Fine. Stop flirting with Ahjussi and make dinner faster, I'm hungry.”

Yoo Joonghyuk nodded like that was better.

Kim Dokja stared at him, mouth open and eyes wide.

What in the world, he thought, perplexed.

“I'm not that old,” said Kim Dokja, choosing to ignore the other half of what Yoo Mia had said.

Yoo Mia gave Kim Dokja a scathing look. “You're, like, seven bajillion years old. You probably knew the dinosaurs. I don't know why Oppa likes you.”

“What?”

Sighing, Yoo Joonghyuk moved to the sink and began to rinse off the dishes he had used. “Mia, what nonsense are you spouting?”

“Why are you pining after this old loser? He can't even cook!”

Yoo Joonghyuk stared blankly at Yoo Mia. “Well I don't eat food if I didn't make it, so it's good that he can't cook.”

“Hey!” Kim Dokja exclaimed, still confused as to what the two siblings were yammering about. “I can cook!”

“No, you can't,” both Yoo Joonghyuk and Yoo Mia replied in unison.

“I've seen your disasters,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, scrubbing at a plate.

“And I've seen the pictures of those disasters,” Yoo Mia tagged in, entranced again by her phone.

Kim Dokja threw his hands up. Whatever know-it-all disease Yoo Joonghyuk had must be genetic. “That was one time!” He exclaimed, exasperated.

“No it wasn't,” Yoo Joonghyuk muttered, drying the plate.

Rage coursed through Kim Dokja. How dare Yoo Joonghyuk badmouth him in his own home, with his sister nonetheless, who he invited without even telling Kim Dokja.

Kim Dokja smacked Yoo Joonghyuk on the back of his head, stomping out of the kitchen and back to his bedroom.

Screw Yoo Joonghyuk, screw Yoo Mia, and screw his terrible cooking skills.

He collapsed into his bed, shuffling under the covers as he grumbled to himself.

Nobody liked Yoo Joonghyuk anyway.

¤

Yoo Joonghyuk had gone to get Kim Dokja when the dumplings were ready, but the man was fast asleep in his bed.

After several minutes of internal debate, Yoo Joonghyuk reluctantly decided not to wake him, instead eating with Yoo Mia instead.

He placed a steaming plate of dumplings in front of her, placing the rest into a container and putting it in the fridge.

“I don't get it, Oppa,” she said with her mouth full.

“Chew your food,” he responded automatically.

Yoo Mia stuck her tongue out once she had swallowed. “You're so annoying. What do you even like about that ugly Ahjussi?”

Yoo Joonghyuk scowled at Yoo Mia. “He's not ugly. Don't call people ugly if they're not.”

Rolling her eyes, Yoo Mia scoffed. “You're blind. And you didn't answer my question.”

Yoo Joonghyuk looked down at his plate moving his dumplings around as he thought about her question. “He's…infuriating, I guess.”

“Huh?”

“But in a way that makes me want to take care of him.”

“What are you even talking about—”

“He's kind, too,” Yoo Joonghyuk cut Yoo Mia off. “He tries his best, and he has real passion for things. He really does love his followers, and he cares for his friends.”

“It's as if,” he continued, laying down his chopsticks. “It's as if I'm the only person in the world when he talks to me.”

Yoo Mia gagged. “You're such a disgusting sap.”

Glaring at her, Yoo Joonghyuk poked her in the forehead. “Keep acting like that and I'll make you stay with Eumma and Appa.”

Gasping, Yoo Mia dramatically clutched her chest. “You wouldn't!”

“I would. Now finish your dumplings.”

Yoo Mia grumbled what was likely a string of curses, but returned to her dinner. Once her plate was clear she pushed it towards Yoo Joonghyuk, who picked it up and placed both of the plates into the dishwasher.

“Go take a shower,” he commanded, pointing at the bathroom off of the kitchen.

Yoo Mia hopped off of her chair, waltzing into Yoo Joonghyuk's room and grabbing her supplies from her suitcase before frolicking into the bathroom. “Night, loser!” She called, waving before she shut the door.

Sighing, Yoo Joonghyuk changed into pajamas, grabbing a pillow and approaching Kim Dokja's room. The man was still splayed out, dead asleep as Yoo Joonghyuk entered the room.

Chewing his lip, Yoo Joonghyuk decided that he would sleep on the floor. Kim Dokja hadn't agreed to his earlier declaration, so it wasn't right for him to just barge in and sleep in Kim Dokja's bed. Creeping toward an empty part of the floor, Yoo Joonghyuk dropped his pillow onto the ground, spinning around as he looked for a blanket.

Next to Kim Dokja's bed there was a pile, precariously balanced on a chair.

Yoo Joonghyuk tiptoed over, pulling off the top blanket.

It slid off with ease, the pile only wobbling a little.

Exhaling, Yoo Joonghyuk shuffled back towards his pillow.

All of a sudden, the pile of blankets collapsed, falling and knocking over a stack of books that was next to the chair.

Yoo Joonghyuk stilled, looking over to Kim Dokja.

The man stirred, head rising as he looked around blearily. “Eh?”

“Yoo Joonghyuk,” Kim Dokja slurred, when he caught sight of Yoo Joonghyuk. “What ‘re you doing?”

“Sleeping on the floor,” Yoo Joonghyuk responded, still frozen.

Kim Dokja sighed. “Silly Hyukie. C’mere.” With a small wave of his hand, Kim Dokja beckoned Yoo Joonghyuk over.

Picking up his pillow, Yoo Joonghyuk walked over, approaching Kim Dokja.

“Get in, you silly bastard,” Kim Dokja said sleepily, yawning.

“Ok,” Yoo Joonghyuk replied, swallowing.

He lifted up the covers, placing his pillow in the furthest edge of the bed and got in, making sure to leave a large distance between himself and Kim Dokja.

Kim Dokja groaned, pinching the back of Yoo Joonghyuk's pajamas and tugging him closer. “‘m I scary, Hyukie?”

“No,” Yoo Joonghyuk breathed, turning over to face Kim Dokja.

“Then come here.” Kim Dokja lifted an arm, and Yoo Joonghyuk scooted closer as he was pulled in.

Kim Dokja wrapped himself around Yoo Joonghyuk, burying his face into Yoo Joonghyuk's chest. “So soft,” he sighed.

Yoo Joonghyuk was sure his heart was trying to escape from his flesh.

He was sure that Kim Dokja could feel it, cheek pressed against his chest as he fell back into sleep.

Closing his eyes, Yoo Joonghyuk tried to calm his heart, steadying his breathing as he began to count sheep.

One sheep two sheep, red sheep blue sheep.

Sheep jumping fences. Kim Dokja petting sheep. Cute.

No!

Focus.

One sheep two sheep, red sheep blue sheep…

¤

Kim Dokja woke up comfortably. His pillow was soft, his blankets warm.

Sleepily blinking his eyes open, Kim Dokja froze as he realized why it was that his pillow was so soft and his blankets were so warm.

He was laying on Yoo Joonghyuk.

Not next to him; no, he was fully sprawled across Yoo Joonghyuk's body.

His leg was thrown over Yoo Joonghyuk's waist, cheek resting on his chest as his right hand laid on Yoo Joonghyuk's left bicep.

Yoo Joonghyuk's own arm was wrapped around Kim Dokja's waist, keeping him pressed against his body.

Kim Dokja could feel his face burn.

Even so, the position felt so nice, so right. Like Yoo Joonghyuk's body was molded for him.

Maybe he was born to cuddle with Yoo Joonghyuk.

Ridiculously, he remembered Han Sooyoung's words: you should remember at least one woman you've wanted to kiss, or date, or fuck.

He didn't know of any women, but he certainly knew of a man.

Yoo Joonghyuk huffed, and Kim Dokja looked up. He still appeared to be sleeping, chest rising and falling as it had been

Abruptly the hand around his waist pulled him even closer, and Kim Dokja could feel his body being pressed onto Yoo Joonghyuk's.

He let out a squeak, stiffening as Yoo Joonghyuk's chin nuzzled against the top of his head.

Yoo Joonghyuk.

Nuzzling.

He must've died in his sleep.

Yes, that was the answer. He'd died and gone to heaven, and now got to spend eternity with a soft and fluffy Yoo Joonghyuk.

Wait, Kim Dokja thought, brain still scrambling around. Eternity with Yoo Joonghyuk is heaven?

Yoo Joonghyuk shifted again, huffing as his left arm shifted and grabbed Kim Dokja by the hip.

Kim Dokja let out another squeak as Yoo Joonghyuk pulled him on top of him, arms resting around Kim Dokja's waist.

Kim Dokja barely breathed, letting himself be pressed into Yoo Joonghyuk as he tried desperately to keep the man from waking up.

“Mm,” Yoo Joonghyuk hummed, and Kim Dokja stilled.

Shit, he thought.

“Good morning,” rasped Yoo Joonghyuk, voice deep from sleep.

“G–good morning,” Kim Dokja responded meekly, trapped against Yoo Joonghyuk.

Yoo Joonghyuk pressed his face into Kim Dokja's hair, one hand sneaking under his shirt and caressing Kim Dokja's spine.

Kim Dokja shivered as Yoo Joonghyuk's fingers made their way up and down his spine, palm cupping his waist.

He let out a whine when Yoo Joonghyuk's hand slipped out of his shirt, but was cut off in surprise as Yoo Joonghyuk hoisted them both up into a sitting position.

Now sitting fully on Yoo Joonghyuk's lap, Kim Dokja grabbed onto Yoo Joonghyuk's neck for support.

Yoo Joonghyuk's hands rested on Kim Dokja’s hips, keeping him from sliding off.

Kim Dokja could feel his face burning, an ugly red blush surely spreading across it. He glanced at Yoo Joonghyuk's face, and saw the man's eyes trailing over his body.

Belatedly, he realized that his pajama shorts were, in fact, incredibly short and that Yoo Joonghyuk's fingers were brushing against his thighs.

“Uhm, I'm sorry,” he started, unsure of how to start.

Yoo Joonghyuk looked up, tilting his head. “For what?”

“Laying on you. Taking up all the space. Getting mad last night. I don't know,” Kim Dokja said quietly.

Pulling him closer, their chests now touching, Yoo Joonghyuk put his chin on Kim Dokja's shoulder. Instinctively Kim Dokja tensed up, goosebumps forming on the back of his neck as Yoo Joonghyuk's breath ghosted over his nape.

“You fool,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, turning and pressing a kiss onto Kim Dokja's neck.

“I'm sorry, I didn’t—”

Kim Dokja's stomach rumbled, crying for food.

Ah.

He hadn't eaten dinner last night, and the last meal he'd eaten was a late breakfast.

Yoo Joonghyuk huffed out a laugh, hugging Kim Dokja tight. “Never change, you fool.”

With that statement, he swung them around, standing up and hoisting Kim Dokja over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Eep!” Kim Dokja screeched, flailing as the ground got farther and farther away. “Put me down!”

“You're fine,” replied Yoo Joonghyuk as he walked them out of the bedroom.

“Put me down!” Kim Dokja repeated, kicking his feet and accentuating each word with a punch to Yoo Joonghyuk's back. “Release me, you bastard!”

“Relax,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, stopping in front of the kitchen counter and sliding Kim Dokja off of his shoulder onto it.

Kim Dokja hastily wrapped his arms around Yoo Joonghyuk's neck, trying his best not to fall over. Sitting on the counter, arms linked over Yoo Joonghyuk's neck as the man placed his hands next to Kim Dokja's thighs, he realized how screwed he was.

Yoo Joonghyuk leaned over Kim Dokja, keeping eye contact.

“Hey!”

Kim Dokja jolted, smashing his forehead into Yoo Joonghyuk's by accident. “Fuck!”

Clutching his head and twisting around, Kim Dokja saw Yoo Mia, hands on her hips, glaring at the two of them.

“I'm hungry,” she proclaimed, aggressively pulling out one of the barstools and sitting down. “Make me breakfast, Oppa.”

Kim Dokja slithered out from the domain that Yoo Joonghyuk had formed, ducking under his arm as he laughed awkwardly. “Well, I'll just—uh—well, yeah, I'll just go take a shower,” he babbled, stumbling over his words as he skittered out of the kitchen.

Scrambling into his room, he collapsed face first into his bed, smothering his face in the sheets.

Huh?

Huh, huh, huh, huh, huhh?????

¤

“Do you have to ruin everything?” Yoo Joonghyuk scowled at Yoo Mia, crossing his arms.

Glaring up at her brother, Yoo Mia wrinkled her nose. “Sorry I didn't want to see you making out with your ugly boyfriend.”

“He's not my boyfriend,” said Yoo Joonghyuk, turning to pull out a pan from one of the cabinets under the counter.

Yoo Mia scoffed. “It sure looked like he was.”

“Maybe,” Yoo Joonghyuk started, cracking the eggs he'd grabbed from the refrigerator, “he would be if you didn't meddle.”

Rolling her eyes, Yoo Mia picked up her phone. “Well I have to go back to school tonight, so you can be disgustingly in love then.”

Yoo Joonghyuk sighed, the battle already lost.

All he had to do was survive a few more hours, and Yoo Mia would be gone.

Easier said than done.

¤

When Yoo Joonghyuk had stood in his doorway that night, holding a pillow in one hand and his phone in the other, Kim Dokja couldn't do anything but beckon him over.

It makes sense, was his excuse. Yoo Joonghyuk's bed is far too small for a man his size.

It didn't help that this silent exchange happened every day for a month until Yoo Joonghyuk stopped pouting at Kim Dokja all together and just followed him into bed.

Every morning they'd wake up, legs tangled together as Yoo Joonghyuk held Kim Dokja close, and snored softly into his ear.

Every morning Kim Dokja would pretend to be asleep until Yoo Joonghyuk woke up, savoring the warmth.

Every morning, Kim Dokja would pretend like he wasn't probably in love with Yoo Joonghyuk.

The comments Yoo Mia had made didn't help; if anything they just worsened Kim Dokja's delusion, seeping into the back of brain and whispering that maybe he had a chance.

But Yoo Joonghyuk didn't like men.

But neither did you, Kim Dokja's mind hissed, until Sooyoung beat some sense into you.

Maybe Han Sooyoung could beat some sense into Yoo Joonghyuk, too.

It was challenging, especially as their streams slowly merged and Kim Dokja spent less time by himself.

Gone were the days where they'd sit on opposite sides of the room in silence, playing whatever game their chats requested. Instead, Yoo Joonghyuk would roll over to Kim Dokja during a break in the rounds, getting close to whine or mope or bother him.

After their streams Yoo Joonghyuk would make dinner, wearing a stupid frilly apron Han Sooyoung must've bought him, flitting around the kitchen like a chef.

It was probably a miracle that Kim Dokja could shower alone, with how close Yoo Joonghyuk kept to him.

But none of it felt wrong.

Kim Dokja found himself the happiest he'd ever been, even when Yoo Joonghyuk acted like a puppy with separation anxiety.

¤

The joint stream was Yoo Joonghyuk's idea.

He'd organized it so they would sit next to each other, talking to their chats and maybe a few games. Kim Dokja's webcam was moved to clip into Yoo Joonghyuk's monitor, their chairs rolled together.

Sitting in his chair, spinning around, Kim Dokja waited as Yoo Joonghyuk launched their streams together.

“Hello,” he said, and Kim Dokja stopped spinning.

“Hi,” Kim Dokja echoed, waving. “We're doing a joint stream for chatting, so feel free to ask us anything!”

Both of their chats soared by, hundreds of messages sent at once.

     [V†P] InternetBoy: favorite video game?

“Hmm?” Kim Dokja caught sight of the question amid the sea of messages. “Favorite video game? I'm not too sure, actually.”

“I'll play anything that requires skill,” Yoo Joonghyuk said. “League, CS, Valorant, Rivals,” with each name he listed he put up a finger, counting off.

“Skill,” huffed Kim Dokja, crossing his arms. “You mean any game that has a ranked system.”

“Yeah, that too,” Yoo Joonghyuk replied, looking at Kim Dokja. “I know you hate ranked games because you suck.”

Kim Dokja gaped. “I've literally hit rank 1 in Rivals!”

“Only because I carried you.”

“Bastard, you did jackshit!”

Smirking, Yoo Joonghyuk clicked his tongue. “You still haven't answered the question, Salvation-nim.”

Flipping Yoo Joonghyuk the bird, Kim Dokja scowled as he looked back at the monitor. “I enjoy any game with a good story, so TWSA is my favorite, but I really enjoy Rivals because I can throw Yoo Joonghyuk's games.”

Yoo Joonghyuk grimaced. “I forgot you liked that shitty game.”

“I’ll kill you. I will kill you, you damn bast—”

“Anyway,” interrupted Yoo Joonghyuk, covering Kim Dokja's mouth with his palm. “Other questions?”

     [MOD] maritimeshipmaster: why'd you move in with this scrub

“Jihye,” Yoo Joonghyuk scolded, frowning. “I moved in because he needed a roommate.”

Prying Yoo Joonghyuk's hand off of his mouth, Kim Dokja glared at Yoo Joonghyuk. “I did not need a roommate.”

“Oh?” Yoo Joonghyuk glanced over, cocking an eyebrow. “I've seen you burn rice, undercook chicken, and set a pot of boiling water on fire.”

“I am perfectly capable,” Kim Dokja gritted out, pissed off, “Of ordering food.”

Yoo Joonghyuk tilted his head. “But you like my food.”

“I do not.”

“Ok. I suppose I'll just stop making food, then.”

“No!” Kim Dokja exclaimed, forgetting he was supposed to be mad. “I like your food.”

“Mm,” Yoo Joonghyuk hummed, reaching up to pat Kim Dokja on the head lightly. “Good.”

Flushing, Kim Dokja jerked his head out from Yoo Joonghyuk's touch, accidentally rolling away. “Ack!”

Yoo Joonghyuk's hand shot out, grabbing one of Kim Dokja's flailing ankles. Pulling him back in, Yoo Joonghyuk wrapped a hand around Kim Dokja's waist, hoisting him up and placing him onto his thigh.

Kim Dokja, now perched on Yoo Joonghyuk's leg, stilled. “What are you doing.”

“Well,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, arm slithering around Kim Dokja's waist to keep him locked into place. “You seem to be incapable of controlling yourself in that chair so I figured that I'd help you out.”

“Yoo Joonghyuk.” Kim Dokja growled, trying to wriggle out of Yoo Joonghyuk's grip.

In response, Yoo Joonghyuk only tightened his hold, pressing Kim Dokja closer. “Hmm?” He said, ignoring Kim Dokja's struggles as he read the chat. “Dokja-yah, what's your favorite color?”

“White,” replied Kim Dokja, still struggling.

“Mm,” Yoo Joonghyuk hummed in response. “I like black. Stop wiggling.”

“Of course you do,” Kim Dokja muttered, obliging Yoo Joonghyuk's command. “Gloomy bastard.”

“Oh? Uriel’s back,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, turning to Kim Dokja.

Groaning, Kim Dokja slumped. “Hi Uriel. What evil things are you up to today?”

     [V†P] Uriloveshr: nothing haha why would you assuming im doing evil things

Kim Dokja rolled his eyes. “You’re always doing something evil.”

Nodding along, Yoo Joonghyuk smiled. “I’ve seen many things.”

     [V†P] Uriloveshr: booo!! btw are you two dating.

Yoo Joonghyuk squinted at the chat, eyes scanning over Uriel’s message. “Are we dating?” With a quick glance at Kim Dokja, he turned back to the monitor. “Yes,” he said, at the same time that Kim Dokja said “No!”

Whipping his head towards Kim Dokja, Yoo Joonghyuk’s mouth fell open. “What do you mean no?”

“No! Why would someone like you date me?” Kim Dokja scowled, crossing his arms. “It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t matter if you even like men—did you say yes?!” Eyes wide, Kim Dokja looked at Yoo Joonghyuk. “Y–you said yes,” he spluttered.

Yoo Joonghyuk blinked. “Are we not dating?”

“No!”

Cocking his head, Yoo Joonghyuk pulled Kim Dokja closer. “But I cook for you, I clean for you, we live together. We share a bed. You've met my family. My first chat in your stream was about how pretty you were.”

“I can’t cook, I can’t see the dust, I didn’t ask you to move in with me, it’s not my fault Han Sooyoung is so short, and I’ve only met your sister!” Kim Dokja’s face was burning. Was he stupid and he didn’t know it? How did Yoo Joonghyuk think they were dating? “We haven’t even kissed!”

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk scowled. “I have been trying to kiss you every day for the past month.”

“I—how was I supposed to know that?!”

“Because,” said Yoo Joonghyuk, leaning in, “I do this every night, and then you duck away from me.”

“So?”

“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk growled. “Are you stupid?”

“I, ugh, you—shut up!” Kim Dokja exclaimed, grabbing Yoo Joonghyuk’s face. “You bastard.”

“Dokj—”

Kim Dokja cut Yoo Joonghyuk off with a kiss. A soft press of their lips, a second at most. “Bastard,” he repeated, face red.

The arm around Kim Dokja's waist let go, Yoo Joonghyuk's hands digging into Kim Dokja's shirt as he was flipped around so they were face to face.

“Date me.” Yoo Joonghyuk demanded, pulling Kim Dokja closer.

“Okay,” Kim Dokja breathed, leaning in to kiss Yoo Joonghyuk again.

He'd never kissed anyone before; Yoo Joonghyuk's lips were wet, and when Kim Dokja opened his mouth a little their teeth clacked.

Unperturbed, he kept going, shivering when he felt Yoo Joonghyuk's teeth graze his lower lip.

“Joonghyuk,” he whined when Yoo Joonghyuk pulled away. Chasing his lips, Kim Dokja followed Yoo Joonghyuk's path, kissing him again.

“Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk panted, fingers digging into Kim Dokja's torso. “Dokja,” he said, thrusting Kim Dokja away.

“What,” Kim Dokja whined again, leaning in to kiss Yoo Joonghyuk.

Yoo Joonghyuk dodged the kiss, keeping Kim Dokja at an arms length away. “The stream is still on,” he said, glancing at the monitor.

Abruptly, Kim Dokja paled. “What?”

Together, they both looked over at the PC setup, chat flying by as donations poured in. “Fuck,” they said in unison.

Hastily reaching over, Kim Dokja pressed the off button for both streams, then shut down the PC. “Shit.”

“...I think Uriel donated over 50 million won,” Yoo Joonghyuk said dazedly.

“What?” Kim Dokja whipped his head back towards Yoo Joonghyuk. “Fifty million?”

“Mhm,” Yoo Joonghyuk hummed, pulling Kim Dokja close again. “If I give you fifty million won will you kiss me again?”

Kim Dokja giggled. “One hundred won for a kiss, Hyukie.”

“Start a tab,” said Yoo Joonghyuk, smiling.

¤

“You two are so disgusting,” Han Sooyoung said, words garbled as she chewed.

Kim Dokja wrinkled his nose. “I can literally see pieces of food in your mouth right now.”

Han Sooyoung flipped him off. “At least I’m not broadcasting my stupidity to a hundred thousand people and then making out while live.”

Stabbing a piece of chicken, Yoo Joonghyuk snorted. “Dokja is a fool.”

“Shut up!”

Yoo Joonghyuk laughed, leaning over to press a kiss onto Kim Dokja’s hair. Kim Dokja leaned into it, smiling.

“Ourg, oh, dear me, I think I’m going to be sick,” Han Sooyoung gagged, pretending to vomit on the ground next to her.

“Sooyoung, I thought you said you were going to behave,” Yoo Sangah approached the table, returning from the bathroom. “Is this what happens when I leave you alone for two minutes?”

“Ah, welcome back Sangah-ssi,” Kim Dokja greeted, nodding his head. “I apologize for Sooyoung’s behavior, she was greatly influenced by Calvin and Hobbes as a child.”

“Mm, yes, I can tell,” Yoo Sangah said, pulling her chair out to sit down next to Han Sooyoung.

“I should’ve never introduced you two,” muttered Han Sooyoung, accepting a bite of food that Yoo Sangah held out for her. “It’s all my fault you suck.”

Yoo Joonghyuk put his arm over Kim Dokja’s shoulder, pulling him closer. “I’m sure if I wasn’t his millionth follower, he never would’ve held such a grudge against me.”

Eyes widening, Kim Dokja turned to look at Yoo Joonghyuk. “That was you?”

“What,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, staring blankly back at Kim Dokja. “Of course it was me. I thought you knew.”

Han Sooyoung coughed, pounding on her chest as she choked on her water. “He didn’t.”

“You knew?!”

“You didn’t tell him?”

Guiltily, Han Sooyoung pulled at her collar. “Has it always been this hot in here?”

“Sooyoung, I thought you said you were done with your scheming,” Yoo Sangah frowned at Han Sooyoung, pulling a disappointed parent's face.

“I literally never said that,” Han Sooyoung complained, scowling. “It’s not my fault that Dokja’s a fool.”

“Wait,” Kim Dokja said, stilling. “You’ve been hitting on me for six months?”

Yoo Joonghyuk blinked at him. “Yes.”

“Oh my God.”

“You’re such a fool,” sighed Yoo Joonghyuk, pulling Kim Dokja in to kiss him lightly on the lips. “I can’t believe I fell in love with such an idiot.”

“Y–you’re in love with me?” Kim Dokja asked, voice cracking.

“Oh, my God,” Han Sooyoung, Yoo Sangah, and Yoo Joonghyuk groaned in unison.