Work Text:
It all starts with that stupid picture.
Their gym trainer posts it one unassuming Saturday afternoon, and the collective fanbase meltdown that ensues is unprecedented. Or so Minseok says. Wooje is not, and will likely never be, particularly adept at maneuvering the intricacies of social media. Not that it matters either way, when Minseok gleefully sends him a screenshot barely half an hour after the picture goes live.
The attached message simply reads ‘look at this’. Given the lack of identifiable context and Minseok’s general texting habits, Wooje assumes that the picture can only be one of the support’s greatest indulgences: fluffy dogs, Minhyung, and Ahri support. Or perhaps Minhyung petting a fluffy dog while playing Ahri support.
He is so wrong.
The thing is, it’s innocent enough. The picture is just Hyunjoon shirtless from the back. Wooje’s seen that before, albeit only in short flashes when they’re forced to get changed quickly for photoshoots and the like. Besides, everyone knows that Hyunjoon has wide shoulders and enjoys working out. It’s not difficult to put two and two together, and if Wooje were the type of person to think about his jungler shirtless (which he’s not, thank you very much), this is probably what he’d come up with.
But also, what the fuck, Hyunjoon’s ripped. Wooje does not remember those shoulders looking like that, and those arms, and that back, and where did all that thick corded muscle even come from? When did that happen? How did it happen?
His phone chimes again. Minseok, clearly oblivious to the inner turmoil his actions have precipitated, sends him a string of new texts.
From: second best hyung
he says he’s prepping for a thirst trap after summer
can u believe him
how are our fans going to support us if he kills them all
A thirst trap? Hyunjoon wants to do a thirst trap. Never mind their fans. T1 might have to start looking for a new top laner.
To: second best hyung
idk
i mean
the picture isn't even that good
Okay, so maybe Wooje is overcompensating a little. But he’s got a reputation to uphold, and he will absolutely never live it down if Hyunjoon realizes his newfound power over Wooje. Never. There will be so much teasing involved. Wooje might as well move to America, play for TSM and cash out because he’ll never get a moment of peace in Korea ever again.
Minseok’s reply is astutely straightforward.
From: second best hyung
do u have EYES
To: second best hyung
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
maybe he’s just not my type
From: second best hyung
…
is that so
To: second best hyung
what do you mean ‘is that so’
i just don’t think hyunjoon hyung is that hot
wait do you
hyung u have a boyfriend
minhyung will be sad
From: second best hyung
my boyfriend is sitting next to me laughing hysterically at you
so hyunjoon’s not your type?
interesting interesting
then i guess u won’t mind if we…
To: second best hyung
if you what
hyung
if you what???
i hate u
Snitch.
That little snitch. He hopes Minseok knows that he’s fully getting kicked down the totem pole of Wooje’s favourite hyungs. Sanghyuk’s still firmly in first place, of course.
“So I heard you didn’t like my picture,” Hyunjoon drawls, draping himself against the door frame of Wooje’s streaming room, and that’s when Wooje really regrets staying late to shore up his stream quota today.
“That’s not what I said,” he says immediately. Which is technically the truth. “I just thought there was room for improvement.”
Hyunjoon doesn’t even look offended. If anything, he just seems amused. “What kind of improvement?” the jungler questions, tone amiable. Clearly, he’s not about to let Wooje off the hook so easily.
Wooje sighs, staring at his blacked out computer screen. Maybe it’s not too late to start his stream up again? “I don’t know.” He doesn’t know. That picture’s practically burned into his retinas by now. Also, he’s lying through his teeth. “Maybe show your face and smile a little. Get some constructive criticism.”
“Constructive criticism,” Hyunjoon murmurs, half to himself, but he’s grinning. “Got it. I’ll work harder.”
And it sounds innocuous enough, but Wooje has known Hyunjoon for years at this point. It’s never that easy. Work harder? Is he trying to send entire legions of their fans into shock? “Or,” Wooje points out warily, “you could just keep your shirt on.”
The only response he gets to that is a loud bark of laughter. “Now where’s the fun in that?” Hyunjoon hums, before he’s turning and sailing back out into the hallway. Wooje watches him go, painfully aware of just how impossibly wide Hyunjoon’s shoulders look in that T-shirt. How has he never noticed that before? It’s ridiculously distracting.
Okay. So this is going to be a problem.
Spoiler alert: Hyunjoon is Wooje’s type.
Or he would be, if Wooje had a type. He hasn’t really had a chance to figure it out yet, what with him spending the vast majority of his formative years glued to a computer screen. But, well, Wooje does indeed have eyes. And Hyunjoon is rather unfortunately good-looking.
That’s only the tip of the iceberg, really. The fact is that Wooje and Hyunjoon have been locked in this strange relationship thing since they both got scouted by T1. Their relationship has always been a little unconventional; Hyunjoon lets Wooje get away with pretty much anything from stealing his buffs to speaking informally. Well, he’ll put on a show and complain just for the sake of it, but at the end of the day, he’s never seriously scolded Wooje for being a little brat.
They bicker a lot, that’s for sure. Minhyung says they fight like an old married couple. Minseok calls it their ‘weird mating ritual’. Sanghyuk just gives them these knowing looks all the time, as if he’s expecting something to go down any day now. And Hyunjoon has never said a word about it.
For the record, Wooje’s fine with that. He isn’t entirely sure what he even wants out of the whole situation, and besides, he likes their current dynamic. Except when Hyunjoon does things like this.
From: second worst hyung
[picture attached]
better?
Wooje’s almost afraid to open it. He briefly contemplates deleting the message and perhaps throwing his phone off the roof, but in the end, his own burning curiosity wins out. He taps on the notification.
The picture is simple—Hyunjoon reflected in the mirror at the gym as he tosses up a peace sign. His hair’s all mussed up post work-out, grin wide and unfettered as he tilts his head to one side. It would honestly just be a pretty cute snap if it wasn’t for his lack of a shirt. And the abs.
Because yeah, Hyunjoon has those. Wooje already knew that. But he definitely wasn’t prepared for his own dizzyingly visceral reaction upon seeing them on his phone screen, looking like they’re hewn from marble even through the pixels. Hyunjoon really is Lee Sin in real life, isn’t he.
God, Wooje is better than this. He is a paragon of willpower. He is the very epitome of discipline. He is the earthly personification of self-control.
(He saves the picture.)
To: second worst hyung
when i told u that ur thirst traps could use some constructive criticism i didn’t mean from me
From: second worst hyung
who else am i supposed to get it from?
To: second worst hyung
???
From: second worst hyung
i’m waiting
Wooje groans, dropping his phone onto the couch and his face into a cushion. This is all Minseok’s fault. And Hyunjoon’s. And Minhyung’s too, because he’s an enabler. Wooje knew Sanghyuk was his favorite for a reason.
To: second worst hyung
ugh fine
6/10
u need better lighting
and maybe a different angle
From: second worst hyung
6?
tough crowd
do u like front or back angle more
To: second worst hyung
what
front
why does it matter what i think
From: second worst hyung
don’t ask dumb questions
anything else?
To: second worst hyung
keep your shirt on
From: second worst hyung
no
The next picture shows up right in the middle of Wooje’s evening stream.
Deliberately, he assumes, because that’s the kind of thing Hyunjoon would pull just to mess with him. Every last ounce of common sense Wooje has is telling him to ignore the message until he’s turned off his stream. Wooje, of course, opens it anyway.
It’s… you know, not that bad. Just Hyunjoon standing right in front of the mirror in his and Minseok’s bathroom. And contrary to the last text he’d sent Wooje, he’s actually wearing a shirt this time. Praise be. Wooje is safe.
Except for the arms.
Hyunjoon has nice biceps. Everyone knows that. The running joke is that he has to keep his jacket on when they play stage games or risk causing a stampede in LoL Park. Hyunjoon always laughs it off, but he’s definitely well aware of his impact. Especially when he’s flexing like that, shirt sleeves stretched taut against his sinewy muscles and his lips twisted into a smug smile. As if he already knows the effect he has on Wooje.
Wooje stares for so long that his queue pops. He doesn’t quite scramble fast enough to accept it, and of course, his chat gets very confused. Wooje winces as he watches the curious messages flood in, internally berating himself for even looking at the picture. Really, he should know better by now.
He ends up playing one more game, in which he’s level two ganked by the enemy Lee Sin into dying eight times as Fiora into rage-splitting for ten minutes into watching his Nexus explode spectacularly while his bot lane insult each other in snippets of English interspaced with what Wooje thinks is Mandarin pinyin, before ending his stream. Not exactly his proudest moment, but in terms of dignity, well, Wooje has no dignity.
Look, it’s not his fault that Hyunjoon is so insanely buff. Like, his forearm is damn near the size of Wooje’s entire neck. How much is he even lifting these days? He could probably bench press Wooje at this point.
That’s certainly a… um, thought. Wooje pinches himself in holy penance, then directs his final few remaining brain cells towards crafting a suitably snarky reply because that’s just how he and Hyunjoon operate.
To: second worst hyung
7/10
brownie points for wearing a shirt
i like the change in scenery
From: second worst hyung
what do brownie points get me
To: second worst hyung
leash next game
From: second worst hyung
wow
i need to start sending u more of these
No, he really, really doesn’t. Wooje’s constitution can only take so much. But never let it be said that Wooje can’t deflect.
To: second worst hyung
not if they’re all just mirror pictures
it’s getting boring
switch it up a little
be creative
don’t hold back
From: second worst hyung
u don’t like mirror pictures?
To: second worst hyung
i mean
put some effort in
u can’t coast just cause ur hot
Now why the fuck did he say that. He can almost picture Hyunjoon’s smirk in his mind’s eye.
From: second worst hyung
aww
u think im hot
To: second worst hyung
that’s not
shut up
and quit sending me thirst traps
From: second worst hyung
sorry can’t hear you over the sound of you thinking im hot
To: second worst hyung
blocked.
Belatedly, Wooje realizes that telling Hyunjoon to stop holding back might have been an act of vicious self-sabotage.
Which he really should have figured out earlier, because while Hyunjoon isn’t quite as shameless as Minhyung, he’s got that similar sort of stone-cold confidence born from hard smurfing in solo queue and people telling you you’re the best Lee Sin in the world. Rightfully so, of course. Hyunjoon works hard and it shows, in more ways than one.
This time is different. Different from the pictures before, anyway. Wooje can’t quite put his finger on why, but if he had to voice it out, he’d say it’s the vibes. Before, the pictures Hyunjoon sent had felt like thirst traps, the kind of thing he’d actually post on Instagram. For the fans, as it were.
Wooje sincerely hopes that Hyunjoon isn’t planning to post this particular picture. Sincerely.
From: second worst hyung
are u alone
Well, that’s ominous. Wooje almost thinks about lying, but he’s pretty sure Hyunjoon already knows he’s in one of the sleeping pods at the T1 headquarters. Minhyung would’ve told him. Besides, Wooje’s always here. It’s comfy and quiet and most importantly, he doesn’t have to watch Minseok and Minhyung making eyes at each other.
To: second worst hyung
yeah
From: second worst hyung
[picture attached]
thoughts?
This is a terrible idea. But Wooje finds himself tapping open the attached picture anyway.
It’s a selfie. Which, credit to Hyunjoon, is different from all the other pictures he’d taken before. He seems to be in bed, his head propped against a white pillow as he flashes his shiny teeth at the camera. One eye closed, the pink tip of his tongue peeking out from between his lips, a mischievous little grin dancing across his face. And of course, no shirt.
Wooje can’t help it. He traces his eyes across the crisp lines of Hyunjoon’s flexed biceps, the sharp edges of Hyunjoon’s collarbone, the well-defined muscles of Hyunjoon’s chest, and vaguely wonders if this even counts as a thirst trap. Aren’t those supposed to leave something to the imagination? Wooje can’t even envisage the amount of chaos that would erupt among their fan base if Hyunjoon ever posted this picture.
It certainly doesn’t help that he’s laying in bed, either. He knows what he’s doing. Wooje would be rather impressed if he wasn’t so busy thinking about Hyunjoon’s tongue.
To: second worst hyung
are u posting this?????
From: second worst hyung
maybe
why
To: second worst hyung
hyung
i mean this nicely
u look like a porn star
From: second worst hyung
…
never heard that one before
rate it
To: second worst hyung
are you serious
From: second worst hyung
ofc
should i come over there and make u
To: second worst hyung
no don’t u dare
um
8/10
From: second worst hyung
hm
better
but im starting to think ur criteria isn’t very consistent
To: second worst hyung
well sometimes i want different things
and anyway i don’t judge the result
i look at the process
From: second worst hyung
ur so full of shit choi wooje
fine
what else do u wanna see
To: second worst hyung
clothes
u should wear clothes
From: second worst hyung
[picture attached]
like this?
Wooje nearly drops his phone onto his own face. It’s an uncomfortably close call.
At first glance, the picture is a perfectly normal one by any metric. Hyunjoon’s reflection in the full-length mirror next to his wardrobe, his abs clearly on display, posture relaxed and a faintly amused glimmer in his eyes. His free hand is shoved into his pocket, and his tongue is safely tucked away back inside his mouth. All in all, pretty tame for his recent standards. Except for the oh so very slight tent at the front of his gray sweatpants.
Frankly, Wooje would like to have a word with the inventor of gray sweatpants. What’s the point of them? They don’t hide anything anyway. They especially don’t hide Hyunjoon’s… all that.
Wooje stares. And stares, and keeps staring like an idiot because what the hell is that doing here? Hyunjoon can’t be thinking of posting this, right? He’ll cause a goddamn riot.
God, it’s really hot in here. Wooje kicks the sliding door of his pod open a little, desperately in need of some fresh air. That must have been an accident. Hyunjoon probably didn’t even notice because he’s a dumbass like that. Besides, it’s normal to have... evening? Evening wood. Wooje has a dick. He’s aware of how it works.
To: second worst hyung
9
From: second worst hyung
?
Wooje decides that’s enough internet for him today. He came here to read a book in peace, damn it. Not whatever this is.
Except now he can’t stop thinking about it. He stares at the page without absorbing any of the words, his brain refusing to move on from the mental image seared into his mind’s eye. Wooje shifts uncomfortably, tossing and turning in the pod until he eventually just gives up and closes his book. He’s definitely not finishing it today. So he might as well go play some solo queue or something. Rot his brain even more. Maybe he’ll tire himself out enough to stop thinking about it.
Just as Wooje’s pushing himself up onto his elbows, the door slides open and a familiar face pops up through the aperture. “Nine?” Hyunjoon huffs, not even bothering with a greeting before he’s climbing into the pod. Which definitely was not made for two people, especially when one of them has those shoulders, but Hyunjoon clearly will not be deterred by simple logistical obstacles like that. “What do you mean, nine?”
Wooje squeezes himself against the wall, suddenly acutely aware of how small this pod really is as Hyunjoon lays down beside him. “It means one less than ten,” Wooje deadpans, earning himself a light pinch to the side that makes him yelp. “Hey! You know what it means. Good, but could be better.”
Hyunjoon looks at him, narrowing his eyes. “You’re lying,” he declares, sounding so confident that Wooje wonders if he knows something Wooje doesn’t. “You’re a terrible liar.”
“Am not.” Wooje pouts immediately, but Hyunjoon just grins deviously and shifts closer to him, until he’s nearly pressing Wooje against the wall behind him.
“How about now?” Hyunjoon drawls, and is Wooje imagining things, or did Hyunjoon’s gaze just flicker down to his lips for a second there?
“Uh,” Wooje says. His mind is completely and totally blank. How did he even get to this point in his life, again? “Huh?”
Hyunjoon’s smile grows a little toothier. “A number,” he requests.
Oh. Wooje gets it. “Nine point five,” he mutters, and Hyunjoon actually laughs huskily, the sound vibrating around the tiny compartment.
“What do I have to do to get a ten, then?”
Wooje’s throat is dry. “Try bribery.”
Hyunjoon leans in, closing the distance between their mouths within an instant.
Which, okay, may have been Wooje’s intended outcome all along, but it’s still a little surreal to be kissing his jungler in a sleeping pod of all places. Even if that jungler has been flirting with him via the conduit of thirst traps for the past two weeks. Hyunjoon’s not subtle. Neither is Wooje.
He finds himself tugged forward until he’s hovering on top of Hyunjoon. Wooje’s trying to be careful about where his own weight rests against, but Hyunjoon obviously doesn’t care because he’s wrapping his arms around Wooje’s waist almost insistently, pulling him closer. He tugs at Wooje’s bottom lip with his teeth, soothes the sting with his tongue, and Wooje has to fight down the whine that’s building in the base of his throat.
“You liked all my pictures,” Hyunjoon murmurs into his mouth, the words tinged with faint amusement even as he runs his fingers through Wooje’s hair. “Didn’t you?”
“I,” Wooje says primly, internally wincing when his voice comes out high-pitched and reedy, “have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Hyunjoon chuckles, pressing another kiss to the corner of Wooje’s lips before moving down his jaw line. “You gonna rate me for this too?”
Wooje hums in response, pretending to think about it. ‘Pretending’ being the operative word here because he’s kind of distracted by the feeling of Hyunjoon’s warm breath against his neck and cognitive thought is proving to be a real challenge right now. “Hmm,” Wooje says. “Zero.”
He almost expects Hyunjoon to push him off and call him a brat or something, but instead, the jungler just laughs. “Got any constructive criticism for me?” He asks lightly, his hands sliding over Wooje’s hips, leveraging his grip to yank Wooje down against him so that Wooje is abruptly reminded of the last picture that Hyunjoon sent. With the gray sweatpants and his, um, yeah.
It could have been the lighting, or the angle. But it sure feels like it wasn’t. All of a sudden, Wooje finds himself arrested by the imperative urge to test the true extent of Hyunjoon’s photography skills.
He uses his foot to nudge the sliding door firmly shut, before looking back down at Hyunjoon with a smile tugging at his mouth. “I think you need more practice.”