Chapter Text
[they’re using AI to try and find dead wife?] 11h ago
@18649990
Video link
i can’t blame them but wow
@life_death_companion > [OP] @18649990
i’ve been offline for a while, who’s dead wife?
[OP] @18649990 > @life_death_companion
the guy in the video. the insanely pretty one from epilogue mv
@life_death_companion > [OP] @18649990
gotcha thanks!
@supsub8391 > [OP] @18649990
back in the day we had to use google image search for things like this. developments in tech are crazy
[OP] @18649990 > @supsub8391
i mean if you watch the vid they don’t end up finding a match. it’s like he doesn’t exist
@supsub8391 > [OP] @18649990
in this day and age? wow. he might actually be a non-celeb then
[OP] @18649990 > @supsub8391
why? kinda curious what made you think that, i was thinking he could be a really obscure foreign model or smth
@supsub8391 > [OP] @18649990
professional actors and models would have headshots on their agency site. debuted idols would have plenty of photos online. any sort of influencer, same thing. due to his age, it’s unlikely he’s a trainee, and i don’t think he’s vying to break into the industry, since his name doesn’t appear in the mv credits. so that leaves one option, in my mind: he’s a civilian.
the only thing that kinda confuses me is that the average civilian would still have photos online, from work or personal accounts. if the AI they used was trained and used properly (which is not my area of expertise, but whatever), then he must have an unusually clean online presence. very interesting indeed…
[for anyone curious about how k-fans are reacting to epilogue…] 8h ago
@inyoos
[enter-talk] I DON’T LIKE THE ENDING TO YOO JOONGHYUK’S NEW MV
i think the title says everything
@yjhyjh > [OP] @inyoos
ahhhh this is exactly what i’ve been saying. it’s just unnecessary! i didn’t think hyukkie was the type to pander to all those weird fans :(( i wish he didn’t add that scene, it’s just making people act weird about him! i don’t want him to be associated with that nonsense
@insert_generic_name > [OP] @inyoos
> “i hate it when idols use these things to appeal to overseas fans. so tacky”
Why do they think Yoo Joonghyuk did it to “appeal” to a certain group of fans? From what I can tell, he doesn’t have any need to pull stunts like that, so he clearly chose to do that scene because he wanted to. I really liked how unique it was, and it wasn’t tacky at all, unlike what these so-called “fans” are saying. I hope they don’t make him apologize again, because I don’t think he did anything wrong and he should stand by his decision to film that scene. Yoo Joonghyuk, fighting!
@j00nghyuks > [OP] @inyoos
don’t post panncroft slop on here
@supsub8391 > @j00nghyuks
agreed. panncroft is known to clickbait and only translate biased opinions. plus the admin doesn’t like yjh much
@j00nghyuks > @supsub8391
understatement of the fucking year. panncroft admin has a raging hate boner for yjh
@supsub8391 > @j00nghyuks
lmao i thought i’d be a little kinder but yes that’s what i meant
@lifeanddeathcompanio > @supsub8391
you two have been real friendly since j00nghyuks came back…
@supsub8391 > @lifeanddeathcompanio
what? i can’t be nice to a fellow forum user?
@lifeanddeathcompanio > @supsub8391
well no! but you two are acting real sus. j00nghyuks came back out of nowhere and you didn’t even comment on that. before you would have snarked them to hell and back, but now? you’re agreeing w each other. it’s unnatural. i know what you are /hj
@lifeanddeathcompanio > @lifeanddeathcompanio
not again,,,they hated him because he spoke the truth
@j00nghyuks > @lifeanddeathcompanio
weirdo
@lifeanddeathcompanio > @j00nghyuks
the closet is glass and you’re throwing stones
“What’s up with that guy?”
“What, Joonghyuk?” Dokja shrugs. “He’s just fine, actually. I mean, a little irritable, sure, but he gets that way. You know, it’s his…masculine time of the month or something.”
Han Sooyoung groans, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes. “Don’t say that combination of words ever again. He’s obviously not fine. Every time I’ve met him recently, he looked like he wanted to kill me and then himself.”
“He always looks like that.”
“Not like”—she makes a pissed off face—”but like”—she shifts the expression a little, drawing her brows the tiniest bit more, dropping the corners of her mouth, and infusing a little bit more je ne sais quoi into the eyes. “You know what I mean, right?”
Unfortunately, he does know what she means. It’s a startlingly accurate depiction of how Joonghyuk has been the entire month. “Yeah, okay. I have noticed that, but you’re asking the wrong person. He’s probably just stressed from preparing for promotions.”
“Kim Dokja.” She takes a deep breath. “How long has he been off?”
“Since, uh, around a month ago?”
“What else did he do a month ago?”
He begins counting them off on his fingers. “Uh, music video filming, dance and vocal prac—”
“So you know that much,” she mutters. “That’s enough. What happened during the music video filming?”
He shifts on his feet. “Can I leave? I don’t think this conversation is going anywhere—”
“—Kim Dokja—-”
“—and, oh, perfect, I was going to ask you this. Am I going to get sacked if that bastard doesn’t re-sign his contract? Because—”
“—you, are you seriously—”
“—I have to start job hunting if that’s the case, and I don’t really have any savings to tide me over, so can I get, I don’t know, a two weeks notice? Or you could re-assign me; I’m not picky. I’d even be willing to be Kim Namwoon’s manager, if you’re actually going to debut him and not terminate his—”
“Just shut up.” Han Sooyoung’s expression is shockingly distressed, brows knitted like she’s seriously contemplating a promotion to arsonist as her next career advancement. “Just—I don’t get it. I really don’t get it. He kissed you, didn’t he?”
“That was for the music video.” Of course it was. Why else would someone like Yoo Joonghyuk ever kiss him? “You know, like artistic expression.”
“You think,” she says, all slow, “that he kissed you for…artistic expression?”
“Actors do it all the time for movies,” he points out. “And besides, didn’t you write that scene in?”
She shakes her head, fast enough that she seems to start blurring out of this accursed plane of existence. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening. Kim Dokja, I didn’t write that scene. I swear I didn’t write that scene. Yoo Joonghyuk did it of his own volition. He wanted to kiss you.”
“For the lore.”
“No, not for the lore!” she shrieks, making an indescribable noise with her mouth. “He—he—” She deflates at his lack of reaction, staring at him with undisguised disappointment. “Okay, fine, let’s start from the beginning. You think he’s—ugh—handsome, right?”
“I—Yeah, sure, but that’s a given—”
“Not that. Do you think he’s attractive?”
Oddly, the moment that pops into his head at that question is that of Yoo Joonghyuk pressing him against the door of his dressing room, smiling at him with those slightly wetted lips that… “I—”
In his time of need, he chokes on his own spit, hacking his lungs out like some diseased Victorian damsel.
“Exactly!” She points a shaking finger at him. “Okay, good. We’re getting somewhere. Now, what if he asked you to date him?”
“There’s a flaw in your—in your scenario,” he half-chokes, half-gasps out as he sinks to the floor, “because he wouldn’t do that.”
She taps her temple. “Imagine,” she stresses, lip curling. “Would you say yes?”
“...No.”
She jumps to her feet with the force of that whispered word, leaning across her desk to peer down at his hunched-over, shaking figure. “No?” she echoes, so unbearably soft he wishes she’d just yell at him, or throw that familiar paperweight at him to put him out of his misery. “You don’t like him?”
“It’s not about liking,” he mutters hoarsely into his knees, choosing to accept his pathetic fate of sitting on the floor while his suddenly sympathetic chihuahua of a boss towers over him. “I just—it’s Yoo Joonghyuk, you know? I couldn’t…”
“Aren’t you the one who kept insisting anyone would date Yoo Joonghyuk if asked? Yet you wouldn’t even consider it?”
“Sure, maybe,” he acknowledges, snorting, “but it wouldn’t work. He doesn’t like me like that.”
“You’d be surprised,” Han Sooyoung tells him, and her voice carries a faith-shaking sincerity, so oddly unlike her typical flippant self. “No, really, don’t sit there and smile that fucking corporate smile to yourself. Didn’t Yoo Joonghyuk specifically request you as his manager in his contract?”
“What?”
She blanches when he meets her eyes. “No, what…you don’t…? You didn’t know?”
“Know what?”
“Fuck…” She throws herself back into her chair, staring at the ceiling. “I knew there was something wrong. I knew it. You didn’t react at all when I brought it up, but I thought that was a bluff on your part. Shit, really, if you have no idea, then that bastard…”
“I’m still here,” he offers meekly, waving a hand above the desk. “Can I leave?”
“No,” she snaps. “I need to get to the bottom of this. So, even under the previous department head, you’ve never seen Yoo Joonghyuk’s artist contract?”
Dokja sighs. “Why would I need to see his contract? It’s legally binding for him, not me.”
“You do realize,” she says, squinting, “that most, if not all, managers are aware of the terms in their artists’ contracts. And that they’re the ones who typically present the artist with their contracts, both the initial document and any renewals. It’s actually very much your responsibility.”
“Joonghyuk always said the terms were favorable when he signed with the old manager. I never bothered to ask for more details.” Then, it occurs to him. “Wait. Has he never renewed since he first debuted?”
She gives him a look of utter horror, hand ghosting over the nearest object on her desk. “You don’t even know the length of his contract? What have you been doing all these years while I paid you?”
“No, wait”—he counts it mentally, then recounts it because there’s no way he did it right the first time, except he did—”his contract period is ten years???”
“Why are you shocked? Like I said, you should’ve—”
“Isn’t that illegal?” He doesn’t realize he’s standing until he’s looking down at Han Sooyoung, gripping the edge of her desk for stability. “Ten years. Ten years. That has to be illegal, right? It’s—”
“Yes,” she spits out, “but it wasn’t when your predecessor drafted his contract.”
At that, he shuts his mouth. He’s never even met the manager who supposedly signed Yoo Joonghyuk to Star Stream Entertainment. He has no idea who they are, or why they would impose such a long contract period on eighteen-year-old Yoo Joonghyuk, or why they would end up quitting right before his debut, but—
“Listen to me, Kim Dokja.” She stares straight at him, all coiled poise in that way she only ever adopts for meetings with the board of graying decrepit men running Star Stream. “I’ve read his contract. It’s unlike any other artist contract I’ve encountered. To say it’s unfair would be incorrect, but it is”—she bites her lip—”to say the least, not favorable to Yoo Joonghyuk himself.” She shakes her head in disbelief. “If you’re being honest, saying you have no idea what’s written in his contract, then…”
“Is it really that bad?” he asks, and her only response is to wince.
“If Yoo Joonghyuk ever lets you get your rat hands on it,” she says, “don’t do anything drastic. Promise me, Kim Dokja.”
His silence must not be reassuring enough, because she jabs him in the chest. “Promise me.”
“...Fine. Do you think he’ll let me read it if I ask nicely?”
“Doubt it.” She makes a face. “Well, maybe if it’s you asking. But really, if you can, you should…try getting a hold of it.” She pauses. “And, just checking, but…you’re sure you wouldn’t date Yoo Joonghyuk? Like, even if he got on his knees and groveled, or something? What if he was really desperate?”
“Like I said,” he sighs, “that’s unrealistic. I know he doesn’t like me like that.”
She barks out a laugh, short and sweet. “Holy shit. You and that fucker are a match made in hell.”
Being Yoo Joonghyuk’s so-called childhood friend, he’s known Yoo Joonghyuk for a long time. Thirteen years, in fact. As a result, he has a fairly good—maybe even encyclopedic—knowledge of Yoo Joonghyuk’s small collection of moods.
Neutral Joonghyuk is the one that he defaults to—slightly frowning, but not particularly upset about anything. Neutral Joonghyuk is patient enough for you to mess up a few times, would probably acquiesce if asked to do slightly cringe poses for a photoshoot, and would scoff but ultimately accept a coffee from Dokja if offered it. Neutral Joonghyuk is the equivalent of being hand fed crumbs by a pretty face, so it’s a good thing Dokja never cared to learn self-respect.
The next most common variant is Brooding Joonghyuk, who is—to no one’s surprise—brooding, and a massive asshole. His frown is a little deeper, his fuse a little shorter, and he’s magnitudes more likely to give a petulant answer when asked what’s wrong. On Brooding Joonghyuk days, he has no bandwidth for most anyone, and keeps the barest tolerance for Dokja provided he acts within reason. Once, he’d felt particularly experimental—read, reckless—and had tried to climb into Brooding Joonghyuk’s lap just to see if the shock of it would snap him out of his funk. He chickened out halfway when Brooding Joonghyuk stared at him like he’d just been slapped in the face, and the brooding stayed for the next three days after that, so the jury’s out on whether or not that works.
Then, there’s the ultra rare Kind Joonghyuk, who comes out selectively—around his sister, for one, and when Dokja’s fucking something up, for another. Kind Joonghyuk is soft, and could be convinced to smile by something particularly funny. He’s a bit more touchy-feely in this mode, and vastly more charitable, hence the name. He’s, paradoxically, a little more quiet at times, and seems to like listening to other people talk for hours on end, which makes it Dokja’s favorite mood of Yoo Joonghyuk’s.
However, the problem is this: Yoo Joonghyuk, for the past month and change, has been none of these moods. To say he’s a little stumped would be an understatement. He’s foaming at the mouth, as the fans would say. Losing his goddamned mind.
At first, he thought it was Kind Joonghyuk. The days following the music video filming, Yoo Joonghyuk had been uncharacteristically nice to him. He didn’t complain when Dokja oversteeped his tea, drew perfectly shaped ketchup hearts on his omurice, and let him sleep in his bed without being an ass about it. He even asked him how he felt after filming with him the other day, to which Dokja had replied, somewhat distractedly as he mentally debated if he could beat the yellow light ahead, “I don’t know, it was kind of gross.” He didn’t end up making it through the intersection, and Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t ask him to elaborate like Kind Joonghyuk would have done, so he concluded he was probably wrong about that. It was a shame, because Dokja had a whole rant loaded about how he’d never realized how difficult it was to take off waterproof stage makeup. Thank god the store downstairs sold makeup remover, or he would’ve had to sleep with that disgusting mess smeared on his face overnight. He doesn’t know how Yoo Joonghyuk does it on the daily, really.
After that, some variant of Brooding Joonghyuk seemed to take the stage, only ten times worse than his typical brooding. He got to his apartment one morning, and found that he’d changed the door code and refused to tell him the new one. He touched him once, on the wrist, to remind him of something, and nearly had his head taken off by the backswing of Yoo Joonghyuk’s arm. It took a week before Yoo Joonghyuk would even respond to him in anything other than grunts and sighs and halfhearted shoves that never seemed to land. At that point, he’d hesitantly asked if he was upset about anything, to which Yoo Joonghyuk stared at him with a meaningful look in his dark eyes, then withered when he looked back in confusion.
And now? It’s something different. A little better than Brooding Joonghyuk, but not quite back to Neutral Joonghyuk. There’s a strange exhaustion to him, a quiet melancholy that is a good look on him but is distressing considering that Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t do sad. Depressed? Sure, he’s seen Yoo Joonghyuk depressed, but it’s an angry, passionate sort of depression—the kind that’s fooled him, more than once, into thinking he’d become a terrorist just to forfeit the coil of idolatry. But sad? Sad in a way that gives him a faraway look in his eyes, as if he’s decided that all his life choices have led to a dead end, as if he’d rather be anywhere else but here? No, that’s not Yoo Joonghyuk. Or, it shouldn’t be, but it is these days.
The worst part is that Yoo Joonghyuk, as is habit, won’t tell him anything. But, with all the knowledge he has of Yoo Joonghyuk, he can guess; it must be that mystery guy who he’s in long-term, unrequited love with.
If Yoo Joonghyuk would only confide in him, then he could help him with courting whoever this person is. It’d be awful and embarrassing, and would feel like giving his own family away to someone he’s pretty sure wouldn’t deserve Yoo Joonghyuk, but…he’d do it for him. He’d do it for Yoo Joonghyuk, who’s clumsily thoughtful and cares more than he’d willingly let on. Who is, despite everything his fans would like to think, deeply flawed and hateful and human, in a way that makes him so much more likable to the select few who get to witness it. Yoo Joonghyuk, who shines on the stage for a reason he may not ever know, but will always be grateful for.
He’d do it for Yoo Joonghyuk, because he was the one who saved him back then. It doesn’t matter that it’d change everything.
[yjh was a mess at constellation bank…] 7h ago
@sunfishstan
don’t get me wrong, i’m a massive yjh fan, but yesterday’s performance was just…yeah.
i stayed up late just to tune into constellation bank and see him perform Epilogue live, but he was visibly not at his best. he was breathy, out of tune, and all his facial expressions were tight. overall it just felt…dead. a massive letdown. it was so disappointing that i had to turn it off and cry while rewatching the mv. i’m probably going to get flamed for this post but idc. i can’t defend him. it was so bad you could’ve told me he was a rookie and i would’ve believed you
@j00nghyuks > [OP] @sunfishstan
give him some grace holy fuck he’s been delivering flawless performances for a decade straight. who knows what went down in his life before constellation bank
@yjhyukies > [OP] @sunfishstan
he looked stressed and tired imho. he was sweating even though it’s a slow-paced choreo by his standards, and you can kinda see his dark circles even through the stage makeup. i feel for him, he must be feeling awful if it’s gotten to the point that it’s bleeding into his performances
@ssestan > [OP] @sunfishstan
damn. i don’t keep up w music show performances but this is just depressing. sse is not that strict about music show appearances, and his manager should’ve noticed his condition and stopped him from getting on stage
@seolhwas > [OP] @sunfishstan
pfft as expected. you yjh shooters can’t defend this shitty performance, can you? deserved, for that gay shit he pulled in his mv. can’t even get a fandom with his skills so has to appeal to gross fujo hags and whore himself out to the public. so glad our queen seolhwa would never touch his diseased ass
@j00nghyuks > @seolhwas
shut the fuck up and take a look in the mirror, you shithead. your “queen” seolhwa would move away if you tried to sit next to her on the subway. “gross fujo hags” would rather watch two men eat each other’s faces than give you the time of day. and don’t talk about yjh “whoring himself out to the public” when you don’t even have anything worth whoring out. even the black market wouldn’t want your rotting organs, you utter piece of unrefined shit. yjh has more skill in his pinky nail than you do in your entire bloodline. speaking of your bloodline, before you go kill yourself, call your parents and tell them the child they worked so hard to raise goons to women who would refuse to hold his hand even if they were hanging off a cliff. i bet they wish they had a different child. you know what? i bet they wish yjh was their child instead of you. so crawl back into your dark little hole where you don’t have to confront your numerous moral failures, and rub one out to “queen” seolhwa because yjh got closer to her than your pathetic worm ass ever could.
and btw, it’s pretty gay to think so much about a man. pity that your tongue is only worthy of licking yjh’s boots
@yjhsssss > @j00nghyuks
…holy shit man you fuckin killed him
@lifeanddeathcompanio > @j00nghyuks
wow. my apologies j00nghyuks, i was not aware of your game
@supsub8391 > @j00nghyuks
in the time it took for my shitty product to finish centrifuging, j00nghyuks managed to deliver the worst L in the history of Ls to known gooner seolhwas. my product didn’t even separate out. idk if i should be mad or what
[petition to make j00nghyuks copypasta a real thing] 2h ago
@yjhxxxfan
screenshot
ts had me cackling into my pillow at 3am in the morning. if there’s one thing j00nghyuks knows how to do it’s how to have a proper crash out
@j00nghyuks > [OP] @yjhxxxfan
…i’m deleting my acc
@supsub8391 > @j00nghyuks
noooo don’t delete yourself (again) you’re so sexy aha
@j00nghyuks > @supsub8391
kys
@supsub8391 > @j00nghyuks
thank you babe! mwah
[MOD] @yjhsleftnut > [OP] @yjhxxxfan
Under consideration. Will let everyone know the result once we finish deliberating.
@j00nghyuks > [MOD] @yjhsleftnut
oh fuck you yjhsleftnut
“I told you not to go on Constellation Bank.”
Nothing but soft breathing from the back seat. His grip tightens on the steering wheel.
“We could’ve canceled. We didn’t need the win. We had other music show appearances planned for later in the week.” He bites his lip, volume rising despite himself. “The makeup artist asked me, three times, if I really wanted you to go on stage. The sound check team had to confirm the backing track because they didn’t think you sounded right—and you didn’t. I had to convince them—” He slams on the breaks. “Fuck!” he snarls at the driver cutting into their lane, dealing them a proper dose of honking. “Seriously, hah… Yoo Joonghyuk, are you listening to me?”
A huff of air is all it takes for him to break. “You think this is funny?” He laughs, the sound brittle in the confined space. “Yoo Joonghyuk, you have no idea. You have no idea how hard it is to deal with you and your attitude these days. I tell you you’re in no condition to be performing, and you act like I just punched you and spat on your pride. You know that I try my best to manage you properly, even though I hate this job. Even though I only do it because you begged me to back then, even though I have no idea why either of us are here because you refuse to ever be honest with me! And”—his voice cracks—”and what? What do I get? I get jerked around by whatever mood you’re in, and I have to grit my teeth and bear it. I try my best to fix your reputation, to keep you scandal-free, but you throw it in my face, and still won’t tell me anything! Tell me, Joonghyuk, do you think it’s worth it? Do you think it’s worth it, to ruin yourself for some stupid ‘life and death companion’, whose name you have to hide like a dirty secret? In that case, you shouldn’t have asked me to be your manager! You shouldn’t have even become a fucking pop idol! You should’ve just fucked off into the sunset with whichever son of a bitch you’re so head over heels for, and—”
“Kim Dokja!”
The red light ahead casts a ghastly glow onto Yoo Joonghyuk’s face, half-obscured by the hood of his jacket. He watches him squeeze his eyes shut, head dipping as he exhales a shaky breath. “Drop it. Just drop it.”
“What’s wrong with you?” he whispers hoarsely, choking back the lump in his throat. “Come on, just tell me. I won’t be mad. I won’t tell the company. I just want to help you.”
Yoo Joonghyuk makes a low, guttural noise. Dokja presses down on the gas, and listens to the engine roar. The silence, punctuated by the soft tick of the turn signal, draws out long, as if the world is watching this moment with bated breath.
“...Did you mean it?”
“What?”
“Did you mean it,” Yoo Joonghyuk repeats, chokingly, “when you said you didn’t like it?”
Dokja exhales, shaky as the anger rushes out of him at Yoo Joonghyuk’s wretched tone. “What are—what are you talking about?”
“Kim Dokja.” Tired, tired, tired. “Don’t act stupid. You know.”
“Except I don’t,” he snaps, “because again, you don’t tell me anything. You just say things and expect me to know everything. I’m not omniscient, Joonghyuk. If you want me to know something, you have to say it clearly.”
Yoo Joonghyuk sighs, and the sound of his head hitting the window comes loud in the quiet. “Kim Dokja, you—”
“And while we’re on the topic of things you don’t tell me,” he says with all too much false cheer, “when were you going to tell me about the terms in your artist contract?”
At that, Yoo Joonghyuk goes stiff, grabbing onto the back of Dokja’s seat. “You—when did you—”
“We’re here.” He unbuckles his seat belt, dodges the hand that reaches for his shoulder, and slips out of the driver’s seat. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to catch the last subway.”
“Kim Dokja.” Yoo Joonghyuk is shaking, shaking, eyes blown wide. “Stay.”
“Why should I? You’re just going to keep being difficult.”
“Dokja. Please.”
At that, he hesitates. Being imperfect. Being unsettled. Being desperate. These are things he’s never known Yoo Joonghyuk to be. Maybe this is his breaking point. Maybe Yoo Joonghyuk isn’t as strong as both of them would like to pretend.
The question is, does he care?
“One hour,” he tells him. “That’s all you get. And pay for my taxi fare, you stingy bastard.”
“I didn’t know you kept soju in your fridge. I’ve never seen any in there.”
Yoo Joonghyuk shoots him a dirty look, pulling out two bottles. “I don’t normally.” With no further elaboration, he drops into one of the chairs at the table, popping open one of the bottles while keeping a wary eye on Dokja.
“So”—he checks the time on his phone—”like I said, one hour. And you shouldn’t have all of that—”
Yoo Joonghyuk glares at him before downing a quarter of the bottle in one go. “Don’t tell me what to do.”
“—because you have a schedule tomorrow morning, but okay, do whatever the hell you want.”
Yoo Joonghyuk slides the unopened bottle across the table. In response, Dokja shakes his head, putting it back in the fridge. “Ah, seriously, Joonghyuk. I didn’t come here to drink with you. Are you going to talk or not?”
“...You said it was gross,” Yoo Joonghyuk grouses, slumped over his bottle of soju like the ultimate heartbroken drama lead. “Why?”
“When did I—”
“You’re so stupid. Why?”
He can feel a vein pop in his temple. “Did you bring me here just to curse me out? I’m going to leave.” Saying that, he inches towards the door, pulling his jacket off the coat rack. “I’m being serious here, Joonghyuk. I’m leavi—!”
“Don’t leave.”
He’s about to celebrate his perfect victory of getting Yoo Joonghyuk right where he wants him, when warm arms snake around his waist. His eyes widen, hands snapping to cover the ones pressing hot against the panels of his stomach. No, this is not what he predicted, or wanted. Why is Yoo Joonghyuk…?
“Why do you always threaten to leave?” he hears him mumble, too close to his ear for comfort. “I know you hate this job. You hate me. You always—”
Dokja whips his head around. “Since when did I hate you?”
It’s only now, Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes hazy and shaky with shock, that he realizes the indecency of this. Stood in the entryway, Yoo Joonghyuk’s arms wound tight around his waist, their bodies slotted flush against each other, with Yoo Joonghyuk’s criminally beautiful face a mess of emotion in front of his. One wrong move, and they’d be—
“I don’t hate you.” The words are torn from him, breathy as he reaches up, brushing Yoo Joonghyuk’s hair out of his eyes by cruel, cruel habit. “How could I hate you? You’re…”
“...You don’t like me.”
Dokja sighs. “You’re such a baby when you’re drunk,” he chastises, patting his cheek. “Do other people know you’re like this?”
“I’m not drunk,” he insists, which is what all drunk people do, naturally. “Do you like me?”
What?
“Do I have to answer that?” Dokja laughs, except it comes out a little panicked, strained from the way Yoo Joonghyuk’s arms are tightening like a vice grip. “Ah, wait, Joonghyuk-ah, let go—”
“Do you like me?”
“You—Ah, yes, yes, of course I like you!”
“Was the kiss gross?”
“I don’t—”
He shrieks at the tight pinch to his waist. “Ah, fine, I got it! You were upset about that! I didn’t know!”
“Then answer.”
“No, it wasn’t gross! It was nice! Now can you please—!”
He falls to the ground in an unceremonious heap, wheezing and clutching his abused waist. “Yoo Joonghyuk,” he gasps, “you bastard. That’s what you were obsessing over?” Of course he enjoyed it. Who would be so stupid to not enjoy a kiss from a man dubbed the nation’s boyfriend five years in a row? Certainly not him, even though he has his own objections about how well the criteria for being the nation’s boyfriend apply to Yoo Joonghyuk.
“Shut up.” Despite that, Yoo Joonghyuk’s ears are red-tipped. “I thought—”
“You thought?”
He exhales, pressing a palm to the lower half of his face. “It doesn’t matter,” he mumbles through the gaps of his fingers, turning to head back to the kitchen. “Come over here.”
“I, ah”—he reaches out and grabs his ankle before he slips out of range, grinning up at him with wicked remorselessness—”I can’t get up. Pick me up, will you, Joonghyuk-ah? You have to atone for your crimes.”
“What crimes?” he grumbles. Despite his lack of answer, he still obliges, slipping one arm under the crook of his knees and the other around his back. “You’re a fool. You’re ridiculous. Why can’t you see—?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Dokja grouses, hooking his wrists around Yoo Joonghyuk’s neck. “I’m stupid, I’m dumb, I’m a bad manager. I—”
“You’re fine. As a manager, that is.”
He sighs, tucking his head against the hollow of his throat. “Then why have you been so difficult lately? Is it really just because I said the kiss we did for the music video was gross?”
Yoo Joonghyuk is quiet at that, but at this proximity he can feel his muscles contract, hear him swallow as his grip tightens the slightest fraction.
“I thought it was obvious I was talking about something else,” Dokja complains. “You asked at a bad time. But, seriously, you don’t have to ask when you already know the answer. It’s not cute to fish for compliments, you know?”
“Kim Dokja.” Yoo Joonghyuk remains frighteningly still, holding him in his arms, and it’s disorienting that he can’t see his face from this angle when he sounds so earth-shatteringly serious. “Did you…have you read my contract?”
“No,” he admits. “I lied.” But now he’s curious—if both Han Sooyoung and Yoo Joonghyuk treat it like some dangerous secret, then he has to read it. How to obtain it is another question, considering that Yoo Joonghyuk seems to have a life-threatening allergy to letting him know what’s going on. “Can I see it?”
Yoo Joonghyuk mumbles something under his breath—probably another insult, if his track record says anything. “Have you…watched the music video yet?”
Why is he changing the subject? “The one for Epilogue?” he asks, to which Yoo Joonghyuk makes a noise of assent. “No. I was going to watch it on my own time. But, first, can we discuss the—”
“Then…” Yoo Joonghyuk begins moving towards the couch. “We should watch it now.”
“Right now? Are you serious?”
“Wow,” he breathes. “It was a really great story. Isn’t that right?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Yoo Joonghyuk nod, the light of the screen shifting over the sharp line of his jaw. He can still make out the redness at the tips of his ears, the tension taut in the lines of his body as he seemingly reclines against the couch like some handsome fictional bastard of a mafia boss.
Reeling back to reality at that thought, he mutters, “It was really great, but…why did you want to watch this all of a sudden?”
“Keep watching.”
“No, wait… We were having a serious discussion, and you completely distracted me by making me watch your music video. Sometimes, I forget you’re actually pretty smart—”
“Dokja.” He hears him exhale as he shoves him back into the cushions. “Keep watching.”
“Oh, what? Is there an after credits scene? Han Sooyoung really outdid herself, then.”
Then, the set comes up, and he leans forward to see. White-walled, with gauzy curtains and a familiar figure in the bed…
“Ah, is it—?”
Whatever happens next in that scene, he doesn’t know. There’s his gentle touch cradling his cheek. His breath, ghosting across his skin. His shadow blots out the light of the narrative, and he steals the question from his mouth, achingly soft in his want.
“You—” he gasps, into the barely there space between them. “What was that for?”
“...Was that bad?” Yoo Joonghyuk whispers, eyes half-lidded with something he’s afraid to put into words.
“No,” he chokes out, “but—”
His fingers are tangling into his shirt before he can even think, lips parting under his. Yoo Joonghyuk crowds into his space like it’s an offense that there’s space between them at all, like he’s been waiting all his life for this opportunity. He makes a breathy noise of surprise as Yoo Joonghyuk lays him flat onto the couch, and feels his lips curve against his at that little sound. In retaliation, Dokja bites down on the bottom lip between his with a little too much pressure, and that sparks Yoo Joonghyuk to make a competition of seeing what other sounds he can draw out of him.
By the time they pull away from each other, leaving Dokja panting and red in the face, the screen has powered off, casting the room into darkness.
“Um.” His voice is embarrassingly hoarse, not helped by the fact that Yoo Joonghyuk’s entire body weight is pressing down on him. “Are you drunk?”
In response, Yoo Joonghyuk buries his head into the crook of his neck, breath tickling at the sensitive skin. “Can you stop saying stupid things,” he rasps, “for one second?”
“It’s a”—he licks his lips, grateful for how the darkness hides the way he flushes again—”it’s an honest question. You were drinking a lot. And—”
“Dokja.” The call of his name makes his blood burn hot in his veins. “I’m not drunk.”
“Okay.” He nods. “Thanks for the, ah, clarification. So, is this—?”
“Dokja.” A soft groan, barely above a whisper. “Dokja. Dokja. Dokja. Dokja.”
“If you wanted me to shut up, you could’ve just said s—”
“—I love you.”
The world seems to still at that declaration, so horrible in its quiet devastation. Dokja stares up, at the yawning darkness above, and mulls on that. Love. Yoo Joonghyuk’s love. Something so precious, and yet…
“Really?” he asks into that void, almost brokenly. “Me?”
Yoo Joonghyuk moves, finally. He presses a soft kiss to the underside of his jaw, unbearably tender as he murmurs:
“It’s been thirteen years. What do you think?”
[POLL: which of yjh's lore cryptids lives in your head rent free?] 1d ago
@yjhyukies
dead wife 51%
manager-nim 23%
life and death companion 12%
game boy 7%
hoodie-nim 7%
@yjhsssss > [OP] @yjhyukies
ts got me keeping up w the poll like it’s the newest season of mass production 101. if manager-nim doesn’t end up center i’m gonna kms btw so vote
[OP] @yjhyukies > @yjhsssss
have i got bad news for you…
@yjhsssss > [OP] @yjhyukies
NOOOOOOO not dead wife being the dark horse. he’s a dozen your honor, he only made it bc he kissed a man!!1!
@yjhsdeadwife > @yjhsssss
i won because i’m pretty ^v^
@yjhsssss > @yjhsdeadwife
holy SHIT we got dead wife rpers before GTA X. this fandom never ceases to amaze me
@18649990 > [OP] @yjhyukies
hello??? justice for game boy he didn’t smile so cutely at the camera for you to not vote him
@18649990 > @18649990
hold up…i went back to rewatch the video and the link doesn’t work? @yjhyukies is the vid still up?
[OP] @yjhyukies > @18649990
huh…weird. i checked and it’s broken for me too
@lifeanddeathcompanio > [OP] @yjhyukies
wow a 51 to 49 split between dead wife and manager-nim…is this the divorce arc for the fandom
[OP] @yjhyukies > @lifeanddeathcompanio
? please go back to school lifeanddeathcompanio i beg
@lifeanddeathcompanio > [OP] @yjhyukies
OMG no i meant like. if you add all the entries that we’ve theorized to be manager-nim together. i know basic addition i swear
[OP] @yjhyukies > @lifeanddeathcompanio
OHHHHH okay okay i see the vision. yeah i think the 2% lead for dead wife is just bc it’s recent (and bc they kissed but,,, yjh do not let this beautiful homewrecker get between you and manager-nim)
@supsub8391 > [OP] @yjhyukies
i’m sorry yjhyukies…i can’t stand for you labeling dead wife a homewrecker. yjh has two hands for a reason
[OP] @yjhyukies > @supsub8391
ykw? approved.
why choose between 51 and 49 when you could have 100 - yjh, probably
@dljofire > [OP] @yjhyukies
oh this is so fun!
[OP] @yjhyukies > @dljofire
i was going to say you’d fs vote manager-nim, but you’ve literally written fic for all the options. where does your allegiance lie mother
@dljofire > [OP] @yjhyukies
you’ll just have to wait and see ^v^
[tbh i don’t get the “dead wife” hype] 3h ago
@deadwifeanti
isn’t he kinda ugly lmao…like yeah they put a diffusing filter and hella makeup on him but you can kinda tell his features are weirdly smudged and unclear. rlly don’t get why the fandom’s going feral over him
@supsub8391 > [OP] @deadwifeanti
keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth…
in all seriousness, that man is ethereally pretty in a way that few idols can even hope to match. sorry about your lack of taste
@18649990 > [OP] @deadwifeanti
oh…so you’re BLIND blind. fyi, this guy is super cute. and wdym smudged? you can literally see his individual eyelashes. hate to say it but you might just be hating for the sake of it
[OP] @deadwifeanti > @18649990
maybe you lot are the blind ones bc i genuinely don’t get it. he’s actually rlly ugly to me like not even just regular ugly but like botched ugly. his eyelid surgery is the stuff of nightmares
@18649990 > [OP] @deadwifeanti
Image Image Image
dude what are you even talking about??? can you see??? those are the eyes of someone who was born to be pretty
@yjhyukies > @18649990
face card instantly gagged them…dead wife you will always be famous
@yjhyukies > @yjhyukies
wait. hold up. hold the FUCKING phone.
[THIS IS NOT A DRILL] 41m ago
@yjhyukies
i just. here. take a look at the evidence. @supsub8391 please come to my aid
Image Image
@supsub8391 > [OP] @yjhyukies
no fucking way. NO FUCKING WAY
[OP] @yjhyukies > @supsub8391
i had to trawl through my camera roll for this evidence bc the gaming vids got taken down. but the resemblance is uncanny right?
@supsub8391 > [OP] @yjhyukies
so all along…manager-nim = l&d companion = game boy = hoodie guy = dead wife???
[OP] @yjhyukies > @supsub8391
holy shit i think we cracked the code. supsub8391 i think we’ve done it
@supsub8391 > [OP] @yjhyukies
why does this feel like a greater accomplishment than getting my phd??? this is insane. yoo joonghyuk, the absolute crazy bastard, hard launched his boyfriend under the noses of all supsubs and no one noticed a thing. all along the sole cryptid in yoo joonghyuk’s life was his fucking boyfriend. we spent months theorizing like mad men, and it finally bore fruit :’) holy shit
@dljofire > @supsub8391
^v^ congrats! ^v^
@supsub8391 > @dljofire
mother…what does this mean
@dljofire > @supsub8391
<3
[MOD] @zeroyjh > [OP] @yjhyukies
Removed. Discussion violates forum rules.
(“Did you really block my fucking number?”
“What do you want?”
“Ah, whatever…I was gonna give you a heads-up, that—”
“I know. He already tried to ask.”
“Tch, bastard… The warning would have come in time if you hadn’t blocked me!”
“Whatever.”
“...You should’ve told me that he didn’t know about it.”
“Hm.”
“...Are you cooking right now?”
“...Yes.”
“You…turn the stove off. We’re having a proper conversation.”
“I can multitask. Talk, or I’m hanging up on you.”
“Yeah, right. If you hang up, I’m mailing a copy of your contract to him.”
“...”
“Don’t be like that. Did you think you could keep it a secret for ten whole years? He’s your manager, for fuck’s sake. He should’ve found out years ago.”
“He didn’t know about it until you told him.”
“You—! That’s not the point! You know, I’ve been wanting to ask you this for years now, but your contract terms…did you seriously propose those yourself? I’ve heard about it from the previous director, but—”
“I needed to.”
“Are you…god, seriously, I hate you two so much. I shouldn’t have ever agreed to that promotion. You’re telling me that you wrote all those terms about him into your own artist contract, and then proceeded to not let him know about it?”
“...It was necessary.”
“Necessary my fucking ass! You know exactly how he is. He’s going to do something stupid once he finds out you did this all for him.”
“...Did you tell him?”
“No. I figured you’d want to do it on your own terms. Consider it a kindness, from me to the bastard who’s ruining our profit margins.”
“...”
“...Please tell me you’re planning to tell him.”
“...”
“Fucking hell. Yoo Joonghyuk, for once in your life, can you get yourself together and be honest with that damned rat? Just tell him that you became an idol for him, to protect him, or however you want to spin it. It’s not hard—even if you’re bad with words, you can just show him your contract and those predatory terms you fucked yourself with, and—”
“Kim Dokja?!”
“What are you so confused about? Of course I’m talking about Kim Dokja, you son of a bitch. Is your brain just for decoration like the rest of you, or—”
“Wait. I need to go.”
“What are you—hey, what’s going on?”
“I said, I need to go!”
“Oh, fuck. Don’t tell me—?!”)