Kim Dokja didn't know where he was or what the hell was going on, not recalling anything other than the fact that his body was submerged. When he tried opening his eyes, it felt as though he'd been sinking into the sea for an eternity, his body as frozen as ice and his muscles having no strength to move.
Dokja was ready to close his eyes and give into darkness again when he felt someone swimming in his direction, closing in on him. He put everything that was left of his willpower and strength into extending his hand towards the unknown person. Dokja was barely conscious, his vision blurry and constantly fading in and out.
Faintly, he was able to feel something had grabbed his hand and begun pulling him upward. The grip around his hand was warm.
That warmth was the last thing Dokja processed before closing his eyes as fell unconscious once more.
-----
*COUGH* *COUGH*
His body was spewing out the water before he was even fully conscious. While sputtering up what was left of the water in his lungs, Dokja tried to gather his bearings and looked around to see if there was any clue as to where he was. Rather than any useful clues, what greeted him was the face of a man that seem like it had been blessed by the gods themselves. Wide, deep black eyes and thick eyebrows. Black slightly wavy hair, cut short and slicked back with water. He had tan skin and a strong jawline. Even when he was soaking wet, the guy looked like he'd just came off the set of a modelling session.
He stares doesn't leave Dokja's body, as if trying to assess him as much as he could. His previously startled expression quickly gave way to agitation as he began scowling, putting on a menacing expression. Damn, he still looked handsome like that. It didn't help that the guy's face was way too close and that his savior's hand was on his back to support him.
"…Am I in Heaven?" Dokja asked, with his near-death experience seemingly destroying any mouth filter he may have had previously. The stranger just stared blankly for a brief moment.
*Thud*
"OUCH!!!"
He'd abruptly released Dokja, making him fall to the ground and hit his head. Ugh, some kind of rude savior he is.
"You didn't need to do that", irritation lined Dokja's voice as he kept a critical gaze on the offender, but the only response he got was a cold stare as the man started to fix his soaking clothes.
This bastard!
"Tsk." He sneered.
After giving one last glare, the guy turned around and started walking away. Remembering that he needed to find out what exactly happened to him and why he ended up in this place, Dokja's irritation quickly faded away as he rushed to get up and catch the man ahead of him. After stumbling after him for a bit, Dokja grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back, the two standing face to face once again. It wasn't exactly easy getting the right words out with the man giving him such a murderous expression for no reason, but pushing past his fear, Dokja began questioning him
"Hey, you saved me right? Do you know what's going on? "
"Let go.", he muttered, his voice in a low growl.
Paying no mind to his threatening tone, Dokja tightened his hold on his arm even more.
First he saves me, now acting like a kid who's been cheated out of a lollipop, what's the deal with this guy?
"What is your problem, I just asked you a question. If you were able to pull me back up from those depths then I'm sure it's no problem to give a simple answer". Dokja's irritation was coming back fast as he leaned forward to glare up at the man, his hands on his hips.
Still, the man remained silent and just glared at him; there were now visible veins on the side of his head, and his hands were clenched.
"Fine, if you're not going to--ARGH!!"
Dokja was flung to the side onto the ground as that idiot literally throw away. Man, as if his hip wasn't already in pain. It was truly hard to decide whether to feel irritated or astonished at this edgy man.
Scrambling back to his feet and grabbing the man's arm again, Dokja inquired one more time, "Why'd you even save me if you're just gonna treat me like this afterward?".
"…You should have just drowned."
"....."
In the face of the strangers' unwarranted animosity, Dokja was rendered speechless for a moment, having no idea what to say, gaping at the bastard like an idiot. Luckily Dokja had already had plenty of experience with such unreasonable people, so he quickly recovered, and he pursed his lips into a tight smile, mustering every condescending bone in his body.
"Ahh, do you regret it? So, why did you save me then, huh big guy?" Dokja asked, his tone sounding like he was talking to a child, still gripping the other guy's arm with a firm grasp.
The stubborn man continued glaring at him, his expression becoming even more murderous as he wrapped his hand around the wrist of the hand that was preventing him from leaving.
"…Let go," he demanded again as he tightened his grip substantially on Dokja's wrist, stopping just short of cracking his bones. The pain made him wince and would probably leave a large hand shaped bruise there for at least the next week or so, but Dokja knew that he was more obstinate than the guy could ever imagine him to be.
"Answer me first, do you not know how to say anything else?!"
The other man's eye began to twitch
"Tch, you incessant bastard."
Luckily for Dokja, rather than actually breaking his bones, the man simply flung him away once more with ease, causing him to stumble away before regaining his balance. Drowning the guy was seeming like a more and more of a plausible option as the ongoing bickering between the two had amounted to absolutely nothing but a petty (one-sided) push fight. They were at an impasse, glaring at each other as neither men wanted to relent to the other.
Dokja was getting ready to say something when-
"HYUNG!!!" a loud voice shouted out of nowhere.
Both men turned toward the direction of the disruption and saw what appeared to be a teenage boy dashing toward then. He had crimson eyes and messy white bangs that reached his eyes. .Dokja had figured that he'd been calling out for the other man, but became bewildered when the boy started approaching him specifically. He had no memory of having any siblings, that was literally his namesake!
The boy immediately tried helping his supposed 'Hyung' stand up, attempting to pull up Dokja, but the other man was hardly helping the boy's efforts as his body had frozen in surprise. Anxiety clouded the younger's eyes as he glanced at Dokja.
"Hyung are you alright?" he questioned. When he received only a confused blank stare his apprehension only increased. Realizing he wasn't going to get any response, he turned to face the other man.
"Your Highness, while I don't know what happened I think it's about time we should take our leave, especially considering Prince Dokja's muddled state right now...". The white haired boy bowed low and then turned back to Dokja
"Let's go now, hyung!" he whispered as he grabbed the older man's arm and quickly began walking away, pulling Dokja along before he could get objection.
Huh? Your highness? Why'd he called that bastard Your highness? I've never had a brother or any other siblings, so why does he call me Hyung?
At the very least, it looked like whoever this boy was would be more willing to finally give him some answers, unlike the bastard they left behind. With this in mind, Dokja pulled back his arm from the boy's hold and stopped walking, and the other giving him a perplexed expression.
Looking into his eyes, Dokja asked once more, "Hey, where am I?" The boy tilted his heads worryingly, not understanding what he meant.
"Hyung....what do you mean?" Dokja scowled in response.
"What do you mean when you say hyung?"
"Huh?"
Dokja sighed, yet another conversation that would go nowhere.
"I mean, why do you call me hyung? and..." turning away from the white haired boy, Dokja looked at the surroundings. Looking around there was a large tree close by, birds flying all around, and most surprisingly, a grandiose structure that looked suspiciously like a castle.
" …what am I doing here? And who's that basta---"
Before he could continue , the boy rushed to cover his mouth. "Hyung you can't call His Highness that!". The boy's eyes widened in apparent horror, and he started looking around frantically, as if afraid the other guy would come bursting out of nowhere.
Waving off the hand covering his mouth, Dokja continued, "His Highness?, what do you mean?"
"Hyung, have you lost your mind?". The boy searched his hyung's face for any sign that he might've been joking. Not finding anything of the sort, he just palmed his face and groaned, taking a moment to himself before facing Dokja again.
"Hyung, you can't just insult the imperial family,"
As if things couldn't get more perplexing. Imperial? What? The reader folded his arms in contemplation. Books often have settings that take inspiration from historical ages, so...
"What position does he hold inside the imperial family?"
At that point Dokja could've sworn the boy's eyes started bugging out of his head
"Seriously, Hyung, have you gone crazy? How could you have forgotten your biggest enemy?!" he cried out.
Biggest enemy? The guy may have been a huge asshole, but calling him an enemy was a bit much. There's no way someone made of skin and bones like him would have a chance against a big muscular guy like that.
"What do you mean?"
He groaned once more and clutched his head.
"How do you not get it already? Hyung the man you just saw earlier.... is His highness, the Crown prince!!"
"…Crown Prince of what exactly?"
The boy had finally at his wit's end
"THE SEOUL EMPIRE OF COURSE ?!?!"As soon as the exclamation left his mouth his eyes widened, the kid appalled by his own volume. He quickly turned to look around anxiously to see if he'd disturbed anyone nearby the castle.
Seoul Empire? There's no way that could be, right? There was only one source where Dokja could recall hearing that place from.
[The imperial family ruled the strongest empire on the continent, with their magnificent royal palace overlooking the whole country, filled to the brim with wealth and housing some of the most important individuals to the country. The empire's sheer strength and influence was unmatched, with the surrounding countries not daring to confront them .
The Seoul Empire ]
However, that empire only existed in the novel, it'd be impossible for him to be there. No, it's not possible, but what if? How else could this be explained? Was this all just an elaborate joke? Maybe he accidentally walked onto a movie set?
Dokja closed his eyes tightly, trying to keep himself calm in the face of that revelation. No, this was good progress, he was finally getting answers. Gazing at the teenager in front of him, he took a calming breath before asking his next question.
"Then if that's the basta---I mean the Crown Prince then who are you?"
The boy was taken aback "Hyung, how could you forget your own brother, I'm Kim Namwoon!"
Dokja closed his eyes and put a finger on his chin as he began contemplating…Kim Namwoon....Kim Namwoon--
His eyes widening, Dokja suddenly grabbed Namwoon by the shoulders tightly, surprising him. It was only then the boy noticed how much Dokja's hands were shaking.
Kim Dokja couldn't help but hold his breath as he asked, "You....Are you...my brother?"
Kim Namwoon could do nothing but nod at the obvious question. Dokja slowly retreated his hands from the boy- no, his brother's shoulders and slowly turned to looked in the direction of the castle. It felt as though he'd had lost all his strength.
Kim Namwoon was the name of Kim Dokja's little brother in TSFTC.
Was he furious? Happy? Sad? Alarmed? Even though he's finally pieced together the situation, his thoughts and emotions are all over the place. However, he did know that no matter what, he must leave this place.
Even though his body was shaking and had no idea where he was going, the only thing Dokja could think to do was start moving, to go anywhere but here. He could feel Namwoon following behind and ignored his calls pleas to stop. He didn't realize he was running as he bumped into multiple people in his way, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
When Dokja had regained some of his senses, he recognized that he had reached a large garden, though he had no idea how he'd managed to travel that far without comprehending anything else. Slowing down, he took in the castle around him. It seemed that he wasn't alone in the garden. A short distance away from him was a woman with short woman with neck-length black hair. She has a small face with sharp canines. It seemed like she had been drinking tea with other women at a table.
She instantly stood up when she saw him.
"Kim Dokja?" she called out, and hurriedly walked towards him with a puzzled expression.
But even before her approach, Dokja's surroundings and vision started to blur, after the nonstop mental and physical exertion, his body was starting to finally give out.
He couldn't fight against his heavy eyelids, and every muscle in his body felt like lead. As his legs gave out and his vision went black, he could only conjure one last thought.
Haaaa, of course I've been isekai'd into this fucking trash novel of all things. The universe really does hate me.