Chapter Text
Beep Beep Beep
Dokja groans and blearily opens his eyes. He stretches his left arm to the side table beside his bed and grabs his phone. He fumbles and presses a button on his phone alarm.
Beep Beep Beep
Dokja snores.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
“I’m up! I’m up!” Dokja yawns as he pounds his head on his pillow a few times before turning off his phone alarm. He sits up on bed to stretch and crack his upper back before slowly moving his legs to the side of the bed. While scratching his stomach underneath his T-shirt, Dokja stands up and staggers groggily to the bathroom.
In the bathroom, he slowly goes through his morning routine. He brushes his teeth first and then moves on to his morning skin care routine. Last night, he already planned to go through his full 6-step routine to start off his day right. One must know that bright and moisturized skin results in a confident Kim Dokja. He turns on his sink and cups his hands under the faucet to pour the lukewarm water over his face. Dokja opens the bottle containing his cleanser and rubs the cleanser in before rinsing his face. Next, he dabs toner onto his face and puts a bit of serum to nourish his skin. Finally, he rubs in eye gel, moisturizer, and sunscreen to make sure his skin stays hydrated and protected. Dokja looks at the mirror to see his glowing and blemish-free skin that he always prides himself in. He tilts his head side to side and smiles with confidence. Kim Dokja is now completely awake.
Dokja hums and walks out of the bathroom with a small bounce in each step. He grabs his phone on his bed to check the time and blinks repeatedly in shock at the amount of texts and notifications he sees on the lock screen. Dokja tilts his head and furrows his eyebrows in confusion. After entering his passcode, Dokja looks at his text messages and reads the texts sent by his friend Han Sooyoung.
hsy: kim dokja
hsy: when were u going to tell me that you flirted w yoo joonghyuk
hsy: youre trending all over social media rn
hsy: dokja answer me
hsy: ya kim dokja
Kim Dokja’s smile freezes in place and he stops humming.
An egg sizzles on the pan as Kim Dokja holds the handle of the pan while lost in thought. The stove fan whirls above his head and a light breeze ruffles his hair as it comes through the open window in the kitchen.
The edges of the egg slowly change color from white to brown and then to black.
Yes, Kim Dokja absentmindedly blinks as he stares at the egg while lost in thought, this is a metaphor of my life. My life slowly turning to ashes.
After last night’s massive embarrassment on stream, Kim Dokja couldn’t fall asleep after a few hours restlessly tossing and turning in bed. He kept on replaying the scene in his head over and over again until he fell asleep from exhaustion from the long day he had.
Unfortunately for Kim Dokja, the whole fiasco wasn’t a nightmare and he woke up to clips of his stream trending all over social media.
Now, while preparing for his first day at his new job, Kim Dokja attempts to find the positive in his new found fame on social media. Perhaps people will give him more money on his live streams out of pity (or to laugh at his misery). Perhaps more people will discover his live streams and become new fans of his Vtuber persona.
At least I don’t use my real face on stream, Kim Dokja tries to cheer himself up. Nobody will recognize him when he steps outside and Dokja commends himself for deciding to keep his face hidden when he first started streaming. Therefore, his online embarrassment won’t bleed into his personal life at least right?
Ding!
Kim Dokja looks down at his phone to read the text that appeared on his lock screen.
jhw: LMAO thick and veiny arms
Hah. Who was the one who decided to tell his friends that he streams as Demon King of Salvation? Ah right. It was Kim Dokja.
Kim Dokja sits down to eat his breakfast of eggs and toast at his dining table. He stares down blankly at the new eggs he made after burning the first one. As he slowly picks up his fork to begin eating, he hears his phone alerting him to a new text. Dokja pretends that he suddenly went deaf and couldn’t hear the incoming text message. He chews on his food robotically while thinking about the texts his friends sent him this morning.
My friends are never going to let me live this down. He continues to question his life choices.
After checking his satchel and pockets to make sure he has everything he needs for the first day at work, Kim Dokja briskly walks to the subway. He quickly scans his card to get through the gate and hurries over to the subway line that’ll take him to the stop nearest to N’Gai Esports.
Although his job allows him to work remotely a few times a week, Dokja is still required to go in-person the first week of work in order to meet and familiarize himself with everybody on his team. In order to leave a good first impression, Dokja wants to arrive early at the office so he sighs in relief when he walks into the 7:40AM train on time. As the doors of the subway slides shut, Dokja finds an empty seat and sits down next to two young students.
He puts his satchel on top of his thighs and checks his phone to review where he needs to go after getting off at his stop. As he reads the next few directions, Dokja accidentally overhears the conversation between the two students he sat next to.
“Did you hear about what happened last night on StarStream?”
“There’s a lot of things that happened yesterday. Which one?”
“The Supreme King met a streamer fan during the match and it was hilarious!”
“Oh that one! I saw the clips this morning. It was some Vtuber named… What was it again?”
“Demon King-”
Kim Dokja puts on his earbuds in the middle of the students’ conversation for the sake of his mental health. He goes to his music app on his phone and clicks on a playlist Jung Heewon recommended to him last time saying that it was “calming” and “a mind cleanser.” He wonders if there was a playlist that can be used as a “memory erasure.” That kind of playlist could certainly help him in this situation. As a soft piano introduction begins to flow through his ears, Dokja navigates to his Kakao talk and opens up his conversation with Han Sooyoung.
kdj: how do i escape this living hell
kdj: even on the subway ppl are talking about me halp me
hsy: man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor
hsy: aka deal w it and suffer, you dealt these cards yourself
kdj: fuck y r u my friend
hsy: lol
hsy: wdym im a great friend
hsy: i laugh at your face not behind ur back
hsy: i also give u emotional support
kdj: wheres the emotional support i need rn????
hsy: there there *pats back*
hsy: nws yoo joonghyuk doesnt know u exist
hsy: you’re just one of many Supreme King fangirls
kdj: … one day u’ll regret treating me like this
hsy: r u some cringe trashy 2d villain from an isekai
Dokja closes his Kakao and contemplates on ways he can get back at Han Sooyoung. His planned payback has been long-running since she first became friends with him when he was a high-schooler and Han Sooyoung became the bane of his existence. Dokja has been waiting for the day she falls in love and becomes an idiot in front of her love interest. Heh, Kim Dokja thinks vindictively, I’ll tell her crush all the embarrassing moments she had during university. Such a shame that Han Sooyoung hasn’t truly liked anyone since high school.
With Dokja momentarily distracted from thinking about the streaming incident, he looks up to see what the next stop is. Scanning the text on the screen quickly, he prepares to get off at the next stop. He looks down at his phone to check the time and puts away his phone in his front pocket. As the subway slows down, Dokja stands up and slowly navigates through the morning crowd to reach the nearest doors.
“Excuse me! Coming through,” Dokja says hurriedly. He gets off the train and walks leisurely to the exit of the subway station knowing that he has a bit of time to spare. Dokja mutters out the last few directions during the last half of his commute.
Dokja finally arrives at the office of N’Gai Esports. As he slowly looks up at the building, Kim Dokja eyes widen and his mouth opens slightly in awe at what he sees. A sleek, modern building with glass walls that sparkle in the sun. Arching metal that frames the front doors and neat hedges running alongside the sides of the building. Although the size of the building isn’t the tallest in the area, the sight of the company name makes Dokja feel excited for his future.
I’m working where the Supreme King signed on to his first esports team and won the Korean circuit for Valorant, Kim Dokja’s body vibrates in excitement. Although the thought of last night still makes Dokja feel a thread of shame, the excitement of finally landing his dream job overcomes his previous dread.
There’s no way I’ll ever meet the Supreme King here anytime soon anyways, Kim Dokja thinks. He assures himself that by the time he does meet his idol, the incident would be forgotten. With this in mind, Kim Dokja straightens out his tie and smooths down any wrinkles on his suit jacket and pants that formed while sitting on the subway train.
Kim Dokja strides up to the front door with his shoulders back and chin up.