Chapter Text
Prologue: Kim Dokja
Kim Dokja was a peculiar man and an even stranger omega. He was someone that melted into the background and slid away whenever a troubling situation appeared. However, he was also someone who had a soft heart, too big for his own good.
Dokja was a reader and a reader is a supporter. He can not compare to an author who would spin and write a tale or the protagonist who lives the story, but it was without a doubt that without a reader, an author and protagonist would not exist. That was a never-changing fact in the world. An author needs a reader to support their story and a protagonist to continue writing. A reader needs a protagonist to continue living and an author to continue writing. A protagonist needed an author to survive and a reader to live their life.
Dokja, like his name suggests, was a mere reader, a supporter. He had already forsaken life once, only continuing on just to be the sole reader of the novel “Three Ways to Survive a Ruined World” or the shortened name “Ways of Survival”. It was there that he met the protagonist, his salvation. From then on, he supported. He commented on every chapter, hoping the author would continue writing. He cheered, sobbed and complained for the Protagonist, hoping that he would get the ending he deserved. The omega side of him yearned to hold him and cradle, protect the protagonist from the cruelty of living.
He even brought it into his own life, carefully, anonymously supporting those who he deemed had a bright future, those he thought deserved more. By the time the novel ended with an epilogue that he vehemently thought was unfair, stupid, dreadful…etc, he had a different reason to keep on living. The 4 kids he brought in, the 4 kids that needed him to live. For them, he would do anything.
Lee Jihye
The first kid he took under his wing was an energetic girl called Lee Jihye.
She was loud, blunt, hot-headed and brash but she was also caring, bright, considerate and had a delightful laugh.
Despite her strong nature and her scathing remarks, Lee Jihye was only a traumatized kid on the inside, one that relied on masks to get around. Kim Dokja was no different.
He met Lee Jihye in an abandoned alleyway, the shortcut leading to his workplace at Minosoft where he worked as an underpaid corporate slave. The alpha was bruised and wounded. Cuts and ugly spots littered her forearms, her calves and thighs where the school skirt was ripped and her face was puffed, no doubt harshly punched. What hit him the most was the tears running down her face, the familiar dead eyes and continuous scratching, deep enough to draw blood. It was a pitifully familiar sight and had him immediately moving.
He took slow calculated steps, making sure to not seemingly cage her in and crouched carefully in front of the girl. She didn’t even acknowledge or recognize his presence. Pursing his lips, he gently cradled one of her cut littered hands and placed it on his chest where his heart was.
“Breathe. Follow the beats, breathe.” He repeated, voice low and soft. He had only understanding, pity had no room in his heart.
“You're doing good, keep breathing, just you and me. Follow the beats.”
Slowly but surely, she came back from her subspace, breathing the same rhythm his heart beat, relaxing into a slump. The girl didn’t even have the fight in her to remark on his actions or try to strangle him for touching her.
“You’ll be alright. I’m here. May I know your name?”
A tentative question, voiced out but not something he expected to be answered.
“Lee Jihye. Your name ahjussi?” Lee Jihye’s voice was raspy, unsure. He hurried to respond.
“Kim Dokja.”
The omega had smiled, keeping the younger’s hand in a loose grip on his chest. Lee Jihye made no move to pull away, instead slumping further onto his frame.
“Why is ahjussi helping me? I killed someone, I don’t deserve to live.”
Dokja didn’t move, he didn’t even tense, only giving the alpha a soft look. More light returned to Jihye’s eyes once she understood that the man didn’t resent her, and wasn't disgusted by her actions.
“Jihye-ssi had a reason to, no? I see no reason to put the blame on a broken child.”
Perhaps it was something in his voice, something that stood out to her that Jihye’s eyes filled with tears again. No matter what, Dokja would take her side. Jihye was only a highschooler, obviously traumatized by her experience and needed the support someone should give. He would give her that support, the support he once needed.
“Cry Lee Jihye. Don’t suppress your urges, don’t think you're weak. You had a reason, I won’t blame you. Cry your feelings out, scream, hit, whatever you need.”
Gently, slowly, he pulled her into a hug and ran his hands through her long hair soothingly when the girl buried her head into the crook of his neck. Almost immediately, his shoulder part of his suit dampened and hiccupping, loud ugly sobbing and whines filled the air. As the girl sobbed, sometimes unintentionally hitting him, the omega continued carding his hands through her hair. He crooned, murmured and whispered praises, reassurances into her hair and was relieved when she eventually calmed to soft hiccupping.
“Do you want to come home with me? I’ll make some hot chocolate and we can talk it out if you want to.”
A muffled sigh and then a hesitant nod.
“Alright. Can you stand?” Dokja supported her as she straightened, only letting her go when she stood firmly on her feet with no obvious swaying.
“My home is near here, just a block away.”
Seeing the state of her outfit, he rushed to take off his jacket and drape it over her shoulder. He was delighted in the way she immediately buried her face into the cloth, searching for more of his soothing scent. When she emerged again from the jacket, he led the way, walking slow enough for her to keep up but fast enough that it only took a few minutes to arrive at his apartment.
Jihye was settled on his worn couch, wrapped in an equally worn blanket as he made the hot chocolate that was supposed to be saved for the weekend. Dokja had even topped it with the whip cream he had managed to get and a small sprinkle of artificial sugar. The omega brought out 2 cups of the drink, offering one to Jihye as he settled down. For a few good minutes, it was just silence, broken only by soft sniffles and the occasional hiccups. He didn’t push her for her story nor did he bring anything up. He only patiently waited to see if she would talk and if she wouldn’t, he would never hold it against her.
“I feel like I owe Dokja-ahjussi an explanation, but I know you wouldn’t like it. You're not that kind of person.” She sniffed again. Dokja didn’t reply, only tilted his head invitingly, expression open and unjudging.
“Dokja-ahjussi really shouldn’t care too much. Just know I’m sharing this because I want to. Because you seem like someone I can trust.” Again Dokja didn’t reply. A brief moment of silence settled over them.
“I…I was forced to kill my best friend. I swear I didn’t want to! But– But they forced me to…” The younger’s teeth grinded loudly and the hands around the mug had a strong enough grip to crack the glass. The glass didn’t budge, neither did he.
“She was all that I had, the only one I tolerated. The people that birthed me had borrowed money from a few gangs and when they ran away, they searched for me to pay the debt. My relatives threw me out, I had no money and they turned to Na Bori instead.”
More tears dotted the rim of her eyes, he silently offered her a tissue and turned blind eyes to the trembling of her lips.
“And I killed her. She had smiled, begged for me to kill her. She was afraid for my life and now–! And now she’s dead because of me!”
Another ugly sob broke through her lips and this time he moved to embrace her in a hug again. Dokja patted her head and pressed a soft kiss to her grime matted hair.
“You’ve been through a lot.” He hesitated, sighing lowly before continuing in a more resolute tone.
“In this world, life is cruel. They take and we mourn, nobody deserves to die but nobody deserves to live either.”
Jihye stiffened up in his arms.
“Sometimes we’re forced to make a choice, sometimes it’s something we hate or something we love. Either way we live with it and find another way to survive be it a novel, a person or even something as simple as food. Na Bori passed to give you a second chance because to her, you were the most important thing in her life, the one person she needed to survive. In her eyes, she would rather die than live without you.” The alpha resumed sobbing and screaming. Tears seeped into his shoulders and the muffled screams were too loud for his comfort but he continued nonetheless.
“She might’ve been your reason for living too but she had given you a second chance to continue living. In my eyes, wasting this second chance is wasting her sacrifice. Whether you take this chance or not is your decision. I can see it, you're a strong girl Lee Jihye. Live your life the way you want. Live it with no regrets so that the one day you pass, you can go on and tell Na Bori ‘I’ve lived my life well. I respected your sacrifice. I’ve missed you and it's good to see you again.’”
He could see it, Jihye’s resolve piecing back together and the will to fight returning back into her shaking body. When she pulled back, a determined flame was ignited in her eyes. Dokja smiled, soft and proud. This was how Lee Jihye was supposed to be, strong and determined with her own way of fighting.
“Dokja-ahjussi. Your words, they’re experienced…I like them. Tell them to me again tomorrow, tell it to me again the day after. Tell them until you can share your story yourself.”
So caring, so determined, so utterly pure. The omega could only nod, smiling along with Jihye’s beam of happiness. She was staying, he was staying. They would become the constant in each other’s life.
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Living after that was eventful. Since Jihye had nowhere to go, she stayed with him in his small apartment, sleeping in the only spare room he had. It was small and undeserving as a home for the girl but she had made it clear that she wasn't going anywhere and Dokja couldn’t change her mind no matter what.
In the mornings, Dokja would scramble around making a simple fulfilling breakfast while waking the girl up and rushing them out the door to the subway station.
During the day, Jihye still went to school as a freshman with her new uniform and Dokja went to work to slave away at his computer.
When they returned home together, Dokja would once again cook up something simple and cheap before the girl went to play games or study. He instead would go search for a better job, something that paid better so that Jihye could live more comfortably.
As night rolls around, they would huddle together on the sofa, the alpha cuddled up to his side and read a new novel or manhwa together, hands cupped around matching cups of tea.
Before bed, he’ll whisper the words to her again and press a soft kiss to her hair while bidding her goodnight. It was a wonderful routine and filled his chest up with a fond warmth, Dokja wouldn’t like it any other way.
Somewhere along the way, “Dokja-ahjussi” turned into “orabeoni" because by Jihye’s words, “oppa was too weird and young to call a old man like him”. Dokja loved that little shit. They celebrated with takeout that day.
Jihye was also incredibly chaotic. Sometimes the alpha forgot her strength and rushed into his room, tearing the hinges of the door straight off. Other times, she’ll nearly set the kitchen on fire from trying to cook or knock his bookshelves down with a clumsy stumble. Even if he lightly scolded her and mourned the lives of his damaged books, he made no move to correct any of her ways, instead often indulging her whims.
On the 4th of February (Jihye’s birthday), 3 months into their newly changed routine. Jihye received a gaming pc, one he had pulled countless connections for and an allowance of 250,000 won. Jihye had practically died from happiness and jumped around the whole day, swooning when they went out to eat (skipping half a day of school) and yelling excitedly when the omega brought out his homemade cake for her to share with her classmates (when they returned to school with only 2 hours left).
He could afford more now and would happily spoil her with every chance he got. Dokja had recently found a new job as a project manager in a rising company called N’Gai Enterprise. It wasn’t extremely popular, but the workers and managers were smart and reliable. Most importantly, it paid fairly well and within a few weeks of working, he had enough to pay for better groceries, clothes and other necessities. He reckoned that after a few months, he could save just enough for them to move to a bigger and more spacious apartment closer to her school. He had his eyes set on a 4 room one just a block away and a rent of only 550,000 won per month. A huge steal if you asked him.
A few more uneventful months passed by and soon enough, Just as he said, they managed to move into the newly acquired apartment with what little belongings they had. However they didn't expect for such a big change, but you know what they all say. With new homes came new experiences and apparently for them, it was a new kid to disrupt their lives.