Work Text:
Kim Dokja had always believed that his life was painfully predictable.
Wake up at 6:30, ignore three alarms, and drink coffee that was far too bitter. Sit in a cubicle for eight hours pretending spreadsheets were more interesting than they actually were, then finally go home.
Eat take out for dinner, read, then sleep.
It was a simple routine—a comfortable one.
Which was why Kim Dokja found it incredibly inconvenient that a stranger online had somehow become the most interesting part of his day.
You see, there's been an uproar in the city of Seoul.
One that couldn’t keep his coworkers from shutting up and just doing their jobs.
So naturally, he looked into it.
“YJH_999”
Kim Dokja stared at the name displayed on the screen.
It was ridiculous, really!
There was so little information provided about this so called “pro gamer”,
Yet here he was.
Cheesing right after a long shift.
After all, Kim Dokja didn’t need to investigate YJH_999.
He already knew him better than anyone else.
Greeted by purple and green LED lights, Kim Dokja stepped into his gaming setup.
To specify,
Yoo Joonghyuk’s gaming setup, Or as the rest of the gaming world knew it; the headquarters of YJH_999, the infamous player from the game Illusion.
Multiple monitors illuminating the dark space, the quiet hum of the computer, and Yoo Joonghyuk completely focused on the match in front of him.
Kim Dokja’s voice broke through the silence.
“Joonghyuk–aah~” He calls out, straddling himself on Yoo Joonghyuk's lap, his weight shifting the gaming chair.
“Dokja, you’re back.”
“That I am.” Dokja sneered, cupping his face.
“Stayed up gaming again, didn’t you?” Yoo Joonghyuk averted his glance, only to be pulled back by the chin.
“You’re ruining this pretty face. What a waste.” Murmuring, his eyes darted down to Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes. “Just look at these eyelashes…”
Pulling his face in for a soft kiss, he pulls away before they come into contact. “How you still manage to be a virgin is really pathetic. Might be a talent, even.” He teased, getting off his boyfriend and making his way to the shower.
“What, you're not coming?” He asked, reaching out a hand for him.
“Gross.” Yoo Joonghyuk retorted, grabbing his hand and following him in anyway.
The bathroom filled quickly with the sound of running water.
Kim Dokja leaned against the counter, watching Yoo Joonghyuk undress there with the same expression he wore during ranked matches: completely serious, as if showering was another mission he had to complete.
“You know,” Kim Dokja said, “you look like you’re preparing for battle.” He joked.
Yoo Joonghyuk glanced at him.
“I am.”
“Against what? Shampoo?”
“Against your complaints.”
Kim Dokja gasped dramatically, clutching his heart like he just took a stake to the chest.
“Unbelievable! I welcome you into my home, remind you to take care of yourself, and this is how you repay me?”
“I cook.”
“Okay, fair.”
Kim Dokja then reached for the shampoo bottle.
“Sit down.” He ordered.
Yoo Joonghyuk raised an eyebrow.
“I can wash my own hair.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because I want to.”
That seemed to be the only answer Yoo Joonghyuk couldn’t argue with.
So reluctantly, he sat down.
Kim Dokja worked the shampoo through his hair, smiling when Yoo Joonghyuk’s expression remained completely unchanged.
“You look like you’re thinking about something important.”
“I am.”
“Oh?”
“I’m thinking about how annoying you are.”
Kim Dokja laughed.
“Wow, So romantic~”
“You started it.”
Kim Dokja smiled.
There it was.
The excuse.
The same excuse Yoo Joonghyuk used every time he lost an argument.
“You say that a lot.”
“Because it’s usually true.”
“Usually?”
“Yes.”
Kim Dokja laughed quietly, shaking his head.
It was almost funny how different Yoo Joonghyuk was from what everyone else thought.
Online, he was YJH_999.
The player who never hesitated. The person who could wipe out an entire team without breaking a sweat. The man strangers described like some kind of unbeatable machine.
But now, he was sitting quietly, allowing Kim Dokja to wash his hair while obviously pretending he wasn’t enjoying it.
A complete fraud!
“You know,” Kim Dokja started, “if your fans saw you like this, they’d probably collapse.”
Yoo Joonghyuk opened one eye.
“Why?”
“Because the legendary YJH_999 is actually just a guy who forgets to eat and needs someone to remind him to sleep.”
“I don’t need reminders.”
“You stayed awake until 6 in the morning yesterday.”
“I was busy.”
“You were playing ranked!”
“It was important.”
“Alright, alright. Whatever you saaayyy~” He hummed, grabbing the shower head and putting a hand on his forehead.
“Cover your eyes, pretty boy. We’re rinsing you off.”
“I know that.”
Closing his eyes, Yoo Joonghyuk slowly relaxed as his partner bathed him.
After he's scrubbed clean, he turns to Kim Dokja, whose hair is still dry.
“Dokja. You haven't washed yet.”
“Why? Are ya offering to do it for me?”
“...”
Yoo Joonghyuk, unfortunately, had one fatal flaw.
He was terrible at accepting help.
Not in battle.
Not in games.
Not when it came to anything he was actually good at.
But the moment Kim Dokja tried to do something kind for him, Yoo Joonghyuk acted like he had been given the most difficult challenge in existence.
—Which was why Kim Dokja was currently watching him struggle with a simple bottle of soap.
“You know,” Kim Dokja said, trying not to laugh, “you’re making this way harder than it needs to be.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“I am not..!”
“You’ve been staring at the bottle for thirty seconds, baby. My eyes are up here, y'know.”
Yoo Joonghyuk looked down.
Then back up.
“I was thinking.”
“About soap?”
“... It’s.. something else important.”
Kim Dokja burst out laughing.
It was rare.
Not because he didn’t laugh often, but because Yoo Joonghyuk somehow always managed to catch him off guard.
“You’re unbelievable,” Kim Dokja said, wiping away a small tear from laughing too much.
Yoo Joonghyuk frowned.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re laughing at me.”
“I’m appreciating you.”
“That sounds like an insult.”
“Well, it’s not!”
Kim Dokja smiled.
“Really. It’s kind of cute.”
Yoo Joonghyuk immediately looked away.
And that was when Kim Dokja noticed.
The slight pause.
The tiny change in expression.
The way Yoo Joonghyuk suddenly became very interested in anything except looking at him.
Kim Dokja’s smile widened.
“Oh.”
Silence.
“Oh?”
“You’re flustered.”
“I am not.”
“You are~”
“I’m not!”
“You’re doing that thing.”
“What thing?”
“The thing where you pretend you’re not affected by aaaanything.”
Yoo Joonghyuk stayed quiet—which was basically an answer.
Kim Dokja laughed again.
“Ah, seriously.”
He shook his head.
“Look at you. Folding under basic affection.”
“Stop talking.”
“No way.”
“Kim Dokja.”
“Sunfish.”
The silence that followed was immediate.
Yoo Joonghyuk stared at him.
Kim Dokja stared back.
Then he started laughing again.
“You look exactly like one!”
“I do not.”
“You absolutely do!”
“How?”
“Because you’re always serious, but the second something unexpected happens, you just freeze.”
“That is absolutely not true.”
“Oh, but it is.”
Kim Dokja grinned.
“My little sunfish~”
“I am not a sunfish. Especially not yours.”
“You are.”
“I’m not.”
“You are literally proving my point!”
Yoo Joonghyuk looked like he wanted to argue,
but after a moment, he simply sighed.
“You’re annoying.”
Kim Dokja smiled.
“And yet,”
A pause.
“Yet.”
That was all Yoo Joonghyuk said.
But Kim Dokja understood.
He always did.
Because for someone who claimed he hated unnecessary words, Yoo Joonghyuk had a habit of saying exactly what mattered.
"Joonghyuk-ah,"
"I'm not from Japan or Tennessee."
Dokja frowned, before holding his hand up.
"#fairs👌"