Chapter Text
[Saturday - 08:15 pm]
The hum of the computer booting up filled the air. A soft veil of light fell onto Kim Dokja's face. He clicked on his mouse rapidly moving it in circles out of pure boredom and habit. As it finally loaded, many small squares appeared but he ignored all of them and logged onto 'Star Stream', the platform he used to well, stream on.
Shrinking the other tab, he opened VTube Studio on both of his devices. Dokja moved his tripod over, clamping his phone onto it and plugging in the data cable to connect it to his computer. He adjusted his camera, letting it focus onto his face so his avatar would match the expressions he made (which admittedly looked kind of stupid). Next, he fiddled around with his headphones and the whole setup checking to see if they all worked. At last, he breathed in and out a few times readying himself before clicking on the button that read:
[Start stream]
The screen flashed a pastel blue, his avatar loaded in, revealing an animated man with sleek black hair flowing down his face; he wore a simple, yet very recognisable white coat, it clung onto the dark grey dress shirt (which could almost be mistaken as black) underneath. Plastered on his head was a face, it wasn't very good looking, like someone lowered the resolution there specifically for some reason—if it weren't for the horns on his head, cracks that spread from his cheeks, and a pair of large wings—you’d probably think he was human.
The chat burst with life, messages crashing in like a tsunami hitting him with its full force.
“Hi guys! Welcome to my stream, how are you heheh~” The VTuber model moved up and down happily, his eyes shining blood red.
[DemonLikeJudge]: HIII!! SO EXCITED FOR THE STREAM TODAYYY~ (≧▽≦)
[skxdkosshipper]: Good :)
[xXBlackFlameDragonXx]: YO BROCHACHO GIVE US SOME ACTIONNN GIVE US GAMEPLAYYYY
[DemonLikeJudge]: Ughhh... it's the 15 year old again. Just ignore him Guwon-ie, we love your streams!! ( ´ ▽ ` ).｡ｏ♡
[GoldenHeadband]: 15 minutes late this time kid... let me guess, talking about how you totally aren't a fanboy for that one pro gamer for an hour straight?... Still, I've got to admit that was pretty impressive...
[xXBlackFlameDragonXx]: WHO ARE YOU CALLING A 15 YEAR OLD ILL HAVE YOU KNOW I AM THE DRAGON OF THE DARK ABYSS MEN AND GODS FEAR ME
[User ‘xXBlackFlameDragonXx’ has been put in time out]
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: That was quick, that guy reeeaaalllyyy likes to get into trouble huh?
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: BAHAHAHAH Anyways, we all know you were fawning over Supreme King lol
The VTuber model stopped moving, his face, in a matter of seconds after realising what he had just read, flushed a deep red; his wings and hands rushing to cover up his face, “It—It’s not like that!!... Aughhhh!! I've already told you lots of times! I mean—we don't even know each other.”
[Person2018]: oh my~ he's blushing!!
[Squid_9158]: Denial is a river in Egypt you know.
[guwon_protector]: HAHAHA FR!!
[skxdkosshipper]: LOL LIL BRO IS ACTUALLY LYING TO HIMSELF
[DemonLikeJudge]: OMG, OMG!! AWHHHHH SO CUTEEE ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆
[GoldenHeadband]: HAHHAHA, let him cook guys
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: Eughhh, I can smell your yearning ass from miles away
“It!—ugghhh...” he groaned, annoyed at [FlameEmpress]—or Han Sooyoung, his closest friend all the way from when they first met in university—she was always so unbearably annoying and persistent.
“I'm not gonna try to argue with you Sooyoung-ah, it's going to be a futile attempt anyway...” Dokja sighed out exhausted, though he was internally screaming at her ‘WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT!? YEARNING? ME? THE FU—... One day I'm removing her permanently from this website, why did I tell her my stream account in the first place!? Oh my god past me you were so stupid...’
He had thought about his regrets for allowing this crazy asshole on his streams many times before, more times than you can count using both your hands and your feet, and yet he still didn't tell her off or ban her.
Dokja opened the game he planned to play tonight as he coughed a few times, not too loud and overwhelming but not too soft either. “ANYWAYSS!! Today I'll be playing this new game called ‘Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse’. It's a single player, sort of open world, RPG based on a web novel I like—well it's actually my favourite web novel—which also has the same name, I call it ‘Ways of Survival’ for short.” His voice softened when it mentioned the novel, it was one of the reasons he had survived for so long after all.
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: Eughhhh enough- this is too emotional!
[IamConstipatedhelp]: Holy f■cking essay
[skxdkosshipper]: bro stop yapping
[DemonLikeJudge]: AWHHH~~~ (≧ ▽ ≦) ♡
[Squid9158]: Ooo~ backstory?
[guwon_protector]: Ahhh, so cuteee!
[xXBlackFlameDragonXx]: ARGHHHH STOP PUTTINH ME IN TIME OUT.
[skdkosshipper]: damn bros mad fr
[Goldenheadband]: ...
[xXBlackFlameDragonXx]: OLD MAN ARE YOU PULLING YOUR HAIR AGIN, YOU'RE GOIMG TO GO BALD SOMRDAY
[Goldenheadband]: Haha, thanks for caring boy
[skxdkosshipper]: OOOHHHH~ lil bro has NEGATIVE AURA
[itscrsyiyrjaloym]: BAHAHAHAHAHA the spelling mistakes are killing me lmao
[ilikeflowrs]: He's gone quiet lol
[xXBlackFlameDragonXx]: AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH F■CKKKKKKKKKK
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: You want me to ban you permanently?
[xXBlackFlameDragonXx]: ...
[xXBlackFlameDragonXx]: no
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: Good, now shut UP.
Dokja couldn't help but chuckle a bit, smiling fondly. These comments were going a tad out of hand, it is typical of his chat as they were—well, let's say they're a bit... unique.
He was about to say something when a massive beam of blinding white light from his monitor hit him in the face. For a second, he genuinely thought he was in front of the pearly gates. ‘What the fuck...’ The light faded, Dokja blinked rapidly, his eyes started watering, and then after making a few (intentionally loud) coughs to bring back the attention to him as he started speaking. “Hey, stop fighting, the game's loaded.”
A mesmerising scene unfurled, he was in a train, slowly moving forward. The doors in front connecting to the next cart opened, showing the exact same scene, like it was looping over and over again. The seats—the ones people (like him) used to travel from one point to another every day—were navy blue, reminiscent of the deep ocean; metal poles were attached on the starts and ends of each row, anchoring the seats to the walls. Outside, the sky gave off a warm orange tone that shifted into red, eventually meeting purple and blue. Bright, shining stars flew across the sky, appearing and disappearing again every few seconds. In the distance, the sun gave off a yellow glow as it slowly sunk below the city's towering skyscrapers.
[Start Game]
The button floated at the bottom middle part of the screen.
The grown-ass man grinned like a fucking maniac. “Now, let the show begin.”
He pressed his index finger down on the mouse, a soft yet sharp click cut through the silence of his room.
Jagged lines appeared from the sides of the screen, they spread to the middle of the screen in an irregular rhythm until they all shattered and fell apart like fragile glass panes as everything faded to black.
A first-person cutscene started playing, a pair of dark, rectangular shadows pulled apart from each other, there was a gap of fuzzy light between them, the gap got larger and smaller, mimicking the action of blinking. It repeated the same motion a few more times, until everything focused into view. There were people, some of them wore suits, some wore casual clothes, but (unsurprisingly) most of them were staring at their phones, doomscrolling on whatever site that they were on.
The train trembled, like the ground during an earthquake as the hunk of metal moved at high speeds, he looked in the windows and came to the conclusion that he was currently in a tunnel (presumably underground somewhere), the only source of light being the long rectangular-shaped ones on the ceiling of the cabin.
“A—woah, I was NOT expecting that to happen, chat are you seeing this right now!? This is crazy, god DAMN are the models good though.” He leaned closer, his face almost grazing the plastic.
“Is that—oh who am I kidding it totally is. Alright so chat, you see this scratch here? So there's actually a story behind it where...”
[Aeriezzz]: No.
[MireaMii]: Oh heck nah
[IamConstipatedhelp]: shit
[Skdkosshipper]: @IamConstipatedhelp you should take a shit
[Luxian0719]: ueuueueue pls no pls don't do this to us Guwon-ie, not again (╥﹏╥)
[BEElieve]: ;crying ;crying ;crying
[xXBlackFlameDragonXx]: This is sooo boorinngggg ahjusshi can you just play the game properly
[GoldenHeadband]: Hmmm...
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: @GoldenHeadband please don't tell me you're actually into this guy’s yapping sessions.
[guwon_protector]: Guys
[Squid_9158]: @guwon_protector what bro
[skdkosshipper]: @guwon_protector what?
[guwon_protector]: SK js made an announcement
[Aquorn]: SPILLLLLLLL
[guwon_protector]: he's gonna be at creator con tmr!!
[Person2018]: ;shocked why did nobody say this f■cking sooner!! ;crying
[ilikeflowrs]: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
[skdkosshipper]: GUWONNNNN STOP FOCUSING ON THAT, YOUR ‘PROTECTOR’ HERE JUST SAID THAT SK IS GONNA BE AT CREATOR CON!!
[MireaMii]: GUWONNNNNNNN
[IamConstipatedhelp]: GUWON-IEEEEEE
[Squid_9158]: SOMEONE SEND HIM A MESSAGE OR SMTH
[itscrsyiyrjaloym]: HOWWW HE TURNED OFF DONATIONS
[Aeriezzz]: F■CK!!
The chat was practically about to burst out of the screen to punch him in the face with the amount of messages they sent...
And of course in classic Kim Dokja fashion, he kept on talking.
[guwon_protector]: if he sulks in a later stream that he wasn't able to meet sk in person again I'm gonna crash out
[Aquorn]: @guwon_protector mood.
“...And so that's why there's a 9cm long, 5mm deep, scratch here.” He huffed out air after ending his speech, his wings expanded and his face showed a triumphant grin. Dokja didn’t even progress that far into the game, wait scratch that, he didn't even get past the tutorial since he was too focused on explaining the lore behind a singular scratch in a metal pole.
[GoldenHeadband]: At this point you should make a rant account
[Ratsrkewltrust]: why is it actually taking so long it feels like we've been here for agesssssssss
[Squid9158]: Allathat because of a tiny scratch in a metal rod, LIKE BRO YOU CAN BARELY SEE IT
[skxdkosshipper]: Welp, Guwon-ie has always been like this, it’s not like we can change him
As chat bickered on, Dokja took the advantage to look around to find more interesting elements from the novel that had been put into the game before the first scenario starts, which is in... around 15 seconds, it was shown on the floating timer in the air.
Looking around the cramped train car, he noticed quite a few things.
Firstly, the game has lots of stuff mentioned in the web novel, how they did that is a mystery since last time he had checked he was still the only reader that read all of the chapters in ‘Ways of Survival’.
Secondly, the number of the train cabin he is in is 3807, weirdly this wasn't the same cabin the protagonist was in, Dokja originally thought that in this game he would be playing as them but it sort of makes sense since some people want to have female avatars, locking the character into just one gender wouldn't be fair to those players.
“By the way... This game, it's really realistic, isn't it?” Dokja remarked, it felt like he was present there, like he didn't just watch it all behind a screen.
[GoldenHeadband]: By the way...
[Guwons_right_ass_cheek]: By the way...
[itscrsyiyrjaloym]: By the way...
[yllxw]: by the way...
[Aquorn]: by the way...
[skdkosshipper]: By the way...
Dokja looked at his chat and sighed, “you guys really like doing that huh?”
[skdkosshipper]: yep ;smile
[BEElieve]: YEAP AND YOU CANT STOP US >:D
[Guwons_right_ass_cheek]: Yea, well DemonLikeJudge-unnie has been quiet for a while, that's actually so unlike of her
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: @Guwons_right_ass_cheek WHAT ON GOD’S GREEN EARTH IS THAT USERNAME.
[Guwons_left_ass_cheek]: @FlameEmpress Didn't know you were religious… Anyways don’t mind me, I'm just supporting the other one
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: WHY THE HELL ARE THERE TWO OF YOU
[Squid9158]: @Guwons_right_ass_cheek fr DemonLikeJudge-unnie HAS been gone for a while
[xXBlackFlameDragonXx]: THAT PUNY ANGEL, SHE WAS STRUCK DOWN BY ME! THE DRAGON OF THE ETERNAL ABYSS! MWAAHAHAHA
[Person2018]: This chunni...
[Guwons_right_ass_cheek]: Ts straight outta the Wattpad oven
[uwuowo]: Broski wth
[Ilikeflowrs]: bro thinks he's the main character lmao
[ratsrkewltrust]: lmao
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: Speaking of cringe moments and main characters, Oi Guwon, doesn’t that sound familiar heheh~~
“What the hell are those usernames... anyways.” He addressed the two users while trying to process what the hell his friend of 8 years just said.
“Sooyoung-ah,” pausing the game, his expression became dark and serious, “please. don’t.” He pleaded, covering his flushed face with his hands and wings.
[skdkosshipper]: What?
[GoldenHeadband]: oh
[xXBlackFlameDragonXx]: MORTAL HUMAN, EVEN YOU CANT ESCAPE THE DARK CURSE OF CHUNNIBYOU
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: startube.com/watch?v=guwon_im_the_main_character_5149
[Guwons_left_ass_cheek]: No wayyyyyy
[Guwons_right_ass_cheek]: DAMN THE LINK IS ACTUALLY REAL?
[BEElieve]: "I—I'm the main character!" LIL BRO ACTUALLY BELIEVING IT LMAO
[IamConstipatedhelp]: OUUU SHIIII...
[Squid9158]: this is embarrassinggggg~
[Person2018]: HE WAS STUTTERING WHILE SAYING IT TOO BAHAHHAHAH
[uwuowo]: Im getting so much second hand embarrassment
[ilikeflowrs]: AWH HELL NAH EUGHHHHHH
[yllxw]: SON IM CRINEE (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)
“... Oh... OH, hell no. Yeeppppp, I’m gonna end the stream. Bye guys see you next time” He deeply regretted his decision, people really could access any information they want on the internet huh?
[IAmSleepDeprived]: NOOOOOO IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN TWO HOURRRRSSSS
[GoldenHeadband]: Kid, you joined late and you're ending it early? Wow…
[Guwons_left_ass_cheek]: L
[skdkosshipper]: L ;angry
[xXBlackFlameDragonXx]: weak. he couldn't handle my almighty aura
[Guwons_right_ass_cheek]: L
[MireaMii]: L
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: EUGHHHH! JUST DO WHATEVER YOU WANT.
[Luxian719]: NEXT STREAM YOU DO HAS TO LAST LONGER ALRIGHT ;angry ;crying
[Ilikeflowrs]: YEA! NEXT STREAM LONGER PLS
[Squid9158]: I AGREE ;angry ;angry
[skdkosshipper]: WE agree ;angry
“Alright! Alrighttt! Fine, but I'm still going. I promise the next stream will be longer ok?” He spoke reassuringly, his hands were up at the side of his head.
“Hehe, bye chat!!” he said while waving his hands.
They waved back.
[BEElieve]: ;wave ;wave
[skdkosshipper]: Byeeeeeee Guwon-ie!
[Guwons_right_ass_cheek]: ;wave ;wave ;wave
[GoldenHeadband]: bye kid ;wave
[MireaMii]: lol baiiii!!!
[Ratsrkewltrust]: ;wave ;wave
[Guwons_left_ass_cheek]: byee!!
[IAmSleepDeprived]: see youuu!
[xXBlackFlameDragonXx]: ok bye, but there better be bloodshed next time.
[FlameEmpress (Mod)]: Damn idiot squid.
The cursor hovered above the end stream button. Dokja clicked on it, but from the corner of his eye he saw the flicker of a chat message.
[DemonLikeJudge]: Wait, why is it ending already! Ahhh! Noo... (╥﹏╥) Guwon-ie if you can see this I wanted to say that I want to invite you to-
Just like that, the message was cut off, the screen changed and once again he was left there in his room all alone.
----------
[Saturday - 10:37 pm]
Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!
‘Huh? Who’s calling?’ Getting out of the shower, not even bothering to dry himself off, Dokja hastily put on some dry clothes.
Picking up the buzzing phone he glanced at the ID which read:
[“Plagiarist Cat”]
Tilting his head in confusion (and irritation) he tapped the green [answer call] button.
“Han Sooyou—” before he finished saying her name an abrupt, maniacal laugh exploded out from his phone’s speaker, it was so loud he had to physically pull his phone far away from his ears.
“Why did you have to show them that, you bitch?” His voice sounded hoarse and tired out.
“Motherfucker—" She wheezed, "I was giving them a reason to be there BAHAHAHAHHA” well it sounds like someone's having fun.
Ruffling his hair he replied back “...a reason to be there? It's MY stream not yours!”
“Ughhh fine, whatever!” Sooyoung scoffed, there was a constant clicking sound coming from her. Dokja was convinced that she had an endless stash of lemon candies, in all their years of friendship he'd rarely see her without one.
“Open your browser and wire me some cash, I'm buying us digital passes to Creator Con.”
Dokja blinked, he stopped drying his hair for a moment “What? Why the hell should I give you money? I'm not going ok? I have wor—”
“THE FUCK? NO YOU DON'T, IT’S SUNDAY TOMORROW! OH MY DAYS, MANS DOESN'T EVEN KNOW THE DAY OF THE WEEK.” she yelled out, why did she care anyways, it's not that big of a deal, is it? Well maybe now it's a problem for his neighbours considering how loud her annoying voice was and how thin these walls are.
“Well then I'd prefer reading at home to going into... public places like that.” The thought of talking face to face with a stranger scared him.
“... You know Yoo Joonghyuk is going to be there right hehe~~” Sooyoung added in a sneaky, mischievous tone. She knew this would get him to pay attention
“What?” Dokja’s ears perked up, he never saw an announcement like that, and if he did in fact miss it then his chat would surely have told him... right?
Sooyoung groaned loudly, “I can tell what you're thinking right now. Yes, chat did tell you, in fact they literally YELLED at you, but of course you were too absorbed in that... whatever it was and didn't see.”
He grit his teeth, seizing his phone and holding it up to his face then mumbled “Then I can buy them myself.”
“Hmm? I thought you said you weren't going to come? Pfff!” she really was trying to hold her laughter in, he felt his head throb as he imagined Sooyoung cackling her ass off.
“...just send it to me” his voice calmed down, he was wayyy too tired and overworked for this.
“Fine, alright! PFF! BAHAHAHAH—” Sooyoung muted herself and it was good for her to do so, cause if she didn't when they met again he was going to drop kick her into the fucking ground and force her to eat soil.
[Call ended]
Clicking on the link she sent, he lazily bought a ticket for himself which is a relief since now there's one— no, a few less things on his plate. Dokja turned the lights off and slipped under the warm bedsheets slowly dazing off when a thought hit him like a train going full speed.
‘Wait, she said Yoo Joonghyuk was going… WAIT WHAT THE FUCK? Wait, does that mean I'll get to see him? Oh, isn't this a good thing? AUGHHHHHHHH BUT IT'S GOING TO BE SO EMBARRASSING!’
Heat rose up on his face, his body curled up into a ball under the bedsheet and he started rolling around. Dokja might've been flopping around on his bed like a fish out of water but one thing is for certain.
Sleep wasn't going to come around so easily.
----------
Buzzzzz… Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!
Golden light poured through the gaps between the curtains softly falling onto his face, a loud, repetitive noise from his phone on the table forcefully pulled him back into reality, Dokja groaned weakly, still tired from the previous day's… shenanigans.
He reached for the phone on the side of his bed, looking at it with tired, half-lidded eyes.
The lock screen read, [Sunday - 9:17 am]
It was a Sundayyyyy and not to his surprise it was Sooyoung, he answered the call totally forgetting to brace himself for what happened last time (and many times before that) when he made the mistake of answering the plagiarist's calls. Her immediately screaming and yelling at him was a given.
“......”
‘Huh? What the- That's weird, what the hell is going on…?’ Dokja slowly sat up, his body ached and his head throbbed.
“Hello? Earth to Han Sooyoung. Are you there or are you dead?"
A rustling sound was heard through the microphone before a soft, yet authoritative, voice called out to him, “Hi Dokja-ssi!”
‘Who the hell is that... It's a woman I'm guessing. Wait, she sounds oddly familiar.’
“What... who are you?” his voice was scratchy and a bit deeper than it usually was, he rubbed his eyes, trying to recall someone that sounded like that.
“Hmm? Can't remember me? I thought you would be able to, I mean we are co-workers after all.” She sounded hurt, not actually, more like in a playful way.
The silence that followed seemed to stretch though he heard faint sounds of engines and the occasional honking of what he thinks are cars from the other person's audio.
“Oh, huh?” he blurted out, ‘co-worker huh, didn't realise I had those, I mean one of them did poison— I mean add pepper into the coffee... oh. OH WAIT.’
“SANGAH-SSI!?” He exclaimed, eyes widening. It was like a puzzle where the pieces were totally random but fit in any way, it was so easy yet so hard to remember (well mostly because he had just woken up, quite literally 1 minute ago).
“Yep! That’s my name.” She chuckled lightly, “anyways you should get up and get dressed, check the time, did Sooyoung-ah tell you when we were going to pick you up?”
"Uhm... Well..." Shit, this was all happening too fast, what the hell is happening right now.
“... She didn't, did she.” Her voice became sinister, Dokja felt shivers go down his spine geez, Sangah really is scary sometimes, he never knew about this side of her as she was always cheerful and nice to him.
“See you, we'll be there in a bit Dokja-ssi! Though it might take longer than I thought, I have some... things to take care of.”
“...Oh, uhm, alright?? See you Sangah-ssi?” he replied back, hurrying to press the button to end the call.
“KIM DOKJA—” Someone shouted at him, the audio cut off right as she was saying his name…
‘yep, must be Sooyoung' he sighed.
'I was wondering where she was... wait, did Sangah just say that they're coming here? Why... oh, right, creator con, UGHHH I totally forgot about that!... How the hell do they even know each other.’
Choosing to forget that weird phone call, he stretched his arms and legs, the sounds they made were at best, disturbing, at worst, something actually cracked. Dokja swung his legs off of the mattress and stood up, his vision blacked out for a good second, he had to grip his hands onto the desk to stop himself from falling back onto the bed.
Soon as the dark spots disappeared, he moved to the bathroom, using the walls to help support himself as his head was thudding lightly.
*Click*
“Ughh… damned lights” he hissed, quickly shielding his eyes as the sudden brightness flashbanged him.
Once his eyes adjusted, he went to go look at his reflection in the mirror and sighed loudly. The massive, dark bags hanging under his eyes looked so bad if someone walked in on him then and there, they might scream, convinced that he was a walking corpse.
Dokja didn't even have the time to mourn what has become of his face as he didn't want the others to wait for him. Sangah said they'd be there in a bit, he didn't know how close or far they were from him, but being prepared is always good.
The reader started brushing his teeth, and to be ‘efficient’ he also decided to multi-task by shoving things he thought he needed into the closest bag to him. To finish, he went back into the bathroom holding some random clothes from his wardrobe that this absolute idiot thought might look well together.
Minutes later he reappeared out of the bathroom wearing a beige sweater and baggy pants, his hair still looking like a mess but there wasn't time to fix that.
Ring! Ring! Ring!—
“Hey Dokja, We're here.” a different voice spoke this time.
‘Oh, it's... Sooyoung? She sounds a bit off. Wait off isn't the right word, it's more like she sounds less aggressive, nicer than usual.’
“Ah, alright, I'll be right there in a minute.” he replied back and ended the call.
Dokja went to grab his bag, swinging the long strap over his head and onto the other side of his shoulder so it wouldn't fall down. Slapping his face a few times before heading out.
----------
By the time they actually got to Creator Con Dokja was just glad that he was alive. On second thought, maybe being dead was better than ever coming here... but anyways, the car ride was something else, he was convinced they ran 5 red lights and almost hit a wall by how fast they were going and how sharp the car turned.
Sooyoung tried to fight him from the back seat and start roasting him but quickly shut down those ideas every time Sangah shot a look at her so menacing but yet so angelic at the same time, so after a while she stopped trying to nag him and just looked out the window at other cars while biting down on a lemon candy.
Apparently they were girlfriends, which shocked him since he never knew they met and he was close with both of them.
He stared at the massive building in front of him, astonished by its size and the sheer amount of people inside and outside of it.
“Woah...”
“heh, cool right?” Sooyoung stood beside him, while holding hands with Sangah.
“C’mon, let's go!!” She grabbed his arm, tugging him along as they ran towards the entrance.
The trio weaved their way through the crowd, Dokja pulled his phone out of his pocket, he opened his digital pass which the staff quickly scanned, handing them their entry wristbands and let them walk inside.
They walked through the entrance, the convention looked HUGEEE. The open hall was filled with thousands upon thousands of people, cosplayers and rows of colourful booths selling well-made merch, posters and beautiful fanart.
As all of them were busy admiring the place, Dokja's stomach let out an embarrassing growl. He hadn't eaten anything, since he woke up earlier in a mess.
“Uhm... let's go get food first.” He muttered out while looking down, slowly rubbing the back of his neck.
“Haha, sure, you probably haven't eaten yet have you?”
He cried tears of joy internally. ‘Sangah you sweet, thoughtful woman, thank you, if it was Sooyoung she would've just let me starve to death.’
“...ppfff! The squid is starving heh. Alright, let's go find the food court. I wonder what shit they have in there anyway.” she totally wasn't going cause she felt bad for her friend. Yea right.
After looking around for a few minutes and Sangah having to remind them that the place actually had signs, they grabbed a bite to eat from the stalls. After they finished eating their food, Sangah turned to Dokja with her signature warm smile. “Sooyoung-ah and I are going to go look around at some of the booths over on the other side. Dokja-ssi is it alright if we separate for a bit?”
“Ah. No, not at all. You guys can go ahead.” He replied, waving his hands as the couple walked away, disappearing into the crowd.
Now he was alone, Dokja fiddled around with his bag strap but eventually started walking around, wandering through the aisles by himself.
Until he found a shop selling merch of his VTuber persona. It was kind of awkward and he felt really embarrassed when he looked around at that stall, mostly since it was merch of him, well it was actually his avatar. There were keychains, stickers, pins, all sorts of stuff! But one specific thing caught his attention, the plushie. It was soo cuteee!! it had little horns and little wings, it's face was so adorable. How could anyone resist that cute lil thing? The price said ₩55,000...
...
He bought it.
It might've been a bit on the pricey side but it was definitely worth it.
Continuing his adventure, Dokja turned corner after corner, it seemed almost endless really, it had already been a few hours after they had separated.
He was getting more tired and turned another corner, expecting more stalls and more people but...
His eyes widened.
There was an massive crowd of people. At some part of it they started to form a long continuous line where he couldn't find the end of.
‘What the hell is this...’ he was confused, why would this many others gather there? it didn't happen in other places that he's been to at the convention.
Curious, Dokja stood up on his toes, he wobbled and almost fell a few times while scanning above the sea of heads for the origin.
There was a lump of black cloth... wait no, it was a person sitting there and someone else with blonde, flowy hair was standing behind them.
He walked closer, looking at the person sitting down. They wore all black, their coat, shirt, everything, even their hair. Slowly they tilted their head up. It was a man, his face was so beautiful he looked like a modern Adonis.
Dokja had forgotten that he was there.
‘Wait. Is that... no fucking way.’
It was Yoo Joonghyuk.
The reader checked the time.
[01:07 pm]
He'd probably have to wait more than an hour in line just to meet him.
Fuck it.
----------
[02:36 pm]
The person in front of him moved to the side, they looked happy, so did most of the people before them.
“Hello.” Joonghyuk’s voice was deep, just like in the interviews when he answered questions.
“Ah! Uhm, hello!”
‘Goshh!! This is so nerve wracking! He's like literally right in front of me.’
“... Your name?”
“Oh, uh it's Kim Dokja.”
He nervously reached his shaking hand into his bag, pulling out the chibi plushie that he had bought earlier along with a black permanent marker.
“Could you... well... sign this for me please?” He asked, holding both items in front of him and his face warming up.
“Mm...”
Joonghyuk stared at the plushie. Huh, maybe he wanted one too? Seems like nobody can resist its cuteness.
He placed the plushie and pen on the table, the other reached for them.
He leaned forward a bit, his face getting closer to Joonghyuk's “... you aren't good at communicating, are you?” Dokja asked
“...” The pro gamer glared at him for a split second before shifting his attention back on the plush.
The awkward silence between the two returned as Joonghyuk uncapped the marker and started writing on the back of its cape, he was careful with each stroke. Standing under the heavy atmosphere, Dokja's habits automatically took over. Reflexively, his right hand went up to the side of his head to adjust a non-existent streaming headset.
His fingers gripped down onto empty air.
‘Ah—huh?’ He forgot. He wasn't at home, he wasn't streaming.
‘Shit, shit, SHIT. Dokja, just act like it was on purpose, act natural. Nobody is going to notice, nobody is going to find out who I am online just from this. No one.’
He quickly turned the motion into a casual scratch, fiddling with his ear. It seemed like the other person didn't notice.
But little did he know, it was too late.
Joonghyuk's eyes had already caught onto the sudden movement and the pause in between. He handed the plushie back to Dokja, who unceremoniously shoved it into his bag, zipping it shut.
“Thank you,” the reader muttered softly while adjusting the strap of his bag.
“...”
“Hm? Uh, do you need something?”
The man didn't answer him. Instead, his sharp eyes slowly scanned him, until they locked onto something. Dokja followed his gaze, it was on his bag, the random one he took with him, which was weird and should have been totally fine, but he had missed something very important:
The keychain.
It was a custom keychain, there was only one other keychain like this, only two people had them.
One belonged to Sooyoung, who was the moderator in his streams and the other belonged to…
Himself. The VTuber named [DemonKingofSalvation] aka, [Guwon]
The realisation dawned on him.
The suffocating weight became heavier, his head pounded loudly against his skull, his heart hammered against his ribs, making him forget to breathe. All of the chattering in the background instantly faded away into a dead silence. It felt wrong.
Yoo Joonghyuk lifted his chin up, his abyssal, gem-like eyes stared directly at Dokja’s and pierced into his frightened soul.
“...Guwon-ie?”