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At the Yoo Hobin Company building, the afternoon heat was oppressive. The rusty air conditioner in the corner of the living room was making a rhythmic, rattling noise that sounded less like a cooling appliance and more like a dying tractor.
Rumi, Snapper, and Hobin were sitting on the floor mat by the sliding glass door facing the balcony, their legs crossed as they formed a triangle. Taehoon Seong, completely indifferent to whatever meeting they were having, was lounging horizontally across the leather couch, his long legs thrown carelessly over the armrest as he stared at his phone.
“You already have 900 thousand subscribers?!” Hobin suddenly let out a dramatic, piercing yell, his face scrunching into a mask of pure disbelief. He gestured wildly with his hands, staring at Rumi’s phone screen. “Someone gets stabbed on camera and has 980 thousand subscribers, but someone just goes out on casual dates and gets 900 thousand subscribers?!”
“Hey, you have way more subscribers than us anyway,” Rumi defended, rolling her eyes and snatching her phone back.
“We don’t even get views anymore,” Snapper replied, letting out a heavy, depressed sigh as he ran a hand through his messy hair. He looked at the backend analytics of their main channel. “The algorithm is punishing us for not uploading consistently.”
“Huh? Did you guys die out?” Rumi questioned, raising an eyebrow in mockery.
“I don’t really want to say the actual reason, but we’re going to try and grow our channel without the use of violence” Snapper explained, crossing his arms. “I was wondering what kind of content we should pursue, but honestly, I can’t think of a single good idea, no matter how hard I think.”
While Hobin and Snapper were busy groaning over their dying engagement metrics, Gaeul quietly slipped out of the girls’ room, clutching her laptop tightly to her chest. She had a strange, unholy glint behind her glasses. She caught Rumi’s eye and gave a subtle tilt of her head, gesturing toward the girls’ room out of earshot from the boys.
Curious, Rumi excused herself from the triangle and followed Gaeul in the room.
“What’s up, Gaeul?” Rumi asked, sitting on the bed.
Gaeul took a deep breath, looked at the living room to ensure Hobin and Taehoon weren’t listening, and opened her laptop screen, sat besides her and turn to fully face her, as she turn the laptop directly toward Rumi. It displayed a prominent NewTube profile page with a massive following in the community forums.
“Rumi... I have a confession to make,” Gaeul whispered, her face dead serious. “I am actually the infamous xxSnipperWolfxx account. The one that’s been aggressively pushing the TaeHobin ship all over the comment sections.”
Rumi’s jaw dropped. Her eyes went wide as saucers. “WHAT?! You are SnipperWolf?! The account that has the entire fandom convinced Hobin and Taehoon are secretly making out behind the studio?!”
“Yes! But listen, it was an accident at first! But then...” Gaeul’s face flushed slightly. “Yesterday, Taehoon caught me using the account. I thought he was going to kick me, but instead... he actually cornered me and demanded that I use my influence to make Hobin cook for him on camera. He literally asked for a ’24-Hours Partner Challenge,’ Rumi! He wants an excuse to get close to Hobin!”
Rumi’s shock instantly melted away, replaced by a massive, deeply mischievous, and wicked smirk. Her eyes practically lit up with chaotic energy. “No way... Taehoon actually requested that? Oh my god, this is gold.”
“Yes! But he threatened to kill me if Hobin finds out he’s the one behind it,” Gaeul warned frantically. “So, when we go back out there, you have to be the one to suggest the 24-Hours Partner Challenge idea as a concept. And to make it look legit to the viewers, we’ll run a BlueBird poll first to let them ‘choose’ Hobin’s partner.”
“Say no more,” Rumi chuckled, rubbing her hands together like a cartoon villain. “Leave it to me. I’ll make sure they completely fall into the trap.”
The two girls walked back into the living room, completely composed. Rumi slithered back to her spot on the floor mat, tapping her chin with a flawless, calculated look of disappointment directed at Hobin and Snapper.
“Are you guys stupid?” Rumi spoke up, breaking the boys’ depressed silence. “You guys can just make some couple content like us. It’s literally the easiest way to farm engagement right now.”
“Oh,” Snapper muttered.
Silence fell over the room for a brief second. Then, Snapper snapped his fingers so loud it echoed.
“OH! WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?! THAT’S DEFINITELY A GOOD IDEA!” Snapper grinned like a maniac, locking eyes with Hobin, whose expression instantly shifted to match his.
“YEAH! THAT’S GREAT! IF WE DO THAT, WE’LL DEFINITELY HAVE MANY VIEWS AND SUBSCRIBERS! AND HEHEHEH... MORE VIEWS MEANS MORE MONEY HEHE!” Hobin let out a devilish, unhinged chuckle, plastering the absolute ugliest, greed-driven grin across his face. His eyes turned into literal dollar signs.
“Money-hungry asshole,” both Rumi and Snapper mumbled completely in sync, staring at Hobin’s distorted face with visible disgust.
Hobin instantly snapped out of his grin, dropping the ugly face to look at Rumi with an innocent, confused expression. “But wait... who’s gonna make couple content? And if you’re saying it’s me, then who’s my partner? I hope it’s Bomi! But Bomi is trapped at that private academy right now—it’s like a prison in there, it’s impossible to escape!”
‘Crazy how he can change from being the most ugly creature to being the cutest fuck y’all will ever see,’ Snapper thought, sweat forming on his forehead.
Rumi, keeping Gaeul’s secret perfectly hidden, smirked maliciously. “I’ve actually been thinking... we should host a vote for this on BlueBird. We’ll make the audience vote on who is going to be Hobin’s partner for the content. It builds hype before the video even drops. And since the shippers have been completely wild lately, I have the perfect twist.”
“A vote?” Snapper looked at her, entirely confused. “A twist?”
“Yes,” Rumi smiled innocently, looking over at the couch. “The choices will be Bomi... and Taehoon Seong. And if Taehoon wins, the challenge will officially be a 24-Hours Boyfriend Challenge.”
Hobin’s brain completely froze. His heart did a sudden, violent flip against his ribs.
You see, He have been secretly harbored a tiny, deeply buried crush on the terrifying Taekwondo prodigy, and the mere mention of being paired with him for a 24-Hours Boyfriend challenge made his cheeks prickle with an uncomfortable heat. Hobin braced himself, fully expecting Taehoon to throw a pillow at Rumi or threaten to snap her neck for even suggesting something so ridiculously gay.
Instead, Taehoon remained dead silent for a whole minute. He didn’t look up from his phone, but his fingers had completely stopped tapping the screen. His sharp eyes darted slightly toward Gaeul, who gave him a very subtle, trembling nod of reassurance.
Taehoon casually looked away, staring out at the balcony.
“Sure.”
The entire room went dead silent. Everyone froze, eyes wide, completely paralyzed by what Taehoon had just said. Hobin’s jaw practically hit the floor boards.
Sensing their stunned, unblinking stares, Taehoon looked back at them, a sharp brow raised as he scoffed. “What?”
“Really? Are you really sure?” Rumi asked, leaning forward, doing her absolute best to suppress a massive fit of laughter.
“Did you not hear me the first time? Tsk. I ain’t saying it again.”
“Your face definitely doesn’t say ‘sure,’” Snapper muttered under his breath, but he immediately flinched and retreated behind Hobin when Taehoon glared at him like he was about to be brutally murdered.
Meanwhile, Hobin sat perfectly still, completely quiet as his brain tried to process the situation. His cheeks were burning, his mind racing as he looked at Taehoon, completely oblivious to the fact that Gaeul and Taehoon had engineered this entire trap together.
Rumi’s grin widened into something terrifyingly triumphant. “Perfect!!!”
She immediately set up the official BlueBird poll on her phone, setting the trap in motion. “Since tomorrow is Saturday, Hobin will stream live!”
In the Women’s room, there sat Gaeul grinning like a maniac.
‘My plan succeed’ she says as she look at the vote that have been post a second ago ‘Now, let’s take it to action’ chuckling . She pulled her laptop back up, her fingers hitting the keys with absolute, supreme confidence.
xxSnipperWolfxx: Woah a 24-Hours Partner Challenge between Taehoon and Bumi? Honestly, if Hobin wears an apron while cooking for Taehoon, I think the internet might actually break... We, yes WE want to see Hobin cooking for Taehoon isn’t that right chat? So let’s vote for Taehobin😛
She hit enter.
The master plan was in motion, 30-minutes later the comments were already screaming in agreement and Gaeul knew that the Yoo Hobin Company was never, ever going to be the same again... Hehehe
The next day arrived entirely too quickly.
When Hobin woke up and checked the final BlueBird poll results, his soul nearly left his body. It wasn’t even close. Bomi had been utterly decimated. Thanks to xxSnipperWolfxx rallying the troops online, an overwhelming, staggering 87% majority had voted for Taehoon Seong. The entire comment section was plagued by a terrifyingly unified demand: 24-HOURS BOYFRIEND CHALLENGE.
It was in that exact moment that Hobin realized, with absolute, spine-chilling terror, that he had far more romantic shippers than actual fans who tuned in to watch him fight. He was utterly horrified.
But the stream had to go on.
The camera was rolling, and Hobin Yoo was currently questioning every single life choice that had led him to this exact moment.
“What’s up, NewTube! It’s the Hobin Yoo Company!” Hobin forced out his signature energetic intro, throwing his peace signs up, though his left eye was twitching violently from pure, unadulterated stress. “So, uh, views have been a little stagnant lately, so Rumi decided to make a vote for this challenge called the ’24-Hours Boyfriend Challenge’...It was suppose to be a ’24-Hours Partner Challenge’. Rumi, as she suggested while we were discussing the content said that if Taehoon wins, then the title would be ’24-Hours Boyfriend Challenge”
He pointed the camera slightly to the left, capturing Rumi, who was grinning a little too widely. She looked directly into the lens and made a peace sign while smiling innocently. To the viewers, she was just a pretty girl doing a harmless request, but Hobin knew the truth—she was enjoying his psychological torture way more than anyone else.
“Since the majority of the vote picked Taehoon as my partner for this challenge,” Hobin continued, his voice cracking slightly as he turned the camera back to himself, “and since the comment section was overwhelmingly demanding it... today we are doing the 24-Hours Boyfriend Challenge!”
Hobin slowly swung the tripod around to face the main living room area.
Sitting right there on the couch was Taehoon Seong. He was wearing his usual Green bomber jacket, looking like an irritable, venomous snake. His upper body was leaned back against the opposite armrest, while his long legs were stretched out completely across the cushions, his bare feet resting directly on Hobin’s lap—entirely making himself at home.
“Yeah,” Taehoon muttered, looking directly into the camera lens facing him, leaning back with his arms crossed over his chest. “According to the demands of you crazy shippers, I’m the partner today. Don’t unsubscribe, or I’ll track you down.”
The live chat instantly exploded at a blinding, unreadable speed.
User112: WHAT IS HAPPENING?? 😭😭😭
KickMaster99: Taehoon looks like he was kidnapped, but also like he’s about to commit murder.
YourMomLolz: Here comes the shippers oml
ShipSailor: SNIPPERWOLF AND RUMI ARE THE GODS OF SHIPPERS!! TAEHOBIN IS REAL!
Just.Ajax: ALL HAIL QUEEN RUMI AND KING SNIPPERWOLF!!!
Taehobinno#1shippersinceday1: AAACCCCHHHHHHKKK FUCKING FINALLY TAEHOBIN CONTENT!
Taehoonsjuicyoilyarmpit: ACKKKKK OMG Taehobin real?! Hobin holding Taehoon feet on his lap?!
User020724251234: these shippers oml istg.
Hobinsstalker.notreally: WE WANT TO SEE U 2 KISS ACKKK
LeMami143: TAEHOBIN IS LOVE! TAEHOBIN IS LIFE!
Hobin looked at the rapidly scrolling comments, a cold shiver running down his spine as sweat slowly crept along his forehead. He decided it was best to completely ignore them.
“Okay! First part of the challenge is Cooking for my Boyfriend” Hobin read from his phone, trying to steer the stream back to safety. “Since I’m the one who has to cook for my... uh... ‘boyfriend’, I have to wear the uniform provided by Rumi.”
From off-camera, Rumi tossed a piece of fabric directly into Hobin’s face. Hobin caught it, unfurled it, and his soul nearly left his body. It was a bright pink, frilly kitchen apron with the words “World’s Best Hubby” printed across the chest in sparkly gold letters.
From the couch, Taehoon let out a sharp, choked snort, a massive, arrogant smirk spreading across his lips as he looked at Gaeul in the corner, completely satisfied with how perfectly their plan had executed.
“Suits you, scrawny. Put it on. Let’s go to the kitchen.”
Hobin glared at him, his face burning a furious shade of red. “Shut up! Let’s just go!”
***
The kitchen of the Yoo Hobin Company building was incredibly cramped. It was barely wide enough for two people to stand side-by-side, which made the logistics of a “Cooking for your boyfriend” an absolute nightmare for Hobin’s sanity.
Snapper had set up the main tripod in the corner, framing the stove and the small prep counter perfectly. Rumi sat at the kitchen table, reading out the chat donations, while Gaeul sat quietly in the back, her wide doe eyes reflecting the stream data as she secretly smirked.
“Alright, the chat chose the menu!” Rumi called out, looking at the stream feed. “Hobin has to make homemade spicy rice cakes (tteokbokki) and fried eggs from scratch, but Taehoon has to oversee the process to make sure his ‘boyfriend’ is doing a good job.”
“He’s going to poison me” Taehoon muttered, leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen, his arms crossed.
“If you don’t want it, don’t eat it!” Hobin snapped, tying the pink frilly apron tightly around his waist. He grabbed a frying pan and set it on the stove, his hands shaking so badly from the sheer awkwardness of the situation that the metal spatula kept loudly clattering against the pan.
Hobin turned on the gas burner, throwing some oil into the pan. He grabbed a couple of eggs, intending to fry them quickly to get this torture over with. But his nerves were completely shot. As he went to crack the first egg against the side of the pan, his hand slipped, and a massive chunk of eggshell fell directly into the hot oil, sizzling loudly.
“Ah! Crap!” Hobin panicked, frantically poking at the hot oil with his spatula, trying to retrieve the shell while the egg began to burn.
Suddenly, a heavy, warm presence pressed directly against his back.
Hobin’s breath hitched. Taehoon had stepped up right behind him. Because of the narrow kitchen space, Taehoon didn’t just stand close—he completely enveloped Hobin from behind. His broad shoulders blocked out the rest of the room, and his chest was pressed flush against Hobin’s back.
Before Hobin could even scream, Taehoon reached his long arms around Hobin’s waist. His large, calloused hands slid over Hobin’s smaller, trembling hands, effectively trapping the smaller boy against the kitchen counter. Taehoon casually took the spatula out of Hobin’s grasp.
“You’re burning it, loser,” Taehoon murmured, his deep, gravelly voice vibrating right next to Hobin’s bare ear. The heat of his breath fanned against Hobin’s neck, sending an electric shock straight down Hobin’s spine.
Hobin froze completely solid, his eyes wide as saucers. His entire face turned an instant, violent shade of crimson, the red blush spreading rapidly down to his neck and ears. Wait, why the hell is he so close?! Is he really doing this just for the views?! And why does he smell so good, like expensive laundry detergent and mint?!
“T-Taehoon,” Hobin squeaked, his voice cracking completely. “The camera is all the way over there on the tripod... you don’t have to get this close... I can handle a piece of shell...”
“Shh. Don’t ruin the content. I’m just being a good boyfriend,” Taehoon smirked, his voice dripping with an uncharacteristic, deeply teasing softness.
With effortless precision, Taehoon used the spatula to flick the eggshell out of the pan, his body shifting against Hobin’s back as he did so. Then, instead of stepping away like a normal person, Taehoon deliberately lowered his head, resting his chin heavily and comfortably right on Hobin’s trembling shoulder. He looked straight into the camera lens across the room, his dark eyes locking onto the viewers, and gave a lazy, devastating wink.
The live chat went absolutely, undeniably, completely feral. The text stream became a blinding white wall of text moving at warp speed.
Hobinsusedhoodie: AAAHHHHHH BARK BARK BARK BARK FUCK ME UP UP UP
User112: holy shit why the fuck are u barking in a chat, but also OH MY GOD???
ShipSailor: AHHHHH FUCKKKKKK I’M GETTING HARD WATCHING TS!!! (I’m a girl but idc)
Taehobinno#1shippersinceday1: AHHHH OMG OMG OMG JUST KISS ALREADY GODDAMIT!!!! THE BACK HUG IS REAL!!!
NewTubeFan: THE CHIN ON THE SHOULDER. I AM SCREAMING. HOBIN IS LITERALLY PURPLE.
GamerGurl: Look at Hobin’s face, he’s undergoing actual cardiac arrest lmao. He forgot how to breathe.
Just.Ajax: Lmao, Hobin red as fuk😭 He’s malfunctioning! Lol. He looks like he’s gonna faint right into Taehoon’s arms.
Taehoonsjuicyoilyarmpit: Fuck that. I’M gonna faint!!!! Look at Taehoon’s smirk, he knows exactly what he’s doing!
VHFan: The chat going feral😭 I came here to learn how to fight but I’m learning how to swoon.
Yopapi123: The chats Hahahahahahahahha I can’t stop laughing😭😭 Hobin looks like a trapped rabbit.
DeadmaSaIyo: Lmao this the best day ever! SnipperWolf called it yesterday!
“T-Taehoon... seriously... let go,” Hobin whispered, his hands gripping the edge of the counter for dear life because his knees felt dangerously like jelly. His little hidden crush was screaming in panic inside his chest.
Taehoon stayed like that for three more seconds, long enough to ensure the screenshot would trend on BlueBird for the next week, before finally releasing his grip and stepping back with a low chuckle. “Make sure the rice cakes aren’t soggy, Hubby.”
Hobin felt like his brain had been scrambled harder than the eggs in the pan.
***
By noon, the physical cooking portion was finally finished. Snapper, realizing that the live engagement metrics were through the roof but also wanting to give the two ‘lovebirds’ space to let the awkwardness brew, decided to take Rumi and leave the apartment to grab some extra equipment from the studio, leaving the stream running on automated monitoring.
The next segment of the challenge required Hobin and Taehoon to sit down at the small low table in the living room for a “Q&A portion” while actively sharing the single, large bowl of spicy rice cakes they had just prepared.
Hobin sat cross-legged, desperately trying to look like a professional, seasoned NewTuber. He had washed his face with cold water in the bathroom to get rid of the blush, but his heart was still thumping erratically. He picked up his chopsticks, looking at the secondary monitor displaying user questions.
“Alright! Next question from a viewer,” Hobin read, forcing a bright smile to appear totally unbothered. “User ShippersUnite asks: ‘Who fell first? Like, who had feelings first?’ Haha, well, since this is obviously just a joke challenge for the side channel, the real answer is nobody—”
Snap.
Before Hobin could finish his generic, defensive sentence, Taehoon’s chopsticks flew across the bowl with lightning speed. He snatched a thick, sauce-covered rice cake from the bowl and shoved it directly into Hobin’s open mouth, completely silencing him.
Hobin’s eyes widened, his mouth full of spicy rice cake.
“I did,” Taehoon said casually.
The room went dead silent. Hobin stopped chewing, staring at Taehoon with wide, unblinking eyes.
Taehoon didn’t even look flustered. He reached over with his right hand, his long thumb gently wiping away a small smudge of red spicy sauce from the corner of Hobin’s lower lip. Then, keeping his intense, dark eyes locked entirely on Hobin’s face, Taehoon naturally and slowly licked his own thumb clean of the sauce.
The live chat completely froze for a millisecond before unleashing a tidal wave of a single word.
User112: Ayo
Not.Ajax: Ayo
KickMaster99: Ayo
Taehobinno#1shippersinceday1: AYO
VHFan: Ayo
DeadmaSaIyo: Ayo
Taehoonsjuicyoilyarmpit: Ayo
User0756869369193729: Ayo
Hobinslonglostsock: Ayo
Just.Ajax: AYO WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THUMB LICK
Hobin choked. He literally swallowed the thick, chewy rice cake completely whole without chewing it a single time. The spicy sauce hit the back of his throat, and he began coughing violently, his face turning purple as he wildly beat his own chest to catch his breath.
“Cough! Cough! Cough!”
Taehoon just let out a dark, amused laugh, leaning over to pat Hobin’s back with way too much brute force, nearly knocking the wind out of him. “Careful, honey. Don’t die on me over a little spice.”
“Who are you calling honey?!” Hobin squeaked out between coughs, his voice pitching so incredibly high it reached an octave only dogs and Gaeul in the other room could hear.
Just.Ajax: You duh
Taehobinno#1shippersinceday1: You duh
YourMomLoz: You duh
Taehoonsjuicyoilyarmpit: You duh
67OuhshiiGuy: Lol Hobin in denial
Hobin scrambled to grab a glass of water, gulping it down while glaring at Taehoon, who was casually eating a rice cake like he hadn’t just caused a mass casualty event in the chat room.
***
As the afternoon rolled in, the final leg of the 24-hour challenge forced them into the living room setup. The chat’s donation goal had been met, which meant they had to fulfill the ultimate fan request: play a terrifying horror game—Resident Evil as the chat suggested—in the dark, while firmly holding hands the entire time.
The curtains were drawn, plunging the room into a dim, eerie shadow lit only by the bright glow of the television screen. Hobin held the controller in his left hand, while his right hand was tightly clasped in Taehoon’s left.
Initially, Hobin thought this would be a breeze. I fight violent gang members and psychotic martial artists for a living, Hobin reasoned with himself. A digital zombie game shouldn’t even make me flinch.
He was entirely wrong.
The atmospheric tension of the game, combined with the suffocating awareness of Taehoon’s large, warm hand enveloping his own, made Hobin an absolute nervous wreck. His palm was slightly sweaty, but Taehoon didn’t let go. In fact, Taehoon’s grip was firm, his long fingers interlaced with Hobin’s.
Suddenly, as Hobin guided the main character down a dark, quiet hallway on screen, a mutated zombie dog violently crashed through a glass window with a loud, piercing shatter.
“KYAH!” Hobin let out a pathetic, high-pitched yelp, his entire body flinching violently away from the TV.
And every single time he flinched, Taehoon’s grip around his hand would tighten instantly. It wasn’t in a mocking, teasing, or sarcastic way to make fun of his fear. It was a solid, deeply reassuring, and protective hold, grounding Hobin to the spot.
Hobin stole a quiet, hesitant glance sideways through the dim light of the room.
Taehoon wasn’t even looking at the television screen anymore. He was sitting back, his head tilted slightly, staring directly at Hobin’s profile. The bright blue light of the game reflected in his dark eyes, revealing a surprisingly soft, intense, and deeply affectionate look on his face—an expression that definitely wasn’t meant for the camera or the viewers. It was completely raw.
The chat rooms were absolutely screaming bloody murder at the look, typing faster than humanly possible, but both of them were too locked into each other’s orbit to notice or care about the monitor. Hobin’s heart did a massive, heavy thud against his ribs, his fingers instinctively squeezing Taehoon’s hand back.
***
When the 24 hours finally came to an official close, Hobin felt a massive wave of relief. He practically lunged across the floorboards toward the main streaming camera to smash the ‘End Stream’ button, his pink apron fluttering behind him.
“And that’s it! Thanks for watching the 24-Hours Boyfriend Challenge! Don’t forget to like, subscribe, hit that notification button, and donate while y’all are at it!!! Bye!” Hobin forced out one last professional, frantic wink at the lens, and—
Click.
The red live light on the main camera went out.
The room fell into a heavy, profound silence. The digital glow of the stream interface disappeared. Hobin let out a massive, bone-deep breath, collapsing entirely backward onto the floorboards, staring at the ceiling. “Oh my god. My heart is seriously about to explode. Taehoon, I swear to god, you are terrifyingly good at acting. For a second, I thought you were actually trying to kill me with embarrassment. Rumi and Snapper owe us so much money for this.”
Hobin laughed weakly, wiping the sweat from his forehead, waiting for Taehoon to throw a casual insult at him, call him a scrawny, easily frightened loser, or demand his exact 50% cut of the stream’s massive ad revenue.
Instead, Taehoon didn’t move an inch. He just sat right there on the edge of the couch, leaning forward slightly, staring downward at Hobin sprawled on the floor.
“Acting?” Taehoon said, his voice dropping to a low, incredibly serious, and quiet register that sent a shiver straight to Hobin’s core.
“Huh?” Hobin blinked up at him, his laughter dying down. “What do you mean? Obviously it was for the views—”
Taehoon suddenly leaned far forward, reaching down with one swift movement to firmly grab the frilly collar of Hobin’s pink apron, right over his shirt. With a single, effortless tug, he pulled Hobin up from the floor just enough so that they were sitting face-to-face, their noses barely an inch apart. Hobin’s hands instinctively planted on Taehoon’s chest for balance, his breath hitching.
“Who said I was acting, you idiot?” Taehoon muttered, his dark eyes locking onto Hobin’s with an intensity that made everything else disappear.
Hobin’s brain completely short-circuited. Error 404: Hobin.exe has stopped working.
“Wait... Ano!? I mean, what?” Hobin stammered, entirely forgetting how to speak Korean for a split second. “But the stream... the challenge that Snapper and Rumi set up because of the poll...”
“I don’t give a single crap about NewTube views or what those two wanted,” Taehoon muttered, his face leaning even closer until his lips brushed against Hobin’s burning ear. “I just wanted an excuse to hold your hand and have you cook for me without you running away like a coward. And of course, thanks to Gaeul’s little alternative account pushing the chat, I got exactly what I wanted.”
Hobin’s eyes widened. Gaeul?! The chat?! Taehoon planned this?!
Before Hobin could even begin to process the massive, earth-shattering weight of those words, Taehoon closed the remaining distance between them. He tilted his head slightly and pressed his lips straight against Hobin’s in a quick, rough, but undeniably real, warm, and desperate kiss.
It lasted for only two breathtaking seconds, but to Hobin, the entire flow of time completely stopped. The warmth of Taehoon’s lips, the solid weight of his hands, and the realization that his crush wasn’t one-sided completely overwhelmed him.
Taehoon pulled back slowly, his own sharp ears visibly flushing a distinct, bright shade of pink, though he desperately forced his usual arrogant, smug smirk back onto his face to play it cool. “So. Are we doing a sequel tomorrow, or what, Hubby?”
Hobin just sat there flush against his chest, staring blankly into space, his trembling hand slowly rising to touch his tingling, warm lips. His brain was a chaotic soup of emotions.
Then, up in the high, dark corner of the living room, a tiny, rhythmic, blinking green light caught his peripheral vision.
Hobin’s eyes tracked it. It wasn’t the main camera. It was Snapper’s high-definition backup webcam—the one he always permanently mounted to the wall structure to record background B-roll in case the main digital stream feed crashed or suffered lag.
And the little green light was pulsing. It was still actively recording. And it was linked to the secondary backup live stream.
It was still live.
“TAEHOON!” Hobin suddenly shrieked at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking violently as pure panic took over. He began frantically scrambling and flailing across the couch cushions toward the computer rig on the desk. “THE BACKUP CAMERA IS STILL ON! THE LIVE STREAM NEVER TERMINATED! WE ARE STILL ALIVE!!! THE WHOLE INTERNET SAW THAT!!!”
Taehoon just burst into a loud, genuine, and entirely unbothered laugh. With effortless, martial-arts precision, he reached out, caught Hobin firmly by his ankle over the pink apron, and dragged him right back across the couch cushions, pulling him straight into his solid chest.
“Let them watch,” Taehoon murmured, wrapping his arms securely around Hobin’s waist, burying his face in the crook of Hobin’s neck. “Now shut up and come here.”
As for the viewers’ live comments on the backup feed after that fateful moment... well... that was a whole other story. The chat log literally crashed the streaming platform’s servers within thirty seconds from the sheer volume of capital letters and emoji spam.
Needless to say, the Yoo Hobin Company didn’t have to worry about stagnant views ever again. The two of them were the absolute number one hot topic of the entire global internet for a full 2 months straight, and Snapper’s laptop screen was permanently flooded with ad revenue... Lol.