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Gyuvin blinks at his reflection on the phone screen. Ricky makes a face at him.
“You’ve been staring at yourself for, like, ten minutes. Can we get this started?”
It’s been two weeks since they officially got back together, or as Ricky keeps saying, ‘since our hiatus ended’. Gyuvin had wanted to delete his whole channel, but Ricky insisted he at least post a video with him in it, and then they could start making couples content.
He’s not too sure about the second part, but Gyuvin still can’t quite say no to Ricky, so here they are.
“Could you move to my other side? I feel like that makes more sense,” he asks Ricky, who rolls his eyes, but does as Gyuvin says.
“Do I look stupid? Be honest.”
“You look fine,” Ricky replies, rolling his eyes. “Nobody’s gonna care that much. You’ve looked much worse on camera.”
“You’d know, considering all the cyber-stalking you’ve been doing.”
Ricky scowls. “Whatever.”
He reaches towards the phone and, without asking if Gyuvin’s ready, hits record, giving the camera a mega-watt smile. “Hi y’all!”
Gyuvin quickly composes himself. “You do not say y’all.”
Ricky’s smile falters slightly, but it doesn’t drop. “ Yes , I do, Gyuvin,” he says through gritted teeth. “How would you even know how I talk? Considering…”
Gyuvin rolls his eyes. “Okay, hey guys. This is Ricky.”
Ricky gives the camera a wave.
“Ricky is my evil, awful ex who left me because of a sandwich.”
“Well…” Ricky trails off.
“Okay, so, he didn’t leave me ‘over a sandwich’,” Gyuvin says, putting the last part in air quotes. “I thought he left me because of the sandwich, and Ricky thought I ghosted him on purpose. Over a sandwich.”
Ricky smiles. “Yep. Long story short, we broke up because Gyuvin is stupid.”
“Come on!” Gyuvin shoves him, “We agreed that it was both of our faults. You’re playing this up for the camera.”
“I’m doing it for the… For my fans.”
“These people have never seen you before.”
“They’ll like me. I’m working on a fandom name.”
“A... Right. You don’t think that’s premature?”
“Nope. I thought of one for you, too.”
Gyuvin sighs, not bothering to answer, because he knows Ricky will tell him what it is anyway.
“Gyuvinists! Isn’t that so cute?”
“Nope. Back to the video,” Gyuvin replies, facing the camera.
“So, since you’re watching this, I assume you know the sandwich story. I ate Ricky’s sandwich, he came home mad as hell, refused to talk to me about it, blah blah, I fumbled the love of my life and all that. Whatever.”
Ricky scoffs.
“What you don’t know is, drumroll please…”
He elbows Ricky, who starts drumming on his knees.
“...that my phone wasn’t working that day.”
Ricky lets out a shocked gasp, hands on his cheeks in a perfect recreation of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”.
“I didn’t get a chance to tell Ricky about this because as soon as he came home, to no sandwich and me passed out on the couch, he lobbed a tupperware at my forehead instead of hearing me out.”
Ricky scoffs. “It didn’t even hit you!”
“I think we were in a toxic relationship. Anyway, tell them what happened next.”
“After I threw the tupperware across the room, nowhere near Gyuvin’s big ass forehead,” Ricky giggles at Gyuvin's eye-roll, “I left to stay at our friends’ place. Shoutout Hao and Hanbin.”
“Yep, shoutout,” Gyuvin adds.
“Then I started feeling really, really, bad, especially thinking about poor Gyuvin all alone without me to be the big spoon, which by the way, I usually am—”
“Get to the point!”
He’s not wrong, and Gyuvin is sure his subscribers will latch onto the fact and run it into the ground.
Ricky laughs. “So I felt really bad, and I texted him an apology, but when I woke up the next morning to no replies, I assumed Gyuvin hated me.” He exaggeratedly pouts at the camera.
“I wish I could show you the texts, but I deleted them when he didn't reply cause that’s embarrassing as fuck, and I didn’t want to look at them anymore. But trust me, they were super sappy and humiliating.”
He’s not entirely lying. Ricky had told him this story the day after he showed up at Gyuvin’s apartment. The only part he’s leaving out is that even though he’d deleted the texts, he’d taken a screenshot beforehand, and kept it in the ‘Hidden’ album on his Photos app. Gyuvin agrees, the texts were embarrassing as fuck.
Gyuvin grins.
“Ugh, wipe that grin off your face.”
“And I never got the texts, considering the broken phone, so I assumed Ricky hated me and wanted me to die.”
Ricky rolls his eyes. “He’s said he’s dramatic, but I don’t think he’s shown you all the full extent of it.”
“And then I tried to talk to you, multiple times,” Gyuvin argues, “but you didn’t wanna talk to me, so. It’s not just my fault.”
“Unfortunately, my stupid boyfriend is right. I wasn’t thinking straight. But that was because I thought he hated me . Which was fair of me to assume!” he argues upon seeing Gyuvin’s expression. “So, yeah, I refused to talk about our relationship.”
“You heard it here first, folks, Ricky admits something was partly his fault! Schools may be closed as the nation processes,” Gyuvin jokes.
Ricky shoves him.
“I was very, very sad to lose Gyuvin. You may be wondering how our friends never put the pieces together that our stories didn’t match up.”
“I’ve been wondering this, too?”
“Like I said, the texts were so embarrassing, like so embarrassing. So I didn’t tell anyone I sent them, and I refused to talk about our breakup. Quite the opposite of Gyuvin here.”
Gyuvin sighs.
“So, maybe it was kind of my fault and we wouldn’t be here if not for me, but. Everything happens for a reason, and all that. I’m not planning on letting him out of my sight again.”
“Yay…” Gyuvin deadpans.
“Don’t act like you’re not happy about this.”
Gyuvin widens his eyes at the camera. “Ricky has a gun pointed at my back right now,” he stage-whispers.
Ricky shoves him again. “Cut it out!”
“Okay, so. Now that that’s cleared up, and because Ricky is stuck in 2016, we’re gonna be doing a boyfriend tag.”
Gyuvin had laughed in Ricky’s face when he suggested it, oddly sincerely, considering the topic. He'd moped around for two days until Gyuvin agreed to do the video.
Ricky nods. “I think it’s a sweet idea and a good way for your audience to get to know me.”
“Ricky seems to think we’re going to be doing couples content from here on out.”
Ricky nods again, smiling.
“What he doesn’t know is I’m going to be deleting this channel twenty-four hours after this video is posted. So take it in now.”
Ricky scoffs. “Can you shut up and get to the questions?”
Gyuvin grabs Ricky’s phone off the coffee table in front of them and opens it up.
“Alright, first question. Where did we meet?”
“I feel like everyone’s heard this story already,” Ricky says.
“No kidding. See my first video for that.”
“It’s great. He cries,” Ricky says, grinning.
Gyuvin rolls his eyes. “Whatever. The next question is ‘where was our first date’, which, again, go watch my first video.”
“I feel like you’re already not having fun with this? Can you give it a chance?” Ricky pouts.
“I am! But if they’re here, they know what our first date was, Ricky.”
“Touché.”
“What was your first impression of me?”
“My first impression of Gyuvin was that he was an idiot.”
“I’ve covered mine.”
“Oh my God. Is this really boring you that much?” Ricky asks.
“My first impression of Ricky was that he was absolutely beautiful and did not belong in a super overpriced university campus cafe, and then once I’d registered that I’d spilled my coffee all over him, I thought that dying by his hand wouldn’t be a bad way to go,” Gyuvin responds.
“That’s more like it, thank you,” Ricky says, smiling. “Personally, once I got a better look at you, I forgot all about the coffee, so.”
Gyuvin slaps him on the arm before reading out the next question.
“When did you meet the family?”
Ricky hums. “Hmm. I met your parents early, like five months in, right?”
“Just about,” Gyuvin replies. “In terms of the earliness, I knew you were the one, like, a month after we started dating, so it was a no-brainer.”
Ricky flushes and quickly contorts his face into a frown to cover it up. “Corny. Gyuvin met my mom when she visited, like, a year ago.”
“Okay, this one’s a whole can of worms. How long have we been together?”
Ricky snorts. “We dated for, what, like a year and a half? Before the hiatus.”
“It was around, like, seventeen months, three weeks, and… four? Days,” Gyuvin corrects. “Approximately.”
Ricky blinks at him. “Approximately… Yeah, so a year and a half. And then there was a six-month hiatus, which I’m sure your viewers are familiar with.”
“I don’t know how we both made it through that,” Gyuvin says. “Or, well. I barely did.”
Ricky pats him on the back. “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. Or whatever the saying is.”
Gyuvin frowns. “That’s for good things?”
“The last peaceful six months of my life… I’ll miss it,” Ricky replies, shaking his head.
“You’re so… Whatever. Next question: What was our first road trip?”
“We haven’t been on a proper one yet, I don’t think.”
Gyuvin nods.
“Plus, we’d kill each other, like, an hour in.”
Gyuvin nods again. “Probably.”
“Seven: What was the first thing you noticed about me?”
“Hm.”
“Mine was the mole under your eye,” Gyuvin says, glancing at it as he does.
“Aw. I think mine was just your eyes? When you looked up at me.”
Gyuvin smiles. “What is my favorite restaurant?”
“I’m scared that if I give out the name, it’ll be overrun with people the next time we want to go.”
“I’m not that famous.”
“Having me in your videos will catapult you there. Not taking chances. Next question!”
“You’re rushing us through these awfully fast for someone whose idea the video was in the first place.”
Ricky rolls his eyes. “Next question.”
“Fine. What do we argue about the most?”
“What do we not argue about?” Ricky says.
“Well.”
“We argue about a lot of things, but I think that’s healthy, right?”
“I did just tell everyone we used to be in a toxic relationship.”
“Hm. But I think we've learned healthy communication by now.”
“We argued about where to film this video.”
Ricky groans. “Well, you wanted to film in the kitchen. Where there are still dirty dishes in the sink, by the way. It's your day.”
“We argued about what to wear to film this video, and what is and isn't off limits to mention in the video, and whose phone we should film it on—”
“Alright, alright,” Ricky cuts in. “We do argue a lot. But I think that's okay. The thing we argue about the most is probably, like, cleaning stuff up.”
“I guess.”
“You’re only saying that because you're the one who always gets yelled at for leaving cups all over the house.”
“Okay, this one is ‘who wears the pants in the relationship?’ The hell? This quiz is so damn outdated.”
Ricky hums in agreement. “Me.”
Gyuvin thinks for a second before replying. “Yeah, probably.”
“Seriously, though, so outdated. We both wear the pants.”
Gyuvin glances back down at his phone to read the next question, barking out a laugh as he does. “What is my favorite kind of sandwich?”
Ricky winces. “This is a sore subject.”
“No kidding,” Gyuvin says, scoffing. “Again, see my first video for context.”
“You said it in this one, too.”
“Maybe I want more views, is that okay with you?”
“That’s fine.”
“Thank you so much, Ricky,” Gyuvin replies, getting an eyeroll in response.
“Anyway, we might tell you guys the answer one day, but today’s not the day. Sorry.”
“Next question is: what would I eat every day if I could?”
“Mangos.”
“I do love mangos. I think Ricky’s would be pizza?”
Ricky nods in agreement. “I wouldn’t do that, though.”
“Do what?”
He scrunches his nose. “Only eat one food. Even if I could, I’d get bored. Do you think I could have some of your mangos, and vice versa? Or is it just my food? Is there a couple's exemption to the rule?”
Gyuvin hums contemplatively. “I don’t think it’s, like, the same food. Just what would you choose to eat every day? Presumably amongst other things.”
“I could eat pizza every day if I wanted to, but I don’t. I think it’s a stupid question.”
“I think you're reading too much into this.”
“It's a stupid question!”
Gyuvin sighs. “ You wanted to do this.”
“Read the next one.”
“Alright. What is my favorite music?”
“2016’s top hits on Spotify,” Ricky says, smiling.
Gyuvin makes a face at him. “What the hell?”
“Your top song on Spotify last year was Wolves by Selena Gomez. And you, like, willingly listen to Imagine Dragons.”
“Whatever,” Gyuvin grumbles. “Ricky likes, like, Mariah Carey. And Justin Bieber.”
“Overall, my music taste is much better than Gyuvin’s.”
“Debatable,” Gyuvin mutters.
“No, it isn't. See, this is what I was talking about with the arguments, guys!” Ricky says, turning to the phone as he does.
“What is my eye color?”
Ricky frowns. “What the fuck are these questions?” He looks back at Gyuvin. “Do they think people don’t know their boyfriends?”
“Do you not know what color my eyes are?”
Ricky grabs Gyuvin’s face in his hands and moves it towards him until their foreheads are touching.
He can feel the flush on Ricky’s face before he sees it.
“Brown.”
Gyuvin pulls away, knowing his blush matches Ricky’s. “Yours are too.”
Ricky smiles.
He coughs dryly and reads the next question. “Uh, who is my best friend?”
“Apart from me?” Ricky says, grinning. “Matthew.”
“Ricky’s is Zhang Hao.”
“Yep. We have a flourishing friend group of gay people.”
“Who are all very, very glad we’re back together.”
Ricky scoffs. “Oh, for sure. I heard enough about how annoying it was to have to plan separate hangouts so we didn’t overlap.”
Gyuvin frowns. “Who said that to you?”
“So overprotective,” Ricky teases. “Hanbin. I get him, though. I’d be annoyed too.”
“No one ever said anything like that to me. Like, obviously, I assumed it was annoying, but nobody complained to me.”
“Probably because you were on, like, suicide watch, babe.”
“You mean our breakup didn’t have you on suicide watch?” Gyuvin asks, sulking.
Ricky sighs. “I wasn’t sobbing over you to Matthew every day, so they probably noticed I was in a more stable emotional state, yeah.”
“Persecuted for the crime of loving too much…”
“Move on!”
Gyuvin reads the next question. “What is something you do that I wish you didn’t?”
“Sometimes it feels like you live your life to annoy me. There are a lot of things.”
“I feel the same way, but flip-flopped, don’t worry. Elaborate?”
“Like when you do laundry and then forget about it once it’s finished, and then I go to do laundry and there’s a soaking wet load in there from the day before. Like, ew.”
“Okay, that’s fair. But I don’t mean it!”
“That doesn’t make it any less irritating, Gyuvin. Oh, and when you leave the faucet dripping, because I swear you do that all the fucking time and it drives me nuts.”
“The apartment has leaky faucets.”
“No, it doesn’t, and you know it! We’ve had plumbers over to ‘fix’ the ‘leaky faucets’, like, eight times. And they still drip.”
“Okay, fine. Maybe I’m not strong-handed enough with turning off the water. I’ll work on it.”
“Thank you. Now, I know you don’t have an answer for this because I don’t do anything annoying.”
Gyuvin snorts. “Can I say something crazy?”
“You may.”
“When we were separated—”
“On hiatus,” Ricky interjects.
“Right, on hiatus. I got so lonely and miserable, I missed all your annoying habits. Like the cold toes and the way you get sulky when you don’t get to choose what we’re watching, which, by the way, is probably your worst habit.”
“Aw, Gyuvin,” Ricky coos, moving to pinch Gyuvin’s cheeks. “That is so cute.”
“Ugh, Rik,” Gyuvin groans, shoving him away. “I’m serious about the watching thing, by the way.”
Ricky laughs. “I’m sure you are.”
“Guys, Ricky tries to be the one to choose what we watch every time we go to watch something. And when I already have something in mind and manage to barter with him to let it be my thing, he’ll be all moody the entire time we’re watching. It drives me nuts.”
“Now that you say it, maybe I am a little rude. But, to be fair, the context the viewers don’t know is that you try to watch Titanic eight times out of ten. And it gets to be a bit much.”
“Titanic is a fantastic movie.”
“Gyuvin cries every time.”
Gyuvin nods. “People who don’t cry watching Titanic are psychopaths.”
“I’ll work on this habit if you work on expanding your cinegraphic tastes.” Ricky holds out his hand for Gyuvin to shake.
“That is not a word, but deal,” Gyuvin says, turning to the camera as he shakes Ricky’s hand. “Look at us. Healthy communication and honest discussions. Who would’ve thought?”
“Not me. Not them. Certainly not puzzle girl.”
“You remember the weirdest shit.”
“I have your reply to her comment screenshotted and favorited. And half memorized. ‘Picture the most beautiful person you can and multiply that by—”
“Weirdo,” Gyuvin cuts him off. “Next question. Where am I from?”
Ricky frowns. “Why wouldn’t I know this? This is how you know these are for straight people, because they don’t know anything about each other, probably. I feel like—”
Gyuvin cuts him off. “Ricky’s from China. Slash LA.”
Ricky deflates. “Yep. Gyuvin is from here. Slash Korea.”
“That’s not… whatever. What kind of cake would you bake me on my birthday?”
“I wouldn’t.”
Gyuvin smiles at the camera. “He’s kidding.”
“I’m not?”
Gyuvin rolls his eyes. “Rude. I’d make you one of those strawberry ones you like.”
Ricky raises his eyebrow. “Hold on.”
Gyuvin raises his eyebrows at the camera, shrugging as Ricky pulls out his phone and scrolls through his camera roll. Ricky lets out a snort as he finds what he’s looking for, showing the camera a picture of Gyuvin, covered in flour, holding a burnt birthday cake with a singular candle lopsidedly shoved in the middle of it.
“Gyuvin’s cake attempt from the first time we celebrated my birthday,” he says.
“Alright. Whatever. At least I put in effort.”
It was the first birthday they celebrated as a couple, and Gyuvin had been so nervous and scatter-brained that he’d forgotten to turn the timer on when he put the cake in the oven. He was lucky his smoke detectors had recently had the batteries replaced. He hadn’t had time to clean up or dispose of the evidence before Ricky arrived, with a cake, bought in advance because he ‘knew Gyuvin would try something’.
“Well. It was a sweet gesture, but. You’re lucky I thought ahead.”
Ricky scrolls through his photos and shows the camera a picture of him posing with the purchased birthday cake, much less charred and lopsided than Gyuvin’s endeavour.
“Anyway,” Gyuvin says, rolling his eyes. “What can I spend hours doing?”
Ricky thinks for a second before replying.
“Uh, pissing me off?”
“Ricky!”
“Fine. Gyuvin likes to read.”
“Thank you. Ricky likes to paint.”
Ricky smiles. "So domestic."
“Okay, last question.”
“Finally.”
“Mind you, this was your idea.”
“I thought these questions would be more interesting. They seemed more interesting when I was eleven.”
“Sorry ‘bout that. If I could live anywhere, where would it be?”
Ricky smiles. “Anywhere I am.”
Gyuvin wants to argue, but there’s no point with Ricky. Even less so when he’s right.
“He's not even wrong,” he says. “I think I’d like LA, though. That’s Ricky’s answer.”
“Probably.”
“Alright,” Gyuvin says, clapping his hands together. “That was the last question.”
“Really?” Ricky asks.
“Really."
“They went faster than I thought they would.”
“You were just complaining, but whatever. I hope you guys enjoyed learning some stuff about us. Or, well, mostly Ricky shit-talking me.”
“I think I deserved a go after all the stuff you’ve said about me.”
Gyuvin rolls his eyes. “I was nothing but nice about you, not too much.”
Ricky snorts. “I guess so.”
“Let me get in the YouTuber mindset,” Gyuvin says. He shakes his shoulders before facing the camera again. “Alright, guys, thank you so much for watching! Subscribe and smash that notification bell if you don’t want to miss another video.”
“And don’t forget to leave a comment!” Ricky chimes in.
“Okay, now, before we say bye, I have one more thing for you,” Gyuvin says, turning to Ricky.
Ricky raises an eyebrow.
“Ricky… I love you so much.”
Ricky nods.
“I’ve never loved someone the way I love you. And our relationship has survived against all the odds…” He sniffles, wiping at his eyes.
“What the fuck is going on?”Ricky gives him a concerned look, brows furrowed.
“Ricky, will you…”
Gyuvin reaches around, pulling something out from beneath the couch and hiding it under his hand.
Ricky gapes at him.
“...do me the honor of…” Gyuvin pauses for emphasis.
“Eating this sandwich?”
He presents Ricky with a paper-packaged sandwich, the same one that had ended their relationship months prior.
Ricky groans and shoves him, Gyuvin giggling as he collapses to the floor.
“There is something seriously wrong with you,” Ricky grumbles.
He picks up the sandwich, showing it to the camera.
“Here’s the sandwich that almost ended us forever. I’m not going to show you the name of the bakery because I don't need it sold out.”
“Ricky, I’m telling you that I do not have that many dedicated fans. Nobody is going to seek out and sell out your sandwich.”
Ricky glares at him. “You never know, Gyuvin. Never.”
“I bet you no one is going to sell out your sandwich.”
“Alright, bet. If you lose, you have to do all the laundry for three months.”
“Bet.”
They shake on it.
“Alright, bye for real now. Subscribe if you want to, comment if you want to, we’ll use our Internet clout to buy Ricky more earrings.”
Ricky waves to the camera. “Be nice to Gyuvin in the comments!”
Gyuvin smiles as he reaches out to end the recording.
“And?” Ricky asks. “Was that so bad?”
“No, Ricky. I had a great time, Ricky. Let’s do this again, Ricky.”
Ricky grins. “That’s what I like to hear.”
—
@honeyheart
tbh i was making fun of his videos but now that i see this ricky… yeah valid reaction
@puzzlegirl
Wow
@abodesirelover124
anyone else kinda hung up on how they broke up over a sandwich? still seems toxic to me…
@legitnesssssss
They literally explained this in the video ur reaching😭
@silly_grape
awwww theyre so cute together
@rainbowsprinklesnana888
Anyone else miss when it was just gyuvin
@jaehyunlovr3000
And who the fuck are you rainbowsprinklesnana888? Who are you? Ur an AI bot in his comment section honestly ricky is the highlight of the video and he should leave gyuvin again and start his own youtube career she’s a classy lady and the boy is stupid
@pierplenerple
ricky’s mug.. RuPaul needs you on drag race hunny
@ljender30
he didnt do the gyuvin out.. ricky has changed him
@ubub
these gay boys r DTM
@JumpyTiger
is anyone else kinda upset.. like what made me sub to gyuvin in the first place was his rawness and vulnerability and if they’re just gonna make corny couple videos now im not staying
@justinlover4
i think it's weird ur almost mad he's happy…
@JumpyTiger
@justinlover4 i didn't even say all that
@EllieGoode
They’re bad at covering the label on the sandwich packaging LOL. I live near there and recognized it instantly. It’s Berries and Honey, ridiculously overpriced but Ricky looks like their usual clientele LOL.
@motharte
they clearly didnt want people to know about it so why r u doing this.. just weird af
@EllieGoode
@motharte well this is a public platform, so. Somebody was bound to figure it out sorry I did it first
@cruelsummer22
my cousin works there and ive been updating her on this whole thing omfg I have to tell her
@greencat
yall do not go buy that damn sandwich we don't want ricky to break up w gyuvin again😭😭😭😭
@abby3444
@greencat his videos were mad entertaining tho
—
A week (on the dot) after posting his first video with Ricky, Gyuvin startles awake from where he’s taking a well-deserved post-gym nap on the couch to the sound of a key turning in the lock of their apartment door.
“Gyuvin?” Ricky calls. Gyuvin frowns. He can’t quite place the tone of Ricky’s voice. He doesn't sound angry, but he doesn’t sound happy either. It’s almost falsely sweet.
“Hey,” he says, as Ricky enters the apartment.
“Hi, Gyuvin. Do you want to know where I went after class today?” Ricky asks, dropping his backpack near the door, and turning towards the couch. He’s smiling, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.”
“Uh, sure. Where?”
“I went to my favorite bakery. You know the one.”
Gyuvin nods. It would be very hard for him not to at this point, but he refrains from saying so.
“It’s funny,” Ricky says, sitting next to Gyuvin on the couch. “I really wanted a sandwich today. My favorite sandwich, again, you know the one. Quite well, I’d say.”
Gyuvin nods again. He’s minutely aware of the fact that they’ve lived through a similar situation.
“Right. And I was thinking, surely I can get my favorite sandwich, there’s no way they wouldn’t have it, since my boyfriend assured me it wouldn’t get popular because of his YouTube videos. ”
Gyuvin suspects he knows where this is going.
“So imagine my surprise, Gyuvin,” Ricky continues, staring daggers into Gyuvin, “my surprise, shock, and confusion, when, upon my arrival at the bakery, I was told they don’t have it today. Because it had already sold out.”
“Uh,” Gyuvin stammers.
“And,” Ricky adds. “The barista asked me if I was Ricky. You know, from YouTube, she said. I told her I just wanted my fucking sandwich.”
Gyuvin doesn’t reply.
“And you know what she did?”
Gyuvin shakes his head.
“She laughed at me, Gyuvin. Laughed in my face. And told me it’s been sold out every day for the past week. And I thought to myself, that’s weird, this place is usually busy, but this particular sandwich is never sold out. Why would it be sold out now? And then,” he pauses for emphasis, looking Gyuvin in the eyes, “this is where I remembered, oh, yeah, my boyfriend flaunted it around on YouTube and told me that it didn’t matter that the video had three hundred thousand views, nothing was going to happen to my ‘precious sandwich’.”
Gyuvin swallows, realizing his throat has gotten very dry.
“So, now I’m standing there, looking insanely stupid in front of all the employees. And someone else recognized me and asked for a picture. Do you know how embarrassing that is?”
Gyuvin shakes his head, willing himself to speak. “Uh, no, I don’t,” he mumbles.
“It’s really, really embarrassing,” Ricky says, standing and walking back over to his backpack, picking it up. “So, anyway, I got us these pretzels instead,” he finishes, pulling two brown paper bags out of his backpack and tossing one to Gyuvin. It hits him in the forehead.
Gyuvin lets out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.
“Guess I’ll have to learn how to make that damn sandwich myself,” Ricky says, sighing as he plops back down next to Gyuvin on the couch.
“I think if you asked, they’d reserve one for you every day. Probably give them to you for free. Good promo.”
Ricky snorts, tearing off a bite of his pretzel. “I don’t think a place like that needs free promo.”
“You never know. Maybe you’ve popularized them amongst a new audience. It’s worth a shot for them.”
Ricky hums. “You’re right. I’ll ask. And,” he adds, smiling, “don't forget to do the laundry.”