Chapter Text
The bell chimed as Kim Dokja pushed the door, entering the cafe he had scheduled his appointment in. There was soft music in the background, a cosy atmosphere, light brown and honey coating it. The smell of coffee and milk filled the air, soft chattering, light footsteps. All in all, a quaint place.
He just hoped his client would do it justice.
In all his time running his side business, Kim Dokja has never had his fair share of good clients, not that he had any luck with people in general. Or anything for that matter. Though he met with most of the trouble in this part.
He had, what people would call, a gift. And for better or worse, he was stuck with it. In his honest opinion, he'd rather call it a curse. But that would be just as off the mark as the other term.
Kim Dokja could see strings, "The String of Connections" as he liked to call them. One of them being the infamous "Red String of Fate". The most troublesome of them all if you ask him. But it was more than just that.
It came with a perk, one that almost made him think it was God's sick joke. Because why else would He give the power to erase fate into the hands of someone else, especially him?
So he kinda turned it into his business. Money makes you do things, as they put it. And Minosoft, or all his previous jobs, don't pay him enough to cover his bills. Not that this job gives him enough either, he sometimes questions why he is even doing it anymore, especially when half of his clients are insane themselves. Though who wouldn't be if their last resort is going to a shady guy who promises to cut the string tying you to the other person?
But that's besides the point. He was already pretty late, and he just hoped that the one he'd be meeting right now won't hurl his coffee at him, or whatever he was having. Anything is fine as long as it's not hot.
He sighed as he looked around the cafe. His client had said he'd be wearing.....
Black. There he is.
A person wearing all black was sitting in the corner, smartphone in hand, his wavy hair covering half of his face because he was looking down. Just as Kim Dokja started to approach his seat, the person momentarily looked up, sharp eyes landing on him. It rooted him for a moment.
He looked like a Protagonist of an apocalyptic novel, cool to read but dangerous to actually approach.
That face is illegal. I bet he'd be even more handsome up close. I hope he's not a serial killer, Kim Dokja thinks, remembering all the serial killer movies that he's watched, which is barely two, and in the process almost hits the waiter.
He should focus on the path, he thinks as he meanders towards the table. He just hopes he lives through this appointment, and doesn't anger the guy enough that he ends up cut into pieces and dumped into the Han river. He bets no one would even come looking for him, and if his luck is good maybe a street dog would sniff his remains out, but by then this guy would be long gone and there would be no traces left--
Black eyes stared into his soul. He almost knocked his waist on the table. "Excuse me."
Was it too late to check if this place had CCTV?
The man took a sip of his espresso, looking up at Kim Dokja standing in front of him, his beautiful brows furrowed. He probably didn't think a clumsy salaryman was the person he had an appointment with. Well, that was a normal reaction, within expectations. Infact, it was a regular occurrence.
Kim Dokja really didn't look the part. Scrawny but tall, as if someone stretched him out, a slight hunch to him thanks to his desk job. His dark circles made his eyes look duller, his features gaunt, and his skin was a sickly pale thanks to his unbalanced diet. All this paired with his customer-service smile made him look nothing short of a third-class scammer.
Even he wouldn't believe himself.
"Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi, I believe?", he started, his hand resting on the table as he slid towards the empty seat facing the man. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kim Dokja. Can I take a seat?"
Yoo Joonghyuk silently stared at him, his demeanour revealing nothing, leaving Kim Dokja to stand awkwardly for about two seconds till he internally cursed Yoo Joonghyuk, his own misfortune with people and the whole world, before he stretched his smile even further, lips twitching at the end, as he shamelessly sat down opposite the black stuck-up bastard. "If you'll excuse me."
If looks could kill, he'd be dead a thousand times over, but he was too immersed in cursing him in his mind to actually bother. His client had now started to furiously type away on his phone, ignoring Kim Dokja's existence entirely.
He cleared his throat. "Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi, it's a pleasure to meet you. I believe you got my reference from Yoo Sangah-ssi, correct?"
Yoo Joonghyuk paused.
Seeing this catch his client's attention, he stuck while the iron was hot, "Yoo Sangah-ssi was very satisfied with my services, and I assure you it's a hundred percent genuine. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have suggested it to you otherwise." The glare was still there, but at least it seemed like he was listening to him now.
...
...Okay...
"I can only help you if you tell me what's troubling you."
Yoo Joonghyuk furrowed his brows in concentration, probably contemplating whether to believe or not. Then another message came in. He exhaled after reading, his hands relaxing a little.
He eyed the irritating amount of greens around his fingers as he questioned, “Is it a stalker problem? Yoo Sangah-ssi had the same issue. I can erase it from the root.”
Yoo Joonghuk proceeded to glare at his phone. Kim Dokja couldn't understand if it was determination or killing intent.
Was that a success? Or, failure?
Seeing the lack of rotten strings, atleast the man wasn't a serial killer… or maybe it was hidden somewhere and he couldn't see it.
He got his answer when Yoo Joonghyuk looked up at him, still sceptical, and inquired, "Do you know about the 'Red String of Fate'?"
Kim Dokja almost laughed out loud. If Yoo Joonghyuk would've been kind enough to offer him a drink, he'd have probably sprayed it on him. Good thing he was a rude bastard. It was hilarious for such a dark and brooding guy to say something even remotely hinting of romance, let alone "the Red String of Fate". He seemed like the kind of guy who would deny its existence even after seeing proof of it.
Still, this wasn't the time to lose composure, especially since this guy had zero trust in him. He rested his hands on the table, his fingers lightly crossing each other, as he straightened up. He sighed, looked up at his brooding client and put his cards on the table, "Yes, Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi. I can even see them. It's literally my advertisement."
His client's eyes stilled, before settling back to his measuring look again. He's totally convinced that I'm a scammer.
Kim Dokja could bet that ninety percent of Yoo Joonghyuk's scepticism was because of how he looked. Because rationally speaking, scammers won't waste their time on stuck-up, hard to approach, arrogant bastards like him. They'd probably pick up on someone who is easier to approach, lost in life and who trusts easily. He wondered if this client of his ever heard of the saying: Don't judge a book by it's cover.
"Then can you see it?", Yoo Joonghyuk questioned, raising his brow.
Kim Dokja narrowed his eyes.
Probably not.
"Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi, you think I'm joking, aren't you?", he asked, smiling at that handsome mug of his insufferable client. "How about you let me see your hand?"
Kim Dokja stretched his palm to him, trying his best to stop his smile from morphing into a sneer as he waited for that bastard. His patience was growing thin with the increasing weight of gravity making his hand sore. He was one step away from walking out when Yoo Joonghyuk reluctantly put his hand on Kim Dokja's.
So stuck up.
Yoo Joonghyuk's hand was bigger than his, sturdier, with his fingers feeling slightly grazing. He had a callus on his wrist bone, familiar, as working in the QA department naturally got him one too. He could feel the rough skin of Yoo Joonghyuk's finger around his pulse point, making him weirdly nervous.
He locked his thumb around Yoo Joonghyuk's, lightly grasping his big hand as he touched the strings tightly bound to his fingers. It was difficult to make out the red one in between those green ones- Just how many stalkers did this guy have?
He’d bet it's the face, cause that aura would scare anyone away.
Kim Dokja missed the initial shock of the eternally grumpy man as he guided the slightly shimmering string of fate tied to the ring finger away from the others- thank god for the predictable placement of it.
Bright red. So he met his soulmate.
He held the string in his hand and realised how stupid he was probably looking while holding thin air in one hand, and his client's hand in another, but he couldn't think of an alternative. Thankfully his client was a grumpy old man, hence they were sitting in a corner, away from judging eyes.
"Congratulations Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi, your red string is glowing. You've probably met your soulmate recently", Kim Dokja spoke, trying to dispel whatever atmosphere he created. Only to look up at the man who was looking at his hand in Kim Dokja's and then at him with a different intensity from before. He seemed like he was convinced– the positive kind, his sceptical furrow loosened up.
He paused. Yoo Joonghyuk really didn't seem like the type of guy who would believe in someone who just lifted thin air and made some bold, "baseless" claims.
Though, that wouldn't stop him from making more of that.
His lips eased, eyes glinting, finally having the upper hand, "You want me to help you with this?"
He looped the string around his finger dramatically in front of Yoo Joonghyuk, pulling his end to show how tightly he had it stretched. But his focus was on the pair of deep black eyes, one that seemed like it could suck light itself, one which had been following Kim Dokja's movements, as well as the movement of the real string. The one lying on the table.
Cocky bastard.
"Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi", he paused, picking up the real string playfully. "You see it, don't you?"