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"You finally found someone?"
After a lifelong search of wondering and waiting for any news of his parents, Yoo Joonghyuk had basically given up. He had done everything he could to find them, he even hired the detectives that could uncover the scandals of the most famous people in the country.
There had been no signs of his parents for so long, and so Yoo Joonghyuk was honestly shocked when the crack detective he hired as a last resort came up with any sort of news.
"Yes, that's right." This detective seemed to be mighty pleased that there was a result, and was probably looking forward to a paycheck more than anything else. Crack detectives don't typically get paid much unless they were famous, after all. "You have an uncle."
"...I have an uncle," Yoo Joonghyuk repeated, his expression that rarely changed now one of mild shock. "But no parents."
"Well.." the detective began, drawing out the sound with a big gesture as the next sentence seemingly remained out of grasp. "Well.."
Yoo Joonghyuk stood up with a heavy sigh. "I'm done. You didn't really find anything, did you? I don't have time to waste here."
"Professional gamer Yoo Joonghyuk, please trust me that you do have an uncle!" The detective panicked, lunging over the desk in their cramped and tiny office to latch around Yoo Joonghyuk's waist. "There is even evidence from the blood tests! No one can deny that you look similar and even act similar!"
Yoo Joonghyuk struggled against the hold of the detective and quietly began to wish that he had a sword or a spear or something to threaten this guy with so that he would be able to leave in peace. Alas, it was not like he was a famous regressor in his 1,864th round or anything like that. He was just a gamer who happened to work out (a lot).
But Yoo Joonghyuk had also spent probably twelve or thirteen years looking for some tie to this physical world, and so he was hesitant to fully walk out even if this guy really was a poor crack detective.
The detective let go when Yoo Joonghyuk sat heavily back down in the cheap office chair. "Tell me who this guy is."
The detective nodded enthusiastically and quickly began to pull out a very thin file with only one sheet of paper in it.
This was not a lot of information about anyone by anyone's standards, the paper wasn't even double sides and the only real good piece of information was the small pixelated black and white photograph in the corner.
"Name: Jaehwan ," Yoo Joonghyuk read, glancing up at the detective with a glare that would kill lesser men. It would have done this detective in as well, but the prospects of a paycheck was a very strong tie to life. "Why is there no family name?"
"That's the thing, he legally doesn't have one," the detective replied awkwardly. "Trust me, I did look. Apparently he travels so much that no one knows exactly where he came from except that well, he's obviously a bit Korean."
"Just a bit Korean?" A single perfectly drawn eyebrow was raised and the detective trembled. "How is this guy related to me?"
"The blood tests confirm it, although it took a long time to convince him to be tested.. he seemed to think he didn't have any relatives 'in this world' but it was a perfect match to you and your little sister, just a little removed which makes him your uncle."
"There isn't even an age listed here, just a bunch of question marks," Yoo Joonghyuk pointed out. "Why couldn't you find anything on this guy that is supposedly my uncle?"
"Well like I said, he travels a lot apparently. He's a very secretive guy, the strong silent type."
"So all there is are the blood test results? What side of the family is he on? Will he be able to tell me about my parents?" The situation had long since changed from desperate to wearisome. Yoo Joonghyuk simply wanted answers, he didn't need anything more than that.
But it seemed that it was not written in the stars for him to ever find his parents, so perhaps having this strange man was better than nothing.
"I don't know what he will tell you, but he is at least willing to see you because you are blood relatives." The detective took back the file and carefully slid it back into its place in the cabinet only to bring out a small slip of paper.
"What's this?" Yoo Joonghyuk asked, taking the paper and expecting a phone number, but instead finding an address and a time.
"He said that if you wanted to see him, that you should bring your sister to this location," the detective replied with a shrug.
"Why not a phone number? Or an email address?" Yoo Joonghyuk was bewildered. How old could this guy be that he would arrange a meeting through paper and connections rather than just communicating online? Who was this Jaehwan ?
"He doesn't have a valid phone number apparently," the detective sighed. "At any rate, it's up to you if you go. I am no longer responsible for this, because I found your relative I would like my payment."
Yoo Joonghyuk glared at the detective. "Do you really think that much information merits any sort of reward? You didn't find anything about this guy."
The detective began to sweat and wondered whether it was really worth it to keep pushing for a payment. Then again, his office rent was due and bean sprouts could only be a meal maybe once if someone was really desperate, and after three weeks of nothing but bean sprouts there was only so much pride a person could have.
"I found your uncle, what more do you want?"
。。。
The detective was eventually arrested for tax evasion.
。。。
On the date written on that slip of paper Yoo Joonghyuk received from the crack detective, the man was standing in a small public park a few blocks away from his apartment. Yoo Joonghyuk didn't really know why he showed up when he knew that the detective had probably been mistaken about something, but perhaps there was that small bit of hope that he really did have a blood relative that kept him rooted to that spot.
The children had long since vanished (as Yoo Joonghyuk had arrived a few hours early just in case and was very obviously not good with kids), and there were very few sounds to be heard beside the odd car that would pass by periodically.
He probably looked suspicious, wearing all black clothes in a public space for hours without moving. But since when did the protagonist care about any extras? (Since the beginning basically, but he will die a thousand times before ever admitting it).
Yoo Joonghyuk was a little surprised when the man he had been waiting for appeared. He really did just simply appear as if he had perhaps jumped at light speed to reach the park right at that moment.
"You're the kid that guy was talking about?" A low voice, cool and somewhat intrigued was heard and Yoo Joonghyuk nodded in his typical arrogant fashion.
"You are Jaehwan ?"
The other man smiled as if the name was funny and nodded in turn. "Yes, but not many people call me that anymore."
But that's your name??
Yoo Joonghyuk was not having a great first impression. He could see the snaking tattoo on the man's arm and he could sense the quiet strength in his body, but he couldn't figure anything out.
For one, what was his last name? Were they really related and if so where were the rest of their family members? There were too many questions.
"I heard you had a little sister?" Jaehwan asked, looking around as if she would suddenly appear at Yoo Joonghyuk's side.
"Why would I let my kid sister meet some random stranger?"
"That's a good point," Jaehwan conceded. "There were tests that said we were related, but you shouldn't trust just that. I don't mind that you're looking with your eyes, a level of suspicion must be used to discern the world."
He seemed to be somewhat approving of Yoo Joonghyuk? But this truly did only make Yoo Joonghyuk that much more suspicious. What on earth was this guy saying?
"You don't have any parents?"
"No, I was hoping that you would explain that," Yoo Joonghyuk replied, and Jaehwan shook his head.
"I don't know who your parents are."
"Then—"
"But I know that I am your uncle."
There was a lot of confidence in this statement and Yoo Joonghyuk was cut short.
"...What?" All he could do was quietly express how flabbergasted he was.
"There is a setting like this, probably. It can't be helped so I'll look after you for a while if you want."
"Who are you?" Yoo Joonghyuk demanded, finally having enough of this conversation. "Are you mocking me? How can you be my uncle if you do not even know who my parents are? How are you supposedly related to me?" Where have you been all this time and why don't you have the answers I want?
"Isn't 'uncle' what you call an older man?" Jaehwan asked, and the way he said it was strikingly familiar to how Yoo Joonghyuk typically acted that the younger of the two men was caught by surprise.
The words themselves were so exasperatingly plain and obvious that Yoo Joonghyuk could hardly process them properly. Common sense did not slip into his thick skull very often after all.
Jaehwan did not look his age. His age was an impossible number from the start, because his circumstances caused time to work differently for him. There was actually a huge age difference even though Jaehwan himself looked to be maybe thirty years old at the most if you were really bad at guessing ages.
The casual onlooker would be able to catch some resemblance between the two men, and there was definitely a similar arrogance in how they held themselves. They both seemed to have similar interests as well, as they both clearly trained their bodies.
But was that all? Or was there really a "setting" like Jaehwan said? Whatever the case was, Yoo Joonghyuk was struggling to find any worth in continuing to pursue it. Perhaps it was time for him to give up on the idea of a family..
"Kid."
A vein immediately bulged on Yoo Joonghyuk's forehead. "I'm not a kid."
"Everyone is a kid to me," Jaehwan replied easily. "Let's go."
"Go where??" Yoo Joonghyuk demanded.
"You said you were looking for your family. Or rather, your actions told me that. We're related by blood, but that means next to nothing in this world. No, the important thing is this: I'm here, and I have nowhere to go right now."
Yoo Joonghyuk was just about to decide to murder this guy for wasting his time and suggesting such a ridiculous thing, but he remembered that he wasn't a terrorist or a murderer and that he dealt with worse people all the time (online of course).
Yoo Joonghyuk's patience was going to fail sometime though, because Jaehwan did not wait for Yoo Joonghyuk to say anything before beginning to walk out of the park.
"Where are you going?"
"Where do you think?" Jaehwan's long legs were very quick to walk away from the park as the sun began to set. "Your little sister, I haven't even met her yet. Why reject me as a relative when you haven't even gotten a second opinion."
Yoo Joonghyuk would rather die than let this guy into the same country as his sister let alone a closet proximity, but there was something about Jaehwan that Yoo Joonghyuk undeniably shared (even though he didn't see it).
Jaehwan does what he wants.
。。。
"Who's this old guy?"
"I'm uncle Jaehwan ."
"You're our uncle? Oppa is it true?"
"I don't know."
"I don't have anywhere else to be, so can I hang out with you for a little bit?"
"....I'll allow it."
"Mia—"
。。。
Yoo Joonghyuk was starting to see Jaehwan for who he really was: a jerk who didn't follow the conventions of the world. In fact, he seemed completely unattached to the world and its many rules and constructs. He seemed to want to destroy them instead.
Yoo Joonghyuk really, really couldn't figure him out (but give it a few months and 1,864 regressions, he'll definitely come to appreciate the "let's get rid of this system" mindset). Jaehwan was getting along way too well with Yoo Mia (which was somewhat surprising at first, but it is later revealed that the guy is basically a child himself so of course they hit it off).
Yoo Joonghyuk was halfway between calling the police and simply making dinner and calling it a (very strange) day. So he did neither for a while and instead wiped down every surface of the small kitchen in his apartment.
It was a good apartment, it had multiple rooms and its own bath and everything, but if there was one complaint Yoo Joonghyuk had, it would be that the kitchen was too small. The countertop was too low and his back would hurt after working over it for a short amount of time. But cooking was one of the things he was certain he could do, and he had to do it for Mia's sake anyway.
Jaehwan stood nearby, having set Mia on the task of repeatedly stabbing the air with a pencil (why was he teaching her these things? He'll have to fix this behavior later on now). He looked proud for some reason, and began to stare at Yoo Joonghyuk as he went about making a meal for the three of them.
The best part about this was that the knives were never out of arm's reach and Yoo Joonghyuk had not played 99,999 hours of FPSs and combat games for nothing. If it came to it, Yoo Joonghyuk would not hesitate. He can just say this crazy foreign guy attacked him in his home as well, as the only witness was never going to side with someone else.
"What are you making?" Jaehwan asked as if he wasn't an unwelcome guest.
"Dumplings," Yoo Joonghyuk replied gruffly, his grip on the knife cutting the green onions tightening ever so slightly.
"Do you like dumplings?" Jaehwan's voice was curious, and Yoo Joonghyuk finally glanced up at the strange man.
"Yeah, I suppose I do." Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't exactly pleased with his recipe yet, but he was determined to master them one day.
"If you add some of this, and half that.." Jaehwan stepped further into the kitchen like he couldn't take it anymore and started to take over.
Yoo Joonghyuk was going to kill a man but before he knew it, wrapped dumplings were already steaming in a pan on the stove.
"I hate you."
"That's not a nice thing to say to your uncle."
In less than twelve minutes, the first batch of dumplings were ready and Yoo Joonghyuk stood with his arms folded over his chest as Jaehwan happily ate the fruits of his labor (showing the first bit of emotion besides arrogance and indifference so far).
"You know," Jaehwan began, plucking another dumpling from the pan. "I don't eat things made by other people, not typically."
Yoo Joonghyuk didn't understand why he would start saying this now, but he could find that he related to the words that were being spoken.
"Dumplings —these dumplings especially— are my favorite. They once reminded me what food really tasted like." There was a tower of deep and painful memories in the man's voice, and Yoo Joonghyuk suppressed his anger just enough to listen.
There was a reason Yoo Joonghyuk didn't chase the man out from the start, and that was the small feeling of true kinship that he felt with this man. He was unwilling, but he couldn't so simply cast him out either.
Perhaps it was the ancient look in the man's eyes as he acted like a child, or perhaps it was the mystery of who the man was from the first.
Or perhaps it was the question that remained: that if they were related, has he also been alone for this long? Or longer?
They were questions that couldn't be answered yet, but there was a dumpling that was being offered that the two men had technically made together.
"It isn't poisoned," Jaehwan joked in the strange deadpan manner he usually carried, and Yoo Joonghyuk silently took the dumpling.
He would not taste that dumpling again until he reached the first Murim, and by that time he will also have forgotten the taste of true food.
But from the first bite, it really was an incredible dumpling.
。。。
Yoo Joonghyuk quietly set down his headphones (which were notably not the sponsored blue pair that had glowing cat ears, because he only used those when he was not steaming) and sighed as he leaned back in his chair. It was two in the morning, and his stream only just ended then.
It wasn't easy work, because it took a lot of mental fortitude and willpower to stay awake for so long and deal with the trolls that would sometimes stalk his comments.
But Yoo Joonghyuk lived because of it, and he could also raise his sister to be happy, and so he would continue working for this.
There was one thing that had thrown him off of his game, though. The quiet sounds of heavier-than-usual breathing and the presence of a strange man in his house.
Yoo Joonghyuk did not warm up to anyone ever, especially not after one day. Jaehwan really didn't have anywhere else to go though (apparently he didn't have the right currency?? And he couldn't exchange it either for some reason) and so he was currently supposed to be sleeping on the couch.
But no. Of course not. When Yoo Joonghyuk quietly stalked into the main room of the apartment, there Jaehwan was in all of his glory. And it really was all of his glory.
Yoo Joonghyuk didn't know why he was surprised. He has gone past rage and into such great bewilderment and fury that he was honestly unable to act (although if he had been given a sword at this time, he surely would have used it).
There the man was, in full nude, striking the air as if to stab straight through the essence of reality. He did this surprisingly quickly, but the point was that there was a strange naked man in Yoo Joonghyuk's apartment mere meters away from where his little sister was peacefully sleeping without trauma and he intended to make sure this scene was never revealed.
"...Where are your clothes." It was not a question.
"I've been forced to believe that they are restrictive," Jaehwan replied, not bothering to look at Yoo Joonghyuk. "I just wanted to check something."
What the actual—
There was a knock at the door that cut off Yoo Joonghyuk's thoughts. The only visitors that had come at this hour in the past were psychotic fans trying to make their way into Yoo Joonghyuk's personal life, and more than once did he have to report stalkers to the authorities.
It seemed that Jaehwan was going to manage this one by himself, though.
Before Yoo Joonghyuk could even blink, the man was at the door as if he sensed the animosity of the man behind it and soon the door was opened.
The man didn't even have time to process all of Jaehwan's Jaehwaniness before he was suddenly unconscious in the hallway outside of the apartment. The trained eye would have been able to see a stab, and Yoo Joonghyuk could only barely see what had happened in the darkness of the room.
But even still, he couldn't help but somewhat appreciate it. There were no questions asked, no words exchanged... Yoo Joonghyuk felt that if he had some level of power (and a complete lack of common sense), he might be like the strange man he saw before him.
Although surely not nude.
。。。
Jaehwan was gone in the morning. It felt a bit like a fever dream, because there hadn't even been any evidence he existed at all in that world.
But Yoo Joonghyuk had an uncle, somewhere and somehow. He wasn't alone, because the weirdest man in the universe was somehow related to him.
Whether this was a good thing or not was indeterminable, but one thing was for certain:
That strange man could make really good dumplings.