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“Good afternoon, Joonghyuk-ah!”
Yoo Joonghyuk gave Kim Dokja a brief glance before returning his attention back to his history textbook.
“The cold shoulder again?” Kim Dokja sat next to him and peered over his shoulder. “Ah, starting to study for next week’s assignment already? Such a diligent student. No wonder you’re going to be the next Hero.”
Yoo Joonghyuk let out an affirmative sound and turned the page of his book. He tried to focus on the chapter, but he could feel Kim Dokja’s eyes on him. The other student didn’t even try to hide his constant staring.
It should’ve unnerved Yoo Joonghyuk, but he found himself enjoying the fact that he had Kim Dokja’s sole attention.
“Kim Dokja.”
“Yes?” Kim Dokja raised an eyebrow at Yoo Joonghyuk, anticipating a question.
Yoo Joonghyuk shook his head and returned to his textbook. “…If you want to study, get your own textbook.”
“But yours is already out!” Kim Dokja scooted closer to Yoo Joonghyuk. “Sharing is caring~”
Yoo Joonghyuk sighed and slid his book closer to Kim Dokja. The rest of the afternoon was filled with Kim Dokja’s attempts to distract Yoo Joonghyuk, who diligently studied.
To be honest, Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t mind the other’s presence. Unlike the rest of the school, Kim Dokja didn’t annoy him or try to get in his good graces. Kim Dokja was just Kim Dokja, his seatmate and the person who occasionally mooched off his lunches. The idiot he affectionately nicknamed “squid” wasn’t afraid to tease and critique him, something that even his parents were scared to do.
When he asked Kim Dokja why he decided to bother with Yoo Joonghyuk, Kim Dokja just grinned and called him the best protagonist ever.
Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t know what the hell that meant, but if that’s what it took to keep Kim Dokja by his side, then he’ll accept it.
The next day, Yoo Joonghyuk walked into home room to find Kim Dokja furiously scrubbing his desk. He quickly walked to Kim Dokja’s side to grab his wrist and prevent him from erasing the evidence.
“Who did this?” Yoo Joonghyuk’s voice was laced with ice. His eyes hardened as he noticed Kim Dokja tremble in his presence.
Kim Dokja quickly removed his blazer and covered his desk. “It’s nothing, you don’t have to worry about it.”
Yoo Joonghyuk scoffed at the weak request and shoved Kim Dokja away from the desk. Plastered all over the desk were various insults ranging from “Leech!” to “Disgusting”. Kim Dokja looked away ashamed, making Yoo Joonghyuk’s anger rise and he pivoted to face the rest of the class.
“Who wrote these lies on Kim Dokja’s desk?”
The rest of the class was silent, avoiding eye contact with the livid hero. Yoo Joonghyuk clenched his teeth and was about to roll up his sleeves, but Kim Dokja quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him close.
“Hey, just calm down. How do you even know that it was one of our classmates?” Kim Dokja struggled to hold back Yoo Joonghyuk from murdering his classmates. “They’re innocent until proven guilty.”
Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes darkened and his hand balled into a fist. “Are you trying to defend them?”
“Do you really think I care about this kind of stuff?” Kim Dokja let out a weak chuckle and tried to rub Yoo Joonghyuk’s arm to soothe him. “I’ve had worse. This is nothing.”
“ Worse ?” Yoo Joonghyuk’s heroic aura began to spread through the air, giving the rest of the room’s occupants a pulsing headache. Light surged from his body, blinding most of the students who were watching him.
“Calm down!” Kim Dokja urged, tugging Yoo Joonghyuk’s arm. “You’re hurting everyone.”
Yoo Joonghyuk saw the pained expression on Kim Dokja’s face and reluctantly stopped his tirade. He reigned in his aura, even though his aura was raging to fight back.
His classmates all let out a sigh of relief as Yoo Joonghyuk helped Kim Dokja clean his desk.
From the corner of his eye, Yoo Joonghyuk saw a group of boys snickering outside the hallway. He kept a mental note of their faces as he finished wiping the marker residue from Kim Dokja’s desk.
“Squeaky clean,” Kim Dokja let out a half-hearted laugh. “I didn’t even need your help.”
Yoo Joonghyuk stayed silent. Kim Dokja frowned at the lack of response.
“Yoo Joonghyuk, I—” The sound of a bell cut him off. The professor shuffled in and everyone sat down at their desks.
Yoo Joonghyuk watched as Kim Dokja searched the inside of his desk. He quickly scooted his desk over so that they were next to each other.
The professor immediately noticed. “Yoo Joonghyuk, why are your desks together?”
“I forgot my textbook at home, so I’m sharing it with Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk gestured to the book between him and Kim Dokja. “Is that okay Dokja?”
Kim Dokja’s cheeks reddened and he nodded.
The rest of the day was uneventful. They later realized that Kim Dokja was missing two of his required textbooks. Luckily Yoo Joonghyuk always stored his books in class, so he was able to lend Kim Dokja the texts when he needed them.
Yoo Joonghyuk walked Kim Dokja to the gate of the school and stopped just as they reached the entrance.
“Kim Dokja.”
Kim Dokja turned around. “Hm?”
“I just remembered that I have an after school meeting, so you’ll have to walk home by yourself.”
Kim Dokja nodded hesitantly. “That’s fine. There haven't been any demon sightings lately so I don’t mind.”
Yoo Joonghyuk rolled his eyes at him. “As if you need to worry about that.”
“Heh of course! My big, scary Hero is going to defeat all of the demons right?” Kim Dokja had a cheeky grin as he poked Yoo Joonghyuk’s cheek.
“Why would you describe me as ‘scary’?” Yoo Joonghyuk scowled.
Right as Kim Dokja was about to retort, Yoo Joonghyuk waved him off and went back into the schoolyard. Kim Dokja’s grin gradually faded and he walked off alone.
It didn’t take very long for Yoo Joonghyuk to corner the culprits and shove them into the nearby storage building. After he found Kim Dokja’s textbooks in their satchels, they quickly confessed and he swiftly punished them. After leaving them unconscious in their underwear, Yoo Joonghyuk locked the storage room and tossed the key in the nearby garden.
Those fools claimed that hanging around Kim Dokja was a mistake, that the other would tarnish his reputation as the future Hero. How dare they judge Kim Dokja’s worth even though they’ve never spoken to him?
What did they even know? Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t even care about his Hero title. Kim Dokja was the only person who gave a damn about him. They have done nothing that deserved this kind of treatment.
Yoo Joonghyuk clenched his hands, itching to go back into the storage room, but he knew he had to return to Kim Dokja. They were probably worried about him since he was gone for so long.
If Yoo Joonghyuk noticed that his Hero aura had a darker tint to it, he didn’t comment on it. His aura began to dim ever since he started hanging out with Kim Dokja, darkening over time as his thoughts revolved around Kim Dokja’s infuriating smile.
He practiced the breathing exercises that Kim Dokja taught him.
In and out. In and out.
He didn’t feel any better.
His thoughts returned to his bothersome Hero title, the one thing that separated him from the rest of his peers. The one thing he scorned more than anything else.
Perhaps…he should throw it away for good.
“Drop out?!” exclaimed Kim Dokja. A heavy hand covered his mouth, muffling his protests. Kim Dokja huffed and pushed Yoo Joonghyuk away. “Are you insane? You’re the Hero, why would you drop out?”
“I don’t want to be the Hero,” Yoo Joonghyuk scowled. “I’d rather have a peaceful life away from it all.”
“How is there going to be peace if you don’t defeat the Demon King?” Kim Dokja shook his head and grabbed Yoo Joonghyuk’s wrist. “Come on, let’s go speak with the principal and tell them you were just joking.”
Yoo Joonghyuk refused to move. “Kim Dokja, I’m not going to defeat the Demon King.”
“Why not?” Kim Dokja sounded frustrated. “It’s your duty as the hero.”
“Because I know who the Demon King is.” Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes softened at Kim Dokja. “I’ve known the entire time.”
Kim Dokja paused for a moment before continuing to try and drag Yoo Joonghyuk away. “Then that's an even better reason to—”
“I’m not going to kill you.”
Kim Dokja’s eyes widened, his lower lip trembling as he gazed at Yoo Joonghyuk with a forlorn expression.
“But don’t you want a happy ending?”
“Not at the cost of losing you.”
Kim Dokja sighed and released his grip on Yoo Joonghyuk. He rubbed his temples and finally released the glamor he casted on himself. With a snap, the magic dissipated and revealed jet black wings behind him, as well as a pair of horns atop his head.
“Hero Yoo Joonghyuk,” started Kim Dokja, “you have the opportunity to obtain world peace right now. As long as I continue to exist, demons will continue to run amok.”
“I honestly don’t care.” Yoo Joonghyuk checked his watch. “Are you done? The market sale starts in half an hour and I need to buy groceries for our dinner.”
Kim Dokja groaned and smacked Yoo Joonghyuk on the arm. “What the hell? That wasn’t heroic at all? I thought you were a cool protagonist!”
Yoo Joonghyuk gave Kim Dokja an unimpressed look. “So I’m not ‘cool’ anymore?”
Yoo Joonghyuk watched Kim Dokja mutter nonsense to himself, only catching hints of the one sided conversation. He didn’t understand why the Demon King decided to latch himself onto him, but after months of being together, Yoo Joonghyuk deemed Kim Dokja as someone to take care of. His classmate could barely fold laundry, let alone bring destruction to the Earth.
If Kim Dokja finally decided to act his part, then it would be up to Yoo Joonghyuk to guide his friend back on the right path.
And if the reason was justified, Yoo Joonghyuk would gladly aid the Demon King on his quest.
Epilogue
Isekai: a classic trope that readers of all ages are somewhat familiar with.
Kim Dokja was no stranger to the isekai genre. Since he was young, he devoured story after story, desperately wishing that he could be transported into another world and escape his hellish life. He cheered on heroes, self-inserting himself into their position and delving into their worlds to experience their journey. But at the end of the day when he closed his webnovel app, he was still just Kim Dokja, 28 year old salaryman.
“Ah, poor Yoo Joonghyuk!” Kim Dokja sniffled at the dark screen. “Why the hell isn’t anyone helping him? A hero shouldn’t be alone!”
The protagonist of his favorite story was currently suffering from bullies. It was a classic character building trope that Kim Dokja both loved and hated.
“If I was there…I would never let this happen…”
Kim Dokja cradled his phone to his chest as he drifted to sleep.
“I’d do anything to become friends with the Hero.”