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“Ahjussi, how many people here do you think believe I’m your teenage paramour?”
Kim Dokja had to grit his teeth to refrain from letting out an indignant curse as he strove to stride ahead of Lee Jihye on the street, but her height now rivalling his made the attempt useless. Compared to his wide steps that almost resemble a toddler’s stomp, Lee Jihye continues to bounce alongside him, giggling to herself, her long ponytail swinging fast enough to almost slap him in the face as she jumps further ahead.
Kim Dokja glared a little and raised an eyebrow at her, “Why would you even insinuate something like that? Ugh.” He took a quick scan of their surroundings and was relieved to find no one paying any attention to their words. Apparently, the brat in front of him now wasn’t as loud as he thought she was.
“Also, you’re not even a teenager anymore. It’s been years since you took your first drink.”
“It’s called remaining youthful at heart, ahjussi. Not that you’d know what that means, I guess.”
He’s no longer fazed by her words, despite how they may have pricked at him if it was around the time they first met. He can’t deny being an old man anymore. Still, Kim Dokja wanted to cross his arms and look down his nose at her, before realizing their similar height no longer permitted that, and that he’d also look even more like a petulant child.
“Anyway, what do you suggest we do for the next few hours?” The two of them had been kicked out by the rest of the company for obvious reasons (not-so-surprise birthday party planning) just as they had been in the past, but this was the first time they were banned from the house together. It was an awkward thought at first as they walked throughout the city trying to find ways to occupy their time, but Lee Jihye’s “refreshingness” quickly dispelled the air.
“Don’t you have friends from university to hang out with today? Just leave me at a cafe or something. I can wait,” said Kim Dokja, in a rare moment of generosity and thoughtfulness. He’s feeling nice today; it’s nearly his birthday, after all.
The reaction from Lee Jihye wasn’t completely unexpected as she turned up her nose at him with a raised eyebrow. “What, you don’t want to spend time with a girl like me? Many people would pay for this opportunity, you know.”
Clearly, Han Sooyoung’s influence had rubbed off on her during those regretful 3 years. Such are the consequences of living with a demon like her.
Still, Kim Dokja smiled indulgently at her expert imitation of Han Sooyoung and pointed at a storefront across from the street corner they stopped at. A bright pink and yellow sign out front indicates an arcade hidden further within the store, blocked from sight by various claw machines containing uselessly cute trinkets and stuffed toys.
“Why don’t we spend some cash?” he says, taking his wallet out from his back pocket and flipping it open to remove a few bills. The second he uttered the word, Lee Jihye’s entire demeanor lit up as she snatched up the money, quickly uttering a “thanks!” and barely taking a glance at the streetlight before running toward the arcade. Some things never change.
Kim Dokja slowly follows after her as she starts exchanging the bills for coins, dropping them into a small plastic basket. While he strolls among the claw machine aisles, Lee Jihye is practically speedwalking ahead, seemingly trying to find the cutest item to catch. A familiar black dragon catches her sight.
“Aw man, they’re still making these? I thought the initial craze for ABFD’s mascot was long over by now,” she says, bounding up to a claw machine in a back corner. 4 plushies lay toppled over within the glass case, their soulless plastic eyes peering in random directions. One of them was cross-eyed.
“Given how few there are in this machine, I’m pretty sure his general popularity hasn’t died down yet,” Kim Dokja replies, leaning against the nearest machine as he watches Lee Jihye pick out a few coins from the basket to push into the slot. She was obviously going for the cross-eyed one to make fun of ABFD with later.
In that great big house of Kim Dokja’s dreams, each person had their own room, or at least a designated nook for themselves to relax in. He’s been in Lee Jihye’s room on various occasions now, most often when he was trying to proofread and edit her college writings with Han Sooyoung. And also during one unforgettable incident while helping her set up an online dating profile. They don’t speak about the results.
Lee Jihye’s room had the second most soft toys in the house, with Shin Yoosung in the lead by a slight but noticeable bit. But while Yoosung had all the stereotypically cute plushies you may find at arcades or specialty stores, Lee Jihye seemed to have a penchant for collecting the most deformed ones she could find. Case in point, her currently trying to get a cross-eyed ABFD, and on closer inspection one of its eyes also seems to be falling out already. Other examples in her collection include a dog with an upside-down face, as well as a cat with freakishly long legs that she likes to sleep wrapped in (although that one was apparently a purposeful design choice. Kids these days have such strange tastes, Kim Dokja had thought to himself the first time she brought it home).
“Ahjussi, ahjussi, help me take a look at how close the claw is from the side of the machine,” Lee Jihye says, bursting his little thought bubble as she taps the glass case.
“How? We’re against a corner right now, or do you think I’m thin enough to slide within that centimeter-wide gap over there? I'm flattered.” He could only raise an eyebrow at her.
“Ugh, you’re useless. Jump on top of the machine or something, just give me some help here! I’m almost out of time!”
Shaking his head, Kim Dokja could only try and indulge her by trying his best to look like he was peering at the claw through the glass of the machine he was leaning against.
“Uh, a little bit more to the left…No, I mean towards the back from your direction - ah, time ran out. Better luck next time, I guess.” He shrugged his shoulders and turned toward the direction of the arcade further within, only for Lee Jihye to grab onto his elbow and pull him in front of the claw machine.
“Ahjussi, seriously, I absolutely need this plushie. You don’t understand. I made a bet with Sooyoung-unnie already,” she said, playful pretense gone as she stared at him. He didn’t really want to know what that bet could be about.
“Well, I gave you money already, so just keep doing what you’re doing? I want to try out the racing games…” An expected side effect of recovering after a years-long coma was his leg muscles atrophying, thus leaving him wheelchair-bound for a long while when he woke up. He still needed it sometimes. During all that time spent sitting down and having his company members insist on accompanying him everywhere, Kim Dokja had the sudden regret of never getting his driver’s license pre-apocalypse. He never would have owned a car anyway, but at least he could have tried driving more often while living an ordinary life. Now no one trusts him to man a vehicle on his own, so the only solution was racing games.
“No! We’re supposed to be spending bonding time together today! Today is OUR day, as in a day spent together, not spent not together. Or something,” Lee Jihye said, her voice petering out slowly as she cringed at her own phrasing, but it was far from the first time Kim Dokja’s seen her embarrass herself anyway. “Anyway, you should try getting something here too. For Master, or Sooyoung-unnie, or those two brats.”
Not a bad idea. Kim Dokja hummed and nodded as she handed him enough coins worth 5,000 won, touting her own generosity while conveniently forgetting this was his money in the first place. He shoved the coins into his pocket, deciding to watch Lee Jihye squander away the rest of his money first. She managed to get it eventually, almost 15,000 won later, and to celebrate her victory she raised the plushie above her head with both arms and unapologetically screeched with triumph. Passerbys shot the two of them with an alarmed look, but Kim Dokja was long past the point of caring by that point.
“My turn now,” he said, interrupting her celebration. Lee Jihye tucked the newly won dragon under her armpit and latched onto Kim Dokja’s elbow again, eyes sparkling as she led them to a nearby machine containing…keychains of chibi figurines made in the constellation idol band’s images. Of course.
“This would be the perfect gift for Heewon-unnie!” she said, jabbing at the glass case in the general direction of a Uriel keychain lying on top of a pile of other Uriels, ABFDs, and a few Sun Wukongs. It’s obvious who’s the most popular then, huh? At least in chibi form. He can’t blame them; there’s definitely something attractive about seeing such a tiny, cute-ified version of a person who’s considered very masculine and buff in real life. Gap moe, was it?
“I thought you wanted me to get gifts for your Master?” Kim Dokja said, although part of him genuinely believes Yoo Joonghyuk might appreciate a mini Uriel. It may bring back memories of her company in doll form atop his shoulder however many years ago in the 73rd Demon Realm…Actually, scratch that. Maybe bringing back memories of that time wasn’t a great idea after all.
“Yeah, but Heewon-unnie has also put up with your bullshit for one of the longest times now, right? She deserves a gift.” Wow. He’ll admit to deserving that, as well as how grateful he was for Jung Heewon’s existence and company, but it still stung. Just a bit.
“Actually, why am I getting gifts for anyone at all? Isn’t it supposed to be our birthday party, not theirs?” He didn’t mind getting gifts for any of them on any day but nonetheless felt childish enough at the moment to complain. Lee Jihye tended to have this effect on most people older than her. “How about this? We each get three tries each at a single machine to get each other a gift instead. Loser has to play whatever arcade game the winner wants to play.”
“You know we’re likely to both not get anything, right?”
“Have some optimism, Jihye-ya. What happened to your youthful charm?”
With that, the two of them set off to explore more claw machines, trying to find a suitable gift. Kim Dokja settled on a bunny hair clip that vaguely resembled the charm he remembered being on Lee Jihye’s old sword. The weapons each company member used during the scenarios were now all displayed in their house, and Yoo Joonghyuk sometimes still cleaned his sword out of habit and comfort, but Lee Jihye had removed the charm from her sword’s handle to keep it somewhere safer.
As expected, he didn’t manage to snag any of the hair clips after three tries. Damn it, he had even aimed for a slightly wonky one near the hole on purpose…Well, if he tried a few more times while Lee Jihye was out of sight, no harm done, right?
His hopes of cheating were dashed when Lee Jihye popped up on the other side of the claw machine, shaking her head in disappointment.
“Ahjussi, I saw you about to take more coins out of your wallet. Hey, don’t bother hiding it now, that just makes you seem even more sneaky. I didn’t win anything either, by the way. What now?” she asked, peering over his shoulder into the arcade.
“Well, given how I’m the one who paid for everything so far, I think you owe me a round of racing,” Kim Dokja replied, turning to walk down the hallway and ignoring Lee Jihye’s complaints. It’s not his fault she failed her driver’s test so many times before finally passing. This could be good practice for her, he thought, knowingly lying to himself before doing so out loud by voicing his thoughts to her as well. A squawk of indignance was the only response he got.
As the two of them settled into the low but fairly comfortable seats of the game machines, Kim Dokja turned his head ever so slightly to gaze at Lee Jihye as she was distracted, slotting the coins into the machine. Her face has matured and sharpened over the years, and despite all they’ve been through, she wasn’t lying about retaining a youthful charm; her eyes have continued to contain a rarely found positivity within them. The only difference was the buildup of experience within them as well. He was really…a bit proud of her. Just a bit, again.
Kim Dokja snapped his gaze back to the screen in front of him when Lee Jihye sat straight back up again. She slammed her hand down on top of the START button between the two of them, and they both settled into more comfortable positions with their hands placed on the steering wheels as the game began.
During the last round of the race, Kim Dokja looked back at Jihye once more. Her eyes were opened wide, staring straight ahead like they’ve always been. The glow of the screen was reflected against them as she leaned slightly forward over the steering wheel in concentration, and the light filled her eyes enough to give off an illusion of total illumination. At the last second, he raised his foot off the acceleration a bit, allowing her to zoom past him and over the finish line.
The resulting whoop of victory beside him, no matter how much it hurt his eardrums, was definitely worth it.
“We’re back! And we come bearing gifts!”
“Gifts?! I wanna see – get out of my way, Yoosung, I call dibs on Hyung’s gifts!”
“The two of you go wash your hands first.”
“So serious, Joonghyuk-ah, we got it, don’t worry.”
“Hey brats, wanna hear about how your beloved ahjussi got his ass absolutely demolished by me in racing?”
So maybe he takes that last line back. Maybe.