Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Yoo Joonghyuk sat down near an alleyway. Exhausted.

Chapter Text

It's been eight years since the world inexplicably turned into this weird mess. He's now the same age as the scenarios began.

By now he's caught up with how this world works and their ‘stereotypes’, is what he likes to call it when really it’s more of a fact and standard.

Well, fuck you then! I don’t fit in with the typical Omega, yet I am one, so it's a stereotype!

And to some extent it was true. Growing up, he was taller than the typical omega, he was stronger and more muscular too (but that could be because he trained a lot to keep creeps away). His face was more chiseled too, but not as chiseled as how he looked in his previous life.

Instead of making him look masculine, his sharp jaw and eyes just make him look androgynous. It's like a mix between the time he was the Punisher and his original form. He could probably pass off as a good-looking Beta or short Alpha if he constantly suppressed his scent.

He stands up after his heart has calmed down and breathing eased.

Normally it wouldn’t take this long, but with the lack of the Star Stream system and all his abilities from his regressions, you could only do so much.

He takes out a pill from his jacket, that was supposed to suppress his heat, and dry swallows, because he's a bad bitch.

Those creeps probably followed me cause my heat suppressant was wearing off.

‘Heat’ was a concept he had a hard time wrapping his head around.

He learned from a certain witch that when he was in heat, stay indoors; if he needed to go outside, take and bring suppressants, or better yet ask someone else to go out for you. 

Even if he wasn’t in heat he still brought suppressants with how sudden they’ve been appearing lately.

(Also because if he didn’t, a certain witch would nag about it the whole day.)

Brrr-Brrr-Brrr

He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket.

Speaking of the devil, it was Han Sooyoung. He was able to make contact with some of the party members (Lee Hyunsung, Jung Hewoon, and Lee Jihye) but he later found out that other than him, no one else had memories about their past life before the world turned into this mess.

He answers the phone.

“Oi! Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for thirty minutes”

“Calm down, I’m almost there. ”

“‘Almost there’ my ass. You were chased down by a bunch of Alphas, weren’t you? I told you to take your suppressants earlier today! Now, look! You're fucking late to our dinner party!”

“Shut up.”

Seriously, can this woman be any more annoying? She was a nuisance enough in their past life, does she have to bring that in the next one too? Plus, he already took it so what’s the big deal?

“I’m not gonna fucking shut up when your thirty minutes late!!!”

“It’s dinner and it’s just the two of us.” Why is she making a big deal out of it?

He crosses the street and entered the restaurant they were supposed to meet up in.

“I’m here now by the way.”

“Yeah, I could tell, idiot sunfish.”

That nickname really just had to follow him in the next life did it.

He sees a woman with short black hair wave her hand at him, indicating their seat. He puts his phone away and walks to her. He can feel people stare at his body as he walks past them. Gross. The more he lived in this world the more he learned to hate going outside.

And this woman should know as much.

He sits down in front of her

“So,” he starts, “what the fuck is so important that we just had to eat outside”

“Oh come now. I promise you it’ll change your little unemployed life!”

He looked at her unimpressed. We could have still done this at one of their homes though.

(hush Yoo Joonghyuk, the plot calls for it.)

“So I’ve got this old friend back in college who I’m kinda in good terms with who’s now a boss of this company, his previous assistant quit her job to pursue her dreams of being a writer and now he needs a new assistant. So, being the good friend that I am, I offered to help.”

“So you quit your job to be a writer and your old boss, who was your friend in college, wants you to find him a replacement.”

“You-! Ugh, that’s not the point!”

“Then what is?”

“I got you a job!”

He blinks.

“You do realize I’m an Omega right?”

Han Sooyoung is an Alpha (cause the author of the world thought it be cool), he can’t just do a job that an Alpha would normally do without having… setbacks.

“It’ll be fine, that guy may be an Alpha but he knows how to control himself.”

He scoffs ”That’s what they all say, then the next thing you know their banging you to oblivion.”

(Han Sooyoung, wide-eyed, “Where the fuck did you even get that line from?”)

“Anyway, it’s true though, he’s had Omega assistants before and he's never been reported for sexual harassment or things like that, even when they were in heat.”

It’d be surprising if it were true, but...

“How come he’s had multiple Omega assistants? For all, we know he could have paid them to keep their mouth shut and so they quit or something.”

“Because they eventually got a mate and lived off them, so they didn't need to work anymore.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yoo Joonghyuk.” Her voice turned serious.

He shuts up.

“I know your paranoid about getting a job like this but one , it won’t be that hard for you; two , I’ve double-checked his previous Omega assistants and they all,  persistently,  told me that their boss never did anything to them; and three , that man would be dead before I let him lay a hand on you,”

He shifts in his seat a little. He’s uncomfortable, not yet used to being looked after by Han Sooyoung of all people. Usually, this type of care was reserved for Kim Dokja.

”-unless you had consented to it then I wouldn't bat an eye to whatever was happening there.”

He glares. “Han Sooyoung!”

She laughed “Ha! I doubt that would happen though. The man's married and even has a kid.”

(Author: （＾ ω ＾）you’d be surprised )

Only then did he relax and consider the job.

“Who’s your employer then?”

“Previous employer,” she corrected, “He doesn't like it when people give out his name without consent, so if you wanna know his name you’ll have to come with me tomorrow to get the job.”

A secretive guy ay?

“Since when did you care about people’s privacy?”

“Since I found out that guy could have me killed in a heartbeat, make it look like an accident while making sure his hands were clean of the matter.”

That’s... worrying.

“Where do you even work?”

She gaped “I can’t believe you! We’ve been friends since high school and you don't even remember where I worked?!”

(There’s also the glaring issue that he didn't know the job he's getting thrust into but he keeps his mouth shut about it.)

He shrugs “it’s not like you talk about it much, I forgot you even had a job.” All this woman ever talked about these days were her novels and comments she got about it.

She grumbles “ah-! Forget it. It was at Dream, Inc.”

He widened his eyes as he looked at her “As in the gaming company?”

Out of all the horrible things in this world, this company was like salvation whose games brought inner peace to his raging want to kill all the bastards of this world.

She puts her hands up “Wow. You know the company but you didn't know I worked there?”

“Shut up and tell me!”

He's been following this game company ever since it was founded eight years ago by an indie developer that went by the name Guwon. Over the years it’s grown in size and popularity until it became a proper company that’s expanded to developing consoles.

She sighed, putting her hands back on the table.

”Yes, I worked there. I was practically a glorified maid. The boss was a workaholic and can handle pretty much everything work-related. The things I did ranged from reminding him that he's a fucking human that needs to eat and take breaks, to reminding him he has fatherly responsibilities. I also took care of his kid from time to time but I mostly just brought her to school and back to his office.”

“Really?” in hindsight it really isn't hard for him to do, he kinda already does that with his parents, and he already has experience in taking care of kids thanks to Mia (and Jihye too, to some extent.)

(Also, he gets to finally meet the person behind his favorite games, the thought of working with them made his heart quicken.)

“Yes, really. That’s also why he accepted Omegas as assistants since it wasn’t too grueling.”

He thought about it some more. It’d be nice to make a living on his own instead of living off his parents, he’s turning thirty in two years and no doubt they’ll start looking for possible mates for him. He’d rather die than be forced to marry, whether that’s by his parents or the government.

“Come on, I promise the pay is good.”

He looked at her eyes as if asking for reassurance. She looked back at him. She knows what he's been through in high school and the times his job hunted to act wary of these things, yet confidence and assurance radiating off of her. When he finally found what he needed he answered in defeat.

“Okay.”

She lightened up considerably. They spent the rest of their little dinner party together. Han Sooyoung bought champagne and toasted to his new “employed life”. They chatted about their day, Han Sooyoung talked about her most recent chapter having good reviews, he talked about Mia making a new friend at school.

At eight o’clock Han Sooyoung brought him home with her car. Once he was home they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. After doing his night routine (which his mother forced onto him because he would never do something so embarrassingly useless otherwise) he went to bed.

He shifted in his bed, contemplating where he could find the rest of his companions or if he should even find them in the first place since they wouldn’t remember him or their past life. He’s already found Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung who were in the same school as Yoo Mia but they’re just kids so he never really talked to them.

He also hasn’t found Kim Dokja yet. He’s at least found traces of the man when he worked at Mino Soft and his name appearing at some reviews for web novels but that was eight years ago, he hasn’t found traces of the man since.

He’s also found traces of the man’s mother. Like in her past life, she was imprisoned for killing her husband, though he isn’t sure if in this life it was true or not, she later died in prison (he’d rather not talk or think about the reason for her death).

Another glaring issue he thought about was WHY AM I AN OMEGA? In their group (other than Lee Jihye) he was the only Omega, and he was recessive out of all things! He didn’t really know what that meant but he understood that it was rare and people would look down upon him if they found out about it.

He suddenly thought about Kim Dokja and what his second gender would be. “Stereotypically”, Alphas are seen as leaders and are at the top of the food chain; Betas are friendly and always try to avoid conflict and would want to fit in, they are also called the backbone of society because most of the population are Betas; lastly, Omegas are generally known to be very gentle and carrying towards their loved once, his even heard cases of Omegas dying for their children before. ( Okay , he guesses he sees why the world would think he was one but still-!)

Anyway, in hindsight, the man could be any one of these. If it was a Kim Dokja during the apocalypse then he’d probably be an Alpha for his leadership and stubbornness; if it was a Kim Dokja before the apocalypse then he’d probably be a Beta since all he cared about was surviving and avoiding conflict to keep surviving, in other words, he was a normal man. It’s also possible for him to be an Omega because of how much he’s died to protect everyone in their past life.

But if he thought about it, if a Kim Dokja during the scenarios (who’d theoretically be an Alpha) was able to bend the world to his will, because he read Ways of Survival, if given the opportunity would he bend the world again? If given enough reason or a push, would he change the world to suit his needs?

I guess we’ll know when we meet the man, for now it’s time to sleep, we’ve got a big day tomorrow.

Chapter Text

The next day came. Yoo Joonghyuk woke up early to prepare a meal for four. Ever since he came—er, reincarnated(?) into this world he’s taken it upon himself to cook for everyone. His mother (who mostly cooked for them) was surprised at how adept he could handle the kitchen knives and make food on par with a five star chief. She started suspecting that he was taking cooking classes behind her back.

No matter how much he told her he wasn’t she was never convinced. He eventually gave up and just said that he watched a lot of cooking shows on the internet before she tried to convince his father to keep an eye on him. As if another pair of eyes could stop him from being a bitch.  

(Author: Oh, really)

Don’t fucking try me you piece of shit.

(Author: （＾ ω ＾） )

*puts hands up* you wanna go mother fu-

Click.

The door to the kitchen opens. A man with small patches of greying hair, looking just like the Yoo Joonghyuk of the past, enters.

They stare at each other in silence. Both unsure of what to say

(or just Yoo Joonghyuk thinking of how he can explain why he’s about to fight thin air)

Shut up! This was your fault anyway!

“Had an argument with your imaginary friend over there kiddo?” The man, his father, starts, “you’re glaring at the wall.”

He stops and looks back when he realized he was glaring at nothing. The words only he can see abruptly disappearing.

(-like his once ginormous pride)

“No.” He tried his best to make sure his voice didn’t sound strained  as he clenches his fist to hold back his anguish.

He starts preparing some coffee—ignoring the writing on the wall beside him.

His father pulls up a chair and sits down at the spot he always sits—behind the window.

His father is a salaryman and the only one providing for their family of four.

Also, his name is Yoo Joonhyun—yes, the same name from past life Han Sooyoung’s SSSSS-grade Infinite Regressor. His never read it but his heard it was popular. He guesses that his father’s personality is like that novel’s Yoo Joonhyun: responsible, caring, strong

…and the most annoying person in the world.

“Was it that, that blue haired guy? What was his name again? Sonic? It was Sonic, right? Or was it that thing with the weird head and suite. Jimmy? Or was it just Jim.

“Wait no, since you were mad then it has to b e that, um, that fox looking guy, with the spiky hair? Crash-Crash Bandicoom—Bandicoot? No! It was Crash Bandicoot!”

He looks at his weird father in a pinched expression and questions, not for the first time, how and why in the world is he related to this man.

“Can you please shut up.” He says as he sets the finished cup of coffee on the side of his father’s plate. He then sits down on his designated spot on the table. Which is, unfortunately, right in front of him.

His father just laughs, as if his annoyance was the exact reaction he was looking for.

“Come on. When you were a kid you use to talk to the little characters on your gameboy and the tv. You even talked to them when you weren’t playing your games. It was so cute.” His father coos, a big grin on his face as he reminisces on the days when his little man was a little boy.

Yoo Joonghyuk just looks at him in a type of disgust that was both embarrassed and one that said “do not talk to me motherfucker or I’m throwing these hands.”

But it seems his father wanted an early grave.

Yoo Joonhyun looked at his son right in his eyes in a mock-up of a serious man about to have a serious conversation with his son.

“Ah, I know.” He says and crosses his arms—attempting but purposely failing to look condescending. But what he says next sent a shiver down he’s spine.

“It was Kim Dokja, wasn’t it.” He stated matter-of-factly.

…

WHAT???

Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes almost flew out of his eyes sockets.

“How do you that name??”

The fact that someone other then him knew that name shook him to his core. How did his father know that name anyway? Was there a game young Yoo Joonghyuk used to play that had a character named Kim Dokja? Did he hear the name form somewhere?

“Oh? So I was right!” His father looked pleased.

Yoo Joonghyuk, on the other hand, was not.

“Just tell me!” He needed to know.

Although unsure about his sons strange reaction, he answers anyway.

“Well… remember when you were fifteen, you use to have all these nightmares?”

Yoo Joonghyuk tried to remember. When he first came to this world he had a lot of dreams of his past regression turns. But it all ended with him dying and…

“You always called out that name, Kim Dokja, before me or your mom would wake you up.”

He remembers. He called out that name in the hopes that, that man would come save him like his done many times before, but he never did.

“I always thought it was one of your comfort characters since you’d call out that name when you were in trouble.”

He looks at his father, not remembering what his talking about. “I did?”

“Yeah. When you were fifteen you always said things like ‘Kim Dokja, I’m gonna kill you’, ‘This is Kim Dokja’s fault’ or you’d just call out that name when Alphas started chasing you.”

Yoo Joonghyuk internally cringes—tries to at least. Never realizing how much he said that name.

“Of course, I was the one that showed up and saved you instead of this Kim Dokja guy.” His father thrust out his chest and tilted his chin up.

Ignoring his father’s smugness—“How in the world do you know all of that?” Even he doesn’t remember openly saying all of that.

His father smiles, the pride from before replaced with something gentler and warmer then the light that manifested out the window behind him. It surrounds him like a golden halo of the gentlest deity there was.

“When you’re a father and a provider, you always notice and remember the little things your little once say and do.”

Sometimes he envies his parents—maybe it’s because Omegas have strong maternal instincts, or the fact that he’s biological clock is ticking—or simply because he is Yoo Joonghyuk. But, sometimes he too, would like to notice what his little once would say and do.

-

Once his mother and sister are at the table they start eating.

After breakfast he informs everyone at the table that his going with Han Sooyoung to get a job. His parents were shocked but very much supportive; although, his mother did nag him about always bringing suppressants and staying away from people who ogle him. His father followed suit and even materialized a small sling bag (that came from who knows where) full of self defensive equipment; from pepper spray to a personal alarm keychain—he even found freaking stun gun!

Once Han Sooyoung arrived to pick him up, they were of to Dream, Inc.

-

“Okay, I already told the guy we were coming. According to him, today you’ll be doing a sort of test run; If you’re good then you’re hired, if not then you’re fired.”

They’re currently Dream, Inc. company building. Han Sooyoung was leading the way to the CEO’s office while briefing him about what was going to happen. And being poetic about it when she can.

He already knows that the name of the CEO of Dream, Inc. was Guwon, but according to Han Sooyoung, that was just an allies that he’s used since he started making games.

“Many people know him, it’s just, not many know he’s also owns Guwon—that’s only reserved for people he’s close with.” mentioned Han Sooyoung when he asked about it.

The man really was a secretive guy.

“Do you know his name?” He asked in passing.

“Of course I know!” she said, sounding offended. “I was his assistant and I even went to college with him and his-” she stopped herself.

“And his what?” He probed.

She sighed. “I can’t talk about it. It’s something private.”

How dangerous is this man for Han Sooyoung to actually respect his privacy? As much as he respects Guwon for being responsible for his favorite games, he’s starting to have a bad feeling about the man.

-

Han Sooyoung leads him to the inner part of the building where the faculty and different departments were.

The building was big but surprisingly not confusing. There were paintings of road signs you might see in medieval times; wooden arrows with writing directing to where every department was, and labels for every door and corridor they passed by. It blended seamlessly  with the colorful scenery, painted on the wall with it—daisies, dahlias, marigolds, and other flowers he can’t name; fresh green grass by snow topped mountains so far they look purple, and trees were everywhere; the style was intricate yet deceivingly simple.

Slowly the warm and sunny scene turned to night. Flowers now closed and the grass looked cold. Trees shudder as a breeze made leaves fall. They walk for a while until the wall turns to day again, but theirs something different about it. Some leaves turn a shade of yellow and orange, some flowers were different from the ones before; orchids, chrysanthemum and some purple flowers he doesn’t know. The further they went, the more the leaves turn to shades of orange—until all of them were—as the grass was littered with brown, orange and yellow leaves.

Like before, the day turns to night. The moon casting an orange glow to the cold, beautiful leaves of autumn night.

They stop in front of an elevator.

The only thing reminding him that was, in fact, still in a building to get a job as a “glorified made”—as Han Sooyoung puts it.

He looks to the right of the corridor, where the autumn leaves continue, then to the right where it slowly turns to winter. For some reason, he was tempted to go there, to see what it was like—to see how different it was from the autumn walls.

“Come on, we’re almost there.”

Han Sooyoung says as she steps into the elevator. It’s black and white walls further bringing him out of the imagination the walls brought him to.

“Well? You coming or not?”

He finally steps inside, standing beside Han Sooyoung. She presses the button to the top floor and the doors to the elevator slowly close, separating him from the scenery on the other-side.