Future War (5)

We had no reason whatsoever to stop him, yet somehow we managed to prevent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Kang Ilhoon's suicide. After taking a short rest, we decided to set out for Dongyeok Station.

"Everyone, I'm going to head up to the theater rooftop for a moment."

Just as Kim Dokja was about to go up to the theater rooftop before departing for Dongyeok Station, I raised my hand slightly and called out to her.

"Dokja-ssi."

"Yes?"

"Would it be alright if I came up to the rooftop with you?"

"Well, I don't mind."

Kim Dokja looked a little puzzled, not knowing why I wanted to go up there.

But I couldn't tell her the reason. She would find out soon enough once we reached the rooftop.

And so Kim Dokja and I climbed up to the theater rooftop.

"Has that bastard still not woken up?"

Lee Jihye had been staring blankly down at her master Yoo Joonghyuk when she flinched hard at Kim Dokja's sudden voice from behind.

"Uh, uh!? Unnie, you're here?"

"What? Why are you so startled...?"

Seeing Lee Jihye jump so noticeably that even a third party would notice, Kim Dokja eyed her with curiosity and approached.

Soon enough, Kim Dokja realized exactly why Lee Jihye was so flustered.

"Wh-what? What's wrong with Yoo Joonghyuk?"

Kim Dokja, who normally kept her composure as tightly as possible, looked down at Yoo Joonghyuk with a face overflowing with shock, horror, and sheer disbelief.

She simply could not believe the current state of Yoo Joonghyuk.

To think that Yoo Joonghyuk—who, worn down to nothing by repeated regressions, always appeared in Ways of Survival as a psychopathic guppy lunatic—was now buried among pink furniture and adorable little dolls.

There was only one person who would pull something like this on a sleeping Yoo Joonghyuk.

No way? Even if this crazy bastard has completely lost it, is he seriously pulling some new kind of suicide method?

Kim Dokja hurriedly whipped her head around toward the person standing behind her.

Crack.

She turned so fast that an unpleasant sound came from her neck along with a twinge of pain, but that was the least of her concerns right now.

"………♪"

I turned my head as far to the side as I could to avoid meeting Kim Dokja's eyes, whistling and pretending I knew nothing.

Yet despite my best efforts, Kim Dokja strode straight toward me, seized my chin in one hand, and forced my head to face forward with a firm grip.

And thanks to that, our eyes met.

"...You're so intense, Dokja-ssi. You're so cool I might fall for you."

"...Don't talk nonsense. More importantly, that's your handiwork, isn't it, Jinwoo-ssi?"

Kim Dokja scowled at my words, shot back that I should cut the crap, and pointed at Yoo Joonghyuk surrounded by the pink mattress, blanket, pillow, and cute dolls.

"Me? That? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"………Haa."

I denied everything as hard as I could, but Kim Dokja let out a long sigh, looked between us, and called the name of the fidgeting Lee Jihye.

"Lee Jihye."

"Y-yes?! Why are you calling me, Dokja unnie?"

"You know everything, right? Who made your master look like that?"

"Uh... I do know?"

Lee Jihye carefully avoided Kim Dokja's sharp gaze and whispered.

"Who is it?"

"Well... it's someone unnie knows very well. The person unnie is holding right now."

"Jihye?! How could you do this to me!?"

I stared blankly at Lee Jihye with a face full of pure shock at being sold out by her.

Lee Jihye glanced at my face, then looked away with a guilty expression and shouted.

"That's... ah, shit! I told you not to do it, oppa! I said we'd get caught anyway?!"

Hearing Lee Jihye's words, Kim Dokja put more force into the hand gripping my chin and shook my jaw this way and that.

"Jinwoo-ssi, our Jinwoo-ssi. Do you really want to die by Yoo Joonghyuk's hand? You know that if she finds out about that, she will absolutely kill you, right?"

"W-well. I couldn't just leave such a beautiful woman sleeping on the bare floor, could I? It's just that all the other colors happened to be sold out."

"Do you think that excuse will work on Yoo Joonghyuk?"

"No?"

"Who in their right mind would make her look like that?"

"But when else am I ever going to get the chance to dress that woman up like this?"

Kim Dokja glared at me with a look that screamed what the hell am I supposed to do with this crazy bastard.

"Haa... Deal with it yourself. I don't know."

"Am I being abandoned?"

"I'd like to look after you, but if I do, I'll die too, so there's nothing I can do."

Kim Dokja released my chin and walked over to Lee Jihye as she spoke.

"Jihye, don't cover for Jinwoo-ssi this time either. If you cover for him for no reason, you'll get scolded badly by Yoo Joonghyuk."

"A-alright. But unnie, what about downstairs?"

"We took care of downstairs just fine, so don't worry and rest well."

Kim Dokja pulled a small notebook and ballpoint pen from her coat, began writing something, then tore out a page and handed it to Lee Jihye.

"Here, this. Don't read it, and give it to Yoo Joonghyuk when she wakes up later. Got it?"

"...Got it."

Kim Dokja glanced over the constellation messages for a moment. Lee Jihye looked at her with a hesitant gaze, lips moving soundlessly, then slowly opened her mouth.

"...But, can I ask just one thing, unnie?"

"What is it?"

"Um, earlier at dawn. Our master and unnie...."

Kim Dokja realized what Lee Jihye was about to say and looked down at her with a thoroughly flustered expression.

And I, who had been quietly watching the two of them, carefully took out the recorder stored in my My Room, slipped it into the inner pocket of my clothes, and pressed the switch.

Kim Dokja black history live stream, jackpot.

"So, like, the two of you...."

"The two of us what."

Kim Dokja played dumb with a stiff face.

Soon Lee Jihye's expression grew serious.

"I mean, earlier you were like that, unnie...."

"Like what."

Lee Jihye hesitated for a long time, then bowed her head deeply and shouted, imitating the voice Kim Dokja had used when yelling at Yoo Joonghyuk at dawn.

"...We agreed not to fall into those kinds of sentiments!"

"………!?"

Kim Dokja's face hardened like stone. Then it began to turn red.

Her face flushed so scarlet that I found myself thinking a human face could actually turn that color.

When her own words—shouted at Yoo Joonghyuk in a fit of dawn sensibility—came pouring out of Lee Jihye's mouth, Kim Dokja's body trembled slightly under the crushing weight of shame, her face soaked in humiliation.

"Th-there's no need to imitate it that far...."

"The resolve from when we first... th-that! Have you already forgotten everything?!"

"Huh...??"

Kim Dokja's shame-soaked face twisted strangely as she carefully turned her head toward Lee Jihye.

But Lee Jihye, oblivious to her reaction, kept shouting.

"What did I follow you for! Why are you alone? We're together!"

"No, wait a minute."

"I'm always by your side! Don't lose hope! Think of our child!"

"No, I never said anything like th...."

Kim Dokja stared at Lee Jihye with pure incredulity.

Lee Jihye seemed to have immersed herself deeply in the words she had just spat out; she looked at Kim Dokja with a deadly serious face and asked,

"I-is that it after all? Unnie and our master, so like, th.... D-don't worry. I'll definitely deliver this love letter!"

"You brat... what is that...."

Kim Dokja made a face like she was about to lose her mind at Lee Jihye's words. But her expression soon hardened, and she slowly turned her head.

Because she had only just remembered that there was one more person listening to this entire conversation.

"...Kh, khup! Khheup...!"

I desperately held back the explosion of laughter that was about to burst from my mouth as I looked at Kim Dokja and Lee Jihye.

"………!?!?!?"

Kim Dokja babbled with her mouth hanging open, then glared at me with her face flushed as hard as it could go.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

But.

Because of the sheer shame of having that conversation overheard by me, tiny teardrops hung at the corners of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her eyes—which only made me want to laugh even harder.

Ah, I really can't hold it in.

"Puhahahahahaha!! Ahahahahahahaha——!!!"

I laughed loudly for the first time in a long while. There was simply no way I could hold back after the words Lee Jihye had just pulled out.

And those same words seemed to have quite the effect on the constellations as well.

Lee Jihye thought deeply for a moment, then her eyes lit up with a sudden "Ha!" and she asked Kim Dokja in a loud voice.

"Wait a minute! But how did you have the child?! Is it adoption by any chance!?"

Kim Dokja made a face like she wanted to crawl into a mouse hole right that second at the current absolute mess of a situation, then grabbed the collar of my clothes as I rolled on the floor roaring with laughter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and said,

"Ask when Yoo Joonghyuk wakes up...."

"Ahahahaha!! Dokja-ssi! Your dawn sensibility is really rich, isn't it?! Complaining to your girlfriend at dawn!?"

Even while being dragged across the ground by the collar, Kim Dokja glared at me with a freezing look as I kept laughing and teasing her, and said coldly,

"Shud... up...."

A voice packed tight with extreme shame and rage came out.

She must have been clenching her teeth so hard that her jaw muscles were bunched solid, and anger seeped into every syllable.

But.

"Ahahahaha!!"

Even so, I burst out laughing loudly.

No matter how hard she clenched her teeth or how much anger soaked her tone, Kim Dokja's face right now was red as a tomato, and she had tears hanging at the corners of her eyes from pure shame—which only made her look incredibly cute instead.

"Th-this...! Please just shut up!"

"Shud up!"

I kept mocking her. Kim Dokja, thoroughly displeased with my behavior, shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Don't imitate me!"

"Don' imidate me!"

"Yaa——!! Park Jinwoo!!!"

Finally furious to the absolute top of her head at my mockery, Kim Dokja dropped the honorifics, seized me by the collar with all her strength, and shook me hard.

"I said stop!! Don't tease me!! You damned human!!!"

"Uh, uhk!! B-but! What am I supposed to do when it's funny!? I never thought Jihye would distort the conversation between Dokja-ssi and Joonghyuk-ssi like that!!"

"Shut up! Shut up!! Please shut up!!! Don't mention it!!"

"Uwaaaak! S-save me!! I-I'm going to die from dizziness, Dokja-ssi!!!"

"Die! Please just die!! Die like this!!!"

And so I collapsed onto the floor from extreme motion sickness. Kim Dokja stared at me for a long while, huffing and puffing, then left me there and went down to the lower floor.

"Ugh...! I-I'm going to die from the motion sickness...."

"I know, I know. Everyone shut up...."

With a hand still trembling from extreme motion sickness, I pulled the recorder out of the inner pocket of my clothes.

Click.

"Hehe... Recording complete."

Kim Dokja's second black history: Get.