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He found Kim Dokja on the large balcony of the complex, just as Han Sooyoung told him.
Kim Dokja was standing with his back to him, sans his signature coat, looking outside. Yoo Joonghyuk walked over in fast strides, grabbed him by the collar and pushed him to the wall. Lightly. Something was off.
Kim Dokja's lack of resistance troubled him.
Kim Dokja must be in an incredibly bad state. If anyone could have broken into the complex and taken him...
Kim Dokja's head hit the wall slightly and he was looking down, his bangs covering his face.
While Yoo Joonghyuk was still brooding over the safety of the complex, Kim Dokja looked up, his mouth pulling into a lazy smile.
"Joonghyuk-ah..!" Kim Dokja practically beamed.
Yoo Joonghyuk froze. All his thoughts came to a standstill.
Yoo Joonghyuk had never heard Kim Dokja call him so familiarly. It was either his full name, some nicknames he thought up to tease him or an insult. And Kim Dokja's tone just now was almost... affectionate.
And Yoo Joonghyuk had never seen Kim Dokja's face look like this. His face was lightly flushed, with a beaming smile that reached his eyes. His eyes were filled with unbelievable warmth, reflecting the stars of the night sky on the balcony.
"I haven't seen you for so long."
Kim Dokja's eyes were fixed on Yoo Joonghyuk. His eyes roamed over Yoo Joonghyuk's face.
"Hm?"
Kim Dokja tilted his head to the side slightly, waiting for an answer.
To steady himself, Kim Dokja put his hand lightly on Yoo Joonghyuk's hand on the collar of his shirt. Kim Dokja's hand was inexplicably warm, compared to the freezing night on the balcony. It radiated warmth even through Yoo Joonghyuk's black gloves.
Kim Dokja's smile seemed to be permanently stuck on his face. Everything about Kim Dokja was so soft and affectionate. His face. His movements. His eyes. Some people blamed their violence on being drunk, but you could hardly believe that when you see someone like Kim Dokja who seems to be warmth and affection personified in a drunk state. It was such a contrast to his usual controlled expression, where even his thin smiles were calculated.
They hadn't seen each other for two weeks. Yoo Joonghyuk went off to tackle a row of hidden scenarios that gave some good items, since they currently had free time between main scenarios. He still remembered that they had argued about something the day he left.
But now looking at Kim Dokja's flushed face, Yoo Joonghyuk tried to remember the topic of the argument and came up with nothing.
Was he drunk? He had never seen Kim Dokja drunk before. Kim Dokja usually never even got remotely drunk, even after drinking a lot with Han Sooyoung. Kim Dokja was always perfectly contained. Controlled. Alert.
"I was doing the hidden scenarios," Yoo Joonghyuk spoke, his brain unable to come up with anything else to say.
Kim Dokja's eyes seemed to be closing on their own, but he kept blinking them open, his eyes never leaving Yoo Joonghyuk.
Kim Dokja then pinned him with a direct, more serious gaze. "You were gone for so long. You hardly even sent any messages."
"It was two weeks."
"Two weeks are a lot," grumbled Kim Dokja and looked to the side for the first time.
"Kim Dokja. Are you drunk?"
Kim Dokja blinked a few times and shook his head vehemently, moving slightly.
Kim Dokja then lightly waved him off with his hand, smiling, and brought his other hand up to take another sip of the whiskey glass that Yoo Joonghyuk hadn't noticed before.
Yoo Joonghyuk promptly took the glass out of Kim Dokja's hand with his free hand that was not holding Kim Dokja and put it on a table next to them.
Kim Dokja didn't even protest, seemingly having forgotten that he had had a drink in his hand in the first place. His eyes were on Yoo Joonghyuk instead.
"Joonghyuk-ah."
Yoo Joonghyuk wanted to begin asking him why he got wasted like this, but there was so much warmth in Kim Dokja's eyes he had trouble formulating any words. So much fondness in his expression. One of the most genuine smiles he had ever seen on Kim Dokja. What could have gotten into him to get so drunk? Was Yoo Joonghyuk really absent for too long?
And it was intoxicating having Kim Dokja's full attention. Kim Dokja's eyes only on him. He never wanted it to stop. Kim Dokja seemed to have said something but he didn't register it.
"Joonghyuk-ah, are you listening?"
He focused back on Kim Dokja.
Suddenly Kim Dokja's hands were on the side of his head, touching his hair lightly, like a feather, brushing his hair back.
"How are you this handsome?" Kim Dokja asked, genuinely confused, laughing exasperatedly.
Two hands cupped his face.
"Hey... Joonghyuk-ah."
Kim Dokja's eyes roamed over his face, his hair. He caressed his cheek, adjusted Yoo Joonghyuk's fringe, tucked a strand of hair behind his ear while he mumbled something about protagonist genetics.
Yoo Joonghyuk didn't know how to react. Or he did know. He could easily wrap one hand around the two thin wrists on his face and pin them back, not even having to let go of Kim Dokja's collar. He could. But somehow...
Light strokes brushing his hair back. Kim Dokja looking at him like this. Like he was the only one in the world. He froze. He didn't want to be the one to put a stop to it.
He didn't know when-, no, if this would ever happen again.
Yoo Joonghyuk didn't want to admit it, but he liked having Kim Dokja's attention. However, Kim Dokja's full attention was elsewhere nowadays. Kim Dokja was either planning alone, talking to the company, or encouraging the kids. There were so many people he had to take care of. And that was fine.
Whenever they did talk, Kim Dokja sometimes glanced at him quickly, but he never looked at him for long. He wrapped up conversations quickly. He seemed to be more comfortable with the other company members; he laughed with them, and he looked at them face-to-face. Yoo Joonghyuk was almost jealous.
People from the company kept telling Yoo Joonghyuk that he had a special bond with Kim Dokja. They seemed to want Yoo Joonghyuk to trip up and reveal some details about their relationship.
But there was nothing to reveal.
He knew next-to-nothing about the man. Kim Dokja teased him as if they were close sometimes, but he never told Yoo Joonghyuk anything vulnerable. Or anything about himself at all. Kim Dokja easily dodged any questions he didn't want to answer.
Often, in their conversations Kim Dokja seemed focused on the plans in such a professional manner that Yoo Joonghyuk almost felt like a distant colleague at work.
Yoo Joonghyuk treasured the few conversations they had when Kim Dokja looked at Yoo Joonghyuk directly for a while, and they just talked about life, and not the scenarios. He wanted more.
Kim Dokja softly touching his hair felt immensely comforting. His hands were gentle, like a feather's weight. Yoo Joonghyuk slightly closed his left eye when Kim Dokja went over his eyebrow with his hand.
It didn't feel real. He had half a mind to check if he was dreaming or stuck in a mind control scenario. He had expected to go over to Kim Dokja, tell him to not cook again without him because he found half of the kitchen supplies destroyed upon his return, and now... Now...
Kim Dokja went on for a few minutes, moving his fingers along his face, through his hair, as if he was trying to memorize his face. Yoo Joonghyuk couldn't bring himself to move.
At some point, Kim Dokja's eyes left his face and Yoo Joonghyuk instantly mourned the loss.
But Kim Dokja's eyes fixed on his shoulders as Kim Dokja slid his hands over his neck down to his shoulders. He could feel Kim Dokja's hands grip slightly at the muscle of his shoulders, testing the muscle through his black compressed shirt.
"And how the fuck are you so ripped?? It's literally insane." Kim Dokja seemed genuinely confused.
Yoo Joonghyuk's grip on Kim Dokja's collar must have lightened unconsciously because Kim Dokja moved slightly closer and reached one of his hands a little further, behind his shoulders at his nape and was pressing lightly in an irregular rhythm, moving towards his shoulder blades.
"Your shoulders are really tense, don't they hurt? You should get a massage or stretch them out soon."
Yoo Joonghyuk felt his neck warming up. He turned his head to the side.
"Kim Dokja."
Kim Dokja continued touching his muscles unperturbed. "What? Were you a gym bro before the scenarios? Seriously..."
Kim Dokja chuckled and placed both of his hands on his shoulders again and leaned back against the wall. Then he made an expression as if struck with a sudden realization. "That could actually be it though..." He made an expression as if he just came to some world-breaking conclusion.
But he quickly turned his gaze back to Yoo Joonghyuk. Or rather his upper body.
"Woah. Your biceps is crazy, too" Kim Dokja said suddenly, taking Yoo Joonghyuk's biceps of the arm that was still holding the collar of his shirt and squeezing lightly.
Then he knocked with the back of his hand like you would at a door, but at Yoo Joonghyuk's chest.
And then ran a hand sideways alongside his collarbones and then his pecs.
Yoo Joonghyuk felt something in his stomach turn.
He couldn't let this go on.
He let go of Kim Dokja's collar to take Kim Dokja's wrists, but Kim Dokja suddenly fell forward. He must have leaned against Yoo Joonghyuk's hand at his collar and once it was gone, he started falling.
Yoo Joonghyuk steadied him by holding him at his shoulders.
Kim Dokja instinctively placed his hands on Yoo Joonghyuk's arms to steady himself. But he was leaning to the left and to the right in an uncontrolled way.
Kim Dokja leaned slightly on Yoo Joonghyuk.
"Hey... Don't move so quickly."
Kim Dokja was in an even weaker state than he thought.
All of a sudden, since Yoo Joonghyuk was not controlling his wrists as planned, Kim Dokja brought his arms around Yoo Joonghyuk's lower back.
Kim Dokja was hugging him.
Yoo Joonghyuk exhaled, with his arms in the air, not knowing what to do. It was just one thing after the other.
Kim Dokja then moved back, his hands still left at Yoo Joonghyuk's waist. And started looking over his upper body again. This time at his abs.
Yoo Joonghyuk was starting to regret wearing a compressed shirt today.
Before Kim Dokja could adjust his hands, Yoo Joonghyuk quickly took Kim Dokja's shoulders and swung an arm under his knees in a bridal carry. Kim Dokja looped his hands around his neck to steady himself and yawned. Yoo Joonghyuk exhaled deeply and left the balcony to go towards Kim Dokja's room.
Kim Dokja blearily looked at Yoo Joonghyuk. Yoo Joonghyuk fixed his gaze straight ahead.
After a few minutes Kim Dokja closed his eyes and seemed to have fallen asleep.
---
But it wasn't over yet.
When Yoo Joonghyuk placed Kim Dokja on his bed, Kim Dokja had no intention of removing the hands around his neck. Once Yoo Joonghyuk laid him down, Kim Dokja opened his eyes and reinforced his hold around Yoo Joonghyuk's neck. Kim Dokja was almost lying down, and Yoo Joonghyuk was in a weird position with his upper body being held over the bed by Kim Dokja's arms.
"Kim Dokja. Let go."
Yoo Joonghyuk thought that maybe Kim Dokja had just fallen asleep and that his arms got stuck unconsciously.
But Kim Dokja was not asleep.
"No."
Yoo Joonghyuk put his arms on the bed, left and right beside Kim Dokja to not be further pulled down by the increasingly stronger pull of Kim Dokja's arms. He sighed in disbelief.
"Why?"
"You'll leave. You'll go off on your own again. Who knows when I will see you again." Kim Dokja's face was stern, or as stern as a flushed face could be.
Bastard, that's what he should be saying to Kim Dokja, not the other way around.
Kim Dokja then proceeded to say in a quieter voice: "Just stay here. Please."
He was a weak, weak man.
"...Alright."
Kim Dokja's face lightened. He went a bit further on the bed to make space for Yoo Joonghyuk. His hands left his neck and promptly took his arm to pull Yoo Joonghyuk on the bed.
Yoo Joonghyuk ended up lying down on his back and crossing his arms over his chest. Kim Dokja was holding onto his bicep and leaned his forehead against it.
"Good night, Joonghyuk-ah."
... "Good night."
It was comforting to have Kim Dokja in his sight. There were days when Yoo Joonghyuk got up and Kim Dokja had gone off on his own again, worrying the entire company. (Or days where he woke up in a cold sweat from a constant recurring nightmare: Kim Dokja having disappeared.)
This way, he could keep track of him. Have him in his line of sight.
After a long time, the anxiety bled out of his shoulders.
---
Kim Dokja woke up with a splitting headache.
Fuck, he had forgotten to take the pre-hangover medicine from the Dokkaebi Shop before he was drinking.
His face was leaning against a black pillow. Not sure where he got it from. Maybe one from Han Sooyoung?
Speaking of Han Sooyoung, he had the feeling she had mixed his drinks extra strong yesterday, compared to the drinks she made for the others. She had always been disappointed at losing their drinking games.
It was a given. With the combination of the Fourth Wall and his already high tolerance from mandatory workplace drinking, it was almost impossible for Kim Dokja to get drunk. The Fourth Wall continually offset the mental effects of drinking, so to get to any resemblance of being drunk, he had to drink an extremely high amount for such a long time that even the Fourth Wall reached its limit. So for Kim Dokja, losing drinking games to other, regular people, was a preprogrammed impossibility.
Kim Dokja made a grimace. He'd get back at her for this. Seriously. Did she just pour straight liquor in his longdrinks and nothing else? He did feel that his drinks were more bitter than usual, but as time went on, he had acclimated to the taste. His irritation spiked. Who did Han Sooyoung think he was? Did she think his skills were limitless? What if he had died from alcohol poisoning? All because of her own pettiness.
This was definitely one of the worst hangovers he'd had in a long time. No matter, he'll just buy a healing item.
Kim Dokja tried to prop himself up on his elbow and open the Dokkaebi Shop when his eyes fell on the person next to him.
It had not been a black pillow.
Yoo Joonghyuk was lying next to him, in a black shirt, eyes closed peacefully, his handsome head turned to the side in a relaxed way.
Kim Dokja froze.
A blue screen popped up.
God, there were so many constellation notifications from yesterday. He remembered muting them before he started drinking with the others.
[1000 coins have been sponsored.]
[10000 coins have been sponsored.]
[50000 coins have been sponsored.]
...
[The constellation "Demon-like Judge of Fire ...]
...
They made so much money. It's actually insane. He wonders whether Uriel had emptied out the entire Nebula bank account. Of course, the constellations would love something like this.
Something like this? Like what?
Kim Dokja tried to remember what had happened.
They had been drinking with some members of the company. Han Sooyoung had proclaimed that she would definitely win the drinking game today and stalked off somewhere. Kim Dokja had gone on the balcony to cool off.
Then suddenly.
There had been Yoo Joonghyuk.
When Yoo Joonghyuk had grabbed his collar, he instantly recognized it was Yoo Joonghyuk.
The action had been just so familiarly Yoo Joonghyuk that his heart ached. For some reason, he had felt incredibly glad, so he just let him grab him without pushing back. It seemed like a dream, really. Seeing Yoo Joonghyuk after a while of his absence. But the pressure on the collar of his shirt was proof of it being real, and he wanted to lean into it. So much relief flew through him that he hadn't been able to stop smiling. Man. He had been so drunk that he hadn't been in the mood to hide or control his facial expression.
And then...
Usually, he liked looking at Yoo Joonghyuk but he didn't want to be caught staring and look like a weird person. So Kim Dokja stole glances now and then. But he had always wanted to look at Yoo Joonghyuk's face more closely. Figure out how he looked this good. His drunk self must have seized the opportunity.
He didn't even want to think about what he had done after touching his face. Fuck.
He would kill him. Yep. The only thing Kim Dokja wondered about was why Yoo Joonghyuk didn't kill him sooner.
Maybe Yoo Joonghyuk wanted him to be sober when he killed him. Just so Kim Dokja could take in the ramifications of his actions and be terrified. Whatever. You can't understand the mind of a psychopath.
Kim Dokja tried to slowly inch away from the bed when at that moment he noticed Yoo Joonghyuk had been holding one of his wrists in his sleep. Fuck.
Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes fluttered open. And immediately fixed on Kim Dokja.
"Kim Dokja."
Yoo Joonghyuk's brows furrowed slightly.
Fuck this.
So far Yoo Joonghyuk had only been looking at him and hadn't made a move. But don't they say attack is the best defense? ...No, not against Yoo Joonghyuk.
Kim Dokja tried to move away, but Yoo Joonghyuk tightened his grip on his wrist.
Yoo Joonghyuk seemed to want to say something, searching for the words.
"Are you okay?"
...Kim Dokja hadn't expected that.
"I was about to buy a healing item, so I'll be fine," Kim Dokja got out.
Suddenly Yoo Joonghyuk sat up. Kim Dokja got ready to run. He'll be gone at the first sight of a fight. He recently found a way to teleport-
Yoo Joonghyuk fixed his stare at Kim Dokja's forehead and reached out to it with his free hand.
He slightly touched Kim Dokja's forehead, seemingly assessing something.
"You have a cut."
Kim Dokja blinked. He didn't notice anything, so it must be a small cut. Maybe from yesterday when they were drinking.
More importantly, Yoo Joonghyuk didn't emit any murderous aura yet. At all. It was actually less than his baseline murderous mood. Which happens only on select occasions, which the regressor doesn't have many of. If Yoo Joonghyuk had his sword right now, he'd probably be dragging it on the ground behind him, as he does when something good happens. Kim Dokja made a mental note to investigate this sudden change in mood. Maybe he got an exceptional item in the hidden scenarios? He had decided to stop using Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint to peek into people's minds but he could coax it out of him with some cleverly formulated questions.
[The constellation "Demon-like Judge of Fire is sobbing in happiness.]
Kim Dokja felt slightly concerned for Uriel's mental well-being.
Kim Dokja didn't know how to deal with a Yoo Joonghyuk like this at all. He knew how to placate an angry Yoo Joonghyuk, how to cheer up a sad one. But not what to say to a content, soft Yoo Joonghyuk. Who was a bit too close. Most importantly, Kim Dokja was perplexed. It was almost as if Yoo Joonghyuk didn't remember yesterday and instead met a unicorn who granted all of his wishes and made him this calm, content version of himself. (Or Yoo Joonghyuk was fine with yesterday. Which Kim Dokja discarded instantly.)
"Are you not mad?"
Yoo Joonghyuk stared at him with a stare he couldn't parse.
Just as Yoo Joonghyuk began shaking his head, someone suddenly started knocking on his door loudly. Which he half welcomed, half despised. He got out of talking with Yoo Joonghyuk (and couldn't be killed in front of the others) but at the same time, something tugged at Kim Dokja to know the real reason Yoo Joonghyuk was acting like this.
"Hey, Kim Dokja!! It's almost lunchtime! Everyone else is already up," Han Sooyoung screamed through the door.
"But we can't find Yoo Joonghyuk. He didn't start making lunch yet!" Lee Jihye piped up.
Yoo Joonghyuk flinched.
"Even after drinking as much as you did, you must be up by now, right?? Ha! I won the drinking game, you never came back!"
Kim Dokja was trying to think of what to do, but his head was killing him, slowing down everything, and his wrist was still in that sunfish bastard's hold.
Han Sooyoung seemed to talk to someone outside for a second. Then she knocked again. Several times. Loudly. Kim Dokja's head was ringing. Seriously, the second he gets a chance for revenge, he will-
The door opened.
Han Sooyoung first spotted Kim Dokja. Lee Jihye trotted in the room behind her.
"So you're awake. So why- "
Her gaze fell on Yoo Joonghyuk.
In Kim Dokja's bed. With messy hair, giving it away that he slept here. Holding Kim Dokja's wrist.
Lee Jihye covered her mouth.
Yes. He's done. That's definitely going to be enough to keep the gossip going for another 10 years.
Han Sooyoung was just blinking and putting a hand to her head, as if she was trying to understand something, as a smile was slowly spreading across her face. God, he knew she was going to tease him for this forever. He knew that she knew that nothing happened. But she doesn't care about that; she just found her perfect material for the next 20 years.
Of all people, Yoo Joonghyuk spoke up.
"I'll get a bandaid for Kim Dokja and then will get started on lunch."
And just like that, he let go of Kim Dokja and unceremoniously left the room. Lee Jihye followed after him, probably fishing to get more information.
"Soo, did you get any closer to Yoo Joonghyuk yesterday?" Han Sooyoung singsonged in a scheming voice.
"Just shut up."
He could feel Han Sooyoung's smirking gaze on him. Kim Dokja bought a healing item quickly and his headache disappeared. He sighed.
He seriously didn't know what to do with the information that Yoo Joonghyuk hadn't seemed enraged and was instead the epitome of contentness, for his standards.
"Han Sooyoung."
She looked up.
"You didn't win. You made the drinks unevenly."
She must have because otherwise the others would have died multiple times over the duration of their game.
Han Sooyoung sputtered. "No-. No way. Can you prove it? If you had any complaints you should have said them back then."
"Han Sooyoung..." Kim Dokja shot her a glare.
"Well- Anyway, I have to go. Practice. Something."
Kim Dokja tsk-ed. He was thinking about lying down for another nap, he felt mentally exhausted. And Joonghyuk had said he'd come back with a bandaid.
As she was standing in the doorway she opened her mouth again.
"Congratulations on getting with Yoo Joonghyuk by the way-"
"When I catch you-" Han Sooyoung bolted and Kim Dokja ran after her, activating his skills, already knowing the fastest way to send her to tartarus.