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Jiseok was casually having his dinner when a notification suddenly popped up on his phone's screen. He tapped the 'view' button and saw that it was a DM from his best friend, Jooyeon.
'Hey, isn’t this one of the oomfs you always talk about on your private? The one named Jungsu, if I remember correctly? I think he’s talking shit about you on X.'
Jiseok immediately tapped the image Jooyeon had sent.
j. @jxngsu
never asking to be with proomf with anyone again
His hands began to shake. What the fuck now, he thought. The post had been up for only two hours and was already getting tons of reposts and quotes.
He scrolled through all the replies. The post was getting all kinds of reactions. Some people were laughing and asking if it was a joke, others said it looked staged just to get likes, but most of them agreed that the words in the screenshot attached to the post were mean.
Then he noticed the number of notifications piling up on the little mail icon. His stomach dropped. He clicked on it, and his heart sank even further seeing dozens of mentions, all calling him out. People were tagging his username, flooding his mentions with curses and accusations.
How could you say that to @jxngsu?
You’re disgusting.
Didn’t think you’d be this kind of person.
Jiseok stared at the screen, frozen. The more he scrolled, the worse it got.
Panicking, Jiseok switched to his DM and immediately started typing a message to Jungsu.
“Hi, may I know what your intention was for posting this?”
“I honestly don’t understand what’s going on. Why would you post something like that?”
“If there’s something you’re upset about, you could’ve just told me directly instead of letting everyone think I said something terrible.”
“This is already getting out of hand. People are attacking me because of that post.”
He paused, fingers hovering over the keyboard. After a few seconds, he added one last line,
“Hey, I just want to clear this up before it gets worse.”
Then, with a shaky breath, he hit send.
He waited for about an hour, but there was still no response Jungsu even though it was obvious he was online, replying to people reacting to his post.
This little shit, Jiseok thought, clenching his jaw. He switched back to his account, scrolling with purpose as he searched for a post he and Jungsu had shared months ago. It took a few minutes, but he finally found it. Snapping a few screenshots, he returned to Jungsu’s profile. His hands were still trembling. He took a deep breath and then replied under Jungsu’s original post.
ga-off @quackquack
Hi. Since you haven't responded to my dms yet Im replying here. This was you a few months ago.
Not even five minutes after he posted his reply, a new notification popped up on his screen. Jungsu finally responded. Jiseok’s heart skipped a beat as he stared at the notification banner. For a second, he debated whether to open it right away or wait but his curiosity won. He tapped it, and the screen refreshed, revealing Jungsu’s reply.
j. @jxngsu
bro the least you could’ve done is censor my priv ahsjdj😭😭 i don’t know what you want me to say about this i did end up letting you in and then you softblocked weeks later so 🫠
Jiseok stared at the words, his chest tightening. Of all the responses he expected, this definitely wasn’t one of them. Jiseok exhaled sharply and began typing, his fingers moving faster than his brain could keep up.
ga-off @quackquack
U have a public acc if anyone looks up priv/proomfs it will appear😭u didnt have that much interaction back then and I did try to be ur friend cause I really liked ur first au and I lowkey had a croomf on u. Yes, it was shitty to talk shit about u but apparently you also did?
The moment he hit post, reality sank in. He reread what he just wrote, eyes widening in horror. Why did I type that?, but it was already too late, the post was up and a few seconds later, another notification appeared.
j. @jxngsu
Did you just confess to me under a twitter thread i’m crying
Jiseok’s soul practically left his body. He stared at the screen, frozen, as the quotes and replies exploded. Notifications flooded in faster than he could blink. Some laughing, some screaming, others already shipping them.
Panic set in instantly.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, not like this. He couldn’t let his feelings get exposed in front of everyone. His heart raced as he typed out a reply, fingers trembling over the keyboard.
ga-off @quackquack
Bro the sora ai must be in your glasses or something cause I didnt.
He thought the post would do. That would calm things down, make it sound like a joke or even brush everything off.
But it didn’t.
Within minutes, the replies doubled. People were quoting his reply with memes. Some were teasing him while others were making threads out of the situation.
Jiseok could feel his ears burning as he refreshed the page again and again, each time hoping it would stop but it only got worse.
Then his phone buzzed again, this time it was a DM from Jooyeon.
“Hey i saw all the things happening on X? Okay but real talk, do you actually have a crush on him??”
“Because from the way you’ve been posting thirst tweets about this Jungsu for the past few months… you definitely do 😭”
“Like, be honest with me dude, half your private timeline is just you simping or quoting his selfies and stuffs.”
“And now this? You literally confessed under a public thread 💀”
“I’m telling you, if you don’t clear this up soon, you might actually get blocked.”
“Once that happens, you’ll never get to interact with him again, no DMs, no replies, nothing.”
He stared at Jooyeon's messages for a few seconds, feeling his chest tighten. The thought of Jungsu blocking him, cutting off all chances to explain made his stomach twist painfully.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. None of it.
This was just a misunderstanding, a stupid chain of assumptions gone wrong. His throat felt dry, and the only thought running through his head was that he had to fix this. He needed to talk to Jungsu.
“Thanks, bro. Really. I know this is kinda messy, but I’ll clear things up.”
Jiseok replied to his best friend, his resolve firming with every word.
He leaned back in his chair. The dinner he had eaten earlier sat cold on his table, untouched. He really didn’t feel like finishing it anymore. With his phone still in hand, he scrolled through all his notifications again thinking where things had gone wrong.
And to think this all started with a stupid online crush.
Three months ago, while scrolling through his timeline late at night, Jiseok had stumbled across a Soogyu AU thread posted by a TXT fan account. The writing was good, sharp, emotional, and a little funny in the right places. He found himself hooked. By the time he reached the end, he was already tapping follow on the account.
It had started simply enough. He left a comment under the thread, ‘I love Soogyu so much, thank you for posting this!’ and got a cheerful reply. Just a brief interaction. A like here, a reply there. Nothing serious.
He hadn’t thought much of it. Not until he checked the account again a few days later.
That was when he saw it. Jungsu’s selfie.
He posted it casually, like it was no big deal, just another Moa Selca Day. But the moment it loaded on Jiseok’s screen, he froze.
Jungsu was gorgeous.
There was something effortlessly striking about him. His eyes were the first thing that caught him. They were calm but expressive, with that faint glint that made it hard to look away. Jungsu’s soft pout and the faint hearts filter above his head hit him harder than he expected. He wasn’t even doing anything special, just sitting there, hair slightly messy, wearing that oversized jacket, yet somehow it felt unfair how effortlessly good he looked.
Jiseok could almost hear his own heartbeat in his ears, frozen between wanting to laugh at how cute Jungsu looked and wanting to throw his phone away because of how flustered he suddenly was. All he could think was, How can someone look this good just sitting there?.
And that was it. Jiseok was gone.
Jungsu didn’t post them often, but when he did, they were always paired with something disarmingly soft. A caption like ‘Soobin could blink and I’d be like ‘yes leader nim 😭 you’re doing amazing sweetie!’ or ‘This selfie goes out to Soobin’s dimples’. He was just so genuine. He wrote about TXT with the kind of open-hearted affection that made Jiseok smile. He posted little things, like how Taehyun’s voice in a certain live performance made him cry, or how Beomgyu’s fashion choices were ‘Peak chaos but he makes it work somehow’. Somewhere in all that, Jiseok’s crush bloomed.
At first, it was just harmless. A little admiration, a few likes, some quiet lurking. But over time, the feelings started sticking. He found himself checking Jungsu’s account before going to bed. Waiting for his next update. Smiling at his silly little takes like they were private jokes just for him.
Eventually, it got to be too much. Jiseok knew he couldn’t post about his silly little crush on main. So, he did what anyone with an embarrassingly real parasocial crush would do, he made a private account. Just for his thirst tweets.
At first, it was funny. ‘Someone tell Jungsu to STOP posting selfies, I’m going feral’ or ‘I need him to smile at me just once. That’s all. I’ll shut up forever’. It felt harmless as he never expected Jungsu to see them.
Then one day, Jungsu posted from his main.
j. @jxngsu
hi ~ any oomfs that wish to be proomfs can req me on @jxnglovesoo
Jiseok’s heart practically jumped out of his chest. He stared at the tweet for a solid minute before replying,
ga-off @quackquack
can I 😭 😭?
The reply came a few minutes later. Simple.
j. @jxngsu
man idk i’ll think about it 😉
At the time, Jiseok wasn’t sure what to make of it. Maybe it was a joke. A playful way to tease. Now, looking back, it probably was meant to be lighthearted. Jungsu had that kind of tone, half-flirty, half-sarcastic, always with a wink tucked between the lines.
A few days later, he was in. Jungsu accepted his following request.
Jungsu’s private account was more unfiltered. More personal. There were tired rants after long days, blurry selfies with captions like ‘Do I look alive?’ and late-night TXT spam. It felt like it was being let into a quiet part of someone’s world and Jiseok didn’t take that lightly.
But somewhere along the way, it got to be too much. The closeness. The vulnerability. The pressure of being seen, not just watching from afar, but now occupying a space Jungsu had chosen to let him into.
And so, without much thought, without warning, he soft-blocked him.
Just like that.
He didn’t even know exactly why he did it, not at the time. Maybe it was guilt. Maybe fear. Maybe the weight of having too much access to someone he liked more than he should.
A few days after the soft-block, Jiseok had tried to move on.
He kept telling himself it was for the best. That keeping a safe distance from Jungsu would help ease the confusing feelings. But one evening, as he aimlessly refreshed his notifications, a message popped up that made his blood run cold.
A DM. from @minniesnatchedwaist.
He recognized the username instantly. It belonged to Seungmin, one of the few mutuals Jiseok had seen occasionally replying to Jungsu’s private posts. They weren't close, just vaguely familiar through interactions.
There was no message. No greeting. Just a single image.
He tapped on it.
It was a screenshot. A post from a X account @jxnglovesoo in all caps,
DIE QUACKQUACK DIE
Jiseok’s username. Right there. Tagged in hate.
His heart dropped.
He blinked, reread it, checked again. It looked like it had been posted in anger, maybe even a joke, but it didn’t feel funny. It felt… targeted.
But strangely, he didn’t do anything.
He didn’t reply. Didn’t ask Seungmin why he sent it. He just stared at it for a while, closed the app, and set his phone down.
And for some reason, he brushed it off.
Maybe it was shock. Maybe he didn’t want to believe what it could mean. Or maybe, deep down, he was too afraid of confirming that things between him and Jungsu had truly turned into something ugly.
After that, he stopped interacting with Jungsu completely, even from his main account. No more likes, no replies, no quote tweets. Nothing.
Disheartened, Jiseok considered deactivating his main altogether. The idea of being perceived felt exhausting. He didn’t want to pretend being okay, didn’t want to scroll through timelines filled with Jungsu’s posts.
So instead, he turned inward, retreating to his private account, where things still felt safe. Small.
He posted one last tweet from his main.
ga-off @quackquack
I’m going to be more active on my priv and keeping my circle small. Proomfs can follow me @jiquackquack.
Just a soft goodbye. Nothing dramatic.
But not long after, a new notification appeared. A reply from someone he hadn’t expected to interact with again.
j. @jxngsu
May I follow…
The moment he read it, Jiseok froze.
He panicked.
His private account was full of thirst tweets. Rambling late-night posts about Jungsu. Embarrassing levels of admiration mixed with jokes that only made sense if you were painfully down bad.
He couldn’t let Jungsu see any of that.
Jiseok being Jiseok, without thinking or without even letting himself process, he typed out a response.
ga-off @quackquack
Hii I don’t feel comfortable with you following 😭😭 I talked a lot of shit about you in there so let’s go our own separate ways loool
He hit send. Immediately regretted the wording. The overuse of emojis. The casual cruelty he hadn't meant.
A few seconds later, Jungsu replied.
j. @jxngsu
oh
Just that. One word. Lowercase. Empty.
Jiseok stared at it for a long time, unsure what to make of it. Was he angry? Hurt? Just done?
He didn’t know. And he didn’t ask.
What was done was done.
Jiseok shut off his phone that night feeling like something had quietly ended. A strange, shapeless grief settled in his chest, one without a clear beginning or end. He didn’t know why things had gotten so complicated. Why couldn’t he just talk to Jungsu like a normal person. Why their almost-friendship had unraveled like thread slipping loose.
Exactly a month later which is today, Jooyeon, who followed Jiseok’s private account and knew about his crush on Jungsu, told him about a post on Jungsu’s main, a screenshot of their last interaction, where Jiseok had told him to go their separate ways.
As he thought about everything that had gone wrong, their last interaction, the way he panicked, the way he shut Jungsu out without meaning to, he felt a wave of regret
So, with a shaky breath and a heart full of nerves, Jiseok opened his DM.
He was determined to make things right again. Because no matter how badly things ended, deep down, he still thought about Jungsu. He missed their interaction. He missed him. Maybe he liked him more than he was willing to admit.
This time, he wasn’t going to run. So finally, slowly, he typed.
"Hi Jungsu…i admit that my reply was shitty and i was being mean. You probably hate me but now but genuinely, i didn’t mean for things to turn out like this. I messed up.”
“Also…i wanted to explain something. About why I sb-ed you before, and why i said i didn’t feel comfortable with you following my private”
“It wasn’t because i hated you. It was actually the opposite. I had (still have?) a massive crush on you.”
“My private was literally full of embarrassing thirst and dumb posts about you. Like… a lot. I made it just so I wouldn’t look like a clown on main.”
“So when you asked to follow, i freaked out. I thought, what if he sees all of that and thinks i’m weird or creepy or obsessed”
“I didn’t know how to deal with it, so i just shut down and said the worst possible thing.”
“I know this didn’t make any sense, but if you’re done with me, i get it.”
“Just…yeah. I’m sorry”
Jiseok’s heart pounded as he stared at the messages he’d just sent to Jungsu, having practically spammed his DM. He hovered over the screen, hoping that this time, his apology had come through the right way.
Then the screen changed.
seen
And then, a few seconds later Jungsu actually replied.
“...wow bro”
Jiseok froze. He didn’t know what to make of that. Was it good? Bad?
Another message came in.
“i srsly don’t know if you’re being for real or just mocking me right now.”
“that reply you sent back then? It really hurt, ngl. i kept thinking like…damn, i let this guy into my private only for him to softblock me later, and then when i asked to follow his, he just straight-up rejects me and says he talks shit about me??”
“but now you’re telling me it was because you had a crush on me??”
“bro...”
“idek what to say right now. This is kinda…a lot.”
“but… okay. Thanks for telling me the truth. I guess i needed that.”
Jiseok barely had time to exhale before another message popped up.
“also…thirst tweets?? Srsly?? Should I be scared or flattered 😭😭”
Jiseok groaned the moment he saw the last message.
"Should I be scared or flattered 😭😭"
Why did Jungsu have to be funny on top of everything?
His face burned as he typed back, half hiding his phone behind his hand like it would make it less real.
“Definitely flattered 😭😭 i swear it wasn’t anything weird…okay maybe like 15% weird but in a normal crushing-on-someone-online kind of way??”
“I really didn’t mean for you to ever see it. That account was me being down bad in peace 😭”
“But yeah. I panicked. I thought you’d think i was a creep and never talk to me again. So I hit eject on everything before it could even go wrong.”
“Spoiler alert, it still went wrong.”
Jiseok’s heart thudded in his chest as he hit send, every nerve in his body buzzing with anticipation. He stared at the screen, barely blinking.
And then, after what felt like forever, the typing bubble appeared.
Jungsu was typing.
A second later, the message dropped.
“yeah, i can see that…but i still don’t get why you had to sb me on my private.”
“i let you into my private because i liked you and felt comfortable interacting with you. I thought we were getting closer, y’know? i hoped we could be.”
“then out of nowhere, you sb-ed me??”
“that shit really confused me.”
Jiseok stared at his phone, eyes wide.
Did…did Jungsu just say he liked him?
He reread the message again, the words echoing in his brain.
“i let you into my private because i liked you…”
His heart practically jumped into his throat. But before he could even begin to process what that meant, the message changed. It had been edited.
“I let you into my private because i felt comfortable interacting with you. I thought we were getting closer, y’know? I hoped we could be.”
Not much of a change. Just…“I liked you” was gone.
Jiseok blinked at the screen, lips slightly parted.
Oh.
Maybe it was a typo.
Yeah…maybe he just meant "I liked interacting with you," not that kind of like.
Right.
That had to be it.
Right?
He swallowed hard and pushed the thought down. This wasn’t the time to spiral.
Instead, he started typing again, carefully this time.
“About the sb…I didn’t do it because i hate you or anything like that.”
“It’s actually the opposite. I freaked out.”
“I wasn’t ready for that kind of closeness, especially with someone i liked that much. I saw your post, like, the more personal ones and i got scared that i was seeing too much’
“Idk…I just panicked.”
“I know that doesn’t excuse it. But I really am sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”
He hesitated a moment, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. Then he added.
“Can I ask you something now?”
“A while back…I got sent a screenshot from your proomf. It said ‘DIE QUACKQUAK DIE’.”
“I didn’t say anything at the time, but it really messed me up. Do you really hate me that much?”
“And…I know it’s your private, but you might wanna be careful. Some of your oomfs are snitching.”
After a long pause, the typing bubble finally appeared.
“ok first of all 💀 I KNEW that screenshot was gonna come back to haunt me”
“i wasn’t actually wishing death on you LMAO it was just one of those dramatic vent posts people do when they are hurt and mad at someone”
“it was after you sb-ed me btw. I was like ??? damn. So that’s how it is”
“but yeah. I was just pissed off and maybe also a little confused because I thought I did something wrong and made you feel uncomfortable?”
There was another pause. Then,
“also. noted on the snitch thing. I’ll be cleaning house later lmao”
“but…thanks for explaining. I get it more now.”
“i wish you’d just told me earlier. could’ve saved us both a lot of headaches.”
After reading Jungsu’s message, Jiseok let out a shaky breath, feeling the tension ease just a little. Maybe things weren’t as broken as he thought. Trying to keep the mood light, he decided to respond with a bit of humor, something to break the ice and remind them both that this was still the friendship he wanted.
“Okay yeah…calling for my fictional death was a little dramatic, not gonna lie 😭”
“But fine. I’ll take it as you being passionately angry at me.”
He paused, then added,
“And listen. If you ever do see the thirst posts I wrote about you…”
“Just know I meant every word. Respectfully. Most of the time.”
“excepttheonewhereisaididletyousteponme. That one was between me and God 🙏”
After Jiseok’s playful message, Jungsu seemed to take a moment before replying,
“lol ok????????”
“as for the thirst tweets…i’m a little scared, ngl..”
“but also lowkey curious? maybe I should peek sometime…”
Jiseok let out an embarrassed groan the moment he read Jungsu’s reply. Of course he brought up the thirst posts. Jiseok briefly considered logging off forever, but instead, he laughed to himself and typed back,
“PLEASE don’t peek 😭😭 I was in my delulu era okay”
“Those posts weren’t supposed to see the light of day 😭”
He hesitated for a second, then added one more line,
“Do you forgive me? Are we good now?”
Jiseok’s message sat there, hanging in the chat like a quiet question. And for a few seconds, there was no reply. He stared at the screen, pulse racing, overthinking every word he had sent.
Then finally, Jungsu replied.
“only if you let me into your private”
“JK. Yeah… we’re good”
“i was really hurt, tho. But I think you’ve been honest with me now. That means something.”
“and i guess i missed talking to you too, even if you did go full ghost mode on me 😤”
“so, no more disappearing, okay? we’re starting fresh.”
A few seconds later, another message popped up.
“also, i’m gonna go look at those thirst tweets eventually. Just warning you.”
“because if i had a fanclub and didn’t know it, that’s kinda iconic.”
Jiseok covered his face with one hand the second he read that last line. Of course, Jungsu would turn this into a full-circle moment. His ears were burning, but he couldn’t stop the grin tugging at his lips.
He typed quickly,
“Okay wow 😭😭😭 this is why i panicked in the first place”
“You can clown me all you want later, but please know i was being so down bad it’s not even funny”
“Like…there are posts I don’t even remember posting but they exist and that’s terrifying 😭”
Then after a short pause, he added,
“But…thanks. really. For giving me another chance.”
“And I promise, no more disappearing, no more ghost mode.”
Later, Jiseok’s phone buzzed one last time.
“LOL...digital footprint is crazy 😭 but fine. I won’t judge (too much).”
“and yeah. We’re good, Jiseok. Fresh start.”
“Just…don’t sb me again (I’M REALLY REALLY SRS) or I’m writing a fanfic where you die in every chapter 💀”
“goodnight, idiot.”
Jiseok let out a laugh, the kind that came from actual relief and smiled down at his phone.
“Goodnight” he whispered, like Jungsu could hear him through the screen.
Jiseok set his phone down, exhaling deeply for what felt like the first time after this whole ordeal. The weight that had been sitting on his chest for the past month, the guilt, the confusion, the regret slowly started to ease.
It wasn’t perfect. He knew that. He’d hurt someone he genuinely liked because of his own fear and insecurity. But somehow, in the end, they found their way back to a conversation. A real one.
And that had to mean something.
He glanced at the screen again. Jungsu’s DM were still open, the last one sitting there like a promise.
“Fresh start.”
It was simple. But it meant everything.
He leaned back in his chair, the cold dinner still sitting on the desk beside him, forgotten. This time, though, the tight knot in his stomach had loosened just a little. Maybe things wouldn’t go back to how they were right away. Maybe they weren’t supposed to.
But they were interacting again. They were laughing.
He picked up his phone one last time and switched over to his private account.
One tweet, just for himself, and maybe for someone else too.
ga-on @jiquackquack
Soft launch? soft forgiveness? soft feelings? Anyway, i’m not deleting the thirst tweets. they’re historical documents now.
He hit post, smiled at his own screen, and let the silence of his room settle around him, a little lighter than before.
Maybe this wasn’t the end of something after all.
Maybe it was just the beginning.