Work Text:
There was a flash, a blinding light, and suddenly Kim Dokja existed again.
It was a bit confusing, the first few minutes after his existence reformed. But after he stopped trying to make sense of all the other lives he lived, after he put Han Sooyoung crying and shaking him to the side, he looked up and made eye contact with Yoo Jonghyuk, who seemed to pin his existence firmly in place with the force of the gaze he was hitting Kim Dokja with.
It was a lot more crying after that, not from Kim Dokja, from the endless parade of friends he’d left behind. But at the end of that first day, after everyone else had had their time with Kim Dokja and left (was forced to leave)for the night, only Yoo Jonghyuk had remained. Yoo Jonghyuk, who had stood silently in the back of the room while everyone else had their reunion with him. A contrast from Han Sooyoung who had almost gotten into multiple fights with other members of Kim Dokja’s Company for as little as she would leave his side. As the Lee Seolwha drug Uriel out the door, Yoo Jonghyuk stepped forward.
Kim Dokja smiled. “Well it doesn’t look like I can get rid of you so easily, huh?” The mood was wrong for a joke, and Kim Dokja felt it hit wrong. A wave of exhaustion from the day washed over him as he tried to predict what Yoo Jonghyuk would say at a moment like this, the guy was never great at emotional reunions, and Kim Dokja was on edge from just the pressure of being so close to him. Instead, Yoo Jonghyuk said nothing, and took his right hand to, for some reason, smack Kim Dokja on the back of the head. It was a tap really, a joke of a hit. But for some reason that joke of a hit made Kim Dokja commit the embarrassment of crying in front of Yoo Jonghyuk. All the emotions that built up inside him after meeting his dear friends again suddenly spilling out all at once. Yoo Jonghyuk, the bastard, didn’t say anything, but didn’t leave either.
---
While in the Scenarios, Kim Dokja barely thought about the after, and when he did it was a dream of everyone he loved under the same roof, living and spending time with each other like they never had the chance to do, all the time in the world. (Well maybe not All of the time, Kim Dokja thought, he'd like a regular amount from now on thank you.)
They did a parody of that idea, briefly after Kim Dokja returned. First thing the second morning he was back, Shin Yoosung showed up in the doorway of his hospital bed holding a pillow and a large backpack covered in colorful animal prints, and a look of determination in her eyes. Lee Gilyoung followed in a similar state but out of breath. One after the other his companions arrived at the 8th floor of the Industrial Complex (which Kim Dokja found out had been turned into a kind of community center) looked more like a large sleepover.
The next week passed in a haze of catching up and trying to survive the massive amounts of food being forced upon him. Kim Dokja didn’t cry again (and would deny that he ever had if it came down to his word vs Yoo Jonghyuk’s).
---
After a week, KimCom started going back to their jobs. After a month, they had mostly all moved out of Kim Dokja's medical room, though they still visited often. Lee Seolhwa came over one day, about a month after he originally awakened, and said he was free to go. To go back into the world he thought he’d never see again.
Even in the brief amount of time Kim Dokja thought about the after, he never considered things going back to the way they were. He never considered a job.
He still wasn't considering it. He took up Jung Heewan's offer to crash at her place for a while, ("Which has a guest room" she explained excitedly) and thought he would take it from there.Though he fielded invitations from almost every member of the company, Jung Heewon was almost the immediate choice. They’d always gotten along easily, understood each other easily, and Kim Dokja was more at ease with living with her than anyone else. She was hard at work at her security company for most of the day, leaving Kim Dokja to his own devices. It was alright, better than alright. Down right pleasant, for a while there.
Until, well. Things started getting weird.
Lee Hyunsung started coming around soon after Kim Dokja moved in with Jung Heewon. It was to hang out with Kim Dokja, but as time went on it seemed like he was really more interested in an excuse to be near Jung Heewon. Kim Dokja knew they had broken up, but Jung Heewon refused to reveal exactly why. It seemed, to Kim Dokja, that they both wanted to get back together but didn’t know how to broach the subject. More and more they would have movie nights where Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung were sitting at opposite ends of the couch with Kim Dokja in the middle… he didn't feel uncomfortable per say, but he felt like things would be much more productive were he not there. He wasn’t planning on moving out so soon, so he did what he could.
“Hey Kim Dokja! Before tomorrow's meet up, do you want to go to the museum with Hyunsung and I?”
“Ah, sorry I have plans.” Those two could use another excuse to spend some time on their own, and Kim Dokja is happy to facilitate.
–--
They were still meeting up once a month with everyone who could make it for pizza. But this time it was more of a celebration for Yoo Sangah. It was the third time the Korean government had reformed post apocalypse, and Yoo Sangah was adamant that this one would stick.
“Please, we don’t need to watch it.” Yoo Sangah was saying politely.
“Of course we do! This is an important day for you. I watched your speech live this morning and was moved.” Lee Hyunsung said cheerfully.
“Everyone shut up its on.” Han Sooyoung said as everyone's eyes turned to the TV screen above the bar.
“ Good morning, my name is Yoo Sangah and I will be introducing a new program to help newlyweds navigate this important time in their lives. -”
Kim Dokja watched the speech, as Yoo Sangah gracefully introduced a plan that was transparently an attempt to increase the country’s birth rate. Kim Dokja found himself smiling. Even after the apocalypse, some things never change.
But honestly, weren’t the terms of this program too good? A guaranteed income for three years, low interest rates on home loans and 75% cost sharing to help cover down payments. A one time cash payment for each child born in the first 5 years, along with discounted daycare? Various other tax cuts? Did the government always have this kind of money?
Kim Dokja was taken from his thoughts by the sound of clapping around him.
Yoo Sangah smiled. “It’s kind of embarrassing, I know these programs tend not to be successful, but I tried to make it as appealing as possible. I hope it can help at least a few people who need it.”
“Ah, no Sangah-ssi. You really cut to the heart of what people want.”
Yoo Sangah’s eyes sparkled. “Thank you Dokja-ssi. To be honest I had some trouble getting the committee to go along with what I had planned.” For Yoo Sangah to say that… it must have been harrowing.
There were reassurances for Yoo Sangah all around the table, save for Han Sooyoung who was busy stuffing her face and Yoo Jonghyuk who was still staring at the TV, frowning. Kim Dokja was about to remark on it but he was ambushed.
“So, Kim Dokja, how’s the job search going?”
It was the conversation he'd been dreading the most, it wasn't like he hadn't thought about it, but... The moment when he woke up, magic returned to the world in full force, but after about 2 months... it was clear that it had begun to wane again. Kim Dokja didn't feel like he was fading away, but there was almost an equally dire problem. The world was reverting to the genre it was before the paid service began... and so it only stood to reason that Kim Dokja would as well.
Kim Dokja lied through his teeth. “It’s going great.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.” It was a conversation he and Yoo Sangah had had a few times before, but so far Kim Dokja had never been called on his obvious lies. He was banking on this once again.
“Any interviews lined up?” Now Jung Heewan had jumped in on the conversation, damn it. At least the rest of the table were involved in their own conversations.
“Yes,” Kim Dokja said. Seeing Jung Heewans somewhat strained smile he added. “One this week even.”
“Really?” Yoo Sangah asked.
“Yep,” Kim Dokja bullshitted. “Mi Gaming Group, they need another QA guy. Should be right up my alley.”
Jung Heewan was silent for a minute. Kim Dokja maintained as much of a neutral face as he could.
“Do you think that would make you happy?”
“Is that the point?”
Yoo Sangah frowned. “It should at least be a consideration.”
“Listen Kim Dokja,” said Jung Heewan. “ It's not about the money. Honestly I don’t mind you free loading off of me for the rest of your life. You’ve more than earned it and I like having you around. But,”
Kim Dokja braced.
“I’m worried about you, if you don’t integrate into society somehow I’m worried you’ll become some sort of shut in, or depressed or… I don’t know, but it can’t be healthy.”
Yoo Sangah cut in. “Actually Dokja-ssi, I’ve been meaning to bring this up. If you are interested in trying something new, this place is having open interviews, maybe you could check it out, just in case.”
Kim Dokja took the out from this conversation as it was handed to him.
“I will.”
–--
Kim Dokja did end up going to the open interview. Technically. He stood outside of a building that said ORPHAN RESETTLEMENT in huge blue letters. It had been twenty years.. Were there really still orphans to resettle? Kim Dokja guessed there probably always were. It looked like a good job. Well, they were hiring short term temp staff to help with paperwork, which probably sucked, but it would be contributing to something that was patently good, which was more than he could say about most of the jobs in the world. Actually, Yoo Jonghyuk had done something similar after the scenarios in the 0th turn, hadn’t he? He stood and stared at the building for a while, unsure what the problem was.
What was he going to do next? It was a question Kim Dokja couldn't seem to escape for most of his life. What was he going to do after high school? What was he going to do after college? What was he going to do when he got out of the military? What was he going to do when his contract was up at MinoSoft?
These were questions Kim Dokja never knew how to answer, and whose general practice was just to avoid thinking about them at all costs. He would always ultimately find something that would extend the time before he needed to think about it again... but never for long. Even Ways of Survival ended... even the amount of time the genre of his life changed ended, and now he was back in the same place he was when this whole thing started.
Kim Dokja looked up at the billboard across the street, it was of Yoo Sangah advertising her new family tax incentives. Kim Dokja found himself smiling. Really, in any genre she shined. Maybe he should go in. There was no harm in an interview, he could decide not to accept it later. It would also be nice to have some money so he could get out of Jung Heewan and Lee Hyunsung’s way. However, before he could walk in, Kim Dokja’s phone buzzed.
Hey loser, you should come over this weekend to help me brainstorm how I can convince the lamborghini dealership to remove my life ban.
Kim Dokja welcomed the distraction.
You don’t even have the money for that.
I might! How would they know? And haven’t you ever heard of the importance of visualizing your ideal future life?
Han Sooyoung’s most frequent complaint was that, though she’d been decently rich before the apocalypse, the grand majority of her wealth was scrapped from the record. Most of her investments were destroyed, her banks didn’t recognise her pre apocalypse accounts anymore, and the money she had for some reason buried underneath her previous house had been dug up and stolen.
Just then an idea came to Kim Dokja. A terrible idea that he should absolutely not do. But it was undeniable that it would save him from having to deal with his immediate problems.
Yoo Sangah was a good person. Kim Dokja however… Looking up at the billboard one more time he made his decision, one that may not have been good, but definitely would let him put off this crisis until later.
I’m coming over now.
---
Kim Dokja climbed the stairs leading to Han Sooyoung's apartment quickly, so as not to give him a chance to come to his senses. Reaching her door, he knocked, waited, and then just walked in. He had told her he was coming after all.
“And what I’M saying is we just need to-”
"Han Sooyoung -" Kim Dokja began, but was stopped at the site of Yoo Jonghyuk sitting at her table, stoically watching Han Sooyoung gesture in some kind of argument. What the hell? Do these two... hang out? Alone? What does that look like?
“Speak of the devil.” Han Sooyoung said cryptically. Kim Dokja, running on a significant amount of adrenaline at the moment, decided to ignore it.
Kim Dokja eyed Yoo Jonghyuk. "Han Sooyoung... let's talk in private."
"Denied,” said HSY, always a pain. "Next question."
It hadn't been a question, but Kim Dokja let her have it anyway. Fine.
"Will you marry me?"
Han Sooyoung looked at him with... well not disgust, at least, but she was definitely unimpressed. "Oh yeah? what'll you give me for it."
"What?"
"Yoo Jonghyuk here has offered a minimum of three home cooked meals a week, and a monthly foot rub for my hand in marriage. What do you have to offer an unbelievable catch like myself?"
Kim Dokja was speechless, and kind of in shock from the idea of Yoo Jonghyuk touching anyone's feet. But not one to be outdone: "I'll grade half of your homework when your class starts up again." Han Sooyoung lifted an unimpressed eyebrow. "All of your homework. For a year. You'll also get to split the money of course. 50/50."
Han Sooyoung looked like she was about to say something until -
“60/40 split, you keep the majority.”
Kim Dokja’s eyes snapped to Yoo Jonghyuk. What the hell? Was he that strapped for money? Shouldn’t he be more considerate of those who just got out of the hospital? Well, it had been a few months but the point still stood.
Han Sooyoung, who had unfortunately come to the correct conclusion about the amount of power she had in this situation, got a gleam in her eye. Kim Dokja felt a chill roll down his spine.
"Oh of course... is this amature hour gentleman?
---
"ENOUGH." Han Sooyoung eventually said. Yoo Jonghyuk looked away from their game of arm wrestling, a frankly embarrassing mistake, and Kim Dokja got the upper hand to slam his arm down. Yoo Jonghyuk looked back at him murderously, "You..."
"I said enough! The novelty of having two men fighting over me wore off after the first 2 hours. Now get over here," she pointed to the laptop in her lap. "Have either of you read the fine print?" She tapped insistently at the wall of text on her computer, sprawling across the couch and leaving no room for either Kim Dokja or Yoo Jonghyuk.
"There are some options. Apparently the government is too cheap to give you all of what Ms Future Prime Minister was talking about in her speech, so there are a few different packages we can pick from. Essentially you can opt for help with the down payment and interest rate on a mortgage, or guaranteed income for 3 years. They all include some kind of kid focused package but I'm not going to worry about that. If you want to be really cynical about it, which I'm going to be, it's more like the government is trying to bribe you into registering as a citizen as much as they are trying to increase the birth rate. Though I guess they assume if you move enough people into housing together kids will just start happening. Idiots. Anyway I think our best bet is going with the first two options."
As Kim Dokja watched Han Sooyoung explain how they were going to exploit the program Yoo Sangah spent her time and effort on, several issues started to make themselves known. The greatest among them was however -
"Our?" She'd used that word many times in the last few minutes, but what did it actually mean. Han Sooyoung looked up from her screen, glasses a bit skewed, in frustration at being interrupted.
Kim Dokja clarified. "Have you decided which one of us you'll-" Kim Dokja couldn't bring himself to say marry - "- go along with yet?" Yoo Jonghyuk was silent beside him, but emitting a kind of nervous energy.
Han Sooyoung hit him with a look that lit up his flight or fight instinct on contact. "Now Kim Dokja, it isn't like you to think so... two dimensionally." She set the computer aside and leaned forward like a crime boss explaining to her victim just how they were going to meet their end. "If we are going to do this, if I am going to do this, which I'll remind you is essential to the plan, I'm going to do it all the way. The trouble we'll get in from taking one piece of the cake is the same as getting caught stealing two, right?" She clapped her hands together dramatically as Kim Dokja felt a shiver go down his spine. "So lets take the whole fucking thing."
---
When Kim Dokja thought about who he would marry, it was never in much detail, and it was only when he was very young. By the time he had gotten out of highschool, he'd done away with delusions of marriage, or even having a girlfriend to be honest. All of his hobbies were done alone, if you didn't count the message boards. And he was never good at talking to people anyway. Eventually, he got tired of trying and fully embraced his role in life being a guy who read webnovels alone in his studio apartment during his free time.
Yoo Jonghyuk's wedding though? That he'd put a lot of thought into. It wasn't that Kim Dokja had ever been truly invested in the romance scenes of ways of survival, it wasn't a big part of the plot, but when Kim Dokja imagined the ideal ending for Yoo Jonghyuk... marriage was always a part of it. Mostly Kim Dokja just wanted him to have a family, if only to complete his narrative arc, which started with him looking for the family he'd never had. It was just good writing at that point... which probably meant that it wasn't going to happen in ways of survival, a story which read, understandably knowing what he knows now, like the author threw darts at the wall to see what would happen next.
Kim Dokja imagined Yoo Jonghyuk's wedding in multiple ways, but it ended up that he did get to see it, in that 0th round. Yoo Jonghyuk would have probably liked to have a private ceremony, but at that point he had saved so many lives, was loved by so many people, that they all but demanded there be a big party. So they had one, on a sunny day in the park. Yoo Jonghyuk was his usual stoic self for most of the time, but at the end he turned towards Lee Selwha and had a small soft, devastating smile that no one saw. Well, Kim Dokja saw it.
He wasn't smiling now. As they rode the train together to the courthouse. Yoo Jonghyuk was obviously uncomfortble, staring daggers at the wall across from him, which had led to at least three people in the direct line of fire moving discreetly to another part of the train. Kim Dokja was thinking that some needling might actually do Yoo Jonghyuk some good when said man suddenly stood up.
"I'm getting off a stop early. We shouldn't be seen walking in together." And then promptly exited the train.
---
If he had thought of Yoo Jonghyuk's wedding a considerable amount, he had thought of Han Sooyoung's not at all. The thought of her on a date was laughable, not because she wasn't attractive but... well it was hard to picture a regular guy putting up with Han Sooyoung. Or more accurately, Han Sooyoung putting up with a regular guy. Since he was the one (well, one of two) marrying her, Kim Dokja had the thought that it looked almost exactly as he might have expected. Something quick and efficient, with Han Sooyoung wearing a suit that was, judging by the fact she was frauding the government for tax credit, way out of her price range. She came up to him with bright energy.
"Wipe that look off your face Kim Dokja, do you know how lucky you are to be marrying such a beautiful woman?"
Kim Dokja looked around in search of this beautiful woman he was supposedly marrying. Han Sooyoung smacked him on the arm, and then went into what she had been calling Operation: You Get Two.
"Alright, our appointment is at noon exactly, which is a few minutes from now. Yoo Jonghyuk and my avatar are on the other side of the building. We just need to fill out some paperwork, say some words, and I'll text the guy I'm bribing to overlook the fact that there are two citizen codes for one Han Sooyoung, boom marriage.”
Han Sooyoung seemed to think that if all other details of the marriage contract were the same, it was less likely to get caught in an audit, or just assumed a duplicate in the system. Kim Dokja didn’t know if he really agreed with all that, but for some reason it was a hill she was going to die on.
Think about it, Kim Dokja, it’s just like reading. You only really look at the beginning and the end of a word. The rest of the letters you just kind of assume are there.
How did that logic apply to this situation at all??
He was free to stop thinking about it as their names were called up to the booth. The nervousness was difficult for him, like everything was now that the 4th wall wasn’t a buffer between Kim Dokja and the many emotional trials of life. It was one reason he let Han Sooyoung have her way with minimal complaints. So did Yoo Jonghyuk, for some reason. Maybe the guy really was in a tight spot.
There was no reason to worry, apparently. The clerk looked at their pre-filled out marriage registration form with a bored expression for a few minutes. Kim Dojka’s eyes followed the shuffling of papers. He thought, absurdly, that this wasn’t the first time Han Sooyoung tried to complete an objective by marrying him. It’s kind of weird that it happened twice.
-okja.”
Kim Dokja snapped to it. “Yes?”
Han Sooyoung was giving him an expression that said she would kill him if he messed up the plan at this point. “The nice government man was asking if you fully consent to marrying me, sound of mind/body/ect.”
“Oh. Sure.”
The man looked up at him with a frown.
“I mean, of course.” He took Han Sooyoung's hand and swung their arms performatively. “Just a little nervous.”
The man held up the paperwork. “It’ll take effect almost immediately,” he gestured, “Computers. Congratulations. Next just -”
“We know what to do.” Han Sooyoung snatched the papers with the hand that wasn’t holding Kim Dokjas, and dragged him away.
Kim Dokja stared at their still joined hands. “Feeling sentimental?”
“It’s much easier to deal with you when I can drag you along.” She said, and didn’t release him.
---
“You don’t see anything wrong with this.”
Kim Dokja looked around the house Han Sooyoung had bought with the special loans granted as benefits. It was a large, three story house with an open floor plan and vaulted ceilings. The windows were large and let in a lot of natural light. There was a three car garage, a finished basement, tasteful wood trimmings on the spiral staircase.
Han Sooyoung looked up from her tub of sorbet. “Haven’t you ever heard of an investment? You think I’d use the insane loan I was able to get on a shack?”
No, thought Kim Dokja, that wasn’t the problem here.Or, it was, but not the most pressing one. Han Sooyoung had moved the furniture in her apartment to the new house in a set up that was almost exactly the same. The problem was…
“There’s nowhere near enough furniture. It looks ridiculous.”
Han Sooyoung scoffed. “So now you want to buy a bunch of useless furniture just for looks? Ask that bastard how he feels about that.”
Yoo Jonghyuk walked by while setting up the kitchen. “There’s no need.”
Well yes there’s no need… but there’s no need for this ridiculous house either!
“We had to compromise on the house. Managed to convince him the resell value would be worth it.”
Just how long have they been talking about this?? If Kim Dokja hadn’t come by that night.. Would they have ended up just doing this on their own?
Kim Dokja shook off that unsettling thought and went to lay claim to one of the many guest rooms in the house. There were only two on the first floor, and were predictably taken. Han Sooyoung’s ridiculous California king finally looking like it fit in the room provided, and Yoo Jonghyuks futon and gaming set up in an otherwise barren room looking like a 20 year old bachelor’s call for help.
Kim Dokja picked the first room he ran into on the second floor and threw his meager belongings on the floor. He rolled out a futon in the middle of the room and was suddenly so tired he collapsed into it immediately.
He thought about how he had told Jung Heewan he was moving out yesterday. She had looked at him suspiciously.
“You’re not going to disappear again are you?”
“Of course not.”
“....And with your track record you expect me to believe you?” Her tone was joking but there was a glint in her eye that said she would tie him to a bed again with very little prompting.
“No really!” He said, panicking slightly at the look on her face. “I’m just going in on a house with Yoo Jonghyuk and Han Sooyoung.”
“Oh, really?” Kim Dokja did not like the sound of her new tone. “Well I can’t say I didn’t see it coming… but both of them Kim Dokja? How is that going to work? Actually I don’t want to know, don’t tell me.”
Kim Dokja stood there speechless. What was he supposed to say? You have the wrong idea? You actually have the right idea but just on a technicality? It’s only to facilitate tax fraud? In the end Kim Dokja let her think whatever she wanted.
---
Kim Dokja opened his eyes to find that the room had gone completely dark. He must have fallen asleep while unpacking. He sat up and was immediately hit with a pleasant smell. Kim Dokja followed the smell in a half awake stupor into the kitchen to the surreal image of Yoo Jonghyuk holding an orange cake while wearing an apron with the words GRILL MASTER on it. Kim Dokja stared stupidly at him.
“Yoo Mia got it for me," Yoo Jonghyuk said, seemingly familiar with the look Kim Dokja was giving him. He handed him a sliced piece of cake. “Take it.” Kim Dokja took the plate.
He hadn’t quite sat down when the sound of Han Sooyoung's stomping came into the kitchen.
“Oh dip, you actually made it.”
And that’s how Kim Dokja found himself eating the most delicious cake he’d ever had on a small cheap table in a house he normally would never be able to afford. Han Sooyoung was talking.
“Ok, next order of business is a group chat. We haven’t had one since the scenarios.”
“Can’t we still use Midday’s Tryst?” Kim Dokja asked. He hadn’t been using it but it should still be functional.
“That thing gives me a damn headache to use now. Anything with magic does. Do you know how exhausting it was to make an avatar to marry Yoo Jonghyuk? For a minute I didn’t even think I could reabsorb it. Anyway we all have phones now so let’s just use them.”
“His phone exists so he can leave people on read,” Kim Dokja said looking at Yoo Jonghyuk.
“If you want a response you should say something worth responding to instead of just sending images with no comment.”
“The images are the comment -”
He was cut off by a buzz from his phone. “Boom done chat established. Ignore me and I’ll kill you.”
Kim Dokja looked down at the new group chat he’d been added to titled ‘Legally everything said here is a joke’. He turned on the notifications.
---
It shouldn’t have worked. It obviously shouldn’t have worked. Han Sooyoung and Yoo Jonghyuk should have been at eachothers throats within twenty four hours. Yoo Jonghyuk should have been annoyed to violence from any number of Kim Dokja’s living habits. This was why Kim Dokja had avoided rooming with either of them in the first place. But it was honestly… Kind of fun.
Kim Dokja spent an entire day sorting though Yoo Jonghyuks sword collection, which if anyone walked into his room and saw just how much of it was horded illegal apocalypse era weaponry he would be arrested immediately and put on a list for the rest of his life. Actually, he was probably already on that list. Yoo Jonghyuk polished them silently while Kim Dokja told him obscure facts about each one that he knew from Ways of Survival.
Han Sooyoung, on the other hand, was significantly busier, but god knows what she actually did all day, the class she taught not starting up again for another few months. Kim Dokja was woken up one morning by a car horn blaring outside their house. He and Yoo Jonghyuk (with sword in hand) ran out to the driveway to see Han Sooyoung in a porsche.
She lowered her sunglasses. “Well good morning.”
“You stole it.”
“I didn’t steal it! It turns out there are many advantages to being a married woman, credit wise that is. I should have done this years ago. Now get in.”
They did try to get in, but…
“There are three of us and you got a car that only has a front seat?”
“Who says its for you! This is my car dammit.”
The first few weeks of the grift went fine, and he could actually detect those two putting forward effort into making it work. It made him feel… He didn’t know. It was a good thing, of course. But it also made Kim Dokja think about all the years he missed. There were parts of the two of them he didn’t know at all now, or even before now how much time had they really spent together?
“Kim Dokja! Get in here they’re showing the documentary I was talking about!”
Kim Dokja stopped what he was doing (staring into his tea, that ended up steeping way too long) and went to see what Han Sooyoung was on about. She brushed past him to grab the lights, and Kim Dokja unapologetically took her seat. In the house where they all refused to spend money on a bigger couch, seat saving was unheard of.
He looked to Yoo Jonghyuk for an explanation.
“The documentary about us during the scenarios. They filmed it a while ago, 20 years ago in this timeline. Han Sooyoung and I were both interviewed for it.”
Kim Dokja tried to wrap his head around that. “And you… agreed to be a part of it?”
Yoo Jonghyuk shrugged. “They paid.”
Han Sooyoung returned. “Not nearly enough, for all the information I gave them. Ungrateful.”
Han Sooyoung examined the fact that her spot had been stolen, and instead of choosing one of the usual two options (fighting or resigning herself to the floor), she launched herself on top of them.
“Hey!”
“Watch it!”
Without fear, she stretched out. Come oooon, it’s been a long day.” They had spent most of today in the same room, staring at their respective screens silently. “You would really make a lady sit on the floor? In her own home?”
“Yes.”
“Absolutely.”
Han Sooyoung frowned, but made no move to get off. “I barely weigh anything anyway you probably can’t even feel me.”
Kim Dokja, whose legs were being stabbed by Han Sooyoung's many bones, would beg to differ.
“Get your feet out of my face.”
“Jonghyuk ah, is that the words of a man whose lawful wife has very generously not chosen to call in any of her promised foot rubs?”
The two of them had a stare off for a few moments, long enough that Kim Dokja was about to say something. And then, “Fine.”
Kim Dokja started, “Fine??”
Han Sooyoung made herself even more comfortable, if possible. “Fine!” She said cheerfully.
Kim Dokja, already outvoted, sighed and relaxed into the couch. The documentary had already started. The first ⅔’s of it had them all laughing. Well, Yoo Jonghyuk was smiling. The people telling the story seemed to regard them all as selfless heroes, and the tone was just on the side of too serious so it was hard to take seriously.
They did do small interviews with most of Kim Dokja’s Company, spread throughout the documentary. Most were heavily filtered to match the tone.
The final piece of the documentary was on the group regression. They must have finished filming right before they all left. Kim Dokja was knocked straight out of his good mood as the narrator explained the plan to go back and retrieve “controversial figure Kim Dokja”.
“I’m not explaining anything! If you’re not coming with there’s no reason for you to know.” A disgruntled Han Sooyoung was saying to the camera.
As the cameras showed the 100 people who regressed meeting for the last time in this universe, Kim Dokja broke the silence.
“Didn’t I tell you not to regress anymore?”
Yoo Jonghyuk said, “Didn't we tell you to get off the train?”
Kim Dokja guessed so. It probably would have felt like a betrayal to them, but what else could he have done? Kim Dokja thought of all they went through to get him back that first time. He thought about the second time, of Yoo Jonghyuk wandering aimlessly through space to find him. He thought of Han Sooyoungs story that brought him home. The story he loved the most.
They were all in it together, now. They had been before too, even when separated by being the reader, writer, and character, they were all a part of the story he loved. Nothing had really changed, Kim Dokja realized. The three of them had always been together. The difference now is that he didn’t have to read a story to find them, just use the group chat, or yell downstairs, or look to his right.
Kim Dokja did so. He looked over at Yoo Jonghyuk to his right, and Han Sooyoung on his lap, and found they were also looking at him.
“I”m,” Kim Dokja said, suddenly finding it hard to speak. “I’m glad we did this. You know, got this house.” Which wasn’t exactly what Kim Dokja wanted to say, but it seemed to come through. Kim Dokja felt Yoo Jonghyuks knee lightly press against his own, and Han Sooyoung’s hand squeezed on his thigh. He suddenly felt… He felt… like this was exactly where he belonged. An emotion traveled its way up his throat.
“Is this. should we talk about this?” He said, gesturing to the TV, hoping they knew what he ment.
“No.”
“Hell, no.”
“Thank god.”
---
The next day, early in the morning, Kim Dokja was called by someone who he usually never received a call from. The reason for that was because she was usually too busy.
“Yoo Sangah?” Kim Dokja said into the phone.
“Good morning Dokja-ssi. Do you have time to come over to my place for breakfast today?”
Kim Dokja looked at the bodies of Han Sooyoung and Yoo Jonghyuk still passed out from where they had fallen asleep on the couch. “Yeah, I could do that. What’s the occasion?”
“There are just some things we need to discuss, and talking is always better over a meal, right?”
Kim Dokja was starting to get a bad feeling about this. “Uh, right.”
“Anyway. Feel free to come over now.”
When Kim Dokja arrived at Yoo Sangah’s apartment, he was already sweating. If he had known what he would find inside he might not have come at all.
“Hello Dokja-ssi. I was going to make omelets for us, but unfortunately the preparation is not quite done. If you’re alright waiting?”
“Oh, of course.” He followed her into the kitchen.
Kim Dokja watched Yoo Sangah chop the onions methodically. It was elegant, like all things Yoo Sangah did, but it seemed to Kim Dokja just a bit louder than it should have been for one with such smooth movements.
"Kim Dokja, a lot has happened since you've been gone. But maybe you know? Since you were watching over us." Her voice was calm and pleasant. Kim Dokja felt a sense of dread settle in his stomach.
"Well, I avoided watching this timeline when I could, for your privacy." Because it made him sad, he didn't say. But he thought Sangah knew anyway.
Yoo Sangah hummed thoughtfully, the clack clack clack of her knife continued. "If you were to have watched, you would have seen old men come out of the woodwork as soon as everything settled down. I'm glad they survived this whole ordeal of course, but part of me wonders how they did so. Surviving the first scenario I can see, but everything that came afterwards? And so many of them? It's absurd, what are the odds? And all of them want to continue their career in politics."
CLACK, went the knife.
"One time Han Sooyoung offered to kill a bunch of them for me, I think in some kind of misplaced romantic gesture. It was a weird year. Stressful. But you know what Dokja-ssi? I turned her down. Do you know why?" Here she paused.
"Um... Why Sangah-ssi?"
"Because no matter how many of those mother fuckers you kill, more will keep popping out of the woodwork. They are not individually the problem, they are a symptom of the culture. Of our culture. We have to implement new systems if we want to keep them out. We need to rewrite the rules of our whole government. And now, at this time, is the greatest chance to change the rules we will perhaps ever have. Because of how life has drastically changed over the last few decades, Koreans are more open to change than they have been in a long time, or maybe ever will be again. Especially after the first two failed governments. People are not satisfied by going back to the way things were. Did you know they are forming a committee on rewriting the constitution?" She paused, Kim Dokja said nothing.
"Did you know that, Kim Dokja."
"Ah, no I did not."
CLACK
"And did you know that I was offered a high ranking position on this committee, as long as I could prove that I could implement a successful policy. Not just any policy, one that they also agreed with."
"Ah."
"And so if it comes out that my close personal friend, who was for a time the most hated man in Seoul, is abusing the system that I implemented. What do you think would happen then?"
"I-"
"Fortunately, this hypothetical would never happen, as none of my close personal friends would ever do something like that to me." Another pause.
"And if they DID, they would certainly take care of it as soon as possible. Don't you agree?"
Kim Dokja opened his mouth, shut it. Said, “I’m sorry Yoo Sangah.”
“Sorry for what! Ah, I’ve forgotten I have an important speech to prepare for tomorrow, Dokja-ssi, so I won't be able to eat with you after all. You’re free to go.”
Dokja said some kind of agreement and booked it out of there.
---
Kim Dokja didn’t know how quickly you could get a divorce, or what that even entailed. Han Sooyoung could probably bribe the same guy she did to start this mess.
Well, he said that, but Kim Dokja didn’t really think this was a mess. Sure, it sucked that they were probably going to have to return the house, and Kim Dokja might actually have to get a job now, but he didn’t think they would separate. He hoped not. He would have to ask them, but it seemed like last night they were all on the same wavelength.
Having to work QA at a shitty gaming company didn’t seem to matter as much as long as he came back to those two. Maybe he could still see if the orphan resettlement place was still hiring. Didn’t Yoo Jonghyuk do a similar job in the 0th turn? Kim Dokja was pretty sure he was also unemployed, maybe they could do it together.
Kim Dokja pictured riding the train to work with Yoo Jonghyuk each morning, then coming home to hear about how Han Sooyoung’s students had bullied her this time. Yoo Jonghyuk would probably make dinner more often than not, as he didn’t trust anything the other two tried to make. He would cook for himself, at least. But wasn’t it easier to cook for three people than two?
Kim Dokja thought of eating at that shitty table, and didn’t care about the backdrop as long as he got to have it.
Kim Dokja opened the door of the house quietly, in case the other two were still asleep. It probably wouldn’t go over well if he were to demand a divorce immediately after waking them up, no matter the circumstances. As he made his way in, he could hear the sound of voices. Han Sooyoung and Yoo Jonghyuk were talking quietly in the kitchen.
He needed to tell them the jig was up…. But wasn’t this an opportunity? Kim Dokja wanted to see how they interacted when he wasn’t there. He’d watched and read so much of both of them, but most of the time when they were together, Kim Dokja couldn’t see for one reason or another. Kim Dokja tiptoed across the floor to peek behind the kitchen wall. Yoo Jonghyuk was doing dishes from last night's dinner. Han Sooyoung was sitting on the counter net to him being generally unhelpful.
“You need to be patient.” Yoo Jonghyuk said, though there was no annoyance in his voice.
“We can’t all be as patient as you! Actually, no one in the world can. It probably feels like you’re speed running everything now in comparison to the rest of your insane life.”
“It doesn’t, really.”
“God, it’s so annoying when you get zen like this now, not that your personality was great to begin with. You’re lucky I made you so hot.”
“Was that an active choice? It was embarrassing how many times you pointed it out in the novel.”
Han Sooyoung smacked her hand on the table, making Kim Dokja jump. “Of course! Why would anyone want to read a story where the main characters weren’t hot? It’s half the appeal for some people.. You and Kim Dokja never get this kind of stuff…”
“I figured it was that, or just personal taste.”
“Oh? When did you become such a smug bastard. Even you’re growing old now, you know.” Han Sooyoung reached over to touch something on Yoo Jonghyuk’s head. “I’ve been trying to decide whether the gray streak is an enhancement or not. It gives you a different vibe for sure, but…”
Yoo Jonghyuk grabbed the wrist of the hand that was sifting through his hair, and Han Sooyoung gave a shriek.
“Your hand is still wet! Dry it off at least you monster!”
“Weren’t you the impatient one?” Yoo Jonghyuk was facing away from him so he couldn’t see, but he must have made some kind of face. Something must have happened that Kim Dokja missed, critically, because the next thing that happened was a kiss.
Though she was seated on the counter Han Sooyoung was still only just as Yoo Jonghyuk. She used the hand that was not grabbed by Yoo Jonghyuk to cup his face and slowly run it down his neck, until it was softly massaging the back of his neck. Yoo Jonghyuk had begun gently run his thumb back and forth down the center of Han Sooyoung’s palm.
It was not a small kiss. Not a short one either, Kim Dokja thought as he was unable to look away from them leaning into each other for what looked like was going to be an extended amount of time.
What he was trying to say was that, it wasn’t the kind of kiss you have with someone you haven’t kissed before. This was a level of comfort between two people that Kim Dokja had never seen up close. That he probably shouldn’t be seeing now. Kim Dokja’s skin was burning and a pit opened up in his stomach, but he found that he couldn’t look away.
As Yoo Jonghyuk began to move from the sink to a new destination, which terrifyingly looked like it was going to be between Han Sooyoung’s legs, Kim Dokja was saved by his phone. His phone, which until a few seconds ago he had been holding, before the muscles in his hand gave out and it clattered to the floor.
Yoo Jonghyuk and Han Sooyoung both turned quickly to see what kind of pervert was standing there watching them make out in the comfort of their own kitchen.
“Kim Dokja?”
“Ah. I was. I was just leaving. I had to come pick up…” He collected his phone off the floor. “My phone! Sorry to bother you. I was just leaving.”
“Kim Dokja wait -”
Kim Dokja activated Way of the Wind, which thankfully still worked and got the hell out of there.
---
Kim Dokja didn’t know where to go, so he went to some public park. Even if you asked him, he wouldn’t be able to tell you which one. He was exhausted from using even just a few minutes of Way of the Wind, and his brain was scrambled, trying to think of several things at once and unable to separate them to consider properly. There was a layer of panic at getting caught, mixed in with the slightly breathless way Han Sooyoung said his name right after being kissed, with the equally devastating way Yoo Jonghyuk’s hair was tousled not from fighting but from having someone’s hand run gently through it.
His phone started buzzing so insistantly that he just turned it off. Kim Dokja took a deep breath and tried to adjust his world view to some new truths.
He could only conclude that whatever Han Sooyoung and Yoo Jonghyuk had going on had to have been going on for a while. It only seemed out of the blue to him because he hadn’t been around them enough since becoming the oldest dream. They spent an entire separate regression turn together after all, anything could have happened. Kim Dokja remembered fighting Yoo Jonghyuk over who would marry Han Sooyoung… at the time it had seemed like they were both just in it for the money, but had he really messed something up?
Kim Dokja looked tiredly out over the park, where some people were peacefully walking their dogs.
At least before, he wasn’t bothering anyone. But ever since he’d come back, first Jung Heewan and Lee Hyunsung, and now Yoo Junghyuk and Han Sooyoung… He couldn’t seem to stop getting in the middle of people. Invading their space. Kim Dokja was too used to relying on people now it seemed. He needed to respect their need for their own life. He needed to -
His thought process ended there as he was tackled off the bench.
“STOP THINKING,” that was Han Sooyoung, sitting on top of him and holding his arms to the ground next to his head. “God dammit I could hear you thinking from across the street and I know it’s some bullshit.”
A shadow fell over Kim Dokja and he looked up to see Yoo Jonghyuk frowning down at him. He felt a strange reversal of the many times that Yoo Jonghyuk would direct that same frown up at him, when he was watching from the stars.
“I don’t care about your stupid patience anymore,” She seemed to be talking to Yoo Jonghyuk. “We are doing this my way now. I’m not getting up until we beat some sense into you.” This time, to Kim Dokja.
“Listen, I said I’m sorry -”
“No! Why did you leave?”
What an absurd question. “I think that’s pretty obvious.”
“Try me.”
Kim Dokja squirmed uncomfortably, Han Sooyoung tightened her grip. “It was pretty obvious I was interrupting something. I shouldn't have been there in the first place.”
“Why do you think you shouldn’t have been there? It’s your house too.”
Kim Dokja started getting annoyed. “I didn’t realize you two were- I wouldn’t have suggested this if I knew- You know!”
Yoo Jonghyuk cut in. “You didn’t have to leave.”
“Uh, yes I did.” Didn’t this guy have boundaries?
“What I’m saying is that you could have stayed in the kitchen, if you wanted to. You were welcome to. There was nothing going on there that you weren’t also a part of.”
What, did these two secretly like people watching them?
“It’s no use, I can tell he’s still thinking stupid thoughts.” Han Sooyoung grabbed his collar and started banging his head into the grass. “YOU. ARE. IN. THIS. RELATIONSHIP.”
Kim Dokja grabbed her wrists. “I think I would know if I was in a relationship!”
“You would think so, wouldn’t you? And yet here we are, over a month after our literal marriage- an UNFATHOMABLE amount of time after we all threw ourselves into various time prisons to save each other, and you still think you are still somehow not a part of this.”
Kim Dokja stared at her.
“Yoo Jonghyuk said we “needed to give you time” and “it’s probably hard to adjust after being in a child coma for eons”, so we waited. And then you showed up in my kitchen and demanded to marry me, which I stupidly thought was a sign you were ready to open up. And even after we started living together, even after we cuddled on the couch , you still think this is all just for the money?” Han Sooyoung caught her breath. “Well to be fair, it’s also for the money, but that’s just a side benefit.”
Kim Dokja didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to think.
Han Sooyong sighed and let him sit up. Kim Dokja’s eyes had a glassy feel to them, and he hoped he wasn’t crying.
Yoo Jonghyuk held his hand out to help him stand up and said. “Let’s go home, Kim Dokja.”
–
They still didn’t really talk about it, but Kim Dokja had had enough talking about feelings for the next few years, at least. Besides, they had plenty of time.
They ate leftovers and watched a bad action movie. Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung tried to gang up on Yoo Jonghyuk in a game of smash and were soundly defeated. Kim Dokja wandered around the house in a daze mostly, the whole thing still feeling unreal. When Kim Dokja tried to walk up to the second floor to go to bed he was dragged back down into the master bedroom Han Sooyoung had claimed as hers.
“Ah. So the California King was for…”
“Obviously.”
It really had been planned since the beginning, huh?
Trying to sleep with two people on either side of him was a little uncomfortable at first, but KIm Dokja thought he’d get used to it.
When they had all gotten comfortable Kim Dokja remembered something important.
“Oh, right. I forgot to tell you.”
The other two grunted in question.
“We need to get a divorce.”