Three Ways to Run from an Esper

Part 14

When Joonghyuk awoke the next morning he felt like he was dreaming. He stared at the sleeping guide's face in wonder, as if he was a hallucination that would disappear if he looked away.
He had cleaned Dokja and the bedding after they had gone several rounds. Dokja lasted longer than he would have thought, they had started in the afternoon and went well into the evening.
'We skipped dinner last night. He must be hungry and thirsty.' Joonghyuk thought as he got up to prepare breakfast.
       He made some of Dokja's favorites and set the table. He had just finished when Dokja walked into the kitchen.
      He wore one of Joonghyuk's oversized shirts and his hair was messy from bed head.
      Joonghyuk truly must have died and gone to heaven from his rampage. That's the only explanation for how he could be in such a great situation.
     "Hey, stop staring at me bastard. And why did you put one of your shirts on me. I have my own sleepwear. At least you have the decency to cook breakfast. If you hadn't I would have forced you to anyway." Dokja nagged.
      Joonghyuk smiled in response. How did he get so lucky? Even his guide's complaining was beautiful.
      Dokja plopped down at the kitchen counter and they began eating.
      Halfway through the meal Dokja bluntly asked, "So I can fight in dungeons with you now right?"
     Joonghyuk froze, his stress level instantly rising.
      "What?! Why?!" He asked startled.
       Dokja rolled his eyes, "I managed to clear an S class dungeon that even you couldn't handle. I think I've proven myself more than enough."
       Joonghyuk huffed. "I had already cleared out all the monsters before you got there. It just so happened that the final boss was a mental force."
       "Then why don't we start with a setup like that? You can go in and clear the monsters, then I can join you in handling things like mazes, riddles, or mental obstacles. I read your previous dungeon clears and it seems you also struggled with a maze dungeon a few months back. You're all muscle and no brain. I think we make a pretty balanced team." Dokja analyzed.
     Joonghyuk wanted to argue against it, but it was a pretty spot on analysis. Joonghyuk easily cleared S class dungeon monsters, but Everytime there was an obstacle that required more thought, he got stumped.
       "Those kind of dungeons don't appear frequently, and even when they do there's other espers that can handle them." Joonghyuk rebuked.
      "Well, now there's a guide that can handle them. From now on if a dungeon appears that you can't handle through force, you'll call me to come help immediately instead of waiting until you're on the verge of death from a rampage. That's a demand from your partner." Dokja said with finality.
        Joonghyuk still wanted to prevent his guide from ever entering a dungeon again, but it seemed that the stubborn man would not budge on this issue.
         "Very well." Joonghyuk sighed in resignation. "But you have to promise to only come in if I've given the ok. And you can only enter dungeons with me. Never alone or with any other espers."
     Dokja thought about it for a second before agreeing.
        They finished their breakfast and Joonghyuk headed to his office to finish the work he had abandoned yesterday while Dokja headed to check on the kids who were staying with Jung Heewon.
"Sorry I basically gave you two kids to live with." Dokja apologized when he visited as the two kids played in the living room of Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung's apartment.
"That's not what you should be apologizing for." Heewon said sternly.
Dokja looked at her nervously... "umm, sorry I didn't come to sword training yesterday." Dokja tried again.
Heewon punched him in the arm. "You should be apologizing for making us all worried sick over you! Do you have any idea how scared we were when we learned you entered an S class dungeon with a rampaging Yoo Joonghyuk?!" She asked in frustration.
Dokja rubbed his sore arm after she finished punching.
"But you enter dungeons too." He said, not seeing the issue.
"Not S class rampage filled dungeons! I choose my battles wisely! Meanwhile you went and did something suicidal without consulting any of us! You're lucky to still be alive! Do you know how it feels to know a close friend went and did something that's likely to get them killed!" Tears gathered in her eyes as she shouted at Dokja.
Sangah and Sooyoung were sitting on the couch listening. Sooyoung nodded in agreement while Sangah looked at Dokja sadly.
"Oh... sorry, I didn't realize you'd be so stressed about it. As you can see, I'm alive and well." Dokja tried to reassure them.
"Dokja... do you not trust us?" Sangah asked sadly.
"What? What would make you think that! Of course I trust all of you." He said shocked.
"Then why would you go off and do something so reckless alone. We could have gone with you and helped!" Sangah said admonishingly.
"Count me out. If you want to commit suicide I'm not following you. It's best if you just stay out of life or death situations entirely." Sooyoung advised.
"I know I'm not as strong as Yoo Joonghyuk, but neither are you. It would have been better if we worked together." Hyunsung said with a sad puppy dog look.
Dokja looked at all of their faces and was struck by how much they cared about him. For the first time he was made to realize that him getting hurt could make his friends miserable. He had never had a group of friends like this before and he had always tried to get through life himself and didn't think anyone would care if he lived or died, but that wasn't the case anymore.
"I promise I won't do something that reckless again... unless I have to." Dokja said as honestly as he could.
The whole group sighed in exasperation at the independent guide.
"I already talked to Joonghyuk about entering dungeons and I'll only be entering ones he has deemed safe enough from now on, and you know he's going to be very careful." Dokja reassured them.
"You say all that, but we all know the next time an emergency comes up, you'll dive headfirst into danger without relying on us. If you die then I'll never forgive you. I'll summon your ghost and force you to listen to me read my novel as punishment." Sooyoung warned.
"Listening to a plagiarized version of my favorite book would indeed be an awful punishment. I'll be careful not to get killed." Dokja reassured her half-jokingly. (He was serious about listening to her plagiarism being the worst punishment he could imagine.)
Heewon sighed, "I guess that's enough lecturing for now. Let's all go out to eat to celebrate you returning from near certain death." She said with a small smile.
"Perfect, I can tell you about how I got to stab Joonghyuk in the stomach. It was very satisfying." Dokja said happily.
The group had a fun evening as they chatted and relaxed. Dokja decided not to mention the vision from his past that the dungeon showed him or how he guided Joonghyuk, although all of them already knew about the guiding since it was impossible to cover all the marks Joonghyuk had left around the guide's neck.
When he got back to the guild it was late at night and he found Joonghyuk waiting for him on the living room couch.
"I heard you went out with friends. Did you have fun?" Joonghyuk asked curiously.
"Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't join us."
"I had some work to catch up on and I figured you'd want some time to unwind after the past few days."
Dokja was again struck by just how different Joonghyuk seemed now to when he first met him.
"You know, you're still a jackass, but you definitely have gotten better than when I first met you." Dokja analyzed as he plopped down on the couch next to him.
"I... I would like to apologize for my actions, but I don't think I can do that sincerely." Joonghyuk said hesitantly.
Dokja raised an eyebrow, "I was just complimenting you and now you're irritating me again. Do I need to grab my sword?"
Joonghyuk sighed. "I know I could have handled things better when we first met. It's just that I'd been living in pain for so long, and it was like I'd been pulled out of deep murky water and breathed fresh air for the first time. I was so desperate to not go back into its depths that I didn't think of how you must feel. But I also can't give a full apology because I know I would never be able to let you go, even if it's what you want. I don't believe in giving half-assed apologies, so I won't." Joonghyuk explained sincerely.
Dokja thought for a moment. He actually appreciated that response. It would have been easy for Joonghyuk to just say sorry while keeping that confession to himself, but he chose brutal honesty instead.
"Well, it's not like I don't feel sorry for your sad, pathetic life of an esper. And I suppose my life has turned out better overall since I met you. I'd probably still be working at Minosoft. I'd take rampaging esper over long nights in the office any day." Dokja shrugged.
"I don't like receiving pity. When you learned about my past you immediately started respecting my boundaries more. I was grateful for the space, but I was worried you'd look down on me. Now I know that despite your possessiveness and over protective actions, you have never looked at me as lesser. I can appreciate that. If I choose to stay with you, then there isn't any issue. But no more taking hostages like my friends or family. Don't you think it's better to get me to want to stay with you? You're actually pretty good at that when you aren't being an arrogant prick." Dokja advised with a jab.
Joonghyuk wrapped him in a hug and rested his head against Dokja's shoulder.
"I promise, I'll make you the happiest guide ever. You'll never want to leave."
Dokja felt the esper's arms tightly squeeze around him as he made his promise.
Dokja thought about the friends he had at this guild, the kids, his mother, and the gloomy esper currently hugging him.
'Maybe I already am the happiest guide...
but I should keep that to myself, I bet I can use up so much of this bastard's money. He basically just confessed that he'd give me anything I want so long as I don't leave him... sucker.' Dokja thought slyly to himself, imagining all the useful and wasteful things he would spend the guild leader's money on as they both cuddled together.