Work Text:
It all started with Phichit doing a weekend "Ask me anything about ice skating rumors" story on Instagram. Leo didn't mind it at first, if anything, he had chuckled and rolled his eyes.
He never participated by sending ideas, God knew Phichit didn't need any. But truth be told, his end of the training week rumor mill could be pretty intriguing and funny to read.
Besides, Phichit's motto was to never post anything that could actually hurt others in any way. It was all in good fun, everyone who got whispered about was into it on their own accord. Most of the things he talked about were inside jokes, anyways. Like Christophe secretly being a pole dancer, or Yuri having a secret twin who skated his Agape routine.
Leo was absently reading all the updates while going back to his dorm, laughing at the hidden references and the fans taking things so seriously. He was only halfway through the stories, though, when he noticed he had been tagged in one of them.
The question inside the square read anything juicy on Leo de la Iglesia? ? And there was a second one under it What abt Ji Guang Hong?
The background picture was of Leo and Guang Hong sitting together at the cafeteria, with Leo stealing some of the food from his friend's tray.
Honestly I think @+guanghongji+ and @xleeeo_delaiglesiax are super dating.
Leo blinked at the screen, then moved to the next slide. I mean srsly look at this. Sound on. He looked at the video, it was him playing the guitar while Guang Hong sat next to him, also recording the performance.
He raised an eyebrow as he opened the door to his room. There were more people present, he was sure. Otherwise Phichit wouldn't have that video.
He turned on the sound once he was seated on his bed. The act of hearing his own voice made him cringe a little. He sounded a lot better in his head.
"Bésame, hipnotizame… ya no me importa ser. Robame el alma, hechizame."
Phichit had annotated the lyrics in English in the lower corner. Kiss me, hypnotize me. I don't care to be anymore. Steal my soul, hex me. He chuckled. Close enough. Very fucking close. It was more like ‘bewitch’ than ‘hex’, but it worked. Who translated that, anyways? He was convinced he hadn't: He would've said 'bewitch me'.
Leo shrugged. It was just a joke. There had been at least five people in the room. Maybe in Guang Hong's video he was singing it to Phichit. That would be quite the gossip.
He clicked the paper plane icon, then selected Guang Hong and sent it to him with the caption ‘You seeing this too?’
He only had to wait ten seconds for an answer.
+guanghonji+
[Bruh]
Leo chuckled. Bruh indeed. He tapped his chin a few times, considering their options. Might as well play along.
xleeeo_delaiglesiax
[I mean, you do be kinda cute doe]
He hoped the meme talk would be enough to convey a joking tone, but just in case, he added three flushed emojis and a ‘lmao’ at the end of it.
+guanghongji+
[Lol I already knoe that bro]
Leo snorted.
xleeeo_delaiglesiax
[Bruh. Im tryna b romantic and u answer like that smh.]
Leo actually shook his head, they never used ‘bro’ or similar words on each other, but at least it let him know that Guang Hong was in on the joke.
Another message appeared on Leo’s screen.
+guanghongji+
[Im already gettign tagged on LeoJi stuff. Help.]
xleeeo_delaiglesiax
[Is that our ship name?]
+guanghongji+
[Yea]
xleeo_delaiglesiax
[Ha, nice. S.S LeoJi, Queen of the Sea]
+guanghongji+
[You jsut say that bc urname goes first.]
xleeeo_delaiglesiax
[As it should.]
+guanghongji+
[K uknow what]
Leo waited for the next message, but five minutes later, none had come his way. Someone knocked on the door, however.
“Come in.”
In came Guang Hong, dropping Phichit’s renowned fuck mattress, a teddy bear and a bundle of bed sheets.
Leo’s eyebrows rose to his hairline as he watched his friend set up camp on the floor.
“I mean, I was thinking of playing them too, but there’s no need to go that far.” He teased, gesturing at the infamous sleeping mat.
Guang Hong paused his endeavors. He looked at Leo, then at the mattress, then burst out with laughter. “And I was just staying to sleep, but have it however you like. It’s your loss, either way.” He winked, smirking.
“As if Phichit’s next theory isn’t gonna be that we screwed.” Leo rolled his eyes, also smiling.
“Totes.”
“If not him, the fans.”
“Oh yeah, that’s for sure.”
They stayed in silence for a second, then scrambled for their phones. Leo made Guang Hong sit on the bed with him while they took pictures for their own stories.
Guang Hong posted the one where Leo hooked his chin over his shoulder and stuck his tongue out at the camera, holding Guang Hong’s waist while Guang Hong himself duckfaced. He captioned it ‘Oh noes, you found out!!1!’
Leo, on the other hand, posted the one where his head was resting on Guang Hong’s lap, both of them making peace signs to the camera. He didn’t caption anything, but he did share Guang Hong’s story to his own, and vice versa.
It took a grand total of two seconds before their notifications started flooding with mentions from excited fans, and less than a minute before they started getting tagged on edits of those pictures.
Both of them were awestruck.
“Damn, they’re fast.” Leo stated.
Guang Hong hummed. “Mmhm. They’re really thirsty for content.”
“I mean, duh they’re thirsty. Have you ever seen me?” Leo asked, pulling at the neckline of his shirt, then releasing it quickly.
“Yeah, I have. That’s why I’m surprised.”
Leo pushed him as he laughed. “Rude.”
A pillow smacked Leo’s face. So it was war, then.
Leo reached for the pillow Guang Hong had brought with him, trying to strike his friend with it, but Guang Hong --with his trained reflexes for attacking and defending-- was quicker. Leo laughed, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins.
Before the next blow made contact with him, Leo took Guang Hong’s pillow away from him.
Now holding power over him as supreme holder of the pillows, he started plowing his friend with both pillows, until he was kicked off of the bed by a laughing Guang Hong.
Thankfully the mat cushioned him, but he landed right on top of the teddy bear, its plastic nose digging on Leo’s back before he rolled over. He moaned, rubbing the sore spot with his hand.
“You ok?” Guang Hong asked from the bed.
“Don’t they teach you not to use your skills against innocent people?” Leo asked back, his face pressed against the bed sheets.
“You were attacking me.”
Leo groaned again. It was technically true, but he refused to be held accountable for his actions.
“You attacked me first.” He mumbled.
He heard shuffling, then a weight settled next to him. A pair of hands pulled him to a sitting position, then pulled his face against something solid. Guang Hong’s chest, he figured, by the beating of his heart. Guang Hong shushed him and patted his head. “There you go, you big baby. I’m sowwy I made you fall off two entire feet of height, that must’ve been scary.” He teased.
Leo pushed himself away and wrinkled his nose. “Dude, you stink of AXE.” He laughed. “And it wasn’t that bad, it probably would’ve been scarier if I were, I don’t know. Say 5’2.” Leo grinned, fully expecting to be shoved away when he was.
“Fuck off.” Guang Hong laughed, standing to his full, short height. “I could stink of sweat instead, would you prefer that?”
Leo stood too, gloating at the (almost) three inch difference between them, and punctuating it by pressing his hand on top of Guang Hong’s head. His friend swatted him off, but if the earlier pillow fight hadn’t caused his hair to stick up in every possible direction, Leo’s hand did.
“I’ll take AXE.”
It looked even worse in the morning.
***
Leo struggled to wake up, his eyelids sticking together despite his efforts. When he managed to sit up and rub his eyes open, Guang Hong put down his phone and glanced at him.
“G’morning.”
Leo sniffled and squinted at him. “Morning.” He yawned. “How did you sleep.”
“Could’ve slept better if you hadn’t fallen over me at three in the morning.”
Leo laughed nervously. He remembered that. Vaguely.
“Also you mumble. A lot. I thought you were talking to someone.” Guang Hong knitted his eyebrows together.
Leo rubbed his face and yawned again. “Yeah, I know.”
“Why didn’t you warn me?” Guang Hong looked both mortified and offended.
“Didn’t think to.”
Guang Hong groaned and dropped on his back. “I nearly had a heart attack! You could’ve been liable for that!”
“My abuela used to think I talked to ghosts.” Leo mumbled.
Guang Hong stared at him. “Do you?”
Leo laughed and shook his head. “Nah. But at least I don’t sleep walk.”
“No, you just fall off the bed and over me.”
“Babe, I thought we were dating now.” Leo grinned. Guang Hong snorted.
“That doesn’t mean you can get into my bed while I sleep, weirdo.”
Leo swung his legs off the bed and lowered himself to the floor. “Fine, move over.”
“Ugh.” Guang Hong scooted to the side, and Leo squeezed under the covers, immediately wincing.
“How can you sleep on this? I can literally feel the floor underneath. And it's cold! ”
Guang Hong grinned. “It’s fine, you can sleep over me, babe.”
“No, thank you, I’ll keep the bed.”
Leo sat back up, only to be pulled back down by his friend. Guang Hong clung to him like a koala, easily holding him still despite the size difference. “Stay in bed a little longer, honey.” He mocked.
Leo struggled a little, but Guang Hong's nimble limbs were keeping his in place, making it nearly impossible to wriggle free. The kid was sturdy even if he didn't look it. It made Leo wonder how he managed to hide so much muscle under such a slender frame.
“Come on, give me a good morning kiss.” Guang Hong added, but Leo turned his head away.
“No! You have morning breath!”
"Just one, come ooon." Guang Hong pursed his lips.
Leo shook his head no.
"On the cheek, then."
"No, you're gonna turn around." Leo whined.
"I'd never do that."
Leo doubted it, but he pressed a quick kiss to Guang Hong's cheek, then pulled away.
When he was set free, Leo shuffled to bed and sighed at the mass of notifications in his phone. Something told him that the hype was going to take a little longer than overnight to die down.
Guang Hong was comfortable fanning the flames. It wasn't that they weren't affectionate with each other before. Only cowards were scared of physical contact between men, after all.
The fact was that Leo wasn't sure if there was more physical affection between them now, or if he was imagining it. No one else seemed to comment on it, so he assumed it was the latter.
It wasn't until the next week, while they lounged in the living room, that Phichit brought it up.
“You guys don't seem very affected by the rumors going 'round.”
Guang Hong was leaning against Leo's arm, laying down and therefore taking up the rest of the couch with his body. He shot a tired glare at Phichit.
“You mean the ones you started?”
“You didn't have to make any statements.” Phichit raised his eyebrows.
Leo huffed. “Where's the fun on that?”
“So you're just gonna let them run around saying you guys are dating ?” Phichit sounded incredulous.
Guang Hong shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
“Because you're not?”
Leo looked down at Guang Hong. “You didn't tell me you were going to break up with me.”
Guang Hong gasped. “Phichit! How dare you! You can't just say stuff like that and take away my man!” He said, clinging to Leo's arm.
Phichit gestured in their direction. “That's the kind of shit I'm talking about!”
“You think they're gonna find out we're not gay or something?”
“Fool, Hong literally means rainbow.” Guang Hong mumbled from behind Leo's arm.
Leo nodded. “And I'm literally gay.”
“Oh my god, really?” Guang Hong sprung up with mock enthusiasm.
“Oh my god, yeah!”
“Me too!”
“Oh my god, we're like, made for each other!”
“I know!”
They dropped back down and continued scrolling through their phones. Leo decided not to dwell on the fact that this was the first time they’d held some semblance of a talk about their preferences. Sure, Leo had mentioned finding some of the hockey players attractive, and Guang Hong usually hummed and criticized his tastes, but really it could’ve been a joke, right? Not that Leo would joke about it.
A few websites had started posting articles about their supposed relationships, but they mostly said the same thing over and over:
Thai skater Phichit Chulanont posted a story on Sunday. He said Leo and Guang Hong are dating. The skaters shared the story and posted pictures together. We knew it! Look at the gallery of pictures that prove they’ve been having a secret romance right under our screens!
Leo was more interested in the pictures they used as examples to show they had supposedly been dating for a while. They seemed friendly enough to Leo, he had never thought twice about posting them.
The conversation didn't come back up until the next week, during training.
Guang Hong had just finished his warm up and was currently looking at the ceiling while Leo caught up with him. When he did, Guang Hong turned around, skating backwards and taking Leo's hands. Leo let himself be guided and laughed as Guang Hong tried to copy some moves from the pairs skaters.
“Maybe we should register as a pair for the next competition.” Leo suggested, grinning.
Guang Hong raised their hands and spun Leo around, their arms now crossed over Leo's chest as they tried not to stumble with each other’s feet. “Nah, imagine China and the USA arguing over who gets the recognition when we beat everyone's asses.”
Leo hissed. “We'd cause a war, never mind.” He said, letting go of Guang Hong and taking the lead to the exit of the rink. Both of them laughed at the conversation. It took the rest of the next day to convince everyone that they weren't going to quit the singles section.
After that, the situation became an obscure reference they'd casually slip into conversations, either by holding hands, excessive use of pet names, or, when they were feeling bold; kissing the other on the cheek.
It was fun, harmless, and after a while it became almost a habit to give each other dopey smiles when they sat together at the cafeteria.
They started calling their usual hang outs 'dates' and kept having secret sleepovers; Sometimes Guang Hong slipped into Leo's room, and sometimes it was the opposite way around. Leo preferred staying at Guang Hong's. It felt... Well, it felt like Guang Hong.
There were glowing stars on the ceiling and the walls, he had changed the issued curtains for pink ones, and there were stuffed animals in every corner of the room. Leo’s room felt impersonal in comparison.
That was why he was currently laying down on Guang Hong's bed, staring up at the ceiling and hearing his friend intensely typing away on his computer. Usually Leo would be playing music, but every now and then Guang Hong would stop, hum for a second, groan and turn to Leo.
“What's the thing you throw at parties?” He asked, eyebrows knitted together.
“Confetti?”
“No, the long ones.”
“Streamers.”
“Thank you, babe.”
“Gotcha, love.”
Leo sighed, looking at his phone and stretching his leg to kick at Guang Hong's chair. “It's 10:30.” He said.
Guang Hong stopped typing and looked at the corner of his screen, then groaned, but closed the computer anyways. He stood by the bed. “Make room.”
Leo kept staring at him instead. A single eyebrow raised.
A wry smirk started spreading across Guang Hong's face, and Leo gulped, but it was too late; Guang Hong was already poking at his sides, forcing a laugh out of him. Leo squirmed and swatted at him, trying to get him to relent his attack, but it only made it worse.
Guang Hong swung his legs over Leo's body, straddling his legs and giving him an unfair advantage than when he was leaning over from the side.
Leo's chest and lungs hurt from laughing. His eyes were fucking tearing up! And Guang Hong wasn't showing any signs of stopping any time soon, so Leo took desperate measures; He yanked Guang Hong's hands away and sat up as best as he could, then pressed his lips over Guang Hong's.
He couldn't explain the last part even if he wanted to.
Guang Hong froze in place, so Leo took it as a win. As the old saying goes: “It's only stupid if it doesn't work.”
He only realized he had been going for too long when Guang Hong pulled his hands free and gently pushed him away. Leo realized he missed the feeling of Guang Hong's lips against his. He couldn't explain it, they didn't feel quite as different from his cheek, but they were.
Guang Hong looked stunned. Leo watched him bring his fingers up to his lips and look at the bed sheets like he was wondering if the laundromat would still be open at this time. That was when the full extent of what he did hit Leo. He skittered back like a cat who's had its tail stepped on.
“Holy shit, Ji, I'm sorry!”
Guang Hong turned his eyes to his, and Leo had never seen that expression on Guang Hong. He looked confused, like he had just realized he had been building a jigsaw puzzle with the picture facing the table.
He crawled closer to Leo, then sat back on his knees.
“Are we dating?” He asked flat out.
Leo's brain shortcircuited. Were they?
“Are we?”
Guang Hong blinked. Leo blinked back. He wished he had studied Morse code instead of taking computer lab at school.
Guang Hong turned away, a blush spreading through his face.
“I don't know.” Guang Hong said, honestly.
Leo realized he didn't, either.
But he wanted to know.
He placed a hand over Guang Hong's and tilted his head so it was in his friend's vision.
“Guang Hong?”
Guang Hong looked at him with a small smile. “Leo?”
“Do you wanna date me?”
“Do you?”
Leo grinned, Guang Hong grinned back then tackled him down into the bed, pinning him with his body.
Maybe Phichit’s gossiping abilities were not that offbeat, all that was left to do was to ask Chris about his secret night club.