He knew it immediately when strangers he spoke to started finding him attractive. . .The thing with Yoo Joonghyuk was probably because he looked like Kim Dokja's Yoo Joonghyuk and that messed with his head. He couldn't imagine Yoo Joonghyuk ever wanting him that way, really.
"Has he told you anything?" Yoo Sangah tried.
"Something romantic," said Jung Heewon.
"Or dirty, works either way. Hint is a hint," Han Sooyoung said before dowing her shot glass and shuddering a little.
"He hasn't," Kim Dokja deadpanned.
"Nothing?" Jung Heewon asked. "Not a 'you're pretty'? 'I like you'? Nothing?"
"No," Kim Dokja said.
"Think harder," said Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja rolled his eyes.
". . .I mean, he said it's nice spending time with me," Kim Dokja started.
"Ah-ha!" Jung Heewon slapped her knee in triumph.
"But!" Kim Dokja cut off her happiness. "I said that first and he was returning the gesture, which was entirely platonic."
He didn't understand why his words kept getting dismissed like this.
"He probably thinks you were flirting," Yoo Sangah said.
"He probably thinks you're already dating," Han Sooyoung added, giving Kim Dokja a pitying look. "Hey, go check with him. The poor guy probably thinks he's being a superb boyfriend while our doofus is yapping around about being just friends."
The audacity, seriously! What had he even done to earn this disrespect?
"He doesn't," Kim Dokja said. "We've mentioned the word friends tons of times, and no one's had a problem with it."
"Listen, I have a theory," Jung Heewon said slowly, detaching her tumbler from her lips. "What if this guy's the same breed as our Dokja?"
"Oh, no," Yoo Sangah said.
"No way!" Han Sooyoung cried. "Our guy's a once-in-a-century dumbass. Imagine the world's state if there were two of the same kind and they both happened to meet each other. . ."
Han Sooyoung trailed off, her eyes going wide.
"No fucking way," she breathed.
"This will be fun," Jung Heewon said with a dry laugh. "Two oblivious idiots dancing around each other. Romance movie I didn't ask for."
"I'm sure. . .I can't be that bad," Yoo Sangah tried being optimistic though her eyes said that she wasn't seeing a very bright side.
"We find a probably passable guy for once and he's dumb too," Jung Heewon grumbled.
"Hey, hey," said Han Sooyoung. "Maybe it doesn't have to be that bad."
"Maybe," Jung Heewon cut her off. "We just need to raise our standards. We've met one too many of Kim Dokja's shitty exes. I mean, the guy's just cooked him some food, right?"
"Kim Dokja's right," Jung Heewon said. "His friends do that too. We need him to check all the boxes, only then does he get permission to date."
Kim Dokja sighed heavily.
Nothing he said would get through anyway, he might as well let them do what they wanted.
His friends left a little late and Kim Dokja got to the parcels he had convinced them to leave unbothered after seeing them off.
He got the scissors from the kitchen picked a box and ripped the tape off it carefully. It was a Sunday tomorrow and he was planning on taking a long nap in the afternoon, since he didn't think he'd be able to get a good night's rest because of all the jittery butterflies in his stomach from having to go to his new job.
There was another rectangular package inside the box and Kim Dokja had no choice but to take it out. He was just checking what it was, since it was sent to his address anyway.
Cutting a slit through the plastic at what he thought was the top, he got into the contents inside. The boxes didn't fall off when he shook the plastic, so he had to extract them carefully, one by one.
Kim Dokja got one thin, black, rectangular, cardboard box with a glossy texture.
He stared at the name plastered on the black front. . .No way. . .
He opened it to be met with a formal dress shirt.
No fucking way.
Kim Dokja tried the other boxes and he nearly screamed.
Without caring that it was a late hour, he whipped his phone out, found the culprit's contact number and hit the call button.
The phone rang for a little while and the person answered, "Hello."
"Hello, Joonghyuk-ssi," Kim Dokja said, barely holding it in. "I know it's late, but I really just had to say. I don't mean to come off as disrespectful or mean, but what the actual fuck, Joonghyuk-ssi?"
"What?" Yoo Joonghyuk sounded confused.
"The stuff you sent me!" Kim Dokja cried. "I just opened the parcel and—Why would you do that? Don't tell me it's the repaying thing again. You've repaid me enough."
"How do you know I sent it?" said Yoo Joonghyuk. "It could be a stalker or something."
"Joonghyuk-ssi, seriously?" Kim Dokja snapped.
Yoo Joonghyuk chuckled a little and Kim Dokja's frown grew more pronounced.
"Joonghyuk-ssi, the joking bit is not working," Kim Dokja chided, kicking at a plastic wrapper on the floor that had previously protected the box with the pairs of shoes. "Why would you even send all of this?"
"Because we got it for you, Dokja-ssi," Yoo Joonghyuk replied. "Didn't we all go together? Why didn't you open the packages until today?"
"We went together and got that one suit!" Kim Dokja said heatedly. "What's all this?"
"Dokja-ssi, are you going to wear just one suit to work every day?" Yoo Joonghyuk said.
"I wash my clothes every single day," Kim Dokja said waspishly.
"That sounds like a lot of work. It's a good thing that you don't have to do that now."
"Joonghyuk-ssi!"
Kim Dokja closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi," he said, controlling himself. "Please, take them back. What am I even supposed to do with all of this?"
"I can not do that, Dokja-ssi," Yoo Joonghyuk said just as composed as him. "Uriel and I picked them for you. It's yours now."
"Do you even get just how ridiculous this is? I—"
"Dokja-ssi, I don't think you understand just how much I owe you," Yoo Joonghyuk cut him off. "Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough."
"That's not the point!"
"Kim Dokja-ssi," Yoo Joonghyuk said sharply. "Please, accept it this time."
"And don't even think of giving it away," Yoo Joonghyuk added. "They won't fit anybody else, they were tailored specifically for you."
"I'm going to quit," Kim Dokja grumbled in an attempt to show defiance.
Yoo Joonghyuk laughed at that comment.
"You cannot do that," he said. "According to your contract, if you were to go back on your decision, it should have been done before forty-eight hours of the start date. Or you'll have to pay the compensation fine."
"It's Saturday, I still have around two days," Kim Dokja said. "Give me some lenience for personal issues."
"It's Sunday now, Dokja-ssi," Yoo Joonghyuk sounded so fucking smug at the moment. "I am being incredibly lenient. You can't quit now."
"You know," Kim Dokja said, irked. "If I happen to somehow die tomorrow, or on my way to work, the contract will mean nothing."
"Yes, contracts are usually for the living," Yoo Joonghyuk responded nonchalantly. "There is nothing I can do in that case. But please, do make it to work on Monday. Or do you want all the effort you put into passing the test to go down the drain?"
Kim Dokja was going to punch something.