Kim Dokja heard Yoosung's soft giggle to his left and he moved his hand to pat her head. Gilyoung clung to his right hand and Kim Dokja realised that he couldn't pat the boy because he was still holding his phone.
Slipping his phone into his jeans pocket, Kim Dokja placed his right hand on Gilyoung's head and he was sure that the boy had stuck out his tongue smugly at Yoosung.
"Well, you guys can leave the kids with me," Kim Dokja continued. "And go enjoy your date."
"You always do this, Dokja-ssi," Yoo Sangah said sadly.
"It's because I want to," Kim Dokja assured her. "I've always felt taking care of the kids was better than going on some blind date."
"We're all going together," Yoo Joonghyuk announced.
"No, we're not," Kim Dokja said immediately and he ignored the glare Yoo Joonghyuk gave him.
He would rather die than have to walk around the whole day, watching Yoo Joonghyuk and Lee Seolhwa act all lovely dovey and hold hands and shit. They were still holding hands. He sort of wished he were a jellyfish too, none of this would have bothered him if he were just a brainless creature.
Kim Dokja jumped when his phone rang out of the blue, startling him out of his thoughts. His jolt surprised the kids and Han Sooyoung as well.
"What the hell, dude?" Han Sooyoung exhaled loudly, glaring at him for the scare.
The kids let go of him and allowed him to get his phone out of his jeans pocket easily. Yoo Joonghyuk's name stood out on the screen. The older cousin of the one he was with at the moment.
"I need to take this," he told his companions and answered the call. "Hello."
"Hello, Dokja-ssi," Yoo Joonghyuk's voice that he could easily recognise now issued through the device. "How are you?"
"I'm great. How are you doing?"
"A little tired from work, but otherwise alright."
"I feel you," Kim Dokja said compassionately. "We can run if Uriel Noona's being coming at you with a knife again."
Kim Dokja could feel his friends perk up, paying close attention to the call. He had mentioned his other friends often and they were curious about these people, especially someone he was close enough to call Noona.
"I wish, Dokja-ssi," Yoo Joonghyuk sighed heavily. "I truly wish I could run."
Kim Dokja felt bad for the poor man. It probably wasn't easy managing a company.
"I just saw your text and I would have texted you back, Dokja-ssi, but I'm driving at the moment, is it alright to talk?" Yoo Joonghyuk asked.
"Oh, yeah, that's totally fine," Kim Dokja said quickly. "It wasn't anything important anyway. You didn't have to call, Joonghyuk-ssi."
He saw them all flinch and frowned at them, questioningly.
"What?" he mouthed.
They stared back at him with strange expressions.
Was this because he said 'Joonghyuk-ssi'?
Even Yoo Joonghyuk looked a bit unsettled.
Well, it was bound to sound weird. He usually called him Yoo Joonghyuk or Joonghyuk-ah. A polite Joonghyuk-ssi would obviously sound strange and unfamiliar.
"I still wanted to let you know," Yoo Joonghyuk on his phone said. "It's alright, you don't have to feel bad or apologize too much, Dokja-ssi."
"Ah, did the text I sent you have one too many sorries?" Kim Dokja recollected what he had sent the man. "Usually I just send stickers, but I tried substituting them with words this time. Was it weird?"
"Not weird, no. You just sounded really apologetic," Yoo Joonghyuk told him.
"Not to say I wasn't apologetic, but I wasn't grovelling exactly," Kim Dokja said sheepishly.
"It isn't that important either, you don't have to be grovelling."
"Of course it's important. I enjoy coming over," Kim Dokja said to reassure the man.
"I enjoy you coming over as well, Dokja-ssi," said Yoo Joonghyuk. "Is there a reason you can't make it tomorrow?"
"About that, you see, my plan was I'd finish up some work today and come over as planned tomorrow, but my friends came up with an impromptu outing so we're at the aquarium now," Kim Dokja explained.
Han Sooyoung glared at him, her eyes saying, 'Why're you telling him all that?'
Why not? Yoo Joonghyuk already knew a lot more and Kim Dokja was going to end up telling him about it sometime or the other anyway. It was an interesting story now, his shortest date ever. Even the ones who had ditched him halfway had lasted longer, this was a party story if anything. He was obviously going to share it with Yoo Joonghyuk.
"And they'd even arranged a blind date for me," he said. "I'll have to catch up on work tomorrow and I might not be able to make it."
There was silence for a few seconds from the other end, and then Yoo Joonghyuk spoke.
"A blind date?"
"My friends insisted," Kim Dokja said. "But...oh, well, you know."
". . .Of course," Yoo Joonghyuk said and Kim Dokja could see that curt nod he usually gave in his mind. "You can't make it tomorrow because you are going on a date today."
"No?" Kim Dokja said, confused. "Because I have work to catch up on. I'll be spending today with my friends, the date's already tanked."
". . .Really?"
"Quick, wasn't it?" Kim Dokja said. "I thought it was funny too. It was actually the shortest date I've ever had. It was an interesting experience."
"I see," Yoo Joonghyuk said and Kim Dokja thought he sounded a little weird. "Are you going to start dating someone to distract yourself again?"
"No, that sounds like a bother," Kim Dokja said truthfully. "I don't think I need that anymore. Besides, I was planning on using work as an excuse. That works just fine, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it does. . .That reminds me, work? During the weekend, Dokja-ssi?"
"Ah, yes, something came up."
"Something?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Why do you have work on a weekend?" Yoo Joonghyuk said sharply. "I don't think anything important is happening that you'd have to work during the weekends. And from home? For unpaid hours? Dokja-ssi, are you trying to make me out to be incompetent?"
"Where on earth did you even think that up from?" Kim Dokja said. "I already told you, I have things to handle."
"Things I don't know about?"
"Things I haven't told you about because it's pointless, really," Kim Dokja sighed. "It's about Deputy Department Head Jang. Got to get that jerk, haven't I?"
"What are you even planning to do that you'd be working the weekends?"
"It's a secret," Kim Dokja sang and he could imagine the unimpressed expression on Yoo Joonghyuk's face.
"Seriously?" the man deadpanned and Kim Dokja found himself smiling a little.
Lee Seolhwa let out a little gasp that caught his attention. She shook her head and mouthed that it was nothing when he gave her a questioning glance.
"I'm sorry about tomorrow, Joonghyuk-ssi," Kim Dokja said. The Yoo Joonghyuk standing in front of him frowned and Kim Dokja turned his gaze to pretty jellyfish.
"You don't have to apologize, Dokja-ssi," Yoo Joonghyuk said. He sighed softly. "That's the other thing I wanted to let you know, it's alright if you can't make it tomorrow. I can just take the day to rest."
"Right, that sounds like a good idea," Kim Dokja subconsciously gave a nod. Then he felt a little embarrassed because his nod wasn't going to do anything, he was on a phone call. Han Sooyoung's judgemental stare was enough to make him want to vanish at that moment.
He focused on Yoo Joonghyuk he was speaking to on the phone. They didn't call each other or talk on the phone like this often.
"You're driving today, though? What happened to Mr Kang?" he asked.
"He's back in the country," said Yoo Joonghyuk. "I had to step out for a bit and took the car myself."
"Back in the country?" Kim Dokja said, confused. "Are you not in Seoul right now?"
"No, I'm in San Fransico right now. There was a meeting I had to attend."
Kim Dokja stared at a jellyfish that was swimming upwards, its tentacles swaying in the water.
"Is that so? When did you leave?"
"Last Thursday," Yoo Joonghyuk answered.
He didn't know that. No one told him.
Kim Dokja felt indignant for a second before rationality hit him. He had no right to be indignant. Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't obligated to tell him if he was going somewhere. He was a busy man, he had some business meetings to go to, Kim Dokja was just an employee and a friend who visited on Sundays. Hell, even Kim Dokja wouldn't tell his friends about things if they didn't have the habit of forcing it out of him.
"Hang on," he said. "Why did you say it's fine to meet tomorrow if you're not in the country right now?"
"I'll be back in the country by tomorrow morning," said Yoo Joonghyuk. "It does nothing to interfere with our plans."
. . .Wait.
"Tomorrow morning, you say. When exactly, may I know?"
"Around eleven in the morning."
Kim Dokja blinked.
"I say this with no intention to offend you," Kim Dokja started. "But Joonghyuk-ssi, are you out of your mind?"
"...Pardon?" Yoo Joonghyuk sounded stunned.
"Joonghyuk-ssi," Kim Dokja said sternly. "If you're landing at eleven tomorrow, are you not going to rest? We could have always met up some other time."
Kim Dokja wanted to tell this dumbass of a CEO he had off, but he could see someone walking in their direction with intent and if that was indeed his blind date, then he shouldn't be on a call when they first arrived. He couldn't just end the call like this either.
So he held up two fingers and mouthed, "Give me two minutes" to his friends, before walking away to a less crowded place a few feet away. He had been standing right in front of a sightseeing attraction, he should move somewhere else where he would disturb no one.
"Joonghyuk-ssi, if you're landing at eleven tomorrow, say you reach home by what? Noon? And the first thing you're going to do is prepare food?—Don't even start. . ."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Han Sooyoung said as they watched Kim Dokja place his free hand on his hip, his frown growing as he spoke to this other Yoo Joonghyuk that he always kept bringing up on the phone.
"He says they're just friends, but seriously?"
"It's Dokja-ssi, though," Yoo Sangah said and they all understood.
Kim Dokja was painfully dense. He never noticed it when someone was hitting on him. He never rejected anyone when they confessed to him, but if they didn't word out their feelings, he would never notice.
"But I've never seen him like that in all these years," Lee Seolhwa said.
Kim Dokja was more expressive over text than he was on call, for some weird reason. He didn't like long calls and tried ending them as soon as he could, saying they could discuss it in person or talk it out face to face instead of dragging out a call.
"I've seen more expression on his face in the last five minutes than I did the whole drive here," Lee Seolhwa said and again, they agreed. None of them had ever seen him this animated over a phone call.
Kim Dokja started out polite, then he had smiled a little, then he frowned and got pissed off and now he looked like he was giving a lecture to someone.
Kim Dokja turned his head to the ceiling, his frown smoothening out. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, before smiling again.
Suddenly his eyes went wide and the hand on his hip fell. His surprised confusion melted away into something cheerful and it wasn't long until he bowed his head, biting his fist as he shook with laughter he was trying to suppress.
"Ten points," Yoo Sangah said softly.
"It's true love," Yoosung gasped gleefully when Kim Dokja smiled widely, a rather loud laugh leaving his lips before he promptly slapped a hand over his mouth.
"What the hell?" Han Sooyoung said, torn between being indignant and pleased for her friend. "I'm going to tease him about it."
"Me too," Mia said with a malicious grin on her face.
Yoo Joonghyuk frowned, he had been letting her hang around Han Sooyoung for way too long.
"Hey, two minutes are done, no?" Han Sooyoung said.
No one was keeping track of time, but they supposed it had been over two minutes now and Kim Dokja was still talking to the other Yoo Joonghyuk on his phone, the bright smile never leaving his face.
"Come on, now, this is just stupid," Han Sooyoung grumbled. "If he gives me that 'just friends' bullshit, I'm going to murder him. He clearly likes this guy! Look at his dumb face."
Kim Dokja took his own sweet time to bid goodbye to the person he was talking to on the phone. When he hurried back to their group, still standing near the jellyfish tank, he seemed in a brighter mood than he had been the whole time.
"Sorry about that," Kim Dokja said. "So, where were we? You guys go on your dates, I'll be with the kids, yeah?"
"Are you dating?" Han Sooyoung cut to the chase.
"Who?" Kim Dokja said blankly.
"You and that Yoo Joonghyuk guy you're always yapping about. Going out now?"
"No," Kim Dokja said incredulously and Lee Seolhwa let out a sigh she wasn't able to keep in.
It was Kim Dokja's obliviousness striking again.
"Hey," Han Sooyoung said annoyed. "You like this guy, don't you?"
"Of course, I do," Kim Dokja said.
No one held any hopes. They knew what he was going to say next.
"He's my friend. Why would I be friends with someone I didn't like."
"Either I kill him or I kill myself," Han Sooyoung mumbled, head bowed as though in prayer. Perhaps it was, she was praying for a higher being to give her either patience or a knife to gut Kim Dokja.
"What?" Kim Dokja huffed. "Stop being weird and start moving. We're blocking the way."
Kim Dokja put his phone into his pockets and held his hands out, Yoosung and Gilyoung grabbed onto them immediately. Yoosung held her other hand out and Mia left her brother's side to go to her friend.
"I'm not letting you off the hook just yet," Han Sooyoung said, storming after Kim Dokja who set off down the long glass tunnel, water all around them, aquatic creatures swimming about.
"What was that face you were making then, huh?"
"What face?"
Han Sooyoung roared with exasperation and needed Yoo Sangah to calm her down.
"You go find all trashy assholes from dumpsters, but when a decent one comes along you can't make a move?" Han Sooyoung snarled.
"What are you talking about?" Kim Dokja said, genuinely baffled.
"That's it. I'm going to jail for homicide."
"Let's talk about this at lunch," Lee Seolhwa suggested.
"That's a great idea, Seolhwa-ssi," Yoo Sangah agreed.
"So now you're all going on your dates, right?" Kim Dokja sighed. "Don't bother my quality time with the kids now. Shoo."
Han Sooyoung clicked her tongue and Yoo Sangah dragged her away before she could launch another round of verbal berating at Kim Dokja.
"Call if something happens," Yoo Joonghyuk told Kim Dokja.
"I know, I know," Kim Dokja waved him away. "Don't worry too much and have fun. And you don't have to look so sorry, Seolhwa-ssi. Really."
He sent both couples off and now was left with the kids.
"So," he said slowly. "Let's go find a food court, shall we?"
"Are there food courts in the aquarium, Ahjussi?" Yoo Mia said.
"If it's not, we'll find one at the end," Kim Dokja told her. "The souvenir shop might have snacks. Let's try to get there before your brother does and sneak in chocolate."
The kids sure seemed to like that idea.