Yjh has been on kdj's mind ever since highschool days. While he was living a sad life, enduring bullying and surviving thanks to one daily update of his favorite novel, yjh already started getting noticed as an ability user and making a name for himself.

'The Punisher', they called him after the handsome teen appeared seemingly out of nowhere and took care of the villains around Seoul. Kdj happened to stumble across one of the videos a bystander took of yjh's fight, and instantly became mesmerized by this real life protagonist.

"He looks dead inside" hsy once said while looking over his shoulder at his phone, before popping the lemon lollipop back into her mouth and turning to her laptop. "He does not." kdj defended, and looked at the Punisher's face, currently taking an interview. Fuck. He really did.

That's when they started. The small thoughts, incessantly bugging kdj. He already knew that yjh was a psychopath with many anger management issues, but him being depressed was a completely different worry. What made him like that, and what could kdj do about it?

"I'm going to become this country's top villain." Hsy, his best friend and a recruit of SPf(special police force) just like yjh, pinched the bridge of her nose. "You will what?" "Hear me out." kdj started. "You said it yourself, that guy lacks motivation, yeah?"

"So? Leave the rest of his fanbase to motivate him." "He doesn't give a shit about his fanbase and you know it." hsy clicked her tongue which was as good as an affirmation. "Listen, he's like this because he's always winning.

He solves so many cases but none of those guys can match him; of course he'd feel tired of life if all he does is run from one side of the city to the other to basically take care of toddlers." "Are you seriously complaining about how efficient the department is?"

"Yes." kdj quickly changed his words after seeing her face. "No. I'm complaining about the efficiency of those so called villains." "What can you do about it? Yjh will break your skinny self in no time." kdj: not with my ability he won't hsy: your what? kdj: oh, didn't I tell u

Hsy finds out for the first time that her best friend was an awakener too. His ability Bookmark allowed him to copy a set number of abilities for an indefinite time. He could replace them with new ones, but then he'd have to copy the old ones again if he wanted them back.

"Why don't you just join SPF recruits? You'll meet your beloved Punisher then." "It's not the same thing." kdj huffed. "I wouldn't fight him in that case, right? Except during training, when he'd still have to hold back. Besides, you worry about an ally but not for an enemy."

hsy was visibly getting more and more frustrated. "Then what, you'll start killing people just so that guy can blow off some steam? Did you even thought this through??" kdj: relax, no one will get hurt! hsy: *a bit relieved* kdj: I'll attack only yjh!! hsy: ...

So, as hsy didn't manage to put some sense into him, kdj's training started. He finished it at 20. When hsy and yjh formally joined the SP department for awakened people, kdj's 'debut' as a villain started too.

By the age of 25, his ability that copied the power of a villain who could make wings and horns grow out of his back and respectively forehead earned him the nickname of 'Demon King', and the second one 'Salvation' after multiple occasions when he rescued civilians.

People were still confused as to why a supposed villain who kept attacking the top Awakener would help civilians, and theories about a personal grudge spread. They were also wondering how Salvation always knew yjh's location and when he was alone. The answer to that was...hsy.

It was a deal they made when he first started showing up as a villain. kdj: "All you'd have to do is tell me his location, and maybe make sure the other team members aren't there." hsy: "There's no way in hell-" kdj: "Or you could give back those 20,000won you owe me."

hsy: "Yjh's location? No problem, leave it to me. I'm the one who makes all the planning so I can get him all alone for you." Corruption at its finest. In the last five years Salvation and Punisher fought against each other more times than one can count. Kdj was very satisfied.

To be completely honest, it was hard for kdj's simp self to focus when sometimes during fights yjh happened to grab his waist or neck, but at least he was wearing a mask so no one could see him blushing. It was also worrisome that there had been a few occasions when-

other villains interfered so he and yjh had to fight together in order to fend them off, or that there were times they got stuck together in the same lair and worked together to escape, or rescued civilians... But in the rest they were each other's worst enemy, so it was fine!!

The determination in yjh's eyes as he tried to capture him assured kdj that his role was working just as intended! All seemed to go well and dandy until... ...until yjh's interview.

[Salvation is not a threat.] Kdj blankly pressed repeat, hearing the man's short and decisive reply once more. On the screen, yjh's arms were crossed and his eyes closed, as if what he just said was common knowlege even babies should know. Kdj's world was shattering around him.

Yjh didn't consider him a threat... then why did he go along with the fights for so long? Was he just playing? Did he see Salvation like a child throwing a tantrum for attention? In the end, he didn't manage to change anything. He was one of the many weaklings yjh had to-

take care of, not an enemy of equal standing... "For fuck's sake, how long are you going to mope around?" After the fourth week of a monotone salaryman life, hsy lost her temper. Her mental health worried him sometimes. Will she even find someone who can handle her like this?

"You're not even looking at me and I can tell you're thinking of something insulting, bastard. I didn't know villains had vacations. Are they paid? I might switch sides." "...Not a vacation." kdj mumbled with his cheek squished by the pillow. His thumb scrolled on the phone.

"Aren't you happy? You always complain about how much work you have because of me." Hsy rolled her eyes. "Not like you ever cared. And that was better than seeing this disgusting soulless look on both your faces." "Both?" kdj stood up. "What's wrong with yjh?"

"What do you think it is!!" Kdj blinked before laying back down. "It can't be related to Salvation. You heard him, he's not a threat." "Oh my god... He meant that generally, you dumbass! You should be glad police isn't after your ass because of his statements!"

"Sooyoung-ah. It's okay, you don't need to try to make me feel better. I'm done with the whole 'Salvation' thing. With yjh too." "Kim Dokja..." her eyebrows furrowed. "You're saying that as if you didn't scroll through 'Punisher shirtless pics' for the last hour." ...damn her.

Age 28, two years after 'Salvation' stopped showing up. Having no new news to focus on, people began looking at his past appearances and they somehow got to the conclusion that he was actually just simping for the top Awakener. They even created a fandom for shipping them.

At the same time yjh looked more dead and irritable with each passing month, and the PunisherxSalvation fans felt great sadness for their doomed love, crying out for Salvation to come back. There were even fics about how Salvation must've died in yjh's arms after confessing.

In all this time, it was probably hsy who suffered the most. She was sitting right between dumb and dumber after all. Of course, kdj had no idea of everything going on. He tried his best to bury the past and live a normal life, only checking the news about yjh from time to time.

But fate had, as always, a bad sense of humor. The subway train rattled ominously, and kdj started praying in his head to please be nothing more than a su*cide. Of course, he had no such luck. Clay monsters that vaguely resembled giant rats started breaking into the train,

and screams spread throughout the carriages. It was obviously someone's ability, one of the many incidents of 'villains' messing around. Kdj could sit and wait for someone from the SP department to arrive, although the number of casualties would definitely be larger.

He stared at the young boy and girl seated in front of him, tightly holding hands with terrified expressions despite having bickered until only minutes ago, and inwardly cursed. ...

It was fortunate that yjh took the subway this time. He'd been able to prevent a bomb threat that took place right in his carriage, however the crazed man who recognized him apparently had a special ability too and after his bomb has been stopped, he used it to escape.

The low grade golems didn't attack their creator, so the bastard ran away while yjh destroyed the creatures. After he made sure of the safety of the passengers and went after the guy, the image outside of the subway shocked him more than the attack itself.

Dead rat-like golems and the culprit being tied by... ...by someone wearing a paper bag with two holes for eyes on his head. Despite the foolish if not downright disturbing appearance, yjh could immediately tell who the fool was by the small blue electricity sizzling around him.

"Salvation..." he growled at the even bigger bastard who barged into his life (and heart) and then left as he pleased. His voice should've been too low to hear, but Salvation flinched nonetheless. He turned around, and after a second of looking at yjh, ran in the opposite side.

... Since it was her job to receive reports and plan which team members go where, hsy saw the news and different socmed posts soon after they were released. [Punisher and Salvation catching the 'Subway Villain'] [Is Salvation back? Salvation's ability spotted again!]

[Is Paperbag Man the renewed Demon King?!] [Punisher chasing Salvation throughout Seoul after years of inactivity!] "What the f..." She could vaguely guess what had happened. Judging by her friend's clothes and...mask...it wasn't some dramatic comeback but a surprise situation.

Unfortunately kdj seemed to have meet the very person he would've wanted to avoid in such times. Hsy wasn't sure how the chase ended, but at least her friend's identity wasn't revealed all over the news. ..Although now everyone knew he's a salaryman.

She could almost hear the fans that wrote fics about him being a stripper crying in pain at the boring revelation. Reality was often cruel. BANG! Someone rudely barged into her office, making her almost drop her tablet. Hsy was about to say a piece of her mind but stopped-

as soon as she saw who it was. Yjh was standing there, looking absolutely furious and betrayed. "I know about him." Was what he said through puffs of breath that showed he had rushed over. "How long were you going to hide this from me?"

For two years, she was trapped between an idiot who was acting as if he caught his husband cheating, and another bastard as if his wife had dumped him. It certainly was more peaceful that she could focus on her job without selling classified information to-

-a self proclaimed enemy, but the tension had been excruciating. Now, connecting what she'd seen in the news and yjh's words together, she realized that he must've learned the truth and hsy started ranting all her woes on him. "Finally! I thought you'd never find out!

Did that bastard tell you or did you unmask him? I swear to god if I had to hear you complaining about 'where is Salvation' one more time I would've gave you his address myself! So, did you two talk things out? Is the charade over?" yjh: ... yjh: what hsy: what?

As it turns out, yjh did not, in fact, talk about Salvation. The reason why he'd been in the subway that day was because hsy told him his car was needed for a task, but she was actually covering for knw who had crashed it without yjh knowing.

He and abfd begged for her to buy some time, saying that lhs knew someone who can fix it without yjh ever finding out there's been a problem. Well, there was a new problem now. 'Sry kdj, you're on your own. It was nice knowing you.' Hsy sucked on her lollipop.

In another part of Seoul, kdj had idea that hsy has been succesfully threatened by yjh and she spilled the beans. He was waiting for her in a bbq place, after she sent him a message to meet her there. Kdj thought it probably had to do with the news about the subway incident

and since she said she'd pay for once, he didn't refuse the invitation. As a muscular man sat down opposite from him, kdj choked on his food and instantly regretted his decision. He should've known something was wrong from the moment hsy offered to pay!!

Even with the black cap and face mask on, there was no way kdj wouldn't recognize yjh. He tried telling the man that he must've gotten the wrong table, however the food was still stuck and his coughing didn't subdue. The man simply poured a glass of water and slid it to kdj.

"Hsy told me you're a fan." yjh explained after the situation calmed down. Kdj was going to kill his best friend. "Oh I, I'm not really one haha." The top awakener frowned at his words. Shit, was his pride hurt or something? "Uh, so, did she blackmail you to meet me?"

"...Yes." Kdj nodded wisely. Judging by yjh's reaction, she really must've done something bad. It was probably her way of telling him to reveal the truth already (like she did many times over the years), but there was no way kdj would listen.

Since yjh had been 'blackmailed' into doing this, they had a very awkward lunch together in which kdj tried not to have a panic attack while the other person seemed to test his power to bore holes into someone with his staring. After that they parted ways and kdj thought-

it's the end of it, however the next day his heart almost jumped out of his chest when he saw yjh in front of his apartment. kdj: what are you doing here?? yjh: ...hsy. kdj, processing whatever the guy meant: is she blackmailing you to keep meeting me?? yjh: yes.

Lately kdj cursed hsy a lot. Sent her a lot of messages too, however she didn't respond to any of them or his calls. Thus he had no choice but to keep meeting yjh. Things weren't going too bad, despite what he expected. After the first awkward meetings they started to get along

pretty well. Even tho that was just him doing most of the talk and yjh grunting in response. As more time passed though, yjh seemed to be frowning more. Kdj got the feeling that he was waiting for him to do or say something, but he wasn't sure /what/ that was.

The beginning of the end was when kdj somehow got stuck in a wall during an attack. He knew that yjh was somewhere near fighting the villain and once the noises died down, it was only a matter of minutes before the awakener would come get him out, so he didn't use his ability.

He once again regretted his decision when he felt a hand grab his ass. "Y-yjh?!" kdj shrieked, recognizing the feeling of that palm anywhere. The man, however, didn't answer. Kdj was about to call again when he realized there would be a problem with that.

Putting aside the question as to why would yjh want to molest him, it would be very suspicious if kdj acted so sure of who it was. After all it was because of 'Salvation' that he could recognize the feeling of yjh's hands, while 'kdj' shouldn't be able to tell.

He was stuck (literally) between giving away a hint of his identity, or sitting there and enduring. So like any normal person wouldn't have done, kdj chose the latter. Bit his lips and held back moans while the 'stranger' squeezed, pinched and slapped his bare butt,

until it was all red from the abuse. Almost came on the spot but just before he could, the teasing stopped. There was some shuffling as the 'stranger' had the decency to put back his pants before leaving, then after a few minutes of waiting, yjh came to the 'rescue'.

Kdj was fuming but unable to say anything, since that would mean giving away the fact that he knew who it had been. Yjh seemed awfully smug as he said he'll take him home, kdj's butt aching all the way back to the apartment. "Thank you.." he muttered,