afterword: (Default)
kim 'i'm an expert on yoo joonghyuk' dokja. ([personal profile] afterword) wrote2022-06-03 09:32 pm
malewife: (pic#15183138)

[personal profile] malewife 2022-06-20 06:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Dokja has never ASKED. He eyes lower to the book when he asks that, not giving an answer. Niah whines some, so...

They should read together. Who is stopping them?
]
malewife: (pic#15182987)

[personal profile] malewife 2022-06-20 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Niah will bite Jin's tail as they read, but at the end of one of the stories, Joonghyuk actually speaks. ]

... Am I still who I am if I couldn't save you?

[ Multiple times. He couldn't help him multiple times. Isn't saving Dokja his purpose? Why he was created...? If he can't do that, then what is his ■■? If knowing the future that Dokja exists is supposed to comfort him, he does... For a bit. It does until envy festers for the Joonghyuk that exists there.

That's him, and yet not. This Dokja is his, and yet not.
]
malewife: (pic#15702422)

[personal profile] malewife 2022-06-20 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
... But you are gone.

[ Which, Dokja must have known, that Friday morning had led to extra shock into him when he was already debating over his own identity and the validity of his actions. He received full explanation which would be supplemented by others in trial, but it already put him into a state where it was difficult to pull himself out.

As he mulls over those emotions and what he saw on his trip, the characters making up his figure start to sink... Into a dark sea. That sea rises, making him pitch black.

The end result, even when Joonghyuk's original goal when he regressed was to meet the same person that guided him to a happy ending. Without the book in his hands, his fingers curl, slowly clenching into fists.
]

Again. Split across the universe out of our reach.

[ If Dokja thought they resolved it when they talked about it a bit, no. Joonghyuk buried it. It stayed in the back of his mind. With every interaction, he had thought about how this is a future he doesn't know. One he might not know.

It's an ending he wishes to reach, but doesn't know if he will. That regression—it was his last chance.
]

Did anything I do matter...? Still, I don't know my ■■.
malewife: (pic#15183145)

[personal profile] malewife 2022-06-20 10:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ His hands still stay as fist while Niah softly whines some. If anything, they tense more when he feels those hands rub over his own. Eventually, the characters he's made up start trembling, showing cracks of paper white underneath. They don't crumble, instead white characters would form the shape of his eyes, then take shape of tears that do not exist.

The weight of all of his actions settle on his shoulders, heavy and threatening to crush him... The guilt he has stifled for eons comes in full bloom. The trip, despite leaving him in rather decent shape, really screwed with his mind.
]

This haze is not unpleasant.

[ He doesn't like debating who he is, whether he exists, or if anything here is real, but if he didn't overthink it? It's pleasant. He wonders if it could be consider death, if he let things be. He can rest. But now he's suffering with the knowledge that again maybe he can change things. ]

If this is a dream and I never wake up... The you from the ending I wish for is here.

[ If his sister wasn't here, if she was safe at home with their companions, then this is a sweet dream. ]
malewife: (pic#15183151)

[personal profile] malewife 2022-06-21 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ Joonghyuk lets that happen and with every slight brush, the ink starts falling off... The dark sea falls, revealing Joonghyuk as he normally is, without any of the effects. Maybe he's without color, simply monochrome is the effect. His gaze stays lowered, staring at the space between them even when their foreheads press.

He has to wake up eventually...

If this is real, Mia would be in trouble—he can't keep failing her. He has failed her too many times.

That ending, with everyone he loves. Happiness. All of these regressions, these years of suffering and pain, was to meet the man before him and to make sure they can all be happy. It's selfish, no matter how anyone looks at it, especially when Joonghyuk has had a happy ending once before... During that time before all this suffering began.

He has to wake up and he feels his own soul resonate with Dokja's words. In the end, he has always been idealistic. Optimistic.
]

Hope is a curse.

[ Hope again is stringing him along. ]
malewife: (pic#15224716)

[personal profile] malewife 2022-06-21 06:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[ "Who wouldn't want a happy ending for themselves?" "Kim Dokja."

If only Joonghyuk can know Dokja's feelings because he can't help thought... Despite all of the reassurance he gave Dokja to look for his own happiness, that they will not stop until they bring him back—he isn't sure if Dokja understands. He doesn't know what Dokja will do. He had thought he put those anxieties to rest.

These are the struggles of being individual people, isn't it? Everyday struggles.

Even with the pinching, he closes his eyes with a furrowed brow, obviously not liking the pinching.
]
malewife: (pic#15208895)

[personal profile] malewife 2022-06-21 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Murdergames are awful, but he can find the silver lining that at least he can see Dokja again, instead of seeing his almost lifeless form at home. The pinching continues and his patience wanes exponentially, but he accepts the kiss. Some thoughts are drawn out... These small pieces of comfort and affection are not meant for him. It's for another him, but that's still him, isn't it? He's Yoo Joonghyuk. That is who he is.

The trips he went through—they didn't tire him at much as this one did. It felt like... Days after, he was a shell. He was trapped outside or inside his body and watched as these actions were made by this figure called Yoo Joonghyuk. They were days of confusion.

He's weary, so he doesn't retaliate immediately. Instead, he fires a warning.
]

I'm still mad at you.

[ The Dokja that waits for him at home, the one in front of him. Different, the same, he's angry with them. ]
malewife: (pic#15735339)

[personal profile] malewife 2022-06-21 11:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The effects return and Joonghyuk spawns those familiar wolf ears and tail. The ears are pinned against his head. Gently, he grans one of those thin arms that wrapped around him, simply to hold in this way. Again, he's still mad, but he can calm down for a bit.

The haze has lifted a good amount and he has been placated, so...
]

How are you feeling?

[ He of course remembers Dokja telling him about being buried alive. ]
malewife: (pic#15735339)

[personal profile] malewife 2022-06-22 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ It’s his version of “I’m still mad at you” hug. Leave him alone. ]

I’m fine. [ ] You better be eating properly.

Even if you’re nauseous, you have to eat.
malewife: (pic#15183201)

[personal profile] malewife 2022-06-22 08:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ The weight means nothing when you’re only a 120lb man. Joonghyuk stays as he is, like a statue. ]

… Even something small, Kim Dokja.

[ He’s too tired to be overly pissed. This man never cared about his health? Why did he even ask? ]
malewife: (pic#15183194)

[personal profile] malewife 2022-06-22 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He gives him an incredulous look... He doesn't quite believe him, but Dokja doesn't look god awful today. ]

You read too fast.

[ Huff. ]
malewife: (pic#15242786)

[personal profile] malewife 2022-06-22 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ After reaching over to fetch the book, he holds it while his ear flickers. The pointed look he gives him basically spells "stop that." ]