Chapter Text
Hyukkyu sighed, clicking open the link that Kyungho hyung had sent him along with his message and a stupid thumbs up alpaca emoji: “Congrats on your marriage Hyukkyu-ah. Kekeke.”
The headlines, “Pro-gamer omega “Deft”, Kim Hyukkyu and Idol alpha “Faker”, Lee Sanghyeok to star as We Got Married’s next celebrity couple!” staring back at him. He continued down the page, “Pro-gamer Deft from the team DRX and Idol group T1’s leader Faker are confirmed to be We Got Married’s next celebrity couple! This will be the idol’s first major program since discharging from the military and the pro-gamer’s first regular program in his decade-long career.”
The article continues to ramble on to introduce them and their achievements as Hyukkyu scrolls down to the comment section, his heart racing.
“What are you doing now Hyukkyu-ah?” Cheonju’s voice snaps him out of his daze. He shrugs, trying to play it off, “Nothing much. Just reading the article that Kyungho hyung sent.”
“Ah, the one about you and Sanghyeok?” Nodding in the affirmative, hoping his nervousness didn’t give it away. “Yeah.” Of course, Cheonju has been by his side for so many years, he knew better than to believe the younger’s act.
“You’re worried about the comments?” Perceptive as well, Hyukkyu gave the older a look. “Hyukkyu-ah, I can smell the anxiety on you.” Hyukkyu shrugs, accepting the explanation, before glancing down at his phone. “The comments don’t seem too bad. Besides the few fans shitting on the other side, they seem quite positive?”
Cheonju laughed, “Good to hear. Anyways, we are back home!” The older announced, stopping in front of the dorms. Grabbing their bags, they made their way back up to the dorms and announcing their arrival.
Ah to be home, all the noise and smells.
“In the dining room!” Minseok’s voice, loud and clear as Cheonju and Hyukkyu made their way over before he heard Changhyun adding, “By the way, we ordered fried chicken!”
Getting into their usual seat, Hyukkyu opted for the parmesan fried chicken whilst Cheonju quickly grabbed the last ordinary fried left.
“Soh how wes de shoot?” Changhyun said around a mouthful of chicken. Hyukkyu had learn early on how to read the younger thus he was pretty sure Changhyun was saying “So how was the shoot?” and he is almost certain that the shoot was the We Got Married shoot.
Shrugging, “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” He chastised before continuing, “And it was okay.”
Changhyun, as if to make a point, made a big deal of swallowing his chicken before, “It’s Faker! How can it just be ‘okay’! You’re talking about one of the hottest k-pop idol to return from military here!”
Beside him, Minseok was nodding heavily adding, “Exactly hyung! It can’t just be okay. Who are you kidding! Millions of fans worldwide, a couple dozen hit songs with T1, voted one of the most handsome men several years running - give us details!” Hyukkyu could smell the excitement he was almost giddy with.
Hyukkyu thought back to this morning, when filming had begun and he and Sanghyeok were made to look for each other, not knowing who their partner would be yet.
“I mean, I didn’t even know it was going to be Sanghyeok until today.”
He looked around at the table, faces full of disbelief. “It’s true.” Cheonju chimed in, “The production team wanted to keep it a secret so that the reveal today would be more authentic.”
“So what did you guys do for the reveal?”
Rolling his eyes, “Oh you know. Some stereotypical bullshit. They gave us a clothing item from each other and had us find the scent.”
Hyeonjun snorted, “You would think with hundreds of years of lycan evolution, they would be able to come up with something more creative.” Hums of agreement filtered through the room.
“Alright everybody!” Cheonju claps his hands together, “Clean up and then we will get ready for the scrim against Gen G. Hyukkyu,” A finger is jabbed in his direction, “has to sleep early tonight. There’s a shoot tomorrow!”
“Wait, what?!”
___________________________________________________________________________
Who knew that filming an entire variety show based on a fake marriage would be so tiring? Definitely not Kim Hyukkyu.
Had I known, I would have never given in no matter how much Dong Bin hyung begged. Talking about how it would be good for the brand and help DRX and LCK gain exposure to a wider audience.
Hyukkyu still doesn’t know (not that it really mattered) why it had to be him to go on this show.
“Maybe they wanted an omega to match with Sanghyeok!” Flashback Minseok helpfully chimed from his imagination.
Hyukkyu sighed, even so, it wasn’t like he was the only omega in LCK. Sure, when he first debuted he was the only omega being surrounded by betas and alphas but alot had progressed since then. Omegas now made up a healthy chunk of the LCK pro-gamers so he doesn’t know why it had to be him.
Glancing at the side mirror, wouldn’t Wang Ho be better for this? He’s pretty and more outgoing. Hyukkyu… well he is just… Hyukkyu.
“Hyukkyu! Earth to Hyukkyu!” Cheonju was yelling, waving a hand in front of his face. Oops .
“Ah, ye?” He blinks, with Cheonju… Sanghyeok and his manager, whose name should be Jun-Sik if Hyukkyu recalls correctly, in front of him.
Cheonju gives him a look as if to tell him to focus before giving an apologetic nod to Sanghyeok and his manager. “As I was saying, go get your hair and makeup ready with Sanghyeok and then filming will begin. I’m sorry but I can’t stay with you so text me once filming is done and I’ll pick you up alright! Or you can take a cab home right?”
“Oh, you’re not staying?” Jun-sik questioned, raised eyebrows and all.
Cheonju shook his head, “We don’t have enough managers.” He offered hurriedly before sprinting back to their car.
Hyukkyu offered up a sheepish smile, “small company you know.” He knew for a fact that Sanghyeok nor his manager didn’t know.
They came from SM Ent, one of the biggest entertainment industry and T1 was one of the hottest boy groups of their generation so no, they absolutely were not a small company and they absolutely did not have manpower issues.
Despite his internal rant, the two older men in front of him gave Hyukkyu a sympathetic nod. “Come on, let’s go get our hair and makeup done.”
“So, are you tired?” Hyukkyu eyes snapped open, eyes widen, tilting his head as much to the right as the makeup artist would allow him. “Are you talking to me?”
A chuckle from both his makeup artist and Sanghyeok. “Yes! Who else would I be talking to?”
Uhhhhhh, makeup noona, hairstylist hyung? Literally anyone but me. Alas, the answer he spits out is a polite, “Oh umm… Yeah. Had a late night.”
“Scrimming?” Sanghyeok bites out as the makeup noona applies his lip colour.
“Oh, you know what scrimming is?” Hyukkyu comments before realising that probably sounded a little rude and barreling out, “Yeah, we had a scrim with Gen G yesterday.”
Sanghyeok and his manager let out a chuckle. “Oh yeah. My manager and I are huge league fans. You’re our one-pick by the way.”
“Pfft, liar!” His manager accused before turning to Hyukkyu. “You’re my one-pick. Faker’s one-pick is Chovy, he’s a mid main.”
Hyukkyu nods, he has also seen Faker’s interviews citing Chovy as his favourite, in fact if he isn’t wrong the two have met on several occasions already - the most recent being an ELLE photoshoot ( a la what Chovy told him ).
“No!” Sanghyeok takes a hold of the other’s hand as the makeup artists finished up their makeup, “You’re my one-pick going forward, wifey.”
Wifey… Hyukkyu eyes went round and his cheeks flushed bright red. Ah, Lee Sanghyeok, what are you doing - he’s going to think you’re creepy. Sanghyeok can almost smell his own embarrassed pheromones. Ah, he’s cute though.
“Alright, Deft! Faker! We are ready for you.”
Sanghyeok mentally thanks the director for saving him from dying from embarrassment. “Alright, shall we go?” He held his hand out for Hyukkyu to take.
___________________________________________________________________________
To: Cheonju hyungie
[6.25pm]
Hyunggggggggg
I’m done with the shoot already.
Should I wait for you or take a cab back to the dorm? O_O
Incoming call: Cheonju hyungie
“Yeah?”
“Kyu-ah, I am so sorry but the testing got delayed. Do you think-” Before he heard a curse from the other line.
“No problem hyung. I understand.” Cutting the older off, Hyukkyu understood - it wasn’t the first time testing had been delayed and it sure as hell wouldn’t be the last. “I’ll grab a cab.”
A sigh of relief and if betas could have scents, Hyukkyu was almost certain that he would be able to smell relief coming off the other through the phone. “Thanks Kyu! See you back at home.”
However, it seems like fate had other plans for him as the words: “We are sorry. No drivers available at the moment.” came up on his phone screen for the nth time.
“Hyukkyu-shi, are you alright?” Turning around, he was met with the concerned face of Sanghyeok and his manager. “Oh… umm… yeah. I-I just have been trying to get a cab-” the clock on his phone showed 6.45pm, “for like the past 20 minutes now. I don’t know why it's so hard…”
“Would you like us to give you a ride back to your dorms?”
“Ah… it’s ok. I don’t want to be a bother…”
“Are you sure Hyukkyu-shi? I don’t mean this in a rude way but,” Sanghyeok took a step closer, lowering his voice, “I can smell your stressed pheromones coming off of you.” Sanghyeok was met once again with Hyukkyu’s wide eyes, “You… can smell me?”
Looking back at his own manager who just shrugged, “Uhhh… it is faint but yeah. I can.” The smaller had given him a pensive look, pressing his lips together but not saying a word. “Come on, we’ll send you home. Jun-sik doesn’t mind right?”
“Of course, let’s go kiddos! Hyukkyu, your dorm is in Apgujeong right?”
Without thinking, Sanghyeok placed his hand on the small of Hyukkyu’s back, guiding him to their car which seemed to be a little intrusive but whatever at least his pheromones aren’t coming off as stressed anymore.
“Umm, hey.” Sanghyeok looked to his right, they had gotten settled in the company’s car and Jun-Sik had been driving for a while already.
“Yeah?”
“You were surprised that I could smell you just now. Are you on suppressants or something?”
“Oh. Umm… yeah, I am.” Hyukkyu hummed. “I’ve been taking them ever since I became a pro-gamer.”
Back in the day, when Deft had first joined the scene, he had been the only omega pro-gamer surrounded by betas and alphas. These days, its been better with a few more omega becoming pro-gamer but Hyukkyu still continues to take suppressants because-
“Because you’re an omega?” Sanghyeok asked.
“ Because I am an omega surrounded by alphas.” He supplied, hoping that his tone didn’t come out bitter.
“You’re your team’s only omega right?” Sanghyeok only got a hum in response. “I am surprised. I thought someone like Keria would also be an omega.”
Hyukkyu nodded in understanding. Their secondary gender did work in mysterious ways at times, some people like Minseok looked the part of an omega but weren’t. Something to do with their inner core or whatever his lycan teacher had spewed. Not that he ever paid attention in class.
“Minseok is surprisingly manly at times though.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Like me, I may not look all that manly but I surprised many people when I presented as an alpha.”
Hyukkyu gave him a look of disbelief, “You’re kidding. Why would anyone be surprised you are an alpha.” Gesturing wildly to the man.
“Why not?”
“Because you are Lee Sanghyeok, Faker! Leader of T1 and voted sexiest idol twice and you’re really manly in my eyes.”
Sanghyeok let out a chuckle, “I see you’ve been doing some research on me.”
If by doing research, Sanghyeok means obsessively googling and asking his teammates and friends about Faker and T1, then yes.
“Hey, don’t be shy. I did some research on you too! Though I must admit, I already knew most of it previously. My friends and I really liked playing league and most of us were your fans since your debut.”
“Oh really?” Sanghyeok could hear the disbelief in the other’s voice.
“I can prove it! I know you have an older brother, debuted with Samsung, your favourite champions are Ezreal, Vayne and Caitlyn. And when you debuted a decade ago, you were the only omega in the league which in my opinion is very brave and respectable of you.”
Wow, Hyukkyu definitely did not expect that the great Faker did any research, let alone that much research on him.
“Hey guys, hate to break up the lovefest at the back but Deft, we are here.” Jun-sik announced from the front seat.
“O-oh.” The AD carry looks out and sees his dorm building.”Thank you for sending me home once again.” As he steps out of the car, he sees the two wave their hands.
“Hey, Hyukkyu-shi.” A phone suddenly thrusted in his line of vision, “Do you think I could get your phone number? You know, the show is about being fake married and all but I think it would be good to be in contact and be friends you know. Otherwise, I don’t want to risk it being too awkward between the two of us.”
“Yeah, absolutely.” Hyukkyu agreed before jabbing in his phone numbers onto the other’s phone.
“I’ll text you!” The alpha calls out as he sees the omega bounding up the steps of the building, the automatic car door sliding to a close.
“I’ll text you!” Jun-sik mocked once the door closed, “God, could you be more obvious?”
“What?!” Sanghyeok protested. “Don’t act dumb with me Mr Lee. You’re totally happy that we chose Deft for you. He’s exactly your type - cute, pretty, calm and demure.”
Sanghyeok scoffed, “I just think he’s nice and that it would be good that we get to know each other better. If we are going to be fake married after all.”
“Oh please!” “Ah, why don’t you just shut up and drive Jun-sik!” He groaned, looking down at his new contact simply saved as “Hyukkyu”.
____________________________________________________________________________
Hyukkyu's phone started buzzing non-stop and he knows why. Their first We Got Married episode had just dropped an hour ago and all his friends are texting him about it. Sighing, he finally decided to pick up his phone and open the Kakao messages.
Sanghyeok
Hyukkyuuuuuuu
Did you see? Ep 1 is out!
The reactions are awesome! My agency is so happy about it.
Kekekeke
Hyukkyu
Ah really?
That’s a relief.
Hyukkyu was just going to take the alpha’s word for it that the reactions were good, Cheonju hyung and Kwanghee had both advised as such and really, Hyukkyu didn’t see why he shouldn’t take it.
During the past few days of Sanghyeok and him texting, they had progressed to a first-name basis dropping all formalities with the omega opting to call the other “hyung” instead.
Kwanghee
Hyungggggggggggg
My makeup noona was just telling me about your first episode!
Congratulations kisses
Hyukkyu
Yah! How could you not know about this?
I told you!
Kwanghee
You did?
Sorry hyung, I must have forgot!
But in any case, from the fangirling noonas around me, I would say you did well!
Hyukkyu
I was almost afraid that the T1 fans would grill me alive.
“Hyuuuung!” Changhyun’s voice filled the air as he, Minseok and Jihoon came barrelling into his room. A flurry of “You did so well!”, “Hyung you looked so cute.”, “The perfect wifey!” and a “Wow, Faker looked amazing in that episode” sprinkled in as they crowded around his bed.
“What is it you guys? I’m trying to rest here!”
“Hyung! You missed out on your first episode! How could you?” Someone yelled as they dogpiled on him.
“You know hyung doesn’t like watching himself!” Minseok yelled helpfully. “Yeah but I thought it would be different since it's with Faker!” Someone, probably Jihoon, argued.
“Alright alright guys, get off me. Let’s go eat.”
Over the course of dinner, his teammates were going on about their debut episode.
“How is Faker like though hyung?”
“He’s nice.”
“That’s all?! Hyuuuung, give us more. Is he as sexy and like the delicious alpha that his fangirls are always screaming about.”
“Aish, Minseok.” Cheonju tapped the younger on the nose, “Don’t be a thirsty beta.”
“I am just asking! Right Hyukkyu hyung?”
Hyukkyu shrugged, “I mean I’ve only met him twice. But…” Hyukkyu could feel himself flushed while saying this, “his eyes are really sexy.” Squeals from all his younger teammates.
“AH HYUNG!” “IF ONLY YOU WEREN’T ONLY BLOCKERS RIGHT NOW, I BET JIHOON CAN SMELL YOU.” “Nuuuuuuuuu, Kyu-yaaaaaa, you’re mine~”
“Alright, alright! Everyone, enough. Let’s leave our lovely omega alone and prepare for our scrim against HLE. Come on!” Dong-bin hyung announced, ahhh, our team’s general manager.
He heard a couple of “Yeh” before turning to his phone to reply to the messages he received over dinner.
Kwanghee
Naaaaah.
They are already starting a ship name for you guys.
Deftker!
*laughing emoji*
Hyukkyu
????
No way.
Sanghyeok
You don’t believe me?
[link]
Look! They are calling us the perfect couple.
Hyukkyu
Ohho. So I’ve heard.
Kwanghee told me our ship name was Deftker.
I’m glad.
Sanghyeok
Kwanghee? As in, Sandbox’s Rascal?
You’re glad? Were you worried about the reactions?
If you’re glad, then I’m glad too *^*
Hyukkyu
Hmmm, yeah.
To both questions actually.
Sanghyeok
Oh yeah.
Well, I am almost 12 years into my debut now. And it's not my first dating scandal anyways.
How do you know Rascal anyways?
Sanghyeok gave his phone a questioning look. How come he never knew that his company’s hoobae was friends with Hyukkyu. Time to do some research, he thought, clicking into chrome and typing: Rascal & Deft, friends.
Ping
Hyukkyu
Ah, it's a long story.
Sanghyeok
That’s unsatisfying!
Hey, how about we have dinner one day and you can tell me all about it.
Sanghyeok was asking him out… for dinner? Eh? It might be a little awkward but Hyukkyu really couldn’t find a reason to say no.
Hyukkyu
Um, sure!
Just let me know when.
Anyways, I am going to scrim now.
Sanghyeok
Fighting! O^O