Chapter Text
Yoo Joonghyuk holds Dokja on his arms during the time Sooyoung gives him a very abridged explanation of what she remembered.
He stares blankly at the TV screen in front of him.
Sooyoung stops talking and stares at Joonghyuk.
Surprisingly, Joonghyuk is the first to speak after a while.
“Do you think the regressions happened because you wrote them. Or did you write them because they happened?”
“I think it’s one of those things that…” She makes a circular motion with both index fingers. “… you know.”
He looks at Dokja sleeping peacefully on his chest. He caresses Dokja’s hair.
Then he looks at Sooyoung. “So that means you…”
“I am partially responsible for the destruction of the world? Maybe. But in my defense, my avatar did it. But if it was me, I’d also have done it. AND this idiot keeps sacrificing himself to save everyone, so I sacrificed a lot of everyones to save him, it’s, like, equivalent exchange or something.” Sooyoung says looking away.
“I was going to say you can open the Final Wall.”
“… oh.”
Meanwhile, beyond the Final Wall.
Dokja and 999 are in their underwear. Dokja sits on 999’s lap.
They finish reading Ways of Survival together.
Dokja swoons. Then he looks at 999. “Did you like it?”
“It is certainly interesting seeing Plotter’s story from this perspective. There are some things that weren’t mentioned in the novel that I learned from the others, and some things I’ve just come to know because of this novel.” 999 says. “For example, 41 never mentioned he shaved his head while training in Murim.”
“I KNOW! It’s AMAZING, right???” Dokja asks with stars on his eyes.
999 chuckles. He cups Dokja’s cheek and kisses him. Dokja giggles.
“What do you have on your to-do list next?” 999 asks.
Dokja looks around them.
“Ah, here.” He picks up a piece of paper with some lines already crossed out.
999 hands him a pen and Dokja also draws a line over “Read Ways of Survival with 999.”
“The next ones are: Talk about Ways of Survival with 999, Watch Ways of Survival with 999, and Talk about watching Ways of Survival with 999.” Dokja says. “What’s yours?”
999 also picks up a piece of paper with some topics also crossed out.
“Mine are: Eat, Head Scritches, Sleep, and □□□□.” 999 says.
“Oh, I have □□□□ on my list too. After the ‘Talk about watching Ways of Survival with 999’ topic.”
“Hm, I see…” 999 says. He hugs Dokja by the waist and pulls him closer, so that Dokja’s back is resting against 999’s chest. “How about we talk about Ways of Survival while I cook, and then while we eat?”
“And then while we □□□□?” Dokja asks with a silly smile.
“No.” 999 replies also smiling. “We can talk about 41 shaving his head while we eat. Not while we □□□□.”
Dokja snorts.
999 gets up still holding Dokja.
The subway car they’re inside now looks like a long bedroom. It has been completely altered with probability. There’s even a pillow fort that resembles the one they had in the Movie Room, also known as 8’s room, in N’gai.
999 carries Dokja to the next subway car. The next subway car now looks like a rich people’s bathroom, but like, if it were made in a shipping container. There are lights of different colors and a very big and cool-looking jacuzzi.
999 walks through the bathroom and makes his way to the kitchen subway car whilst holding Dokja.
In the kitchen, 999 places Dokja down. Dokja immediately jumps on 999’s back and clings to him like a backpack. 999’s lips slightly curve upwards.
“What are you going to cook for us?” Dokja asks.
“Let’s see. How about…” 999 opens the fridge. It’s almost empty.
He taps the inside of the fridge and lots of different ingredients appear while 999’s finger disappears at the same time.
Dokja taps the back of 999’s hand and then HIS finger disappears while a new finger appears on 999’s hand.
“You don’t have to do this every time.” 999 says. “I recover probability more slowly, but it’ll grow back eventually.”
“999.” Dokja rubs his cheek against 999. “You’re my dumpling. I do this because I looove yooou~~.” Dokja says almost purring.
999 laughs. He turns his face, and they share a lil kiss.
999 takes some ingredients and starts cooking in his underwear. With Dokja, who’s also in his underwear, glued to him like some sort of adorable parasite.
“But seriously, Dokja, please be more mindful of probability. We know you got into trouble for spending way too much during turn 0.”
“And I’d do it again.” Dokja says with a shit eating grin. “Or maybe I will do it again? I don’t really follow how time works from here.”
999 stops what he’s doing to stare Dokja straight in the eye. “If you sacrifice all your probability until you become a lost amnesiac baby, I’ll never forgive myself.”
Dokja widens his eyes and purses his lips.
“Dokja, I’m serious, ok?” 999 says with a VERY serious face. “If we run into the worldline of Zero, we’ll both share the needed probability for Zero to complete the scenarios, ok?”
Suddenly Dokja has an even shittier eating grin than before. “Aaaaaaaaaaawwww!!! Hyuuukiieeeee! You’re worried about me!”
“I am.” 999’s expression softens.
“Because you love me.” Dokja says with his shit eating grin.
“I do.” 999 says.
“That’s so embarrassing.”
999 boops Dokja on the forehead with a spoon. “It’s not. What do you want for dessert?”
“Cream pie.” Dokja says.
999 almost drops the spoon. Even after reading those books in Dokja’s head-library, sometimes he’s still caught totally off-guard.
He swiftly recomposes himself. “If the God of the Universe wants it, who am I to say no?”