Kim Dokja straightened out the empty candy wrapper he had crumpled up in his hand earlier absentmindedly. He was more careful with the wrapper of the next candy he put in his mouth.
In the pleasant silence, aware of Yoo Joonghyuk's gaze, Kim Dokja fiddled with the plastic wrapper between his fingers. The plastic rustled and made a noise only for a few seconds when he folded it over for the first time. Kim Dokja wasn't sure what to do with the thin rectangular strip of plastic he was holding. He supposed he could put it in his pocket and throw it away when they landed. Put it for recycling and all.
He parted his lips a fraction and breathed in, the air cool in his mouth and throat.
Sunlight was pouring in and the lights inside the aircraft seemed pointless. Clouds looked like soft cotton candy.
It was a one-hour flight, apparently. Kim Dokja took about as much time, to get home from work.
His neck throbbed a little when he looked away from the round window. He stretched and rolled his neck, and something cracked rather audibly, alarming Yoo Joonghyuk and Uriel, and Kim Dokja had to assure them that he was fine and his bones just did that sometimes.
"It's not that big of a deal, really," Kim Dokja told them. "Even my fingers do that."
He demonstrated, interlocking his fingers together and bending them backwards slightly, his palms facing outwards.
Uriel gasped in horror at the loud, rapid snaps and cracks.
Kim Dokja tried not to laugh, but it escaped him as a snort.
"Dokja-yah, don't do that," Uriel cried.
"I'm sure anyone can crack their knuckles," Kim Dokja said conversationally, separating his hands. He pressed the base of his right palm onto the top of his left hand, curling his fingers inside, his knuckles cracking.
"A lot of my joints do that," he said.
He stretched out his arm as much as he could and his elbow joint made a noise.
"Even my ankles do that, actually," he told them. Under the table, he stretched his foot out it made a snapping noise. "And my wrists too." He gave his wrist a flick and it produced a similar result.
"Stop that," Yoo Joonghyuk said, grabbing his wrist that he was rotating.
"It's harmless," Kim Dokja was nonchalant, but Yoo Joonghyuk didn't release his grip around his wrist.
"It might be now," he said sternly. "But it could cause serious injury if you accidentally twist it the wrong way. Don't do that."
Kim Dokja sighed.
"Alright," he gave in. "It's not like I go around doing it every two seconds. Just when I'm stretching, you know."
"Learn proper stretching exercises, not this."
He was getting told off by Yoo Joonghyuk again. For the silliest of reasons, that too. Kim Dokja made a non-committal noise in the back of his throat and that was the end of that conversation.
Slipping the empty wrappers into his jacket pocket, Kim Dokja pulled out his phone. If he had nothing better to do, he might as well read something. The idea of taking a vacation sure was taking its own sweet time settling into his head.
The group chat with his friends was too silent and then he remembered that it was a work day, and there was nothing special going on in their eyes.
"There's wifi, do you want the password?" Uriel said suddenly.
Wifi? On a flight? He'd put his phone on airplane mode though.
"That's alright," he said. "I have downloaded versions on my phone, I was just going to continue reading my novel."
"What are you reading?" Uriel sang and Kim Dokja turned his phone around to show her the novel he was reading.
Uriel read a few lines and then pulled back.
"It seems interesting," she said.
Kim Dokja chuckled. "My friend recommended it to me. I thought I'd try something out. It's not the genre I usually read."
He could feel the curiosity emanating from Yoo Joonghyuk who was stubbornly keeping quiet. Kim Dokja brought his hand back to him and moved his phone to the middle so that Yoo Joonghyuk could see the screen as well.
Yoo Joonghyuk blinked at the words before him.
"It's a horror mystery," Kim Dokja said. The scene he just happened to have on his screen at the moment was gore with an elaborate, vivid description, with a character walking into a crime scene with splattered blood and body parts. Of course, Uriel looked like that.
"What's the story about?" Yoo Joonghyuk asked, taking him by surprise.
Kim Dokja sucked on the candy he had pushed between his teeth, rolled it over to the other side of his mouth and said. "It's...um, well, it's about a psychopathic serial killer on the loose."
Kim Dokja was trying his best to give a summary of the story without spoiling too much.
"And there's this protagonist who's got some kind of memory, sleepwalking issue. One circumstance leads to another and the protagonist is scared that he might be the serial killer."
Usually in book reports they spoke about themes, didn't they? Kim Dokja didn't really know what themes were used in the story. Self-introspection or something? He wasn't sure, so he wasn't going to open his mouth and embarrass himself.
"Is he?" Uriel asked curiously.
"Not sure," Kim Dokja replied. "It's not specified, but it's looking likely."
"What do you think, Dokja-yah?"
"Probably not the killer," Kim Dokja muttered. "The author's sort of emphasised that the protagonist is a good person, a lawful citizen and all that. So it's probably got something to do with his past and all that, since the author's going for a protagonist who is clearly good. The usual storyline. . .But the author could bring in a plot twist last minute though."
Kim Dokja thought he would like it if the protagonist did end up being the killer. He felt it would be more justified. He hadn't read nearly a hundred pages of mystery with the protagonist monologuing, in deep inner turmoil for them to not end up being the killer.
An hour was shorter than he'd expected. Uriel brought out Yoo Joonghyuk's laptop and forced him to do something productive instead of sitting there like a rock and Kim Dokja sort of understood why he'd want to get away from his secretary.
He secretly promised to do better to help Yoo Joonghyuk get away from work next time.
As the plane descended, the ear pains ran him over like a truck. His mouth was completely minty and Kim Dokja didn't think their plan to have lunch once they landed would do him good. He might end up unable to taste anything.
The candy got crushed between his teeth. It wasn't on purpose, the landing and the pressure difference wasn't doing him any favours.
He felt Yoo Joonghyuk tap his arm and he turned to look at the man.
He said something, Kim Dokja supposed it was something along the lines of, "Are you alright?"
He grinned.
"Can't really hear anything," he said, pointing a finger at his ears. "My ears feel blocked."
"Don't worry. It will go away on its own," Yoo Joonghyuk assured him and Kim Dokja nodded. His ears were still throbbing painfully.
The aircraft came to a stop on the runway, the pilots came out of the cockpit to see them off. Uriel snatched away Yoo Joonghyuk's laptop and put it aside. She said something to him that made the man frown, but Kim Dokja couldn't really hear what she had said.
Kim Dokja got out of his seat after Uriel and Yoo Joonghyuk, following them out of the jet.
The second he stepped out, very welcome, warm winds hit his face.
The temperature outside was very pleasant after sitting in an air-conditioned, cool spot for over an hour.
Yoo Joonghyuk grabbed his hand again and Kim Dokja realised his hearing capacity was worse outside.
"Literally can't hear you," he said. His ears were blocked. He thought it'd be gone once he was standing on proper ground, but guess that was a false hope.
"How long until it goes away?" he asked.
"Depends," Yoo Joonghyuk said, louder so that he could hear him.
"Is there any way to make it go away quickly?" Kim Dokja said.
"Warm compress," Uriel suggested.
Where were they supposed to get a warm compress from? And they were probably all yelling at this point. It was embarrassing. He should just shut his mouth and wait it out. At least the pain had reduced, he should be glad about that.
Yoo Joonghyuk tugged his arm and Kim Dokja looked away from the bright blue sky.
"I have a trick," Yoo Joonghyuk was saying. Kim Dokja nodded eagerly.
"Breath in through your mouth," Yoo Joonghyuk said, acting it out on himself. Kim Dokja imitated the man, opening his mouth a little and taking a deep breath.
"Hold. Pinch your nose."
Kim Dokja pinched his nose with his thumb and index finger.
"Properly," Yoo Joonghyuk stressed. Kim Dokja pressed hard, keeping his nostrils closed. Now he couldn't hear and breathe, excellent.
"Keep your mouth closed and exhale," Yoo Joonghyuk said.
'How the hell am I supposed to do that?' Kim Dokja wanted to say. He supposed that his expression conveyed that message effectively because Yoo Joonghyuk smirked faintly.
"Blow hard," Yoo Joonghyuk changed his words.
Kim Dokja's confusion only increased.
"Keep your mouth and nose closed and exhale, push out the air," Yoo Joonghyuk was saying slowly and clearly. Usually, he could consider this a very kind act, but right now Kim Dokja was running out of air, what the fuck?
Kim Dokja let go of his nose and greedily breathed in the oxygen.
He tried it again once he was sure that he wouldn't faint because he wasn't breathing properly.
Breathe in, close mouth and nose and push the air out, whatever the fuck that was supposed to mean. He sort of got the idea though.
Kim Dokja gave his all into pushing the air out.
"GAH! Son of a bitch!"
Uriel looked up sharply from her phone that she was doing something on and Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes went wide as Kim Dokja doubled over trembling and groaning in immense pain.
His ear had popped suddenly, and very painfully. He hadn't meant to yell profanities, but they just came out of his mouth with the sharp pain that had shot through his ear. It felt like his eardrum had exploded.
Everything was suddenly so much louder in just one ear.
He heard Yoo Joonghyuk's laughter very clearly.
"You bastard," Kim Dokja gasped out, straightening, his eyes watering in agony. "Couldn't have told me it would hurt?"
Yoo Joonghyuk laughed harder and Kim Dokja aimed a punch at him. Yoo Joonghyuk caught his fist gently in his hand and said, "You wouldn't have tried it if I told you it would hurt."
"You don't know that," Kim Dokja glowered at the man. "I would've done it even if you said what I had to do was run and jump into the ocean."
Yoo Joonghyuk stared.
"You trust me?" the man said quietly like it was the most surprising thing in the world.
"Yeah, no shit," Kim Dokja huffed, clutching at his ear. He thought his ear might be ringing a little. Kim Dokja was no stranger to pain, but this was a new experience.
"I got into a jet without telling any of my friends," he said waspishly. "A perfect situation if you wanted to drug me and sell my organs. D'you think I'd have done that if I didn't trust you?"
". . .Why're you talking about selling organs?" Yoo Joonghyuk said, dazed. Uriel was clutching at her heart and laughing loudly a few feet away.
"Ahh, ow, ow, ouch, my ear," Kim Dokja groaned, pressing a finger down on his ear's tragus and massaging rather harshly to ease the ache.
"Are your ears unblocked now?" Yoo Joonghyuk said after clearing his throat awkwardly.
"This one is," Kim Dokja cocked his head to the left. "The other one's still blocked. . .Do I have to do that thing again?"
"There's another trick I have," Yoo Joonghyuk said slowly and Kim Dokja was starting to get scared of this guy's tricks now.
"What is it?" he said regardless.
"Press down," Yoo Joonghyuk demonstrated for him on his own body, holding his finger down on his tragus, closing his ear canal. "And yank." He flicked his finger away from his ear quickly.
It sounded like a horrible fucking idea.
"It's going to hurt," Yoo Joonghyuk warned him.
"Fuck it," Kim Dokja sighed, raising his hand to his other, blocked up ear. It was very uncomfortable, walking around with just one ear blocked.
"Ack-keuk!"
Yoo Joonghyuk patted his back bracingly when Kim Dokja doubled over in pain again.
"It's not gone completely," Kim Dokja cried. All that pain for nothing! His ear was still blocked and hurting.
"It'll go away on its own, Dokja-yah," Uriel told him kindly. "Just wait it out. Sometimes, it takes a whole day, but it'll be gone."
"Try swallowing again," Yoo Joonghyuk said, a little more worried than Uriel was and Kim Dokja was glad there was at least someone who could sympathise with the pain his poor ears were going through.
He tried it. His inner ear throbbed a little, but it did nothing else.
Kim Dokja shook his head to show that it didn't work.
"I'm telling you," Uriel stalked over and caught Kim Dokja's free hand and pulled him towards a black car that was waiting for them.
When the hell did a car get there? Was that what Uriel was doing on her phone? Getting them a ride? And the driver seemed to be loading their luggage into the trunk already. Could they leave the airport directly, without entering the airport building?
Well, it's not like they had to collect their luggage from inside, they already had all their stuff. So he supposed that worked out just fine.
Yoo Joonghyuk who was holding onto Kim Dokja's other fist didn't let go and got dragged along with him. The three of them resembled one of those games that toddlers played, holding hands like a train.
Whatever. Kim Dokja was pissed that none of those damn travel blogs told him about this little phenomenon happening. He was not prepared for this at all, what the fuck?
Food poisioning, chapped lips, splinters, sore ankles and feet, they spoke about all of that, but what about the ear pains caused on the flight? Not one person mentioned about it. Not a single damn word!
Uriel took the passenger's seat as always and Kim Dokja got into the backseat, Yoo Joonghyuk trailing in after him.
"Is it still hurting?" the man asked.
"Not really," Kim Dokja leaned back in his seat. "It's reducing steadily. It's fine now."
"That's a relief," Yoo Joonghyuk's shoulders relaxed by the tiniest fraction, and Kim Dokja who was familiar with the man's unconscious, involuntary actions caught it.
"We'll head to our accommodation first and then leave to have lunch," Uriel announced. "Are you hungry, Dokja-yah?"
"Ah, not really," Kim Dokja answered. It was not even noon, he wasn't hungry. He did feel like he would want to use the bathroom soon though. He prayed that the urgency wouldn't hit him until he reached their accommodation.
Their car sped down unfamiliar roads and it was just dawning on Kim Dokja that he was in Jeju right now.
Huh. . .He didn't have a name for the emotion he was feeling at the moment. It felt like little fizzy soda bubbles were erupting in his chest, something cool, sweet and tangy spreading through his insides.
Their accommodation wasn't too far away by car and they soon got out.
A resort. Kim Dokja felt he shouldn't be surprised anymore. He'd just flown on a private jet, really, he should have expected this.
Kim Dokja only realised that Yoo Joonghyuk had let go of his hand when he felt the man's knuckle brush against the back of his hand as they stood next to each other, Uriel having gone to talk to the receptionist.
Huh, when did he do that? He had ended up getting used to the comfortable warmth of Yoo Joonghyuk's large hand that covered his hand during their drive and didn't notice anything.
"Got our keys," Uriel returned, smiling brightly. "We have our rooms right next to each other, Dokja-yah."
Yoo Joonghyuk stared down his secretary who only smiled wider.
"He's on an entire other wing," Uriel said like the happiest person in the world, grabbing Kim Dokja's hand and skipping away from her boss. Kim Dokja could only give Yoo Joonghyuk an apologetic chuckle.
Turned out that Uriel was just trying to rile Yoo Joonghyuk up and they all had rooms next to each other. In a way. Uriel did put her room between Kim Dokja's and Yoo Joonghyuk's, though that really wasn't important.
It was quite a walk to get from one room to the other, but otherwise, technically, they were all on the same floor.
The room was larger than Kim Dokja's apartment. The bed was just criminally large, he was not even going to use one-third of that thing and there was no need for the whole sofa set, with a coffee table and all. And why did it have a whole kitchenette? It might as well have been a rather huge studio apartment.
Kim Dokja focused on the glass windows with a stunning view of the sea instead. He slipped his shoulder bag off and put it down on the sofa, heading towards the window.
He really wasn't in Seoul anymore. He knew he wasn't dreaming, the torment he'd gone through because of his blocked ears wasn't easily forgettable. The pain was real, he'd be super pissed if he had to go through all of that in a dream.
He left the windows and dropped onto the bed, the mattress bouncing him a little, the sheets soft and smooth under his palms.
Kim Dokja leaned back and let himself fall onto the bed. His back hit the mattress and got bounced up again, eliciting a laugh from him. What's up with beds like this, really? Why was it so bouncy and springy? Oh, well, he wasn't complaining.
Kim Dokja closed his eyes and yawned—He fell onto his side, accidentally biting his tongue because his blocked ear suddenly popped open when he yawned.
Sure, he could hear properly out of both ears now, but the pain he had just gotten used to came back for his other ear and Kim Dokja felt like crying a little. He swore darkly under his breath, a hand flying to press at his aching ear.
Yoo Joonghyuk rang the bell in his room around an hour later as planned and Kim Dokja rushed out to meet him.
"Are we leaving for lunch now?"
"Yes," Yoo Joonghyuk said.
"Oh, cool. Let me get my phone," Kim Dokja left the door open and made his way towards the bedside table where he had left his phone to charge.
He wouldn't have had a problem if Yoo Joonghyuk walked in, but the man stood by the door, waiting.
"Were you hungry? You can always get room service if you feel like eating something."
"No, no, I wasn't starving or anything," Kim Dokja pulled the charger away from his phone and slipped the device into his pocket. "I didn't want to make you guys wait."
"It's no trouble, Dokja-ssi."
Well, he was ready to go anyway.
"Are you not hungry, Joonghyuk-ssi?" Kim Dokja asked, pulling the keycard off its holder inside the room, the lights turning off immediately.
"Not yet," Yoo Joonghyuk stepped back allowing Kim Dokja to leave the room. Kim Dokja closed the door behind them.
"I usually have lunch a little later."
"Same," said Kim Dokja. "You know, at twelve-thirty, when we have our lunch break at work. I've gotten used to that timing after going to lunch at the same time for months."
"I see."
"Is it the same for you?"
"I eat a little later, at one o'clock. My secretary gets food delivered."
"Do you cook if you're not at the office?" Kim Dokja asked as they trudged towards Uriel's room to call her as well.
"No," Yoo Joonghyuk answered. "I tend to get busy and Uriel orders food to get delivered home instead."
"Ah," Kim Dokja nodded understandingly.
"I've started cooking again recently," said Yoo Joonghyuk. "I don't get a lot of time for it, but it's nice to do it whenever I get the chance."
"That's great."
Yoo Joonghyuk had started cooking because Kim Dokja started coming over for dinner on the weekends and it soon extended to whenever he had the time. It was enjoyable and relaxing so he didn't see a need to put a stop to this developing habit.
"Not there," Yoo Joonghyuk told Kim Dokja. "That's my room."
Kim Dokja looked away from the door he had reached out to. A grin spread across his face. "Did you kick Noona out? She said this one was hers."
"It was a fair trade," Yoo Joonghyuk said and elaborated no further. Kim Dokja seemed satisfied with his answer however and did not ask for a more detailed explanation.
Kim Dokja didn't need to know that Yoo Joonghyuk had threatened to cut Uriel's salary if she didn't hand over the key to him. He didn't like the idea of her having a room right next to Kim Dokja. What did she need that for? So that she could sneak into his room and gossip? Complain and talk shit about Yoo Joonghyuk to Kim Dokja? No way in hell was he going to let that happen.
Uriel took a while to open the door after they'd pressed the bell to her room. She seemed to have touched up her hair and make-up, and had changed into a lighter dress, an absolute waste of time, if Yoo Joonghyuk was asked.
Couldn't she be a little more punctual? Did she have to make them wait? Now Kim Dokja was apologising for disturbing her. He didn't have to feel sorry. If anyone had to feel sorry, it should be Uriel who was wasting everyone's time.
He hoped his disappointed frown would pass on the message to her, but that woman pretended she didn't see anything and looped an arm with Kim Dokja and pulled him away. Again!
Next time, he was fucking going alone with Kim Dokja. He knew she would hog him like this, she always did.
They had lunch with seafood and other Jeju island specials, according to the resort's restaurant at least.
"How're your ears?" Yoo Joonghyuk said, pushing the plate of grilled fish towards Kim Dokja.
"They're fine now. I yawned and it went pop. It hurt real bad, though."
"Is it still aching?"
"A little. It's not too bad."
Uriel was in charge of coming up with the itinerary for their trip. Yoo Joonghyuk had been to the island plenty of times before and just wanted to show Kim Dokja around. He would have loved to ditch Uriel and go off alone with Kim Dokja, but Kim Dokja would worry and keep asking about his Uriel Noona.
So Yoo Joonghyuk would have to compromise. He wasn't looking forward to it, but he could do it for Kim Dokja's sake. The main goal was to let Kim Dokja enjoy the trip. Anything was fine as long as they achieved that goal.
"It's blistering hot, we'll go to the beach some other time," Uriel was saying after lunch. "There's a spa."
"A spa?" Kim Dokja had a blank expression on his face.
"Mmhmm," Uriel hummed happily. "Let's get mani-pedis, massages, facials and relax~"
Kim Dokja looked a little intimidated now. Maybe Yoo Joonghyuk shouldn't have left everything about the itinerary to Uriel.
"Do something else," Yoo Joonghyuk said. "Let's go to the beach."
"Don't be ridiculous," Uriel shot him an incredulous glare. "We can't even do anything in the water right now. It's low tide."
She sighed when both Yoo Joonghyuk and Kim Dokja looked similarly unbothered by that piece of information.
"The sea's all receded, there's not much water on the beach during low tides," Uriel explained. "And it really is hot, have you checked the temperature? We can't even go for any water sports because, again, it's low tide."
"Check the tide schedule on the internet, will you?" she huffed at Yoo Joonghyuk.
If Uriel wasn't a competent secretary, he would have fired her on the spot for making him look like a blundering idiot in front of Kim Dokja.
"Well," Kim Dokja said with a sigh. "I guess spa it is."
"You don't have to do anything if you don't want to, Dokja-yah," Uriel caught his arm again, speaking before Yoo Joonghyuk even opened his mouth. "But did you know, this big boy here likes mani-pedis?"
"What?—I—I don't!" Yoo Joonghyuk spluttered, completely caught off guard.
Giggling, Uriel took Kim Dokja away because somehow, for some reason, that seemed to convince Kim Dokja to give the spa a try.
Really! Yoo Joonhgyuk didn't like mani-pedis! He'd just been really tired once and happened to fall asleep when he was being forced by Uriel to get ready for an event that included trimming his nails neatly.
"Do you like mani-pedis, Joonghyuk-ssi?" Kim Dokja asked him when he caught up to the other two.
"I—No, not really," Yoo Joonghyuk forced out. "She was teasing me because there was one time I fell asleep while getting a pedicure done."
Kim Dokja's eyes went wide.
"You actually had a pedicure done?"
"That's. . .It wasn't by choice," Yoo Joonghyuk sighed. "My secretary all but manhandled me to do it."
"I'm right here," Uriel snapped. Yoo Joonghyuk pretended she was one of the potted plants flagging either sides of the long hallway they were walking down.
"There was an event I was supposed to attend and I didn't have a lot of time to make myself. . .presentable."
"I think you'd have been presentable even if you'd just woken up from sleep," Kim Dokja said matter-of-factly.
"Please," Uriel snorted.
"Thank you, Dokja-ssi," Yoo Joonghyuk ignored her again.
"So did you enjoy the pedicure?" Kim Dokja said, a mischievous glint in his eye. He wasn't dropping it anytime soon, was he? Uriel giggled, a bit proud.
"I was tired," Yoo Joonghyuk justified. "I was having a tough time, it was very busy back then and there wasn't a lot I could do, sitting in a seat with my feet soaking in warm water. I might have dozed off for a little while. That's about it."