He did say they could sneak snacks without the other, more responsible adults knowing by finishing the tour before the two couples finished their dates, but they fell behind because they were taking a lot of picutres at the aquarium.
Kim Dokja did this often, he took pictures of the kids every time they went somewhere. Yoosung's parents were a bit too busy for all of this, they barely ever took her anywhere. And Gilyoung's parents weren't the best to go on about such stuff, they didn't even notice it when he was gone for a few days.
So Kim Dokja fell in as the temporary guardian, doing the little things he could do to fill in the gaps their actual parents had left.
Kim Dokja had very few picutres of himself. Even the ones he had, it was always a group photo someone had forced him to be in.
He wasn't traumatised by cameras or anything, he had gotten over it years ago, but he seemed to subconsciously avoid staying in frame.
He didn't remember anyone ever taking picutres of him like this, on a trip to the aquarium, posing in front of the fishes and smiling widely.
"Rock, paper, scissors," Kim Dokja told the kids who couldn't decide who would stand behind the peepboard of a penguin and get their picture taken.
Yoosung won and scurried to stand behind the stand and put her face through the hole in the colourful cardboard, beaming widely at him as he held his phone up.
"Lower your chin, Yoosung-ah," Kim Dokja called.
"Like this?"
"Yes, good job!"
They still had a couple more attractions to see when Yoo Joonghyuk texted him, asking him where the hell he was with the kids. Kim Dokja sent him all the picutres he had taken to placate him.
'Stop worrying
I'll keep the kids safe
Send location
Meet you there when we're done'
Kim Dokja kept his promise of buying the kids tons of snacks.
"Ahjussi, you can do this now?" Yoosung said, a little worried.
Kim Dokja chuckled and ruffled her hair.
"Yep, I got a nice job now so I can do this," Kim Dokja told the kids.
"But isn't it a lot of money?" Gilyoung muttered.
"Not really," Kim Dokja assured her. "Besides, where else would I spend money if not on you kids? Let's go, Yoo Joonghyuk's probably pacing around, brooding and scaring everyone off."
"My Oppa's not that scary," Mia grumbled. "Ahjussi, you're such a doormat!"
"Where did you learn that from? Was it Han Sooyoung? It was Han Sooyoung, wasn't it? Your brother won't—"
"No, I learnt it from my Oppa," said Mia.
"Hah!"
"Everyone knows anyway," Mia huffed. "You should stop doing things like this Ahjussi."
Stop doing things like what? And what was that Yoo Joonghyuk bastard even telling the kids?
Well, maybe Kim Dokja did dote on the kids a lot. He did have a few of his exes complain that he put his friends and the kids before them. Of course, he did. They meant something to him, obviously he was going to put them first.
There was another ex of his who broke down, wailing because he was worried Kim Dokja would dump him and go for a woman because Kim Dokja apparently liked children so much and as a man, he wouldn't be able to give Kim Dokja that.
Kim Dokja didn't want children. He didn't think he would be a good father anyway. He just happened to run into two sad little kids and was trying his little bit to make the world look slightly brighter for them. After all, if he were in their place, at that age, he would have wanted at least one adult to spare some kindness.
"Instead of buying us stuff you should find a lover, Ahjussi," Mia was saying. "And buy them stuff."
"Is that so?" Kim Dokja said. "Then let's go return all the chocolates we brought."
"Ah! What? No!"
That's what he thought.
"Tell me if you see your brother, okay?" he said and Mia was a little relieved that her chocolates weren't going to be taken away. She didn't stop lecturing Kim Dokja though.
"Ahjussi, you should do breakfast in bed," Mia continued as he looked around for a glimpse of a familiar head in the crowd of families out on a Satruday afternoon.
"My Oppa did that for Seolhwa Unnie for her birthday."
Of course, he did. Good for them.
Yoo Joonghyuk didn't make him breakfast in bed, but that made sense because they were never lovers. But Yoo Joonghyuk did make him food and get it to his bed when he was sick.
In high school, there weren't a lot of people he could depend on. His mother was busy with something, Yoo Joonghyuk was worried about his countenance the whole day at school and followed him home since no one was going to be worried about Yoo Joonghyuk either.
Yoo Joonghyuk ended up making him some food, getting him some medicine and even cuddling with him under the sheets for that night.
Kim Dokja felt his heart clench with regret and frustration.
If he'd only realised it a little earlier. If only he had been a little more observant—No, if he had just been a little denser, he would never have noticed and it would never have mattered.
Kim Dokja wasn't the right person for Yoo Joonghyuk. He knew that very well. Yoo Joonghyuk was a lot happier with Lee Seolhwa and it was his happiness that mattered more.
Kim Dokja just wanted to get rid of his own stupid, unnecessary feelings and stop stewing in ugly sentiments whenever he saw his two friends being happy with each other. It would have been better if he never realised what it was.
It's funny how he recognised jealousy quicker than he recognised love. But then again, he was more familiar with negative emotions than positive ones. Kim Dokja had been envious of countless things throughout his life. He had been envious of kids with a normal family, he had been envious of kids who had loving parents, he had been envious of kids who wore socks without holes in them, he was envious of a lot of things. Envy, anger, sorrow, he was closely acquainted with this.
Love felt a little foreign, but he was getting used to it now. He was getting used to seeing it even in things that his friends did. He saw it and he was thankful for all of it.
They found their friends and Kim Dokja got scolded by Yoo Joonghyuk for buying the kids unnecessary things.
"They're kids, let them have fun for today," Kim Dokja shushed him in the end.
Yoo Sangah told them that they'd ordered lunch at the cafeteria outside the aquarium and that Han Sooyoung had gone to get them. Kim Dokja said he'd help her and escaped getting yelled at by Yoo Joonghyuk.
It was sandwiches and cold drinks.
Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't very pleased with this, but he had to bear through it. They were outside, certain things had to be compromised. He was free to glower at it as much as he wanted though, and that's exactly what he did. He chewed on his sandwich with the expression of someone being forced to swallow dog poop.
"This tastes horrible," he said.
"Yeah, yeah, you're the best chef in the world, got it, no one cares," Han Sooyoung said dismissively. "Kim Dokja, you're going to talk now. What was that with that other Yoo Joonghyuk guy?"
"What was what?" Kim Dokja asked. He thought the sandwiches were fine. Sure, they weren't as good as both Yoo Joonghyuks' cooking, but it was alright.
"That!" Han Sooyoung hissed. "Why were you flirting with him?"
"I wasn't," Kim Dokja said. "I would never flirt with a friend."
True. He wouldn't make moves on a friend. That would ruin their relationship and he'd rather die than lose a precious friend.
"Listen," Kim Dokja said before Han Sooyoung could continue with her interrogation. "He's a good friend. That's all there is to it."
"Then why're you like that with him on the phone?" Han Sooyoung slapped her hand lightly on the table.
"Like what?" Kim Dokja sighed wearily. What did she want now?
"Like that! You were smiling and giggling and do you even know how long you spoke for?" Han Sooyoung said waspishly.
"I wasn't—What?"
"You were!"
"Well, then maybe it was something funny," Kim Dokja said incredulously. "I was just making fun of him. Like I make fun of you."
"Over the phone?" Han Sooyoung pressed.
The rest of their group was following this exchange like they were watching a tennis match, looking from Han Sooyoung to Kim Dokja, back to the woman and then back to him. Except for Yoo Joonghyuk, he was still hating on his sandwich.
"It's not like I can do it in person," Kim Dokja huffed. "He's not even in the country. And he was driving, so he couldn't text. We mostly text, but since he couldn't do that, he called."
"Because he was worried about your blind date!" Han Sooyoung declared. "He was, wasn't he?"
"No," Kim Dokja rolled his eyes. "He was more worried that I was working during the weekend."
"Aha!" Han Sooyoung barked out a triumphant laugh. "That makes it even better!"
Kim Dokja massaged his temple with his fingers, tired.
"You were too," he reminded her, irked. "You were worried when I said I had stuff to do on Satruday too. He was just the same, stop making a mountain out of a molehill."
"I'm not you, you sleazy rat," Han Sooyoung snapped. "You're too nice to that guy. You should've listened to how you talk."
"I was talking normally, don't be ridiculous," Kim Dokja retorted.
"Everyone heard no? What Kim Dokja was saying?" Han Sooyoung asked the table. She softened her tone and in a simpering voice said, "Joonghyuk-ssi."
Kim Dokja sighed out loud while Han Sooyoung gagged on her own imitation. It was a little offensive how his friends nodded in agreement to Han Sooyoung's statement though.
"I speak the same way the other person speaks to me," Kim Dokja said indignantly. "He's a nice, polite man. And I was polite to him too. Why're you doing this?"
Han Sooyoung kept pestering him all the way back home, even after Yoo Joonghyuk left with Lee Seolhwa and the kids, dropping Yoosung and Gilyoung off at their houses. Kim Dokja was forced to tag along with Han Sooyoung and Yoo Sangah to have a barbecue.
"It's nothing like that," Kim Dokja said for the thousandth time.
"Fine, you bastard!" Han Sooyoung sneered. "When you start dating, I'll fucking tell you then."
Kim Dokja shook his head in exasperation.
He left the couple early and headed back to his little apartment.
It was a tiring day. He wanted to get to his bed and crash immediately.
He was hoping he would be able to finish everything today and rest tomorrow, but that plan was down the drain. And he couldn't even visit Yoo Joonghyuk tomorrow either, because he was the one who cancelled their plans. There was nothing good to look forward to now.
It was a shame, but Kim Dokja was used to this. It was actually more strange that he was having things to look forward to now. Some mornings he blundered around the house, confused and anxious trying to figure out what was amiss only to realise that he just wasn't dreading going to work.
It was still exhausting though. It was still using up all his mental power and he came home tired. Not as tired as he would have, but tired nonetheless. He supposed it was because it was 'work'.
Kim Dokja woke up around one in the afternoon the next day and felt very guilty when he saw that Yoo Joonghyuk, the older one had sent him a text.
'Landed
Back in the country'
He even sent him a sticker of a bear waving.
Sending an animated cat in return, Kim Dokja typed out, 'Welcome back!'.
He had told the man that he was going to be busy that day and all he did was waste half the day by sleeping. Crap.
Kim Dokja brushed his teeth, washed his face, and got to work immediately. He didn't have a desk to work at, so he propped up his pillow on against the wall and sat on his bed, his laptop on his thighs.
At seven in the evening, someone showed up at his door.
Food delivery?
Kim Dokja didn't even have to start the detective work when Yoo Joonghyuk sent him a text.
'I ordered food for you
I've been told that you've received it now
I didn't think you would bother cooking for yourself and instant ramyeon is not a meal
You nag at me for not taking care of myself when you don't do it yourself, Dokja-ssi
I didn't cook
You can't scold me now'
Kim Dokja reread the message a couple of times.
He couldn't exactly refute him. Kim Dokja had woken up after lunch and he sufficed with some coffee, he'd forgotten to eat something.
'I wasn't scolding you'
The message he sent sounded a little lame. But there wasn't anything else he could say.
He laughed at the judgemental bunny sticker Yoo Joonghyuk sent him.
What were they? Kids? What on earth were they doing? It was even funnier when he imagined stoic, scarred Yoo Joonghyuk looking through the sticker options and finding the appropriate one to send.
Kim Dokja found a sheepish peach sticker and sent that in response. He followed it with a text.
'Thank you for the food, Joonghyuk-ssi
Now I have more energy to work harder'
'Don't work too hard
Take it easy'
'You shouldn't be saying that as CEO'
'I can say that because I'm the CEO'
He sure was cocky, wasn't he? Well, he supposed Yoo Joonghyuk had earned the right to be that arrogant.
Kim Dokja on the other hand, couldn't. He had made a big promise to Yoo Joonghyuk and now he'd better work his ass off to prove his worth. He was attempting something new, something he'd never done before. He had a lot to do to ensure that it wouldn't backfire horribly.
Who'd have thought Kim Dokja would have beef with a superior at work? He had never cared about such things before and would have just let it happen, listening to all the yelling and scathing comments and burying himself in web novels.
He had been so nervous when he decided that he had to scold his team. He sat up the entire night, charting out a script to follow. Kim Dokja rarely ever raised his voice with strangers. And yelling at people didn't seem the best idea either, so he went with what he thought would shake him up the worst.
If Yoo Joonghyuk, his CEO, ever gave him a stern talking to, telling him he was disappointed in him, Kim Dokja was sure he would have a mental breakdown.
So he took that approach. While his team didn't have any breakdowns, they certainly came to their senses and got to work instead of gossiping around and Kim Dokja reclaimed his status as team leader.
It was all a very weird experience though.
Kim Dokja was half expecting them to rebel against him, but then he realised that they couldn't because he was their supervisor. That realisation was weird too.
A lot of things in his life were weird now.
Kim Dokja wondered why everyone was walking a little too briskly down the corridors on Monday morning. He had just stepped out of his office for a while to get some stuff printed out. The two printers near his office were already in use and he supposed he could go take a walk while he was at it.
Before he left, he had even reminded his team to look away from the screen and stretch a little, it wasn't good to stay seated like that in front of screens for too long.
He had devised a plan to be a good team leader and get his team members to like him. It wasn't too hard. In a way, it was like dating. He had to put on a facade and act out his role; he had enough practice with that anyway.
His team members were only starting to warm up to him, so it took him by surprise when they looked up at him with pleading eyes, like spooked chicks running for shelter.
He was hardly gone for fifteen minutes, what on earth happened in that tiny time frame?
"Yoo Sajangnim came over," they told him and Kim Dokja blinked.
What? Why?
"Did he say something?" Kim Dokja asked. "About why he was here or anything similar?"
Apparently, Yoo Sajangnim just snapped at them to do their work, because the project was an important endeavour and he wouldn't tolerate messing it up at any cost.
"He even waited for you, Kim Teamjang. He sat in your office for a few minutes and when you didn't come he left."
Ah, Kim Dokja had to check if Yoo Joonghyuk had sent him any texts. His phone was on silent and he wasn't checking it because he was trying to come off as a good employee.
"Was he angry?" Kim Dokja said.
"Isn't he always angry?" was the response he got.
It took him a few seconds to wrap his head around that statement.
He really had to check his text messages.
"Well," Kim Dokja sighed. "It is what it is. We haven't messed anything up yet, so I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll handle whatever comes along. Don't stress too much over it."
Getting back to his little office, he looked around at the desk. Nothing was out of place.
What did Yoo Joonghyuk want? If he didn't have any texts from the man, it meant he was angry as the CEO. But if he did have unread messages, it meant Yoo Joonghyuk had come there for some other reason.
Kim Dokja had linked his messaging app to his laptop and opened the chats on the device. He was relieved when he saw the unread text.
Yoo Joonghyuk did leave him a message.
'Where are you?'
Seriously?
Kim Dokja got to typing.
'I heard you came to the department
Did something happen?
Was it something serious'
Yoo Joonghyuk responded almost immediately.
'No
Please don't worry
I was just looking for you'
. . .Huh.
'Did you need me for something?
Did you have to scare the others looking for me?
They said you scolded them
They were almost crying when I came back'
'It was not my intention
I didn't scold them or do anything of that sort'
Right, Yoo Joonghyuk's persona was a little cold and he could have been easily misunderstood.
'Where did you go?'
'I went to get a few printouts'
'You can send someone else to do menial tasks like getting copies'
It's a waste of manpower to make them do something as simple as that
I also wanted to stretch my legs for a bit
But do let me know if there is something you want me to do
Or you want to say something about Team 7's performance'
Yoo Joonghyuk was sure typing for a while. Then finally the text came in and Kim Dokja stared at it.
'I just wanted to see you'
What's that supposed to mean? Huh?!
How was he supposed to reply to that?
Han Sooyoung's words about them flirting came to mind and Kim Dokja quickly trashed them away. Nope, that's not what was happening. Yoo Joonghyuk was probably trying to run away from Uriel.
'Do you want me to suggest a few hiding spots?'
'?'
'To run away from Uriel Noona
The rooftop's actually got a blind spot where even the CCTV doesn't catch'
'I'll check it out'
'Have fun!'
Kim Dokja closed the tab when Yoo Joonghyuk didn't send anything in response. Time to get back to work.