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Jeon Wonwoo couldn’t complain; he had a great life. He lives more than comfortably thanks to his successful gaming channel, and he has the loveliest man in the world as his boyfriend.
There was only one problem: lately, his boyfriend has been sulking because he’s sad that Wonwoo refuses to introduce him to his audience.
“Is it because you don’t love me anymore?” Mingyu asked, lips pursed into a pout as he placed the plates on the table—another delicious dinner cooked by him.
“You know it’s not that,” Wonwoo chuckled as he pretended to look mad, but it was impossible when your boyfriend looks like a sad puppy. “It’s just that I don’t want people to think I’m dating you because you’re more famous than me, and all of that.”
“You are famous enough, though.”
“Not model-and-actor famous like you! It’s different!” Mingyu passed him the chopsticks so they could start eating. “Thank you.”
Mingyu groaned and sighed. “You just don’t love me.”
They exchanged glances and started laughing. Mingyu enjoyed joking about not being loved because he knew there was no possible way that Wonwoo would not love him wholeheartedly.
Wonwoo also suspected that sometimes Mingyu joked like that to reassure himself verbally that yes, Wonwoo loved the man he had a crush on when they were teenagers and had dated ever since. The only person he has loved like this, and the only person he would ever do.
“Okay, I have a proposition,” he said, getting Mingyu’s attention. “Sooner than later, people will talk. The public already knows you’ve bought this apartment,” Wonwoo sighed.
It was a whole thing at the time; they were both taking another step into their relationship: stepping from renting an apartment to buying one, to live forever in there, together.
The day after the purchase was done, Mingyu was already on the headlines with a clear picture of their home next to a pretty picture of his face. Thankfully, Wonwoo’s name was nowhere to be seen, and Mingyu demanded the outlet for leaking his home.
The positive was that they won, and with that money, Mingyu and Wonwoo spent a beautiful long weekend in one of Japan’s best onsen. The rest was destined for the security since they were people roaming around the building, wondering which floor was the property of the famous model and actor Kim Mingyu.
Luckily, that has died out a lot, and it’s now rare to see crazy fans expecting to get an interaction with their favourite actor.
“Yeah, but I don’t think they care that much. It’s been almost a year now.”
“I know. But what I’m saying is that I also know that some people have reported seeing me walking around the neighbourhood, so they suspect I live around here.”
Mingyu nodded, smiling. “I remember that time a fan asked for a picture, and you looked like you had just woken up.”
“I had just woken up! I had to go buy milk because someone had drunk all of it and didn’t care to let me know.”
“So, what’s your point?”
“I just think… that sooner or later they will find out about us. Or at least realise we live together. When that happens…” Wonwoo looked up at Mingyu, who was staring at him with love in his eyes. “I promise I won’t deny it and properly introduce you. What do you think?”
“Do you promise?” Mingyu asked with his pinky finger, expectantly waiting for Wonwoo to seal the deal. Once he did, he started chuckling while filling his mouth with food. “They will find out sooner than later, I’m sure. They’re like spies.”
“I give it half a year,” Wonwoo said with a confident look on his face, trying his best to sound convinced although he was not sure how much he could continue pretending he was not dating the kindest and most handsome man in the world.
It was starting to bug him a bit more each year, every time Mingyu got asked questions about his love life. He would claim he’s single, to the delight of every interviewer and fan present. Which would lead to prepositions all around, it made Wonwoo’s blood boil, but he couldn’t complain since he was the one to asked Mingyu to keep their relationship secret.
Between his moments of rage and Mingyu’s pleas of just announcing it, Wonwoo was starting to think maybe the six months he had just planned would probably shrink to half.
✧˖📷 ⋆🐾˖
After just a few days of that promise, Wonwoo had already forgotten about it. He continued with his life, streaming games almost daily and, when he had time, going outside to breathe fresh air and take some pictures.
This week, he had been alone since Mingyu was in Paris for a fashion event, so takeout was his best friend in the meantime.
Wonwoo paused the game after completing a difficult level and started reading the chat. Thankfully, as always, most messages were nice. They talked about the game and asked him how he was doing; those put a smile on his face, as he told his fans that he had just been inside, playing games.
“You should try going outside tomorrow,” he read and chuckled. “Yeah, I should. I’ve been craving barbeque, maybe I will ask Cheol to join me.”
The comments started flooding in, “Where will you go?” (as if Wonwoo would tell them, but it was a nice try), “What is your favourite restaurant?”, “Can’t you cook for yourself?”
“No, to be honest, I never learned how to cook, I’m good at doing the dishes though,” he chuckled. Then he got a text that distracted him from his online public.
Mingyu had texted “Tell them I cook for you”, followed by a funny gif. Wonwoo smiled at it, even though his boyfriend was on the other side of the world, and it was very late for him, Mingyu still took the time to watch him play silly games and yap about mundane things such as his photography account that he forgets to update and his plans for the following day.
Wonwoo texted him back a lot of hearts and sighed as he looked at his computer screen.
People asked who he was texting, why he was smiling like a fool, and some continued asking how a 20-something man doesn’t know how to cook. That’s the privilege of being with Mingyu ever since they were teenagers. Wonwoo never had to worry about doing some things for himself because his precious boyfriend would move the world just so he wouldn’t lift a finger.
Mingyu deserved to be recognised like that.
“I was texting someone… special. This person is the reason why I never cook. That’s all I will say for now,” Wonwoo said as the chat exploded with questions. It was funny how invested they were in his personal life. Maybe because he rarely shares about it.
At the beginning, he didn’t even show his face, so there has been an improvement through the years.
“I will order something for dinner since my special chef is not here right now. Have a good night, tomorrow I’ll continue with the game.”
After turning everything off, Wonwoo grabbed his phone to open the delivery app and was surprised by Mingyu calling him out of the blue.
Wonwoo could only hear his boyfriend telling him how cool it was and how pretty he looked while saying “special chef”. Even though he could not see his face, he was sure Mingyu was smiling from ear to ear, just like he was right now.
“It was so hot! So cool! I can’t wait to come back and be with you. I won’t let you go.”
“Then come back! I’m bored and Cheol is too busy missing his boyfriend to make time for me.”
“Jeonghan is staying at the same hotel as me. In the morning, I will tell him that Cheol is losing his mind.”
“I’m sure he knows already,” Wonwoo chuckled. He couldn’t blame Seungcheol for behaving like that; Jeonghan had been travelling for almost three weeks. “And I’m sure he misses him too. He likes to pretend he’s too cool for that, but I bet you he misses Cheol more than Cheol misses him.”
“Do you miss me?”
“Of course I do. Do you?”
“I do! You should come with me on the next trip. It’s great that Hannie is here, but he’s busy with a magazine photoshoot. I want to bring you to Paris next time, and spend every moment with you.”
Wonwoo blushed. Just thinking of being in Paris with his boyfriend, walking around the romantic city and spending all the time together. It sounded nice. “We should do it.”
“Really? I have another event here soon, so you could come with me and we will go full on tourists once I’m free.”
“Sounds like a plan.” After a beat of silence, probably both thinking about the trip, Wonwoo said goodbye to Mingyu’s complaints. “You should get some sleep, and I need to eat dinner and give Seollie her food too.”
“Ah, I miss her too. Tell her that. I will take her to that park she likes when I come back.”
After Wonwoo promised Mingyu to tell their dog that he misses her, they finally said goodbye.
✧˖📷 ⋆🐾˖
The following day, Wonwoo did as promised. He went to a Korean barbecue place and dragged Seungcheol there. After some fresh air and delicious food, his friend came back to his senses and realised it was a good thing that his boyfriend was booked and busy, because Jeonghan enjoyed all of that. And sooner than later, he would return.
“So, I saw some tweets last night,” Seungcheol stopped for a dramatic effect. “About you and your special chef.”
Wonwoo chuckled. “Ah, yeah. I think I will slowly reveal him.”
“You should do it now! It’s so liberating. Being secret is so time-consuming. Jeonghan and I tried it, but we got tired after a month.”
“Yeah, I remember. But it was mostly because you cannot keep your hands to your own when you’re together.”
Seungcheol blushed and flapped his hand, trying to change the subject. “You will feel much freer. No more hiding, you could go out together like normal couples do. No more caps and sunglasses and all of that.”
It would be nice to do so, Wonwoo thought. When they were teenagers, Mingyu and he loved to go together to parks and restaurants too. It’s not that they stopped doing so, but they both are more focused on hiding their faces than on enjoying the moments.
After they started dating, they would pretend to be just friends in public, without hiding their faces or anything. However, when Mingyu started gaining popularity and Wonwoo decided to reveal his face to his followers, being seen together would raise questions they, mostly Wonwoo, were not ready to answer. Yet.
Maybe now Wonwoo was ready for all of it. It’s not like he’s embarrassed by his boyfriend; he loves him very loudly. His family and close friends all know. But a part of him was scared shitless of the public’s opinion.
He had spent years building his fanbase and was comfortable with where he was. He had a big enough following to live off of, but not so big that it became overwhelming for his introverted and private nature.
But he owed Mingyu that. Mingyu, who, in every interview, has to lie and say he’s single. Even though he’s dying to tell the reporter all about his love story with his high school sweetheart.
Wonwoo knew Mingyu wished to upload pictures of the two of them being all lovely doey. Mingyu can’t even post photos of their pet because they were afraid people would put two and two together and realise it’s the same dog that Wonwoo uploads hundreds of pictures of.
It was hard, and telling the truth and dealing with it would be hard too. But continuing to live like this, in the long run, would be harder. And Wonwoo was scared that someday Mingyu would get tired of it all.
“People are saying that there’s no way you’re single,” Seungcheol laughed, bringing Wonwoo back to the conversation. “But their guesses of who could it be your partner could be are way off.”
“What do they say?”
“They speculate that it’s one of your friends. Some think it’s one of the people from that old server we used to play on. Others say that maybe is a nobody, and the closest to the truth say that maybe it’s an actor or a singer.”
“I’m sure they will guess it soon,” Wonwoo admitted. “So, when are we playing together again? It’s been ages.”
“Ah, I know.”Seungcheol sighed. “Soon, I promise. I haven’t even been able to stream a lot lately. I didn’t tell you, right? My monitor’s screen is broken.”
Wonwoo tilted his head. “How did it happen?”
“It’s a long story. It involves that stupid game glitching again, and me standing up to calm down, but accidentally tripping over the wires. It was a whole thing.”
“I’m not surprised at all,” Wonwoo said as he tried his best not to laugh in his friend’s face.
Seungcheol was known for having a short temper when it came to games; actually, that’s how he got famous in the first place. People started making compilations of him swearing and taking off his headphones. Countless memes of him shouting at the screen were made and shared online.
Wonwoo was far from the opposite. He could be winning nonstop and won’t even change his expression. Or he could be losing so badly, anyone else would have said at least “shit” under their breath. That was not Wonwoo. His fans liked how calm he was, which made a fun dynamic whenever he and Seungcheol played and streamed together.
“I already bought a new one, so after this, we’re going to pick it up,” Seungcheol said as he gave Wonwoo his phone with the picture of his new monitor.
“Alright, just make sure not to destroy it before the warranty expires.”
Seungcheol smacked him lightly in the head as he tried his best not to smile. “Shut up.”
✧˖📷 ⋆🐾˖
After Mingyu returned from his trip abroad, he had some time off since he was between projects. Wonwoo was delighted about it because it meant that his boyfriend was all to himself.
They spend four whole days without going outside. To make up for their time apart, they couldn’t let go of each other.
“Do you want to go walk, Seolie? It’s been a while,” Wonwoo suggested over their breakfast in bed. As if she had understood, the dog jumped into the bed and almost made a disaster.
Between giggles, Mingyu agreed. “I told you it would get messy to eat in here.”
“Ah, but it’s so comfy. I don’t wanna leave here. Ever. Maybe we should just stay here today.”
Wonwoo looked at their dog, who was staring at him, pleading to go outside after their days of hibernation in summer; then he looked at Mingyu, who was grabbing his hand and then hugged him. “It seems like both of you want to go out. Maybe I should tag along too.”
It was so hot, Wonwoo was starting to regret his decision. With only shorts, a t-shirt and a baseball cap, he was walking a bit behind his boyfriend and their pet.
“C’mon, it’s not so bad.” Mingyu turned with his free hand stretched, waiting for Wonwoo to grab it. He was rocking a very fancy white outfit that he brought from his latest trip, along with a baseball cap and sunglasses. As if a tall and handsome man walking through a park in Seoul would not grab any attention, he seemed confident that a pair of sunglasses would protect his identity.
But Wonwoo was trying to let go of his fears. He promised himself to slowly get used to the idea of being seen together and telling people they were, in fact, together.
He hated crowds; they made him severely anxious. And he knew he was not the only one; the common human response to being bombarded with screaming people with cameras is to be nervous, but some managed it better than others.
Thankfully, his fan base consisted of people similar to him. Mostly shy and introverted folks who enjoyed their time at home. Just like Wonwoo. But Wonwoo loved a man who loved being outside, and although it was bothersome to have a crowd running to you, Mingyu always takes pictures with everybody as he makes his way with a smile.
Mingyu shook his hand again, asking Wonwoo to take it. He took a deep breath and, with all his love, he grabbed Mingyu’s hand.
“I didn’t think you would do it,” Mingyu said with a smile from ear to ear, eyes sparkling under his expensive sunglasses that were probably a gift from a fashion brand.
“Then why did you ask me to?” Wonwoo chuckled, then adjusted his glasses. “I wanted to do it. I always want to do it, you know?”
Mingyu nodded, smiling, and looked ahead at their dog, which was increasing her pace. “What if we race to that ice cream place around the corner?”
“Ah, I don’t know…” Wonwoo said as he put his phone back into his pocket after taking a few pictures of his loved ones. Then, he started running at full speed. “The last one pays for the ice cream.”
“What? Babe!” Mingyu said to Wonwoo’s back as the older one was speeding through the park, unable to contain his laughter.
Mingyu arrived half a minute later than Wonwoo, who was already in the long line and looking at what flavour of ice cream to order. Almost out of breath, his boyfriend smacked him on the chest. “That was cheating!”
Wonwoo smiled. “I think I prefer a milkshake; the ice cream will melt on my hand too soon. It will be a mess.”
“Are you even listening to me? God, you’re so…”
“So what?” He asked with a smile he knew drove Mingyu crazy.
Mingyu stuck out his tongue playfully, and Wonwoo did the same. As they were laughing, a woman behind them gently tapped on Mingyu’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry, but are you Kim Mingyu?” she asked nervously.
“Yeah, I am,” he said with a smile while giving Seol’s leash to Wonwoo.
The woman covered his mouth in surprise, gasping, and asked for a picture. It was the usual “I loved you in that show”, “I loved you in that movie”, and “You’re so handsome”. Wonwoo had heard it a thousand times, and had heard Mingyu’s response a thousand times: “Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it, I hope you continue supporting me!”
But this time it was different. After Mingyu responded and turned around to continue his conversation with Wonwoo, the lady continued talking. Asking questions about what he was doing, who his friend was, if it was his dog, if he usually walks around here, and what ice cream he likes.
Wonwoo gently tapped Mingyu’s arm, as if saying, “Calm down. She will go away.”
Mingyu sighed, “He’s someone close to me, and this is his dog. We’re just walking around here for today. So if you excuse me, I think it’s our tour for-”
“What’s your name?” Suddenly, Wonwoo felt a not-so-gentle tap on his back. When he turned around, the lady was looking at him. She seemed around their age, probably a couple of years younger. Her eyes were open wide, and she was tilting her head and squinting her eyes, trying to take a better look at Wonwoo’s face under his cap.
“Sorry, but please don’t talk to him like that,” Mingyu said with a firm but still gentle voice. Wonwoo knew that his boyfriend was getting angry.
“But why can’t you just tell me? I feel like I’ve seen that dog before. Are you famous too?” She asked. Because of the woman’s loud voice, the people at the place were all staring at them. So much for a quiet and peaceful day outside. “I just want to know, why won’t you tell me? I actually run a fanpage of you and I want to tell them about who you are with, and-”
“I’m Wonwoo. I’m a streamer,” he said, trying not to sound too done with the woman. She was holding her phone practically to his face, probably filming the whole interaction. “Could you let us eat ice cream in peace, please?”
Mingyu stared at Wonwoo with a beaming smile on his face, probably proud that he stepped up. Wonwoo felt like he was blushing. Even through this whole uncomfortable and annoying thing, he was still charmed by his boyfriend’s smile.
The kind workers of the ice cream place asked the woman to leave because she was bothering their clients, and after complaining for a bit, she left while screaming, “I love you, Mingyu! More than anyone else in the world.”
“Not really sure about that,” Wonwoo whispered as they both were on the counter waiting for their milkshakes.
“I love you so much,” Mingyu whispered into his ear. He was so close, Wonwoo was fighting all within him not to kiss that man right then and there.
✧˖📷 ⋆🐾˖
That night, Wonwoo returned to his stream after his days off. He played a flash game as soon as he started, then started reading comments before playing the main game of the day.
When he looked at them, Wonwoo realised most of them were about Mingyu. People were asking if it was really him this afternoon, how he knew Mingyu, how close they were, since when they were friends, where they went after the ice cream, how Mingyu is in real life, all about him. To make matters worse, there were more than double the spectators as usual. All those new people were probably just fans of his boyfriend and wanted to know the details about this new guy on their radar.
Wonwoo suddenly felt too seen; so many people inquiring about his personal life… He had been too careless this past time; he should have expected something like this to happen. But he didn’t expect it to be so soon and feel like this.
He took a deep breath and reminded himself again that this was a passing moment. The start of being known as Mingyu’s partner in life. People will ask questions, and the spotlight will be on him one day, sooner rather than later.
This is just the first beam of light on him; Wonwoo will deal with the rest in the future.
After spending a few more seconds reading the questions, some more invasive than others, he adjusted his glasses and opened his mouth. “Mmm, I see that many of you are curious about something. I will only say this. Yes, we know each other. We’ve known each other for a long time. I never said anything because I didn’t want to draw attention to it. Okay? Now, I’m here to play games, so if you’re not interested in that, you will get bored very soon.”
A few minutes later, when Wonwoo made a quick pause to go to the bathroom, Mingyu was waiting for him right outside the door. “Are you okay? You managed that so cooly, I want to kiss you.”
Wonwoo laughed and grabbed his boyfriend’s face as he kissed him. “I’m okay, I promise. I can’t call you my boyfriend publicly yet, but this is like a… what was the term Jeonghan told me the other day?”
“Soft launch?” Mingyu asked as he giggled.
“That one!” Wonwoo snapped his fingers, then made his way to the bathroom. As he returned, he planted another kiss on Mingyu’s lips. “I will finish in one hour, what do you wanna do later?”
“Oh, I have some ideas,” Mingyu said with a smirk.
Wonwoo sighed. “Maybe I’ll finish the game a bit quicker.”
✧˖📷 ⋆🐾˖
It’s been two weeks since the world learned that Korea’s beloved actor and model Kim Mingyu was friends with a random gamer and streamer called Jeon Wonwoo.
That was old news by now, because nothing else has happened since. The curious outsiders stopped hanging out on Wonwoo’s chat stream since the only personal story he told was about how much he had slept and what mischief his dog had done this time.
“Don’t you think it’s time to do something more shocking?” Jeonghan asked.
“Like what?”
His friend shrugged as he sipped the last of his coffee. They were walking around a shopping mall since it was too hot to be out and about, as they had planned originally.
Both Mingyu and Seungcheol decided to go fishing to god knows where, and neither Wonwoo nor Jeonghan wanted to join. So for this weekend, they decided to spend time together while their boyfriends probably fall asleep with a fishing rod in their hands, under the scorching sun.
“Ask him to join you for a stream and play some games with you. You’re really dragging this out, aren’t you?”
Wonwoo grinned. His friend was seeing right through him. “I know I am, I promised Gyu I would do it eventually, but I’m still a bit scared.”
“I know,” Jeonghan smiled warmly at him. “And I know you’ll get the courage to do it. Just think of all the perks that will come with being known as Mingyu’s boyfriend. You will surely get more subscribers and brand deals, and all of that. If you don’t do it for love, do it for the money.”
They both laughed at Jeonghan’s joke. It made Wonwoo relax a bit and think broader than his little world.
“I know Mingyu always wanted to go to that program where you show your house and all…”
Jeonghan nodded. “Ah, that show is the best. And a lot of people watch it. Remember how famous Cheollie got after we did it last year? It’s very fun too. They give you gifts.”
Wonwoo remembered when his friends filmed that show, mostly because Mingyu spent a whole week sighing and saying how fun it looked. And then, when it aired, Seungcheol’s YouTube channel almost doubled in subscriptions. From then on, Seungcheol became as famous as Jeonghan. They cemented their image and crowned themselves as a power couple after that.
“Ah, you should do it. You get a lot of free stuff when you’re famous. We could even do a show just the four of us, wouldn’t that be fun? We could travel the world.” Jeonghan said as he grabbed Wonwoo’s t-shirt and shook him, trying to get some sense out of him. “So fun.”
Wonwoo chuckled as his friend continued begging. “Ah, maybe we should start with a 2 vs 2 game next week.”
“But I suck at playing video games.”
“And what about it? Mingyu sucks too. I will teach him, and Cheol will teach you. It will be balanced. And maybe there I could let my audience know that I live with Mingyu.”
“What game do you have in mind?” Jeonghan agreed immediately and asked with a smirk. “It doesn’t matter. I will tell the guys before you change your mind.”
As Jeonghan took his phone to text his boyfriend and Mingyu, Wonwoo finished his coffee as he stared at the full food court. Even as famous as Jeonghan was, they were still able to enjoy a beverage at a public space without getting mobbed.
His friend was a master of fitting in. Wonwoo took a mental note to ask him for tips in the future.
✧˖📷 ⋆🐾˖
“Are you sure about this?” Mingyu asked as he turned to Wonwoo in their bed. His eyes were barely open since he was still trying to wake up. Today was their day; they had set to tell Wonwoo’s audience that they lived together, and it was all set. A few hours later, they would play some games with their friends and then drop the bomb.
Wonwoo, who was already wide awake and scrolling through social media, left his phone on the bedside table and looked at his boyfriend. “Yeah, I’m dragging it too much. It’s time to take a bigger step. Or else…”
“Or else what?”
“I don’t know… I-” Wonwoo closed his mouth. He felt Mingyu coming closer to him, as he asked what he wanted to say.
For the first time in a long time, Wonwoo felt shy around his boyfriend. He knew he should speak his mind, but part of him refused to do so, afraid of being seen as pathetic. How could he say to Mingyu that he was afraid he would get tired of hiding their relationship and leave him?
It’s not like Wonwoo thought Mingyu would be the kind of person capable of leaving him, but part of him was still that anxious teenage boy. That boy who needed to be confessed to three times because he could still not wrap his head around the fact that someone as cool as Mingyu would like him as much as he did.
Wonwoo had grown out of most of his fears, but sometimes there was that little voice in his ear telling him he was not worth someone like Mingyu.
Besides, what would people say? They will probably ask why Mingyu was doing charity work by dating someone like him, and maybe then Mingyu would realise that, and-
“Just tell me.” Mingyu’s soft voice snapped Wonwoo out of his tumultuous thoughts.
“It’s dumb, it doesn’t matter. Really.”
His boyfriend caressed his face as he spoke, “You can tell me anything, you know that, right?”
Wonwoo took a deep breath as he stared at Mingyu’s loving gaze. “I’m just afraid that if we continue hiding… this, you would get tired of me. Or resent me or something,” he chuckled lightly. “I don’t know, it’s dumb.”
For a split second, Mingyu stopped caressing his face. “You really believe that?” Wonwoo shook his head. “You better not. You know I would never, in a million years, do that. Even if it means hiding our relationship until we both die. I don’t care about it, I just wanted to do it so you could be more relaxed.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. I want us to go out and have a good time like we used to in high school, remember? These past few years have been great, but I feel like you'd rather just stay home. And when we go out, I get the impression you don’t feel comfortable at all. Too focused on not being perceived, I can barely see the real you out there.”
“I…” Wonwoo was getting choked up. It was true that over the past few years, Wonwoo hadn’t enjoyed being outside. He was always too focused on not being seen; he was turning invisible, maybe losing a part of him, too.
“I just want us to enjoy life, you know? I want you to have fun and travel with me. Not having to wear baseball caps or beanies, and looking around twice just to hold my hand. And of course to brag about you to everyone I know,” he chuckled as if he had not said the most gut-wrenching and loving words someone could have said.
“I thought it was because you were tired of it and…”
“No, I could never. I just want you to be at peace. If that means not telling anyone, I’m fine with that. But I think that maybe ripping the band-aid will let you breathe comfortably again.”
Wonwoo felt some tears falling, but Mingyu was already gently wiping his face. “I don’t think I deserve you.”
“Now that’s just nonsense. Have you looked at yourself? I’m usually around other models and actors, and believe me, none of them come even close to you. Like right now, with your messy hair and crying face, you are hotter than all of them combined. If people knew we were dating, they would wonder how I managed to bag someone like you.”
“I love you,” Wonwoo said with all the sincerity of his heart. “I was thinking that maybe people would wonder how come you are dating someone like me.”
“I love you, too, but,” he lightly tapped his forehead. “You’re being a dumbass. Remember how long it took me to convince you to go out with me? I still can’t believe you finally agreed to.”
“I liked you too, but…”
“Yeah, I know, I know. You thought I was joking,” Mingyu sighed. “Ah, Jeon Wonwoo, I wish you could see yourself with my eyes.”
Wonwoo leaned closer and kissed him. They spent a few beats in silence, Mingyu’s arms around Wonwoo, who was lost in thought.
“So,” Mingyu coughed. “If we’re doing this, it must be because you want to. Don’t feel pressured about it, okay? We can still play games today, but there’s no need to tell anyone anything. I can still brag about you with our family and friends, and we still live together and love each other very much, okay? That won’t change. Even if the people know about us or not.”
Wonwoo smiled at him and kissed Mingyu’s forehead as he stood up from the bed and started to get dressed. “I love you very much. Remember that the stream starts at seven. I have something to do,” he left the room before Mingyu could even ask him a single question.
✧˖📷 ⋆🐾˖
“Did you have to spend the whole day editing? I thought we would maybe go out today.” Mingyu was lying on the couch, watching a very old show with their dog resting in his arms.
Wonwoo had been locked in his office/streaming room for five hours now, and has only gone out to go to the bathroom, and now to change clothes because there were less than 10 minutes left before the stream was set to begin. He leaned in to give a quick peck kiss to Mingyu. “Sorry, it was a last-minute thing. You look cute by the way.”
Mingyu was wearing a white t-shirt that made his face shine and cute glasses that were there just to be pretty because Mingyu’s eyesight was as perfect as he was. “Yeah, I had the whole day to get ready. I took a bath, I shaved, I styled my hair and tried on different outfits. I had nothing better to do.”
“Kim Mingyu, are you nervous?” Wonwoo chuckled lightly.
“I’m fine!” He stood up and rushed Wonwoo to change into the t-shirt he had chosen for him.
When Wonwoo looked at the black t-shirt, he realised they were matching. Those two items of clothing were bought together a few months ago; the same brand and model, only different colours.
It was a nice touch.
“Remember, don’t appear until I tell you to. It will be okay,” Wonwoo kissed Mingyu on the cheek and sat down at his usual spot.
He counted to three and started the stream at 7 p.m. sharp. There was a lot of buzz about today’s live since both Wonwoo and Seungcheol had announced the day before that they would play together and have special guests.
After greeting his audience, Wonwoo started the call with his friend. They said hello to each other as if they had not been texting right before turning on the camera. After some friendly banter, they opened the game, and it was time to introduce their guests.
Seungcheol went first. The people lost their minds, thinking it would be another gamer, not Yoon Jeonghan in the flesh, sitting right next to Seungcheol and cutely introducing himself, already apologising for how badly he would do.
“Don’t be like that, you will do great! Just focus on your screen and follow the instructions. The four of us will be a team.” Seungcheol reassured his boyfriend as Jeonghan leaned on his shoulder and read the chat.
“Ah, the people are encouraging me, too. Jeonghan fighting! I love you. Jeonghan, you look handsome today,” he read. “Oh! Maybe I should join you more often.”
Wonwoo laughed as he looked over his monitor. A nervous Mingyu was standing there, anxiously doing little jumps in his place, waiting for his turn to come on camera.
“Alright, so there will be four of us playing today. Wonwoo, do you want to…?” Seungcheol asked.
“Yes! I…” Wonwoo saw himself on the screen, and he realised how pale and scared he looked. He took two seconds to remind himself to breathe and smile. Everything would be fine. “So, since Cheol and I usually play a lot and Jeonghan only plays Candy Crush on a good day-”
“Hey! Jeonghan interrupted. “I played Animal Crossing for a whole month when it came out, don’t forget it.”
Wonwoo burst out laughing. He had completely forgotten about that time when they all thought Jeonghan had just lost it. Mingyu was covering his mouth, trying not to be heard.
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I had blocked that out.” Wonwoo said and read the chat. People were wondering who his guest could be; some were guessing right. After all, he didn’t have many known friends besides Cheol and Jeonghan, and Mingyu. “Alright, our fourth player today is someone very special. He’s just as good as Jeonghan, so it will be even. He… He should introduce himself.” Wonwoo looked at Mingyu and signalled him to come and sit in the empty chair next to him.
As Mingyu came into frame, Wonwoo was unable to read the chat because it was flooded. He let out a breath as he looked over at Mingyu and gestured to the camera.
“Hi, I’m Mingyu. Nice to meet you,” he bowed, and Wonwoo could see a blush on his face. There were rare occasions when Mingyu would get shy and nervous; he looked cuter than usual. Wonwoo could not help but stare. “I will be playing today, although I’m not good at it, but my friends asked me to, so I will try my best.”
“Let’s go, Gyu!” Seungcheol encouraged him, then he talked to the stream. “It seems a lot of people are confused, but Mingyu and I have been friends for years,” he said as he laughed out loud. Probably relieved that from now on he would be able to talk about Mingyu freely, without hiding their friendship in case anyone would realise Mingyu and Wonwoo were close.
Wonwoo sighed. They were all keeping secrets because he was too scared. They were good friends.
“You were fooled,” Jeonghan said jokingly to the people. For someone who had never done a livestream like this, he was getting used to it pretty quickly.
Wonwoo brushed his knee with Mingyu’s right leg. He grabbed his hand under the table and squeezed it two times, to make Mingyu know he was perfect and that he loved him very much. It was a lot to express without voicing it, but he was sure Mingyu understood the message because he squeezed back and smiled at him once they let go to start playing the game.
The game was… rough. They got sucked on the second level, and Seungcheol almost cursed five times. Luckily, Jeonghan was right there next to him and decided to give him a lollipop so he could just shut up for a second. They all laughed when it happened, and the four of them felt more relaxed after it.
Mingyu was surprisingly doing pretty good. Even though the day before, after installing the game on his computer, he had almost crashed it somehow, now he was doing his tasks diligently. Wonwoo would tell him what to do, and he would do it.
Jeonghan, on the other hand, wasn’t doing shit. It was almost comical how badly he played. The worst part is that it seemed like he was trying, although his nonchalant image remained untouched, but for moments, you could get glimpses of his frustration when something didn’t go as smoothly as he intended.
An hour and a half flew by in the blink of an eye, and they only realised when Jeonghan said he was tired already. They stopped playing and decided to try something less nerve-wracking while Jeonghan tried his best to distract them by reading the chat out loud.
“You really suck at it! I thought you were a professional gamer.” Mingyu said as he looked at Wonwoo’s monitor. He had just been eliminated in the first round for the third time in a row.
Wonwoo sighed. Fall Guys wasn’t his strong suit, but now that he was nervous because his boyfriend was right by his side, he was worse than ever.
Seungcheol started cracking up, and Jeonghan giggled. “Maybe it’s time?” He asked with a smile on his face.
“Ah, Yoon Jeonghan. You’re right, though,” Wonwoo said, completely ignoring Wonwoo’s and Seungcheol’s (and the audience’s) confusion. He closed the game and, while still sharing his screen, he entered his YouTube channel and clicked on an unlisted video.
“We’re not playing anymore?” Seungcheol got smacked by Jeonghan, who told him to shut up. He looked at him and furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”
Wonwoo took a deep breath, knowing that everyone’s eyes were on him, and on the video miniature that was a picture of Mingyu with a beautiful sunset behind him. “So, I’ve been thinking a lot about something. First was Should I do it? But then,” he gazed at Mingyu for one second, “Then it was How should I do it? As everyone knows, I’m not a fan of talking about myself, but that dislike has extended to other people. Asking them to lie by omission and pretend, just for me. They deserve better, and I do too, I think.”
He could hear Jeonghan clapping, and he smiled nervously. Mingyu looked closer at the screen, because of his reaction, he probably read the title of the video he was about to make public. “Wait, are you…?” The question lingered in the air as Wonwoo clicked and changed their lives forever.
“I have a new video. I’m sorry about the editing, I did it in a hurry today. I hope you like it and respect my wishes on not treating me differently. I won’t stream this week because we will go on a trip.”
“We’re doing what?” Mingyu was chuckling nervously. It was cute to see him like that.
Wonwoo smiled at him warmly. “You told me you wanted us to travel and not be so worried about hiding everything. Hannie and Cheol will take care of Seol. So,” he coughed, looking at the camera, “we will go now. We have to pack for our trip. Good night!”
They both waved at the camera until Wonwoo turned it off. Seungcheol stopped the streaming too and asked what was going on.
Jeonghan laughed as Wonwoo hid his blushing face on Mingyu’s shoulder.
“What just happened?” Mingyu asked.
“Ah, you two are so slow!” Jeonghan complained. “Just watch the video and shut up. We will go now. Tell Seollie that we will take good care of her. Bye-bye!”
There was silence. Wonwoo is still hiding his face, now wondering if maybe what he did was a mistake. Mingyu was not emitting a single sound. Wonwoo could only hear a clicking song and realised his boyfriend was about to watch the video.
He looked at the screen; the video already had a ton of views; there was no turning back now.
Music started playing in the background, a ballad made by an underground singer and producer who wrote love songs as if his life depended on it.
Wonwoo could hear his voice, almost in a whisper and shaky at times, talking about his and Mingyu’s story. Not in deep detail as he wanted to keep most of their memories for themselves, but sharing enough for people to know how lovely his boyfriend was.
How much he loved him and cherished him, and how sorry he was for being so scared all these years.
His, at times cheesy, monologue was the background of a ton of photos and short videos of them.
Selfies from when they were just classmates and started hanging out after school. Going to each other’s houses to watch TV or read comics while listening to music, having sleepovers, eating together, and studying together.
Pictures from when they had just started dating, their shy first kisses and their lovely first anniversary.
There was a short video of Mingyu when he was about to go for his first photoshoot as a model. He looked scared and only relaxed when Wonwoo made him laugh. Another video showed when they first got Seol, right after they had moved in together for the first time. A cute picture with the three of them, when Seol was so tiny, Mingyu grabbed her with only one hand.
Photos of them celebrating the time Mingyu got cast in his first drama, and short videos of him learning the script. And a selfie from the day Wonwoo managed to go to the premiere of Mingyu’s first movie without any reporter noticing they were holding hands when the lights were off.
There were so, so many memories that Wonwoo spent the whole day searching for. Thankfully, Jeonghan helped him recollect a lot, and even though it was made in a hurry, it was decent. It was made with care and love, all the love in the world.
Once the video ended, Wonwoo looked over at Mingyu, who had been silent the whole time. “Okay, you’ve never been this silent ever. Are you mad at me?”
Mingyu turned to his boyfriend, and some tears were falling. “Mad? How could I be mad?” He asked as he hugged Wonwoo so tightly he was struggling for air. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” Wonwoo chuckled and then kissed Mingyu on the cheek. “I made it today. I wanted it to be a surprise, but maybe I should have asked you if it was okay.”
“I’m a bit mad for that picture of me that summer break when I dyed my hair green. I thought I had deleted everything from that time.”
Wonwoo smiled, “Jeonghan had it. I don’t know how, I think I must have sent it to him years ago, and he had saved it.”
Mingyu sighed. “Oh, I’m sure he would never delete something like that. I’m tempted to go to his parents’ house and look for ugly pictures of him, but I think I would find nothing.”
“Yeah, there’s no use.”
“Wait,” Mingyu said loudly, making Wonwoo flinch. “We’re going on a trip?”
Wonwoo nodded enthusiastically. “I looked at your schedule and I saw that you are still free this week. So, you should start packing up right now. We have to be at the airport at 10 am. And please give me your documents, I don’t want another incident.”
“That was years ago, let it go!”
“Just go,” Wonwoo said, but his words weren’t lining up with his actions since he was still hugging Mingyu and was not letting go.
“Where are we going? Where? Where? Tell me,” Mingyu whined like a little kid. Wonwoo let him go and was turning off his computer while Mingyu was still sitting and staring at him.
“Singapore! We’re going to Singapore. From what I read, it’s not that humid in June, so it should be fine. But pack light clothes, it’s summer after all.”
“Woah, you’ve never been there, right? I went there once for a photoshoot, but I wasn’t able to look around.”
Wonwoo chuckled. “You went there just for one day. You were so bummed out.”
“You remember?”
“Of course I do,” Wonwoo stopped what he was doing to look at his boyfriend, who was rushing to him just to kiss him. “Now we will go together. And no need for hiding our faces with baseball caps, unless it’s too sunny.”
Mingyu laughed lightly and left the room in a rush to pack his things. Wonwoo turned off the lights and also went to their bedroom.
Music was playing, their dog was running around, and Mingyu was looking for his things. His suitcase was already opened on the floor with a pair of short-sleeved shirts and his camera.
“Oh, I left my passport and all of that in your bag over there. Have you seen a white tank top? The one I wore the other day.”
Wonwoo nodded as he stepped into their bedroom.
The public may know about their relationship now, but they will never get to see this side of them. This Mingyu, who was playing with their dog while dancing to pop music and trying to find his phone charger, was all to himself. And he was planning on it being like that forever.