Work Text:
13 February 2025.
T1 vs HLE, 1st Round of Playoffs.
It was 3 AM, and Wooje was wide awake. Despite the serene environment of Camp One and the quietness of the dorm, Wooje just couldn’t sleep. The thought of going up against his former teammates later that day brimmed in his mind, and there was a mix of nervousness and excitement in him. If he was being honest, HLE hasn’t been playing the cleanest game lately, their in-game decision making has not come to the point where it was one decision, which was to be expected due to the fact that Wooje himself was away most of the time ever since he joined the team. He regretted that he hadn't spent as much time with the team when he was the one who needed adaptation, but it wasn’t like he could’ve cancelled his 3 weeks of military training.
Personality-wise, Wooje was known for being introverted and shy. Wooje was never one to actively start up conversations with people he wasn’t comfortable with. But he figured he couldn’t act like that when he was the one new to the team, he had to make some effort too, especially when the whole team had been together for a year already. It was a little bit tiring to do something out of his comfort zone repeatedly, but it was a necessary step. Wooje wondered, did Doran feel the same way with T1? It must have been worse for him to adapt since they were the roster that stayed since 2021.
Wooje left though.
Even though he didn’t regret it, sometimes he missed them. It wasn’t like they were all on bad terms with each other; they were sad, but their love and support for each other were bigger than anything else. Wooje still talks to them personally, about random stuff he saw on instagram reels or youtube or anything. He still talks to Hyeonjun about every single detail of his life, still sending pictures of the food he ate that was cooked by the HLE legendary chef, the random cat that was hanging around in the vicinity of Camp One, Wangho invading his bedroom one night just to play TFT while asking him questions to get to know each other, his game stats in solo queue– really, everything.
It was weird, it felt like nothing had changed between them, even if in reality everything had changed between them. Especially them.
Zeus and Oner.
The duo who had always been together since the first time they met in academy days, the duo who quickly made a name for themselves during the 2022 spring, the duo who always had each other’s backs during their lowest times. The top-jungle duo who won worlds back-to-back.
Now they stand on opposite sides of each other as enemies. They were no longer a duo; Zeus and Oner no longer existed in this world as one.
Later today would be the second time Wooje would be facing Hyeonjun on the rift seriously. The first time was during LoL the Next and Wooje would say that Hyeonjun was terrifying on the rift as an enemy. Hyeonjun even won MVP and won the prize money and a poro doll. The poro doll that Wooje ‘discreetly’ stole (Hyeonjun noticed and never asked for it back anyways) and was currently snug in his arms as he tried to sleep. Wooje lifted the doll in the air and saw the doll, it was old at this point, the fluffiness of it was gone, it was still full but it wasn’t as big and much flatter now. His fingers grazed over some red-ish stain on the white fur that he remembered originated from when Minseok, Hyeonjun, and himself ordered some late-night chicken, and the chicken fell from Minseok’s hand as he was trying to feed Wooje his drumsticks. Wooje giggled fondly at the memory, he missed those ungodly hours of late-night snacks.
Wooje grabbed his phone from the nightstand and opened his chat with Hyeonjun. Their last message was sent at 8 PM by Hyeonjun when he told Wooje he had to prepare for a meeting with the coaches. He clicked on Hyeonjun’s profile picture, and it was a picture Wooje took of him right after they got back from London last year. The picture was cute, warm sunlight hitting Hyeonjun’s smiling face, making him glow golden, a quick smile made its way to Wooje’s face from fondness. Wooje was the one who forced Hyeonjun to use that picture as his profile picture because of how proud he was of that picture. Hyeonjun always gave into Wooje so easily, and Wooje missed him a bit too much for that.
He missed Hyeonjun being physically there for him. He missed having to walk to Hyeonjun’s room and just play with each other’s fingers when they talk, or watch some youtube video Wooje had suggested, or play games, or even just be with him without saying a single thing and then drifting to sleep together. The nights were warm when he was with Hyeonjun, Wooje couldn’t tell if it was cold now because it was winter or if it was the lack of Hyeonjun on the bed next to him.
They’ll meet today, but Wooje doesn’t know if greeting Hyeonjun before the game would be wise, or if greeting him after the game would be okay– because that meant one of them had lost to the other and Wooje hadn’t thought of a plan on how he would even approach that situation. Wooje put his phone back on the nightstand and closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would find him eventually.
When the team arrived at LoL Park at 3 PM, they immediately signed who was up for make-up. As per usual, Wooje chose not to do make-up. He managed to sleep at around 4 AM last night and woke up around noon to shower and do a short briefing before they went. The green room was bustling, people moving left and right was not helping Wooje’s leftover nervousness. He wasn’t as nervous as he was the night before, but he was still feeling jittery and couldn’t stop shaking his leg. Wooje didn’t even know why he was this nervous. It was just the LCK Cup, and the first round of playoffs too. Sure, the losing team will be eliminated, but things have always been like that in every tournament.
Wooje decided he should wash his face to freshen up and clear his thoughts. He stood up and exited the green room towards the bathroom. On his way to the bathroom, he saw a familiar face exiting the make-up room, it was none other than the person who had been running on his mind last night that made him unable to sleep.
“Ah.” They both said at the same time.
They stared at each other for a few seconds before giggling at each other.
“You gonna do make-up?” Hyeonjun asked as he pointed his finger at the make-up room.
“No, I just wanted to get something from the vending machine,” Wooje paused after saying that. Why did he say that? Why did he just lie?
“Oh.”
They stood there awkwardly around each other, and it was weirding Wooje out. They don’t do awkward. They were the epitome of friendliness to each other– sometimes it even passed the lines of friendliness. So Wooje, hating the awkwardness getting longer every second, spoke up.
“Join me?”
Hyeonjun looked a little taken aback by the request and Wooje could understand why. Both of them usually hung around the green room with each other when they were on the same team. Now they weren’t, and it wasn’t like they could just go hang out in each other’s respective teams’ green room. But eventually, Hyeonjun smiled and nodded at him.
They made their way to the common ground and stood in front of the vending machine, looking at the stock of drink options. As if it was a habit, Wooje immediately chose one zero cola and one vanilla tea. His hand froze mid-air after paying when he came to the realization that he didn’t ask Hyeonjun what he wanted. The loud rattling sound of the bottled drinks falling down unfroze him and he immediately turned his head to Hyeonjun, only to see him smiling fondly at Wooje, and he crouched down to pick up the bottles.
“Don’t worry, you got it right.” He answered Wooje’s unspoken question and twisted the cap of Wooje’s zero cola before handing it to him.
Wooje took the opened zero cola and fidgeted with the cap. “Sorry, I forgot to ask.”
Hyeonjun just chuckled at him and cocked his head towards the seating area, inviting Wooje to sit. They sat next to each other on the big empty table and drank their zero cola and vanilla tea in silence. The silence was no longer awkward, but Wooje still didn’t know what he was supposed to talk about with Hyeonjun. They were about to play against each other, and it wasn’t like they didn’t know what they were both up to when they hadn’t seen each other in person after a while. They text daily about that, so why was it hard for them to come up with small talk in real life? Just talk.
“You’re staring.” Hyeonjun’s voice snapped him out of the debate he was having with himself. He hadn’t noticed that he was staring at Hyeonjun, another thing he hadn’t even noticed was that their bodies were angled towards each other, making their legs touch. Now they were facing each other, in silence, again. Wooje was obviously zoned out earlier, but now he was actually staring at Hyeonjun.
The perm on Hyeonjun’s hair wasn’t news to Wooje, Hyeonjun told him about it when he was getting it done with a vague message of “I’m about to do something” and left Wooje wondering what it meant for about 2 hours before receiving a selfie with the new hair. What was it with Hyeonjun changing up his hairstyle after they won something? Going blonde after they won Worlds, then going back to black after they won EWC, now he got a perm after their second win at Worlds. Well, at least all those hairstyles suited him, Wooje thought.
Without thinking, his hand flew up and carefully traced one of the wavy fringes that was neatly styled by the hairdresser. They weren’t strangers; Hyeonjun didn’t flinch or show any hint of surprise from the act, so Wooje continued doing it.
“I like your new hair hyung, it’s pretty,” Wooje said before fully combing Hyeonjun’s hair to break up some of the clusters. The hair was a bit too stiff and neat for Wooje’s liking, making them a tiny bit messier was a better– more natural look on Hyeonjun.
“Heh, I know. Yours looks stupid. Did you just wake up or something?”
Reflexively, Wooje touched the top of his head and patted his hair multiple times. “Does it really look that bad?” He asked, only pouting slightly to Hyeonjun. Wooje liked the feeling of his hands bouncing on top of his head, but he still preferred having his longer, fluffy hair compared to this. He knew fans thought the buzz cut wasn’t a bad look on him but his fluffy hair was a part of his identity.
“I’m kidding. Stop worrying, it’s cute.” Hyeonjun reassured him and took Wooje’s hand from the top of his head and let their hands rest on top of their touching knees.
Wooje glanced at Hyeonjun’s hand on top of his, they were bigger and more slender than his own. Sometimes Wooje felt insecure about his own short and chubby hands, but whenever Hyeonjun was holding them, Wooje thought they were fine the way they were.
While his mind was preoccupied with the thought of their hands, Hyeonjun’s free hand was suddenly on the top of his head. Wooje looked at him, and found a fascinated expression focused on his hair on Hyeonjun’s face. At first, Hyeonjun was just touching the sides of his hair, but then Hyeonjun started patting his head the way Wooje always did. Wooje tilted his head to gain Hyeonjun’s attention and ask for some explanation.
Hyeonjun paused his actions, “You do it on every video I watched of you, I thought it looked fun.” Hyeonjun explained as he rubbed Wooje’s head the same way he did to Minseok during the season opening. Wooje felt his stomach flip a little when Hyeonjun said every video and his lips couldn’t help but form a shy smile.
The feeling of Hyeonjun’s hand rubbing his scalp was nice and familiar, it reminded him of…well some other thing. So Wooje closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. Just for a little bit.
“Umm…Sorry if I’m interrupting you guys…” A voice cut through their peaceful moment and Hyeonjun’s hand fell to his own thigh. It was only for a short while, but Wooje already missed it on his head again. They both turned their heads to the source of the voice and saw Wangho standing in the hallway.
“Wooje-ah, the coaches were asking for you,” Wangho informed, looking a bit sheepish to have witnessed whatever Wooje and Hyeonjun were doing. At least the feeling was mutual, Wooje himself was also embarrassed that out of everyone, his new jungler had to see that.
Wooje quickly flipped the position of their hands that were still resting on top of each other. He gave Hyeonjun’s hand a firm squeeze, silently saying see you. The action earned him a smile from Hyeonjun who got up first and gave Wooje’s hair one last ruffle before walking towards Wangho to greet the fellow jungler.
Soon enough, Wooje followed suit with cheeks warmer than ever. One thing he noticed on his way back to the green room was that the nervousness that he once had was long forgotten and was replaced by a warm feeling in his stomach.
After the brief conversation with the coaches, Wooje sat back down on the couch and felt the stare Wangho was giving him. He looked like he had been holding back to ask, and Wooje felt like he knew what the question was about.
“So you and Hyeonjun-ssi…are you two a thing?”
“We’re…” Wooje trailed off, even after guessing the question correctly, he was unsure on how to answer it. At that point Wooje realized that no one outside of his former teammates had ever asked him that question before. Back in T1 Wooje was pretty sure everyone knew something was going on, but none of them had asked because it happened every day, it became the norm. It was a constant sight to see the top-jungle duo sticking to each other like glue in doing everything.
Some people would excuse it with the fact that both of them had known each other from the very start of their careers and had become each other’s comfort zone. Which wasn’t wrong per se, but Wooje was sure the lines between platonic and romantic had blurred a long time ago, they just had never talked about it. He knew Hyeonjun was also aware of that fact. He wasn’t blind, Wooje noticed the favoritism was extreme towards himself and vice versa.
“Hey, if things are complicated you don't need to answer it,” Wangho reassured. He probably didn’t want to pressure Wooje into answering.
Complicated wasn’t a word Wooje would use to describe them. It was anything but complicated. Being with Hyeonjun was the easiest thing for Wooje. He just couldn’t explain them in words, so he nodded at Wangho to just agree and make things simpler.
Well, Wooje wasn’t expecting that the first 5 games of a fearless draft tournament would be their matchup. The last 4 games were so back and forth that Wooje was feeling exhausted already. One more match to be the deciding factor on who will be eliminated and who will proceed.
“Players, please return to the venue.” A staff member came into their green room to announce that the games would be starting soon.
Wooje sat up from the desk after reviewing their last set and grabbed his heat pack. He was feeling tired and sleepy from the unideal hours of sleep he got last night. He didn’t know each game would get dragged on for so long, now it was 8 PM already. He walked out the door, toying around with his heat pack mindlessly when he saw Hyeonjun and Minseok on the other side of the hallway walking towards the venue. They walked towards each other and met in the middle.
Minseok flashed his signature boyish smirk at Wooje, “No hard feelings?” Beside him, Hyeonjun was wiggling his eyebrows at Wooje, and he couldn’t tell if Hyeonjun was taunting him or just being stupid.
Wooje laughed at his hyungs' stupid antics and smiled, “No hard feelings.”
When the screen flashed blue with the victory sign on Wooje’s computer, he let his shoulders relax a little bit. The last game was rough, a lot of back and forth– the game nearly ended badly for them and since Wooje was already exhausted, he couldn’t let his focus falter even just for one second. He took off his headphones and stretched his body before following his teammates to the enemy team for a fist bump.
Minseok was already waiting for his fist bump with a grin on his face, and Wooje couldn’t help but return the smile. Sanghyeok offered him a brief supportive smile. He was the most competitive person Wooje had ever known, so seeing Sanghyeok smile at him despite his own loss meant a lot to Wooje. On the other hand, Hyeonjun was full-blown grinning and laughing, his fist was already up in the air, waiting for Wooje to bump it. It was a funny sight, he looked like he hadn’t just lost a game and gotten eliminated from the tournament. After their fist bump, Hyeonjun tapped Wooje’s arm playfully, another habit they always do after a good game. It turns out that their routine won't change despite being on opposite teams.
By the time he wrapped up the POM interview, greeting the fans, and the individual interviews, it was already past 10 PM and Wooje was starving. They had been in LoL Park for more than 7 hours by that point, and playing 5 games where he was ultra-focused nearly emptied his energy tank. Thankfully, the coaches said that the feedback on the game wouldn’t be done today since it was already late at night and they have a rest day tomorrow. When Wooje was about to ask Geonwoo about whether they were going to eat outside or not, a notification popped up on his phone.
Let’s eat out. I’ll wait in the common area.
Wooje chuckled at the text, they hadn’t even talked about making plans prior to that, but it seemed like Hyeonjun had already decided he was going.
“Geonwoo hyung, is it okay if I go out with Hyeonj– Oner and not the team tonight?”
Geonwoo looked up from his phone, “Oh I think it’s fine? I think we’re free for the night, so you can do anything. But make sure to tell the manager your plans.” He finished with a kind smile.
“Okay I will, thank you.”
Wooje unlocked his phone to reply to Hyeonjun’s text. Give me 5 minutes? To which Hyeonjun replied almost immediately with a thumbs up sticker. He put on his padded jacket and wrapped his favorite blue-beige scarf around his neck for extra warmth. After packing up his belongings, Wooje came up to the manager and informed him of his plans. He exited the green room and bumped into Hwanjoong, who had just come back from an interview.
“Oh are we leaving already?” Hwanjoong asked, slightly confused since he hadn’t packed up.
“Ah no, I’m going out with Hyeonjun hyung.”
Hwanjoong let out a whistle, “Wow, right after they had just lost to us? Why not tomor– Oh. Ooooh.”
Wooje gave him a confused look, “What?”
“Nothing, just make sure to be safe and have a lot of fun~” He said with a sly smirk as he skipped past Wooje merrily and went inside the room.
The reaction was weird, but hunger was overriding everything else and Wooje was unable to think clearly or even care that much. He walked to the common area and found Hyeonjun sitting there. He was scrolling his phone, most likely reading webtoon, Wooje guessed.
“Hyung,” Wooje called and Hyeonjun turned his head towards Wooje in the hallway. “I’m starving,” He was fully pouting now, hoping that Hyeonjun would get the code to hurry up.
Hyeonjun chuckled and got up from his seat, putting his phone into his pocket. He approached Wooje, and they walked outside the building together.
“What do you want to eat?”
“Anything. I can’t think anymore.”
“Lotteria?”
“Okay.”
By the time they stepped foot outside, they were hit by the cold gust of wind and Wooje nuzzled his nose into his scarf. He saw Hyeonjun doing the same thing to his jacket beside him, they were the two worst people to deal with winter. Which was a bit funny to Wooje, because they were both born in the season.
Whenever Winter came, both of them used to stay holed up in one room and cuddled to keep each other warm. Sometimes they would just sleep the entire day, or simply lie down beside each other and do their stuff in silence. Minhyung once said they resembled hibernating bears, and Wooje took it as a compliment.
When a taxi stopped in front of them, Hyeonjun opened the door for Wooje and let him enter first. After settling down, Wooje let out a sigh of relief because the taxi was a bit warmer than being outside. Hyeonjun said the address to the driver and leaned back in the seat.
“Hi,” Hyeonjun whispered. His soft voice in an enclosed space scratched something in Wooje’s brain, he had forgotten what it was like being alone with Hyeonjun. Eyes locking, shoulders touching, thighs grazing, being alone with Hyeonjun always felt so intimate and comfortable at the same time. He felt safe.
“You’re quiet,” Hyeonjun pointed out.
Wooje nodded, “Just tired and really, really hungry.” He answered before fixing his position and leaning his cheek on Hyeonjun’s shoulder. At close proximity, Wooje could smell Hyeonjun’s cologne, a scent he hadn’t smelled in a while. Hyeonjun had been using the same pine cologne for years, and Wooje thought the scent fit him well. The crisp, fresh woody smell became a distinctive scent that Wooje associated with Hyeonjun. It became a scent that calmed Wooje down. Then, he felt Hyeonjun’s head lean onto his own.
“Alright, we can talk later.”
The quiet music from the radio filled the silence. Hyeonjun continued to read webtoon on his phone, still leaning onto Wooje’s head. Wooje wasn’t particularly focusing on anything and stared blankly at the scenery outside the car. Wooje noticed that Hyeonjun was extremely gentle towards him today, but Wooje noticed that he also had been clingier than usual. Maybe they just missed each other more than they thought they did.
The Lotteria they were going to was located near the T1 HQ, and since it was late already, there wasn't any traffic, making the car ride not a long one. Wooje hadn’t come here in a while since the T1 HQ and Camp One were in different directions. It was already 11 PM by the time they arrived, no longer the normal dinner time for most people, so there weren't a lot of people.
“Hello! Would you like to dine in or take it away?” The cashier attendant asked.
“We’ll have it here, thank you.” Hyeonjun replied and looked at the menu above the cashier. “Could we get one bulgogi burger, one miracle burger with no tomatoes, french fries, and two hot teas?”
“Of course, that’d be 22,100 won.”
The butterflies in Wooje’s stomach made a comeback when Hyeonjun remembered his go-to order in detail. Sure, Wooje had ordered that menu a hundred times already, but the small gesture was still sweet. Maybe Hyeonjun felt the same way when he bought him the drinks earlier.
The cashier gave them a waiting number and they walked towards an empty booth. This time they sat in front of each other. After recharging in the cab, Wooje gained a bit of energy for a conversation.
“Why did you invite me out after you lost to me hyung?”
“Wow one win and your ego is already skyrocketing huh?” Hyeonjun joked lightheartedly, a grin spreading on his face.
Wooje huffed, “You know that’s not what I meant hyung, I didn’t think you– or the others want to see me this soon.”
“A game’s a game, someone has to win and someone has to lose. Plus, it wasn’t like we didn’t play our hearts out, so there were no regrets.”
Wooje accepted the answer with a hum and smiled mischievously, “Really though, what was that LeBlanc support? It sure took us by surprise.”
“You guys also picked an Amumu and Olaf out of nowhere! Sheesh, talk about a wide champion pool. Also the Diana-Yasuo combo you guys did was fucking crazy, it caught us off guard so bad. I think that was the first time I’ve seen a 5 man ult from Diana in an official match.”
“Heh, that was all thanks to my mad Aatrox’ dodging skills.” Wooje proudly smacked his chest.
“Yeah yeah we know you’re good.” Hyeonjun rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance.
“You played well too hyung, you on Seju steal objectives like they were as easy as breathing.” This time, Wooje gave him a sincere smile. Hyeonjun returned the smile, taking in the compliment.
A waiter approached their table bringing their order. They thanked the waiter and Wooje felt his mouth watering from the sight and the smell of the food. He was just that hungry.
When he took a bite of his burger, he felt like he could cry. Finally something that wasn’t a bar of chocolate or a banana to replenish his energy. The savory taste of the burger was delicious, heavenly even.
“Speaking of,” Hyeonjun pointed a french fry at him, “Why do you keep chasing me in-game, do you have some personal grudge or something.” He squinted his eyes at Wooje before eating the fry on his hand.
Wooje swallowed the food in his mouth and giggled, “No, I just wanted to greet my favorite hyung in the world on the rift. You kept running away though, I thought it was rude, so I had to kill you.”
“Can’t a guy just run away from another guy with a big weapon and murderous eyes?” Hyeonjun whined. “Choose another target next time.”
“Nah, chasing hyung is always fun.” Wooje flashed a toothy grin and Hyeonjun scowled in defeat.
As Hyeonjun took another bite, Wooje stared at him and the burger in his hands, “Hyung, give me one bite?” And Hyeonjun extended his hand holding the burger without delay. Wooje leaned in to take a bite of Hyeonjun’s burger and offered his own. This was another thing they did, sharing and feeding each other’s food, especially when they ordered different things.
Hyeonjun and Wooje had been doing a lot of things today that they once did before he moved. It had been a while since they hung out just the two of them. Wooje thought that there would be minor changes in how they would act around each other. But here they were, talking about everything like nothing ever changed, some habits just seem to never change.
“You wanna come over to the dorms? It’s late already, and Ilsan is far away.” Hyeonjun suggested. Wooje checked his phone and he realized it was past midnight already. Truth be told, the idea had passed Wooje’s mind earlier, but he thought it would be a bad idea after their game. He didn't want to be a sore spot for the others.
“Are you sure the others would want to see me?” Wooje asked nervously, fidgeting with the fringe of his scarf.
Hyeonjun barked a laugh at his question, “Wooje, you’re our friend first before you’re our opponent. Sanghyeok hyung doesn’t show it, but he misses you a lot. Since none of us are as cute as you are naturally, he couldn’t prank around as freely anymore.”
“Liar. I know you’ve been taking over the cute maknae job better than I did.” Wooje squinted his eyes at him. He decided to accept the offer, gathering his belongings and stood up from the seat, “We’re walking right?”
Hyeonjun nodded, they walked outside the store together and were hit with the cold winter air once again. Wooje curled his body as they walked and noticed that Hyeonjun was faring worse than him because he wasn’t wearing a scarf. The T1 dorm wasn’t far, but it was by no means a quick walk. Wooje stopped walking and took off his own scarf, he turned to Hyeonjun and wrapped his scarf around his former jungler’s neck. Thankfully, his own padded jacket covered up his neck if it was fully zipped.
Hyeonjun had been observing Wooje quietly by his side, face filled with an emotion he was overly familiar with. Wooje took one of Hyeonjun's hands and held it firmly inside the warm pocket of his jacket. “Come on, before it gets colder,” He said with a soft smile and started walking. They walked hand in hand, bringing them closer, and their shoulders bumped every step they took. The faint hum of the neighborhood and the sound of snow underneath their footsteps became their company.
“Wooje,” Hyeonjun stopped his track and tugged their intertwined hands that were in Wooje’s pocket halfway through their walk, making Wooje also stop and turn around to face him.
Hyeonjun’s face looked so tender, serene, happy underneath the dim light of the street lamps, “We’ve played this game long enough, don’t you think?”
And Wooje knew what Hyeonjun was referring to immediately. For once, games did not mean League of Legends, or Valorant, or Tekken. Hyeonjun was referring to the flirty banters, the gentle touches, the lingering stares, the sweet encouragement when one wasn’t on their top form, the small gifts they gifted when they see something that reminded of each other, their currently interlocked hands, the kisses they sometimes shared over the years– those were the games.
“I guess we have,” Wooje replied, mimicking the small, gentle smile Hyeonjun had on his face.
Hyeonjun grabbed Wooje’s other hand from his pocket and continued, “You like me.”
Wooje knew that.
“And I also like you.”
Wooje also knew that.
Knowing all that did not stop the butterflies from invading his stomach when Hyeonjun said it aloud though.
“Don’t you think it's time we stopped playing these games and became more?”
“Hyung, but I’m–” scared. He wanted to say, but the words were stuck in his throat. Wooje would never reject Hyeonjun, but there was a reason why they hadn’t talked about it until now.
Wooje was afraid of more changes. He was already adapting many things. During the 3-week training, he was adapting to military life, then he had to adapt to living at Camp One. He also had to adapt his playstyle to fit perfectly with Hanhwa’s playstyle. Changes were rough, there were times when he doubted himself over it.
During all those times, Hyeonjun was the constant in Wooje’s life that he didn’t have to worry about changing. Hyeonjun had always been the personification of comfort to Wooje. If things went bad between them, who would Wooje run to? Wooje was afraid he couldn't live up to the expectations of what ‘more’ entails. Especially now.
“But…wouldn’t it be hard? We’re no longer on the same team anymore, we don’t see each other every day. We have different schedules, and what if we have a huge fight when one of us loses or something.” Wooje’s head was facing down towards their feet. A part of him was scared Hyeonjun would take this as a rejection, but Wooje didn’t know how else to explain his worry.
Hyeonjun let go of one of their hands and lifted Wooje’s cheek so that they were locking eyes, “We won’t.” The confident tone of his voice and the tender smile that stayed made Wooje’s vision a little bit blurry; he furiously blinked his eyelids to prevent tears from spilling out. Relief washed over him when he knew that Hyeonjun understood him. Like Hyeonjun always did.
“Being upset over a loss is definitely going to happen. But that’s part of our job, we’ll find our way to work around it. C’mon, I just lost to you today, you punk.” The joke at the end made Wooje giggle a little, his heart feeling a little bit brighter.
“Wooje, nothing needs to change. We already do the stuff normal couples do anyways, no?” Hyeonjun continued to reassure him. The warm hand that was on his face, caressing his cheek softly, “We’re just…Wooje and Hyeonjun– not T1 Oner and HLE Zeus, just Choi Wooje and Moon Hyeonjun. Except that I get to brag that you’re mine and I’m yours.”
Just Wooje and Hyeonjun.
Wooje liked the sound of that.
He put his free hand on top of the hand that was on his cheek and leaned into the touch. “Okay hyung,” Wooje felt his cheeks warm up and saw the pink glow surfacing on Hyeonjun’s own cheeks. Hyeonjun gave Wooje the brightest–toothiest smile, the same kind he had when they won Worlds plastered wide on his face until his cheek hurt, and Wooje couldn’t help but mirror his smile.
Hyeonjun leaned in and left a short– but sweet peck on Wooje’s forehead and dragged Wooje down the street again. He was laughing and smiling, his steps were filled with joy, and it made Wooje’s heart swell.
“I can’t believe we’re going to be the cliche couple who has the valentines date as their anniversary date,” Hyeonjun said, almost too loudly into the calm neighborhood. Wooje had to pause for a little because he checked his phone earlier to check the time, but he didn’t notice the date.
Then Hwanjoong’s words suddenly came back to his mind, more to the implications he made when two people who a lot of people thought were together went out on valentines. “Ah…so that’s why Hwanjoong hyung said be safe and have fun…” Wooje couldn’t see his own face, but he was pretty sure his face and the tips of his ears resembled Hyeonjun’s T1 jacket. Knowing the blabbermouth Hwanjoong was, he was pretty sure now the entire HLE team thought the same thing. Gosh, he was about to be so embarrassed when he returned to Camp One.
Hyeonjun grinned and leaned onto Wooje’s ear, whispering sweet promises- What a tease. If Wooje wasn’t sure that his face wasn't red enough before, he was sure it was redder than ever now.