"Coffee for you~"
"Noona, you could have asked me to come along! You didn't have to go alone."
"We can go together next time," Uriel said handing Kim Dokja his coffee with both hands, leaving Yoo Joonghyuk to help himself to the tray she had shoved into his hands so that she could focus on Kim Dokja.
"Let's ditch this big baby too. He's been hogging you too much."
Yoo Joonghyuk glared at her, annoyed.
Hogging him too much? Nonsense! He barely got any time with Kim Dokja, there was something always interfering, mostly something called Uriel.
"Dokja-ssi," he said, looking away from his secretary. "Do you have any plans for lunch?"
"Yes, he does," Uriel said before Kim Dokja could even open his mouth. "He's coming with me. You can go home or whatever, bye."
Uriel would face the consequences of her actions, Yoo Joonghyuk thought bitterly as Kim Dokja got pulled away from him by Uriel. Yoo Joonghyuk disposed of the empty tray and followed the pair on their shopping adventures.
"Dokja-ssi, do you wear contact lenses?" Yoo Joonghyuk asked as they stood in a store selling spectacles through the different sunglasses Uriel was trying on.
Kim Dokja shook his head. "I don't, why do you ask?"
"You look like you do," Yoo Joonghyuk said.
"What does even mean, Joonghyuk-ssi?" Kim Dokja laughed.
Yoo Joonghyuk gave a little shrug in return. He wasn't entirely sure how to describe it himself. It wasn't the lighting but Kim Dokja's eyes, he had concluded.
Kim Dokja's eyes always looked all sparkly like those idols doing photoshoots and performing and Yoo Joonghyuk knew for a fact that they often wore contacts to get that effect.
. . .Kim Dokja could pass as an idol. With his pale face, long eyelashes, shiny eyes, and pretty smile, he would be incredibly popular. There really was something about Kim Dokja's eyes that caught his attention and pinned him in place, making it very hard to look away.
"It's just," Yoo Joonghyuk tried to find the best way to describe it. "Your eyes sometimes. . .shine."
The clerk standing by the display counters behind Kim Dokja clamped her hands on her mouth, eyes wide and Uriel, smiling broadly, put a finger on her lips, asking the lady to remain quiet. The clerk nodded enthusiastically and didn't make a sound.
Kim Dokja seemed to mull those words over in his head for a few seconds, and then he said, "It's probably the lighting that's doing it."
It wasn't. Yoo Joonghyuk had observed him long enough to know that.
"It might be," he nodded.
Uriel pinched the bridge of her nose, behind Kim Dokja and threw Yoo Joonghyuk an exasperated glare.
"If you don't mind me asking, Joonghyuk-ssi, have your eyes always been like that?" Kim Dokja said.
"If you are asking about the different colours, then yes," Yoo Joonghyuk nodded.
"Then, do you mind telling me what colour it is?" Kim Dokja said curiously. "I can't really put a finger on it."
Yoo Joonghyuk had all sorts of people commenting on his odd eyes, it was usually annoying, but he didn't mind it when it came from Kim Dokja.
"What colour does it seem like to you, Dokja-ssi?" he asked.
Kim Dokja chuckled sheepishly. "I really can't tell. . .It looks golden sometimes."
There was a tiny excited gasp from the clerk and Yoo Joonghyuk saw Uriel trying her hardest to keep herself from smiling. Kim Dokja noticed Yoo Joonghyuk looking over his head and turned around. The clerk and Uriel were faster than Kim Dokja was, busying themselves with the display pieces, pretending to have no clue about the conversation they were having.
"Dokja-ssi," Yoo Joonghyuk called and Kim Dokja's attention was back on him again.
Kim Dokja wasn't the first person to use that adjective to describe his eye. He had heard it countless times before, and never before had he liked the word 'golden' so much.
"I'm not very sure of it myself," Yoo Joonghyuk confessed.
"You can see just fine, right?" Kim Dokja said.
Yoo Joonghyuk nodded. "It does nothing to affect my vision."
"So you don't need any glasses then," said Kim Dokja after a few seconds of thought. "I think you'll look good in glasses though."
Yoo Joonghyuk stared at the younger man. Good in glasses? He was willing to try, he supposed. Though he wasn't exactly required to wear spectacles, he was fine with wearing them even if it was just as a fashion statement.
"We can try now, Dokja-yah," Uriel said and Kim Dokja turned around to face her.
Uriel was having a lot of fun, putting silly glasses on Yoo Joonghyuk's face and making fun of him. She knew Yoo Joonghyuk wouldn't ever have done something like this if it wasn't for Kim Dokja and she was taking the chance when she saw it.
"Huh, that one's actually nice," Kim Dokja said and Yoo Joonghyuk stopped mentally torturing Uriel in his head.
"It makes you look younger."
"Younger?" Yoo Joonghyuk frowned. ". . .Are you calling me old?"
"Aren't you old though?" Kim Dokja said innocently, though the mischievous look on his face said otherwise. Uriel laughed heartily at Yoo Joonghyuk's expense.
"Ah, Joonghyuk-ssi, you look good for your age. Not all middle-aged men—"
"I am not middle-aged," Yoo Joonghyuk said sharply and Kim Dokja grinned wider. "You are not that far behind either, Dokja-ssi."
"Aww, well, I suppose that's just how life works," Kim Dokja shrugged lazily. "But I'll take it as an elderly person's wisdom. Thank you for your valuable words, Joonghyuk-ssi."
Uriel laughed harder.
Yoo Joonghyuk glared at Kim Dokja but it lacked any venom and Kim Dokja knew this too because he smiled up at him brightly. Yoo Joonghyuk was only forgiving Kim Dokja because he was smiling so nicely.
They roamed the lower floors of the departmental store, Uriel monopolising Kim Dokja again and Yoo Joonghyuk trying to find a valid excuse to get rid of her. It started getting busier and they decided it would be better to leave before getting caught in the crowd.
Uriel offered to get Kim Dokja another ice cream and Kim Dokja adamantly refused, saying he'd already had one in the morning and he wasn't particularly hungry at the moment.
Yoo Joonghyuk could understand why Uriel kept getting Kim Dokja stuff to eat, though. He would have done it himself if Uriel wasn't doing it at the moment. Of course, he would have chosen to get Kim Dokja healthy food, preferably something he had made himself, instead of the high-calorie, sugary stuff that Uriel was getting him, but that was the best option at the moment.
In the few hours they were busy, some store seemed to have set up a photo stand-in on the ground floor and families were making a beeline towards it. It was a good thing they decided to come early.
Yoo Joonghyuk noticed it when Kim Dokja stopped speaking abruptly. The response he was giving to Uriel faded into air and Yoo Joonghyuk turned to check if Kim Dokja was fine.
Kim Dokja seemed mostly fine. He didn't look hurt nor was he bleeding from somewhere. He just looked really surprised.
Following Kim Dokja's line of sight, Yoo Joonghyuk looked into the sea of strangers to see what had managed to startle Kim Dokja so much.
". . .I think I should go say hi," Kim Dokja muttered next to him and Yoo Joonghyuk looked harder.
When he finally spotted it, Yoo Joonghyuk felt himself stiffen. It had been a long while since he last saw his younger cousins in person. He could barely see the top of Yoo Mia's head as the little group headed towards the escalators.
Even as he spotted the white-haired woman from one of Uriel's reports on Kim Dokja's acquaintances, he remembered that he wasn't the only one who knew the group.
Yoo Joonghyuk looked down at Kim Dokja again.
Though Kim Dokja's face didn't show any visceral emotions, Yoo Joonghyuk could tell that the way he was looking at that idiot, Yoo Joonghyuk was different.
Of course, it was. Why wouldn't it be? Kim Dokja was in love with that buffoon, wasn't he? Was that why he had seen the stupid boy so easily even amongst the throng?
Kim Dokja was incredibly attentive and he mostly maintained eye contact when he spoke with someone, but this was. . .Different. . .Like he was the only thing he could see. Like he was the only thing worth seeing.
"Dokja-ssi," Yoo Joonghyuk cleared his throat.
Kim Dokja's head snapped up to meet his gaze and the man smiled politely.
"I think I see my friends, do you mind if I go say hello?" Kim Dokja said.
Generally, Yoo Joonghyuk would have nodded, and said he would wait for him by the elevators or something along the same lines, but Kim Dokja's body language had shifted a bit. The previous relaxed air he had around him had morphed into something more stiff, more anxious.
Right, he was in love with that idiot who was out on a date with his fiancée and younger sister, being a perfect little family. That wasn't the best thing to voluntarily go to when he was suffering from a one-sided love.
Why did he want to go get their attention anyway? They hadn't seen him, he didn't have to put himself in that position. Of course, Yoo Joonghyuk's opinion didn't really matter here, Kim Dokja was free to do as he wanted.
Regardless, Yoo Joonghyuk didn't like it very much so he decided to intervene.
"I do," he said.
"I'm sorry?" Kim Dokja blinked.
"We have somewhere to be," Yoo Joonghyuk said. "I've made a reservation. We need to make it on time."
He trusted his secretary to help him out. Uriel frowned for the briefest second then nodded along, like it had always been the plan.
"Ah, it won't take too long," Kim Dokja said, glancing back at the other group that had gotten onto the escalator and were heading up. "You can come along too. . .Only if you want."
It wouldn't work with Kim Dokja, would it? He was stubborn to a fault.
"Dokja-ssi, I would rather you didn't meet them today," Yoo Joonghyuk said. And he'd rather Kim Dokja go back to looking happy again.
"Did you tell them that you would be here today?"
"I didn't," Kim Dokja shook his head.
"Did they tell you that they were going to be here today?"
Kim Dokja shook his head again.
"There you have it then," Yoo Joonghyuk huffed. "It doesn't have to be a coincidence if you don't make it one."
" . . .what?"
Yoo Joonghyuk took advantage of Kim Dokja's confusion and caught the man's hand, before marching towards the elevators.
They had to wait for the elevator, a horde of people waiting to get into it along with them.
Yoo Joonghyuk let go of Kim Dokja's hand and he didn't try to run away or chase after his friends. He considered this a good sign.
They got shoved into the elevator when the doors opened on their floor. Yoo Joonghyuk made to grab Kim Dokja's hand again, but he was too late, and Kim Dokja ended up away from him, on the other end, pressed up against the metal wall.
The elevator slid down the chute smoothly and Yoo Joonghyuk decided he disliked departmental stores.
He would have never come there, he would have taken Kim Dokja to the boutiques he usually went to, but he thought it was too much for the first time and might end up scaring Kim Dokja. The departmental store was the next best option he found.
Kim Dokja, who was nearest to the doors got out and waited for them when they reached the underground parking lot. The previously empty parking lot was full of visitors' cars.
They didn't have to go in search of their car. Uriel had already informed the driver and he would be bringing the car over.
They moved away to the side and waited for two minutes in silence. Uriel gave him a discreet thumbs up and Yoo Joonghyuk took a few seconds to figure out what that was for. She had managed to get a reservation made in that short time frame. She was a very capable secretary.
No more departmental stores, Yoo Joonghyuk decided. He would tell Uriel of this too, no more departmental stores or anywhere they could get disturbed.
They were having a good time until that jerk came up. Kim Dokja was laughing, he was joking, and his eyes were shining until that bastard showed up.
They got into the car without saying a word and Uriel gave their driver the address to their next location.
The quiet in the vehicle was disturbed only when they got out onto the highway, by someone's phone ringing. It turned out to be Kim Dokja's and Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes narrowed when he managed to see his name on the screen. Except, that wasn't his contact number.
"Did you want to meet your friends, Dokja-ssi?" Yoo Joonghyuk said when Kim Dokja hesitated to answer the phone, choosing to reduce the ringtone volume instead.
"I didn't think you did, that's why I took you away from that situation."
Even though he didn't mean it, just to be polite, he added, "I apologize if I was wrong and it bothered you."
"You're not wrong," Kim Dokja said slowly. "I didn't exactly want to be meeting them. And you don't have to apologize, really."
He cleared his throat and in a firmer voice, said, "But they'd have liked me to. They'd have invited me to join them too, you know?"
Yeah, he figured they would. They had their hearts in the right places, but it wasn't the best thing to do and Kim Dokja would never tell them why it wasn't a good idea.
"You don't have to do anything out of obligation, Dokja-ssi," Yoo Joonghyuk said stiffly.
Kim Dokja shook his head with a tiny smile. "No, I do," he said. "Obligations exist for a reason."
"But you didn't want to," Yoo Joonghyuk stressed.
"It's just like that sometimes," Kim Dokja shrugged.
Yoo Joonghyuk understood that much, he truly did. Even so, did he really have to keep putting himself through that all the time? Yoo Joonghyuk hated the way the light had been snuffed out of Kim Dokja's eyes within seconds.
"You can use me as an excuse," Yoo Joonghyuk opened his mouth. "If you ever find yourself wanting to skip that obligation, you can use my name as an excuse to get away."
"Thanks for the offer," Kim Dokja chuckled.
"Joonghyuk-ssi," he said, his finger hovering over his phone screen. "Do you mind if I lie a bit?"
"I don't," Yoo Joonghyuk said.
Kim Dokja gave him a sheepish grin and answered the call. Uriel silently asked the driver to park the car to the side for a while.
"Hello," Kim Dokja said into his phone. "Why're—"
He didn't finish his question, but he looked mildly annoyed.
"Do you have zero manners?" Kim Dokja scolded the Yoo Joonghyuk on the other side of the phone. "At least say 'hello' when you call someone. Directly—You know, what, I don't care. What did you want now?"
". . .I'm at home, where else would I be?" Kim Dokja said.
Kim Dokja lied easily. If Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't aware of the situation, he would have believed that Kim Dokja was indeed at home.
". . .Mia said she saw me? Where are you guys?. . .Oh, you've gone out today? Nice, nice, have fun. . .Nah, why would I be there? It's Sunday, I'm in bed, sleeping—Stop nagging, I'll eat when I want to—Ah, that. . .Shut up, you rough prick."
Kim Dokja didn't just look at that other Yoo Joonghyuk differently, he even spoke to him differently.
Yoo Joonghyuk didn't understand how no one had noticed that Kim Dokja was in love with that idiot boy. Even though he sounded friendly, it was so clear to see that the Yoo Joonghyuk he was talking to was someone he held very close to his heart.
"Tonight? Can't, sorry. I'm busy. . .Yeah. . .Mm, heard you the first time. Stop being a killjoy and go do whatever you were doing before you called—yeah, yeah, whatever—No, literally—Hey!. . .Oh, Mia-yah, hello to you too—Nope, I'm still in my bed, it nice and comfy—Well, Sundays were made for being lazy."
Kim Dokja laughed at whatever the young girl was saying to him.
"Yes," he said with exaggerated politeness. "I'll do that, Yoo Mia-nim. Yes, of course. . .Ah, hello, Seolhwa-ssi. It must be hard, babysitting—Haha!"
Kim Dokja held the phone away from his ear by an inch, chuckling, as the people on the other end of the call kicked up a ruckus at his comment. They could hear the shrill, angry screams of a little girl in the car.
"Yes, yes, got it," Kim Dokja said, pressing the phone to his ear again. "Ah, stop being pouty about a joke, you two. . .Fine, fine, I'll say nothing—Right, right—Yeah. . .Cool, that's nice. . .Hmm, catch you later then. Bye. Bye-bye, Mia-yah. Talk to you later, Seolhwa-ssi. Have fun."
The people on the other side ended the call after receiving Kim Dokja's goodbyes.
Kim Dokja lowered his phone and the smile he had on his face vanished.
"Sorry about that," he told to the people in the car.
"It's nothing to apologize for," Yoo Joonghyuk said.
The driver started the car again, turning on the indicator and waiting for the chance to slip back into the traffic zooming down the road.
"I used you as an excuse," Kim Dokja said in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Did you?"
"Yes," Kim Dokja nodded. "I was asked to join them for dinner today and I said I'll be spending it with you."
"Ah, you don't have to though, Joonghyuk-ssi," he added quickly.
"Why not?" Yoo Joonghyuk asked.
"It's bothersome, is it not?"
"Do you find me bothersome, Dokja-ssi?" Yoo Joonghyuk said and watched Kim Dokja wave his hands and shake his frantically, denying that claim.
"No, no! Never! It's quite pleasant, spending time with you. I could never find you bothersome, Joonghyuk-ssi."
"Then you wouldn't mind staying longer?" Yoo Joonghyuk tried. If he had to cheer up Kim Dokja, he needed him away from the rest of his friends and since the opportunity to do that showed up, he would be an idiot if he didn't take it.
". . .If it's alright with you, then," Kim Dokja said timidly.
"It's pleasant spending time with you too, Dokja-ssi," Yoo Joonghyuk said sincerely. "And I would never find you bothersome either."
Kim Dokja smiled at him, a little awkwardly, but that was alright. He had time, he could bring it back to normal.
Kim Dokja seemed wary when he saw the restaurant Uriel had picked for their late lunch. Yoo Joonghyuk kept that in mind. Next time, he'd take Kim Dokja somewhere more comfortable. Or maybe he'd just invite him to his place, Kim Dokja was already familiar with it.
"Noona, you won't join us?" Kim Dokja asked and Uriel had no choice but to sit with them.
She was being nice all of a sudden, probably due to the little incident earlier, but she had been planning to sit a table away and let Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk have some time to themselves.
But since Kim Dokja asked her to stay with them, she had to. It wasn't a terrible experience. Uriel got Kim Dokja talking and that was the first step into easing him into a better mood anyway.
They went back to Yoo Joonghyuk's place after lunch.
"I'm getting flashbacks already," Kim Dokja joked stepping over the threshold.
"We'll be seeing you at the office soon," Uriel said happily.
Kim Dokja froze in the process of taking his shoes off.
". . .Why?" he said tentatively. "I'm in a whole different team, aren't I? There should be no reason why I'd see you at work."
"Dokja-ssi, do you not want to see us at work?" Yoo Joonghyuk said, sliding his shoes into the shoe rack.
"No, I do not," Kim Dokja said and Yoo Joonghyuk snapped his head up. Kim Dokja didn't look like he was joking at all.
That trick usually worked though.
"Why not?" Yoo Joonghyuk blurted out, taken aback and Kim Dokja gave him a very weary look.
"Joonghyuk-ssi, you're the Chief Executive Officer, Uriel Noona is your secretary," Kim Dokja said. "And I'm going to be the project manager heading a recently established team. There is absolutely no reason for us to meet at work. . .Unless we screw up horribly. Which, let's all hope doesn't happen."
Kim Dokja wasn't wrong at all, but Yoo Joonghyuk was looking forward to seeing him around at work. For one, he would make a darn better company than Uriel, and Kim Dokja's mere presence would shift the way that flashy office building usually looked to him.
Kim Dokja walked into the house after he slipped his feet into his pair of house slippers that had a permanent spot in Yoo Joonghyuk's house now. His own old black ones were practically non-existent at this point, since he got used to wearing the fluffy white one he had got for Kim Dokja's first visit.
"Well, we can still see each other," Uriel said. "At lunch, or we could run into each other. Coincidentally. No one has to know."
"You can get promoted," Yoo Joonghyuk thought of a new idea.
"Who gets promoted that quickly?" Kim Dokja said incredulously.
"Anyone capable."
And Kim Dokja burst out into laughter at that.
"Joonghyuk-ssi," Kim Dokja said once he gathered himself. "Noona, it's not like we're not going to be friends just because we don't see each other at work."
"If we're friends, how would it matter if we saw each other at work?" Yoo Joonghyuk said.
"Because it is an excellent food for gossip," Kim Dokja said simply. "It'll make the whole workplace atmosphere unbearable."
Kim Dokja sighed softly.
"Usually I wouldn't really have a problem with it, but now that I'm actually planning on doing my best for this job, I don't want anything to affect my productivity negatively."
Oh. . .Yoo Joonghyuk supposed he could reign in his selfish desires for Kim Dokja's sake. They'd just have to meet up more often to make up for his disappointment, that's all.
Yoo Joonghyuk watched dully as Uriel cooed at how adorable Kim Dokja was, asking him to work hard and get promoted soon.
"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works, Noona," Kim Dokja chuckled.
"Who cares how it works? This guy owns the place, he can do whatever he wants," said Uriel.
True, he did own the place.
"No, he can't," said Kim Dokja. "It'll cause a big mess."
Again, true, it would cause a big mess and it would create a lot of rumours. Unfortunately, rumours were what Kim Dokja was most worried about, so Yoo Joonghyuk couldn't act whimsically to save Kim Dokja's reputation from ruin.
When Kim Dokja had to open the door because someone rang the doorbell on Thursday afternoon, he was expecting a surprise visit from one of his friends. Most likely Han Sooyoung was what he thought.
But instead, he was met with a delivery guy, dumping a couple of large boxes in front of his house.
Huh?
Kim Dokja looked at the parcels. . . It did have his address on it. But he didn't order anything though.
He kept them untouched until Saturday, wondering if someone would come to reclaim them. It could have been a little error when they gave the address and he didn't want to look like he'd been snooping around.
He stashed the boxes to the back of his mind and diverted his energy into mentally preparing himself for going to his new workplace the coming Monday. The anxiety was starting to eat him from the inside. When was the last time he'd felt this nervous for a job? Kim Dokja had done all odd jobs before and this was a feeling he'd forgotten, damn it.
When someone turned up at his door on Saturday evening, Kim Dokja was finally glad that he would be able to get rid of the packages that were crowding the little space he had in his apartment.
He opened the door and saw three beaming women.
"Yo," said Han Sooyoung pushing the door open wider and strutting in.
"Hello, Dokja-ssi," Yoo Sangah said, following in after her girlfriend.
"Long time no see, Kim Dokja," Jung Heewon said, slapping his arm jovially. "I came so that you won't end up third wheeling those two."
Kim Dokja smiled and stepped away from the door, letting them in.
"Always grateful for your service, Heewon-ssi," he said. "What brings you here anyway?"
"Moral support," said Han Sooyoung, throwing herself onto the sofa that creaked. Her eyes were on the pile of parcels piled up against the wall though. "Cheer you up before your big job."
"Hyunsung really wanted to come," said Jung Heewon. "But he's got work today. Seolhwa-ssi's got a shift, Joonghyuk-ssi has a stream planned, and we can't really call the kids. So it's just us today."
"You didn't have to come, but I appreciate it," Kim Dokja said, closing the door and locking it.
He'd better drag the chair from the kitchen to the living room. His sofa would get filled with the three others sitting on it.
"I wanted to get everyone over tomorrow and get you piss drunk," Han Sooyoung was saying. "Send you off for your first day with a hang over, but Sangah said no."
Kim Dokja rolled his eyes in exasperation, but he thanked Yoo Sangah for her help. He would have hated to go to work with a horrible headache and an upset stomach on the very first day.
"You've got something to drink?" Han Sooyoung asked. "Or d'you want me to go stop by the convenience store?"
"I've got some soju, works?" Kim Dokja said.
Three pairs of eyes snapped at him immediately.
"Since when do you keep alcohol in the house?" Han Sooyoung said, sitting straighter.
"Ah, it wasn't exactly planned," Kim Dokja said sheepishly. "I was at Yoo Joonghyuk's place and we were drinking, there were a few bottles left and when I woke up in the morning, I saw that I got them along for some reason."
"Yoo Joonghyuk...the other Yoo Joonghyuk guy?"
Kim Dokja nodded.
"Hey, Kim Dokja," Han Sooyoung groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You've really got to introduce this Yoo Joonghyuk to us."
"I've told him about you," Kim Dokja said, picking up the chair from the kitchen and fixing it right in front of the sofa, before going back to get the bottles of alcohol from his cupboards.
"He's often busy," he continued. "And he doesn't really get a lot of time to go out."
"You go out all the fucking time," Han Sooyoung snapped.
"We don't," Kim Dokja scoffed. "I go to his place, have a few drinks, sing some songs and come back home. If anything, it's like a glorified, super private karaoke room. And I meet him the same way that I meet you guys. If the timing doesn't align, then it doesn't."
"Right, whatever you fucking say," Han Sooyoung sneered when he returned with the bottles. It wasn't a lot, just two bottles of soju and an assortment of different cups and glasses.
Han Sooyoung snatched up the shot glass without hesitation, Yoo Sangah chose the tea cup and Jung Heewon settled for the steel tumbler, leaving Kim Dokja with his coffee mug.
Kim Dokja made a mental note to buy proper cups and glasses once he got his paycheque.
"What's up with those boxes?" Han Sooyoung said, nodding at the parcels behind Kim Dokja's head.
"Dunno," Kim Dokja shrugged, watching Jung Heewon crack open a bottle. "I think wrong address or something, I've just left them there. Thought I'd check with the delivery company if it takes more than a week. It's only been a couple of days now."
"D'you know what's in it?" Han Sooyoung asked as Jung Heewon poured a generous amount of soju into their cups, except for Han Sooyoung who could only hold a certain amount in her little shot glass.
"Nope," Kim Dokja said. "Didn't bother opening it."
"I think you should," said Jung Heewon. "Like imagine if it's some evidence of crime and one day the police just busts in, drags you to jail."
Kim Dokja stared at the woman, shuddering a little.
"Why was that the first thing you thought of?" he said.
Jung Heewon shrugged.
"It could be like, severed body parts or something," Han Sooyoung said with a sinister smirk and now Kim Dokja was getting really concerned.
"There's no blood or stench though," Yoo Sangah pointed out.
"Could be preserved in jars," Jung Heewon suggested.
"Or like dehydrated bits. You know, like jerky," said Han Sooyoung. "I read that in a web novel recently. It was such a crappy novel, really."
What the hell was wrong with these women?
"Dokja-ssi, I guess you should try opening a package," said Yoo Sangah, as though they weren't just talking about an incredibly gruesome topic just seconds ago.
"Someone will probably come to get them soon," Kim Dokja said, waving it away.
Han Sooyoung gave a little groan and got to her feet. "Guess I'll have to do your shit for you again," she grumbled, heading off to the kitchen, probably in search of the pair of scissors that Kim Dokja kept there.
They heard Han Sooyoung opening the refrigerator for some reason, and go through his cupboards for a few minutes and then she yelled, "Hey! Kim Dokja, get your ass here!"
Kim Dokja wasn't the only one who got up at that.
All the occupants of the living room went off to see what Han Sooyoung was annoyed about now.
Han Sooyoung was glaring at Kim Dokja's overhead cabinet for some reason.
"Where are your instant noodle packets?" Han Sooyoung demanded.
"Are you not eating anything now?" Jung Heewon rounded on him immediately.
"I just forgot to buy them this week," Kim Dokja said, raising his hands in defence immediately. "And I have been eating. Just not ramen."
"Was Yoo Joonghyuk here?" Han Sooyoung slammed the cabinet door shut and crossed the tiny kitchen, pulling the refrigerator door open. "That fucker, he didn't tell me at all."
"He wasn't," Kim Dokja said.
"Then why's your fridge full?"
Reasonable question. Most times, the reason his refrigerator had something more than a couple of eggs and kimchi was that Yoo Joonghyuk would make a point of cooking extra and stuffing the boxes into the appliance.
He hadn't done that this week though, but Kim Dokja's fridge was still full.
"I've never seen Yoo Joonghyuk use such a box," Jung Heewon said, staring at the box Han Sooyoung had just taken out. It was a stainless steel box with a wooden lid.
"Yoo Joonghyuk gave it to me," Kim Dokja said. "Not our Yoo Joonghyuk, but my Yoo Joonghyuk."
"Don't let our Yoo Joonghyuk hear that," Han Sooyoung scoffed. "But that other guy gave these to you?"
Jung Heewon took the box from Han Sooyoung's hand and examined it.
"Can you like close that thing?" Kim Dokja pointed at his refrigerator. "If it stops working, I'm so screwed."
"Why does this smell so good?" Jung Heewon muttered, opening the box as Yoo Sangah kindly went to push the refrigerator door shut.
"It does?"
They pounced on the box like wolves.
"Woah, what?" Han Sooyoung said.
"And it's not even heated," Yoo Sangah breathed, amazed.
"Kim Dokja, heat this up."
"Are you serious?"
Kim Dokja supposed he was heating shit up now.
It took a while to accomplish that, especially because of Kim Dokja's missing microwave, not that he could have microwaved steel anyway. But once he got the food onto a plate, gathered the spoons he had and handed them to his friends, they jumped to taste test it.
"Kim Dokja's boyfriend test phase one," Jung Heewon chuckled, scooping up a spoonful of the spicy rice.
Yoo Sangah gasped, Han Sooyoung nearly dropped her spoon and Jung Heewon clamped a hand to her mouth staring at the plate like it was some lost treasure that was worth billions. Kim Dokja couldn't help but feel a little smug.
"Pass," Jung Heewon said shakily.
"What the fuck is this?" Han Sooyoung cried. "Yoo Joonghyuk's got competition?"
"I never thought I'd see this day," Jung Heewon ran a hand through her hair.
"Did the other Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi make this for you, Dokja-ssi?" Yoo Sangah asked.
Kim Dokja nodded. "He's been doing it for a while now," he said. "Especially since I started going over to prepare for the test. . .He doesn't cook often though, he doesn't have the time. But he's really great at it."
"No shit," said Han Sooyoung, shovelling the food into her mouth.
Yoo Sangah fetched the steel box and rinsed it in the sink before coming back and pushing three-quarters of the plate into the box and closing it.
"Leave some for Dokja-ssi, Sooyoung-ah," Yoo Sangah said sweetly and Han Sooyoung dropped any protests she had.
"I don't mind," Kim Dokja said. "You guys can have it."
"It might be nectar, but no, that's yours, you should eat it," Jung Heewon said firmly, slapping her spoon onto Han Sooyoung's trying to stop her from getting the piece of meat.
"There's other stuff for me anyway," Kim Dokja stressed. "I have some dessert too. Do you want it?"
"He's got an eye for aesthetics, doesn't he?" Jung Heewon muttered, watching Kim Dokja take out yet another box from the refrigerator.
"He got a set," Kim Dokja told her. "He doesn't think you should put hot stuff in plastic, so steel is the way for him."
"I've heard of this place," Yoo Sangah said when Kim Dokja presented the pretty box of macarons to them. "It's that sweet shop near the Art Museum."
"This one was from Uriel Noona, actually," Kim Dokja said.
"Noona?!"
Kim Dokja jumped at the collective yell.
"She's older than me," he said slowly. "And she said I could call her that."
"And what do you call this Yoo Joonghyuk guy then? You mentioned he was older. So hyung?" Han Sooyoung demanded.
"Ah, no, I call him Joonghyuk-ssi," Kim Dokja said. "And he calls me similarly."
"He's polite," Yoo Sangah nodded. "Five points."
"We're not trying to date, Sangah-ssi," Kim Dokja said immediately.
"Potential candidate," Jung Heewon said, ignoring Kim Dokja. "We won't let him if he doesn't make the cutoff score anyway, don't you worry."
There's a cutoff score now? What?
"Aw, shit, you know what?" Han Sooyoung said, banging her fist on the kitchen counter once she tasted the sweet macaron. "Show us everything in your fridge."
"All yours," Kim Dokja said, moving out of the way. "Just don't leave the door open for too long. . .And if you get it out, you get it back in, okay?"
Kim Dokja watched as almost everything was pulled out of his fridge and placed onto the kitchen counter.
"When did he make these for you?" Yoo Sangah asked as they opened and closed multiple boxes of side dishes.
"I think it was this Wednesday?" Kim Dokja said. "Yeah, I was at his place and we sort of made them together."
"Cooking together, oooh," Jung Heewon grinned widely.
"It was mostly him, really," said Kim Dokja. "And Uriel was there too. He's a bit particular when it comes to cooking, like Yoo Joonghyuk so I didn't bother him."
"Oh, yeah, our Yoo Joonghyuk gets murderous if you interrupt his cooking," Jung Heewon sighed.
"He's into you," Han Sooyoung said, popping a cold piece of spicy squid into her mouth, and doing a little happy dance with her whole body at the taste. "He definitely wants to fuck you."
Kim Dokja glared at her, disgusted at her brass nature.
"What?" Han Sooyoung huffed. ". . .You, have you already done it?"
"We're just friends!" Kim Dokja cried.
He didn't like the way these three who called themselves his friends sighed at his words.
"It'll pass," Jung Heewon muttered. "Probably."
"How do you always fall for all the wrong people?" Han Sooyoung scowled up at him.
"Dokja-ssi, you should look closer," said Yoo Sangah. "I know you said you gave up on romance and dating, but maybe, look at this favourably. Because, this," she gestured at the boxes. "Isn't something anyone would do for just a friend."
"It's not done out of romantic interest," Kim Dokja said wearily. "He probably just pities me or is worried for me. Besides, Yoo Joonghyuk cooks for me. You guys get me food too."
"Fuck," Han Sooyoung cried. "We've desensitized him."
"Is this our fault?" Jung Heewon sounded sincerely distressed. "Where did we go wrong? Did we raise him wrong?"
"...what?"
"Dokja-ssi," Yoo Sangah said with a strange vindictive fire burning behind her eyes. "Did any of your past lovers make food for you like this?"
"No," Kim Dokja answered easily. "But my friends did."
Han Sooyoung and Jung Heewon wailed in despair. "We fucked up!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"Has he flirted with you?"
The interrogation continued, even after the kitchen was cleared, everything was back in the refrigerator, and they settled in the living room with their drinks.
"No, he hasn't," Kim Dokja answered. . .Except for when they first met. But that was a one-time thing, if anything and Yoo Joonghyuk said he was better off having fun as friends too.
"This guy wouldn't notice if someone was into him even if they laid down in front of him naked and said I love you, take me," Jung Heewon scoffed.
"True," Han Sooyoung said and Yoo Sangah nodded solemnly.
He wasn't that daft! He just pretended he was. . .Most of the time. Some things slipped his notice sometimes.