LS 100

“I’ll go wait in the car. Take your time, hyung.”

Ten minutes before Moonhyuk’s shift ended, Dohee stood up. It was so cold out that he figured it’d be better to head to the car first and turn on the heater. Moonhyuk said he’d be right there, but Dohee told him not to rush.

He started the engine, turned on the heater, and sank into thought as the warm air filled the car.

Luckily, Moonhyuk seemed less awkward around him now than during the day. He still avoided eye contact and stammered a bit, but that much self-consciousness was fine. Besides, he was already in Dohee’s house, no real escape routes. And even if he tried to run, Dohee knew where he lived, where he went to school, and where he worked. A rat in a cage. Moonhyuk probably knew that too. That’s probably why he hadn’t ghosted again.

Dohee didn’t plan to push any further, at least not until the Demon Hunter raid was over. He wasn’t sure how long he’d last, but for now, he was committed.

His fingers tapped the steering wheel restlessly. He always drummed on something when he had too much on his mind. While he was lost in thought, the passenger door opened. Moonhyuk.

“Sorry. Did you wait long?”

The second the door opened and shut, cold air rushed in. Dohee snapped out of his thoughts.

“No, not at all. Aren’t you hungry?”

He asked while putting the car in gear. Truthfully, he was the hungry one, but Moonhyuk had to be, too. No way a guy that size was surviving on just cup noodles.

“Um… a little…?”

“Let’s eat something at home. I should have ingredients left from what I was planning to cook earlier.”

“Okay.”

The car went quiet again. Moonhyuk’s mind was still spinning from thinking about Dohee all day, and Dohee had a whole storm of thoughts in his own head. Eventually, Moonhyuk broke the silence, glancing at him cautiously.

“Today… you said you were meeting a friend?”

“Yeah.”

“…Can I ask what you talked about?”

“Oh.”

So it really was on his mind. Dohee bit back a grin.

“Just some stuff. He’s a friend I got close to back when I used to stream. I told him I’m planning to start again, so we talked about that. He’s gonna introduce me to an editor, too.”

In the end, he’d agreed to let Jinhee connect him with an editor. The past was the past. And if the editor still felt sorry about everything, maybe he’d put in even more effort this time. Besides, what mattered now wasn’t the history, it was how good the editing was. The portfolio Jinhee showed looked solid. The thumbnails were on point, too. They’d agreed to test things out with a sample edit using some old GoSupp videos.

“Ah…”

“What, were you curious? Dying to know who I was meeting?”

Dohee asked with a teasing lilt in his voice as he turned a corner. He thought Moonhyuk would stammer and deny it, but surprisingly, Moonhyuk answered.

“…A little.”

Dohee almost hit the brakes. He glanced sideways. Moonhyuk’s ears were red.

God, seriously. What am I supposed to do with this guy? He’s so cute.

He really was jealous.

“Hyung.”

“…Yeah?”

“I’ve got high standards. I could meet that guy a hundred times and not feel a thing. He’s not my type.”

He couldn’t stop himself from laughing. Moonhyuk flailed, clearly flustered.

“T-that’s not what I meant when I asked…”

Yeah, sure it wasn’t. Dohee didn’t say that out loud though. As they pulled into the underground garage, he shrugged. When he glanced over, Moonhyuk’s face was beet red. He looked totally overwhelmed. The more confused and unsure he got, the better. Was that mean? Probably. Oh well.

“Never mind, then.”

“….”

Moonhyuk looked like he might cry.

After parking, they stood in front of the elevator. Dohee turned and drove the nail in deeper.

“Oh, and out of everyone I’ve ever met, hyung, you’re the best-looking.”

Moonhyuk’s mouth slowly fell open. Even as they stepped into the elevator and Dohee pressed the button, he didn’t move a muscle. Dohee leaned toward him, holding the ‘open’ button.

“What are you doing? Get in.”

Moonhyuk finally came back to life and scrambled inside. Dohee turned toward the elevator mirror and caught Moonhyuk’s reflection. He looked like he couldn’t even breathe.

To Baek Dohee, the guy with famously high standards, Kwon Moonhyuk was the most handsome person he’d ever seen. He wondered if Moonhyuk really understood what that meant.

He didn’t ask. He just watched the numbers on the panel change.

He had to stop himself from grinning again.

💎

They whipped up simple pasta with leftover ingredients. Dohee had offered to cook, but this time Moonhyuk stepped up, sleeves rolled up with determination. With that expression, Dohee didn’t have the heart to say no. So he stood beside him, giving verbal instructions on how to cook the pasta.

And somehow, Moonhyuk nailed it. Said it was his first time, but was it really? The garlicky pasta was just right for Dohee’s taste. Surprisingly, Moonhyuk could cook pretty well.

After cooking dinner and a quick shower, they played for another hour before bed. They were both eager to hit level 130 before the weekend raids. Better to raid with a clear mind.

They still hadn’t done any weekly quests either. They’d been so focused on leveling their IngSupp. The plan was to reach 130 by the end of the week and knock out the weeklys too. Plus, Dohee had another mission: to get Moonhyuk a full level 130 set.

Thankfully, there were still pickles left from before. They sat across from each other, silently eating pasta and picking at the pickles in the middle of the table. Dohee watched as Moonhyuk stabbed three pickles at once with his fork. Just then, an idea popped into his head. It wouldn’t be a bad time to ask.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“You know how I said I’d stream the Demon Hunter stuff?”

“Yeah.”

Moonhyuk nodded, chewing pickles, with a little parsley on his lip. It was cute enough to make Dohee smile again. Moonhyuk blinked, confused. Of course, Dohee had no intention of telling him about the parsley.

“What do you think about me… showing my face on stream?”

“…Huh?”

Clank! The table shook. Moonhyuk missed the pickles and stabbed the plate instead. He winced and shook his hand a few times like it stung.

How hard did he hit it?

Dohee peeked at the plate. Sounded like it should’ve cracked, but it was fine.

“All of a sudden?”

Dohee looked at him. Moonhyuk cradled his sore hand, his face looking almost… mournful. Just some downturned brows and a twitch of his lips, and he looked like a man carrying five thousand sorrows.

Dohee stared for a moment, then shook himself. Handsome people were dangerous.

“It’s not completely sudden.”

“…Why?”

Dohee set down his fork. He’d nearly finished anyway. Resting his chin on one hand, he looked at Moonhyuk, who seemed a little anxious. Maybe it was just his imagination. Dohee tapped his own cheek.

Why?

“You know how our raid team and Xeno’s don’t get along, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Yapdeuk’s gonna stream when Demon Hunter drops. He’s the Xeno guildmaster. We did Hana full clear together a long time ago, then we had a falling out.”

“Yeah… I saw the video.”

“Well, he screwed me over, hyung.”

“…?”

Dohee opened his mouth, then closed it again. He suddenly didn’t feel like explaining all the Kim Hawon drama.

“Something happened. I didn’t know at the time, but he pulled some seriously nasty stuff. So I’ve been thinking about it all day. If I say I’m coming back as GoSupp, a lot of people’ll probably check it out, right? Out of curiosity, if nothing else.”

“Yeah.”

“But that’s not enough. Especially during Demon Hunter—I, really don’t want to lose to Yapdeuk. We’re both streamers. Best revenge? Stealing his viewers. Separate from the full clear, I just want to get back at him, and I thought this might be a good way.”

Moonhyuk didn’t say anything, just listened.

Dohee watched his expression. Usually, he could read Moonhyuk like a book. Not now. It was complicated.

Was he upset? He looked like he might cry. Or maybe he was just nervous.

“I’ve never shown my face. I’ve gotten a ton of requests, but I wanted people to focus on the game, so I always said no. But if I do it during my comeback stream… Honestly, I know it sounds arrogant, but it’ll make waves. I’ll get way more views than Yapdeuk, at least for that day. That’d feel pretty damn good.”

Even after Dohee finished, Moonhyuk stayed silent. Their half-eaten pasta cooled on their plates. Moonhyuk stared at the pickle bowl. Dohee felt a little irritated.

He knew he was good-looking. Objectively, no SoGod streamer had better visuals. Well… unless Moonhyuk suddenly decided to start streaming.

Back then, he hadn’t wanted attention for his face. He just wanted to play support, enjoy the game, and connect with people. But that was then. Now was different. And if he showed his face, viewers would flood in. That was a fact.

He expected Moonhyuk to say it was a good idea. The lukewarm response threw him off.

Eventually, Dohee spoke again.

“Hyung.”

“…Yeah?”

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Is it bad? Do I sound petty?”

The question was light, a little teasing. Moonhyuk shook his head, then slowly spoke.

“It’s not that…”

“Then?”

“I just… I don’t know how to explain it.”

“What?”

“Like… the thought of so many people… seeing your face…”

“…?”

“I don’t know why I don’t like it…”

Moonhyuk’s voice was so quiet it barely registered. Dohee frowned, straining to hear, then froze.

What… did he just say?