"That guy...is my companion." He couldn't help but smile bitterly while watching Yoo Joonghyuk declare those words. Something churned in his abdomen in a good way, while he felt a thousand needles pricked his heart as he clenched the pole beside him.
Kim Dokja's fingers ghosted at the words written in front of him, words that changed into a video at once as he continued to dream.
「Ki m Dok j a cr i es, fo r he miss es hi s comp a nions.」
Kim Dokja was indeed crying, as he didn't even retort back to the Fourth Wall's narration.
He's lonely. He misses them. He dreams of them.
It was one of his emotional times, and the Fourth Wall lets him as long as he continued to dream various worldines.
Everything he did was for them. He paved a path for them, sacrificed himself repeatedly, all of that for the people who helped him through his life back then.
He was just simply returning the favor, because he believes that they also deserved to be happy.
Kim Dokja was neither oblivious or an idiot. He knew his previous antics made his friends anxious, but still did it in the end for the sake of the conclusion he wanted.
And they were supposed to live happily ever after with his avatar. All of them except for him, and he accepted that fact for all the years he had been in the train.
In the end, he still chose to be the reader, locked inside the Fourth Wall he chose to be in between them.
Kim Dokja sometimes lament at the fact how lonely he is while he continued to dream in the subway train, including now.
He sometimes wishes for a companion, including now also, but he immediately knew it was impossible and he knew it was selfish for him for something unattainable, so he instantly discarded those foolish thoughts.
"Happy Birthday, you rat."
Kim Dokja flinched as he looked at the scene in front of him before closing his eyes and covered his ears.
"Happy Birthday Ahjussi!"
Cruel. How cruel.
Kim Dokja never got to celebrate the birthday he loathed with them. He was filled with jealousy as his unkempt tears continued to pour out.
He didn't even know it was supposed to be his birthday considering that he already lost his sense of time after being in the subway for far too long. He wished once again to experience those things as having fun like a normal human.
Kim Dokja's fingertips slid at the window in front of him. He knew he brought it to himself, he knew there was no more reason to cry over spilled milk now.
So he switched into another worldline to watch and continued to dream.
He was still the Oldest Dream after all.
「D oyo u wa n t a comp an ion Ki m Do k ja?」
"What?"
Kim Dokja let out a surprised tone.
「Ic an g ive yo u on e.」
He doesn't even know what went through the Fourth Wall's mind to actually consider giving him a companion.
「Thi nk o f it a s yo ur bir thd ay g i ft fr om m e.」
Accompanied by a light that glowed in front of the subway seat, Kim Dokja had his mouth agape as he stared at the figure that was being created by the stars coming from the outside as the sou d of the subway train continues to resound.
「Ha p py Bir th d ay, Ki m Dok ja.」
[The Oldest Dream is looking at the "new entity".]
Pale face and chapped lips, with a hair that cascaded smoothly in his shoulders similar to a waterfall and the color is as red as a tomato that it was the first thing Kim Dokja thought making him grin to himself.
[A new story is being created!]
"Who is he?" Kim Dokja asked, particularly to the Fourth Wall as he stopped himself from touching the redhead if the latter was actually real.
「A fr i end? Pe r haps. He i s C ale Heni tu se, for mer ly kn o wn as K im Ro k So o.」
Kim Dokja's mouth opened and closed, "How the hell did he even get here? I thought only the Oldest Dream is allowed to reside here?"
Then, there was a new voice heard by Dokja.
「I asked the Fourth Wall for a favor to let my child rest here if possible.」
Kim Dokja, to say the least, is confused. Because who is in their right mind to let their child stay in this train that reeks of despair and loneliness, caged as they watch and dream to let the world run its normal course?
「H e wi ll be yo ur comp ani on, as al so rec ei ve the ti tle of th e se c ond Ol des t Dr ea m.」
"Why? Does he even want this? Did you even asked for his permission to give him that title? Does he even know how lonely it is in here?!"
「Di d yo u no t wa nt thi s?」
Kim Dokja was silent at that, even if terribly wanted it even though he's such an anti-social bastard, they should have asked for the redhead his permission.
"But why here of all places?"
「Ahem, I will introduce myself first. I am the God of Death, an old acquaintance of the Fourth Wall. And it seems that today is your birthday. And per se, this child, Cale Henituse, needed to be here to earn probability.」
「C ale i s al rea dy de ad, is wh at h e wan ts to sa y.」
Kim Dokja became silent when he read the word dead.
"And he needed probability to create an incarnation body?"
[The story, 'Those Who Seek Solace', had begun its storytelling!]
「Yes...」
"Then, is he a constellation now?"
「In de ed, h e is.」
Kim Dokja looked at the redhead in front of him that was starting to stir awake, before clenching his fists and sighed.
「It se e ms th at yo u tw o ar e no t th at dif f erre nt fr om ea c h o ther. So I al low ed hi m to b e you r com pa nion.」
「I ask you this favor. Please take care of him.」
Kim Dokja wanted to ask how long, but he was afraid of hearing the answer so he only nodded in defeat.
"Gods really do whatever they want."
Kim Dokja heard a mumble as the redhead opened his eyes in a languid manner. He stares at the stars and galaxies behind Kim Dokja that continued to drift in the vast space.
「Ki m Dok j a, as th e Ol des t Dr ea m, is no t al one an y mo re.」The Fourth Wall had narrated.
YOU ARE READING
「Those Who Seek Solace」LCF x ORV
FanficCale knew that he died, right after a few minutes after the White Star stabbed him a dagger coated with dead mana just like how he stabbed the other with the World Tree dagger. So it came to an initial shock for him to wake up inside a train that co...
