Skating At Last [ORV Fanfic]

EIGHT [The Challenger]

I'm all in, palms out
I'm at your mercy now and I'm ready to begin
I am strong, I am strong, I am strong enough to let you in

* * *
One month prior, Dokja's birthday

"How are you drinking all that without getting intoxicated?” Hades asked, raising an eyebrow at the constant amount of glasses Dionysus had requested his way.

The three bodyguards within range stood near the door behind their boss, facing Joonghyuk on either side of Hades’ shoulders. There was another servant in the corner writing something in a notebook as if taking the conversation down as evidence.

Joonghyuk felt as if he were being punished for being the Punisher, one pint of dizziness after the other to test the limits of his sanity. Luckily, his body did not allow him to cave into the expected disappointments that the Underworld’s founder had of him. For a while, Joonghyuk analyzed Dokja’s parents to not forget after this session: Hades was a handsome older man with salt-and-pepper colored hair styled back and wearing an all-black fit, a stark contrast to his blonde-haired wife with pink tones in her chic dress. The dynamic reminded him of his date with Dokja on Valentine’s Day.

"My alcohol tolerance is high,” Joonghyuk admitted, placing the glass down gently in front of him, “but I don't think it's safe for me to drive my car after this."

Even if he only had a few drinks and felt nauseous, Joonghyuk would never put his loved ones at risk through his irresponsible decisions—even though the decision to drink right now was not his own— so he addressed the concern to the intimidating power. 

Annoyed, but impressed, Hades waved to one of his employees. "I'll have one of my butlers take you, don't worry."

He studied Joonghyuk’s behavior, almost mirroring his own folded arms, leaning back with attitude. Hades coughed and sat up straighter but before he could explain why he wanted to talk alone with him, Joonghyuk answered as if reading his mind.

"You wanted to see my reaction to drinking,” he acknowledged, “or ask me something while I'm not sober."

He leaned forward, a little pissed that Joonghyuk’s reasoning was much better than expected. Hades lightly sipped his beer now and then and Joonghyuk thought that the cautiousness was because he got drunk easily. "You're sharp, Punisher . But so am I, you see, I can tell when my son is lying."

"You mean when his nose goes like that?” Joonghyuk scratched the tip of his nose, recalling how Dokja’s nostrils flare when lying or evading the truth.

Hades clenched his jaw and leaned back again, wondering how long they must have been in each other’s presence for him to pick that up. Did he know about Dokja’s past too? Was he aware that they wanted to test whether Joonghyuk was an aggressive drinker, just as Dokja’s biological father had been? Hades shook his head and sniffed awkwardly; maybe it would be difficult to catch this one off guard.

"How did you two really meet?" He pushed, interrogating, “When and where was it?”

Joonghyuk wore a guilty look then and Hades felt euphoric at having potentially caught the Punisher in the act. If Dokja was willing to lie about the way they met, Joonghyuk must have screwed something up, to Hades’ logic. He thought about various options such as a one-night stand, assault at a skating rink, or anything remotely offensive to Dokja. However, the response was none like that.

Being under the influence, Joonghyuk allowed himself to answer honestly, overtaken by a burden he finally had an excuse to get off his chest. "On the Deux Ex Machina , after our ice skating tournaments last year… I was on a run after losing my match against the Dokkaebi. I found him standing near the edge and I thought..."