Chapter Text
If you are a friend of Kim Dokja, you will know 3 things about him.
He is obsessed with a niche webnovel, “Three Ways Of Surviving In A Ruined World“, written by his bestfriend, Han Sooyoung.
He is obsessed with the protagonist of said novel, Yoo Joonghyun.
He currently has a massive crush on the top student of his school, Yoo Joonghyuk, who is a carbon copy of his favourite hero.
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One Week Ago
“Ow-! Hey man watch where you're goi-” A very startled Kim Dokja yelped as he bumped into a fellow student. His voice drained out mid sentence as he realized who he was talking to.
Yoo. Fucking. Joonghyuk.
The academic titan of their school. Incredibly handsome, devastatingly smart and scarily fit. All the boys wanted to be him, all the girls wanted to date him, and Kim Dokja wanted nothing else but to stay out of his way lest he embarrass himself.
He quickly stuttered out an apology. “I-I’m so sorry! I-” He was abruptly interrupted as the taller boy shoved a book in his hands. Their eyes met for a split second as their fingers brushed.
“Here, you dropped this when you ran into me.”
Kim Dokja just gawked down at the book and then up at him. Yoo Joonghyuk paid no heed to this and simply walked away with an air of indifference shrouding him. Kim Dokja looked back at him as he walked, watching his retreating figure. Dokja giggled and brought his hand up to his face to pinch himself.
‘I just interacted with Yoo Joonghyuk!’
Present Day
“Oh you poor thing Dokja, you're head over heels for a guy that doesn't even know your name!” Jung Heewon patted Dokja's arm as he moped.
“But Heewon, he's not just a guy, he's THE Yoo Joonghyuk. He's really a real life protagonist! He's so cold and mysterious and smart. I think he's the love of my life.” Dokja rambled, a slight blush tinging his cheeks.
Han Sooyoung, who was currently sitting on the lunch table (because according to her, chairs were for losers), rolled her eyes at the pitiful sight of her best friend. “My god dude, you're such a simp! It's so painful to watch you wax poetic about Mr Cold Archduke of the North. Why do you even like him anyway?”
At the sudden question, Dokja shrank in his seat. Yoo Sangah, who was sitting with them and diligently doing her homework, looked up expectantly at him. All three girls' stares burned into his soul. He finally relented. “I like him because… he's like Yoo Joonghyun…” he murmured, barely audible. Jung Heewon blinked. Sangah put her pen down. Sooyoung choked on air, and then began to laugh hysterically.
“THIS IS THE FUNNIEST THING I'VE HEARD ALL WEEK! YOU'RE BATSHIT CRAZY OVER A GUY, JUST BECAUSE HE'S SIMILAR TO MY PROTAGONIST!” She wheezed as she rocked back and forth, shaking the poor table and causing Sangah to accidentally scribble over an answer. Sooyoung clutched her stomach and kept laughing until Dokja threw his juice box at her, spilling orange liquid all over her hair.
“Hey, I washed my hair just today! You're gonna pay for that you weeb!” She yelled and then proceeded to pounce on Kim Dokja, who dodged and proceeded to tackle her to the dirty cafeteria ground. Heewon and Sangah, used to the two's antics, continued on with their respective tasks without batting an eye.
After finishing their catfight, Dokja and Sooyoung both dusted off the dirt on their uniforms and shook hands to declare truce. They sat back down in their seats (or seat, because Sooyoung sat on the table again) and fell into idle chatter.
Sooyoung, who seemed to have suddenly been struck with a stroke of genius mid-convo, grabbed Dokja and Heewon’s hands excitedly and exclaimed, “I just got a great idea!”
Heewon sighed and Dokja just looked at her pitifully. The both of them had suffered through several of her ‘brilliant' ideas. Sooyoung sensed their disinterest in whatever she was about to say and intervened. “Before you start making assumptions about anything, hear me out. Let's make a plan to make Joonghyuk fall in love with Dokja!”
Hearing Joonghyuk’s name alone was enough to grab Dokja’s interest, but Heewon on the other hand seemed doubtful.
“Joonghyuk? That emotionless bastard? Is he even capable of something like that?” She scoffed. Sangah put her pen inside her pencil case and closed her book before she joined in on the conversation.
“Heewon, don't be so quick to judge. Dokja is quite charming after all, maybe he is capable of it. And it sounds like a fun idea anyways. What do you have in mind, Sooyoung-ah?”
Sooyoung visibly brightened upon hearing at least one person trust in her and immediately launched into a monologue.
“So I'm thinking, let's make a step by step list of how Dokja can get close to Joonghyuk and have him perform each step. Kinda like those cliche fanfics! I think we should have a cool name for it too, something fitting.”
“Popular kid courting survival guide?” Heewon suggested. Han Sooyoung countered, “Nah, that's too long and too lame. Next!”
“Three Ways to bag a baddie?!” Heewon suggested again, to which she was immediately banned from suggesting names any further.
“Oo-Oo I have an idea!” Dokja said, raising his hand as if this were a classroom lecture. When permitted by Han Sooyoung, he laid out his idea.
“How about- Operation: Sunfish!” Heewon and Sangah didn't understand but Sooyoung cackled and patted the boy on his shoulder. She turned to explain to the two confused girls.
“The sunfish is Yoo Joonghyun's representative animal in my novel. Dokja you absolute genius, the name is perfect!”
Dokja grinned proudly as Heewon clenched her fist, upset that her incredible ideas were not chosen. The group huddled closer together on the small lunch table that was one screw away from falling apart. Sangah tore off the middle page of her notebook and passed it along with a pen to Sooyoung. She immediately started writing away, lost in her own maniac world. The other three just stared in awe at the sheer speed of which her hand was moving.
She presented the finished product after 5 minutes. “Ta-da! Isn't it just so beautiful! You should be grateful I'm doing all this for you Dokja.”
Dokja carefully read the heading. “Operation: Sunfish! Aka.. How to woo Yoo Joonghyuk!? Hey Sooyoung, isn't woo a bit too straightforward, I mean, the plan should be for us to become friends first right?”
Sooyoung sighed. “That's so lame dude! But fine, since this plan is for you afterall.” She reluctantly struck out the word ‘woo' and replaced it with befriend, while Dokja muttered under his breath, “Everything is lame for you, you witch.”
Fortunately, Sooyoung did not hear his underhanded comment and instead continued to present her list to Sangah and Heewon, who both nodded approvingly to each and every step.
Kim Dokja looked over curiously and then at the right moment- snatched the paper right out of Sooyoung's tiny little gremlin hands.
“Wuh- hey! Give that back!!” She screamed. Dokja blew a raspberry at her and took a pen out of his pocket, ready to edit the list wherever necessary. After a few quick scribbles, he folded the paper and shoved it in his pocket, away from his best friend's reach.
“How dare you keep my own work from me! You'll pay for this you ungrateful squid!” She continued with her tantrum.
Dokja shot her a glare. “Stop whining already you goblin, I was just being a good reader and fixing your errors.” He enunciated the last word extra long just to piss her off. Sooyoung hissed, like a feral wet cat.
Sangah sighed and gave a weary smile as she looked over at Heewon, who shared the same expression. Before the plan had even started, there was already infighting going on.
This was going to be one hell of an “operation”, wasn't it?