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- yoo joonghyuk, you good?
- ... what.
- ummm, nothing.

ever since they cleared the previous scenario, yoo joonghyuk was being asked that silly question almost everyday. the one and only person who kept asking him frequently was kim dokja, his companion – that was what he saw kim dokja as. athough, joonghyuk was a cautious man, he tended to be wary in every given situations, hence that suspicious behaviour of kim dokja was definitely bothering to him.

- kim-
- ah, i should go and check the others too!

not giving yoo joonghyuk a chance to ask any further, kim dokja just quickly glanced away and fled, leaving him there. of course joonghyuk was quite irritated with both having his words cut off and that sudden leaving. eventually, he let out a dissatisfied sigh, then narrowed his eyes while watching his companion's back. to be honest, he did not mind kim dokja repeatedly asking him that. what was really the matter there was the motive behind all this. kim dokja was an unpredictable man, who knew if he was planning to die somewhere alone yet again?

although yoo joonghyuk seemed like a cold-hearted regressor, perhaps a 'bastard' in someone's eyes, but he really trusted and cared for his companions, which was rather subtle most of the time.

therefore, yoo joonghyuk had an ominous hunch about it. he then tried to figure kim dokja's scheme out, but failed.

[constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' is looking at you with worried eyes.]

- what now?

yoo joonghyuk raised his head just a little, and was still frowning. it was uriel, a powerful constellation. because he detested the constellations, let alone the fact that this almighty archangel was rather fond of his companionship with kim dokja. in quite a strange way, as if she was obsessed for real.

[constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' says she may know what's going on.]

huh. yoo joonghyuk slightly scoffed.

...

it sounded reasonable though, he could not deny. that uriel had been watching kim dokja through all these times, perhaps she did know something that yoo joonghyuk did not.

- tell me.

he said. as if uriel had been waiting just for that moment, messages started to pop-up right in front of him. a lot of them, to be precise. yoo joonghyuk was trying to keep up with the stupidly fast pace of the messages were being sent to him, which made him frown even more deeply. that constellation did know better than him, did she not? despite his bothered expression, yoo joonghyuk actually, read every word he saw.

but it was rather nonsense to him.

by the next day.

- yoo joonghyuk. how are you today?
- ...

and yoo joonghyuk expected kim dokja to ask him that. he did not answer anything, just stared at kim dokja's face instead.

- kim dokja.
- huh? h-hey... why are you looking at me like that? are you going to hit me?

kim dokja stumbled with his words, and formed a nervous and kind of silly smile on his face. yoo joonghyuk caught that smile fully in his eyes, he then spoke up again after a moment of silence.

- how are you, kim dokja?
- ... what in the constellation-

kim dokja was completely stunned by that. for god's sake, how that regressor even came up with the idea of asking that, kim dokja questioned himself, while was completely dumbfounded. because of kim dokja's expression and the transparent awkwardness wandering in the air, yoo joonghyuk was ashamed of himself. as if it was all just a moment of weakness.

- tch, forget it.

then yoo joonghyuk turned his head sideways to hide his pathetic embarrassment. he only did that because uriel told him to, she made him say it for their benefit and would be a way to understand kim dokja's motivation.

that was what she said.

kim dokja was still full of surprise, but also kind of interested in the current situation shortly after. he knew that yoo joonghyuk would not act like this by his own, therefore he looked up to the sky and let out an awkward smile.

- uriel...

[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' says she has nothing to do with the current situation!]

- yeah... yeah, right.

[the constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' explains that she just wanted to help!]

she did not even try to defend herself, huh. he - after a short sigh escaped from his lips – looked at yoo joonghyuk again, who was still facing somewhere else rather than directly at him. kim dokja must admit, it was quite heart-warming of yoo joonghyuk to ask that question.

- hmm~ pretty good.

after kim dokja's short answer, yoo joonghyuk finally turned his head to face his companion again. his eyes were unfazed, but his left eyebrow was twitching. he always did that when he was interested or questioning something. that pattern of his was way too familiar to kim dokja anyway, of course he was able to notice it.

kim dokja then asked yoo joonghyuk back with his slightly playful tone.

- you're acting like it's strange.
- it is.

kim dokja widened his eyes a bit at his unexpectedly straight-forward reply, and chuckled right after.

- what, haha. i should answer your question though, should i not?

yoo joonghyuk just went silent, instead of giving kim dokja another response. but he felt like he should, since kim dokja had asked him first anyway.

- i'm fine.
- oh?

kim dokja paused for a few seconds like a mechanical machine having a small error in its system. strangely enough, yoo joonghyuk somehow found that kind of dumb. dumbly adorable. what was wrong with his head? what kind of witchcraft was that to make yoo joonghyuk think his companion's reaction was 'adorable'???

eventually, kim dokja smiled ever so softly. that could be the softest one yet, according to yoo joonghyuk's memory. at that moment, yoo joonghyuk could not look away, as if kim dokja had used a hypnotising skill on him, which he wasn't sure whether kim dokja had or not. yoo joonghyuk also caught himself staring at his companion's face for a little too long now.

- well... i'm glad that you're doing good, joonghyuk-ah.

'joonghyuk-ah'?

for a brief moment, yoo joonghyuk thought that he was hearing someone else's name, rather than his own. and kim dokja seemed quite casual with calling him that, too.

in the end, yoo joonghyuk could not understand kim dokja's plan, but it did not matter. for now, these two companions had formed a new habit only shared between two of them, which was giving each other a daily dose of interactions through questions.

- how are you today, joonghyuk-ah?
- normal.

- kim dokja.
- i'm fine.

kimcom's members had been teasing both of them, but mostly kim dokja for two reasons. one was because he was more suitable as a target, they did not want to mess with the hot-tempered regressor too much anyway. the fact that kim dokja seemed not to be irritated of being given such kind of labels - especially matching couple [by han sooyoung], love birds [by jung heewon] and stuffs - which gave them 'once in a lifetime' chance to tease him even further. to be honest, if the members had not, it would be strangely odd.

on the one hand, it was not called 'a new habit only shared between two of them' specially for no reason, since only they knew what each other meant. the kimcom member's second reason for choosing kim dokja as their target shall be revealed here, simply because he showed his intentions clearly and directly through spoken words, while that was a no for yoo joonghyuk's case. as if they could share the same brain, yoo joonghyuk just had to call his companion's name, 'kim dokja', then that specific man would immediately understand and reply differently each time. the way that kim dokja could distinguish between when yoo joonghyuk was asking about his day and when yoo joonghyuk was talking about something else, was fascinating.

on the other hand though, not only maintaining his old behaviour of checking on yoo joonghyuk, but that kim dokja was used to adding an excessive syllable after yoo joonghyuk's name, too. and damned he would call yoo joonghyuk by that every-single-given-chance.

asking for help? "joonghyuk-ah, give me a hand!"
preparing for the next scenario? "joonghyuk-ah."
simply having something to tell? "joonghyuk-ah!"
¿¿sleep-talking?? "mhm.. joonghyuk-ah.."

at first, yoo joonghyuk thought that he could accustom himself with his name being attached with '-ah', but to him, it had been worsening bit by bit. he did not protest or anything, though hated to admit that it felt quite pleasant to his ears, which was claimed to be the worst part by yoo joonghyuk. if he paid enough attention, he would notice that most of the time, the way kim dokja called his name sounded soft and dearing. perhaps that was what kim dokja intended to do, or he was just carelessly calling yoo joonghyuk with his subconscious fondness while not giving it another thought.

han sooyoung actually did ask him that more than twice, and the results were all the same as the first time, kim dokja said that he thought it was normal between companions.

normal, he said. of course no one believed him, including yoo joonghyuk. was there any better explanation rather than 'normal' for what yoo joonghyuk felt? he did not think so, though avoided making attempt to ask further, as he thought it was annoying to do.

due to the fact that there were no inconveniences nor anything with it, and it was quite nice as well, yoo joonghyuk thought maybe he could listen to that archangel once more, this time.

it was a cold night, while yoo joonghyuk was busy staring at the room's ceiling at the industrial complex, after hours of spending time to plan his next move and yes, to consider uriel's advice too.

yoo joonghyuk then decided to leave the room as he thought that he wanted to have something for himself to drink, perhaps some warm tea in this perfect atmosphere. his footsteps echoed through the silent hallway. eventually, he caught a silhouette at the corner of his vision, which was so familiar. the white coat hem was fluttering along with the night's chilling cool breezes, and that man was leaning against the hallway balcony.

- ah! joonghyuk-ah, where are you going?

that man recognized yoo joonghyuk's appearance right after, he spoke up first.

yoo joonghyuk approached closer and closer, then stood beside. he took couples of seconds to observe his companion's face carefully. he noticed the dark eyebags, those tiredly sleepy eyes and pale skin of the person's face. that man cleary had not been having enough rest lately, though yoo joonghyuk doubted that there was anytime he did properly.

- hm?

yoo joonghyuk kept his gaze on that specific companion's face, then he slowly blinked.

- kim dokja.

the way yoo joonghyuk called out that person's name was unintentionally, endearing.

as if that kim dokja had really won a soft spot in his heart, yoo joonghyuk finally caught himself saying his companion's name ever so tenderly now. but it did not matter anymore.

for kim dokja, he was touched by yoo joonghyuk's tone of voice, not to mention those calm eyes placed upon him. kim dokja's eyes were gleaming with some kind of expressions which yoo joonghyuk failed to get what he was implying, though kim dokja could sense a strange, sincere feeling in the regressor's previous two words.

kim dokja replied to him with a grin on his face, which also caused yoo joonghyuk's lips corners to slightly curl up and form a faint smile as well. yoo joonghyuk felt like he was at peace somehow, and being around kim dokja, seeing kim dokja like this, hearing his name being called by kim dokja, was not bad at all.

- joonghyuk-ah, how was your day?

coming up with that silly question again, which yoo joonghyuk would not be bothered to answer him every single day.