Chapter Text
It probably has been a good two minutes since he’s been staring at the ramyeon options in front of him, contemplating between the classic Shin Ramyun or Wang Tukong, which has his own face staring back at him, as if daring him to pick anything else. He reaches out a hand guiltily once he’s finally decided, his fingers mere inches from the cup when a sudden and quick movement in his periphery makes him freeze.
He’s no stranger to literal strangers coming up to him, thankfully mostly fans as opposed to haters at least, but he’d hoped tonight won’t be one of those nights. He just wanted a snack for heaven’s sake.
The figure reaches him sooner than he can react - either by stepping away, running or something, and then suddenly an arm is linked through his. He panics for a few seconds as this is kind of new. His fans are usually quite respectful and do not encroach on his personal space. They usually tell him they’re a fan and at most, ask to take a picture together. Well, now this person is clearly an outlier. He still hasn’t had a clear view of the person, who also similarly has his hood up. Sanghyeok does it to be more inconspicuous of course. He’s not sure what this guy’s deal is.
Before he can get back to his own senses and brush the arm off, the man’s familiar cologne catches up to him. The panic disappears, though not entirely as he’s still not a hundred percent sure.
“Hyung, help. Just play along please.”
Okay, it’s him. Sanghyeok finally lets himself relax though when Jihoon’s words finally sink in, he freezes slightly, suddenly alert. He doesn’t get a chance to ask what’s going on when a woman jogs up to them, her eyes fixed on Jihoon.
Jihoon doesn’t let her speak, blurting urgently, “Nayeon-ssi, I told you I’m already seeing someone. This is my boyfriend.”
She finally deigns to look at Sanghyeok, who in turn gapes at Jihoon, whose pleading eyes seemingly begging Sanghyeok to say something.
The woman gasps audibly. Sanghyeok can immediately theorize multiple reasons for her surprise. Firstly, there’s Faker standing right in front of her (sue him for being smug but this has happened literally so many times). Secondly, the fact that the guy she’s apparently after is allegedly already in a relationship. So there goes her chance. Or, and this is the likeliest reason, it could be because what she has just heard and is witnessing is a massive bombshell that could break the news. Faker and Chovy, the rivals, are lovers? Who’d have thought?
Jihoon’s grip on his arm tightens, though not in a way it may hurt but noticeable regardless, breaking Sanghyeok out of his inner monologue. Jihoon smiles at him and unconsciously, Sanghyeok finds himself smiling back.
Here goes nothing, he thinks.
He turns to face the woman and nods decisively. “Yes, Jihoonie’s my boyfriend.”
“Thanks once again, hyung and I’m so sorry I had to do that.”
Sanghyeok chuckles. That’s probably the fifth time Jihoon has thanked him and apologized ever since the woman left the convenience store in a huff after finally believing her eyes. It helped that Sanghyeok placed his palm over Jihoon’s hand that’s holding on to his arm.
The first apology and thanks came with a lengthy explanation that Sanghyeok didn’t necessarily need but was willing to hear regardless. The woman is apparently a staff who Jihoon used to work with from before Gen.G and who’d apparently been harboring a crush on him. She’d only recently started to pursue him despite Jihoon’s rejections, though he admittedly probably didn’t do a good job at that.
Sanghyeok’s thoughts had wandered at the fact that her advances only started recently despite her crush seemingly having been going on for ages. He considered briefly that perhaps Jihoon was seeing someone back then but dismissed the thought immediately. He’d heard from both Minseok and Hyeonjoon that Jihoon is as married to League of Legends as he is.
He looked up at Jihoon then who was still rambling on about her seeing him enter the store and him luckily clocking Sanghyeok, though he said he wasn’t sure because he only saw his back. His hair has grown a bit more now since the last time they met and whilst Jihoon has always been good looking, Sanghyeok thought he looks even better now. His heart skipped a beat for some reason. It must be the realisation that this must be why the woman is finally actively pursuing Jihoon.
“It’s fine Jihoon-ah. I’m glad I could help,” Sanghyeok reassures before he gets yet another apology. It’s bad enough that Jihoon had taken it upon himself to pay for his purchases and then help him carry his stuff as they walk together to the dorms.
“I hope she’ll stop bugging me now.”
“Let me know if you need more help,” Sanghyeok offers as they part, taking pity on the other. He pushes the sudden thought of not minding playing boyfriend if it means getting to link arms with Jihoon again all the way to the back of his mind.
The next day comes like clockwork but what is unusual is Sanghyeok waking up even before his alarm. It’s not like he forgot to close the blinds either, his room is still kind of dim despite it being possibly late morning already. He blinks his eyes tiredly, staring at the ceiling when the noise outside his room, specifically just outside the door, gets louder. He can’t make out the words but it surely seems like at least two people are in a deep discussion, evidently not caring about anyone trying to sleep in. He wonders if there’s a sudden infestation of rats or cockroaches in the living room or kitchen or literally anywhere else that they decided to chat right outside his room.
Sighing, Sanghyeok begrudgingly gets out of bed and walks to the door. When he opens it, two shocked faces of Minseok and Hyeonjun greet him, the latter’s fist hovering in the air as if about to knock.
“What’s going on?” Sanghyeok asks, his slight worry dissipating as by the look of their faces, nothing extremely bad had happened.
“Hyung.”
Sanghyeok stares back at Minseok, waiting but the support does not say anything else.
“Yes?”
“Hyung.”
It’s Hyeonjun this time and Sanghyeok’s patience is running pretty thin at this point.
“Yes?”
Instead of a verbal answer from either of them, Sanghyeok finds himself being pulled towards the living room, Minseok’s hand warm around his left wrist, gentle and careful. Hyeonjun then pushes him down slowly towards the couch.
“Have you woken him-” Hyeonjoon stops mid-sentence once he sees Sanghyeok sitting on the couch, puzzled but clearly awake, as he joins them in the living room, Suhwan trailing closely behind.
One by one, his teammates take a seat around him, Minseok and Hyeonjun closest on his sides. He feels goosebumps rise at the back of his neck, thoughts running trying to think if he’d broken a promise or if he’d sleepwalked and said something outrageous last night. Well, who knows?
“Is this-” he pauses, gathering his wits, “an intervention?”
Minseok, the brat, snorts but again stays mum.
“Er kind of.”
Thankfully Hyeonjoon remembers how to speak so Sanghyeok focuses his attention on him. “About what?”
“Firstly hyung, we don’t judge and we’re not questioning your choice,” Hyeonjoon opens, eyes darting between him and the rest, “We’re just surprised I guess.”
“By surprised, he means massively disappointed and upset that we have to find out from elsewhere.”
Hyeonjoon swiftly slaps Minseok gently at his outburst while Hyeonjun and Suhwan try their best not to laugh, looking down at their laps instead.
Sanghyeok sighs, none of the happenings in the past few minutes making much sense to him. “What are you on about?”
“You and Jihoon hyung dating! It’s trending now, hyung,” Hyeonjun exclaims, flashing his phone toward Sanghyeok but waving it so fast that he barely makes out anything.
“Someone posted something first in the LoL forum last night saying they heard Jihoon hyung saying you’re his boyfriend and you practically confirmed it by saying the same thing. There’s no photo but somebody else said they saw you two last night looking cozy at the convenience store and someone also said they saw Jihoon hyung walking you back and carrying your stuff for you-”
“And another person said they saw you two hugging and Jihoon kissed your cheek before he left.”
Sanghyeok bursts out laughing, “What, no, that didn’t happen.”
“But the rest is true?” Suhwan asks tentatively, finally breaking his silence.
Sanghyeok pauses to think before he responds, channeling his inner Suhwan. Technically, they are true though he’s not sure about cozy but if the person said it was, then he’s not going to fight them.
“I can explain-” he starts but the sound of his alarm steals his attention, promptly gesturing wait with his hand as he takes off in a jog to grab his phone.
When he returns a minute later, having been distracted by a few notifications on his phone though he notes none from his pretend boyfriend, their manager who apparently has just arrived is ushering the boys to get ready. When he sees Sanghyeok still in his sleep clothes, he waves him back to his room to get ready too, muttering under his breath that they’re going to be late to the promotional content shoot.
Afterwards, there’s barely any time or chance to explain, their manager briefing them about the shoot in their drive over and once they reach the studio, make up and hair need to be done and soon the shoot starts. If he wasn’t convinced the news of him dating his rival is trending, he is now. It does not escape his notice that almost everyone is looking at him differently today, not bad different but more curious. At least the staff are quite subtle about it. The same cannot be said about his teammates who keep glancing at him every few minutes and some, namely Minseok and Hyeonjun, are so distracted that they have to be reminded of their script multiple times.
It’s no surprise that they’re almost late to their next schedule which happens to be a shoot for the LCK. With all the other teams. Great.
Sanghyeok can’t say he’s looking forward to more curious glances. At least he hopes this time the attention will be halved. Life can be fair at times.
In the waiting room, when there’s finally a lull in activity and no outsiders around, Sanghyeok braces himself for the inevitable. Everyone’s clearly been restless the whole morning and it’s been ramping up the past few minutes. As soon as the door closes, Minseok almost jumps in his effort to sit close to Sanghyeok, followed closely by the rest.
“Okay, please explain.”
Sanghyeok takes a deep breath, the words forming in his head already but of course before he can open his mouth, there’s an urgent knock on the door.
Both Minseok and Hyeonjun groan in unison and Suhwan uncharacteristically throws his arms up in frustration. Hyeonjoon only shakes his head but dutifully stands up to open the door.
“You!”
Hyeonjoon’s sudden exclamation distracts the rest from staring at Sanghyeok as if worried he’ll disappear if they look away even for a second, turning their attention towards the door instead. Jihoon stands at the threshold sheepishly, he doesn’t seem at all surprised by Hyeonjoon’s non-greeting, presumably knowing the other well enough to expect such a reaction.
“Hi,” he says softly, walking in without waiting to be invited. His gaze sweeps over the remaining T1 players in the room before settling on Sanghyeok. “Hyung, can I talk to you for a bit, please? In private.”
It’s clear he didn’t initially intend to add the last bit but Sanghyeok thinks it’s necessary regardless, considering the slight tension in the room. He knows his teammates very well by now.
“Sure,” he says, standing up swiftly and ignoring the immediate cries of protest. He follows Jihoon out of the room, who seemingly has a destination in mind if the way he’s walking confidently is any indication, checking once in a while to ensure Sanghyeok is following. They walk past a flabbergasted Wooje and Minhyung who are clearly on their way to the T1 waiting room. It doesn’t take a genius to guess their motivation.
The room Jihoon brings Sanghyeok to is empty, not much smaller than their own waiting room. He wonders if Jihoon had scouted the building beforehand.
“Hi hyung,” he says, smiling tentatively as he finally looks at Sanghyeok properly.
“Hi.”
“I take it you’ve heard the news? I’m sorry I didn’t reach out to you sooner. Things have been, well- chaotic to say the least.”
Sanghyeok chuckles. “No worries. It’s been the same for me.”
The smile drops off Jihoon’s face instantly, a frown creasing on his forehead, “Oh no, hyung. I’m so, so sorry again. Did I cause you any trouble?”
A sudden warmth envelopes him, touched by the younger’s visible concern.
“Nah, there’s no trouble. It has nothing to do with my profession after all, just a personal thing.”
Unexpectedly, Jihoon’s frown doesn’t disappear. Sanghyeok fights the urge to smooth the crease out with his hand.
“That’s worse. Did you have to explain to your girlfriend, hyung? Or boyfriend? I can help if they don’t believe you. I didn’t think of this last night and it was pretty rash of me.”
The laughter that escapes Sanghyeok comes without warning, making Jihoon stare at him in awe. Or was it just confusion?
“There’s no boyfriend or girlfriend, Jihoon-ah. Please stop worrying. There’s no trouble at all.” Aside from my teammates demanding an explanation at least. He doesn’t say this out loud of course.
“But still, I didn’t expect it to become news.”
“Well, it is what it is. It’ll die down soon enough especially if there’s no confirmation from either of us.”
Jihoon hums, seemingly in thought. It doesn’t seem his worries have disappeared however and that won't do.
“If you’re worried about me, please don’t. In fact, I think it’s been quite fun. It was honestly hilarious to see my team’s reaction earlier.”
Jihoon smiles at last and once again Sanghyeok finds himself marveling at the sight.
“The same goes for me. Jaehyuk hyung still doesn’t believe me.”
“I can imagine,” Sanghyeok grins, wishing he was there to witness it. “Wait, so they don’t know it’s not real?”
Jihoon breaks eye contact immediately, finding the scuff of his shoes interesting all of the sudden. “I haven’t said it’s pretend yet, hyung. I- I don’t know how.”
Hope blooms in his chest, creeping in slowly but surely. Sanghyeok’s not exactly sure what he’s hoping for however.
“My team doesn’t know yet either. They really seem to believe it though.”
“Oh,” Jihoon exhales, their gazes locking once more, “I’m flattered they think you’d want me hyung.”
The door opens then, revealing an LCK staff member who upon seeing the two of them in the otherwise empty room, avert his eyes immediately. Never mind that they’re not touching. Or even standing that close to each other.
“I’m sorry Faker-seonsu and Chovy-seonsu, um, we need to use this room.”
They hurry outside guiltily once the staff finishes his sentence, both sides apologising for very different reasons. Once alone in the hallway and they make eye contact once more, they can’t help themselves but burst out laughing, only walking back once they’ve calmed down.
As they get closer to their respective waiting rooms, Gen.G’s is apparently only across the hallway, they come across several players from different teams, unsurprisingly all look at the sight of them walking side by side longer than is usual. At this rate, Sanghyeok’d be more surprised if someone is acting normally.
Coincidentally just before they reach their destination, no one is around in the hallway. Sanghyeok uses the chance immediately to voice out what’s been on his mind the past couple of minutes.
“Jihoon-ah, if you’re amenable, I mean if you’re really okay with it, would you like to play pretend a while longer? I kind of want to see more of my team’s reactions.”
Jihoon perks up at the suggestion, grinning wide immediately. “Me too, hyung. Let’s do it.”
“Cool.”
They didn’t plan it but somehow the rest of the walk was spent with their arms brushing each other closely. If Jihoon notices the pinkish hue on his cheeks, he doesn’t point it out. Jihoon may not have an ulterior motive but in the deepest corner of his heart, Sanghyeok thinks it feels nice to be Jihoon’s boyfriend. Even if it’s only pretend.
They get called for their first scene as soon as Sanghyeok returns to the waiting room, much to everyone’s dismay, including Sanghyeok, because he’s buzzing to confirm his relationship with Jihoon to his team and see their reaction. But alas, that will have to wait.
Only T1, Gen.G and HLE are called for this first scene it seems, which will just involve them standing around facing the camera looking all serious. Nothing they haven’t done before. As they get to their places, Sanghyeok unconsciously finds himself seeking Jihoon out, smiling shyly when they make eye contact. The act doesn’t feel entirely foreign now that he thinks about it. Has he always been doing that? Finding Jihoon in a room full of people?
He hears a sharp cough just to his left, sounding as if someone had inhaled wrongly. He glances briefly, intending to just make sure the person is okay, and his eyes locked with Jaehyuk, whose mouth is gaping in shock. Remembering Jihoon’s words earlier, Sanghyeok smirks and turns around but not before looking back at Jihoon who’s been witnessing the exchange, grinning proudly at Sanghyeok.
Just before the director instructs them to get ready, Sanghyeok thinks he heard Hyeonjun mutter they’re insufferable at the back, followed by a few hums in agreement.