Chapter Text
“YOU’RE FUCKED, BITCH,” is all the warning Wonwoo receives before getting knocked off the map on Overwatch.
It’s their fifth hour playing, chat is moving so fast that his head hurts, and all Wonwoo can do is stare at his camera, gobsmacked for the facecam. Betrayed? By his own precious cutie dongsaeng? On a peaceful Saturday night drunk stream?
Apparently!
“Chan, you- yah!” The scolding comes out belatedly. “I trusted you!”
Soonyoung giggles like a maniac through his headphones and Chan stutters out a “sorry, hyung, I’m sorry!” He is not sober enough for this, and swears off ever drinking soju with his stupid friends ever again. “I was aiming for Junie!”
Wow, so it was even an accident. Wonwoo turns to his camera, face devoid of emotion, already knowing that he’s being gif’d to hell and back on Twitter as they speak. The chat loves it. They go crazy over Jeon Wonwoo, man of one face yet the emotional range of a daytime TV melodrama actor.
“You’re not my favorite anymore,” he says flatly as he respawns. He may be drunk, but he leans in towards his monitor and locks in. Fuck the friendly competition. He’s going to destroy them.
Uh oh, one chatter says. Wonu is out for blood.
“Hyung,” Chan whines, because he knows that tone. The tone that says I’m not playing around with you mid-elo losers anymore. I’m Jeon Wonwoo and I’ve ranked Masters for the past six years. I’m going to get 30k damage and wipe the floor with your ass.
Wonwoo grins. Chat goes crazy.
“What was it that you said?” He laughs. “You’re fucked, bitch!”
-
If anyone asks, Jeon Wonwoo works in “digital media.”
Or if he’s feeling particularly outgoing, “content creation.” But he will never outright tell another soul that he’s a Twitch streamer, of all things.
Wonwoo is a pretty simple guy. He started streaming as GAM3RBO1 in high school, but blew up at the tail end of college, because he and his friends went viral during the Among Us era of 2020-2021. You can thank Soonyoung’s insistence that he always knew the imposter for that. Wonwoo’s the most shy of the group, but has a pretty big following thanks to his face and his chill demeanor.
You want a streamer who replays Pokemon Scarlet at 4 AM? GAM3RBO1 is your man.
It’s led to some pretty incredible stuff. Brand deals with Samsung and HyperX and Nvidia. 8 million followers on Twitch, 5 million subs on Youtube. Almost by accident, Wonwoo has made a significant name for himself, and he’s no close to stopping anytime soon.
Well, he can mostly thank his friends in that regard. They’re all always hustling, it’s hard not to do the same. As annoying as the lot of them are, they’re pretty incredible creators. Wonwoo never would’ve hit any milestones he has now without them.
Speaking of friends, Wonwoo’s Discord notif sound goes off, several times, in succession. That could only mean one thing.
hoshitigerboy: VAL TN?
hoshitigerboy: VAL TN?
hoshitigerboy: VAL TN?
hoshitigerboy: VAL TN?
hoshitigerboy: VAL TN?
hoshitigerboy: VAL TN?
Wonwoo blinks over at Discord on his second monitor. Soonyoung is a content machine. He never sleeps. It was supposed to be his day off, but one last 5 stack wouldn’t hurt. Especially with his subathon coming up soon, it would be good to promote it.
wonu: sure
WOOZINATION: DO U EVER SHUT UP
hoshitigerboy: baby girl theres a spot on my team w ur name on it
WOOZINATION: go die.
jun4hui: omw
dinochan: OMW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hoshitigerboy: jihoon the team pulled up we cant comp w four stack
WOOZINATION: i just got off fucker
jun4hui: so did i but im omw
wonu: lol
WOOZINATION: dont lol at me. im turning my pc on.
dinochan: YIPPEEEE
hoshitigerboy: jihoooooon ium going to KISS YOU!!!!!!
So much for a day off. Once you get Soonyoung on a roll, he won’t let up. Completely relentless.
His rank on Val has been hovering around ascendant for a couple acts now, the highest rank out of the five of them. Hopefully they don’t tank his MMR, since they’re mostly diamond players. Or worse, he gets stream sniped.
Thank god for the stream delay.
Wonwoo sighs and tabs back onto Google Chrome, pulling up Twitter and drafting a tweet. If he’s gonna stream today, he may as well get an audience out of it.
WONU @gam3rbo1
5 stacking val comp NOW
[link: twitch.tv/gam3rbo1]
Instantly, replies and likes pop up in his inbox. He hums, putting a Spotify playlist on, and goes back to Discord. He scrolls through servers until he gets to his friend group’s, appropriately titled “GENJI OVERWATCH ASS EATERS.”
He hasn’t checked it in a few hours. The argument between Soonyoung and Jihoon seemingly carried on over from the DMs into the General chat.
The most recent:
hoshitigerboy: well your mom told me she actually liked my comp strats
WOOZINATION: KYS KYS
50 new messages, Discord says. They are completely insane. Wonwoo ignores all of it, even the anime yaoi gifs (sourced by Seungkwan, which they use regularly) from the other members of the server, to head right into VC.
“Hyung!” Chan cheers when he joins. “I thought today was your day off!”
“He didn’t wanna miss out on the content,” Soonyoung says sagely, like he holds all the answers in the world. Which, coming from Soonyoung, of all people, is rather insulting.
Wonwoo rolls his eyes and opens OBS. “Thanks, guys.”
“You’re welcome!”
Wonwoo adjusts his headset and his mic stand and makes sure his facecam is in focus. He opens Twitch on his second monitor and changes the stream title to “I was forced to play today,” even if he’s there voluntarily, because Twitch viewers love to watch their streamers suffer. After double checking everything, he hits the “start streaming” button on OBS.
“I’m live, watch your mouths,” Wonwoo mutters.
“Aye, aye, captain,” Soonyoung says.
You can hear the mischief in Chan’s voice when he says, “my lips are sealed for you, hyung.”
They wait a few more minutes, waiting for Jun and Jihoon to join. Both perpetually late to everything, for different reasons - Jun loses track of time, Jihoon doesn’t respect anyone’s schedule except his own. Soonyoung and Chan start bickering about their newest comp plan for Icebox’s B-site, and Wonwoo mentally filters out their noise into the background.
He boots up Valorant and mutes Discord temporarily to say hi to chat.
“Hey, guys,” Wonwoo says. “How are you doing?”
wonwoo4pres: MY STREAMER!!!!!
user8367383: what happened to taking today off >:(
hjk2265_ily: u look so good today im blushign
So, all the usual chats, then.
“Yeah, I was gonna take today off, but then Hoshi wanted to five stack,” he explains, eyes quickly tracking over the chat. As more people join, it quickly speeds up. “Yes, I ate. Mmm, tomorrow I’ll probably play League. Yeah, we’re waiting for Jun and Woozi.”
Between oppa, you’re hot! and 5 gifted if you ace, chat runs by fast. If he wasn’t so used to it, he’d be lost in the influx of messages. If it gets too bad, he can always count on his mods to put chat in slow mode, but usually he manages just fine.
“‘What is Hoshi talking about?’” He reads, and tunes back into the conversation just as Soonyoung says “well what are they gonna do if I molly the whole team?” and Wonwoo huffs out a laugh. “I have no idea.”
Most of his audience are people who like chill streams, despite the constant chaos that comes from the friend group. Wonwoo is considered to be a “comfort streamer,” while you watch someone like Soonyoung to either be entertained, or make you feel like at least you’re more sane than he is.
As far as the audience is aware, Wonwoo is a perfectly relaxed, sane, normal guy.
Which… is mostly true.
“Sorry I’m late,” Jun shouts when he joins. “My viewers roped me into doing marbles, and now I’m supposed to bake a cake on stream.”
The three of them laugh. Wonwoo’s pretty sure that Jun has never even looked at an oven.
“A cake, of all things?” Chan asks. “Hyung, they gotta know that the only thing you can make is hotpot.”
“I told them,” Jun grumbles. “They wanted me to suffer.”
Ah. Classic Twitch chat.
“Okay, I’m here,” Jihoon joins, sounding tired already, and they haven’t even queued yet. “What’s happening? Everyone in my chat wants me to try Jun’s cake…?”
“Ew,” Wonwoo grimaces.
“Absolutely not my cake,” Jun complains. “All of you, stop talking about my cake.”
Chan laughs, loud. “I just want a bite, hyung.”
You can hear the grimace in Jihoon’s voice, “this is getting weird.”
“What about Jun’s cake?” Soonyoung says, coming back from being muted. “Did he make it already? Jun, you’re so fast!”
Chan and Wonwoo laugh, Jun and Jihoon groan. They all talk at once, voices overlapping as they always do in energetic moments. Wonwoo laughs, leaning back in his chair and looking over fondly at chat, full of LMAOS and kekekes and WHY ARE MY STREAMERS INSANE?
Yeah, pretty insane. But Wonwoo would be lying if he said he didn’t love it.
-
All things considering, Wonwoo takes his job pretty seriously.
Streaming requires a lot of energy and time. So, so much time. He’s dedicated thousands of hours of his life to opting to stay home and play games for his audience, rather than do things like go outside or party or do normal-people things that involve normal-people activities.
He gives himself one day off a week, and he sticks to his schedule religiously, unless his friends or a sponsor need him to stream something on a specific day. It’s rigorous and never-ending. His work will never be separate from his life.
Wonwoo is a streamer. His whole life is on his computer. There isn’t much for him out in the real world, besides conventions and award shows.
And on top of that, he’s a celebrity. In a general sense of the word. There’s a lot that he has to be careful of.
His viewers know three things about him:
- His name is Wonwoo
- He is 28 years old
- He has a dog
The public knowledge about him ends there. Of course, old photos and social media accounts have been dug up, but most of it isn’t very revealing. He’s always been private. Sometimes he sees people when he’s out and about so they know that he lives in Seoul, but even that is arbitrary because he won’t confirm or deny any rumors or questions unless they’re vague or impersonal or inconsequential.
But, tonight. Wonwoo knows that if anyone recognizes him, he won’t be in the proper state to ward them off.
It’s a rare night out, first of all. Second of all, they’re starting out at the club, despite the fact that they’re nearly all streamers (who are clinically losers, for the most part). But it’s Seungkwan’s birthday and he insisted. And Wonwoo is pretty bad at turning down his juniors.
Plus, Seungkwan just hit 4 mill on Youtube, so they’re also celebrating that.
“Wonnie hyungie!” Chan winds an arm around Wonwoo’s shoulders. It’s a wonder how Chan drinks so much yet gets trashed so quickly. “We’re at the club!”
At the club they are. It’s really a wonder. The music is pounding and Wonwoo has to squint at everyone to see them because it’s dark and even with his glasses, his vision is still shit.
“Yeah, we’re at the club,” Wonwoo cheers him half-heartedly and they both down their beer. Wonwoo isn’t any less playful than any of his other friends, but at the end of the day, an introvert is an introvert.
Plus, it doesn’t help that he towers over everyone like an awkward string bean. There’s nothing he can do about that, really.
It’s enjoyable enough. Everyone’s energy is up, Sonnyoung and Jihoon in particular because they don’t leave the house all that often, given by the way they are absolutely tearing up everyone else’s asses on the dance floor. Jun is filming with shaky hands as Seungkwan cuts into his cake. Seungkwan’s boyfriend, Hansol - the only one of them who isn’t involved in content creation, bless his heart - leans over with a hand on his back, making sure nothing goes wrong with the whole cutting thing because again, everyone is heavily inebriated.
“Happy birthday, Boo Boo!” Chan cheers, still leaning into Wonwoo’s side. Wonwoo steadies the both of them, cursing the fact that he has such a soft spot for Chan specifically. It would be so easy to push him off or throw him over to Jun, but then he’d turn those puppy eyes on him that remind him of when Chan was fifteen and tiny, and Wonwoo can’t deal with it.
Even so, the two of them bust out a horrible rendition of the birthday song, Wonwoo and Chan in horrible harmony, and Jun films every second of it. Hello, Twitter, Wonwoo thinks distantly. Your streamer is an idiot.
“Thanks for leaving the house for me, hyung,” Seungkwan grins up at Wonwoo. “I know how much you love your gamer dungeon.”
Jun and Hansol laugh and Wonwoo sighs. It’s not a dungeon. It’s a respectable gaming room that he keeps dark and cozy at all times.
“If I missed this, I would never hear the end of it,” is what Wonwoo elects to say, because he knows that there’s absolutely no chance he is winning any argument against Seungkwan, let alone a Seungkwan who is drunk. “Also, it’s nice to see everyone.”
Chan, who is definitely drunk and is watching them with rapt attention, awws and nuzzles his face into Wonwoo’s neck. “Hyung! You’re so cute!”
Seungkwan bounds over to join in on the cuddling, wrapping his arms around Wonwoo’s middle. “Wonu hyung, I love you too!”
This is what always happens at these types of things. Soonyoung and Jihoon wander off to cause chaos somewhere while he and Jun have to grapple with the clingy maknaes. Wonwoo smiles and pats both of them on the back.
“There, there.”
It’s good that they’re in a semi-private room. He would rather not be photographed like this if a fan came across them. Whenever the group of them go out, Hansol tends to watch around them like a hawk if anyone gets too close or too suspicious, because you just never know. Today, Hansol nods off somewhere behind them, where you can see a crowd of people beyond the roped off area they’re in.
“Someone’s been staring at you, hyung,” he says, edging closer. “They’ve got their phone out.”
Wonwoo blinks. It’s best to not turn around, just in case.
“You think they’re a fan?”
It’s dark and hazy in here, but that doesn’t mean he’s unrecognizable. It’s happened before, many times. He’s been picked out in the busiest of crowds and the darkest of clubs. Tonight isn’t a night where he really wants to deal with anyone, not while he’s tipsy and supporting the weight of two of his friends.
Hansol’s face does the thing where he stares so hard, it looks like he’s looking through you. “I imagine so. They’re not moving away.”
“Should we say hi?” Seungkwan giggles, to which everyone choruses a firm no in response. Luckily, Jun is mostly sober and steps in.
“I’ll go get Jihoon and Soonyoung. We can take an Uber to the noraebang room.”
Wonwoo nods. That’s the most logical decision. He deposits Chan and Seungkwan onto a couch and begins to pack the cake back into the box. “We can continue celebrating somewhere more private.”
Chan wiggles his eyebrows at him and sits up. “Hyung! You want to take me somewhere private?”
Almost instantly, the mood goes from sour to I can’t believe how drunk these idiots are. Wonwoo adjusts his glasses and pushes Chan on the shoulder, laying him back down. He goes down easily, being pliant and deceptively sweet.
“Sure, Channie.”
Chan giggles and Seungkwan leans in, saying “Hyung is gonna take us WHERE?” as conspiringly as possible, and Wonwoo and Hansol exchange a look. They can’t take these fuckers anywhere. Both because of the fans and because they’re unmanageable by themselves.
All in all, the night ends up okay. They leave the club unscathed, and as predicted, they get absolutely trashed while doing karaoke. It’s a rare night out, but it’s fun. Wonwoo is glad he went.
Even if it means perpetually looking over his shoulder, or having someone look for him. But that just comes with the territory - it’s a part of the job.
-
The fifth time that DEFEAT pops up on Wonwoo’s screen in bright red letters, he finally calls it quits for the night.
“Oh-kay, that’s a sign from God that it’s time to stop,” Wonwoo sighs, looking over at chat. “I hate this game.”
hooncentral224: youll get em next time king
wonutime: no one has ever looked so hot losing 5 comp games in a row
friend4all: this is the last time hyperx is gonna spon u LOLLLLLL
everyone_wonwoooo: o7 wonu u did gr8
kimi_nation7: IT'S THE GAME’S FAULT. VAL IS RIGGED.
He chuckles, reading through chat. Mostly o7 and NOOOO and ONE MORE, TRUST!!!! Chat has too much faith in him. There’s only so much Valorant you can play before you lose all brain functionality.
Today’s stream is sponsored by HyperX to promote a new gaming chair. He’s doing a giveaway on Twitter, too, and it’s only lasted so long because he promised everyone that he’d rank up today - which, y’know, didn’t happen. But he can dream.
“Okay, before we wrap up I’ll do a little QnA,” he offers, since he feels bad about cutting stream on a loss. Well, five losses to be exact, but that’s not the point. As expected, chat goes crazy. It’s not often that Wonwoo willingly gives up information about himself, so it’s a rare treat for his viewers.
He scans chat. A few things jump out to him.
“Favorite song right now? Anything off of IU’s new album. Favorite game?” He has to think about this one. “Maybe… well, right now I like House Flipper 2. I don’t know if it’s my favorite, though.”
His love for IU is well known, because he had a stream with Seungkwan when she had a comeback and they were both equally enraptured by it.
min9yu_k: do u like volleyball
Wonwoo blinks. “Volleyball? I don’t really know anything about sports, sorry. But I liked Haikyuu a lot.”
wooonation: FAV HQ CHARACTERR>?????
He grins. “I like Atsumu and Sakusa.”
Chat goes crazy with my babygirl!!!! and HE’S ONE OF US and ur mind omg!! His eye catches on a message that says “you know he’s gay bc sakuatsu is for the lgbt community” before it gets deleted by a mod. Wonwoo laughs hard. He’s not out to his audience, but they always catch on to the little hints he drops.
“Oh, you guys are funny,” he laughs, adjusting his glasses. “Okay, okay, I’ll take a few more.”
He goes through the usual - TV shows he’s been watching (One Piece Live Action), his favorite out of the friend group (Chan), favorite food (hamburgers), favorite sleeping position (curled up on his side).
“Anything you’re looking forward to this year…?” He reads. “Twitchcon, maybe, in the U.S… If you want me to have a panel, go at Twitch on Twitter, guys. And maybe award shows, if someone decides to have one. And the SKT guys and I were thinking of meeting up later this year.”
Chat, appropriately, goes wild. Wonwoo used to play League of Legends professionally, back when he was in his early 20s, before Twitch was picking up and his life was directionless. He’s left e-sports behind, now, but he’s still involved with friends from the competitive world, and the content is great every time they get together.
He grins at the camera. “Why? Should I get them together for a game of TFT?”
Yes, the chat all says. It’s fun to rile them up. Heh.
“What will I have for dinner?” He reads from a dono. “Ahh… probably ramyeon. The usual.” He shrugs. As expected, chat is not happy with that answer.
wonus_wife: EAT REAL FOOD CHALLENGE!!!!
hosh_ji_won_chan_jun: u need to learn how to cook bro T_T
Wonwoo puts his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’ll order something. No need to attack me.” He hums as he pulls up Uber Eats on his phone and shows everyone. “Happy?”
No, they aren’t happy, but it’s better than usual.
He places an order for pad thai and scrolls through chat idly. One more, he’ll do one more, and then go feed his dog dinner. For some reason, his eyes land on one in particular.
min9yu_k: ur ideal type?
It’s… well, it’s not like it’s the first time he’s been asked that. After all, most of his fans think he’s hot, and it’s even been brought up in interviews with e-sports magazines. Not that he’s ever actually answered that before. Not with how private he is. It’s not information that anyone needs, after all.
…But Wonwoo is feeling particularly charitable today. Why not throw them a bone?
“My ideal type…” he trails off, watching chat go nuts with YOUR IDEAL TYPE??? and HE’S FINALLY TELLING US!!! He grins. “Someone caring, I guess. Sweet and kind. And it’s a bonus if they can cook. You know how I am.”
Chat goes absolutely buck wild. Between the people proposing to him for marriage and saying they can cook, Wonwoo watches donos flood in and messages come so fast, the mods put it in slow mode. He laughs.
“Alright, alright. Let’s calm down.”
It’s fun to cause chaos every now and again, especially if it means keeping his audience on their toes. Plus, he wasn’t lying about his ideal type. The last guy he dated back in college, Baekho, was a chef. And that was like 70% of his appeal.
Not that Wonwoo has dated anyone since then, not when he’s so busy with work and so careful about his privacy. He can’t join any apps, in case he runs into a fan. He can’t go out to clubs or bars, again, in case he runs into a fan. The only way he could date if it was another streamer or famous person, really, and that sounds like a massive headache waiting to happen.
He watches, amused, as chat slowly continues to fill up with people propositioning him.
wonwoo4pres: MARRY ME
wonus_wife: sorry guys he was talking ab me
ahhh83768398: i can change for u babygirl
kjk_hhyl: i will cook u anything im down on one knee rn
“As much as I appreciate the marriage proposals, I think I’m good for now,” he grins. “And let’s end it here for tonight, I’ll be back tomorrow at my normal time, playing Minecraft with the gang.” He waves goodbye. “See you guys!”
After a few seconds of waving, Wonwoo clicks the “stop streaming” button. That was a long session, and his neck is starting to cramp up. The hours sitting on the computer are starting to catch up with him the older he gets. He lets out a sigh.
Well, at least the stream was fun.
He takes his headphones off and hears scratching at his door. It’s Seollie. He checks the time. Yup, it’s dinner time.
“Okay, okay, I’m coming!” Wonwoo calls out, getting up from his chair. “Stop scratching, or else I won’t get my security deposit back!”
-
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Wonwoo is a functioning 28 year old adult. He sure doesn’t feel like it.
Dinner usually consists of cup or packet instant noodles and a vegetable that has been sitting in his fridge for too long. At least he drinks plenty of water. The reason why his audience is always on his ass about eating well is because they know he can only cook instant food and orders out pretty much everyday.
The only time he’s made something other than ramyeon, it was bibimmyeon in 2020. And he hasn’t made it since. A one-hit wonder.
His daily schedule usually consists of waking up late, spending the day consuming content or planning content, eating dinner alone, and then streaming into the wee hours of the night. It’s been his schedule for at least four years now.
King of consistency, Soonyoung says.
It’s because he has anxiety, Jun says.
Whatever the case is, it doesn’t matter. This is what he likes. This is what he’s comfortable with.
Wonwoo is eating his normal dinner of ramyeon with one (1) decently enough fried egg and various assortment of green onion and pepper. Seollie runs around with a ball in her mouth as T1’s latest match plays on the TV. He already got spoiled on Twitter that T1 wins, but it’s always worth it to watch Faker play League.
He scrolls on Twitter absentmindedly as he eats on the couch.
The timeline is the same as usual. Tweets from his friends and colleagues occasionally interrupted by memes and trending tweets. Seungkwan retweets sports stuff, which is why he has a volleyball or tennis post on his feed every now and then. He dutifully goes through his own hashtag and likes fan art that is appropriate and funny posts that usually include his tiny, shitty facecam being turned into a meme.
One fan, whose profile picture is Wonwoo with bedhead, has created an image using Wonwoo’s neutral face with text that says “I NEED HIM TO BREED ME!!!” in all caps. He does not interact with that one.
Currently, Soonyoung and Jihoon are playing It Takes Two on stream, and “HOSHI SUCKS” is trending in South Korea. He has a feeling that the stream might have something to do with it. After dinner, he and Chan will join them for competitive Overcooked. Which is something he isn’t looking forward to all that much, because trying to work with Chan on a video game is headache inducing at best. At worst, he will Alt+F4 out of the game and go lay down.
Oh, well. That’s just another part of the job.
He finishes his noodles and entertains himself by looking at the replies on his post about his latest Youtube video, where Chan had to look after Seollie for a day. It’s been a few days and it’s already at 2 million views.
WONU @gam3rbo1
NEW VIDEO: Dino looks after my dog
[link: youtube.com/gam3rbo1]
dino @dinochan
In reply to @gam3rbo1
this is such a banger im a god at content
Hoshi ^_^ @tigerboy42
In reply to @gam3rbo1
poor seollie!!!! is she okay!!!!!
dino @dinochan
In reply to @gam3rbo1 and @tigerboy42
WHY WOULD SHE NOT BE OKAY. I AM AN ANGEL.
WOOZI @WOOZINATION
In reply to @gam3rbo1 and @tigerboy42 and 1 other
lmao
dino @dinochan
In reply to @gam3rbo1 and @tigerboy42 and 2 others
hyung back OFF!!!!
jun @junhui_
In reply to @gam3rbo1 and @tigerboy42 and 2 others
LMAO
dino @dinochan
In reply to @gam3rbo1 and @tigerboy42 and 3 others
FUCK YOU
Hoshi ^_^ @tigerboy42
In reply to @gam3rbo1 and @tigerboy42 and 3 others
i didnt even have to say anything u dug ur own grave
Wonwoo huffs out a laugh. It’s a bit that they have, where they all dogpile on Chan on Twitter, because he can take it the best and their fans think it’s funny. He types out a reply.
WONU @gam3rbo1
In reply to @gam3rbo1 and @tigerboy42 and 3 others
chan? you okay?
dino @dinochan
In reply to @gam3rbo1 and @tigerboy42 and 3 others
WONWOO HYUNGGGGG THEYRE SO MEANNNNN PROTECT MEEEEE
Chan’s reply comes instantly, which is a little surprising, since Chan is always insisting that he spends the least time on social media out of the lot of them. Which, by the way, is a blatant lie. Wonwoo sets down his empty bowl and stretches.
The time is ticking closer to 7 PM, which means it’s almost time to stream.
He puts his bowl in the sink to wash later, and makes sure to get his pets for Seollie in before he has to hide away for the night. His phone pings with a Discord notif, and he finally gets up to head to the gaming room.
WOOZINATION: @wonu @dinochan cmere
It comes like second nature to him, settling down at his desk and turning on his PC and getting set up. Everything boots up, and Wonwoo cracks his knuckles. This is his equivalent of clocking into work for the day. He’ll probably be up until 3AM or 4AM. It’s a good schedule because he’s got a lot of international viewers, so when the Korean watchers leave to go to sleep, his viewers in the U.S. and Canada join.
He logs in and opens Discord, his Twitch browser, and OBS. He joins VC, ignoring the immediate chaos he’s met with from Soonyoung and Jihoon talking over each other, arguing about something about the game, waiting for Chan to join.
“You ready?” He asks them, cutting right through the conversation because if he doesn’t, they could go on for hours.
“Yessir!” Soonyoung says.
Wonwoo’s eyes flit over his screen as he sets his stream title and genre, then tabs into OBS and hits the “start streaming” button.
-
It happens during a stream, funnily enough.
It’s a Saturday night, which means everyone in the VC is tipsy off of Soju and giggly and talking over each other. Their intentions when playing Lego Fortnite started off innocent enough, but have quickly devolved into arguing over what villager to let in and the placement of houses and what chest organization system is the best.
“We need a chest just for granite,” Wonwoo is telling Jun, who is not listening to him.
“Uh-huh. Sure.”
Wonwoo narrows his eyes. “Look at your chests. They suck.”
Jun laughs. “Yeah, yeah.”
“Those are my chests, Wonwoo!” Soonyoung’s character runs across his screen, sprinting over to the chest area. “Take it back.”
Wonwoo will absolutely not take it back. The organization of this village is abysmal. He says nothing, and his silence speaks volumes.
“Lol,” Jihoon says, actually saying the letters L-O-L out loud like a cringelord, because he loves to see them suffer.
“We should just get along,” Chan offers, as if he isn’t next on the hit list. Soonyoung gasps, offended, and Wonwoo snorts out a laugh.
“No. We need efficiency.”
“He’s being mean!” Soonyoung pouts, actually pouts, like he isn’t 28 years old and counting. “It’s my server, Woo, my rules!”
“So now it’s a dictatorship,” Jun observes, judgment evident in his voice.
“I knew it would come to this,” Jihoon agrees.
Overthrow Hoshi’s dictatorship , a dono pops up on Wonwoo’s screen. Wonwoo looks at his facecam and hums, taking the time to contemplate it.
“Yeah, that’s right, take that,” Soonyoung says in the way he does when he thinks that he won the argument, even though nobody agrees with him. “My organization is superior and you can’t tell me otherwise.”
Wonwoo sighs. “Well, you can take your organization system and shove it up your-”
He’s cut off by the quick Discord sound of someone joining the call, and then Seungkwan’s voice screams in his ears in one breath, “WONWOO HYUNG, THE ACE HITTER OF THE SOUTH KOREAN NATIONAL MEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM THINKS YOU’RE HOT!”
Like a hypothetical record scratch, everyone goes silent. Wonwoo’s voice trails off and he blinks and looks over at chat, which is full of WHAT? and ?????
What? What the fuck?
“Repeat that one more time, but slower,” Chan suggests after a long moment of silence, which says a lot, because they are still all a little drunk. Wonwoo’s brain is still trying to string together what the fuck Seungkwan even said.
“An interview came out with Kim Mingyu, the ace hitter of the Olympic men’s volleyball team,” Seungkwan says slowly, but with attitude. Of course. “And he’s a fan of Wonwoo hyung. Like, a huge fan.”
Wonwoo blinks again. Huh? Chat picks it up for him.
wonwoo4pres: who even gafs ab volleyball
jdhghajdk: well tell him to get in line
vball_hyung: THEHEEEEE KIM MINGYU???? HELLLOOOO?
sel_ie: ISNT KIM MINGYU THE SUPER HOT ONE
hoshiiiiiiiii: u can literally see wonus brain malfunction rn
“Really?” Soonyoung sounds overjoyed, which makes no sense because it’s not like he knows shit about volleyball. “Is he hot?”
“Oh, I googled him, he’s super hot,” Chan says, and Wonwoo’s brain finally turns back online. “Hyung, you’re lucky.”
“He said that in an interview?” Is what Wonwoo chooses to say, mostly because he can’t comprehend why on earth a professional athlete would casually mention being a fan of the Twitch streamer GAM3RBO1 in an interview, of all things. “Wait, what?”
“You need to watch it right now, it’s so funny,” Seungkwan says. “He said he has your merch and watches your streams to fall asleep.”
There’s a brief moment where everyone takes that all in, and then everyone besides Wonwoo is laughing. A volleyball player for the goddamn Olympics watches his streams to fall asleep and they’re laughing.
He looks over helplessly at chat, which is not any better. All the messages are MY NEW OTP and TELL HIM TO BACK OFF and MINGYU IS SO HOT!!!!
Well. What the fuck is he supposed to do with this information?
“Give him a shoutout!” Soonyoung demands. “Tell him thanks!”
“This is so funny,” Jun says.
“Wonwoo doesn’t have an ounce of athleticism in his body, but his fans are Olympians,” Jihoon laughs.
“Hyung, and he’s hot!” Seungkwan wails.
Chan will not stop laughing.
“I fucking hate all of you,” Wonwoo mutters, sighing, head in his hands. That doesn’t keep them from laughing and talking over each other, all way too excited about this… this situation.
Please watch one of his games, a dono comes in. He’s so hot and good at volleyball you gotta check him out.
“Is all you have to say about this man is that he’s hot?” Wonwoo asks chat, out loud, which causes another wave of laughs.
“Well, he’s also one of the best players in the country,” Seungkwan offers. “But it doesn’t take away from the fact that he just looks so good while doing it.”
Jesus christ. Wonwoo is doomed.
“You have a boyfriend!” Chan announces, apparently offended on Hansol’s behalf.
“Hansol thinks he’s hot, too!” Seungkwan yells back.
“Everyone who thinks he’s hot, say ‘I’,” Soonyoung says, and it’s followed by everyone in the call (minus Wonwoo) saying “I” or a variation of “yes” and “absolutely.”
wonwoo4pres: i take it back if one of us gets wonwoo i want it to be mingyu
wooooo_time: im looking at pics of him and shaking is he a god
everyone_say_woo: so kim mingyu is one of us huh…..
t4tlover: why does wonu look so lost rn. is it that shocking. sir ur a CATCH!!!
“I don’t get it,” Wonwoo says. Chat is going so fast that he can barely make out any of the messages.
“What is there to not get,” Soonyoung offers. “He’s famous and he’s hot and he’s good with balls.”
They’re drunk enough that no one even groans at that joke, they just laugh even harder.
“Please, I want a clip of you giving him a shoutout,” Chan says, using his whiny voice. “Say, like, “Kim Mingyu, thanks for watching. Saranghae.””
“Absolutely not.”
“He’s gonna see this and be honored, surely,” Soonyoung says. “Be all like, ‘Wonu-ssi mentioned me on stream!’”
Jun is still laughing, the traitor. “Don’t be mean to him.”
“Mingyu-ssi, I am a fan of your work,” Seungkwan says, seriously and with complete honesty. “If you are watching this, please tweet at me. It would make my day.”
“Do not tweet him, he’s taken!” Chan says.
“Stop cockblocking me!”
This moment is so surreal. There has never been a remotely famous person who has ever said they liked his content, besides other content creators who look up at him. He’s never had another famous person from a different field of work altogether take the time to say “I like GAM3RBO1.” It’s weird. Wonwoo stares at his cam, in a daze.
“Why does he like me?” Wonwoo wonders out loud, which is the wrong thing to say, apparently.
“You’re hot!” Soonyoung says.
“Shut up, don’t even,” Seungkwan groans.
“You have 8 million followers,” Jihoon suggests.
“Wonwoo,” Jun says disapprovingly.
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?” Chan yells.
Well, at least he knows that his friends are willing to fight for his honor when it comes to his appeal as a streamer. Between chat going at rapid speed and his friends taking turns screaming in his ears, Wonwoo looks helplessly at his facecam and sighs.
The stream is unsalvageable from there.
-
Even though it takes a little convincing, when the stream is over, Wonwoo, Chan, Seungkwan, and Soonyoung sit on VC together to watch the interview.
Seungkwan streams the interview from Youtube. It’s with W Men Korea. A very high class company, where only celebrities are interviewed. And he, of all people, was mentioned?
“Look, hyung, he’s hot,” Seungkwan says, and then starts the video.
After the logo pops up on screen, it cuts to a… very attractive man. He’s wide, broad shoulders and bulging muscles out of a sleeveless shirt. His hair parts in the middle, curly around his ears. He’s smiling, small and… oh. He’s kind of cute.
Fuck.
KIM MINGYU, the lower third says. This, Wonwoo realizes with belated embarrassment, is the guy who likes him.
This… hunk. Is the guy. Who likes him?
“He’s the ace of the Daejeon Samsung Bluefangs,” Seungkwan supplies, like that jumble of words have ever meant a single thing to Wonwoo’s chronically non-athletic brain.
“Hi, my name is Kim Mingyu,” the guy on his screen says, voice deep but surprisingly light. He talks cutely, like he has a pout in his voice. A bit of a lisp but it works for him, and Wonwoo hates it. “I’m a middle blocker for the South Korean Men’s National Volleyball Team.”
“Oh,” Wonwoo breathes out. Oh. Mingyu takes a moment to smile at the camera, and Wonwoo feels himself stop breathing.
“No fucking way this guy is a Wonwoo fan,” Soonyoung says. “No fucking way.”
Chan groans. “Why couldn’t he be my fan?”
“Hmm, the first question…” Mingyu trails off, reading off of a card. Wonwoo watches with rapt attention. “What do I like to do in my free time? I like to watch movies and hangout with my friends, mostly.”
Oh, a painfully boring hot guy. He’s Wonwoo’s type to a T.
“I watched Extreme Job, recently, and it was really funny, so I recommend that,” Mingyu says. “And I like watching stuff on Twitch.”
“Oh no,” Wonwoo hears himself say.
“Oh yes!” Seungkwan cheers.
“There’s this guy…” Mingyu trails off and giggles a little bit to himself. “His name is GAM3RBO1. I’ve been watching him since he was in T1. I really like his streams. I have one of his jerseys. His voice is soothing, so I listen to his streams to go to sleep.”
This is it. This is when Wonwoo fucking dies.
“He’s been a fan since you were in fucking T1?” Chan sounds incredulous. “Hyung, he’s not just a fan. He’s an OG.”
Mingyu giggles again. “I’m his fan, so this is kind of embarrassing to say. And I doubt he likes volleyball very much. But I hope everyone checks him out, because he’s a great creator.”
Oh my… oh my god. Wonwoo falls back into his chair, and the noise makes the green around his icon on Discord light up.
“Wonwoo, are you still alive over there?” Soonyoung says shrilly. “Did you just die?”
“Oh my god.”
“Kwan, you fucking killed him!” Chan yells.
Seungkwan, bless his heart, pauses the video. “Hyung,” he says slowly. “Are you having a crisis?”
Wonwoo groans. He is. “I can’t watch any more of this.”
Fact: Kim Mingyu is hot. Fact: Kim Mingyu is his fan. Fact: Kim Mingyu just professed his fondness for Wonwoo in an interview that has nearly 800k views.
Fact: Wonwoo is particularly weak when it comes to attractive men.
“Not to be delusional, but I think he’s in love with you,” Soonyoung says conversationally. “Also, he looks like an overgrown puppy, so I think he’s your type.”
Wonwoo groans again, because he can’t refute that.
He’s just… in disbelief, really, that this random hot volleyball player is his fan. And has been his fan since he was 22, gangly and awkward and in e-sports. It’s been years. Most of his fans are only from the past 2 or 3 years. It’s rare for him to come across someone from when he was in T1, yet Kim Mingyu is one of them.
He’s Wonwoo’s fan. Of all people. He likes him. Jeon Wonwoo.
“Well it’s not like you have to fuck him or anything,” Chan offers, but then Wonwoo is wondering how he’s supposed to sit down at his computer tomorrow, go live, and not think about how somewhere out there, Kim Mingyu is listening.
“But you should,” Seungkwan says. They all murmur in agreement, as if they don’t all condemn the power imbalance of fucking a fan.
There’s no way that Wonwoo has watched this guy talk once and has already developed a middle school crush on him, just because he’s hot and has a cute smile. If so, this is his weakest moment of his life.
“I need to lay down,” Wonwoo announces.
“Hyung, are you okay?” Chan sounds mildly worried, and Wonwoo doesn’t know how to tell him that he’s just having a crisis over the morality of liking one of his fans just because he’s hot.
“He needs to think,” Soonyoung says, reading the room for once. “Wonwoo is gonna be up till 5 AM being all like, ‘oh this hot guy likes me, what do I do about it?, even though we all know what he should do about it.”
It’s embarrassing, how easily he was read.
“Sorry, hyung,” Seungkwan says, sounding not very sorry at all. “I didn’t think you’d lose your mind over this.”
“Shut up,” Wonwoo sighs.
On the stream, it’s frozen on Kim Mingyu’s face. Handsome, cheekbones prominent, a little smirk on his lips. He’s so painfully handsome and Wonwoo hangs his head in defeat.
This is it. After over ten years of streaming, this is what it takes to defeat him, to throw him off his game. One hot guy who plays volleyball for Korea, who has a winning smile and Wonwoo’s merch in his closet. Wonwoo’s face is red and he’s a little ashamed.
“There, there, hyung,” Chan says. “Look on the bright side. He’s probably good with balls!”
They suck. They all suck. The three of them laugh like a trio of hyenas, because Wonwoo’s misery is just so funny. Wonwoo leaves VC and sends a middle finger emoji in #General, then thunks his head down onto his desk with a groan.
He’s fucked.