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Chapter Text

Kim Dokja finally managed to pull on his tie and shove his books in his bag, which was in fact ripped from a few corners, but it was usable and still not disintegrated so it was just good to go for Dokja. He looked in the mirror to see his own reflection. 

His eyes had dark circles which made him look as if he hadn't slept  properly for a week. He had a bandage of the right side of his jaw and one above his left eyebrow which gave the impression that he got into fights often. His fingers too were covered in bandages which came from attempts to improperly use a knife. His wet hair laid flat. Dokja sighed, he grabbed a comb and brushed it in attempt to fluff it up, but it was no use. 

'It will fluff up as it dries on it's own...' Dokja thought and gave up on his hair.

He quickly pulled on his shoes and left the room. In the living room of the tiny apartment was his paternal aunt, Kim Cho-Hee, sitting on  the dining table, asleep with her head down. From the empty bottle of alcohol beside her Dokja deduced it was another day on which she was drunk. 

The living room was the most abominable room of the house. It had empty and broken alcohol bottles, trash bags creating the worst smell which made Dokja cringe and clamp his nose shut. The window was boarded up as his aunt always complained about the sunlight, clothes were thrown all across the room

In front if the small table and the destroyed couch there was an old Antenna TV which didnt work and beside it was a mini fridge stocked with beer. In front of the dining table, beside the door was a shelf, which was empty aside from some shattered frames and some bottles

Dokja softly trudged across the room, careful to not step on any creaking floorboards. But it was no use, he managed to hit the shelf with his leg and knock down a plastic bottle. It didn't really make much noise, but enough to wake up his aunt Cho-hee who was now glaring at him with a red face all too similar to his father's.  She started yelling, cursing, telling him how much of a waste of space he is, and how her brother was now dead because of him. At first when she used to shout at Dokja like this, he would absolutely start sobbing, making her even more angry and get physical. Now Dokja had learnt to keep calm and not really listen to any of those words. They had a pattern, and Dokja couldn't really care less.

With his aunt screaming in the background, Dokja managed to get out of the apartment and started his walk to his highschool. For many it would seem like a rough start for the day but for Dokja? It was quite a nice morning. He didn't really care about his aunt as long as she didn't get physical and the weather was quite nice too. The sun was shining brightly and he was finally away from that god forsaken stench. 

It was his final year at Seoul public highschool. He hummed 'Finally... One more year and I'll be away from that horrible place...' Dokja thought. Of course it would be nice to get away from thsoe stinky bullies and rumours.

But there was a nag in the back of his mind. After graduating, he'd have to spend time at his aunt's apartment.

Until now Dokja had a full scholarship due to his good grade and had to pay little, which came out of his pocket as he earned by working at a small cafe after school. The rest of his earning were saved up to get into some college. But he hadn't save up nearly enough to move out immediately. So he must work very hard this year.

Dokja sighed. 'I just want to disappear and read some web novels but this shit ass world won't let me....'

Dokja stopped by a convenience store on his way and grabbed an egg sandwich. Which was in fact not good but he bared with it because he was too hungry to complain. He stopped eating halfway into the the sandwich, which was not big by any means. He was full so he didn't want to finish it. He wrapped it back up in the wrapper neatly and placed it into his bag to have it as a snack later when coming back home.

When he finally reached his new class, class 3-A, he slid open the door. His eyes scanned the classroom and landed on that group, Sung Minwoo and his little minions.

'Great, another year ruined." Dokja thought, displeased. He slithered to the empty seat at the back of his class room without being noticed. He sat down at the last bench beside the window. He took a moment to look out of the window into the large ground. The class was full, and it was almost time for the home room teacher to come.

From beside him, Dokja heard the sound of a chair being pulled, he whipped around his head to see who it was, half expecting Minwoo to show his ugli face, but instead of gazing at Minwoo's wide eyes, he locked eyes with narrow, deep black ones which seemed like a black sea in which one could drown. The owner of those eyes was incredibly handsome, he had slightly tan skin, black slightly wavy short hair, thick brows which complimented his eyes, astrong jawline, and a sharp nose. His expression was one of seriousness.

Kim Dokja quickly whipped his head back to look out of the window as the handsome guy took a seat beside him. 

'He looks as though the gods themselves carved him! What a great luck! I bet girls swoon over him' Dokja thought, his brain was  a jumbled up hot mess. However, before he could say anything, their homeroom teacher arrived and started with their roll call. 

During the roll call, when their homeroom teacher, Miss Ha, called out Dokja's name, to which he responded weakly, Minwoo and his group of little hounds whipped their head around and looked at where Dokja was sitting. Seeing the guy that was sitting beside him, they immediately started to laugh like the hounds they were and turned their heads around before the homeroom teacher saw them. 

The guy sitting beside him squinted as to why they were laughing. Kim dokja sighed internally 'Those little shits won't ever let me make a friend will they? And they'llmake this poor guy suffer as well. He doesn't look like he'll stand any of their bullshit though'

Dokja came to know the handsome guy's name is Yoo Joonghyuk. A name suiting the face. Unlike Minwoo, who was just a stupid cowardly pig and NOT at all clever and brave like his name meant. 

After the first class was over, Dokja was studying with his earphones in, as Joonghyuk beside him was going through the notes he took. Their calm silence was interrupted by the loud sound of  someone clearing their throat beside them. Joonghyuk looked up and dokja did too, to see Minwoo and his little friends standing with a mean expression. Dokja took off his earphones as he internally groaned and grimaced 'Great, now this Joonghyuk guy will know just how much of a freak I am. How exciting' 

"Hey bro you're Joonghyuk right? The famous guy who was in class 2-B last year?" Minwoo said, with a fake welcoming tone, which even a moron would see through. 

"Yes" Joonghyuk said, he made it clear that Minwoo and his little friends were interrupting something. 

'So this guy is famous, I had no clue' Dokja thought as he saw Minwoo ramble about how great Joonghyuk is and how girls love him, to which Joonghyuk seemed displeased. It seemed that he hated the notion of being popular. 

"Well" Minwoo turned the talk with a smile "Do you perhaps know Dokja? The guy you're sitting beside?"

"I don't." Joonghyuk said  simply.

"Well you should know he's a real loser. A waste of space" Minwoo said, in a matter-of-fact way

"Why is that?" Joonghyuk asked, his eyes turning a little darker. There was no curiosity in his voice. His brows were furrowed.

"Well his mom murdered his dad you know? And she wrote a book about the. He's the son of a murderer and he even lives with his aunt forcefully! His aunt says on the press that he's a huge asshole who even screams at his own aunt who keeps him well fed! And on top of that, he's bisexual!" Minwoo exclaims, as if he's doing a huge favor to Joonghyuk by telling him all this, he was behaving as though Dokja just wasn't there. His little minions agreed from behind him

Dokja gritted his teeth and thought'These little shits! I will knock their teeth out one by one and-' 

"How indecent of you going about spreading rumors about a poor guy who lost his parents. Do you have any shame? And you go on ranting about his preferences. " Joonghyuk snarled at them, with a steel glare. "How about someone goes around spreading news about you at how much of a shit head you are hm? Is it your fine ass business on whether he smashes his own head into a wall or pushes someone off a roof? No it's his business. Get out of my sight all of you before I report you."

Minwoo, who certainly expected Joonghyuk to have a shit personality started sweating "hey! You did not need to get so serious! I'll just leave" he said nervously before he left with his minions following him.

Joonghyuk sighed angrily "Dumbasses..." 

Dokja was in awe 'this guy is cool. Maybe I can finally have a friend and have some hope for this final school year'

"You have to deal with that everyday" Joonghyuk asked, and Dokja snapped out of his daydreams and nodded.

Joonghyuk mumbled something and went back to going through his notes. 

Dokja resumed studying, at first he couldn't but he quickly got back at the task.

As the classes passed by, Dokja couldn't help but sneak glances at Joonghyuk but he  couldn't help but start panicking and not say anything.

Lunch break arrived, Dokja's favorite part of the day. Joonghyuk was swarmed by his friends from other classes to go eat lunch together. Dokja quickly slipped out of the class.

Dokja B-lined to the cafeteria and out like a whirlwind. He just needed a sandwich and a cold water bottle from the snack bar which is what he ate nearly everyday. This early at lunch, everyone swarms the lunch bar, and no one is at the snack bar, so it'seasy to grab the sandwich. Dokja quickly made his way out of the building to the back yard towards the basketball court. He finally sat down in a corner behind the tree. His daily spot. No one ever came here, plus there was a cute cat that always roamed around there. Dokja sat down, panting, with trembling hands he opened the cold water bottle and chugged down some water. He sighed and relaxed. Opening his sandwich carefully, he started eating as he listened to music. A little later, the little white cat came meowing at him. Dokja smiled

He had named the cat Biyoo. Dokja tore off a piece of chicken from inside the sandwich and held it out in his palm to Biyoo. The cat gladly accepted the treat and ate it. Dokja wanted to bring cat food for Biyoo everyday but he couldn't, his money was tight after all and he could only bring tuna sometimes. But it seemed that the staff fed Biyoo sometimes so it was fine. 

Dokja finished the entire sandwich and the water. He played with Biyoo for a while before the bell rung.

Dokja was always sad to let biyoo go but he had to after all. He quickly made his way back to class where he saw Joonghyuk already sitting. Wordlessly, he took his seat and the classes begun again.

After what seemed like an eternity of classes, Dokja hurried out of the school building. Turns out, joonghyuk is a student council member so he had to leave and couldn't attend the last class

When finally out of school, Dokja didn't go back to his aunts apartment. Instead, he ate the remaining half of the sandwich on his walk to work. Dokja worked at the 'star stream' cafe. It was owned by a famous actor, Uriel and she was generous enough to let Dokja work there as a part timer. The pay wasn't too good but atleast the job was flexible sometimes. 

Uriel always told Dokja that he looked good but took poor care of himself. Which Dokja agreed to. He seamlessly worked through his shift which finally ended at 9 PM, leaving Dokja exhausted. In the staff room Dokja quickly gathered his things, and left the little cafe. It was a long walk back to his apartment, but he didn't mind. His aunt Cho-Hee didn't care and would be rather happy if he never turned back up to the apartment. But of course she needed someone to make something for her and get her food so she kept Dokja around and didn't allow him to leave her completely. 

Dokja stopped by the convenience store once again on his way back. He felt dizzy but he managed to buy two packs of instant noodles. The rest of the walk back to the apartment was a haze. Once he reached back, his aunt wasn't at home, he had managed to reach his room which really was just an empty room with a blanket, and pillow in the middle. He placed his bag down, his steps were wobbly, he put down the bag containing the instant noodles pack.

'Ahhhh fuck.... not again....' Before Dokja could think of anything else, his yes were clouded with black and he fell to the floor.

Chapter Text

Dokja had been fainting sometimes lately. This was the second time that month. If he hadn't brought home food, his aunt would wake him up with curses usually but if he had bought food already, his aunt wouldn't say anything and just let him be.

Kim Dokja wasn't awake until it was 12 PM of the next day. When his vision finally cleared and he sat up, he saw one of the instant noodles packets was gone. 

'That woman must've eaten' Dokja thought, looking at the watch. He grimaced when he saw it was already 12 PM and he had missed school. He was in his clothes from yesterday and his head hurt so bad, he could smash it in a nearby wall. 

Dokja got up, his vision turning cloudy as he got before going back to normal. His legs felt weak and he didn't have the motivation to walk. He managed to walk to the washroom and splash some water on his face. When he looked into the mirror he saw a scar with dried blood on his head. Dokja sighed. The last scar on his head was also from falling down when he fainted and before the previous one healed he was up with a new one. Dokja cleaned up the cut and let it be, since he ran out of bandages. He took of his clothes and stepped into the shower, washing away the sweat and tiredness.

When he was done, he dried himself and put on a clean set of shirt and trousers. He genuinely needed to go buy  some clothes but he had more important things to do. He slipped out of the bathroom, took his phone, wallet and earphone. His aunt was sleeping in the living room on the couch and today, he managed to get to the door without waking her up, he put on his shoes. He was not in the mood for eating anything, he just wanted to get out of that apartment. 

When he was finally outside in the fresh air, and out of that hellish dark and dingy apartment he started walking with no purpose. He didn't want to go to a cafe, so he decided to go to a park to read his web novels. 

The park near the star stream cafe was empty at this time, except a few kids snooping around here and there. Dokja took a seat and started reading his web novels. But he quickly got irritated by the sunlight so he went ahead to sit under a tree shade and continue his reading.

A few hours passed in a haze. It was comforting, sitting there under a tree and just reading a his favorite protagonist  Yoon Jaahyun go through a protagonist's dilemma.

When Dokja finally looked at the time, he curse out loud

'It's almost 4:30 already?! I need to run...' Dokja thought, getting up too quickly, which made him feel wobbly and his vision black out for a moment. He cursed again and started running. He needed to get there As soon as possible because the manager, Miss Soo is not as kind as Uriel with cutting Dokja some slack.

He luckily made it there on time. He rushed in through by the back door, into the staff room. He proceeded to spend two minutes panting. Then he quickly put on his work clothes and took over the cash register.

His job was really boring. Same lines over and over again which go like "welcome, what would you like?" And the customer would say a random thing and he would respond with "that's an amazing choice" and proceeds to take the money from them and give them their seat number. When the order is prepared he finally calls out their names and says "thank you for purchashing". And that's is. That's roughly his everyday social interaction. 

However, today was different, Dokja was feeling dizzy throughout and his head felt like it was stabbing itself, his eyes felt on fire and he was STARVING. It was the lack of food through the entire day. The literal fact that he hadn't had a single bite. He just drank as much as water he could during his shift and accepted a few cookies which Uriel always kept for him and pray he doesn't fall. 

But little did Dokja know that life had different plans in store for him.

At nearly the end of his shift, he saw an all too familiar face walk in. It was Yoo Joonghyuk from school. And he seemed to immediately recognize him, as a look of slight surprise came over him. He returned to his composed face and walked up to the cash register. 

"Welcome! What would you like?" Dokja asked with a smile, he was panicking from inside and didn't know how to handle it if Joonghyuk asked questions.

Joonghyuk noticed that. He noticed how Dokja's eyes are more alert and move around more when he's panicked. 

'That's quite the cute characteristic' Joonghyuk thought, before saying his usual order at other cafes "An almond milk honey flat white. And two white chocolate chip cookies."

"That's an excellent choice. Your order numbers is 49. Please go take a seat wherever you'd like." Dokja said smiling. He was rather happy Joonghyuk didn't ask questions. Because he had no idea how he'd answer. 

Joonghyuk wordlessly went over to the seat near the door and sat down. Dokja sent in the order. It was his last customer before his shift would be done so he wanted things to go smoothly.

But his luck is not with him.

As he waited for Joonghyuk's order to be ready his mind ran over a lot of things, his aunt Cho-Hee, his mother, his father, his relatives, money, school, bullies. And suddenly, there was a dead calm.

His eyes started fluttering shut and he felt like he was going to fall. From a distance he could see Joonghyuk staring at him, confused. When Dokja finally fell to the floor he could hear.

It was Joonghyuk, calling out his name and rushing over to him"Dokja! Kim Dokja!". It was oddly desperate for someone he barely knows. 

'How strange...' Dokja thought, before his world went black.

Chapter Text

When Dokja's eyes opened, he found himself on a comfortable and soft bed, nothing like the  floor on which he usually slept. 

As his vision cleared, he shifted his head to look up at a really handsome face. It was Joonghyuk. 

Suddenly Dokja was wide awake 'what a view.... Wait! Where the hell am I?!'

Dokja immediately sat up. The room he was in? Lavish, gorgeous and RICH. It had pristine white wall and the bedding was black. There was a black sofa and a TV and some other furniture that Dokja didn't have the time to register. All his attention was now on the fact that why was he in Joonghyuk's room.

He finally remembered that he had fainted and sighed 'this damn body... I don't eat for a while and it betrays me....' 

"Kim Dokja..."

Dokja never whipped his head around so fast. He looked at Joonghyuk and Oh my god. 'Why do the gods love him so much? He must've been a saint in his previous life!' 

"Kim Dokja..." Joonghyuk uttered again, angrily this time.

A sweat dropped down Dokja's face, even if the room was rather cold.

"Why'd you bother helping me after what Minwoo told you?" Dokja asked. He was curious, people always thought of him to be a shut in freak. And even if they didn't, after learning more about him, they'd definitely back off from him. 

"You are the first person that didn't back off after hearing about me..."

"Kim Dokja...." Joonghyuk now muttered with narrowed eyes

"For God's sake say something other than my name!" Dokja exclaimed. He needed to know the reason

"...." Joonghyuk hesitated "Do i need a reason to help a person who fainted? It's a civic sense"

Before Dokja could say anything else, his stomach growled loudly. Dokja could feel himself going red.

Joonghyuk seemed amused. He wasn't smiling, it was his eyebrows and his eyes. They were very  expressive sometimes, Dokja noticed. 

Joonghyuk stepped up and walked out of the room. A few moments later, Joonghyuk came back with a full tray full of food. He placed it on the bed side table, then went ahead to get a small foldable table in front of him, then he placed the tray of food in front of him.

Dokja was surprised to see Joonghyuk made something for him. It was a bowl of bean sprout soup and pork and kimchi fried rice and haemul Pajeon. 

'So much food...' Dokja couldn't accept all that food 

"Why'd you make so much food... a sandwich is fine...I won't be able to finish so much food..." Dokja said, he was embarrassed very much. Joonghyuk cooking so much food for him seemed so strange and seemed like he's showing Dokja that he can't take care of himself.

"You're hungry aren't you? Eat as much as you want." Joonghyuk said, a little fiercely.

Dokja sighed and picked up the soup spoon and chopsticks and dipped it into the bean sprout soup. He picked up some bean sprouts with his chopsticks, and some soup in his spoon. He ate the bean sprouts then sipped on the soup. 

Dokja immediately lightened up. It was absolutely delicious. One of the most tastiest things he's tasted. It reminded him of his mother's cooking. He didn't exactly remember the taste. But it had been so long since he had eaten bean sprout soup. It had been so long since he had eaten home cooked food...

Joonghyuk watched him. His mouth curled into a small smile, it wasn't really obvious but it could be seen. It was a sweet small smile.

Dokja immediately picked up some pork and kimchi fried rice and stuffed it into his mouth.
'Delicious again...' Dokja thought, he then picked up some haemul pajeon and eats it. It was also one of the most amazing things he has ever eaten.

Dokja didn't want to admit it but Joonghyuk is an amazing cook. His aunt never made anything for him, and his mom went to prison when he was 9 years old and he hadn't really eaten a proper home cooked meal since then

Dokja just wordlessly ate as Joonghyuk watched him. Dokja could not really not compliment such an amazing cook. So he just said "you should own a restraunt"

"Oh? So you're complimenting me?" Joonghyuk said raising his brows.

Dokja said nothing and continued to eat. 

He could only manage to finish the haemul pajeon, only half of the bean sprout soup and half of the fried rice.

"I'm so stuffed..." Dokja sighed. He got all conscious again as he saw Joonghyuk pick up the tray and put it away and fold away the table. 

"Why... you barely know me. Why do you care so much? Why are you nice to me?" 

Joonghyuk sighed "Kim Dokja, you don't get it. You are not be blamed about your parents"

"Why do you care as if you know me?! You don't! Don't try to change the subject!" 

"You won't understand me... Don't try to fight me" Joonghyuk grumbled.

"Why won't I understand you?! What do you think, am I dumb?!" Dokja exclaimed. Joonghyuk was being an absolute dickhead. 

"Maybe you'll understand but you won't believe me! Please Dokja... Let me care! Let me do what I couldn't do" Joonghyuk said rather softly. There was a desperate hint in his voice, it seemed as if he was.... almost begging him? That was totally different from what Dokja had deemed of Joonghyuk in the one day of knowing him. 

Dokja also didn't understand what Joonghyuk meant by "let me do what I couldn't do" but he decided not to question it for Joonghyuk's sake.

'Can I really judge him when I only have known him for a day?... then why is he so nice? I can't help but wonder.' Dokja shuddered 'it honestly seems as if I have known him for years....'

Dokja cleared his throat. "You'll regret it Yoo Joonghyuk" His voice was very soft and weak, Dokja felt so weird saying this to someone he barely knows

"I won't... trust me..." Joonghyuk whispered back. The sound was so strange

"With all the allegations on me... I don't want you to get roped into this..." Dokja breathe out

Joonghyuk didn't say a word, he just placed a hand on Dokja's shoulder.

"Rest, Kim Dokja. You're not ok... You're thin and you haven't been eating well, and you haven't been getting enough sleep unless you faint." Joonghyuk said, trying to appear not vulnerable but the hint of care in his voice gave it away.

"How'd you know?" Dokja asked curiously

"It's obvious." Joonghyuk sighed, folding his arms across his chest as he shifted in his chair
"Your dark circles, the scars... the cuts on your fingers... how you flinch at loud sounds. You're nearly half asleep and when loud noises are made, you jolt awake. And how thin you are  how little you eat... i can go on."

Dokja was embarrassed yet fascinated, it was the first time someone had studied him so deeply in just a day. 

"Just go to sleep...." Joonghyuk said, standing up "Don't ask me more questions, I won't answer them anyway." Joonghyuk turned off the lights and left the room, closing the door as he left. 

Dokja and his thoughts were left alone. He layed incthat soft bed, but he couldn't sleep. Not at all. He spent a lot of time awake, deep in thoughts as he stared at the ceiling. 

Finally, he managed to sleep. 

Chapter Text

When Dokja woke up again, he found himself in the same room. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
 
'What time is it?....' Dokja thought as he looked around the room at the digital clock on the wall. It was 12:27 PM.

Dokja panicked, he missed school again and worst of all, his aunt Cho-Hee would eat him alive. She didn't care where Dokja was as long as he supplied her dinner. Dokja couldn't do that last night. 

Dokja scrambled out of bed and fell to floor, making him yelp in surprise and pain. He managed to get back up and looked at the bed side table. His phone, wallet and ear phones were there. He quickly grabbed them and ran out of the room. He found himself in a large living room, he didn't have time to marvel and look around. Yoo Joonghyuk was sitting on the kitchen counter, eating grapes.

"I made breakfast for you-" Joonghyuk said but Dokja immediately cut him off. 

"Sorry Joonghyuk-ah! I don't have enough time for breakfast." 

Joonghyuk's eyes widened

"If you need me, find my number on our class group and just send me a text."

 Dokja nodded and immediately went to the door and pulled on his shoes, he opened the door and he left, making a small wave in Joonghyuk's direction.

Dokja was running down the streets as fast as he could.  He stopped by the convenience store to grab to boxes of ready made noodles. He finally made it to the apartment and braced himself. He opened the door. 

'Ugh... this stench...' Joonghyuk's house smelled so nice that Dokja had forgotten the terrible stench. 

His aunt was sitting on the table, awake. She sneered "Looks like the little piece of shit found his way back to my house. Where were you hm? Care to explain, bitch?" 

"I was working over time and fell asleep in the staff room..."

"LIES" Cho-Hee shouted "Whose house were you at Huh?! Whose dick were you sucking? You've had a lot of money recently too. You can get two portions of everything. Have you managed a sugar daddy?!" 

Dokja flinched. He was disgusted by that woman. His aunt was homophobic and knew how Kim Dokja, even if he was bisexual, preferred men more. Every time Dokja would be gone for long  she would blame such allegations on him. It was one of the things his aunt said that made him very ANGRY. 

"Or were you off selling yourself to someone else?! Answer me! You are the most indecent boy I have seen! I should've known when my poor brother married your mother and when you were born. You and your bitch of a mother never brought anything to us except misfortune, and bad luck. Why didn't you die along with my brother huh? What did he ever do to both you little shits!?" 

"SHUT UP. All that man ever did was hit us and scream at us for petty things! You and him are the same" Dokja shouted, he didn't care whether his aunt hit him or not at this point 

"You little bitch!" Cho Hee said through gritted teeth, getting up and taking an alcohol bottle, she grabber Dokja's arm and hit him on his head with the bottle, making it shatter.

"YOU dare to talk back?! When did you grow the guts?!" Cho Hee taunted him.

Dokja fell to the floor. He could feel his aunt throwing bottles at him and hear the cursing and shouting. But he felt numb at that point. Of course his body hurt a lot but mentally, he wasn't really thinking much. He just wanted to rest. He closed his eyes and it all went black...

When Dokja woke up, everything hurt. Head to toe. "How long have I been out for...?" He mumbled to himself. His throat was dry and it hurt to speak.

When Dokja managed to sit up, he was crushed by an excruciating pain on his torso, shoulders and head. 

He managed to stand up, he was in a pool of glass shard and some blood. He stumbled to the bathroom, nearly blacking out on the way. He looked at himself in the mirror, leaningon the sink was his gaunt figure, blood had dried on his face. He removed his T-shirt to find  dried up cuts, one or two with glass shards in. 

Dokja didn't know how he'd deal with his. He didn't have the proper things to patch up these wounds. Han Sooyoung was out of town for a trip her private highschool was taking the students on. That only left... Yoo Joonghyuk. The fact that Dokja even thought of him made him feel weird, why was he relying on this man so much?

But there was no other option. His phone was still in his pocket. He took it out, and with trembling hands, he opened his class group and found Joonghyuk's number. He opened it and texted.

You
Hi. Joonghyuk-ah. It's me, kim Dokja. 

I'm sorry for troubling you so much but, can you please come to my house? I am in grave need. Please come with a first aid kit

My address: ******************** fourth floor, flat C.

Dokja waited patiently for Joonghyuk to message. After a few minutes of sitting there helplessly in pain. His phone made a ping sound, it was Yoo Joonghyuk.  

Joonghyuk 

 Sure, I'll be there in a while. I hope you're not badly hurt

Dokja didn't feel like lying by saying he was fine. He didn't text back at all.

The pain, it was getting all to hard to bare and Dokja could feel his vision slowly dimming. He was going to be out soon. He knew it. He layed down, on the floor, groaning while doing so.

And then he closed his eyes. He just hoped Joonghyuk would be there, and take him away before his aunt came back home.

'Damn Kim Dokja... Get a grip on yourself, you're already so pathetic. Don't rely on another person and ruin their lives... just this once' Dokja thought, mentally slapping himself.

Dokja layed there, and let himself be engulfed into the dark fog.

When he woke up, his body ached and stinged, but the bed was soft and he could feel bandages on himself.

'I'm at Joonghyuk-ah's house...' Dokja thought. He wondered what Joonghyuk thought of him when he saw all those glass shards and wounds. He was probably disturbed but helped him out of pity.

Dokja grimaced, he hates pity.

He looked around the room, it was the same as last time except... Joonghyuk was not there.

But that gap was soon filled when the said man walked in through the door in a black shirt and black trousers. And he was NOT pleased. He looked rather angry.

Dokja gulped nervously.

Joonghyuk sat on the chair beside the bed.
"I won't ask you to explain. It's clear what happened"

Dokja looked down as he pulled at the skin around his nails. Joonghyuk looked at that and his expression became even more darker.

Dokja was thinking 'He knows... he knows... he knows so much. What if he says everything to the public? What if he tells everyone what my aunt does? Will he tell EVERYONE how terrible I am...' Dokja was overthinking and panicking again.

Joonghyuk watched him, gravely. He placed a hand on Dokja's hands, it made him snap out of it and stop picking at the skin. He looked up, clearly disoriented.

Joonghyuk sighed. "Whatever you are thinking Kim Dokja, stop. It's nothing like whatever panic thoughts you're having. I want good for you, I'm your friend Dokja." 

"How can I trust you?..." Dokja murmured.

"Just try. I swear on my own life i won't betray you." Joonghyuk said, with softness foreign to his voice. His expression... it was soft, a sincerity was in his voice and face.

Dokja sighed. "You know everything. I'm not much. You didn't even really try but I always pestered you." 

"It's nothing like that, I will help everyone(Kim Dokja only) if they are in need." Joonghyuk said "you need to stop being clumsy. Get yourself a separate apartment Dokja. You can't live with that despicable woman..."

"I have to, for now" Dokja huffed "I can't leave her right now, I don't have enough resources and I'm not taking help from you or anyone"

Joonghyuk wanted to help Dokja financially but he didn't, it is Dokja's pride that will fall if he does. And he doesn't want Dokja to feel more inferior than he already feels.

'For God's sake why can't he understand that he's a normal human. As long as he doesn't have a hand growing out of his head or 15 legs or something like that, he's a normal human. Why doesn't he understand that the normal human he longs to be, he is already a normal person, infact, he is very special....Yes his life can be better but he's still very special.' Joonghyuk was deep in thoughts he just wanted Dokja to feel normal about himself.

Maybe it was cruel to ask it from someone who already suffered so much.