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In the end, they're not too different. His best friend and this Yungy from another universe are pretty much the same person. This is both a good thing and a really bad thing.
Good because it takes maybe twenty minutes after meeting for the awkwardness to pass into a fit of laughter. Good because he loves his best friend and he damn near teared up when Yungy left for Australia again. Good because he can hug him tight enough to hurt and have it be almost if not fully the same as hugging his best friend.
But the bad … oh, the bad is bad. Getting a crush on your best friend the first time you meet him sucks enough, but he thought he'd at least get the time to shove the crush to the back of his mind. He thought he'd have at least half a year to get rid of these feelings for good so he wouldn't have to embarrass himself. Instead, he's having to teach another version of his crush—his gay crush, by the way, he's apparently gay which is news to him—everything new about this unfamiliar world.
A couple weeks pass without a hitch. Living alone means it's damn easy to keep an otherworldly visitor a secret. That makes it sound like he's hiding an alien in his house. Is he? Can Yungy be considered an alien? He's definitely not entirely human.
Pentar's watching Yungy cook a meal for them from his dinner table. He leans against it, watching with a careful eye how chicken is moved around in a pan. So far, so good. He taught him about spices a week ago and now Yungy is insufferable about wanting to try all of them. He insists on cooking too. In his words: "it's the least I can do to pay you back for taking me in."
It's adorable. It's making his situation worse.
From where he stands, he has the perfect view of Yungy's toned muscles. And, okay, his actual best friend isn't weak in capacity. He works out too. This is different. It's not even in the same ballpark. This Yungy is strong without effort. Hell, he'd torn a door straight off its hinge without breaking a sweat, in one try. He supposes it's kind of hard not to be this strong in a world where Lifesteal is real. Fighting every day, running whenever you're not fighting, building and mining and exploring and more fighting. Things like that do tend to buff you up a lot.
He wants to kiss him. The thought isn't one that comes out of nowhere, he's been plagued by it for days in a row now. His heart keeps beating quicker at the idea. His face goes a little redder. What wouldn't his actual best friend think of him? He's being ridiculous.
The ringing of his phone is his saving grace in case Yungy turns around from his cooking to look at him. He clears his throat, pushing himself off the table to look at his phone.
Oh fuck. He glances up at the other, face going redder. He's even more cooked now.
Swallowing a growing lump in his throat, he picks up the discord call and puts his phone to his ear. "Hey Yungy, what's up?" To ignore the tilt of the other's head, he turns his back to Yungy.
"Bro, are you okay?" He's missed that awfully sounding mic of his, strangely enough. It's comfortable, familiar. "Pentar, you've been ghosting me for weeks."
He chews on his bottom lip. It really has been weeks. He knew he'd ghosted Yungy a little bit, but weeks? Fuck. He's a bad friend, isn't he?
"Sorry, I—I …" He paces around, stumbling over a random shoe on the ground as much as he's stumbling over words. "I didn't mean to. VidCon was just a lot for me, y'know? My leg, meeting everyone, the panel, the booth—" He's definitely just listing things to make his excuse make sense. Most of it is bullshit though. Three of those things give him energy, have him hyped for months on end.
"You sure, dude? I'm sorry about your leg, bro. If I knew how much it'd fuck you up to jump around like that I would've been careful. I'm sorry. Bro, if that's what causes some bad blood between us, just— Pentar, please tell me how I can make it up to you. I'm sorry, okay?"
His heart shatters and heals all over. A fond smile finds its way onto his face with ease. Between all the shouting and yelling and jumping and all the excitement that is his best friend, there's a boy who genuinely cares and will do anything for his friends. To be at this end of that care makes his heart beat against his ribs in an attempt to escape and get to Yungy through the phone.
If only he knew. God, please don't let him know.
"No, I swear that's not it, Yungy. I'm not mad, I swear. I was never mad, Yungy." He hopes his own honesty makes its way through the phone. There is no good mic to back him up here.
"Then talk to me, bro. What's going on? I know you don't just ghost me for no reason because you feel like it. Did something happen? I want you to be okay, Pentar."
Something definitely happened. The 'something' is stepping into his view, eyebrow raised, a knowing look sparkling in those mischievous eyes of his. Pentar chokes up in an instant. To be hiding something from his best friend—two things, at this point—feels like a stab to the heart. He doesn't want to lie to him. He's pretty sure he has no other choice.
"No." Usually, he's pretty good at lying. This isn't one of those moments. His throat clogs up a little too much and his stomach does a couple too many flips when the Yungy in front of him gives him an encouraging look. The guy even silently mouths a 'tell him'. Fuck. Fuck that and fuck him. "Nothing's up."
"Bro …" Now he sounds disappointed. "What's going on with you, man? No one knows. You've hardly been online. You— you know you can talk to me about anything, right? I'm your best friend."
Pentar can't look away. Even when he's backed up until he hits his dinner table and he's caged in by the other Yungy, he can't look away. A shaky breath escapes him. If this were the Yungy from the discord call, he would've pushed back, he would've made him back up with a laugh. He can't.
"Pentar? Everything okay? Shit, are you crying? I can—"
"I'm not—I'm not crying, Yungy. I promise." Despite everything, he can huff out a laugh. Everyone involved can tell how nervous the laugh is. "I don't know … I've been going through some weird stuff. I … I don't know if I could explain it to you."
"You scared the shit out of me, man. Can you just—" Yungy is trying not to sound annoyed, and it's mostly working, just not entirely. Most of it's worry. "Please just talk to me? Anything, bro. I need to know if you're okay."
He can feel Yungy's warmth. All he can really do is brace himself against the table and try to breathe when a hand settles just above his hip. If he wasn't obvious before, he is now. Every touch feels hot even through his shirt. The circles he's rubbing with his thumb are surely meant to be soothing, but now they're anything but. Is he trying to get him killed?
"I …" What part is he even struggling with? At this point, it might be easier to tell Yungy about his doppelgänger in front of him, rather than telling him he's hopelessly in love.
Still, Yungy's looking down at him with such a look. It's intense and making his stomach do flips, while at the same time being familiar, filled with understanding. If he weren't so occupied, Pentar might've wondered about their relationship on Lifesteal in that other universe. Yungy sure looks like he wouldn't think twice about kissing him. He'll ask that question later, he supposes.
Pentar wants to kiss him. His face goes red. Now more than any other moment so far, he wants to kiss him. Either of them.
Yungy raises an eyebrow at the same time as the voice on the phone goes "Pentar, what?"
"Did I say that out loud?" His heart sinks to his stomach. "Fuck, I— Yungy, I didn't mean that. Bro, just—just ignore that, okay?"
"Dude, no, wait! Pentar, are you being serious? Do you—"
He hangs up before Yungy can finish his sentence and smacks his phone down on the table. His body isn't quite working with him; it's hard to breathe, hard to do anything but stare up at the wrong version of his best friend with wide eyes and a violent blush. Did he really just tell him he wants to kiss him? He's never going to live this down.
"You should talk to him, bro." Yungy doesn't look mad, he's not scolding him. He's gentle but awfully annoying with that hand still on his hip. "Don't leave him hanging like that."
"I didn't mean to say that." He finally tears his eyes away and his chest can expand with a proper breath in.
Yungy leans in close, leaving him no chance to escape. Pentar puts his hands on his chest to push him back but all he does is remind himself how impossibly strong Yungy is. "Yes, you did," he whispers into his ear and an actual shiver crawls down his spine. Lips ghost over his neck and Yungy presses a few all over his skin. "So … why don't you? Go to him."
"I can't." He chokes on air. No longer does he try to push him away. It feels kind of … nice. No one's ever pushed him this far and it's turning his every thought into useless soup. "He lives on the other side of the world."
A sigh. Hot breath warms up the skin of his neck. He pulls away to look down at Pentar. "And travelling costs a lot of money, right? Your world kind of sucks, Pentar."
He forces out a laugh. "It does."
The phone trapped underneath his hand vibrates. He glances down at it. He's sure he got more than just this message, but under Yungy's onslaught, it's the first one he feels. Part of him is curious what exactly he'll find. Most of him is terrified.
"Pick it up, bro. C'mon." Yungy finally lets go of him and steps back. Pentar misses the warmth immediately. He misses the feeling of kisses on his neck and he wants nothing more than to know what it feels like to have those lips on his own.
He listens. His hand isn't shaking through sheer will when he picks it up to open discord. He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip. There are several messages from Yungy but he only really manages to see one of them.
'Can I come over?'
Like it's easy. Like it doesn't take an insane flight to come over. Like he doesn't care about what it takes. He swallows the lump in his throat. Of all things, he didn't expect that one. Wasn't he weirded out?
Still, he tells him yes. Pentar glances up at Yungy quickly. It's hard to tell how long the travel will take, he can't decide whether he wants it to last forever or if he wants him to get here within minutes. There's no way to prepare for this.
He puts his phone away again and drags a hand down his face. What the hell did he get himself into? How does someone even get to this point?
Now he has to push it to the back of his mind. Yungy will take long to get here, at least a day. He's got his place to clean and content to make still. And … well, the other Yungy is still here, watching his every move like he's another new thing in this world to study.
He decides he's been teased enough. Thankfully, Yungy catches him easily when Pentar pushes into his space with a wave of newfound confidence; neither version of his best friend being weirded out and instead actively enabling him burns away the fears plaguing him. In a split second, they're face to face, inches apart, breathing the same air and admitting their wants by staring at each other in the least subtle ways. He might not have wanted to say it out loud, but he sure as hell meant it.
"I really want you to kiss me," he says, giving any shame and fear no chance to come back.
Thankfully, Yungy catches Pentar's chin between his fingers and he grins easily. "I thought you'd never ask." That's all the warning he gets before their lips finally, finally connect.