Work Text:
When Lee Kunhyeok initiated the vid call to Lu Sicheng, he knew full well that he would be exposing him to a messy display.
Fresh off of ZGDX’s championship win, the other top AD Carry of the Onmyoji Arena Pro League exuded self-assurance. He dispensed with all formalities when his feed popped up on Kunhyeok’s monitor, not even bothering to say hello.
“Hierophant,” he barked, his eyes scanning the room before returning to glare at his rival, “What the hell is this?”
“Jealous much?” Kunhyeok backed away from the camera so that his audience could have a full-body view of the brand new custom-tailored three-piece beige suit he wore. He did a slow 360 degree turn, treating the action with the gravitas of a model.
In sharp contrast, his teammates behind him were engaged in what appeared to be pure sartorial chaos. They had dispensed with their usual black uniforms emblazoned with “Life’s a Beach” in hot pink along with their official logo (which he often thought looked like some kind of cross between the hanja for "cow" and the astrological symbol for Mercury). Instead, the other members of YQCB were in various states of undress, apparently in the act of attempting to attire themselves. Assorted pieces of formal wear - jackets, ties, dress shirts and the like - were strewn all about the common area.
There was the sound of someone grunting (probably Ai Jia) as he struggled with a new belt so severely that it sent him crashing to the floor. Howls of laughter went up right after the thud. Kunhyeok looked back at them briefly with nothing more than a nonchalant shrug. With a team name like theirs, you had to have a sense of humor.
“Did you already decide what you’re wearing to the wedding?” he asked as he turned his attention back to Sicheng. “You know Jinyang asked us to look our best.”
“Is that what this is about?” Chessman scoffed. “You’ll see it on the day of.” Kunhyeok could only give a resigned smile at his petulant attitude. Here at their home base, morale was running high at the news of their mid solo finally asking the love of his life to marry him, and he didn't mind the thought of Sicheng getting a glimpse of that.
He watched Sicheng’s gaze, noting how it lingered on the contents of the room. It was impossible not to notice that YQCB headquarters was flooded with plushies: stuffed animals of every color and species, representatives from the entirety of Sanrio’s lineup, a Minion. They were the product of countless visits to the local arcade claw machines whenever he was stressed and needed to focus his mind on something. It was the only thing that allowed him to release the tension in his heart. Liang Sheng had warned him that they had accumulated so many that soon even their fans would refuse to take them.
Besides the profusion of stuffed critters, there was more that caught Chessman’s eye, notably the collection of mini figurines arranged on the shelf that faced his web camera.
It was a lineup of all of Kunhyeok’s signature shikigami: fox-masked Youko, Chin with her auto-attacking fans, Dodomeki with the floating evil eyes, Hakuro with her sniper's bow.
They were all too familiar to Chessman because he had mastered the very same ones. The collection of figures stood out instantly to him, like a silent callout from one AD carry to another.
Finally, he pulled his attention away and regarded Kunhyeok with a scowl.
“Having fun over there, showoff?” he asked airily, seemingly not caring if he received a response.
“That I am,” Kunhyeok answered with confidence.
On the other end of the call, Lu Sicheng had watched the antics of YQCB with amusement.
Ever since his days in Korea, Kunhyeok was the light to his shadow. The counter argument to his every winning statement.
Now he had found a place - a team - he could truly call home, and Sicheng could only be happy for him.
As for the caveats, well, they would have to figure them out together. Sicheng rattled off a string of possible snags in his head just for the fun of it.
At the wedding, Kunhyeok was going to be the only one wearing something as sharp as that beige suit. Unfortunately, he looked handsome as hell and Sicheng knew deep down Ai Jia couldn’t help but be a little bit pissed off at being upstaged on his own special day.
RONG and X Bang had to work that much harder to stand out because Hierophant’s play always got the commentators going into hype mode. When the world-class carry got all the attention, they would have to hold their own and pull off strats that were just as eye-catching.
Uncharacteristic for him, Liang Sheng apparently lost his temper all the time at Hierophant’s daring attitude and deep-held love for tower dives (that the official stats would agree ended up being worth it at least 95% of the time), but Lu Sicheng had it on good authority (K and Mao’s to be specific) that when no one was looking, Student gave Hierophant the same lovestruck look that Team FNC’s Kun always reserved for Tong Yao. Ugh. His brow wrinkled in annoyance at that particular recollection. Kunhyeok must have said something to him because lately the guy had toned it way down.
And then there was their own rivalry and the back-and-forth one-upmanship that seemed likely to keep them going to the very end of their careers. He remembered Kunhyeok right beside him at the press conference when he announced his relationship with Tong Yao. His old teammate’s presence had given him the courage to be honest with the world and himself. It was as if an unspoken challenge had been issued between them in that moment. “Will you stand up for yourself or will you fold like a coward?” Kunhyeok’s sidelong glance seemed to be asking him.
And for that he would always be grateful.
Lu Sicheng gave the team next door a final look through the webcam.
At the last second, Kunyeok met his eyes once more, and the expression on his face could only be described as contented.
Chessman looked from the calm and composed profile of his longtime rival to the disorderly band of fools that were still wrestling with Windsor knots in the background.
He crossed his arms and allowed his lips to form a knowing smile as he closed the call, a gesture with a sense of finality.
Hierophant was their problem now.