LS 79

Moonhyuk, his face flushed red, kept mumbling, “How did I not know…” and then suddenly froze completely.

Dohee pushed off the doorframe and took one step closer to him. Their bodies were now only inches apart.

Moonhyuk looked like he had forgotten how to breathe.

Dohee caught his own reflection in Moonhyuk’s wide, dark eyes and gave a small, crooked smile.

“If I started streaming again… that’d be fun, right?”

“Ah…”

“Or… would it be bad?”

Only then did Moonhyuk startle and shake his head violently, his whole body swaying with the motion.

With every shake of his head, a soft shampoo scent wafted through the air, and somehow, even in the middle of all that, Dohee found himself distracted by it.

Ah, what do I do. I really wanna hug him. Moonhyuk rushed to speak.

“I-It doesn’t have to be because of me–!”

“It’s not because of you.”

“O-oh…”

His whole face turned crimson. His ears looked like they’d pop if you so much as tapped them. His pupils trembled wildly, unable to settle. Dohee knew he should stop teasing him before Moonhyuk actually ran away, but he just couldn’t help himself.

Honestly, how was he supposed to resist when Moonhyuk reacted like this?

This was all Kwon Moonhyuk’s fault for being so damn cute. Dohee let out a quiet laugh.

“S-sorry…”

His voice was thick with emotion. What if he started crying again? Dohee’s chest fluttered in panic. A devil’s whisper curled in his ear. So what if he cries? He’d look even more handsome. But Dohee quickly spoke up, worried Moonhyuk might bolt for the front door at any second.

“I’m just messing with you.”

“…Ah.”

“Still, when you say you want to see me stream again… it kind of shakes me.”

“Mmh…”

“I was thinking about it, you know. But you… you always say such sweet things. Where’d you learn that, anyway? Saying nice things like that?”

“No, no, I didn’t… it’s nothing…”

“If I start streaming again, are you gonna subscribe, like my videos, leave comments? Show up in live chat?”

“Yes, yes!”

“What do you want to see?”

“Just… just… everything’s good…”

“What was that?”

Dohee had heard it perfectly, but he feigned ignorance just because he liked hearing it again.

“Everything’s good… I could watch you gathering materials for a whole hour if that’s what it was…”

His voice trailed off, getting quieter and quieter.

He went on to list all the content Dohee had done, how he liked the dyeing videos, the character creation tutorials (even though he’d given up halfway trying to follow them), the casual chatting while doing dailies, even PvP content like the arena and territory wars.

Now that he knew how to raid, he said he liked the raid videos too.

The bright red had faded from his face, leaving behind a soft blush as he babbled away, too cute to handle.

And at the same time, it brought Dohee a sense of relief. Because at least this person, if no one else, this person would always be on his side.

This person would always like him.

It was a different kind of comfort than what he got from Yeohoo or Yeojin. A different kind of warmth entirely.

“What if someone cusses me out or leaves a bunch of hate comments?”

Dohee asked with a pitiful little expression.

Moonhyuk, taking in Dohee’s face right in front of him, started flailing his hands helplessly.

His mouth opened and closed until he finally blurted out.

“I-I’ll!”

“You’ll?”

“Punish… them?”

He cast a quick glance at Dohee like he was waiting for a reaction.

It was probably the least threatening “punish them” anyone had ever said.

Dohee knew it wasn’t the moment to laugh, but he burst out anyway. Seeing Dohee laugh that loudly made Moonhyuk’s face turn red again.

He must’ve felt ridiculous even saying it himself. He’d probably never punished anyone in his life.

So goddamn cute. Could he just bite him once? Probably not. You weren’t supposed to bite puppies.

“You even know how to punish someone?”

“Uh…”

Moonhyuk looked completely flustered, and Dohee let out a soft chuckle.

“You don’t have to do that kind of stuff. If there’s yelling and cursing to be done, I’ll do it.”

“….”

“You just, hyung…you just tell me I’m doing well. That it’s good. That you like it. That’s all I need. Then I feel like I can really do it. What do you think?”

“…Yeah.”

Moonhyuk nodded quietly in response, and Dohee couldn’t hold back anymore, he reached out. Moonhyuk flinched at the touch.

Dohee wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned in. Even though he relaxed into him, Moonhyuk – who was practically door-sized – didn’t budge an inch.

His solid, sturdy upper body held Dohee effortlessly. Dohee could hear Moonhyuk swallow hard right next to his ear. He’d expected his heart to be racing, on the verge of bursting.

But the moment he impulsively pulled Moonhyuk into an embrace, a strange calm settled over him.

He found himself thinking, I wish time would just stop here.

Through that damn red plaid shirt, clearly a matching set with the cursed green one, he could feel Moonhyuk’s firm muscles.

What am I going to do? Would it be so bad if I just… took it off and stared? He knew this wasn’t the time for those kinds of thoughts, but they ran rampant through his head anyway.

Snapping himself back to his senses, Dohee silently recited the Korean national anthem in his head.

Damn anthem.

At this rate, Baek Dohee was going to wither away before the East Sea and Mount Baekdu ever did.

Moonhyuk’s hands hovered awkwardly in the air before finally resting gently on Dohee’s back.

His touch was so delicate it might as well have been a feather. Dohee laughed to himself at the thought.

He could feel Moonhyuk’s chest rising and falling where they were pressed together.

The frozen hands on his back slowly began to move, patting gently, sweet, unhurried.

Then Moonhyuk’s voice came softly.

“You’ll do great.”

“…Yeah.”

“All of it.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know why you suddenly decided to start streaming again, but honestly… I’m happy. Even if it’s selfish of me… I don’t care. I might not be good at scolding people or anything, but I’ll tell you you’re doing great, that I love it. I’ll comment a lot, chat a lot.”

“Yeah.”

“My grandfather used to say something to me, a long time ago…”

Moonhyuk’s voice dipped slightly lower. The gentle tone was comforting.

“My parents passed away when I was young. My maternal grandfather raised me, since I was a kid.”

“…Yeah.”

It was the first time Dohee had heard anything about Moonhyuk’s past.

He relaxed into him a bit more and nodded. Moonhyuk’s patting hand was warm.

“We didn’t have much. Grandpa was sick too, so things weren’t easy. But I didn’t think it was all that hard. Maybe I got a little upset around middle school entrance time? All the other kids got new sneakers, and I didn’t. Looking back, I guess I was a bit immature. It must’ve been hard enough just raising me when he wasn’t well. But one day, Grandpa came home with a pair of sneakers.”

“….”

“They weren’t some big-name brand that all the other kids were wearing. Just plain white ones, looked like he got them at a market. But they were new, and that alone made me happy. I think he must’ve seen me crying by myself. Otherwise, there’s no way he’d have gone out and bought them like that. Anyway, as he helped me put them on, he said–”

“….”

“‘If there’s something you want to do, something you want to have, just tell me. I might not be able to do everything, but I’ll do my best to make it happen. Even if I’m not rich and my body’s not what it used to be, I’ll always be there to support you. So don’t hold back. Just say it. If I can’t give it to you, we’ll talk about it then.’”

“….”

“Even as a kid, I knew he couldn’t actually give me everything I wanted. But hearing that… it made me feel so secure. Whether he could do it or not didn’t matter anymore. He was on my side, no matter what. He supported me. And realizing that, having someone I loved standing by me, that gave me this really special feeling.”

“…Yeah.”

“We’re… uh… friends.”

“Yeah, we are.”

“Pretty close, too.”

“We’re close.”

“I don’t know how it is for you, but for me…I really care about you, Dohee.”

“I care about you too, hyung.”

“So if I support you and cheer you on…I thought maybe that’d give you strength.”

“…Yeah.”

“So… um…”

Dohee stayed quiet, waiting for him to go on. He could hear Moonhyuk’s heartbeat pulsing steadily by his ear. Warm. Soothing.

“I just…

I hope you do what makes you happy.”

Moonhyuk’s voice was barely a whisper as he let out that little wish. And in that moment, Dohee felt like he could do absolutely anything. He lifted his head suddenly.

Moonhyuk flinched, leaning back just slightly. Their bodies parted a bit, but Dohee still had his arm around Moonhyuk’s waist.

He looked up. They were so close, his nose nearly touched Moonhyuk’s chin.

Moonhyuk’s throat bobbed with another nervous swallow.

Then, all at once, Dohee asked, impulsively:

“Can I kiss you, hyung?”