Chapter Text
In front of Kim Dokja, their family’s new guest, Sun Wookong, took one look at his face, screamed and fainted.
It was their first time meeting each other, with his mother and father’s hope they would become friends. And yet, this happened.
Kim Dokja wanted to cry, but held back his tears. Sun Wookong was just 7 years old, while he was 4. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Kim Dokja’s body was that of a 4 year old, but he had memories of his previous life. A 28 year old office worker obsessed with reading novels.
However, it still didn’t take the hurt away from having someone look at his face and collapse from fear.
Kim Dokja remembered being overwhelmed at work, making his way home and being too tired to even get himself food at a convenient store. His head had been aching from lack of sleep and stress. His plan was to read a few novels before bed and hopefully wake up early tomorrow for breakfast. Perhaps it wasn’t a good plan, as it led to his current situation.
Kim Dokja had read a lot of novels with reincarnation in other worlds after a protagonist met their death. But he never thought it would happen to him.
Kim Dokja awoke to a high ceiling, delicately carved into intricate designs and beautifully painted with stars and constellations. As he attempted to look around he found that he was not lying on his small bed in his dingy apartment. But was instead laying inside a crib. He sat up with difficulty as he tried to take in this strange situation, but before he could dwell on it any further the sound of a door opening caused him to startle.
“Dokja, my baby, you’re already awake. You must have been excited.” A woman's sweet voice cooed over him. He was momentarily stunned as he saw a beautiful god-like woman approach him and gently pick him up. Her beautiful golden hair and shining golden eyes were even more vibrant with her dark green dress.
Being afraid of falling he quickly clung on to her, as he looked around the room. Behind the woman were more women dressed in maid outfits looking like they were holding back from saying something. The room was beautifully decorated with children's toys and books scattered around. The high ceiling windows had light blue curtains hanging from them and overlooked a large vibrant garden outside.
The woman holding him sat down on a red sofa and placed him on her lap. Maids quickly brought a white towel and a small basin of water. He sat still as the woman helped him wipe his face and brush his teeth. He only began to struggle when the woman tried to remove his clothes.
“It’s okay, Dokja, mommy’s just changing you. It's your special day after all.”
Kim Dokja stopped struggling.
Mommy? She was his mom? And what did she mean by special day? Did she know this would happen?
Kim Dokja failed to notice his clothes had been successfully changed and only snapped out of his own thoughts when his mother stood up and began carrying him elsewhere. Scared of being dropped he held on tightly around the woman's neck.
As they walked through the corridors with the maids following close behind, he tried to take in his surroundings, but was lulled back to sleep by the gentle swaying motions.
When he awoke once again, he was sitting in front of delicious smelling pancakes, topped with fruits and chocolate syrup.
“Happy Birthday, Dokja!” two voices said in unison.
Kim Dokja couldn't contain himself and smiled as he reached towards the food with his small hands. He tried using the knife and fork at first, but lacked the coordination, so he gave up and began using his hands to eat.
He heard a deep voice chuckle next to him and turned to see a man with long black hair, dark eyes, wearing a loose fitting black robe look at him fondly.
Kim Dokja stared at him, and became startled when the man raised his hand. He panicked and was about to turn away from him and into his mother’s arms, when he felt a warm hand patting his head.
“Eat well, Dokja,” the man said as he picked up a strawberry with a fork and fed him. Kim Dokja opened his mouth and ate it. He then turned to his mother who was looking at both of them happily.
“Mama, how owd?” he said as he pointed to himself. He felt himself blush as he mispronounced the world “old”.
His mother smiled as she brought a handkerchief to his mouth.
“Our baby is three years old. Did you forget already? You asked yesterday, too…” his mother looked at him slightly concerned.
Kim Dokja didn’t know how to answer so he turned away and continued to eat. The rest of the day continued with his mother and the man, who he later on learned was his father, spending the day together playing in the gardens, by the water fountain, and seeing the horses in the stables.
Once he had been tucked into bed, Kim Dokja tried to recall any previous memories, but couldn’t. He didn’t know if it was because he was still too young, or because it was probably a dream. If it was a dream he decided to enjoy it. It was the best birthday he had ever had.
When he woke up the next day, still in his crib, he truly didn’t know how to feel. Especially since somehow his previous personality and new childish tendencies, seemed to have become intermixed in just one night.
As his days continued with his new home and family, there would be brief periods of time where his 28 year old personality would be more prominent, but most of the time he acted very childish and couldn’t stop it. He found that he cried more easily, he craved chocolate and sweets more than in his previous life and had a constant affinity to collect gold, silver and jewels.
He believed the last one was because of the struggle he endured in his previous life because of the lack of money. His mother and father seemed to find it amusing and indulged him, by giving him gold and silver coins and a small decorative jewelry box, to which he used to store said coins.
His mother seemed to have an already established routine for him, which made it easier for him to adapt as he continued his days in his new home.
His mother always woke him up and got him ready. Breakfast was always with mother and father. Then playing in the gardens with mother, until it got too hot. Small lunch then an afternoon nap. Wake up, eat again, then spend family time with mother and father in his study where his mother would try to teach him to read and write. Lastly dinner and a bath, then mother or father would read to him until he fell asleep.
Life continued the same way. And he found that he forgot most of his previous life more easily than he liked to admit. Aside from some more traumatic and unfortunate events from his previous life everything else had all either been forgotten or become blurred.
By his fourth birthday, Kim Dokja had figured out how indulgent his parents were and used it to his advantage to get his way. The first thing to go was the crib. Every time he woke up in it, it managed to hurt his 28 year old pride. Surprisingly his mother was hesitant about getting rid of it. Including his father. It was only when he cried about being a big boy that his parents relented. The crib was still in the room but his parents had added a larger bed where he would currently sleep. Embarrassingly he woke up the first day from a nightmare and cried loud enough for his parents to come in the middle of the night to sleep with him and comfort him. After that incident he slept well on his new bed.
The next thing he wanted was access to the library. It seemed his love for books never changed. Perhaps because he was still small, his parents didn't let him in out of fear he might accidentally destroy something. His father even tried to coax him away from the thought by telling him he would buy him new children's books. He didn't give up on this either, both his 28 year old self and child self were curious about this world. He obviously couldn't go off on his own yet, so the next best thing was to read about it. Once again he threw a tantrum and his parents relented only when he said he wanted to be like his father. His access was limited by what his parents agreed was suitable for his age, so for now he was stuck reading only books about myths and legends of the kingdom of Startis.
He also learned his parents were Duke and Duchess of the Underworld. And as the only son he was the only heir to their territory. And as the future heir he had to make connections.
This is where Sun Wookong entered the picture.
As a royal from the Kingdom of Silica, an Eastern nation that resembled China from his previous life, Sun Wookong was sent to this kingdom to learn about the culture and establish healthy relations between both nations.
And so far they are off to the wrong start.
"Ah…"
Kim Dokja, who had been hiding behind his mother, held onto her dress even tighter.
"It seems Sun Wookong is a little under the weather from the long travel. Let's say our greeting again later, when he feels better," his mother comforted him and patted his hand.
"Yesh…" replied Kim Dokja as he lessened his grip.
"The maids in this house will take care of him, so it's alright. Don’t worry." His father said as he picked him up. "Aren't you tired Dokja? Let's go to your room and rest." His father took a handkerchief and wiped the tears that had been threatening to fall as he began walking away from the scene towards his room.
His mother had not followed, most likely to check on Sun Wookong.
When they reached his room. His father helped him change into his white silk pajamas and tucked him into bed. He patted his head and Kim Dokja closed his eyes. After a few seconds his father walked away and closed his door.
Kim Dokja opened his eyes and immediately got off his bed. He stumbled to his dresser to see himself in the mirror.
He needed to know.
Was he truly that ugly to cause a 7 year old to faint?
Never once had he bothered to check himself in the mirror as his mother and father basically did everything for him. He was beginning to realize something was off, but didn't know what.
As he climbed the chair and looked over the dresser, he found that the mirror was missing. The backboard where the mirror was supposed to be was still there but the mirror had been removed.
He didn't panic just yet. Maybe it was removed because he was little. His parents were obviously overprotective of him. Even his 4 year old mind understood that.
So he jumped down and ran towards the bathroom. There was bound to be a mirror there somewhere.
As he opened the door he saw nothing but darkness inside and became scared. He couldn't bring up the courage to go in.
He closed the door again and ran to his parents room. It was only one door away from his room and he was sure the windows were open to let the light in.
He closed the door behind him and ran towards his mother’s vanity and carefully climbed on the chair in front of it. It was a beautifully carved piece of art with flowers and birds engraved into it. Kim Dokja had been mesmerized by it when he first saw it and when he tried to get closer to bite it, his mother had picked him up and lightly scolded him for almost hurting himself.
It was a strange and fond memory for him.
As he looked into the mirror he saw a mix of his face from his previous life and something he had never seen before.
"Wha- what ish thish?" His small voice trembled. His face paled and his small heart began to race.
He couldn't handle this. He jumped off the chair, ran to his parents bed, and hid under the covers and pillows. As he hid himself from the world, he began to cry.
Black lines marked almost his entire face. From his cheeks to his forehead, the lines ended near his eyes.
Was this some sort of deformity?
Kim Dokja’s 4 year old self was scared and couldn't think properly. He was afraid of being hated by his parents for whatever this illness was.
Meanwhile his 28 year old self had put the pieces together. There were no mirrors in his room, his parents were overprotective, the maids and butlers never attended to him directly, only his parents. His parents knew of his scarred face and chose to protect and love him regardless. They were trying to give him the happiest memories they could before he would have to eventually face the world like this.
They are great parents who love me.
Kim Dokja thought as his small body grew tired from crying and fell asleep.
Kim Dokja was woken up by his mother who looked at him with concern, but said nothing. She sat beside him and handed him a brown paper bag.
He opened it slowly and saw it contained a notebook with the front cover of a dragon and other assorted stationary.
Kim Dokja looked at his mother with a confused face.
His mother smiled gently.
"A gift from Sun Wookong. He wanted to apologize for scaring you. Let's try to greet him again, alright?" Her hand gently rubbed his cheek.
Kim Dokja couldn't help but nod. His mother gave a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and silently helped him get dressed.
As she was almost finished, a maid knocked the opened door with a letter in hand.
His mother reached her hand out to receive it. Read the outside of the letter before turning to Dokja.
"Mommy has to go write a reply to this letter, okay. Wait right here your dad will come pick you up."
"Okay…" Kim Dokja swung his small legs back and forth as he waited and his thoughts drifted.
"I musht be repulsive…" he said feeling depressed.
Sun Wookong's reaction was normal. Children were very honest and would not hide their fear.
He wondered if a friendship was even possible if Sun Wookong was scared to the point of fainting.
Suddenly his gaze shifted to the brown paper bag in his hands. He emptied out the contents on his parents bed and grabbed the silver scissors. Then cut out two holes in the bag meant for the eyes.
"Funished!"
He adjusted the bag over his head.
"This way I won't be scary."
There was a knock and the door opened. His father came in and looked surprised.
"Papa! Look, look!" He couldn't contain his excitement and ran towards him. His balance had been thrown off by the limited vision and he wobbled and staggered. Before he fell, he was held up by his father.
"This way I won't be scary!"
"..."
"Uhm?" Even though he couldn't see his father's face, the silence spoke.
Perhaps overcome by emotions, his father hugged him tightly.
"You don't have to hide yourself like that."
"But Sun Wookong…if he can't shee my face, he won't be scary, right?"
His father patted his back, his expression unreadable.
"He's not scared… but I guess our little Dokja was the one who got scared."
His expression looked troubled for a bit before it relaxed.
"Alright, just until he is no longer afraid. Okay?"
"Okay!"
Together they made their way to meet Sun Wookong again. Kim Dokja held in his father's arms, and with each step, the paper bag rustled.
Sun Wookong was kind. After a few days of meeting and finally becoming friends, Sun Wookong told him it was okay to take off the mask.
However, Kim Dokja couldn't bring himself to do it. After all there was nothing he could do about his ugly appearance. From that moment onwards the only two people he felt comfortable enough to remove his mask with, was his mother and father.