Chapter Text
The agreement is this: until Kim Dokja can find a new place, they’ll continue living together.
“You don’t have to be the one to move out,” Yoo Joonghyuk tells him, his voice still hard from leftovers of his previous outbursts. The tension still hangs in the air, but neither of them have the energy to act on it. He's tired, but in a way that only makes him even more handsome. In comparison, Kim Dokja looks like a tattered old rag with eye bags. “It’ll be easier for me to find somewhere else.”
“You’ve seen how much I make. Do you really think I can afford this place for myself?” Kim Dokja laughs, incredulous at the mere idea. “And this was your apartment first, anyway. It only makes sense for me to move back out.”
Rule one: They will not share a bed anymore, but Kim Dokja agrees to use an air mattress in the living room. Because of this, Yoo Joonghyuk also forfeits his rights over the comfiest, warmest blankets, and the only pillow that doesn’t have a shitload of lint all over it.
“I get cold easily,” he says in defense of this rule.
“Just turn on the heating.”
“Have you seen gas prices today? Ah, actually, how are we going to split the utility bills now…? Are you still going to cover it—?”
"You fool. You've lived here for this long, and you still don’t know that our heating is electric?”
Rule two: Filthy rich as he is, Yoo Joonghyuk’s jeonse lease covers rent—
“Are you sure you don’t want to, I don’t know, sublet your couch to me or something? This seems a little unfair on you.”
“Shut up, you fool. I don’t need your money.”
“I know that, I’ve seen how much you make. It’s just the principle.”
“You need to save every won so that you can afford to move out quickly.”
“Ah, Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi, so angry. That impatient for me to go?”
“You tell me, since you think you know everything. And don’t call me that.”
“It’s only proper. We aren’t… well, it’s just the—”
“Say the word principle one more time, I dare you.”
“I didn’t even do anything, why are you this badly annoyed again?”
“Why the hell do you think?!”
—so at least they don’t have to worry about that. Even so, he’ll continue to pay for all of their utility bills.
Rule three: They share the kitchen. Kim Dokja is still not allowed to restrict himself only to tuna cans and expired peanut butter. Yoo Joonghyuk will continue to cook for both of them out of the generosity of his own heart.
“I am perfectly capable of—”
“You aren’t, Kim Dokja.”
Something in his voice makes him stop mid-sentence. When he looks up, Yoo Joonghyuk seems genuinely, wholly exhausted. In the orange light of dawn, his glare doesn’t even have its usual anger, more subdued and raw. The sight of it evokes a strange, twisting sensation deep in Kim Dokja's chest. He drops his gaze quickly, the argument quicker.
Finally, rule four: neither of them will tell Yoo Mia anything until she comes home from boarding school in the winter.
…that’s about it, really. They’ve been bickering through the night and once they get to this point, it's six am and Yoo Joonghyuk storms out to ‘go on a run.' Kim Dokja collapses onto the couch to sleep for the first time in three days.
Twelve hours later. “Come here, baby,” Yoo Joonghyuk calls from the kitchen.
Who the hell is your baby? He wants to yell. But when he goes over, Yoo Joonghyuk looks angry enough at himself that Kim Dokja doesn’t need to say anything.
“What?” he says instead, unable to keep a hysterical, frantic note out of his voice.
Seemingly frustrated by his slip up, Yoo Joonghyuk snaps, “Nothing. Go wash up before dinner.”
“I’m going to eat in the living room.”
“...you’re paying for the cleaning if you spill anything on my couch.”
Has Yoo Joonghyuk not had enough of this kind of talk yet? Yours, mine, paying, money, money, money, goddamn money. That’s your stuff, don’t touch my things. You, you, me, me. It’s enough to drive someone crazy.
Pissed off, Kim Dokja goes right back to the couch and sleeps right through dinner. He wakes up later to a wrapped plate in the fridge and an awful headache.
That night, he brings out the air mattress. Under his weight, it creaks.
Lying there, Kim Dokja doesn’t really feel anything. The world doesn’t combust, Kim Dokja’s brain doesn’t melt out of his ears, the earth doesn’t split open. Things are as they have always been. Only one thing has changed, but it’s not really something he can see with his eyes.
The darkness behind his eyelids is refreshing for his strained eyes, so he keeps them shut to enjoy the feeling. The air mattress was something he bought a while ago, though he can’t remember why, beyond the fact it probably had something to do with Han Sooyoung. Still, it's fine. Not as comfortable as the bed, but he hadn’t had high hopes for it anyway.
Three nights and two days after they settle into this arrangement of avoiding each other—as much as possible in a thirty pyeong apartment—Yoo Joonghyuk strangely decides to switch up his routine and not disappear until ten am. This is entirely unknown to Kim Dokja himself, who has been avoiding the master bedroom like the plague, and brought an entire week’s worth of clothes into the living room so that he has no reason to go in.
It’s seven thirty am. He only realizes that he’s not home alone when Yoo Joonghyuk sneaks up behind him as he’s tucking into breakfast, and presses the back of his hand to Kim Dokja’s bowl.
Startled, Kim Dokja yelps, “What the fuck?!” Through a mouthful of egg, it sounds more like, Wahafack?! He swallows it down, and whirls around, heart still racing from the shock. “Asshole. What are you sneaking up on me for?” Why are you even here? he doesn’t ask, but it’s very much implied in his glare.
“Your food is freezing cold,” Yoo Joonghyuk says, glowering right back down at him. “Kim Dokja, do you have a death wish?”
There’s still a weird thing about the way Yoo Joonghyuk says his name, some leftover softness that strangles itself midway, like he’s still hung up on the sound of it. It makes something in Kim Dokja’s skin crawl. He almost wants to ban Yoo Joonghyuk from saying his name entirely, just so that he doesn’t have to hear it like that again. Rule five: both of us shut up and never talk to each other again.
“What does it matter to you, anyway?” Kim Dokja finds himself saying. The hardness of his own voice takes himself by surprise. It almost sounds like he’s upset about something, which is ridiculous because he is perfectly fine right now. Really, everything is sounding strange to him today. Maybe he should go see a doctor.
“...it’s just vegetables,” he says weakly. “Surely it can’t be that bad to eat them cold.”
Yoo Joonghyuk’s expression can’t seem to settle on being annoyed or fed up. Abruptly, he pulls away from where their faces were hovering close together out of habit, backing up into a more sensible distance two feet away. Following suit, Kim Dokja turns back around and dips his chopsticks back into the small container of bean sprouts.
“Why are you just eating the sides? Where’s the rice I left for you?”
“I already ate it.”
He can feel Yoo Joonghyuk’s gaze burning through the back of his skull. “Cold?”
Well, why ask a question when you’ve clearly made up your mind about the answer… Kim Dokja focuses on crushing tiny sesame seeds under the flat tip of his chopsticks.
Footsteps ring out as Yoo Joonghyuk wanders off to the bathroom, interrogation finally finished. It hits him then that this is the first conversation they’ve actually had in two long, frosty days.
Kim Dokja sighs and leans his head back against the couch. It presses into the buttons of a shirt, already ironed and pressed, ready for the day. It’s Monday again, and in thirty minutes, he has to set off to work. Crazy how these things happen. One day, you’re a functioning member of society, with a job, a long term partner, and a secure living situation—and the next, you’re a single, broke man who is far past the age where he should have gotten his shit together, and is just remembering that his temporary contract is ending in two months.
Yeah, he thinks, turning his face into the polycotton of his shirt. Real crazy.
He finishes up his food, washes the dishes, cleans up, and heads out. He ends up leaving twenty minutes late because he doesn’t want to ask Yoo Joonghyuk to get out of the bathroom.
Of course, this has the knock-on effect of him missing his train, and therefore ending up at work thirty minutes late.
“Busy morning?” Yoo Sangah asks in sympathy when he passes by her to get to the elevator. She looks as bright and radiant as a flower in spring, neat and tidy. It looks as though she’s never had a busy morning in her entire life.
Kim Dokja, waiting for the metal doors to open, says, “Something like that.”
Then, Yoo Sangah glances around, before leaning in to whisper. “By the way, Dokja-ssi has a little, ah—” she motions to the side of her mouth. “A little something over here.”
“...thank you, Sangah-ssi,” he says. He flicks off the grain of rice and ducks his head awkwardly. God, how many people have seen him like this today? Yoo Joonghyuk seriously didn’t mention it at all? Asshole.
“No worries. Also, the elevator is shut down today. I think they said the maintenance will last until… next week, maybe?”
“Right,” he says, trying not to sound as drained as he feels from just thinking of all those stairs… Damn it, he works on the sixth floor of this building. “That’s fine.”
No doubt pitying his patheticness, Yoo Sangah smiles at him. “I have to go now, but it was nice to see you. Have a good day, Dokja-ssi!”
If only. “You too, Sangah-ssi.”
Kim Dokja thinks again of the stairs waiting for him, and lets out a deep groan.
By lunch, he must look awful enough to make the devil feel bad.
“Kim Dokja, what the hell happened to you? Don’t you know the company needs all employees to be presentable? I mean, just think about our reputation! Yah, you…!”
Stunned silent, Kim Dokja watches in real time as his boss—his actual, direct boss, not Han Myungoh—fights with himself, before he reluctantly mutters, “Ah, just… go home early. Really, just—you’re going to get everybody else sick at this rate...”
As if he’s going to argue with that. “Of course, sir, sorry for the inconvenience,” Kim Dokja says, like a good little worker bee in the corporate hive, and before buzzing his merry way back home.
“Why are you back so early?” Yoo Joonghyuk says, standing awkwardly outside in the hallway. Two bags of groceries hang from each of his hands, so Kim Dokja takes pity on him and types the code for him.
“I finished up all my work, and my boss was so impressed he gave me the rest of the day off.”
The door clicks open. Yoo Joonghyuk shoves past him and barges straight into the apartment, bags swinging with every step.
“What was that for?” Kim Dokja grouses, rubbing at his shoulder performatively. His good mood turns sallow again, dreading the tenseness of the apartment. Maybe he should just go to work to escape this gloomy bastard for a few hours.
“I don’t like liars.”
You liked me just fine before, he thinks. Maybe even too much. Now you’re so picky?
[ Han Sooyoung ]
Han Sooyoung
hey are u guys still coming this weekend????
Cause i need to reserve a table and if u guys aren’t coming then...
You
Yeah, we’re still coming.
Were you hoping we weren’t so you could pay less…
Han Sooyoung
Yeah
ㅋㅋㅋ
ugh
This is what happens when ur rich, all ur friends exploit you
good thing u dont ever have to worry abt that [ sneaky.cat ]
[ Today. ]
You
You’re in luck. I’m not coming
Han Sooyoung
HOORAY
Wait fuck but Yoo Joonghyuk texted me back yesterday saying ur going
Ugh ur not funny
Sucking my wallet dry
Leeches
I alr regret saying i'd treat everyone
can u believe jung heewon said she wanted to invite her coworkers
almost choked cursing her out
You
He said we’re both going?
I can’t make it, it’s just him then.
Han Sooyoung
Woah
You
What?
Han Sooyoung
Is the world ending?
I cant believe you two are finally learning autonomy
How is this happening??
Did you two break up?? ㅋㅋㅋ
Joking, I know ur both ‘really good no homo friends’ or whatever
One of these days you’ll start dating
I’m telling you
You
ㅋㅋㅋ
Han Sooyoung
Anyway, why aren’t you coming?
It’s a free meal
You
I feel sick today
I think I’m going to rest as much as I can on the weekend
Han Sooyoung
Ewwwww
Yeah stay home dont give me your germs
In the time that follows, neither of them is very open to speaking. It’s mainly just, Move, Sorry, Do you mind if I use your…?, Shut up, Thanks for…, No, It’s fine, Yeah, Okay, I’ll go to the store for some…, No need, Bye, and other such riveting conversations.
It’s been a while since Yoo Joonghyuk went to the gym daily. He used to go religiously, citing a need to keep himself fit and active—though, why on earth a pro-gamer who sits at his desk and shoots at other players would need muscles is beyond Kim Dokja. But after they started living together, Kim Dokja had worn him down to staying at home more.
What, you don’t like me enough to hang around for too long? he’d once snickered. He wasn't actually bothered, but Yoo Joonghyuk had immediately taken it to heart and limited himself to working out every three days.
No, Joonghyuk-ah, that’s not what I meant… Kim Dokja had said, though he was very obviously pleased to sleep in, now that Yoo Joonghyuk wasn’t rocking the bed to get up at six.
These past few days, he’s been out of the house so much. Kim Dokja is suspecting he might be going to the gym as an employee, instead of a member.
It’s whatever, really. Not his business what that guy does now. At least it leaves him with some actual alone time in the mornings, so he doesn’t have to awkwardly stand around in the kitchen before work waiting for breakfast to be served. Now he can eat cold, refrigerated leftovers and sit on the couch without somebody nagging him about the upholstery. No more, Kim Dokja, eat in the kitchen, we have stools for a reason. No more, Your tie is crooked, Dokja, turn around so I can fix it. No more, Come here, baby. Just eat, relish in the peace and quiet of a large, silent apartment, fix his own tie and then head out to catch the train.
Peace. It feels more like before, when Kim Dokja had the freedom to do whatever he wanted without someone trudging around in the next room. Like living alone.
Like being alone.
At night, he tosses around restlessly, the air mattress squealing under him. His mind won’t settle down, replaying the scenes of the past few days. The lack of fresh, hot food, his belongings that are still in Yoo Joonghyuk’s bedroom. Fighting until sunrise. Yoo Joonghyuk slipping up on the very first day, the idiot.
Sighing, he rolls onto his back. The ceiling stares back at him as he thinks gets lost in his thoughts.
Come here, baby—like some kind of dog. Come here, baby, sit. Roll over. Go fetch. Let me take care of you until we die. Why did Kim Dokja ever put up with that? Honestly, good riddance to all that fussing.
Eventually, he falls asleep to the distant sound of Yoo Joonghyuk’s keyboard tapping away furiously from the other room.
When he wakes up the next morning, it’s two hours too early for him to get ready for work, and Yoo Joonghyuk is already out of the apartment. He can only tell that he’s gone because the car keys are missing from the little hooks by the door, just close enough that he can make out the shape of black metal against the white wall from where he lays on the floor.
Before Kim Dokja really understands why, he’s standing up and walking over to the kitchen, silent over the carpet. The air is cold, like the wind just before rain. It feels less like he lives here when his feet touch cool tiles, feels more like he’s intruding.
Everything is organized, clean, and perfect. Did Yoo Joonghyuk clean before he left? That psycho. Kim Dokja could hear him playing games through the walls last night. He’d even seen the notification pop up on his phone at around midnight—Yoo Joonghyuk is streaming ‘late night PID speedrun’—watch it live! Did he even sleep?
Kim Dokja realizes that to get to the kitchen and leave the apartment, Yoo Joonghyuk would have had to walk past him sleeping. He wonders if he’d come closer just to check on him, like he used to. If Yoo Joonghyuk had dropped a kiss on his forehead that nobody would know about. The thought sparks a twisting sensation in his gut, heavy and longing.
In that moment, he misses sleeping in their bed together so badly he almost vomits. Touching Yoo Joonghyuk. Being touched by Yoo Joonghyuk. Waking up to his face instead of the ceiling, eating together. There’s the sense that whatever disagreement they may have had, it can be solved quickly. That Kim Dokja would give in immediately and throw himself back into Yoo Joonghyuk’s arms.
But it passes sluggishly, Kim Dokja forcefully shoving it away, fighting the dragging resistance until he’s back to his senses.
The fancy kitchen equipment is arranged in places that only make sense to Yoo Joonghyuk, the only person who uses them. So are all of those expensive knives of different shapes and sizes that Kim Dokja never understood the need for. The apron is no longer hanging on the handle of the oven, presumably folded and shoved into the pantry.
The fridge and freezer are stocked full of delicious food, each labelled and with instructions. Curiously, the cupboards are basically bursting with produce. There might be more food inside their—inside Yoo Joonghyuk's apartment than there ever has been in his entire time living here. The whole kitchen is even more spotless than normal, even with the rigorous cleaning schedule that it’s been subject to for years. It smells slightly like lemon, and the countertops sparkle like they’ve been covered in glitter.
And Kim Dokja, standing in the middle of it. He’s still here too—miraculously. Dressed in the same clothes he’s been wearing to sleep for the past three days, with his hair unbrushed and face unwashed, Kim Dokja feels out of place next to the mopped floors and polished dishes in the drying rack, but he’s still here.
That’s something to be proud of, right? Even if it is, Kim Dokja closes his eyes and tries to pretend he’s not here. Not as in here, in the kitchen, but here at this point in time. Kim Dokja imagines that he’s just waiting for the rice to finish cooking whilst they—whilst dinner is being cooked. A time where everything is good. No longer does it feel like he is a ghost, or third-party.
Just for the brief second that memory lasts him, before reality pulls it away from him kindly, tugging slowly to break his grip, Kim Dokja is a person again. He feels his fingertips and toes, breathes fully, sees in color.
Then he walks out and gets ready for work. The plate of food Yoo Joonghyuk left for him stays in the fridge, its careful plastic wrapping untouched.
“Dokja-ssi…”
He smiles weakly, but this only makes Yoo Sangah’s frown deeper. “I’m alright, Sangah-ssi. Just a bit tired.”
“I heard you got sent home early yesterday,” she insists, her hand faltering mid-air as if it was about to reach for his shoulder, but probably realizing she might get infected by whatever ailment Kim Dokja had. “If Dokja-ssi is still not feeling well, it’s always good to take a break… I’ll talk to HR for you.”
He forces the corners of his tight-lipped smile to stay up. “Really, it’s fine. I’ll feel better once I get back into my routine.”
“...if Dokja-ssi is sure, then I’ll trust you to take care of your health.”
Does he really seem so pitiful that everybody wants to coddle him these days? There’s no way that anybody knows what’s actually happened, right? He and that guy had made sure to keep everything under tight wraps for so many years, there’s no way it leaked out…
Despite everything, only Yoo Sangah seems to genuinely feel bad for him. He gets a few disgusted, confused glances, a few tuts and shakes of the head, and one loud, resonating, “Yah, Kim Dokja! Where were you yesterday? Slacking off again? Looks like we need to talk about your attitude, if you want a future at this company…”
“Yes, sir,” Kim Dokja says blandly, already hurrying over with his head ducked low.
He envies Yoo Joonghyuk, who can boss around everyone else using his celebrity status, whilst he has to be a regular 9-9 corporate slave. Like it isn’t bad enough that working in QA has him dealing with egotistical developers that get butt-hurt over him doing his literal job, he’s also dull and awkward enough to not have any work-friends, so he spends twelve hours of his life talking exclusively through emails and messages. Not to mention, Kim Dokja recently pissed off nepo baby Han Myungoh who unfortunately turned out to have his manager by the balls, so now he actually has to do work instead of sneakily disappearing into the breakroom to read webnovels on company time.
God… If he’s not born with a diamond spoon in his next life, Kim Dokja will immediately go so batshit crazy he’ll be the youngest to ever be admitted into an asylum. Umbilical cord attached and everything.
[ Jung Heewon ]
Jung Heewon
Heard you’re not feeling well
Let us know if you need anything!
Although I guess Joonghyuk-ssi will have everything under control haha
You
Thank you, I appreciate it.
I’ll see you guys next time
Jung Heewon
No pressure
It’s because you do so much overtime
Start taking better care of yourself!! [ angry.bear ]
But you better show up next time, even if you’re ill
Just wear a face mask, it’ll be fine ㅋㅋㅋ
[ Lee Hyunsung ]
Lee Hyunsung
Hope you feel better soon, Dokja-ssi!
[ fighting.bear ]
Let us know if you need any help.
You
Thanks, I appreciate it
Next time?
Lee Hyunsung
Looking forward to it!
How have you been anyway?
Oh Chul <[email protected]> 14:31 (13 minutes ago)
to Kim Dokja <[email protected]>
Hi just wanted to ask what drugs you QA guys are taking that makes you so irritating I just got three bug reports from you about the sound fx being different on different devices. is this a joke? do they scrub your brains smooth when they give you a job here?
obviously the sound is going to be different, it's a completely different device. any normal person would know that. do u srsly think players are going to be crying over the jumping sfx when they're actually playing?
get a grip, already. do yourself a favor and start sending normal bug reports, instead of random nonsense like this. us game devs already have a hard ebough job without you qa fools nagging us over every little error you find
rgds
Kim Dokja <[email protected]> 14:44 (0 minutes ago)
to Oh Chul <[email protected]>
CC: Human Resources <[email protected]>
Thank you for emailing about your concern,
The 3 reports were sent over the course of two weeks. This issue has been raised numerous times, and has yet to be fixed.
It would not be a problem if the jumping SFX only had minor discrepancies between devices. However, the sound issues are between the computers we use in the QA department, which are the exact same make and model as each other, as they are a standard model that we use for all game testing. On computer 7-A it is absent, whilst on 8-A, it is barely audible, and on 9-A the sound effect is far too loud for headphone safety.
This will noticeably impact a player's gaming experience, and so must be fixed soon. I hope this helps clear up any confusion.
Regards,
Kim Dokja.
PS: It is the job of the QA department to test the games and bring 'every little error' to the notice of the game developers.
[ Yoo Joonghyuk ]
Yoo Joonghyuk
why are people asking me if you’re okay
what have you done
Yoo Joonghyuk
don’t ignore me
get your phone off dnd
Yoo Joonghyuk
why is lee hyunsung saying you’re ill
you’re sick?
why didn’t you say anything this morning
why did you go to work if you’re ill
idiot
Yoo Joonghyuk
it’s cold today
you didn’t take a jacket or scarf with you
you’ll get ill if you walk to the train station in this weather
You
I’m at work, stop messaging me
I’m just feeling off, it’s fine
Also, the temperature isn’t that bad
Yoo Joonghyuk
you’re not coming out with us tomorrow because you’re ‘feeling off’
do you think i’m fucking stupid?
if you’re really ill, i’ll pick you up from work
let me know 30min before you get off
You
Don’t bother, it’s fine
You
Yoo Joonghyuk?
I said don’t
You
You know I can see you reading these messages, right?
You
I’m serious, don’t come
I’ll just take the train
You
Yah i’m telling you, seriously
Don’t cause a fuss
What do you think my coworkers will say if they see a fancy car pull up to pick me up?
Everybody’s going to think I’ve got a sugar daddy
You
Yoo Joonghyuk, I’m serious
Don’t come
I work at a gaming company, you bastard, they’ll all recognize you
I’m telling you, it’ll end up badly
You
Yoo Joonghyuk!!!!!!!!
Why is your car outside!!!!!!!!!
I told you npt to come!!!!!!
I’m not even done with my work yet!!!
Bastard!!!!
Why are you so trroublesome??!
Yoo Joonghyuk
come out quickly
I’m parked on double yellow lines
You
Too bad
I’m not done yet
I have to find at least 2 more bugs
Yoo Joonghyuk
how long is that going to take
You
I’ve been sat here all day and only found 1
So at least 2 more business days
Yoo Joonghyuk
???
be serious
You
Two hours
Yoo Joonghyuk
you’re going to do overtime again?
this is the reason why you get ill so easily
You
I have to work hard or else they won’t promote me to full-time
You know that
Stop making things difficult
Yoo Joonghyuk
I’m going to get a ticket if I stay here for too long
you better hurry up
You
Not my fault or problem
I told you not to come, but you didn’t listen
By the time Kim Dokja finds the damn two bugs needed to satisfy his team lead, it’s six pm. As he shrugs on his blazer again and switches off his computer, he wonders if Yoo Joonghyuk had finally given up and gone home. He hopes so. After a day stuck in the dreary office, surrounded by the chill of autumn, he’s not in the mood for arguing if Yoo Joonghyuk’s hard-headed stubbornness got him a parking ticket.
To his surprise, Yoo Joonghyuk hasn’t left yet. In fact, when Kim Dokja trudges his way down to the ground floor, dreading the idea of facing the cold wind without a thick jacket, the man is already standing in the lobby, a white coat thrown over his arm.
Dressed in all black and leaning against the wall, Yoo Joonghyuk looks around impassively at the office workers who whisper and glance at him. Despite the face mask, his handsome face still manages to shine through, making him look less like a creepy stalker and more like a protagonist from a novel brought to life. The imposing aura he emits just by standing there in the lobby is enough to have people avoiding eye contact with him.
For a moment, Kim Dokja’s heart flutters at the sight of him, swayed by his casually good looks. Then his brain catches up to him and he sighs, submitting himself to his face as he walks closer.
Almost instantly after he leaves the elevator, Yoo Joonghyuk spots him and stands straighter. Everybody else on the floor leaves them a wide berth as Kim Dokja finally comes to stand before him, frowning.
“...celebrity…?”
“Is that Kim Donghoon? Why’s he speaking to that guy?”
“Do you think they know each other?”
“As if. Not to be rude, but Dokja-ssi is kinda…”
Pretending he can’t hear any of this, Kim Dokja whispers, “Yah, bastard, didn’t I tell you to go back home? Now look at what you’ve done.”
“...sugar daddy…?”
At this particular mutter, Yoo Joonghyuk looks away to glare at whoever said it, making them squeak and turn away rapidly. Then he turns back to Kim Dokja and says, “It’s cold outside. You’ll get more sick.”
You’d think they were still dating, with the way this guy is treating him like some kind of tsundere, melting-the-heart-of-the-ice-king male lead from a drama. Kim Dokja snatches his coat from Yoo Joonghyuk and ushers him out of the building, ducking his head in vain to avoid anybody else seeing his face. He has no doubts that by tomorrow, everybody will be twittering about the unassuming Kim Dokja and his gorgeous, impressive friend.
“So handsome,” somebody sighs behind him, prompting a giggle from another.
For some reason, it makes Kim Dokja a little annoyed. Have these people never seen a good-looking man before, to be fawning over him like this?
“Why are you annoyed?”
“Why do you think,” he grits out. “Tomorrow is going to be hell, thanks to you. ‘Dokja-ssi, who’s your handsome friend?’ ‘Dokja-ssi, can you give me his number?’ Seriously, I told you not to bother. Now look at what you’ve done. You’re all they’ll be talking about for the rest of the week—seriously, Yoo Joonghyuk, I told you.”
They've been together for years, and Kim Dokja has never once let any of his coworkers at any job encounter Yoo Joonghyuk—especially not after he became an international name.
Instead of apologizing for the mess he’s caused, Yoo Joonghyuk turns around, looks him dead in the eye, and genuinely, sincerely, whole-heartedly asks, “Are you jealous?”
“Who’s jealous?” Kim Dokja snaps, at the end of his patience. “About what? The parking fine you’ve received for being an idiot today? Get over yourself, Yoo Joonghyuk.”
For some reason, he feels weirdly caught. Yoo Joonghyuk only looks at him, smug even under the mask that obscures half of his stupid face, and dares to say, “You don’t seem ill.”
Kim Dokja forces himself to cool down enough to say, “You’re really frustrating sometimes, did you know?”
As Yoo Joonghyuk continues to lead them to the car—he’d come to his senses and parked further away, instead of earning the ticket he really deserved for being such a bull-headed menace—Kim Dokja eventually calms down enough to sigh out his frustrations, giving in now that he’s already in this situation.
“Can I have the keys?” he asks when they turn onto the street where Yoo Joonghyuk’s car is parked. It’s a sleek, black thing that Yoo Joonghyuk cherishes more than his life, third only to his beloved PC setup and Yoo Mia.
“You want to drive,” Yoo Joonghyuk furrows his eyebrows at him, clearly displeased by the very idea.
Kim Dokja grins at him. “What? I promise I won’t trash your car.”
Yoo Joonghyuk looks at him. “I don’t trust you,” he says simply. He pushes Kim Dokja away from the driver's seat and slips in, ignoring his complaints. He’s already driven it before! Sure, it was just in a parking lot just after Yoo Joonghyuk had bought it, and he accidentally bumped into somebody else’s car and took off half of their stickers. But in his defense, he’d never driven a car that big, and they’d parked hanging out of the bay, so they were kind of asking for it anyway. And that was three years ago, anyway!
Kim Dokja huffs at him, walking to the other side of the car. When he looks through the windshield, he sees Yoo Joonghuk drumming his fingers along the steering wheel, glaring murderously at him. He pulls down his face mask and mouths, Hurry up.
With an innocent face, Kim Dokja slows his steps as he passes by the hood of the car, ensuring he really feels the ground under his foot with each step. It takes him… maybe twenty seconds to pass by fully? Which isn’t a large amount of time in the grand scheme of things, but it’s certainly enough to have Yoo Joonghyuk white knuckling the wheel. He honks once, but Kim Dokja snickers at him.
After his languid stroll concludes, Kim Dokja reaches for the door, only to find it firmly locked. Now, it’s his turn to raise his eyebrows at Yoo Joonghyuk, tugging on the handle once more.
“Yoo Joonghyuk,” he says, but the other is looking out of the other window and watching, seemingly enraptured by a taxi passing by. “Hey, Yoo Joonghyuk.”
Left with nothing else, he puts all his effort into rapidly shaking the handle of the car, because if he’s being irritated then Yoo Joonghyuk must also suffer dearly.
After a long time of warfare, it springs open without warning. The sudden force of the door swinging open almost knocks Kim Dokja down to eat gravel.
For a stunned moment, Kim Dokja debates the pros and cons of letting his keys taste the paint job of the car. It’s only fair, right? But no, somebody has to be the bigger person between them both. Instead, he simply sits in with a haughty sniff, making sure to look unaffected as Yoo Joonghyuk eyes him smugly.
It’s so much warmer in the car than outside, and the heated seats are unfairly comfortable. He doesn’t say it, because God knows that Yoo Joonghyuk’s ego is big enough as it is. Nonetheless the man continues to look at him with a faint smirk, as if he knows exactly how much Kim Dokja loves this stupid car.
He scowls as Yoo Joonghyuk starts to pull out of the parking spot. “I don’t know why you don’t let me drive. You never scratched your car, or something?”
Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t miss a single beat. “The only time I did, it was your fault.”
Caught, Kim Dokja can do nothing but roll his eyes and deflect. He looks down at the cupholders and sniffs, “What’s this? Did you get coffee whilst you were waiting for me?”
Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t answer him, busy staring at the red lights ahead of him.
“You went out and bought coffee, instead of using the fancy machine at home? I’m surprised. I thought you loved that thing to death.”
“It’s for you.”
Much to his annoyance, Kim Dokja’s heart squeezes again. His cheeks start to warm against his will, and he turns his face down to hide the slight blush he already knows is forming. Damn it. Somebody seriously needs to tell Yoo Joonghyuk how to stop treating an ex like they’re still together, or else Kim Dokja is going to end up a mess.
“...you didn’t have to,” he says lightly, as he lifts the takeout cup and takes a sip.
Cold. But a little sweet, and not too milky—just how he likes it. The caffeine has his heart beating quickly, rushing through his blood. He has the old instinct to lean over and squeeze Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand, kiss him on the cheek in gratitude for the sweet gesture.
He squashes that impulse. “Thanks. Show me the receipt, I’ll pay you back.”
“Shut up,” Yoo Joonghyuk immediately says, sounding tired of him already. Good. As he should be.
Kim Dokja smothers his smile into the plastic lid of his cup as takes another swig, savoring the taste.
After a moment, Yoo Joonghyuk pipes up again, gaze fixed on the lights turning amber. “You don’t seem very ill. Are you lying to get out of going to the restaurant tomorrow?”
“No,” Kim Dokja says, though it somehow still comes out guilty. “Alright, fine, maybe. You won’t tell them, right?”
With a flick of his fingers, Yoo Joonghyuk indicates right, and turns out of the street. “The others would be sad to hear that you lied again.”
A little startled to hear Yoo Joonghyuk say something so sentimental, Kim Dokja’s grip tightens over the plastic cup. “W-Well… it’s not a lie, exactly. You know I’ve not been feeling well these days.”
They sit in silence again, as they often seem to do recently.
Then, very quietly, Yoo Joonghyuk admits to the windshield, “I didn’t know. You don’t tell me anything anymore.”
A car honks from behind them, shattering whatever solemn mood had suddenly fallen over them. Yoo Joonghyuk glances at the rearview mirror, and then flicks his indicator back off. The sigh he lets out sounds worn, tired.
Kim Dokja looks out of the window and, taking another sip of his bitter-sweet drink, says nothing.