1024 Episode 62 Snowfield Kim Dokja (14)

Perhaps Yoo Sangah had been imagining this moment for a very long time.

She thought of the Kim Dokja she knew.

Since he is a somewhat timid person, he might feel awkward around the group if they meet again after a long time. Therefore, she would probably have to be the one to initiate the first greeting.

The first person to approach would likely be Han Sooyoung.

Han Sooyoung, swaggering over, would have put a headlock on Kim Dokja, who was standing there blankly, and shouted.

The next person to run would likely be Shin Yoosoung.

Kim Dokja would have collapsed helplessly before the two people rushing at him without a moment's hesitation. If it were those two, they would have instantly transformed the Kim Dokja before them into 'the Kim Dokja they knew', no matter the situation.

Looking at 'Snowfield Kim Dokja' appearing before her, Yoo Sangah felt an inexplicable sense of strangeness.

It felt like a button that had been fastened incorrectly from the start had been fastened all the way.

Yoo Sangah opened and closed her trembling lips several times.

She had so much she wanted to say when she met him. How he had been doing, whether he had been lonely, what he had eaten, whom he had met, whether his health was okay, what he had read alone.

Just as much as they, and she—had missed him—whether he, too, had thought of them.

However, Yoo Sangah could not easily bring herself to ask any of those questions.

A blank space covered in an overwhelming gray. Looking at that blank space, Yoo Sangah thought of Han Sooyoung.

If you had been here, what would you have said to that Kim Dokja?

The Kim Dokja she met again still had the face she remembered, yet he wore a strangely unfamiliar expression. The moment she saw him gazing up at the distant sky, Yoo Sangah was reminded of a single tree growing in a gray snowfield.

She couldn't tell if it was his natural body odor or the perfume he wore. However, Yoo Sangah liked that scent. She liked it even more after realizing it was Kim Dokja's fragrance.

She could immediately recognize where he had been, no matter where he was. In the office, in the break room. Wherever that scent drifted to her nose, she knew Kim Dokja had been there.

Perhaps Kim Dokja had lost that scent while wandering for so long. But it is only natural for people to change. Because she, and the rest of the group, had changed.

Yoo Sangah took a light deep breath and took a step closer.

Neither Han Sooyoung nor Shin Yoosoung were here. Therefore, she was the only one who could reach out to him first right now.

The moment she mustered the courage to take another step, someone grabbed her shoulder. It was Ji Eunyu.

"He is not the Kim Dokja you know."

Yoo Sangah nodded in reply.

"It is Dokja-ssi."

As she said this and looked ahead again, someone was standing in front of Kim Dokja, ahead of her.

It was Yoo Joonghyuk.

"Kim Dokja."

However, despite Yoo Joonghyuk's call, Kim Dokja did not look at him. As if he hadn't heard his voice.

"Kim—"

When Yoo Joonghyuk opened his mouth once more, Kim Dokja moved first. Kim Dokja leisurely brushed past him as if he hadn't seen him. And surprisingly, Yoo Joonghyuk could not stop Kim Dokja as he passed right beside him. As if some powerful story were binding him.

Yoo Joonghyuk simply brushed past Kim Dokja and stood frozen in place. Kim Dokja stopped only after walking ten, then twenty more steps past Yoo Joonghyuk.

There lay Cha Seongwoo, collapsed.

"So it ended up like this?"

Muttering in a quiet voice, Kim Dokja lifted the fallen Cha Seongwoo into his arms. At that, Cha Seongwoo blinked, spitting out a weak story.

"I told you to run away. I clearly told you that you would die if you stayed here."

Kim Dokja's strangely subdued tone sounded both sad and lamenting.

As he examined Cha Seongwoo's condition, Kim Dokja seemed to realize exactly what had happened.

"Did you borrow the power of <Eden>?"

From a distance in the sky, he could see Metatron, whose eyes met his, gasp in surprise. Kim Dokja turned his head away as if Metatron wasn't even worth gazing at, and spoke to Cha Seongwoo again.

"It seems even the Holy Oil won't be enough to heal you this time."

Cha Seongwoo's incarnation body, which had seemed to be recovering briefly thanks to Yoo Joonghyuk's story, was collapsing once more.

Cha Seongwoo's lips twitched as if to answer Kim Dokja. His incarnation body was so severely damaged that his mouth could not utter proper words.

Nevertheless, Kim Dokja listened to his story. He listened until he could hear the words that were unheard.

Cha Seongwoo's face was reflected in Kim Dokja's eyes.

He does not know Cha Seongwoo's true face. Nevertheless, just as one reads the hidden implications in a sentence, Kim Dokja read the real Cha Seongwoo beyond the person named 'Kang Ilhoon'.

Finally, when Cha Seongwoo's lips closed, Kim Dokja answered.

"I see. You know everything now."

Cha Seongwoo nodded.

As if merely telling him that was enough, Cha Seongwoo said nothing more. His limp wrist was slowly breaking.

Kim Dokja looked at Cha Seongwoo and said.

"Do you have any last words?"

The moment he said that, someone rushed toward them. A claw imbued with sharp energy. Kim Dokja, holding Cha Seongwoo, lightly dodged the attack and spoke.

"Yerin-ssi."

Instead of answering, Cha Yerin swung her claw. A fierce killing intent surged from her entire body, as if she wanted to tear him to shreds and kill him on the spot. Within that killing intent lay deep resentment toward Kim Dokja.

Kim Dokja silently accepted her gaze and nodded.

"That is correct. It is because of me."

Ahhhh— With a roar, Cha Yerin burst into tears.

"It is a shame, but it is impossible for me right now. So—"

Watching Cha Yerin run toward him, Kim Dokja added.

"Take revenge on me."

As if she had been waiting for this moment, Cha Yerin slammed her claws down. From a distance, Ye Hyunwoo shouted.

"Yerin-ssi! No!"

With a deafening roar, the figures of the two were engulfed in dust. Amidst the swirling, pitch-black dust, Kim Dokja's voice could be heard.

"Dan."

Cha Yerin's claws were held in Kim Dokja's sharp hand.

"Not now."

Kim Dokja tossed Cha Yerin into the air. The moment the powerless Cha Yerin regained her balance in mid-air, Kim Dokja's right hand moved, as if clearing unnecessary material from the story out of sight.

"Please disappear for a moment."

At the same time, space-time split open, and Cha Yerin's body was sucked into somewhere.

A power capable of banishing an incarnation, capable of fending off even a narrative-grade constellation, with a mere wave of the hand.

While everyone was astonished by that power, only Kim Dokja spoke to Cha Seongwoo in a calm voice.

"Don't worry. She has gone to a safe place 'outside' this context."

As if he already knew, Cha Seongwoo's head moved slightly.

Kim Dokja asked again.

"Where are you going?"

Cha Seongwoo's lips parted once more. Hearing his answer, Kim Dokja smiled with sorrowful eyes.

"No, this is not where you belong. Because you—"

His soul was sucked out of Cha Seongwoo's completely shattered incarnation body.

"It wasn't me, it was my 'comrade'."

Kim Dokja teleported his soul somewhere, as if guiding it. Cha Seongwoo's soul twinkled and hovered above his head for a moment, then vanished across the scenario, following a shooting star in the night sky.

Kim Dokja watched the spot where his soul had vanished for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.

"Well then, shall we introduce ourselves again?"

Despite Kim Dokja's bright voice, the members of <Kim Dokja Company> remained frozen, unable to say a word.

"I suppose it would be best if I greeted you first. It's been a long time, everyone. Surely you haven't forgotten me already, have you?"

The first to respond to that nonchalant tone was Lee Jihye.

"Really... is this really Dokja ahjussi?"

It was clearly the exact same face as the Kim Dokja she knew. However, Lee Jihye seemed unable to shake off a strange sense of unease.

Kim Dokja grinned at Lee Jihye and said.

"Well. What do you think? Jihye-ah."

Lee Jihye's shoulders trembled at the familiar sound of her name ringing out. The next to step forward was Lee Gilyoung.

"Hyung."

Eyes that wanted to run to him right then and there. But the boy, now a young man, instead of running, quietly observed his face from a distance.

"Right, Gilyoung-ah."

Getting courage from his answer, Lee Gilyoung spoke.

"You are my hyung, but not really my hyung."

Kim Dokja smiled.

"That's right."

Then, Kim Dokja turned his head toward Lee Seolhwa. He did not exchange a single word with her. Instead, the two looked at each other for a moment, then quietly exchanged a nod.

Lee Seolhwa looked at him with a sorrowful gaze, then took a step back with a deep sigh. And someone stepped forward the same distance she had taken back.

It was Yoo Joonghyuk.

Yoo Joonghyuk gazed at the spot where Cha Seongwoo's soul had vanished and asked.

"Where did he go?"

"He went to where his 'real Kim Dokja' is."

The real Kim Dokja. Even with the same word, the impact it carries changes depending on who says it.

At those words that burst from Kim Dokja's lips, <Kim Dokja Company> fell silent, as if speechless people. It was Yoo Joonghyuk who broke the silence once again.

"You are Kim Dokja."

A voice filled with unwavering conviction. It was a voice so powerful that even someone who wasn't Kim Dokja would have no choice but to believe they were Kim Dokja upon hearing those words.

Kim Dokja smiled bitterly and said.

"Yes. I knew you would say that."

Yoo Joonghyuk nodded.

"It is time to go back."

"Where to?"

"Home."

"Home?"

Kim Dokja repeated the word with somewhat dazed eyes.

"When you hear that word, what kind of scenery comes to mind?"

This time, even Yoo Joonghyuk couldn't find the words to answer. To begin with, answering this kind of question wasn't something he was particularly good at. That is why Yoo Joonghyuk turned to look at Yoo Sangah. The moment their eyes met, Yoo Sangah nodded and stepped forward, Kim Dokja spoke again.

"Only a vast, gray snowfield comes to mind."

It was a voice that seemed to lower the temperature of the world.

"If you have come this far, you all know, don't you? What kind of Kim Dokja I am. What stories have I gone through to get here?"

Yoo Sangah stepped forward and nodded. She was about to speak. She intended to say that she knew who he was, and that she had come this far because she knew. But the moment she was about to speak, a fundamental question settled in her mind.

Amidst the spreading chill, Kim Dokja smiled as if he had expected it.

"I ask you, <Kim Dokja Company>."

The sound of flowing stories was heard from somewhere.

Sensing the presence of the stories, Yoo Sangah looked at Yoo Joonghyuk. Yoo Joonghyuk, too, realized something and was about to shout.

However, amidst the swirling stories that resembled a predetermined [fate], Kim Dokja finally asked that question.

"Do I even have a 'home' to return to?"