One day, Persephone approached her son and asked, "Why are you in your room so much lately?" Dokja had been reading on the balcony again when she had come in. "Won't you step outside occasionally?"
He sighed, "Mother, I just don't like going out that much anymore". She gave him a strange look. Did he say something wrong?
"Why... sometimes I feel like you're a completely different person..." Dokja felt his chest constricting. His heart leapt to his throat.
"O-of course not mother... I-I'm still your son, right?" he stammered out, hiding his shaking hand in his lap as he hoped she couldn't hear the pounding of his chest. Looking over her son for a moment, the duchess finally graced him with a smile.
"Yes, of course, you're my son. "she said, giving him a long hug before sitting down at the other end of the table. "It's just that recently you've taken to doing the strangest things and I just..."
She was right of course, 'Kim Dokja' was a haughty character, uncaring about the people around him and treating anyone lower in status as nonexistent. The past few weeks were the first time anyone had seen him willingly pick up a book, let alone acknowledge non-nobles. Dokja had gone too lax in his character, spoiled greatly by the lifestyle he'd been thrown into.
He grasped Persephone's hands, "Mother, I'm just… trying to take my life in a new direction." his grasp tightened,
"But no matter what happens, I promise I'll always be your son." He tried to ignore the deep guilt that settled at the pit of his stomach. He was not the 'Kim Dokja' that the duke and duchess reared and cared for. However, there was nothing he could do about it now that he was here.
"You're right," the duchess said and stood up to hug him tightly once more. Not used to this kind of affection, Dokja did the best he could to reciprocate straight away. He'd forgotten how warm a mother's hug could be. "But I still haven't changed my mind that you should go outside" she remarked as they broke the embrace.
Dokja looked longingly at his book, which he was close to completing. "But mother..."he complained, trying not to pout.
"No buts, my son" He groaned and got up from the chair. Being sure to bookmark his page, he followed his mother outside. "Walk around the villa or go in the garden so you can work out your legs, I'll go get some pastries,"
"You want me to exercise, but you also want me to eat pastries?"
She placed her hands on his back and chuckled a little "Because you're too skinny, I feel like you're not eating enough."
This time he really did pout. "I'm not that skinny." He ate as much as he could, with how great the palace meals were.
Persephone shooed him away dismissively, "Yes, yes, sure you are. Anyway, just walk around, okay? "After she walked off, Dokja wandered around the castle grounds until he reached the practice area. There he spotted Jung Heewon and Kim Namwoon sparring with each other. Dokja put his hands in his pockets as he watched them idly.
Heewon was about to punch Namwoon's side when he hunched over to block it with his arms, but she grabbed his fist and twisted his arms so he had his back to her chest, his hand pinned behind him. Namwoon tried hitting her with his free hand, but she easily blocked or avoided the attacks.
Changing tactics, he tried kicking at the arm that was pinning back his hand. Although he succeeded in making her let go of him, Heewon managed to grab his leg and threw him to the ground, winning this match.
Dokja approached them as Heewon helped Namwoon up
"Hyung!"
"Good morning, Young Master."
Dokja waved as he walked up to them, "Greetings, you two. Congrats on the match, Heewon." The knight smiled at him, proud.
"Are you here to practice your swordsmanship, Hyung?"
['Kim Dokja' had first taken up swordsmanship because he couldn't accept that he had previously lost to Yoo Joonghyuk, obsessively training for the next time they would have a chance to spar.]
Dokja didn't intend to practice the sword but thinking back to every encounter he'd had with Yoo Joonghyuk, he felt that learning how to handle one could be quite useful.
"Oh...yes, but not here. I'm going to practice somewhere," he said vaguely.
"The same 'somewhere' as last time?" Kim Namwoon questioned him, looking unimpressed at his older brother.
Dokja's only response to him was a grin."Then bring this, and you'd better not return home covered in grime again, young man.". The duchess came out of nowhere, handing a basket full of food to Dokja.
"Greetings, your grace," Heewon said with a small bow. The duchess smiled gently at her.
"Mother, I don't need to bring any food, I won't spend much time out there," Dokja tried protesting, but Persephone pushed the basket closer to him.
"No, you still need to eat, you're so thin!"
Dokja looked at Heewon and Namwoon pleadingly, "You two on my side aren't you, I'm not that skinny, right?" Eyeing his body up and down, they stared at him in deafening silence. He sighed, defeated. "Fine..."
"Great! Now then, be on your way and don't you even dare forget to eat!" Persephone said cheerfully.
"Yes mother..."
-----
"Haa..." Dokja gasped, gripping his knees for support as he hunched over. He wiped the sweat off his forehead. No matter what he did, he couldn't get a handle on using a sword, constantly hurting his hand or another part of his body.
Just swinging the sword proved difficult, putting strain on his body after only a few swings. Even if he inhabited the body of 'Kim Dokja' his strength and muscles had deteriorated from spending so much time in his chambers.
He'd already set up the picnic mat, so he decided to take a break. He sat down and grabbed a sandwich from the basket while taking in the surroundings. He had chosen to train in the forest, close to the entrance so he didn't get lost. Being surrounded by numerous trees that provided good shade, it wasn't too hot.
Hearing something thumping in the distance, his curiosity was piqued, so he got up and moved closer to the sound. The closer he got, the thumps became more akin to metal clangs. Maybe a wood chopper was working in the forest today.
As silent as a mouse, Dokja pulled the tree branches in front of him apart when he arrived in front of the sound source. He flinched backward, seeing who was on the other side. Oh how wrong he was.
Yoo Joonghyuk
That bastard was here, also practicing his sword fighting. The way he swung his sword seemed effortless, as if it was an extension of himself. He'd probably been at it for a while, judging by the gleam of sweat covering his sun kissed skin, which only added to his good looks.
He'd decided to go shirtless while practicing, which exposed the canvas of muscles and scars littering his body. In the end, he still looked immaculate.
Protagonist's powers, damn you
Lost in thoughts, when Dokja came back to the present he spotted the main character right in front of him, glaring hard at him.
Why am I getting deja vu?
"Hello," Dokja said cheerfully, attempting a grin. Yoo Joonghyuk pointed his sword at Dokja's neck. "Wait, I'm not stalking you or anything!"
"…I didn't say anything,". Dokja scoffed internally. Even if he didn't say it, Dokja knew what was going through his head; after all, he wasn't a reader of TSFTC for nothing.
"Your Highness," Dokja started, "I know.. I know how it looks, but it's just a coincidence that we've run into each other.
Why do we keep running into one other? Am I really so unlucky?
"Why are you here." He demanded, rather than asked.
"I just..... training with my sword?" Dokja shrugged his shoulders.
"Really… why don't we train together, hm?" From anyone else that would've been a polite invitation. But looking at the prince, Dokja saw a sadistic gleam in his eyes.
Dokja tried smiling appreciatively, though inside he was huffing in indignation. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I was just finishing up my training for today. And besides that, my family is expecting me to be back soon."
The crown prince paused for a second before moving back, lowering his blade. "Hmph," he grabbed the base of his neck, squeezing roughly before shoving him back "Go back where you came from, I don't want to see your face."
Dokja, not wanting to linger and aggravate him any longer, took a few cautious steps back before speed walking away to his training spot. The whole time back he could've sworn he could feel Yoo Joonghyuk's glare piercing his back. At this point, Kim Dokja was losing hope in the possibility of being able to avoid him.
Whatever messed up god was looking down had seemed to want to push them together as much as possible. Dokja laid back on the picnic blanket, heaved in a large breath as he looked up at the passing clouds