Dokja opened his eyes only to be met with darkness. Letting his eyes adjust for a moment he realized he was staring up at the ceiling of his bedchamber. The only source of light was the faint moonlight streaming through the curtains.
A slight throb pulsated through his head, and only then did he realize the tightness he felt around his scalp came from wrapped bandages. With his body comfortably tucked under his blankets and warmed to the core, he would've fallen back asleep. But looking to the side, he saw Joonghyuk sitting by his bedside in a chair, with his arms crossed against his chest, sound asleep.
Dokja reached out and gently placed his hand on Joonghyuk's cheek, tenderly caressing it. It brought back memories of those calm days they spent in the forest village. As Joonghyuk stirred with a low noise rumbling from his throat, he eventually opened his eyes and found Dokja gazing at him, with his hand still resting on Joonghyuk's cheek.
Joonghyuk's eyes widened in surprise as the sleepy fog cleared from his mind and he realized that Dokja was finally awake after being attacked. Though, Dokja misconstrued his surprise as being toward his actions. He took his hand from Joonghyuk's cheek and apologized, "I'm sorry..."
Before he could completely pull back his hand though, Joonghyuk grabbed his wrist and continued to quietly stare at him. The prolonged silence between them made Dokja fidget where he lay as he nervously waited for Joonghyuk to say something, unsure of what was making him have this reaction.
Eventually, Joonghyuk released his grip, clearing his throat and averting his gaze."Are you okay now? Or is your head still hurting?"
Dokja reached up to put a hand on his head, lightly prodding around the bandaged area. Fortunately, he didn't feel any pain and the throbbing sensation from earlier had subsided, and he smiled at Joonghyuk.
"No, I think I'm alright now."
Upon hearing that, Joonghyuk let out a sigh of relief, "You should get more sleep, it's still midnight..." Joonghyuk pulled the blankets back up his body, then reached to fluff his pillows up.
Dokja gazed at Joonghyuk, curious about something that had just occurred to him, "Joonghyuk... how many hours have I been asleep?"
Joonghyuk let out a sigh, combing Dokja's hair away as he replied, "Three days..."
"Three days?!" Dokja exclaimed with widened eyes. He looked at Joonghyuk but could only see relief and weariness swirling in his eyes. Joonghyuk's words were firm as he urged Dokja to be quiet and get more sleep. He adjusted the blanket once again, showing his care and concern for Dokja. However, Dokja noticed the dark circles under Joonghyuk's eyes, making him frown in worry. Once more he gently touched Joonghyuk's face, his gaze fixed under his eyes."Have you been staying up at night?"
Joonghyuk softly removed Dokja's hand from his face."It's nothing, now go back to sleep, you're the one that needs to recover, Kim Dokja."
Dokja shook his head, "No, it isn't nothing. Don't tell me… have you been spending this whole time looking after me Joonghyuk?" However, Joonghyuk remained silent, confirming his suspicions. Frustrated, Dokja sat up and lightly reprimanded him for his hypocrisy.
"Yoo Joonghyuk! I'm thankful that you're going out of your way to take care of me, I really am. But there's no need for you to go to such lengths for me!"
"I'm fine, I don't mind a few eyebags, I want to take care of you." He moved to lay Dokja back in bed, but Dokja refused and glared at him. "Yoo Joonghyuk..." he maintained his glare and emphasized each syllable with a pointed tap to the man's chest, wanting the man to rest already, " Sleep with me."
Joonghyuk's tired face went completely blank. "…What?"
Dokja extended his hand and patted the side of the bed, inviting Joonghyuk to lay beside him, "Here, there's enough room for the two of us."
"Oh..." he faintly nodded his head in understanding, " Right, that's what you meant…"
"What are you waiting for?"
Joonghyuk stared at Dokja for a moment, perhaps contemplating the situation, before letting out a sigh. "Alright." After Joonghyuk took off the belt that held his sword and set it aside, both of them laid down on the bed, trying to make themselves comfortable. In the quietness of the room, both Dokja and Joonghyuk found themselves unable to sleep. They remained still, each lost in their own thoughts, their gaze fixed somewhere in the room. The atmosphere between them was tense, as they seemed to be waiting for the other to fall asleep first. After a prolonged period of silence, Dokja finally broke the stillness and by saying "Hey, Joonghyuk?"
"What is it...?"
"Did something happen when I was asleep these past few days?" Honestly, he didn't care to know, he could always wait until tomorrow to ask his family to fill him in. But it was the only thing he could think of. Something, anything to fill in the awkwardness between the two of them.
"No, nothing much. Your family has been worried though," Joonghyuk said after a strangely long silence, "They constantly check up on you. When Han Sooyoung found out what happened, she was screaming like a madman. Only Yoo Sangah could calm her down. And the Saintess is also doing just fine, you did well in protecting her. Your children come in sometimes to read their books to you, though the duchess and I have had to stop them from crawling by your side to nap with you, we were still scared about jostling you around."
He paused for a moment to try to remember what else he'd seen around the manor as he stayed over each day to tend to Dokja. "Ah, Jung Heewon and that Namwoon boy always linger by your door don't ever enter. They're probably scared or guilty about you being injured. They've been sparing nonstop to ease their anxiety, I think."
It may have been worth noting that Joonghyuk killed the man who targeted him. It was a petty act of vengeance that only temporarily alleviated his frustration. Duke Hades had been fast to track the man down and both he and the duke spent days interrogating him, but the man refused to admit who hired him.
After relentlessly questioning him and getting nothing out of it, eventually Joonghyuk's anger came to a climax and the next thing he knew he was gripping his sword and the man's head was chopped off. Duke Hades had lambasted him for it, though Joonghyuk wasn't sure if it was because they'd lost their only lead or if he just wanted to kill off the man himself. Maybe it was both.
Dokja responded with a simple acknowledgement, looking forward to talking with his family and alleviating their worries. With his mind soothed by Joonghyuk's low, rumbling voice, he closed his eyes as Joonghyuk kept talking beside him.
----
Sooyoung, upon arriving at the Underworld Duchy, wasted no time and started heading straight for her best friend's room to check up on his condition. It wasn't exactly a major change to her routine, since she pretty much chose to hang out at the Underworld Ducal every day, she could, if not just to annoy Dokja. But what had been different was the emo prince's presence becoming a constant in her daily life for the past few days. Everyday she visited, no matter how early she came, he'd always already be in Dokja's room, looking over him like he was Dokja's personal maid. They both just sat by Dokja's bedside in tense silence, neither of them intent of breaking the silence, just hopeful that Dokja would open his eyes at any random moment and laugh at their faces pinched in worry.
Arriving at the hallway leading to Dokja's room, she saw another presence she'd been getting quite accustomed to: Knight Lee Hyunsung. The prince always came to the manor accompanied by either him or Knight Jihye, at times both tagged along. Though they were supposed to guard the prince, nowadays they seem to come with other plans in mind.
Most times Jihye would go straight to sparring against Heewon, and occasionally Kim Namwoon, when they weren't busy squabbling with each other and when Kim Namwoon wasn't trying to unsuccessfully woo her. As for Hyunsung, he'd also been getting quite close to Heewon. The suspicious looks Heewon threw his way had quickly transformed into amical smiles shared between the two knights as they'd could now often be seen engaged in casual conversations with each other in the hallways while they stood watch outside Dokja's bedroom.
Even now, the both of them were standing at the door of the bedroom and huddled close together, but the door was wide open as they peered their heads inside. Both their bodies were frozen as they continued looking on speechlessly at whatever caught their attention. Hans Sooyoung was about to call them perverts for peeking in at Dokja's sleeping face, but stopped in her tracks when she joined the knights' side. There was Dokja sleeping peacefully as usual but wrapped tightly in the prince's embrace.
"Uuhhh, should I go tell Hades about this… ?"
"Please don't do that, Heewon-ssi, I don't think I could defend the prince against the Duke himself" Hyunsung pleaded with her, a light blush coloring his face at the scene. He looked a bit guilty for snooping at the two of them.
"God dammit, I guess we should've seen this coming... that bastard better not have agitated Dokja's injury" Sooyoung muttered. The sound of rustling caught their attention, and they looked back to see Dokja slowly sitting up from his bed, his bed head sticking up as he tried blinking the sleep from his eyes "Oh, sleeping beauty is already awake." she said and then walked towards him "How was your sleep, are you feeling alright?"
Dokja, still unaware of his surroundings, responded with a faint, "Yeah...I'm fine now", then yawned loudly as he stretched arms.
"Really? You look like you're enjoying yourself there" However, Dokja remained oblivious to what she was talking about. Meanwhile, Joonghyuk shot up from where he was laying. When his eyes landed on Han Sooyoung and the knights, he started glaring at them, instantly able to tell what they were thinking by how they gaped at him.
"Whatever it is you think happened, it didn't, so stop. "
Sooyoung narrowed her eyes, "Riiiight, well then, we'll be waiting in the dining room. Be sure not to be late for breakfast" and the three walked away leaving the two of them in the room.
Dokja and Joonghyuk looked at each other, the former still dazed from sleep. Taking a look at the prince's bedhead, Dokkja simply smiled and reached out to pat it down.
--
After getting ready, the first thing Dokja did was go to his parents to inform them that he was feeling okay. Or at least he was going to inform them, but he was smothered into their arms before he could even open his mouth.
Persephone was teary as she thanks the gods for his survival, and even Hades was emotional. The hug went on for a few minutes, until Dokja suggested that they all go to breakfast already. Though the cycle repeated itself when Yoosung and Gilyeong, who were already at the table, tackled him in the chest as soon as he emerged from the door.
After a few more minutes of Dokja wiping their tears and promising them he'd try his best not to get hurt again, everyone finally sat down to eat.
The proceeding meal was rather pleasant, Dokja noted with surprise. Hyunsung and Heewon were absorbed in their own conversation comparing the armor smiths they used, Joonghyuk and Persephone were busy piling up his plate with food, insisting he ate too little, and even Hades wasn't glaring at Joonghyuk nearly as much as Dokja had expected him to. Between eating his own food, he made sure to hand feed the kids their meals. He still felt distraught about how worried they must've been about him and wanted to spoil them for the next few days.
Halfway through the meal, Dokja couldn't help but groan in discomfort, "My back hurts..." he turned to glare at Joonghyuk "This is your fault, couldn't you have moved less?"
"How is that my fault? You're the one whose position was terrible." Their conversation got the attention of the whole table, who began glancing at each other with widened eyes. Thankfully the children remained oblivious, thoroughly enjoying Dokja's pampering.
Namwoon whispered to Sooyoung. "Do you think they did it?" he asked, still looking at his brother.
"I don't know, don't ask me..." she said, stabbing into her eggs roughly. A snap from the head of the table was heard, and a glance toward it confirmed that Hades had broken the edge of the table with how hard he was gripping it, glaring at Joonghyuk all the while. Before the duke could interrogate the prince about it though, the dining room door opened to reveal Lee Jihye, much to Kim Namwoon's delight, who apologized for the interruption before walking up to Joonghyuk and whispering something into his ear. Based on how stony his face got, the room's occupants could guess that it was urgent. Joonghyuk stood abruptly.
"My apologies for leaving suddenly, but the emperor has requested my presence. If there are any changes to Kim Dokja's condition, please tell me." With a lingering gaze at Dokja, Joonghyuk then made his way out of the dining room followed by his knights, leaving the rest of the group behind.