Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Nam-gyu jolted upright, drenched in sweat. He realized that the lights were on and that things looked relatively calm, unlike the absolute chaos and flickering lights he saw a few seconds ago.

What the hell?

He heard snickering beside him and jumped back. He looked at the source of the noise in a combination of fear and annoyance only to do a double take when he saw a familiar face with purple hair smirking at him.

“Thanos?” He mumbled, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

“The one and only,” Thanos replied, grinning. “You good, my man?” He absentmindedly threw an arm around Nam-gyu’s shoulder and Nam-gyu tensed before relaxing into it. “You passed out as soon as we got back from that mingle game, and now you’re acting like you saw a ghost or something.”

That’s because I thought you were one, Nam-gyu thought to himself in disbelief. He shook his head, trying to understand what was going on.

“So…we just got back from Mingle?” He asked weakly, hating how stupid he probably sounded.

“Yeah.”

“And we haven’t done the vote yet?”

“Nope.” Thanos chuckled, still looking amused. “Seriously, what’s with you? You’re acting like you’ve been asleep for years or something. You trying to be the Captain America to my Thanos?”

Nam-gyu scoffed. “No. Dude, we’re not even American!” He ran a hand through his hair as Thanos laughed. “I just…I had this really weird dream.”

Thanos kept grinning but raised an eyebrow, silently urging Nam-gyu to continue.

“After the game, we had to do that vote we always do and it ended in a tie because that loser Min-Su betrayed us. Then a bunch of us went to the bathroom…”

“A bunch of people? All at once?”

“Yeah, that’s what I just said.”

“How many?”

Nam-gyu huffed in frustration. “I dunno, maybe 30?”

Thanos whistled. “That many? There’s 100 of us, and almost half of us had to take a piss at once? Damn, that’s a lot.”

“Whatever, that’s not important! Stop interrupting me! So we were in the bathroom, you and me, and we were chewing out Min-Su for betraying us. You were outside of the stall he was in and kept saying all this shit to him in English and pouring out your heart to him about your tragic backstory or whatever.”

Thanos raised an eyebrow. “What do you know about my backstory?”

Nam-gyu threw his hands up. “I dunno, my brain made some shit up about how you had no will to live until the guy with the briefcase played ddakji with you and invited you to this game!”

Thanos snickered at his friend’s irritation. “Sounds like you have a creative brain. Maybe you should have written soap operas.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t, and maybe that’s why I’m here,” Nam-gyu quipped, sending Thanos into a fit of laughter. Nam-gyu rolled his eyes and continued, “As I was saying, we were confronting him, and then that MG Coin asshole decided to butt in and play the hero.”

“Of course he did, that fucking tool,” Thanos snarled.

“Yeah, and he snitched on us and tried to get everyone on the X team to gang up on us for confronting Min-su, so then you gave him a taste of his own medicine by telling our team that they were ganging up on us. Then Min-su ran away like the little chicken he is…”

“Hey, don’t diss my boy Min-su,” Thanos interjected.

“Do you want to hear the whole dream or not, asswipe?” Nam-gyu snapped.

Thanos grumbled but didn’t say anything else.

Nam-gyu took a deep breath before continuing. “Min-su ran away, and you tried to go after him but Myung-gi blocked you. Then you said something about his girlfriend or something and he freaked out and you both started throwing punches and then the rest of us started fighting too. Then somebody punched me and I fell down and saw you dead on the ground.”

Thanos’s eyebrows shot up. “I just died all of a sudden? Just like that?”

Nam-gyu nodded. “Yeah, it was pretty abrupt.”

“Damn…” Thanos mumbled.

“And you had a fork sticking out of your neck, so I guess Myung-gi stabbed you there…with a fork?” He tried to put the pieces together, realizing how bizarre and surreal the whole thing sounded.

“I died by being stabbed with a fork?” Thanos asked incredulously.

“Yeah.”

“In the men’s bathroom?”

“In the men’s bathroom.”

Thanks groaned. “Dude, that is so fucking lame. Your brain came up with an entire backstory for me and that’s the best death it could manage to come up with? A fork as a murder weapon and killed in the bathroom? That’s like the exact opposite of how I wanna go out!”

“I dunno, man. The whole thing’s pretty weird.”

Thanos looked like he was thinking it over before shrugging indifferently.

“Then I freaked out and took the fork out from your neck and stabbed the guy I was fighting until he died, and then a few other people died in there. And I kept the fork and I took your cross necklace and got really fucked up.”

“You took my cross necklace from my corpse? Not cool, man.” Thanos clicked his tongue and shook his head in (mock?) disapproval.

“What was I supposed to do, let it go to waste? Let some other player take it? What if Myung-gi took it instead?”

Thanos nodded. “Okay, fair. If I die, you get the necklace. You’d better not fucking kill me though.”

“Really? Damn, there goes my plan,” Nam-gyu said sarcastically. Thanos flipped him off, and Nam-gyu chuckled before going back to recalling the dream. “Then in the dream me and everybody on our team attacked the other team after lights out and a bunch of people died. Then I woke up.”

Thanos nodded thoughtfully, appearing to process everything before smirking again. “So what you’re saying is…in your dream, my death shook you so much to the core that you avenged me by killing someone with the same fork that killed me, then you took my cross necklace to remember me by, got high to escape from the pain of losing my presence, and then went totally insane?”

Nam-gyu snorted. “Were you even listening? I didn’t say anything about being shook to the core or feeling the pain of losing your presence, you just made that shit up!”

Thanos grinned impishly before leaning in closer. “You might not have said it out loud, but it’s obvious~”

“What’s obvious?”

“You looooove me~” Thanos crowed, still wearing a shit-eating grin.

Nam-gyu felt his face heating up and he suddenly became very interested in the floor. “Don’t say shit like that, man! It’s embarrassing!”

Thanos grinned even wider. “You didn’t deny it,” he teased in a singsongy voice.

Nam-gyu’s eyes widened as he realized his mistake. “That’s because it’s obviously not true! It’s so clearly false that I shouldn’t even have to say it!” Nam-gyu sputtered.

Thanos poked Nam-gyu’s cheek. “You say that, but you’re blushing~”

Nam-gyu groaned loudly before glaring at Thanos. “What’s with you all of a sudden? Aren’t you into that Se-mi chick or whatever? How high are you?”

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, man,” Thanos said, echoing his words in the second game, although now they sounded much more lighthearted and playful. “Besides, I got bored of her. She’s hot, but she only talks to Min-su. But this isn’t about her, unless you’re talking about being jealous of her~”

“I’m not jealous of her,” Nam-gyu growled.

“Oh really? Then why were you shooting her dirty looks every time you were near her?”

“Because she’s fucking annoying.”

“She barely even talked to you, bro.”

Nam-gyu opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by Thanos holding his chin to force Nam-gyu to look him in the eye. Nam-gyu gaped at him, feeling his face heat up again and mentally kicking himself. What was he, a schoolgirl with a crush? He didn’t like Thanos like that, he wasn’t even gay!

But he still felt his heart pounding as he looked Thanos in the eye, noticing how close their faces are. He desperately wanted to blame it on the drugs Thanos gave him even though he knew the high was starting to fade. He briefly glanced around the room with his eyes to see if anyone could see them, but it didn’t look like anyone was paying them any attention.

“Hey, look at me,” Thanos insisted.

Nam-gyu looked back at Thanos, gulping.

“You know, if you were into me, I wouldn’t complain,” Thanos drawled, taking in Nam-gyu’s features. “You’re a pretty guy,” he murmured as he ran his fingers through Nam-gyu’s hair.

Nam-gyu jumped slightly at the contact, startled, before melting into it. “You’re just messing with me, aren’t you…?” Nam-gyu mumbled. He saw Thanos flirting with two other players throughout the game, so Thanos’s compliment didn’t feel particularly special, even if it did make his stomach do a little flip.

“Not this time, Nam-gyu.”

Nam-gyu can’t stop himself from grinning. “So you do know my name, asshole,” he said fondly.

Thanos returned the grin. “Yeah, but it’s fun to mess with you. You’re cute when you’re all riled up.” Nam-gyu rolled his eyes, still smiling.

The two of them gradually got closer and closer as they talked, and Nam-gyu realized that he didn’t care if this was all because Thanos was high or if other people saw them. He doesn’t care about what this means about his feelings towards Thanos or his sexuality or whatever.

He just wanted to kiss Thanos without thinking too hard about it.

So he thought fuck it and closed the small distance between the two of them, and Thanos eagerly reciprocated. Thanos’s lips were slightly chapped, but they felt pleasantly warm against his own.
They both grabbed each others’ faces as they kissed, wanting to keep each other close.

Nam-gyu felt Thanos wrap one arm around his neck and the other around his waist, pulling him closer. Without thinking, Nam-gyu let out a content sigh, and instead of teasing him like usual, Thanos just echoed the sigh and tightened his hold on Nam-gyu. Nam-gyu wrapped one arm around Thanos’s neck and used his other hand to play with Thanos’s hair.

He realized that Thanos’s hair is softer than he’d ever imagined. He mindlessly tightened his hold on Thanos’s hair, and Thanos rewarded him with a quiet whine. Nam-gyu felt his heart race as he heard Thanos, realizing he could get used to hearing Thanos sound so needy. Feeling emboldened by the sound, he pressed Thanos against the wall as they kept kissing and Thanos rewarded him with a groan. Their hands started to wander, wanting to feel every inch of each other.

Thanos pulled away ever so slightly. “Fuck, Nam-gyu…” he mumbled against Nam-gyu’s lips. “Don’t stop…”

Nam-gyu kissed him again, letting out a soft moan into the kiss. Hearing Thanos say his name like that, his actual name, and the way he sounded completely wrecked…it made Nam-gyu want to forget all about the vote they’d have to do later that day and spend the rest of the night kissing Thanos senseless.

But fate had other plans, and before either of them knew it, they faintly heard the doors open, signaling the guards’ entry.

They reluctantly pulled away, completely out of breath. “Those fucking guards, we can’t have shit around here…” Thanos grumbled, still holding onto Nam-gyu as he caught his breath. Nam-gyu would laugh at Thanos’s petulant complaints if he weren’t busy trying to regain his composure.

He glanced at Thanos, noticing that his hair was messed up from Nam-gyu touching it earlier, his face was flushed, and his eyes were half-lidded. He wasn’t used to seeing Thanos like this at all, but he couldn’t get enough. He had to resist the urge to lean back in and kiss Thanos again, looking away and taking deep breaths.

“Hey,” he heard Thanos say.

He looked back at Thanos, who was missing his signature smirk and still looked somewhat flustered.

“After we win the vote, let’s go back to what we were doing, yeah?”

Nam-gyu nodded, excited by the thought of making up for lost time.

“Good,” Thanos mumbled before briefly kissing Nam-gyu again. After pulling away, Thanos grins.

“Now let’s win this fucking vote.”

Chapter Text

Thanos couldn’t wait for the vote to finally end. Nam-gyu stood next to him the whole time, brushing his hand against Thanos’s in hopes that nobody would notice. Thanos couldn’t help but smile to himself at the contact. Nam-gyu was usually ruthless and cold around others, but now he was acting almost…shy. It was like he was acting that way just for Thanos, and Thanos couldn’t get enough of it. 

When it was time for Thanos to finally vote, he kissed the circle button dramatically, knowing Nam-gyu would notice and think about their kiss from earlier. The thought made him grin as he skipped over to the circle section. 

Before he knew it, the vote was over, and the circle team won. Thanos and Nam-gyu cheered uproariously, and he resisted the urge to kiss Nam-gyu right there in front of everyone. 

He regretted that decision when player 100 decided to hold a meeting between the circle players since they only won the vote narrowly. The meeting never seemed to end as the older man droned on and on. Thanos and Nam-gyu couldn’t help but steal glances at each other the whole time. Sometimes they shared annoyed looks, but they spent most of the time checking each other out. 

Thanos didn’t know how he went for such a long time without noticing how handsome Nam-gyu is. His friend had long, dark hair and delicate features. He had a really nice smile, too. Best of all, Thanos could just dick around and be himself around Nam-gyu. He had fun whenever they were together, and he felt like he and Nam-gyu easily understood each other. 

When the meeting finally ended, Thanos impatiently took Nam-gyu’s hand and led him to his bed. 

Nam-gyu snickered and teased him, saying, “Someone’s eager.”

Thanos laid down on the bed before pulling Nam-gyu down beside him. 

Nam-gyu let out a quiet yelp and looked around frantically. “Shit, can anyone see us…?”

Thanos looked around half-heartedly before saying, “I doubt it, man. Everybody’s tired after that game and voting again.”

Nam-gyu let out a deep breath. “Yeah, I guess you have a point.”

A comfortable silence settled over them for a moment before Thanos grinned and ruffled Nam-guy’s hair. “Hey, I survived. I didn’t get stabbed by a fork. Aren’t you glad?”

Nam-gyu laughed, and Thanos felt his own smile widening in response as his heart skipped a beat. “Yeah, I’m glad. I wasn’t too worried about such a weird dream becoming true, though,” Nam-gyu admitted.

Thanos put his hand over his heart, pretending to be offended. “You weren’t worried about me? Ouch. You wound me.”

Nam-gyu rolled his eyes fondly. “Whatever. Like you’d actually get stabbed to death by a fucking fork.”

Thanos laughed before realizing that at some point he started caressing Nam-gyu’s cheek. Not only that, but rather than looking weirded out, Nam-gyu was looking at him longingly. 

Thanos grabs Nam-gyu’s hand before gently teasing him, “This is what you wanted to do earlier, right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nam-gyu said, trying to sound indifferent but failing to hide his smile. Thanos felt Nam-gyu squeeze his hand and he couldn’t stop himself from grinning. 

Thanos leaned in closer and let his gaze drift to Nam-gyu’s lips. He looked back into Nam-gyu’s eyes and softly asked, “Can I…?”

“Yeah…” Nam-gyu mumbled, leaning in closer. 

Their lips meet for the second time. This time, the kiss is much softer and slower. Thanos lets his hands lazily play with Nam-gyu’s hair, something that earned him a sigh of appreciation from the other man. 

He felt Nam-gyu’s arms wind themselves around his waist. Nam-gyu’s hands slowly rubbed up and down Thanos’s back, and he noticed that it felt surprisingly soothing. 

Thanos noticed that Nam-gyu’s lips were softer than he ever imagined they’d feel. Kissing him like this felt so easy, so right. It was somehow so exciting and yet so comforting all at once. 

Neither of them picked up the pace, continuing to kiss lazily. Thanos figured it was probably because they were both coming down from the high and felt worn out from everything that happened that day. A small part of him felt like this kiss was more intimate than their previous one, but he ignored that thought because damn, this felt so right. 

“Has anyone ever told you how handsome you are?” Thanos mumbled against Nam-gyu’s lips. 

He felt Nam-gyu smile against his lips and Thanos grinned against Nam-gyu’s lips in response. “Mmm…I dunno, maybe,” Nam-gyu replied playfully. 

“Bullshit,” Thanos murmured against Nam-gyu’s lips. “You’re the prettiest guy I’ve ever seen…”

Nam-gyu laughed, his lips still pressed against Thanos’s. “Shit, man, that’s so fucking gay. You’re such a sap,” he said, but he can’t fight his smile from growing.

“This coming from a man who’s kissing another man, very straight of you,” Thanos retorted, barely pulling away.

“Shut up and keep kissing me, man.”

“Gladly,” Thanos said before kissing him again, both of them grinning into the kiss. 

That night, Thanos couldn’t sleep, so he decided to mess with Nam-gyu. 

“Hey, Nam-su,” he whispered, shaking him awake. 

Nam-gyu groaned, groggily sitting up. “Did you seriously wake me up at the ass-crack of dawn just to call me the wrong name?”

Thanos smirked. “Can’t help it. You’re too fun to tease.”

Nam-gyu sighed. “What do you want, Thanos?”

“It’s cold and I can’t sleep…”

Nam-gyu raised an eyebrow. “Okay, and?”

“So hold me,” he purred, half-teasing and half-serious. He wanted to see Nam-gyu get all flustered but part of him secretly hoped Nam-gyu would agree. 

He couldn’t see Nam-gyu’s face in the dark but he would bet money that the other man was blushing furiously. “What the hell, you woke me up just to cuddle? We’re in a life or death game here, I don’t wanna look soft…”

“C’mon, please, Nam-gyu? We’ll be worse off if we don’t get any sleep, yeah? So just hold me and we can forget all about this in the morning.”

Nam-gyu huffed. “Fine,” he grumbled, holding his arms out for Thanos.

Thanos grinned and quickly laid down beside him so they were facing each other, wrapping his arms around Nam-gyu. 

Nam-gyu returned the embrace before closing his eyes. “Now go to sleep,” he whispered. 

“‘Kay. Goodnight~”

“Goodnight, asshole.”

Thanos quietly snickered, and he couldn’t see it in the dark, but Nam-gyu had a small smile on his face too. 

Holding Nam-gyu quickly lulled Thanos to sleep. His friend was comfortingly warm, and the sound of his quiet breathing and the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest was relaxing. 

Before he fell asleep, Thanos thought, I never wanna let this asshole go.