The long grass stung his legs, and the burning sun drenched him in his own sweat as he made his way down the forest path. Said path was a basic dirt road, but due to rain a few days earlier, had turned to mud that reached his ankles.
It didn't take long for his shoes and clothes to be caked in it. Dokja could fully admit that he was lost, everything in sight was just trees and he could've sworn this path went in circles. He tried stomping on the mud in his frustration, but couldn't with his shoe stuck in it, making him even more annoyed.
He took a deep breath and attempted to free his foot from the mud, but then heard footsteps drawing near. Given his experience last time, there was a 50/50 chance that whatever emerged would either be an adorable creature or a horrifying monster.
Not willing to take those odds, Dokja forcefully pulled his foot out of the mud, leaving his shoe embedded in it, and ran behind some tall plants.
Looking around, if Dokja wasn't imagining things, this might've been the same spot he hid in with Biyoo the other night. Peaking out, he saw a woman and a cloaked figure huddled together. He grimaced as the cloaked person shoved a small bottle containing a crimson liquid into the woman's hands.
They conversed a bit, and from hearing their cadences Dokja was pretty sure the cloaked figure was a man. His voice seemed deeper and noticeably more gruff. The woman was the first to walk off. Dokja tried to see what direction she left in. But he immediately ducked again when the man suddenly looked from side to side at his surroundings, his movements paranoid.
After he had eventually left, Dokja got up from his hiding space. He tried pondering what the bottle contained and what the two strangers were talking about but shrugged it off. It wasn't any of his business anyways.
"Baaht"
"KYAAHH" Dokja leapt in surprise. He looked to his side and saw Biyoo floating. If he didn't know any better, he'd say Biyoo was staring at him judgmentally. "You scared me." he said as he patted her head. She floated in place for a little, enjoying the pats, and then flew a little ways away, looking back at him to follow.
Dokja chased after her until they arrived at an isolated spot in the forest, not too dense and windy. Biyoo joined him as he sat down from exhaustion. Dokja closed his eyes for a bit, hoping to rest up. He didn't bother opening them when he heard Biyoo flying away
for a bit, she probably knew the way around the forest better than him.
Enjoying the stillness and the cool breeze that came his way, he opened his eyes when he felt something being set on his stomach out of nowhere. Sitting up and taking a peek at his chest, he saw that Biyoo had set down a few strawberries.
"Are those for me?", he asked, pointing at himself.
"Ba-at" she said, bouncing up and down, so he grinned and popped one into his mouth. A rich, sweet flavor burst in his mouth, it was delicious! He turned to Biyoo.
"I'm glad you're okay, Biyoo" and caressed her head with his palm.
"BAAHT" she cried happily.
Dokja then inquired with a tilted head, "But are you alone here?". As far as he'd seen, she was the only peaceful creature in the forest.
Although he's sure there are other creatures lurking here, he could only hope they were as calm as Biyoo. Biyoo shook her head. "Ba-at," she reassured him, and he nodded a few times. Dokja hoped he'd be able to meet another creature like her one day, maybe she could introduce him?
For the rest of the time, they were in the forest, they played with each other. They continued past the afternoon and didn't notice as the orange sky was slowly turning purple. The next time they looked at the sky the stars were beginning to reveal themselves and the forest around them grew dark.
In his few weeks in this world, he was glad he was able to enjoy it. Well, he wasn't sure whether he enjoyed the world, but here he could say that he enjoyed Biyoo. He had so much fun that he didn't even realize how late it was getting.
"Ah, dang it, I should get going. I'm sure they're looking for me." Dokja gazed sadly at the sky.
"Ba-at" Biyoo sighed out. She flew up to his level as he stood up and started showing the way out the forest, just as she did before. When they arrived at the forest's entrance, Dokja gave her one more pet. "Bye-bye Biyoo"., he crooned softly.
"Baaht" she said with a smile and flew into the trees.
-------
"My son, what in the hells has happened to you?!" Persephone demanded as she roughly tried wiping the grime off his face with her handkerchief. Sooyoung, Namwoon, and Heewon all gaped at his condition, their faces wearing various expressions from disappointment to appall.
Dokja gave them all a crooked smile, "Uhhhhh…" When he arrived home, his body was caked in mud from head to toe, mostly from the mud path but partially from rolling around while playing with Biyoo.
He was missing a shoe, and all his clothes were crumpled up and damaged. It was so bad the guard almost didn't let him in, and the maids and knights' looked on in bewilderment as he made his way through the villa.
"Son, where did you go and why are you so filthy." The duchess repeated firmly.
"…Somewhere" he mumbled, making her cease cleaning his face and give her son a disapproving look.
"Somewhere? Where is 'Somewhere'?" she demanded, hands on her hips. Sooyoung recovered from her shock and interrupted him just as he was about to say something. "Oi, don't fuck around with us, you did something stupid again don't you?" she said, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him.
"Of course not!" Dokja yelled.
"Then where did you go? You look like a rat," she challenged, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms at him.
Dokja simply glared at her and repeated, "I told you, somewhere."
"Are you not gonna elaborate?"
He rolled my eyes and murmured, "…somewhere," before turning to look at Heewon.
"I should know to never leave you by now," she regretfully said under her breath, hanging her head in her hands.
Dokja smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm fine, see? No injuries!" he said, turning his body to show them.
"Hyung..." He turned to face Namwoon, head tilted.
"Mhm?"
He had his hand over his nose, his face scrunched up "I think you should go shower,"
Ah, Kim Dokja didn't need to check to know he probably smelled vile right now. Along with the mud, he was covered in layers of his own sweat from the sweltering sun. Looking over at the others in the room, he noticed they'd taken a step away from him, covering their noses and avoiding eye contact.
"Yeah, you're probably right" He sighed out as he saw a maid approach the duchess.
"Your grace, the bath you requested earlier is ready,". Looks like Persephone was a step ahead of all of them, like always.
"Thank you, please help Dokja with his bath s--"
"No need, I can bathe myself!" Dokja rushed to say.
"Are you certain, young master?" Dokja nodded his head vigorously.
"Extremely so, please lead the way to the bathroom."
"Yes, Young Master, of course". Nodding to the other occupants of the room, Dokja followed the maid out.
Ignoring the maids and knights that stared after him as he walked through the castle, Dokja eventually reached to bathroom. "I'll be right outside the door if you need anything, sir,". When she closed the door behind her,
Dokja didn't hesitate to strip naked and jump into the bathtub. As he submerged his body, the soreness in all his muscles made itself known. Who knew playing around could take so much energy? After he had thoroughly washed up and let himself enjoy the warm water,
Dokja dried himself, changed, and went to his bedroom. He collapsed onto his bed. He didn't want to move an inch of his body.
Goodnight, world