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“Sorry we’re late~ Sanghyeokie-hyung got caught up in a meeting.” Minseok apologizes, throwing himself onto (what he presumed to be) Jihoon’s hotel bed with an apologetic smile.
Letting out a groan, Sanghyeok walks through the door to Jihoon’s hotel room that was reserved for the players while they were in Saudi Arabia for Esports World Cup soon followed by Jihoon himself who let the older mid laner inside.
“The sponsorship meeting ran late and then got caught by press when I was waiting for the van.” Sanghyeok mumbles, unzipping his jacket to slip it off and add onto the already existing pile of jackets that was forming on top of the desk chair in the hotel room.
Letting out a sigh, he slumped down onto the couch between Wangho and Jaehyuk before moving to grab a hold of the bottle of water (he didn’t really care who it belonged to) that was placed on the table. Bringing the bottle up to his lips he mumbles, “Should’ve listened to Wooje and stayed inside the Heroes Club till the van pulled up.”
Laughing, Jihoon moves to sit down next to Minseok on the bed, “You really should’ve. The press was basically hunting the main floor for you.”
“I saw a crowd in front of the entrance though?” Jaehyuk points out, turning his head towards the mid laner. “Wouldn't you have been caught by them either way?”
“There’s a side door.” Minseok replies from the bed, pulling out his phone and responding to a text from Wooje. “It leads straight to the back lot.”
Nodding in understanding, Jaehyuk turns to look over at Wangho this time, “Speaking of Wooje, where is he?” Eyes glancing over to Minseok on the bed, “And Choi Hyeonjoon?”
“Wooje wanted to change.” Wangho answers, eyes glued to his phone. “He’ll be here soon.”
Before Minseok or Sanghyeok could answer where their top laner was, they heard a knock on the door causing Jaehyuk to stand up and walk towards it.
Pulling the door open, he found Hyeonjoon carrying an armful of snacks while Wooje stood behind him holding (roughly) the same amount of snacks in his arms.
“Guess who I ran into in the elevator~” Hyeonjoon says with a smile, slipping past Jaehyuk and into the room, Wooje following behind him.
Dumping the contents in his arms on top of the table in front of the couch, he smiles proudly as he explains, “We brought snacks back from Canada~” Motioning towards the pile Wooje was adding to.
“Did you not pack clothes or something?” Wangho questions, eyes wide at the sheer amount of snacks on the table. “How did you even fit this all?”
Chuckling, Hyeonjoon walks over towards the bed to join Jihoon and Minseok as he explains, “We just split it between our bags.” Settling himself between Jihoon’s legs to lean on the mid laner’s chest. “We have more for our families so don’t worry about that.”
“I thought you’d want to try some.” Sanghyeok explains, looking towards the jungler sitting next to him with a gentle smile. “You guys can take some back to your team if you want.” Eyes flickering between Wooje and Wangho.
“Plus, Jihoon texted me that he didn’t have time to buy snacks before we left so we raided the convenience store by the hotel.” Hyeonjoon adds from the bed.
“I didn't have time either~ Cho Sehyeong wanted to hang out after we got back so we went to the gym.” Sanghyeok chimes in before letting out a yawn from fatigue.
“He probably just missed hanging out with you, not in a team setting.” Wangho offered with a smile, slinging an arm over the back of the couch, behind Sanghyeok as he looked over at the tired mid laner. “Doubt you had time to properly hang out with him after he left the team.”
Hearing this, Sanghyeok looks up with amusement in his eyes as he raises an eyebrow. “That’s because a certain jungler I know somehow manages to always figure out whenever I have a day off and books my time before anyone else gets the chance to” he replies with a teasing smile (not actually bothered by the being ‘booked’ on his off days).
“Someone at T1 has to be telling you my schedule because how the hell do you always manage to call and ask to hang out even when it’s a last minute day off.” Sanghyeok adds, turning around to look over at Minseok with an accusatory look causing the support to raise his hands and shake his head.
“Don’t look at me!” Minseok tries to defend, raising his hands in innocence. “I don’t know when my day offs are half the time, how would I know yours?” Furiously shaking his head with panic in his eyes from seeing the mid laner’s expression.
Letting out a loud laugh, Wangho slaps Sanghyeok’s shoulder in a joking manner. “It’s not Minseok, but I’m not going to tell you who cause I can’t risk the life of my dear informant,” he explains, leaning back into his chair, his arms crossing over his chest with a playful look in his eyes.
“You shouldn’t even try hyung~ Wangho will always figure out a way to find out if he’s curious enough.” Jaehyuk chimes in with an amused smile. “Plus, with Wooje at Hanwha now–” Heading motioning towards the top laner who was munching away at some chips while sitting on the bed, “–unless you want Wangho to start asking about your deepest darkest secrets or something, you should just let him be with his informant.”
With a defeated sigh, Sanghyeok simply nods in response, knowing that Jaehyuk was right, even though he didn’t want to admit it, but then again, did Wooje even know any secrets about him that Wangho doesn’t already know?
“I don’t have any secrets that Wooje knows that he doesn’t.” Sanghyeok replies with a smile, “He might have some pictures I’d rather him not go around showing everyone so I guess I’ll leave your little informant alone for the time being.” Throwing a look at Wooje, silently telling him to take those pictures to his death bed before the top laner nods in response, his mouth still full of chips.
“I guess I’ll let Hyeonjun live for the time being,” he adds with a teasing smile.
“Which one?” Wangho questions, feigning innocence despite knowing exactly which Hyeonjun/Hyeonjoon that the older was referring to.
“Speaking of~ Have you guys figured out your call outs during games? With the whole same name and all?” Jaehyuk questions, changing the topic knowing that if he didn’t, the two would sit there bickering with one another the whole night.
“Well it’s easy for me~ Hyeonjoonie-hyung and Hyeonjunie~” Minseok replies with a smile, looking over at the T1 top laner next to him.
With an understanding look, Jihoon simply nods as he agrees,“That’s true. I guess for you it’s not that complicated.”
“Usually they figure it out themselves depending on context.” Sanghyeok explains with a shrug. “Sometimes it’s Moon-Jun and Choi-Jun or Hyeonjoon and Oh Changsub.” Pausing to reach a hand out to steal a chip from Wooje. “It’s whatever comes to mind, but usually in game, I just call champ names.”
“How’s Wooje?” Sanghyeok asks, tilting his head. “Has he warmed up to you guys yet?” Eyes flickering over at the top laner behind them.
“We’re getting there~ He’s more talkative now.” Wangho reassures with a smile before deciding to tease his top laner, “But he favors Dohyeonie more.” Curving his lips down to try and attempt a convincing frown.
“I do not!” Wooje exclaims.
Laughing, Sanghyeok pats Wangho’s shoulder, adding to the teasing as he says, “Yeah~ Choi Wooje picks favorites~”
“True~” Minseok chiming in, wanting to tease Wooje as well. “I even sent him money to buy something on steam and yet he still likes Hyeonjun more than me~” Faking a sniffle as he wipes an imaginary tear from his eye.
“I don’t!!!” Wooje exclaims, eyes wide as he whips his head back and forth between Sanghyeok and Minseok. “I like you all equally!??”
“Damn~ Didn’t think Wooje would be like that~” Jaehyuk says in a teasing tone, turning his head before busting out in laughter at seeing the horrified look on Wooje’s face.
Groaning, Wooje grabs a nearby pillow and buries his face in it causing the room to erupt with laughter at the sight.
Switching to the next ‘victim’ (of his teasing), Wangho smiles as he asks, “How’s Hyeonjoon?” Eyes flickering over at Sanghyeok.
“ We’ve dropped honorifics and I’ve invited him over to my place~” Sanghyeok replies. “And unlike our previous Top laner~ He follows instructions well.”
“Ah, Hyu~ng!!” Wooje complains/whines, lifting his head while shaking his body like a kid having a hissy fit.
Laughing, Sanghyeok decides to add, “He even throws himself into fights when I tell him to~” A teasing smile on his face, eyes glancing over at Wooje to make sure that the young top laner wasn’t actually upset about their jokes and teasing.
“I did too!” Wooje whines, shoulders slumping and lips jutting out into a small pout.
Laughing, Sanghyeok gets up to turn around on the couch, draping his body over the back to reach over and squeeze Wooje’s leg with a smile. “I know~ I’m just teasing.”
“He threw himself because you told him to and Hyeonjoonie-hyung practically worships the ground you walk on.” Minseok chimes in with a chuckle.
Nodding, Jihoon adds, “It was his dream to play with you so it’s no surprise that he’d listen to every word you say.” A yelp soon escapes his lips when he feels Hyeonjoon slap his leg in retaliation despite his red ears.
“Heard he even played TFT~” Jaehyuk points out, glancing between Wangho and Jihoon with a teasing smile. “Didn’t know he played.”
“That’s because he didn’t!” Wangho loudly whines, recalling all the times he’s asked Hyeonjoon to play with him and Jihoon back in the day, but every time they asked, they’d always get shut down because Hyeonjoon would always only play League and nothing else.
“He literally wouldn’t play a single game with us and then–,” Wangho complains, shooting his arm up to point at Sanghyeok, “–This hyung asks him to play and he dodges his solo ranked game to play with them!”
The guys burst out laughing in amusement as Wangho whips his head around to glare at Sanghyeok, “You literally ditched me for Jihoonie!” Folding his arms across his chest and a pout settling onto his lips, “I wanted to play with him too!”
“I didn’t ditch you?” Sanghyeok responds, tilting his head. “Jjunie was the one who was playing with you so technically he ditched you.”
Face morphing into disbelief, Wangho points, “Yeah, but you were the one who suggested to kidnap Jihoon and ditch me!” Looking away to stare at the wall, he explains, “I saw the video that T1 posted.”
Despite the other guys laughing, a fond smile appears on Sanghyeok’s lips as he reaches over to pat Wangho’s leg in (what Wangho thought) lame attempt of comfort as the mid laner offers, “I’ll invite you next time.”
Seeing that Wangho only glanced at him before puffing his chest out, turning his head to stare at the wall again, Sanghyeok let out a small chuckle, turning back around to sit properly on the couch as he shrugs, “Or you can just have my spot. I don’t mind.”
Seeing Wangho whip his head over to glare at him, confusion fills his face. “What?”
Pointing towards the Gen G mid laner on the bed, Wangho demands, “Ditch Jeong Jihoon.” Dropping his hand, “That spot is mine.”
“What on earth are you talking about?” Jaehyuk questions, an amused smile on his lips.
Turning his head over to Jaehyuk, Wangho blurts out, “Sanghyeokie-hyung was mine first.” Eyes widening in surprise at what he just said as his face turns bright red.
“I didn’t know you were Wangho-hyungs?” Wooje asks innocently, looking over at Sanghyeok with surprise.
Shrugging, Sanghyeok lets a light laugh escape his lips as he admits, “I didn’t know either.”
“Yeah~” Jihoon starts in a teasing tone, “Since when was Sanghyeokie-hyung yours?”
“I…He–” Wangho stutters, flustered and brain practically short circuiting as he tries to think of a response, but eventually settles with, “I was on his friends list first!”
Laughing, Jihoon points out, “Yeah, but you unfriended him. You added him back sometime before LCK kickoff happened.” A sly smile on his face, “So technically I had him on my friends list longer.”
“Yeah, Well–” Eyebrows furrowing, especially because Jihoon had a point. “I’m his favorite jungler.” He announces, knowing Jihoon couldn’t say he was Sanghyeok’s favorite jungler longer or something similar because Jihoon was, in fact, not a jungler.
Hearing Wangho’s sorry excuse of an answer, the guys burst out laughing while the jungler sank into the couch, silently praying for a hole to open up in the floor so he could jump into it.
“Well?” Jaehyuk asks, gently slapping Sanghyeok’s arm.
Turning his head to look at the bot laner, Sanghyeok tilts his head, “Well what?”
“Is he your favorite jungler?” Hyeonjoon explains, understanding what Jaehyuk was implying.
Nodding, a teasing smile on his face, Jaehyuk wiggles his eyebrow, urging the mid laner to answer.
Letting out a long exhale through his nose, Sanghyeok leans further into the back of the couch, folding his arms across his chest as he looks up at the ceiling, He recalls the list of jungler’s he’s had the opportunity to play while the rest of the guys sit quietly awaiting his response.
Lowering his head, he finally looks over at Wangho, the fond smile back on his lips as he nods, “Yeah.” A nostalgic look in his eyes, “I guess he is.”
“Don’t let Hyeonjun hear you say that.” Minseok points out, a shiver running down his spine from being able to imagine what kind of hell they’d be put through if their team’s jungler were to hear that their star mid laner actually had a favorite jungler and said favorite jungler wasn’t him.
Hearing Minseok’s statement, Sanghyeok feels a shiver running down his own spine while Hyeonjoon simply nodded in understanding, already having learnt how jealous the T1 jungler could get.
Before the target of their teasing could change any further, Jaehyuk’s phone starts vibrating violently on the table, almost to the point it was reaching the edge to fall off.
Leaning forward to snatch the phone, his eyes brighten as he notices who it is.
“Hey princess~” Jaehyuk greets, “I’m putting you on speaker.”
“Princess?” Wooje asks quietly, head turning to look over at Minseok who simply shrugs in response, not understanding who it was either whereas Jihoon and Hyeonjoon chuckle in response to the young top laner’s confusion.
“Siwoo-hyung.” Hyeonjoon answers with a smile, but when he’s met with Wooje’s curious eyes he adds, “Lehends.”
Minseok on the other hand managed to piece it together before he said Siwoo’s gamer name, but he’s not surprised because Minseok and Jaehyuk were on the national team together so the support probably just put two and two together.
“I’m running out of things to say when someone asks me what kind of girl is my ideal type.” Siwoo whines through the phone, not even offering a simple ‘hello’ or anything of the sort.
Letting out an amused laugh, Jaehyuk’s shoulders shake as he places the phone down on the table.
Siwoo lets out a long groan before complaining, “It’s not like I can just say, Oh sorry everyone. My ideal type is a bot laner with a huge ass who basically abandoned me to go to China?”
“I didn’t abandon you??? You told me to go?” Jaehyuk tries to reason, leaning forward and staring at his phone despite Siwoo not being able to see him because they weren’t video calling.
“No~ I told you that I don’t give a fuck whether you go or not because it’s your life and to go if you want.” Siwoo states, (Jaehyuk could already see the support crossing his arms across his chest)
With a flabbergasted expression, Jaehyuk looks around the room as he raises a hand to motion at his phone. “You guys hear this right?” Jaehyuk questions, looking between the other guys and his phone with a confused expression.
Letting out a chuckle, Jihooon stands up to pat Jaehyuk’s shoulder in a comforting manner before walking towards the bathroom, stopping at his open luggage back to collect a change of clothes on the way.
“Speaking of ideal types, Sanghyeokie-hyung~” Minseok starts saying with a teasing smile, lifting his head off of Wooje’s back and flipping over onto his stop to look over at the mid laner. “I think I saw an interview where you said that your ideal type was someone who’s at least 170cm tall, a good listener, nice, intelligent, you find attractive or pretty and someone who’s better than you at league?”
“You watched that?” Sanghyeok groans, his face getting warm from the embarrassment that rushed through his body.
“I’m pretty sure anyone who was your fan watched that interview.” Wooje replies with a laugh.
Shifting in his seat, Wangho runs his finger over the edge of his water glass, his eyes focused onto the clear liquid. “Has it changed?” he mumbles, eyes flickering up to meet Sanghyeok’s wide ones.
“... Not really I guess…” Sanghyeok slowly answers, a hand reaching up to scratch his neck nervously from the nervous and intense gaze Wangho was looking at him with.
“What about you?” What’s your ideal type?” Hyeonjoon blurts out, staring at Wangho with a raised eyebrow.
Before Wangho could figure out a response, he heard Sanghyeok flatly say, “Mid laners” causing him to freeze and blood to rush to his face.
“Oh my god! You’re so right!” Jaehyuk exclaims.
“What?!” Wangho exclaims, his eyes wide and ears red. “No???” he tries to deny, raising his hands to shake them in denial.
“It totally is! You basically cling off of Geonwoo nowadays, your mid laner now and Jihoon when you were at Gen!” Siwoo laughs, causing Wangho to reach towards the phone to snatch it off the table to hang up, but Jaehyuk beats him to it.
“That’s not true!!” Wangho exclaims, his face red.
“Actually… now that I think about it…” Jaehyuk starts saying, looking up to the ceiling as he digs through his memories.
Eyes glancing towards the bathroom, he could hear the sound of a shower running and music seeping out before he quietly asks, “Wasn’t there something going on between you and Jihoon? What happened to that?” He adds, returning his gaze back towards the jungler.
“What do you mean?” Wangho asks, tilting his head in confusion, what the bot laner was implying, his hands dropping back down onto the table.
“You know exactly what I mean.” Jaehyuk answers, giving him a knowing look.
Chewing on his lip nervously, he avoids Sanghyeok’s curious gaze as he replies, “He… He asked me out. I said no. There’s nothing else to say.”
“You said no? You guys were basically joined at the hip? I could’ve sworn you liked him.” Siwoo says with surprise, his eyes widening.
“Well, I didn’t.” Wangho sternly states, glaring at Jaehyuk’s phone before turning his head to look at Hyeonjoon. “I promise.” Smiling when he sees Hyeonjoon nod, silently reassuring him that it’s just water under the bridge and that it doesn’t bother him.
Eyes flickering over towards Sanghyeok, he mumbles, “Not like that anyway…”
-- -- -- --
Having left Jihoon’s room due to wanting to call it a night, especially because they had to prepare for media day and all the photoshoots/filming that was lined up for tomorrow, the HLE and T1 guys walked towards the elevator, leaving behind a Park Jaehyuk who was running down the hall to his own room to call back his ‘princess’ .
Reaching the floor that the T1 guys were staying at, Hyeonjoon lifted a hand in a silent goodbye before, a yawn escaping the top laner as he stepped out of the elevator.
Minseok soon followed, but not before he reached over to pat Wooje’s shoulder and wished the two HLE guys luck on their game.
Whereas Sanghyeok flashed a smile at the two before walking out of the elevator, his hands slipped into his pockets.
He barely made it around the corner to lead to the hall of rooms before he felt a warm hand wrap around his wrist causing him to turn around to find Wangho looking up at him with a nervous expression.
“You guys go on ahead~” Sanghyeok says over his shoulder, waving a hand as he notices the way Hyeonjoon and Minseok looked over at the two of them with confused expressions, especially considering that Wangho and Wooje’s rooms were a couple floors down.
Simply assuming that the jungler had something to talk about with their mid laner, Minseok and Hyeonjoon opted to just give them a nod in response, flashing a smile before the two start walking away
When he hears two sets of doors open and close, Wangho finally takes a deep breath. “Just so you don’t get any funny ideas, I don’t have a thing for mid laners…” he says in a soft voice, but loud enough for Sanghyeok to hear him.
“...Okay?” Sanghyeok blinks in surprise, tilting his head, “I heard you back in Jihoon’s room?”
“No I mean–” Wangho’s words getting lost in his throat, letting go of Sanghyeok’s wrist and scratching his forehead.
“Let me clarify.” Wangho tries again, as he straightens his stance, his arms dropping to his sides.
Taking a deep breath he declares, “I don’t have a thing for mid laners.” His body stiff and heart pounding, “I have a thing for a specific mid laner.”
Noticing the way that Sanghyeok’s expression morphed into one of extreme confusion as his head moved to lean forward while being slightly tilted, it was clear that the mid laner was having a hard time reading between the lines.
Letting out a sigh, Wangho drops his head in defeat. “Hyung…” he whines, “Use that brain and analytical skills of yours that helped you win worlds 5 times–” his arms reaching up to grab a hold of Sanghyeok’s shoulders, looking up with pleading eyes, “–and figure out what I’m trying to say.”
“You…” Sanghyeok starts saying, his brain working overtime as he tries to figure out what Wangho was trying to tell him. “Have a thing for Geonwoo?”
“Wha–?! Hyu–?” Wangho exclaims in broken words, eyes wide and taken aback by the mid laner’s question before he manages to form a proper, “No!!”
“For fucks sake! I have feelings for you, okay??!” Wangho voice raising (but still quiet enough to not disturb anyone on the floor), irritated (more like embarrassed) from having to spell it out for the smartest man he knows. “Why can’t you get that through your brain!?”
“You what?” Sanghyeok breathes out, his eyes wide and brain practically steaming at this point trying to process Wangho’s words.
Letting his hands drop back down to his sides, Wangho lets out another long sigh from having to spell it out for the man who’s won more titles than any other pro player out there (like seriously how did this man win so many times when he’s this clueless?).
“I don’t know when it started, but the next thing I knew, I was always chasing after you.” Wangho starts to explain, his ears turning red from embarrassment, “I always wanted to be next to you whenever you were around…” He confesses, his blush now reaching his cheeks, “I’m surprised you never noticed…” Reaching up to rub his neck awkwardly as he admits, “I didn’t really try to hide it.”
Dropping his hand, he tilts his head, his face morphing into one of disbelief combined with minor confusion. “I really thought that you were just trying to save me from a rejection, but I wouldn’t have imagined that you just never caught on.”
Sanghyeok’s eyes grew wide in surprise as he managed a quiet, “Oh…”
Hearing the simple statement, Wangho could feel his world shatter around him. Panic started running through his veins, realizing that he just threw a bomb into their friendship and there was no chance of him taking it back.
His eyes softening and a warmth surging through his body, Sanghyeok takes a step closer, taking his hands carefully out of his pockets as he gently pulls Wangho towards his chest.
Feeling arms wrap around his body, Wangho looks up to find Sanghyeok’s shoulder in front of his eyes before he hears the mid laner let out a small airy laugh, “Why didn’t you just say so?” a wide smile playing across his lip, his gaze soft.
“Wangho-yah..” Sanghyeok starts saying, leaning back slightly, allowing the jungler to look up at him.
“I like you too.”