Work Text:
A tiny smirk appeared on Jungkook's lips as he successfully killed another champion. “This game is becoming way too easy,” he thought as he knitted his brows in concentration.
A tiny laugh made its way through his professional headphones.
“Watch out Jungkookie, we might get in trouble here…”
“Maybe if I had a better support,” he snorted, while Jimin continued to quite literally dance down the midlane. His best friend was a fucking menace today.
“Aaah, we’ve been playing for, what? Seven hours? I’m tired!” Jimin whined and hearts and comments cooing over his cuteness appeared in Jungkook's chat.
His audience was always willing to side with one Park Jimin, when he used this specific tone of voice.
“It’s not like you are streaming today. You can go, I don’t mind!” Jungkook said, chasing down a Lux with almost no health left.
Jimin laughed again, while he switched to a bit more serious gameplay and helped Jungkook to secure the kill.
“You won’t win a game without me! I’ll order food in just a bit.”
Jungkook coughed and indicated for their Jungler to do their job and secure Baron, hopefully to finish the game.
Jungkook had started playing League of Legends when he was barely 15 years old. They had started together, he and Jimin. Back at home in Korea they had played mostly for fun on dull afternoons when they didn’t have any work to do for school.
But over time they rose to fame with their wicked plays and fun strategies. When Jungkook was seventeen his parents gifted him his first streaming set-up, and Jimin was quick to follow.
They played well together from the start and became known as the ‘perfect duo.’
After graduation they had both been accepted into the same underground professional team in South Korea, and after a successful and surprising season they got offers from North America, Europe, China, and even other South Korean teams.
“We should go to America,” Jimin had said one evening as they were playing for fun, without streaming.
“Why? Wouldn’t it be better for us to stay in South Korea? You know damn well we didn’t get offers from the same teams in America, so we would be seperated.”
“Maybe that's good for us? Maybe we need to seperate to work on our individual strengths. At least we have the chance to accept offers that would keep us in the same city. If we go to Europe, we would literally live hundreds of kilometers away from each other.”
So Jungkook had accepted an offer from Team Solo Mid, one of North America’s premiere teams, while Jimin, with a smirk on his face, had decided to go for Cloud 9--TSM’s biggest rival.
“I’ll be back, I need to get some food too. Spam some questions into the chat for when we wait for the next queue, and I’lll answer them.” Jungkook put the stream on mute and leaned back in his gaming chair with a heavy sigh.
“Ah, I love this tiny Korean place!” Jimin mumbled into his headset.
Jungkook smiled. “We should go on Saturday, after game day.”
“Ah, I can’t! Gonna meet some of my teammates for a training session.”
Jungkook tilted his head, even though Jimin couldn’t see. “On Saturday? After the game? We have at least one day off after game day.”
“Well, that’s why your team is in second place and we are first!”
Jungkook swore he could practically hear Jimin’s smirk through his headset.
“Well, then, let’s meet on Sunday after training?”
“Do you miss me so much Jungkook-ah?” Jimin casually slipped into endearing Korean, knowing full well the effect it had on Jungkook.
“Maybe…” Jungkook trailed off, his heart beating in his chest. Jimin would probably never know what kind of effect this specific tone of voice had on his poor, poor heart.
“But yeah, we can go for Starbucks or for a drive to town on sunday. I should be free for my favorite annoying dongsaeng.”
“Yah, stop it. But okay, I'll pick you up then. Are you staying for a little q and a or are you tired?”
“I’ll stay for another game, not for your little chat game.”
Jungkook unmuted the stream and watched as the chat blew up with welcome back messages.
He queued into the next game and scrolled back a bit to read some questions.
“Do you miss Korea? Thank you Lis for this question. Yeah sometimes I do, I miss my parents and my family.”
“And Busan!” Jimin chimed in, still happily munching on his food.
“Yes, but at least we have a beach here in LA too!”
“True, true!”
“How long have you and Chim been friends? Aaah, I think for almost 10 years. We met right before high school, like the equivalent in South Korea? So yeah, around that time.”
“Did you come up with the name ‘the perfect duo’ yourself? No, our first teammates gave it to us.”
He continued for a while before the next game started.
Long after midnight Jungkook ended the stream and said goodbye to his viewers. Jimin had already said goodnight a while ago, so it was just Jungkook. His teammates in their team house were soundly asleep as far as he could tell.
Right as he was to say goodbye, a donation came in. During the stream viewers could donate to him, to then get a message read out loud.
“Now we know how long you’ve been friends, but how long have you had a crush on Jimin?” the mechanical voice read and Jungkook laughed. A crush? That was ridiculous.
So he just smiled and shook his head, thanked the viewer for their donation and ended the stream. But after the stream had stopped he continued to stare at that question on his screen way longer than he would ever like to admit.
As a young teenager, Jimin’s life had been dull. Boring even. Repetitive in the most black and white way. School took up most of his time, but he did have a small circle of close, trusted friends. It was rare that he accepted someone new.
That was, until he met Jungkook one fateful day after class. The younger boy had looked at Jimin with a huge bunny smile, then had shyly tugged his freshly dyed blonde hair behind his ears before digging in his bag to find a pencil and a slip of paper.
In a neat way he had written down his number, careful not to crumple the paper.
“Endearing.” That was the first thing Jimin thought when he accepted the phone number.
In short order, Jungkook had taken a place Jimin hadn’t been aware was empty, and made himself at home. Though their lives were so different it seemed unreal that they could fit together, they somehow managed.
Jimin lived with his mostly absent parents in a huge penthouse above the city, just a few blocks from school, while Jungkook lived in a buzzing and loving family at home in the busiest and most culturally diverse area of the city, the houses old and run down, but so full of charm.
Their friends got along almost instantly, and soon made their friend group into one.
They spent endless nights gaming, talking and laughing as they took on various characters and ran around their virtual worlds of choice. Never once did Jungkook fail to make Jimin smile.
After a while Jungkook had introduced Jimin to this new game he was infatuated with. League of Legends, an online 5vs5 multiplayer strategy game. Players could pick their champions and battle against each other on a map to secure towers and bring down the opponents defense.
It didn’t take long for Jimin to love the game as much as he loved spending time with Jungkook. It offered the perfect escape from his otherwise lonely nights in the penthouse apartment.
Jimin and Jungkook frequently met after school and sometimes brought their computer along to have a LAN party, gaming while sitting right next to each other. On other nights they would meet on discord or skype to talk while they quickly climbed the ranked ladder as the ‘perfect Busan duo’ as some of their fans liked to call them.
During their last high school year they were both approached by a small South Korean gaming team and asked if they wanted to join their roster. Jimin as their Jungler, Jungkook as ADC. Over the moon, they both enthusiastically agreed and managed to help their team win the nationals in their very first season.
Their passion quickly became their job. Jimin often felt like that time had flown way too fast for them to realize how lucky they had been.
Jimin smiled at the text message on his phone as he lay in bed and lazily stretched his limbs.
JK
we’ve got the perfect strategy LOSER! make sure to wear your lucky pants, you gonna need them.
Brat. As if Jimin needed luck.
JM:
we will see later today bun bun. can’t wait to beat you! AGAIN!
Jimin laughed as he didn’t get an immediate response and turned around to get out of bed. He could hear his teammates happily chatting away in the living room, probably watching new game strategies while eating breakfast.
He probably shouldn’t have joined Jungkook’s stream for so long the night before.
“Good morning,” he mumbled as he made his way to the kitchen and helped himself to some cereal.
Their coach nodded in his direction before focusing back on the screen, explaining a new move for their bot lane, the lane this meta focused on the most.
Currently they were preparing for nationals. They had already qualified for it a few weeks prior by ending the regular season in first place, closely followed by Jungkook's TSM team.
Both Cloud 9 and TSM had huge fan bases who loved to see them compete against each other, and the hype and anticipation was intense. Their matches against each other drew in the most fans and the most playful banter in their online communities, so it was fitting that they would compete in the first game of this year's League of Legends North America Nationals. No matter which of them would win, they would proceed to play the nationals tournament over the course of next week. If both teams succeeded, they would meet again in the finals. This was the best case scenario.
After eating, Jimin settled on the couch and mindlessly scrolled through twitter. He grinned as he saved a particular funny meme to his phone, then forwarded it to Jungkook. The other responded with eye rolling smileys and Jimin chuckled to himself.
“Jimin, maybe pay attention?” Jonah snarked from the opposite side of the couch. Their ADC wasn’t the closest to Jimin by any means. He wasn’t the closest to any of the boys, and tended to stick to himself.
Jimin smiled sweetly at him. “Of course, Snake.”
Snake was his in-game name, which was quite fitting if you asked Jimin. Jonah wasn’t exactly a team player, and often preferred risky solo plays instead of cooperating with the team.
It made Jimin’s role as a Jungler much harder since he had to rely on his teammates to make plays happen, something Snake wasn’t always good at. Unfortunately Jimin was also aware they needed the strong ADC in their roster, even though he didn’t like him. So he played it cool and focused on the screen, for the sake of keeping the peace right before this important Game day.
Cloud 9, like every League of Legends Team, consisted of five regular players. They had substitutes that would jump in if needed, but their main roster consisted of Jimin as Jungler, Jung Hoseok, the only other Korean on the team, on top lane, Fudge as their mid laner, and Snake, together with his support Winsome, on bot lane.
They had a strong team, there was no doubt about it, but Jimin wasn’t sure if they would be able to beat TSM in the end. Snake's risky solo plays had cost them some games before, and if he was already in a particular mood there was no predicting how this would end for them.
--
“Look at this meme Jimin sent me,” Jungkook said as he ate his breakfast. He turned his phone and showed the screen to his best friend on the team, Kim Taehyung.
Taehyung and Jungkook had met when they had both signed onto team TSM. Jungkook had been anxious about making friends on his own team, and was glad that another Korean player would start off with him. Taehyung had a very unique playstyle that matched well with Jungkook's unconventional picks, so it was fitting that Tae played bot lane with him as his support.
He was a great friend, and over time Taehyung had grown closer to Jimin, too. They texted each other frequently, and Taehyung would often tag along with Jimin and Jungkook to grab coffee or lunch together.
Taehyung laughed and nodded towards Min Yoongi, their team’s analyst. “Yoongi, look!” The older one just rolled his eyes and continued tapping away on his ipad.
“Always the sunshine on game day!” Tae smirked, and made Jungkook laugh out loud.
Jungkook always thought that he had been exceptionally lucky with his team. They all got along great and their team dynamic was something other teams envied.
There had been some drama when their top laner decided to leave them in the middle of the season due to some family issues. But thankfully they had found Kim Seokjin, also known as WWH Jin, who quickly brought them back on track. Ultimately the team had made the best out of the situation, and finished second overall.
The only team they hadn’t been able to beat until now was Jimin’s team Cloud 9, but Jungkook was determined to change that today.
Game day was always stressful for all the teams. Cloud 9 gathered together for one last pep talk, all dressed in their team attire, then headed to the stadium which was filled with thousands of fans ready to cheer them on.
Jimin was sitting in the big van when one of his teammates nudged him, wordlessly showing him a clip of Jungkook’s stream from the day before.
Jimin laughed. “Yah! Why are you watching shipping videos?”
Hoseok, one of Jimin's closest friends on the roster, laughed in return. “No, watch this! It’s so funny.”
Jimin watched as the last question of Jungkook's q and a came in, and noted how Jungkook carefully dodged the question before ending the stream.
“What are you implying?” Jimin looked over at his teammate whose smile just grew wider.
“Nothing. I just think it’s funny how Jungkook answered every single question but didn’t even bother to deny the statement in that specific one.”
“We have been best friends for over 10 years. I think I would know if Jungkook had a crush on me.”
“Really, Chim? You’re cute. You are also one of the most oblivious people I know. Don’t get me wrong, it’s kind of part of your charming personality, but if Jungkook doesn’t have a crush on you, I will literally eat my keyboard.”
Jimin stared at Hoseok. There was no way.
“Ok, how about whenever you flirt with Namjoon during the interviews?” Hoseok questioned. “Do you never notice how Jungkook literally tenses up and just stares at you guys?”
“This is ridiculous.” The van came to a sudden stop. “We’re here. And for the record, I do NOT flirt with Namjoon.”
“Oblivious!” Hobi teased, as he got ready to get out of the car. “Ok, maybe you don’t, but Namjoon certainly flirts with you.”
The door opened and fans screaming made it impossible to continue their conversation as they walked into the building, smiling and waving at their dedicated fans.
“YOU WILL DO GREAT JIMIN!”
“YOU’VE GOT THIS!”
‘BEAT THEIR ASSES’
Jimin smiled, but his head wasn’t on the game. Why did Hobi have to drop that on him right before the game? There should be rules against that.
They made their way into the arena. It had been built a few years ago and was mainly used for big e-sports events. It never ceased to amaze Jimin how America had a whole industry built on their sport. South Korea was also known for their booming esports industry, but the vibe in the US was just different.
The teams of the day gathered behind the scenes and got last instructions about the general timeline of events. They would be called in for interviews first, while the analyst desk would explain to the viewers their different game strategies of the season.
Later they would be called into the big arena. Nationals were always a huge event. It was live streamed all around the globe with millions of regular viewers. Jimin felt his nerves creep up on him, but it was more exciting anticipation than anything else. This was what he lived for. This game, their team, this was what he loved.
And Jungkook.
Jimin shook his head. Why the fuck did Hobi have to bring this topic up. As if Jimin didn’t have enough problems keeping HIS crush at bay on a normal day. He didn’t need his literal opponent to distract him during the game.
Because that was something Jimin and Jungkook had agreed on. No flirting, no messages, no friendly banter during game day. This was their rule.
Which didn’t mean they always stuck to it.
But Nationals were different. This was important. And on that day they weren’t friends. They were opponents, before anything else.
The tournament would last almost ten days. If everything went well and according to Jimin’s plan, they would play all full ten days until the finals.
Jimin already knew Snake and his sidekick Winsome wouldn’t like that he had arranged to meet Jungkook for lunch within the next few days. They were literally obsessed with the idea of him leaking ‘secret game strategies’ to the enemy, when in reality Jimin just sometimes needed a break from the tension in their team.
He sighed as he watched Snake make a big show out of some minor problem with his keyboard. As far as Jimin could tell from his spot a few chairs down, it wasn’t anything Snake couldn’t quickly fix himself, but the ADC tended to make unnecessary drama whenever it seemed convenient for him.
“I swear to God, can he stop?” Hobi mumbled next to him, throwing a shady look towards Snake. “This is getting embarrassing.”
“I know!” Jimin answered, equally as quiet. There was no point getting on Snake's bad side right before the game.
The door to the interview room opened and the TSM coach walked in, followed by the rest of the team. Snake quickly grabbed his keyboard and shoved the poor employee away.
Jimin rolled his eyes before they landed on Jungkook and a small smile crept up on his face. Jungkook smiled back immediately.
“Hey losers!” Taehyung said, before he quite literally let himself fall onto Jimin’s lap.
“Did you miss me?” Tae cutely asked. He loved messing with Jimin and especially Snake right before games.
Jimin laughed and carefully shoved him away.
“Always! How are you guys? Ready to lose another game?” The opposing team certainly didn’t need to know about the tension in Cloud 9.
“Ahhh we won’t lose!”
Playful banter was part of their routine. To be honest all the teams had it, but there was just something special about the dynamic between Cloud 9 and TSM.
Kim Namjoon, one of the analysts, walked into the room and took in the situation.
“Ah, I see you are all already gathered. The analyst desk wants to start with an interview of Jimin and Jungkook, if you would follow me!”
Jimin got up and nodded towards Hobi, then walked past Jungkook and playfully shoved him aside. The other just laughed and grabbed a piece of Jimin’s jacket, tugging it towards himself.
“Excuse me, Namjoon?” Snake’s annoying voice made its way through the room and everyone seemed equally annoyed as Jimin felt.
“Yes, Jonah?”
“I don’t think it’s good to choose Jimin, no? I mean Jungkook is MY direct opponent, shouldn’t it be me on the analyst desk to represent Cloud 9?”
Namjoon sighed before he turned towards Jimin’s coach.
“Your call, Coach. The bosses want Jimin and Jungkook because of their dynamic, but I’m open to changes?”
Over the last year Namjoon had learned it was better not to mess with Snake before a game, since more often than not he would then proceed to let his mood affect the game.
“Maybe Jonah is right!”, their coach mumbled and avoided eye contact with Jimin.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jungkook said, so only Taehyung, Jimin and Hobi could hear him. “Have fun, babe!” Jimin laughed and let himself fall back into the comfortable chair.
They would watch the interview on one of the big screens backstage.
“I like the ring to that…” Jungkook smirked and raised both of his eyebrows.
“Huh?”
“Bye, BABE!” Jungkook turned around and walked out of the door before Jimin could even think about an answer. He chuckled to himself, before Hobi nudged him and grinned from one ear to another.
“Shush, don’t say it!”
A little bit later, after Jimin and Taehyung had helped themselves to some snacks, the big TV screens got turned on and the livestream started.
“Welcome, everyone, to this year’s League of Legends North American League Nationals competition!”
The crowd cheered them on as the screen showed all analysts, as well as Jonah and Jungkook, seated neatly across from each other on opposite sides of the desk.
“Today for the pre-game interviews we have both ADCs of Cloud 9 and TSM as our guests. Please welcome SNAKE!” The crowd cheered. “ And JJK!” As soon as Jungkook was shown on the screen the crowd literally went into hysterics. He was undoubtedly one of the fan magnets of their league.
“How could he not?” Jimin thought. He was smart, clever, a great player, and also extremely talented, not to mention his kind and lovable personality.
“You are staring!” Hobi whispered
“Yeah, stop making heart eyes? This is disgusting!” Taehyung chimed in in fake disgust.
Jimin rolled his eyes, how did his totally normal and no boundaries crossing friendship with Jungkook turn into a spectacle for their friends? This was ridiculous.
He munched on his snacks as Namjoon started asking casual questions about their individual game strategies. Their meta was built highly around their roles, so it seemed fitting that they had chosen both ADCs, even Jimin had to admit.
What didn’t fit was Jonah’s and Jungkook’s personalities. They had always been rivals, there had never been any doubt about that.
At the end of the segment some chosen fans had the chance to ask questions.
Jimin chuckled as the first fan stepped on the little stage prepared to ask her questions. She was wearing a full Cloud 9 onesie and smiled from ear to ear.
“Hi!” she said shyly, and Snake and Jungkook both waved towards the camera. “I wanted to ask about...when JK replaced Snake in TSM at the beginning of last season.”
This was a well known fact. When TSM had offered JK a spot on their team, it was shortly after they had kicked out Snake due to ‘undisclosed personal problems within the team.’ Jimin didn’t know any details, but there was a rumor that Min Yoongi had slapped Snake after he had made some weird remarks about one of their teammates.
Jungkook wasn’t allowed to speak about that topic and Jimin never really cared enough to pressure him into talking, especially because he had to play on team Cloud 9 with the bastard for the foreseeable future.
Both ADCs nodded, slightly uncomfortable. This was a touchy subject.
“So I wanted to ask if there’s any chance you would ever consider switching teams, because I always watch Jungkook’s streams and I just think he has the best chemistry with Jimin, you know…” she trailed off, obviously getting shy at her bold request.
Jimin couldn’t help but giggle and he could see Hobi and Taehyung holding back their laughs.
Snake’s face was hilarious. He was fuming. And Jungkook just smirked as he shrugged.
“I really like my team, I love playing with Jimin but like I said in my streams we decided to work on our individual skills for now, therefore we went into different teams.”
Snake huffed, “I just think you wouldn’t have the strength or talent to play in the League's Number one team, Jeon Jungkook. I think I work better with Jimin than you ever could. It’s not my fault you and your little fangirl can’t see that!”
“The way I want to punch him!” Taehyung mumbled and Jimin could only nod.
In what world did he even remotely play in any kind of synergy with Snake? Wasn’t that their main problem in the team? Something Snake never let Jimin forget at any time?
Jimin felt as Hobi squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.
“He’s so dumb it hurts!”
“Hey! No trash talking your teammates before the game!” their coach said from his couch. The two Korean players just rolled their eyes.
“ALRIGHT!” Namjoon intervened in the staring contest between JK and Snake, which was showing on the screen.
“Some friendly banter is alright, but please guys, keep it civil. I’m sure Jimin loves to play with both of you. No need to fight!”
Jungkook rolled his eyes, but forced a smile on his face. This Snake guy had been getting on his nerves for months and months now. This was getting out of hand and they all knew it, especially when Jimin had to literally share a living space with such an entitled asshole. Jungkook wasn’t even sure if it had been the best decision to go into seperate teams. He would love to show off his skills with his best friend instead of always competing against him.
Jungkook took a deep breath and tried to put on a natural game face. There was no point in fighting the guy right here on stage.
“Aaah, next fan. Hello!”
After taking a few more questions, Namjoon ended the interview and moved to some online ads, which gave them time to go back backstage to their teams.
Now they would have 15 more minutes before they had to go on stage.
As they walked off the analysts lounge, Jungkook bumped into Snake when he walked by.
“You rude asshole!” Snake exclaimed, and sped up his steps to stay on JK’s side.
“Me? An asshole? Did you hear yourself up there? Your synergy with Jimin is non-existent bro. You make it hard on one of the most likeable and easiest to get along with players on your team. You literally have no respect for him or his skills whatsoever, but have the audacity to claim you play better with him then ME?” Jungkook snapped and frowned at Snake, as they made their way through the tunnels towards their room.
Snake sneered. “Keep calm, Jungkook, your crush is showing!”
“I swear to god if I have a crush or not is none of your fucking business, Snake!”
Suddenly JK lifted his head and watched as Snake escaped into the already opened backstage room. This meant Jimin and everyone in this room probably had heard what he had just said.
Fucking great.
Jungkook turned around on the spot and ignored the call outs from his teammates.
He escaped into the bathroom and leaned against the tiled wall. “What the fuck?”
A knock came a few seconds later. “Hey it’s me!” Taehyung said, before he carefully entered the room.
“I don’t think Jimin really realized what you said, he was too busy ripping Snakes head off!” Tae tried to calm him down but Jungkook just shook his head.
“You know I have a crush on him. I have to confess sooner or later!”
“Yes I know. If you remember, I have been telling you that for the last year and a half! You know I believe Jimin has a crush on you too, and you could be so good together!”
“You always say that Tae, but what if he doesn’t? What if I ruin everything? What if there’s no return? And we can never play together ever again?”
Taehyung stepped closer and put a reassuring hand on Jungkook’s shoulder.
“Well, now you are being dramatic!”
“Am I, though?”
“You can’t just avoid him after that? He will eventually realize after he calms down and isn’t actively trying to kill Snake!”
“He’s cute when he’s angry.” Jungkook smiled absently.
Taehyung rolled his eyes and softly slapped Jungkook’s head.
“HOPELESS!” he sighed and shoved Jungkook towards the exit.
“Now let’s go! We have to go onto the stage in like… five minutes!”
The game was intense. Jimin bit his lower lip and concentrated as his teammates lost more and more ground on the map. They had been pushed back towards their second tower and it was not looking good.
Snake barked something into their headphones but Jimin was too busy escaping Jin, who had spotted him when he tried to sneak up onto the top lane.
Slowly he made his way down towards the midlane to check if he would be able to initiate a play there.
The game was frustrating, if nothing else. As usual, whenever there was any kind of misunderstanding or bad energy before the game, Snake and Windoms didn’t hesitate to bring that into the game.
They played well together, but they had chosen way too many risky plays to one up Jungkook, and Jungkook had been easily able to double-kill them both.
The more kills Jungkook’s champion got, the more Snake let his frustration shine through and, in Jimin’s humble opinion, made dumb mistakes.
“He’s going to ruin the game for us!” Hobi said in Korean into his headset and Jimin could only agree, they would lose. There was almost no chance any of them could turn this thing around.
Giving up was not an option, but right now, Jimin wanted to pull his hair out.
Mid lane was fine, so he made his way down to the botlane, where Snake and Winsome were trying to hold their ground, barely.
“I’m here, I can engage from behind them. Cover for me. Don’t engage!” Jimin said professionally and hid in one of the bushes.
Unbeknownst to him the bush was warded by Taehyung, who immediately turned around and started to attack the Cloud 9 Jungler.
Jimin sighed heavily as his screen turned black and white and the death timer started.
JJK: sorry sorry uwu
The crowd erupted in cheers, when they read Jungkook’s message and Jimin couldn’t help but smile and play into the little banter. He blew Jungkook a kiss on stage, just for shits and giggles.
The crowd basically lost it and started chanting their names.
“Maybe don’t flirt with your boyfriend and don’t let yourself get killed that easily?” Snake snarled and threw him a disgusted look.
Jimin was on the map again and slowly worked his champion forward through his jungle.
“Maybe if you would check for wards I wouldn’t get killed. I asked you a minute ago if the bush was warded!”
“I don’t care --” Snake started but Hobi interrupted immediately: “Stop the petty fights, this is leading nowhere. Chim, come to the top lane, we can kill him. And y’all finish this goddamn game one way or another!”
Thirty tense minutes later TSM had won the first game of the League of Legends North American Nationals.
Their fans erupted in cheers and started chanting their team name.
While their team stood on stage and gave interviews, Cloud 9 waved goodbye to their fans and left the stage.
The curtain was barely drawn behind them, when Snake shoved Jimin aside and made his way towards the backstage area.
“You are all useless. We should have won that game. God, I hate it here!” he shouted, while he packed up his stuff and pulled his backpack onto his back.
“Shut up, Snake. It’s just the first game. We won’t meet TSM for a while. Maybe just calm down for a second?” Hobi said, sad and without much energy to fight.
Losing was always a hard thing for the team, but today had been exceptionally draining.
“WE WON!!!” Jin screamed, as he ran through the kitchen and waved around a pack of what looked to be kimchi.
“Careful! You’re gonna spill that!” Yoongi said with a soft smile on his face.
TSM was gathered in their large living room. As their post Game tradition they either made Winner Food or Loser Food together.
“This was a great game!” Jungkook smiled, when he checked his phone for the thirtieth time since they had come out of the arena.
Jimin hadn’t texted him. Normally, no matter how their game went, Jimin would text him funny memes or they would chat. Sometimes even meet on stream.
But today it was silent.
Jungkook bit his lip as he opened the chat and carefully tried to find the courage to text his best friend. This was stupid. He should have just talked to him.
“Try: Hey Chim, sorry for the loss, lunch on Sunday like planned?” Taehyung said as he flopped down next to Jungkook on the couch. His legs lazily fell across Jungkook’s lap.
“Hmpf,” Jungkook grunted but ultimately went with Tae’s suggestion.
Maybe he should just address the elephant in the room.
JK: hey Chim, sorry for the loss. you played well. when do I pick you up on sunday?
Three little dots appeared and disappeared, appeared and disappeared…
Jiminie: hi JK, sorry i can’t on sunday. coach is making us train. maybe next time. talk to you soon.
Jungkook stared. That was new. Despite their hard training schedules, they NEVER canceled their plans like that. It was their escape.
Maybe he had fucked up badly this time. Maybe Jimin had realized what he had said and now didn’t want to see him anymore.
He groaned as he let his head fall back onto the headrest of the couch.
“Oh, c’mon it can’t be THAT bad!” Jin commented as he warmed up kimchi and started to filet the beef on the kitchen counter.
“He doesn’t want to meet on Sunday. I seriously fucked up!”
One week.
It had been one week since the last time they spoke.
No livestream.
No text.
No banter.
No memes.
Just silence.
And Jungkook was slowly going insane. There was no way Jimin would just end their friendship like that, right? Over a dumb crush? He could change. It’s not like his crush was new, he could live with unrequited love.
Right?
The finals were coming near and up until now TSM and Cloud 9 had won all their games. They had managed to fight their way through nationals and the semi-finals would be today.
After that only the finals were left.
They wouldn’t play against each other and were scheduled at different times too, but Jungkook had enough. This was getting ridiculous. Nobody ended a longtime friendship just like that. He would drive to the arena earlier and he would speak with Jimin.
“Tae!” he called out as he made his way out of his room down to the living room. “You want to go to the arena earlier to watch Cloud 9?”
Taehyung looked up from his bowl of cereal and laughed.
“You mean to watch Jimin?”
“I mean… I have to talk to him okay? I have to find a way to talk to him.”
“I am not gonna say I told you so, but I have told you so… for over a week now! But yes, I will come with you. I miss him too!”
“Where are you guys going?” Jin asked sleepily as he entered the kitchen.
“Going to the arena early so JK can confess to Jimin!”
“Con- NO?!” Jungkook interrupted but Jin only chuckled and showed them a thumbs up.
“I’ll come with you. You need adult supervision!”
“RUDE!” Tae and JK shouted, but Jin only laughed and waved them off.
A few hours later they were sitting in their comfortable van and Jungkook felt the nerves creep up on him. Maybe this had been a bad idea. Maybe he should just wait at home until their game time since Cloud 9 would most likely be gone out of the arena by then.
“Let’s get Starbucks instead!” he called out. Taehyung just rolled his eyes and continued driving towards the arena
“No, you are not going to chicken out of this one. You will figure your shit out like the big boy you are!”
“Big boy is right! You’ve gotten quite buff recently!” Jin noted, side eyeing JK.
By the time they arrived the area was already packed, so they made their way inside through the competitors private back entrance to not immediately alarm fans patiently waiting in line.
“Hey, where’s Cloud 9?” Taehyung asked Namjoon, who walked their way when they entered.
“Why are you here already? Aren’t you a bit early?” the intellectual man asked, while checking his watch.
“Jungkook here wants to speak with Jimin!”
“Ohhhh… I wondered what was going on between you two. Well they are already on their way to the stage. I swear to God with the mood Snake is in, this one ain’t gonna be pretty. Maybe talk to Jimin after the game.”
They nodded and made their way to the backstage area where they were able to watch the game on big screens.
Jungkook immediately noticed Jimin’s backpack neatly placed in a corner next to Hobis.
God he missed him.
The game started. The crowd was cheering loudly for Cloud 9, the favorite of the match, but something felt off.
Snake wasn’t playing with his teammates at all, Jungkook noticed immediately. Since they played the same role on their respective teams, he could easily make out Snake’s mistakes.
The ADC seemed off and unconcentrated. He tried to make plays but lacked in technique and ultimately lost the bot lane to their opponent, which was critical, because their meta was so highly focused around their role.
Jungkook watched as Snake’s frustration hit through and he started yelling at his teammates.
Something started to boil inside Jungkook. “Who gave this dumbass the right to talk like that to the other players? Especially Jimin. What the fuck?”
The game went on, but the longer it went, the more ground Cloud 9 had to give to their enemies.
Ultimately Snake misplayed and got killed, while the other team pushed down the midlane.
When Snake saw them losing he quite literally lost it.
The normally composed player stood up and threw his keyboard on the ground, before he left the stage without another word.
The crowd and the competitors responded with silence. Deafening silence.
There were some things you just couldn’t do in professional e-sports. First tilting so much that you acted out physically. And second just leaving the stage while your teammates had to suffer through the rest of the game alone by the rules.
Shortly after Cloud 9 took a vote and surrendered to the opposing team.
Cloud 9 had lost the semi finals and therefore would only be playing for rank 3. If TSM won their semi finals, they would proceed to the finals.
Jungkook stared at the screen and watched as Jimin left the stage. Head hung low, Hobi’s hand encouraging on his shoulder to slowly push him forward.
His blood boiled, this wasn’t right.
“What THE FUCK are you doing here?” Snake’s voices echoed through the room as he entered, already on his way to confront Jungkook for whatever bullshit was going through his thick head.
“I’m visiting Jimin!” Jungkook said as he got up and faced Snake.
“Oh really? Aren’t you guys on a break, because I told Jimin how DISGUSTED you were when I told you about his little crush on you?” an evil smile spread across Snake's face.
What?
“What the - I never said that? You know you are lying. WHAT DID YOU DO, SNAKE?”
The bastard had the audacity to laugh, as Jungkook stared at him in shock.
“I had to separate you two. I had to take from you what was most important to you, because you took from me what was most important to ME! MY SPOT ON TSM!!!” Snake screamed, as his teammates entered the backstage area slowly one by one.
“How does JK, the golden child, feel? You always had it all. Now you can have Jimin back because I will leave this shitshow of a League.”
Jungkook was in shock, he felt like someone had quite literally punched him in the face. This distance between him and Jimin had all just been because of someone’s sick and twisted revenge? No big conspiracy, no fall out, just another person messing with them?
Jungkook felt sick.
“You did WHAT?” Jimin’s voice brought Jungkook back to reality and he watched in fascination and awe as Jimin spun around and slapped Snake across the face.
“Literally fuck off. You made me feel like shit for a week. You made me question everything and you made me play like shit. Fuck off!”
Snake looked at him stunned, before he huffed and grabbed his bag, immediately leaving the room. “You two dumbasses deserve each other!” he snarled, before slamming the door behind him.
It was silent for a second, before Hobi of all people started laughing out loud.
“What the FUCK?” he asked and Taehyung chimed in, as he bumped into Jungkook.
“What did I just witness? Anyways… guys I think Jungkook and Jimin have to talk some things through. Maaaaybe we should give them a minute?” Taehyung helpfully suggested and proceeded to usher the other players out of the room.
The silence was weird. Once everyone left it was only them left and Jungkook wasn’t sure what to do with his hands or where to look. This was new territory for them. He thought they had always talked about everything, but maybe they both had never dared to touch this specific subject.
A few seconds later Jungkook’s heart started beating faster as Jimin slowly approached him.
“Sooo… Jungkookie!” Jimin giggled, a weight clearly lifted from his shoulders.
How could one small human be this adorable, Jungkook wondered, as he watched his best friend step closer and closer.
“Yes?” Jungkook choked out, mentally scolding himself. What was wrong with him? He rubbed his hands on his pants, when Jimin finally came to a stop right before him.
“So you do not, not like me?”
Jungkook tilted his head. “I maybe do not, not like you, yes!” he mumbled, while he avoided Jimin’s eyes.
Maybe he could not not stutter so much, that would be great, he thought.
A soft small hand was placed on his nape and his head was softly turned towards his best friend, the one person who knew most about him, his one person.
“I maybe do not, not like you too!” Jimin whispered, coming closer to Jungkook’s face. “Maybe I like you a lot actually… Maybe I want to kiss you right now.”
“Maybe you should!” Jungkook mumbled, his best friend's lips just millimeters from his face.
When their lips met it wasn’t like the movies they had watched, or the endless funny stories they used to tell each other in high school. It was just like suddenly knowing you were home. This was where they were supposed to be, Jungkook thought as he pulled Jimin closer.
Together.