faker/kakao → lee sanghyeok/lee byungkwon
a future fic that i started on before piglet was cut from the roster a.k.a. i wasn’t gonna post it but fk it let’s pretend for now that gwangjin is back yes go hard or go home
"last is still better than the first", case in point
When Sanghyeok plays on the competitive stage for the last time, it is five years from the date he first sat down at a pc in an OGN booth. This final game is a showmatch on Leblanc, the most classic of Faker classics, right up there next to playing mirror Zeds and kicking the ever-loving crap out of Ryu. LB has been modified again in last week’s patch and even while he’s getting used to the new cooldowns on her spells he gets fed as fuck stacking a mejai’s, killing former KT players on the red side over and over again despite not feeling any particular feeling or thinking any particular thought.
He thinks that he’s had a good run, all-in-all. It’s been for him a proper battle from amateur to rookie to vaguely-vilified deity. Players still copy his builds in soloqueue and his fangirls still find him attractive—all within reason, since he’s had more time over the years to lose the teenage acne and develop a deeper aesthetic to his musculature. His hair is shorter these days and it suits him, too, outlines his jaw better and makes his general visage appear sharper-cut—when Sanghyeok looks in the mirror now, he thinks that his cheekbones are as sculpted as Gwangjin’s, and the similarities between the current him and the current Gwangjin probably don’t end there. After the match, Sanghyeok bums a cigarette off his teammate of four long years, and they smoke together on the roof of the Yongsan mall.
"You’re gonna announce it after this, huh," Gwangjin says to him, before pushing his smoke between his lips. After all this time, Gwangjin is the only one still here with Sanghyeok. If nothing else, his skills as an AD carry have aged like fine wine, even after that scare back in 2014 when kkoma gathered them around to tell everyone that Piglet was going to be removed from the main roster. kkoma didn’t take into account the factor of invincibility back then. Like Sanghyeok, Gwangjin is the type to become invincible when nobody expects it.
"I’m tired," says Sanghyeok. "That’s all."
(But if you give it enough time, even being invincible loses its most beautiful edge.)
They exit the roof together and take the stairs back down to the stadium backstage. Most of the fans and the Ongamenet crew have cleared off by now, and the practice rooms in the back are empty when Sanghyeok and Gwangjin step out from the fire exit, with the exemption of one or two stragglers haggling autographs from whichever pro-player was still stranded between them and the stadium exit. They find Byungkwon like this, fiddling with his keyboard at the doorway of the KT practice room.
Kakao’s face visibly lights up when he spots the two SKT players approaching, and Faker’s face moves into the opposite expression equally as fast.
"Hey!! Gwangjin-hyung, Sanghyeooook," says Byungkwon, and Faker flinches at the way his name is slapped around the air.
Gwangjin snickers when he sees Sanghyeok’s pained expression, but he is not enough of an asshole to rub it in. “You’re still not done packing? Where did your team go, huh?”
"I went to go take a dump so they left," Kakao grins. "The bathrooms are so clean and big here, I can poop really loudly and nobody complains."
Gwangjin isn’t impressed. “What if somebody ran off with your keyboard, huh, you reckless little shit.”
"Don’t even bother, hyung," says Sanghyeok, shaking his head. "He’s always like that anyway."
"You’re right, I’m always like that anyway," Byungkwon chirps. "Hey hey, while you guys are here let’s grab dinner together!" He sniffs the air, and his smile slips a little from his face. "You been smoking again?"
Gwangjin skirts around the question, shrugs instead. “Nah, I got plans, I’m meeting my girlfriend later. See ya, Byungkwon. I’ll duoqueue with your support tonight if you don't treat our little Sanghyeok nicely.” He pats Sanghyeok on the back, and turns around to walk out and take the escalator down to the mall below.
When Piglet disappears from sight, Byungkwon slings both arms sideways around Sanghyeok’s shoulders and immediately starts to drag him into a walk. “HA, didn’t wanna eat with him anyway!! Sanghyeoook, let’s go! I want gamjatang. What’s that, you wanted gamjatang too? No fucking way. It feels like forever since you've wanted the same thing as me. Hey, did you grow taller again? Feels like it’s getting harder and hard for me to reach up and do this—” he says, and cuts himself short to press a disgusting wet kiss on Sanghyeok’s cheek.
Sanghyeok balks. “Oh my fucking god,” he says, and extricates himself from Kakao’s tangle of bony arms. “Stop. Where the hell do you think we are.”
Byungkwon crosses his arms. “Wherever I want you to be, of course.”
"…Hey, wanna know where I want you to be right now?"
"Where," says Sanghyeok, slightly hopeful, but mostly suspicious.
"Number two on the Challenger Ladder, suck my diiick," Byungkwon says, and lets out a shrill laugh before he ducks his head to avoid Sanghyeok’s fist slamming into his face.
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