Revisiting ORV right now. When I heard this song, I thought, 'Whoa, this one really hits hard.' When I saw a reddit post about 49/51, the bright idea of making an ORV songfic with this song.
Major Spoilers for the Epilogue.
Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint belongs to Sing-Shong. Skin and Bones is Beth Crowley's song based on The Infernal Devices.
"Beneath Skin and Bone"
(inspired by 'Skin and Bones' by Beth Crowley)
Prompts: lullaby, goodbye, recollection
Summary: After the theatre dungeon, Kim Dokja conveys his thoughts and feelings for a certain regressor in a way he's never done before. Years later, when he more than one, he repeats it again, for what may be his last.
Romance is (?), this is mainly KDJ expressing his feelings for YJH as he read his story, how he lived because of it.
Warnings include implied suicide attempts, major character death (canon)
Kim Dokja had never felt more tired in his life than he did now. Then again, the sunfish had almost offed himself while under the theater master's skill.
He really didn't want to consider what might happen to his world if Yoo Joonghyuk had regressed. Or worse, what he would do if the man regressed and he wasn't able to do anything.
Looking around, he made sure that everyone was asleep before moving beside Yoo Joonghyuk. He began reading his story again, unconsciously combing the sleeping man's hair.
When Yoo Joonghyuk began twitching in his sleep, he moved the man's head to his lap. Knowing that it was a sign of nightmares of previous regressions, he began humming a tune as he ran his hand through the man's hair.
As the man slowly stilled, he began thinking of the image he had of this man as he read about his journey. Glancing around once more to ensure that everyone was asleep, he began singing softly.
He remembered the times when his protagonist died, and how he had to start all over again. Of the times he, in his own life, had lost hope.
As he thought about his plans and the troubles they would have to face, he remembered the time when you Joonghyuk had accepted him as his companion. He thought about the people he had gathered, ones from the story, and ones who weren't.
Kim Dokja was immersed in his singing now that he failed to see Jung Heewon waking up, or Lee Jihye recording his song on her phone. He didn't notice the constellations stopping their barrage of indirect messages, or Bihyung taking a video of him.
He recalled his lonely past, and how he had chosen to leave it all behind. How he failed and woke up with no one waiting for him. How he had searched the word 'survival', and how it led to knowing this man.
As he reached the end of his song, a single tear fell from his eye as he fell asleep. Singing from his heart took more energy from him than that time when he struggled inside the ichthyosaur and when he hunted the ground rats.
Lee Jihye and Jung Heewon had come to a quiet agreement to keep this memory a secret, at least until Kim Dokja was willing to share it. Everyone was entitled to their own secrets after all.
They were almost near their goal now. They were so close to getting their idiot rat back from behind the wall he hid himself in.
As they finished their preparations, the sleeping avatar of Kim Dokja had woken up. He knew that the next time he would open his eyes would be when they reached the wall. He also knew that there was nothing more his family could do for the Kim Dokja that was beyond the wall.
The feeling had gotten stronger the closer they came. He knew he should tell them, but he never found the courage to do it. So he settled for the next best thing.
He called for his companion and the company, especially Lee Jihye and Jung Heewon. He didn't know much about Yoo Joonghyuk, because the other him kept most of the memories of that man. But he knew that those two heard his song for Yoo Joonghyuk. Bihyung had left the video to him before he...
Shaking his head, he played the video for them. Seeing their shocked eyes was a bit cathartic. After all, he had never sung in their presence before, so this was a well-kept secret.
As the video finished, he recalled what little he could of the original novel. He continued the song that "he" had left unfinished before.
He remembered how they had stuck by him, despite him running off many times. How once upon a time, a time that was lost to him, Yoo Joonghyuk had been his pillar during his times of weakness. How these people had stayed by him, even though he wasn't always there for them.
He knew he wouldn't see them anymore after this, so he only asked one thing of them. A night of peace and quiet, just spending time with them, without any of the worries and uncertainty tomorrow surely hold.
As he reached the chorus, he felt a familiar but foreign presence in his mind. A reminder of his other half who stayed behind.
All the hardships he remembered from their first time, they were each other's strength and weakness. What they had, it drove them further towards their goal. Every one of them had supported each other.
He put each of those memories and feelings into words, as much as he could get. He could see it on everyone's faces, how his song, his message was affecting them.
Finally, he gave way to the other him. He felt the thoughts and memories of the Most Ancient Dream bleeding through. He saw what the Most Ancient Dream had seen, had felt, had experienced.
He saw the World of Zero, the Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, the altered 1863rd worldline, and all the regressions of Yoo Joonghyuk from the beginning to the end. It passed in the blink of an eye, but it also felt like an eternity. Through the eyes of a one cursed to a hell of eternity, and another cursed to only watch, and never intervene.
And yet, his love remained unchanging. It only grew till it filled him to bursting. It was more than he could give to one, so he chose to give it to everyone it could reach. He knew then, that he'd end up leaving them again.
This time, it was a duet that harmonized. Two sides of the same person. Divided but remaining one and the same. He could feel the other falling apart, just like him.
He hated lying to them. He hated hurting them even more. But he was selfish.
He wanted to keep loving them, even knowing that his love wasn't normal. His love would end up hurting them more in the end.
So he would weave one more lie. A lie that was also a truth.
There were many falling stars in the nights that followed. They said it was the fragments of a great star that finally died. In the end, only three people knew the full story behind it. It was a story meant for that one person.