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Heng rested her head in her hands, smiling softly at the glow of her computer screen as Yi’s stream played. Tonight, he was deep into a fighting game, Granblue, if she remembered right. It wasn’t exactly her kind of game. She didn’t dislike fighting games, and she’d play them now and then when the mood struck, but she’d never cared for the competitive intensity the way Yi did.
But that wasn’t why she watched.
His streams had become a small window into his life since he moved away. He wasn’t far, not really, but this way she could see him whenever she wanted. Being able to tune in and see him again at any time was quite the luxury. She found herself drawn to the way his face sharpened with focus as he played, every flicker of concentration and determination playing out in real time. It was such a simple thing, watching him like this, but she couldn’t get enough of it.
The chat rushed past in a blur of color and noise, messages stacking on top of each other faster than she could read. Heng barely looked at it, her attention stayed fixed on Yi, on the way he leaned forward slightly, the tension in his shoulders as the match grew tighter.
She smiled to herself, already knowing what she was going to say.
Her fingers moved before she could overthink it.
'You better win this one.'
She hit enter and watched it disappear into the stream of messages, swallowed almost instantly.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then Yi’s eyes flicked to the side.
He scanned quickly at first, then slowed, just a bit, before stopping altogether. Heng could see the exact moment he found it. The shift was unmistakable, a grin tugged at his mouth.
“I can’t lose if you’re watching,” he said, a quiet huff slipping through as he adjusted his grip on the controller. “Watch closely.”
Her smile widened, her heart lifting at how the screen between them had thinned to nothing, like, for a fleeting moment, it was just the two of them sharing the same space again.
He leaned in a little more after that, focus sharpening again, but there was something different in his expression now, she wondered if anyone else could notice how his brow relaxed ever so slightly, how his eyes lost just a bit of that intensity. She liked to believe she was the only one who could see it.
“I’ll even get a perfect” he muttered, half to himself, half to the ‘stream’. “Just watch.”
Heng let out a soft breath, resting her chin in her hand again as she watched him play.
She didn’t care about the game.
But she knew he’d make due on what he said and in just a few seconds he had utterly annilated his opponent, all because she told him to win. For a split second, there was silence on his end, then the chat exploded, messages flying even faster than before. Though Heng barely registered any of it, her eyes stayed on Yi.
He leaned back in his chair, exhaling as a small, satisfied smirk pulled at his lips. Not smug or showy, just confident, like he’d expected nothing less.
“Told you,” he said, glancing toward the chat again, his voice lighter now. “Perfect.”
Heng huffed out a soft laugh under her breath, shaking her head.
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard again, a familiar warmth settling in her chest. It was ridiculous, really. How easily he could do that, how easily he could make it feel like this moment, out of hundreds in his stream, was meant just for her.
She typed before she could stop herself.
'Show off.'
This time, she didn’t even have to wait, Yi’s eyes flicked over almost immediately, like he already knew where to look.
He rolled his eyes, though the grin breaking through ruined any attempt at sounding defensive. “You’re the one who told me to win.”
He paused, tilting his head slightly, as if considering something.
“I did exactly what you asked.”
Something in the way he said it made her chest tighten just a little.
Heng leaned back slightly, her smile softening as she watched him queue into the next match, his focus settling in again. But it wasn’t quite the same as before. There was a lingering lightness to him now, something warmer threaded through his concentration. She had known him well enough to know he wanted to show off a bit now that he knew she was watching, trying his best to impress her with his honed skills. The second the next match started there it was, that extra bit of effort, bleeding into everything he did, not just to win.
To look good doing it.
“For the stream, right,” she murmured under her breath, amused.
On screen, Yi pulled off another clean sequence, faster this time less mistakes made. He didn’t react much outwardly, but she caught the faint lift of his brow, the almost imperceptible pause after, waiting for her to say something. To praise him for a job well done.
Her fingers drifted back to the keyboard, hovering for only a second before she typed.
'You’re trying harder now.'
She hit enter.
It didn’t even take a full second.
His eyes flicked over again, quicker this time, he’d been ready for it. There was a brief pause, just long enough to give him away.
“…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, far too casually, Heng let out a quiet laugh, shaking her head.
'Liar.'
He leaned forward again, but the corner of his mouth lifted, and the next exchange came even faster, inputs snapping into place with practiced ease. Another win followed, not as clean as the last, but controlled, confident.
Showy.
“Okay, that one wasn’t bad,” he added, glancing sideways again.
Heng raised an eyebrow at the screen.
'Not bad?'
She typed again, a little quicker this time.
'You want a compliment or something?'
There was a beat.
Then.
“I mean,” Yi started, pretending to think about it, “If you’re offering…”
She could hear the smile in his voice.
Her chest warmed again, softer this time, settling in rather than sparking. It wasn’t just the teasing, it was how easy it felt, how natural. Slipping into something familiar without even realizing it. Their back and forth was getting harder to ignore now, it wasn't just playful, but unmistakably flirtatious in a way the chat picked up on almost immediately. Messages started slipping in between the usual noise, people calling it out, half joking, half serious.
‘Wait are you two together?’
‘Yo who is that??’
‘He don’t talk to chat like that…’
The questions stacked quickly, some tagging him, some tagging her, all of them fishing for answers neither of them offered. Heng felt a quiet flicker of amusement as she read them, her smile lingering as she leaned into her hand. If anything, it only made the whole thing feel more… theirs. Something just out of reach of everyone else watching. And even if anyone got curious enough to check they wouldn’t find anything. This wasn’t the account she streamed on, there were no clues, no links, nothing that tied back to her. Just a name, drifting through the chat like any other.
Except it wasn’t.
Because somehow, no matter how fast the messages flew by, Yi always found hers.
When the chat started getting a little too out of hand with the questions, Yi stepped in, casually announcing he’d be ending the stream after the next set.
That was enough to snap everyone back into place.
The curiosity shifted almost instantly, the speculation and teasing giving way to a flood of protests, the chat pivoting from who is she? to don’t go yet. Messages piled up, viewers pleading for just one more match, a little more time, anything to keep him live a bit longer.
It always made her happy to see just how much his audience adored him, though not as much as she did. It almost made her feel bad for stealing him away from them.
Almost.
The final match of the night had been his best performance yet taking both rounds with a perfect in under a minute, of course he’d want to end things off with a bang. She watched as he closed things out saying his goodbyes to the chat thanking them for watching before the feed finally cut and he was gone.
Heng hadn’t moved from her spot. She knew what was coming, her phone rang exactly when she expected it to.
She reached over her desk and answered without even glancing at the screen.
“I knew you were watching,” Yi said immediately, his voice easy through the speaker, still carrying the faint looseness of someone who’d just stepped out of a stream. “But I didn’t think you’d actually say anything in chat.”
“Was I not allowed to?” She hummed back, spinning in her chair. “Maybe I won’t say anything next time.”
There was a short pause on the other end.
“Don’t start that,” Yi said, instantly, like he’d walked straight into it.
Heng’s smile deepened as she tilted her head back slightly, watching the ceiling now that she couldn’t watch him. “It’s nice to get a reaction out of you.”
“That’s not the point,” he replied, though the warmth in his voice gave him away.
A quiet rustle came through the call, him shifting somewhere in his room, probably dropping into his bed now that everything was over.
“You were distracting,” he added after a beat.
Heng let out a soft hum. “It didn’t look like it.”
“Well you were.”
She laughed under her breath. “You won anyway.”
“That’s not the issue.”
“Oh?”
Another pause.
Then, a little quieter, less rehearsed; “You make it hard to focus.”
That made her still for just a second.
Heng blinked at the ceiling, her fingers idly tapping against the arm of her chair. “I think I maake you focus more, you like to show off for me.”
Yi was quiet on the other end, neither confirming nor denying her claim. Not that he really needed to, both of them already knew she was telling the truth. He just never liked to admit it.
Heng waited him out, idly tracing a circle on her desk with her fingertip, a small, patient smile still playing at her lips.
Eventually, Yi exhaled.
“…You still haven’t done it,” he said at last, quieter now.
“Done what?”
“Praise me,” he replied, like it was obvious. “I’m still waiting.”
Heng’s smile softened. “Is that why you called?.”
A scoff, immediate but mild. “Stop being coy.”
That made her laugh under her breath. “You’re the one who called me.”
“I call you after every stream.” he shot back.
“Exactly,” she said. “Routine.”
“Heng,” he said, her name drawn out in a low, almost seductive purr, so soft it nearly made her lose her grip on the phone.
It was clear she’d been a little too playful tonight, and somehow, she’d managed to get him worked up because of it.
Heng went quiet for a second, the teasing edge in her expression softening into something quieter, more unfocused.
There was something about the way he said her name that settled in her chest and stayed there.
Warm and light.
Impossibleto ignore.
She shifted slightly in her chair, suddenly aware of how small the room felt, how close his voice sounded through the speaker despite the distance between them. It was strange, he wasn’t here, not really, and yet the way he spoke made it feel like he was closer than he had any right to be. Like he was close enough to lean into.
“I’m still waiting.” He spoke again, snapping her out of her stupor.
“Well then,” She sighed wistfully. “I suppose I shouldn’t keep you waiting hm?”
Yi didn’t bother answering, just waiting for her to say what he already knew she was going to say.
It would’ve been easy to tease him a little more, she could practically feel how close he was to his limit tonight, but she knew better. If she kept pushing, there was no doubt in her mind he’d show up at the most inconvenient hour just to get the last word in.
And honestly…
She wouldn’t mind that as much as she probably should.
“Yi,” she said softly, her voice gentler now, “Tonight you were perfect.”
On the other end, she heard it immediately, the quiet exhale he let out, the tension leaving him all at once, like he’d been holding something in without even realizing it.
Heng closed her eyes, listening to his breathing through the speaker, letting herself linger in the sound of it. For a moment, she could almost convince herself he was right there beside her, sharing the same quiet space, both of them simply existing in the aftermath.
And she loved that, these small, private moments with him that felt like they belonged only to her.