Work Text:
Yoo Joonghyuk was frustrated.
He looked up at the blue window in front of him, hoping for it to be a joke.
[Sub-scenario #??? - In need of a hand!
Category: Sub
Difficulty: ???
Clear Conditions: A member of the Kim Dokja's Company is currently facing a problem. Help the member solve it.
Time Limit: Two weeks
Compensation: --
Penalty: Failure of the next Main Scenario.]
Yoo Joonghyuk frowned. Just what kind of problem was it to have such a penalty?
And why did he get the scenario instead of someone else? Someone who knew how to help others and always had a plan ready for anything, like Kim Dokja or even Han Sooyung.
Unless...
Yoo Joonghyuk quickened his steps towards the Industrial Complex.
It must be one of the two rats.
The kids would have already asked for help. Lee Hyunsung was too simple to keep it hidden, especially from Jung Heewon. The latter and Yoo Sangah weren't the type of people to keep to themselves a problem that could disrupt the group's balance in a dangerous situation. The same was to be said about Lee Seolhwa.
He spotted Han Sooyung in the distance, busy pointing at air, presumedly checking a scenario or using the Dokkaebi bag.
"Han Sooyung."
She looked up, but immediately went back to her activity. "What?"
Yoo Joonghyuk stayed silent for a couple of seconds, pondering how to manage the situation. "...Do you have a problem?" He then blurted out.
She looked up again, raising an eyebrow. "Ah? Are you picking a fight with me?"
"No."
"Then what are you trying to say? Speak clearly, you emotionally constipated bastard."
"Are you... facing some kind of situation you can't solve by yourself?"
This time Han Sooyung raised both her eyebrows, these being the most words Yoo Joonghyuk had ever spoken to her and also being utter gibberish.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Yoo Joonghyuk snorted and walked away, a "Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" shouted behind him.
After talking to Kim Dokja and getting a similar reaction, Yoo Joonghyuk was feeling a headache coming his way.
The possibilities were two: the two idiots lied (very possible) or he just didn't know the group's members enough (possible as well).
He wasn't an active part of the Kim Dokja's Company after all. Like the name implies, it was Kim Dokja's group, not his.
It had people he didn't know from his previous rounds and the ones who followed him before were now also different. He wasn't close to them, not to say, almost a stranger.
So, he settled for keeping watch of the members for the following time, examining every little detail.
To his surprise, this solution worked extremely well, as he discovered the problem in just a couple of days.
A certain person was being neglectful at taking care of themselves. They didn't rest, too occupied with finishing hidden scenarios to acquire skills and items; they didn't eat with the excuse of "I already ate, don't worry" and they didn't sleep because they had to "revise the plans and future scenarios one last time" and were "going to sleep later".
But the way their skinny body wobbled around, their heavy and exhausted breaths and the dark eye bags under their eyes were a giveaway that their reassurances were just a bunch of shit.
However, whenever someone tried to talk to them about it, they were quick in making witty replies and running away.
Yoo Joonghyuk had now cornered said person to a wall, fed up with the bullshit.
"Kim Dokja."
Kim Dokja swallowed, a shaky smile on his face.
It was the 7th night in a row that Yoo Joonghyuk had caught him revising the plans instead of sleeping and he had definitely run out of excuses.
"What is it, Joonghyuk-ah?"
"Kim Dokja..."
"Ah, were you going to ask me about the next scenarios? Don't worry, I already planned it all. I'll explain them in tomorrow's meeting." He placed a hand on Yoo Joonghyuk's shoulder, patting it.
This resulted in the man looking so angry Kim Dokja feared he might break his arm.
"Kim Dokja."
"Eh?"
Yoo Joonghyuk grabbed his wrist and began walking, dragging him.
"Wait. What are you doing? Where are we going?" Kim Dokja tried to set free his wrist, but the other's grip didn't bulge.
Normally, he would have been successful in putting up a fight, but right now he was too weak and out of energy.
Yoo Joonghyuk seemed to have noticed it too, because his frown deepened and he began walking faster.
They arrived at his bedroom and he dragged Kim Dokja inside.
"Give me your coat and go to sleep."
"What?"
"Give me your coat. And go to sleep."
"Why should I?" The confusion about the whole situation was clear on his face.
Yoo Joonghyuk growled his name, with a murderous glare, and Kim Dokja understood that if he didn't do it willingly, the other man would force him to.
He left the coat on a chair and awkwardly made his way into the king sized bed.
Yoo Joonghyuk sit in a chair, arms crossed, and watched him.
He didn't know how to react and what was going on. Why was Yoo Joonghyuk so interested in his lack of sleep? Why did he care in first place? He was being out of character. He never cared for someone to this level in TWSA.
Above all, he didn't have the time to relax like this with the upcoming Main Scenario. But how to escape from Yoo Joonghyuk? Electrification plus Miniaturization? He should wait till he's relaxed and then slip out.
"Kim Dokja. Sleep." A voice interrupted his thoughts.
"How can I sleep with you constantly watching me?"
Yoo Joonghyuk stayed silent for a while before the sound of clothes moving was heard in the darkness.
Yeah, go away.
But the sounds moved to the other side of the bed and this time was of covers being lifted.
"Wai- What are you doing?"
Even without his sense of sight he could feel Yoo Joonghyuk raising an eyebrow.
"You told me not to watch you sleeping so I'm gonna sleep too."
Kim Dokja snorted and turned on his side, his back to the other man.
Whatever. It's going to be easier to escape if he really sleeps.
Suddenly an arm was wrapped around his waist and he was being pulled towards Yoo Joonghyuk.
"Wha-?!"
Instinctively he tried to free himself, but, just as his grip, Yoo Joonghyuk's whole body was like an unmovable mountain.
"Stay still. You won't be going anywhere."
And Kim Dokja was indeed still, frozen in place. His mind was completely blank, not a trace of coherent thought.
He felt Yoo Joonghyuk's breath on his neck and the warmth and firmness of his torso pressed against his back. Two heartbeats could be heard, one rhythmic and one frantic.
Much to Kim Dokja's distress, he found it to be relaxing. The weight and warmness of a body pressing against his own; the heavy and secure way he was being held, which seemed to tell him that this was the safest he was ever going to be; the steady movement of Yoo Joonghyuk's chest.
It was too relaxing. He was drowning in that cosiness and, before he realized it, the panic had faded away, overwritten by sleepiness.
One heartbeat. Thump.
Two. Thump.
Three. Thump.
And Kim Dokja was asleep.
The first one to wake up in the morning was Yoo Joonghyuk.
During the night they had shifted positions and now Kim Dokja was facing him, still pressed tightly against his chest because of his arm on his waist. Kim Dokja's arms were hugging him and his face was snuggled between his neck and shoulder, his breaths hitting Yoo Joonghyuk's collarbone.
Yoo Joonghyuk brought his free hand and nose to Kim Dokja's hair, ruffling and smelling it.
Soft.
He distanced himself from the other man to get a look at his face. It was so different from his usual expressions.
He seemed at peace, his eyebrows relaxed and the lips, usually contorted into a ugly smirk, slightly open.
Yoo Joonghyuk suddenly felt the urge to hit him in that back of his head. It was irritating.
Now that the squid had finally got a good night's rest, it was time to feed it.
Slowly and gently, he escaped from his embrace. Kim Dokja furrowed his eyebrows for a brief moment, grumbling in his sleep, before returning to his dreams.
Yoo Joonghyuk left to kitchen, ready to shove the breakfast down Kim Dokja's throat if he tried to skip the meal again.
Day after day, Yoo Joonghyuk continued to make sure Kim Dokja was actually sleeping and become his personal chief, forcing him to eat at least three meals at day.
The sub-scenario was completed and the Main Scenario had been the easiest from the start of the Apocalypse.
Even after the end of the scenario, the two continued to sleep together and Yoo Joonghyuk always prepared Kim Dokja's food.
As it was set in their daily routine, the KimCom also became accustomed to it, even praising Yoo Joonghyuk for his initiative.
Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung were jealous of Yoo Joonghyuk, but stopped pestering him when Kim Dokja actually started to look better.
Now, they also happened to sleep with the duo once in a while, being careful on staying only on their father figure's side.
With Han Sooyung and Kim Dokja's habit of discussing the plans before sleeping (attention: only Han Sooyung was going to sleep after the talk; as we now the other rat stayed too awake), Han Sooyung was always in their room at night. At first she happened to sleep with them because of exhaustion, then it had become the norm.
And so, the previous Yoo Joonghyuk's room, became Yoo Joonghyuk, Kim Dokja and Han Sooyung's room.
With this followed the breakfasts together, at which, quickly, were added all the other members of the KimCom.
The Industrial Complex resembled more a home now, laughter and ruckus heard at any time of the day.
The one more affected by this change often wondered. Wondered how he came to have such relax and comfort in the literal Apocalypse. How he managed to obtain what seemed like a paradise.
He also pondered how this one was the only turn in which he had felt to belong somewhere and with someone, to have a family apart from Yoo Mia.
Yoo Joonghyuk realized that it wasn't Kim Dokja's group or his group anymore. There weren't any distinctions. Because now he was part of the Kim Dokja's Company and it was his group too.
These days, the perfect sculpted face of the Regressor was being signed by smile lines.