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On the screens of the viewers who are currently watching an outrageously loud stream, there is a 19 year old silver-haired boy dressed in an oversized army green shirt and clearly worn grey sweatpants. By the looks of his relentless movement, you’d assume was doing a non-stop 10 hour speed walking challenge.
This is none other than Till, a growing influencer who’s caught the hearts of many people.
He calls himself “Unknown”, and as cool as that might sound to an elementary student who’s going through an edgy phase, he’s quite the opposite of his own username. The media appreciates him due to the transparency and humor he showcases in his livestreams and uploads.
They all know that despite how mean he might look to the people around him at first, this streamer, Till, is very likeable. He’s made a large fanbase over the past few months of streaming, just by being naturally entertaining, yet also being brave enough to show emotions and talk about complex, sensitive topics that other influencers wouldn’t dare to touch.
While his uploads are mainly considered fun and energetic, one of the appeals is that they’re also balanced. Some of his streams may include raging and screaming at games, and some others would feature him singing a low beat song while strumming his guitar quietly.
Though, if his fans can describe today’s stream in one word, they’d say it’s absolute chaos.
“Okay, what the fuck! Chat is the batter supposed to be this gooey?” Till says, practically vibrating due to panic.
SunnyStarrx: brother why is it glowing
unknown.till.fan: PLS
Emyyaah: what do u think till
Mizi_clematis: it’s radioactive at this point
“You guys have to stop entering my streams just to shit on me.” Till says, as he takes one more look at his baking process. He disregards the fact that maybe they all have a point. “It’s…not bad..? I think. Fuck. What if he hates it?! Oh my god, chat I’m starting over.”
In case you missed it, Unknown is baking a cake for a special someone. That someone is his beloved–
–childhood friend that he lives with. All his frequent watchers are familiar with this man mentioned often in his streams, however, he keeps the name and face of this friend anonymous to avoid confrontation. Everybody has been begging for the reveal of who this friend really is, especially knowing that Unknown has always seemed so passionate in their friendship.
—----------------------------------------
→ 40 minutes ago…
It started off with an unusual sight. Till usually streams in his bedroom, either sitting in bed or on his gaming chair, close to the camera. At present, he is in his kitchen, displaying a variety of baking ingredients and materials. His camera and laptop seem to be placed at a corner, giving the audience a good enough view on what he's doing. “Okay, hello people.. welcome. Chat is flooding rather quickly, so I’ll explain our activity today.”
Hyunaswifeyy1: HELLOOOO UNKNOWN MY BELOVED
jaxcutie_qzx: wassup chat
“It’s a bit different than our usual programming… we are going to bake a cake.”
Till ignores the insulting comments from his dear fans that he can’t bake for shit, he will absolutely burn the kitchen down, and if he’s really, really sure he wants to do this. “For context, my friend has been really overworked lately and earlier this morning, I was told that he was first place in our Math and Science quiz competitions last week. So.. he deserves a treat. Yea, I'm bragging about him. You got a problem with that? I'm banning your ass.”
marhmellohh0419: not even 5 mins in and he already mentioned his friend
tilly.truther: OMG OMG will friend finally be on today's stream!??!
Lightn1ngbolt: heyyyy wat we doin
“So I decided to give him a gift, and he loves sweet treats…let’s get started! It won’t be that bad.”
—----------------------------------------
The stream goes just how everyone expected it to. With funky alternative music playing in the background, Till started off without even knowing if his ingredients were correct “Wait chat, do you use oil when making a cake?”, followed by him zoning out repeatedly trying to read the instructions on a printed out “How to Bake a Carrot Cake Perfectly!” guide.
More chaos occurs and Luka calls him just to blast the “Cooking by the book” soundtrack by LazyTown, to which Till responds by flipping him off on camera and continues his clumsy baking process, naturally cracking an egg by letting it fall on the floor. He stops and stares sheepishly at the camera. Again, he ignores the fact that chat’s probably calling him fifty different words for stupid then.
“This is for all the bitches in chat who didn’t believe in me!” His face was smug as he spoke, speaking loudly. At last, the final steps of baking the cake are reached. It took about 4 hours for Till to actually put his shit together and bake a proper cake. The majority of social media users would skip a stream that lasts that long, but to him and his fans, it’s almost always going to be enjoyable no matter what they do and how many hours it lasts. “Alright, the cake is in the oven. That went better than I expected.”
Hyuna.Rebels10: you accidentally poured wine instead of butter earlier, but sure, smooth!
He smiles at the familiar username. Much like Mizi, his other friends often come by to watch his streams for a bit. It’s their way of showing support, especially since they were Unknown’s first followers. “Hi Hyuna. I hope you and Luka are doing well. Tell him he owes me food.”
Hyuna.Rebels10: shut up brat
lovehearts4u: luka we know its u
Till allows himself to relax, his hurried movements and panicked voice no longer active as the cake bakes itself. The streamer goes over to read as much of the chat as possible, no matter how fast they’re all sending. As he proceeds with this, he comes across an interesting question.
tilly.truther: can we ask ab ur friend?
He halts for a moment, then answers. “Can you guys ask about my friend? Hm.. depends, you all know that even though I mention him a lot, I try to avoid sharing personal information about him, since I’m afraid he himself might find this account.”
poptartbabyyy: but all your other friends follow you though?
A series of the same question and agreements follow after. The silver-haired boy laughs, “I forgot how little information I've actually told you all about my relationship with him. Alright...uhm, I guess I have time to yap my ass off again while my cake bakes.”
Surprisingly, he opens up a lot more than the chatters thought he would. Instead of being normal and just telling the people his name, Till introduces him as “IV”. He states that they met when Till was five and IV was seven years old.
“We would always fight, like always. We would act, like, way too childish even for our age, and we’d misunderstand each other a lot. I was a very open and welcoming kid, while he was the type to never let anybody in. Genuinely, no one could figure him out.” Till felt safe opening this up, especially knowing that his close friends were patiently listening in as well. They’ve heard this story countless times already, though.
“We struggled, but of course our fights lessened as we grew up. So yea, although we have fights every now and then, he’s very dear to me.” Without a doubt, the fact that he mentions him in every stream even though it has nothing to do with Ivan lets the viewers come to the same conclusion. Still, it surprises him how that came out of his mouth so automatic and sincere. “Ew. wait, don’t tell him I said that.”
Mizi_clematis: tilly getting in his feels rn
He feels himself flush at the way chat slows down for a bit, and it’s evident that they’re all interested. He doesn’t know why he can’t stop himself from talking about Ivan, but his fans are willing to listen and he takes great advantage of that at times like these. “A-anyway.. As you all know, I mention him a lot in my streams. When I wasn’t very known yet, I uploaded many videos letting out my thoughts about… us. —Our friendship, I mean. Some of you have probably seen those before.”
It takes Till a while to formulate his thoughts, and how he can properly explain that he’s just a nervous wreck when it comes to IV. “You guys don’t know this, until now, but some of my songs that I sing are for him, also, the artworks I show you are often inspired by him. If he sees these streams, he’ll know for sure who those are for—and I’m not ready to face his reactions yet.”
kaeyakinnie: damn
till’shousehusband: HES SO PRETTY pls keep talking
CinnamorrollQWQ: guys wdym IM the one getting in my feels rn
SuaSweetDream: “friend” never uses socmed so he’s never found this loser
Till chuckles and hums with agreement to Sua’s comment as he designs the cake he just took out of the oven. When he told her he’d start doing what he does now, she was the first to download Twitch and promote his socials albeit never being active on any of her own accounts before. If there's one thing about Sua that Till will always defend, it's that she’s not the girl stereotyped as a mean introvert by everybody else in their university, her kind heart has always been visible to Till. He makes sure his followers acknowledge that too.
“Hm… oh, I also always stream when he’s out. So he can never catch me in the act too. I’m shy like that. So, yea. I won’t mind him discovering Unknown soon, I just prefer to keep it to myself for now. Like a diary. And to interact with you guys too, of course.”
About 30 minutes later, his gift is ready. It’s an extremely beautiful (Unknown’s words, Luka begs to differ) circle single layer carrot cake, covered with melted chocolate, and drizzled with cheap sprinkles. At the very center is a hand drawn black bunny, shouting the words “Congrats!”.
“Ta-da. Cute, right?”
Gorillazzzz3: wait why’d u lowk cook
mwahbubii: u mean bake? Heh.
tilly.truther: SO PRETTY!!!
SuaSweetDream: its okay
Unknown doesn’t even register the smile that forms in his face as he continues to observe his creation and the reactions of his viewers. He starts speaking as he’s putting the cake in the fridge. “Thank you for tuning in with me again today, everyone. With how comforting you guys are as usual, I feel safe sharing details of my life in these. I’m sure ya’ll know that. I-”
“Till! I’m home. Who are you talking to?”
Till’s eyes widened at the voice. He didn’t hear Ivan enter! Panic rose in his chest and he moved quicker than ever before. He doesn’t even realize that he hadn’t fully ended his stream, as he settled on just quickly covering his devices with the bowls and equipment he’s used in the past few hours.
“H-hi! What are you doing home so early!?” His voice grows high, shrieking as Ivan raises his eyebrow.
“...Early? It’s already 5:40 PM. Practice ended an hour ago. Have you eaten yet?” The former glances at the clock and shit. Yea, he totally got distracted by his chat.
“Fuck. Uhm, well, sorry for the mess. I lost track of time.” He looks around at the obvious mess. “I was..baking for..…myself. I was craving it.” Both figures are currently unaware of the still ongoing Twitch stream behind the bowls, giving his fans enough view on what’s happening.
Mizi_clematis: this can’t b real lmao
emmy6: wait friend reveal is ACTUALLY here??????
tilly.truther: OHHHHHHMYGOD
Chuauauauahua: till u dork u left stream on
tilly.truther: awh we can’t see IV’s face
SuaSweetDream: till i’ve had a long fucking day
“Hm? You know I can just buy you what you want. You don’t need to make it yourself.” Ivan’s smile, the one reserved for Till only, flashes back on his face as the latter pulls the cake back out from the fridge. “It looks decadent. Is that really for you, Tilly?”
“Or for me?” He teases and swings his arms around the younger’s waist as the cake is placed on the counter, and Till is used to the clinginess but he still smacks him for it.
“Let go, bastard. ….Whatever. Yea, it’s for you. I know I don’t give you stuff often, but I thought I’d give you something for the awards you won. Got bored or whatever.”
Ivan’s eyes widen a fraction before going back to normal, Till notices. It’s as if Ivan wasn’t expecting him to be serious. He lets go of the boy to observe the baked sweet sitting in front of him. It’s a minute that feels too long before he speaks. “You didn’t have to, you know. Is this really for me?”
Till rolls his eyes at him. “Just take it, idiot. I just said I made it for you.”
He’s completely oblivious of how Ivan’s already seen his camera and laptop screen the second he entered the room, and to be completely honest, Ivan isn’t shocked. He already knew the whole “Unknown” shtick. He discovered Till’s channel a few nights ago, when Till left his laptop open while showering. He wasn’t snooping for any good reason, he just felt the need to know every little thing his best friend was doing, and Till always left him curious.
And so, Ivan downloaded Twitch that night. At first glance, the channel was filled with the usual music covers and gameplays he’d see from other viral TikTok users or Instagram reels. About seven hours into thoroughly watching every video he came across, he stumbled upon a section of Till’s older streams. This time, they were more casual and low quality. Till was making conversation with his fanbase, mostly talking about somebody. A friend. Mentioned over and over again, Ivan couldn’t help but be jealous.
“-And he told me he sucked at arcade games, so I invited him to hang out in an arcade just to make fun of him. Can’t believe that he won me this big bunny plushie almost immediately. I was so furious! I mean, why was he good at everything?”
Ivan quickly learned that said friend was him. He couldn’t tell anybody how long he sat cross-legged in his bed with a pillow covering his flushed face, as he listened to Till talk about their different hangouts and experiences.
“-Today’s his birthday, and I planned to…give him a drawing. But…well. I saw how much he liked the other gifts people gave him. I think I’ll just keep it.”
“-We were sitting together in class today and this asshole wouldn’t stop clinging to me. He’s seriously annoying. We got detention for it. I wish we were able to hug more in school. Wait- I meant- like the rules are so strict so-”
“-You know? That was the first dessert I actually liked. It was sweet but for some reason I liked the flavor. Iv- my friend seemed to like it though, so I gave the rest to him instead of finishing it.”
“-That’s the song. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I was too shy to play it for him so he’ll have to listen through this video, when I finally tell him about this channel.”
Ivan couldn’t stop wiggling around in his bed that night. He continued to watch more of Till’s videos the day after, and the day after that too. He was familiar with the uploading schedules, and easily familiarized all of Till’s habits and styles when it came to streaming.
He isn’t sure if it’s a good or bad thing that he missed today’s stream. He could have stayed out for a little more so Till can finish his recording and surprise properly, but he can’t find it in himself to regret it. Till is just so adorable when he feels like he just got caught. Speaking of, he still dislikes the thought of having thousands of people watching his Till all the time. He wishes Unknown was only for him to see, sometimes. That’s a selfish thought he won’t ever let out, especially since he hadn’t even known about it till now.
“You’re so sweet, Tillie.” With all that in mind, It doesn’t take much for Ivan to know his next move. He moves closer behind the boy, finding his hands back to the slim waist as he moves the both of them closer to the camera without removing his eyes from Till, very visible to the chatters.
tilly.truther: oh my god
pikkachuu_: unknown my dear why have you been hiding this BEAUTY from us
vixxie_mik: new viewer here, is till usually this gay
Mizi_clematis: usually without the other gay man but yea
“Mm.” His head lays on Till’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
If the streamer thought he couldn’t blush any more, he was way too wrong. Ivan was being so, so clingy. He could smell the strong perfume, despite the hours the student has spent outside already. “I-it’s nothing. Congrats. You always manage to be the highest ranking in everything. Now…..Get off, I have to cl-”
“I like you.” Till’s relentless pushing freezes. Through the past 19 years of Till’s life, his ears have been perfectly fine. He even got complimented multiple times by his music teacher about his good hearing. Apparently, said ears are now damaged because he could not have heard what he just thought he did. Or maybe…did he accidentally drink wine instead of water and fell asleep mid-stream? Hmmm... That makes sense. He’s dreaming right now. “What?”
“I’m unsure how you’ll respond, but this feels like the right time to finally confess. I like you, Till. I’m serious and I’ve liked you ever since we met during kindergarten. I never craved attention, until I got a hold of yours. I wanted it, I wanted your everything. So I made it my goal to leave a mark on your life.” Which is why there is a literal mark on Till’s arm, caused by Ivan years ago when he suddenly decided he was hungry and the other’s arm looked like freshly cooked, juicy rib eye steak.
“I was clueless about your feelings for me, if you’d ever reciprocate, which is why I’ve postponed this moment until now. I like you. I really like you. Everyone else who liked you back and tried pulling you away from me will never be the one who’s right for you. I want you, I want to keep you forever.” Right before his suspiciously normal and wholesome confession comes to an end, Till regains his ability to talk as he hears the last sentence. “Do you like me too?”
“I…”
God, he’s really glad his stream ended.
Wait.
Till turns his head back to the laptop, and sees the camera light turned on, the angle way too exact on their current positions to be a coincidence.
Hyuna.Rebels10: holy shit
tilly.truther: TILL?????
timekeeperSSKK: what kdrama did just i click on
Princess13_Tsumiki: he sounds so smitten around till aw
“Wait, Ivan- My laptop-” Till attempts to retaliate, but it’s too late. He can’t even feel flustered anymore, fear travelling down his bones. Ivan’s confessed to him and instead of letting them have this sincere and beautiful moment, he fucked up by livestreaming it accidentally for all media to see. Shit, he feels so guilty. Ivan was comfortable enough to tell him all this. He’d wanted it to be private for the both of them, and here Till is, embarrassing his only best friend by letting them hear. Ivan’s gaze floats to where he’s looking.
“Hm? Oh. Yea, you should probably end your stream now.”
Everything stops. He feels a sudden weight in his heart, and while replaying Ivan’s words over and over, it feels heavier. Ivan...must have surely planned all of this. Right. Of course Ivan wouldn’t actually confess. He knew, and had only said all of that for the sole purpose of making whatever Till was recording entertaining.
“..Okay.” He pulls away, and Ivan is left startled at how unresponsive he was as he shuts off his stream completely, ignoring the screaming chat. Till feels so stupid, he wishes Ivan would take it back when he next says—“That was..a good bit, Ivan. I’ll fix the kitchen up.”
He doesn’t know how to tell Till that it wasn’t that. He was serious, he loved Till, and he just wanted everybody to hear that so they know that he was always first. If this had happened during the early days of their friendship, Ivan would have taken the response as a sign for him to stop trying and never speak to Till ever again.
That was what led to most of their serious fights. Till was such an expressive boy, loud and giving. Whenever Till had given him something, may it be a drawing or a rock, Ivan was afraid to take. He was scared that if he took too much, he would slowly get tired. His solution to this was to keep destroying all of the gifts the boy had spent his own precious time picking and caring for, so Till would keep on giving more. Instead, this caused physical fights. Everybody but them could understand how problematic their actions were.
They had finally realized each other’s motivations and stopped misunderstanding so much through the years. Ivan learned that Till wouldn’t just disappear out of nowhere, and Till grew more comfortable around him, recognizing that he needs to be more patient with Ivan. Now, Ivan wasn’t the same angsty teen; He could read him much easier. Observing Till’s slouched figure, doleful voice, and eyes that refused to look at him, Ivan knew he fucked up.
“Wait, Till. I didn’t do that for your stream. I meant every word.”
“It’s fine, Ivan. I really just wanted to congratulate you.” His love finally looks at him, but he remains sad at the sight. Till could only smile back at his expression. “Just wanted to give something for your hard work. You don’t need to console-”
Before he could continue, Ivan pulls their bodies closer than they were before and does something that has only happened in Till’s imaginations. His eyes widen but slowly relaxes as Ivan presses their lips together. It lasts too short before he separates and opts for holding Till close in order to explain again.
“I know about you. I know about Unknown. I know about your old videos.” He expects the shocked, flushed face that’s immediately presented to him, and he figures that this isn’t the right time to gush at how cute his Till is. He’ll have to mentally save that image for later.
“I’ve truly loved you for years, and your videos helped me understand that you… may at least.. like me back, too. I finally gained the courage to confess to you days ago when I first came across your account. This isn’t a joke, I wanted everybody to know you were always mine.” A million thoughts were racing through Ivan's mind. He had no idea what he was even saying, but the desperateness made all of the thoughts he's suppressed for years come out in babbles. At this point, he was gripping the other so tightly, but neither of them noticed due to the intensity of their emotions. Till couldn’t respond for too fucking long. He hides his face on the boy’s shoulder. “You’re the only one who interests me, keeps me motivated to wake up everyday. I love you so much, I’ve kept it for years. Please, Till. Accept my feelings.”
Unable to say anything, Till finds himself leaning and kissing Ivan once again.
It stayed steady until a small “Mmh..” was heard and Ivan took this as an invitation, deepening the kiss with his tongue.
His hold around him gets tighter, not enough to hurt, but enough to show the possessiveness taking over. He had spent years trying to hold Till as much as he could, afraid to let go. He couldn’t believe that now, Till was actively reciprocating his kiss. They spend minutes touching and exploring, enough for Till to comprehend how much the other loves biting his neck. By the end of it, Ivan’s legs are in between his.
Softer kisses come, and Till whispers. “I…take it this means you like my gift?”
“Of course I do.”
They held each other quietly, as though they were afraid that one abrupt movement would break what they have now. A moment later, Till looks up at his best friend, “...I like you too, Ivan.”
The jock smiles. “Mhm. I figured, baby.”
He gags at the response, not long before smirking, ready to tease the other. “Don’t think I’ll forget you claiming I was always “yours” earlier.” Ivan instantly blushes and whines, miserably failing to defend himself. It doesn’t matter, Till thinks, he already knew that before Ivan did, anyway.
Later, two slices have been cut out of the carrot cake for the two boys to eat together while they bicker non-stop. Everything returns to normal, and the only change is that now, their love grows even stronger every second.
—----------------------------------------
Days later, Till decides it was time for a short stream. His notifications have been blowing up, filled with thousands of questions, numerous tags on Twitter, and even advanced congratulations from his friends. He owes his fans an explanation on what really occurred after the last one was filmed.
This time, though, he’s not by himself. “Welcome to my live, guys.” He’s got Ivan beside him. “Hi! It’s nice to meet everyone.”
cand1es4tig3r: care to explain how the last stream ended
Ducky0218ducky: TELL US THE TEA NOW
tilly.truther: two beautiful beings on my screen im blessed
“I got a boyfriend.” He smiles and points to the raven-haired, currently hugging his waist and sticking their face together. After the incident, they talked it out and decided to make it official. Not in front of anybody else, just for them, in their little home, as their own private moment. Ivan smiles at the camera, and it's one of the brightest anyone has ever seen from the boy.
LoveLuka: I’m so telling Io
wishfulwonders: its not obvious or anything
YummyPurinn: well yes!
11dozenChoco: CONGRATS