quit playing games with my heart ✿ for oniongulru
Title: quit playing games with my heart
Recipient: oniongulru
Rating: pg-13
Side pairing/s: bff!jongin/sehun
Word Count: 3951 words
Summary: [Gaming!AU] As the healer friends he knows keep disappointing him and choosing education over fun, Jongdae has no other choice but to try and once again brave the woods alone. An annoying stranger greets him upon arrival.
The year is 2040. You can buy sunshine and rain in packages at the übermarket. You can go around town with the public teleportation gates. You can travel to Neptune for vacation. But you can't, apparently, find friends to go on a quest with.
"Hyung," Sehun's hologram protests, waving his hand trying to get Jongdae to leave, "I have finals. Tomorrow."
Yep, even flying cars are obsolete, but they still insist on keeping schools and finals and homeworks. So much for inventions. "Oh, come on!" whines Jongdae. "One quest? Please?"
Sehun 's hologram shakes his head firmly. "Hyung, I really can't right now. I still have twelve pages worth of 21st century K-Pop groups and member names to memorize. Go bother Jongin or Joonmyun hyung," he suggests. "I'm plugging off, bye."
Sehun disappears without another word, and Jongdae snorts. Why Sehun picked K-Pop history, out of all the courses a dance major can take, will forever be a mystery to Jongdae. Alas, the quest for a quest partner must go on, so Jongdae dials Jongin's channel. "Oi, hyung," Jongin greets from behind his computer as they connect, eyes red and hair disheveled, with projections of three similar pictures behind him.
First things first. "Please learn to greet me better," Jongdae complains, shaking his head in disapproval. "Am I not your favorite hyung?"
"My favorite is Chanyeol hyung," Jongin clarifies, still typing like crazy in his computer. "And I can't go on quests tonight. I'm 4000 words short on this photography essay."
"Noo, why?" whines Jongdae. If Jongin won't go with him, Jongdae has no other options than to go with Joonmyun. He really doesn't want to go on quests with Joonmyun. Joonmyun always spends too much time feeding the fake animals in the game. "What are you working on, anyway?"
"Comparing Different Angles and Lighting of Fantaken Pictures Circa 2014," Jongin recites, grabbing the screen of his computer. Jongdae takes another look at the pictures projected behind him-they are all of the same scene of someone on a throne wearing oversized white shirt. Jongin waves his hand at the pictures and starts explaining, "That's-"
"EXO Kai's Deep Breath performance," Jongdae finishes for him. Jongin looks at him in awe. Jongdae scoffs. "Don't look so surprised. I am a very knowledgeable person."
"I bet you only know that because your mum's an EXO-L," comments Jongin as he returns to his essay.
Jongdae sighs. "Aren't all our mums," he mutters sadly. Back to the problem at hand, though, "So, one quest to refresh your mind?"
"Bye, hyung," Jongin singsongs before plugging off. Jongdae wonders why children nowadays have no manners.
Jongdae regretfully moves on to the last available healer he's acquainted with. Joonmyun won't even pick up his holophone. Probably busy grading assignments from his classes, considering the fact that he's assisting for three different courses. Jongdae snorts. Fine. Who needs a quest partner, anyway? Jongdae will brave the woods without a healer on his side. He will be okay and emerge victorious at the end of game season.
He sits in front of his screen. His headgear is on, the sensor jacket is up. Game on.
*
Life in the 2040 is pretty much boring. The hunger games didn't happen, neither did zombie apocalypse or machine domination, and Jongdae is honestly not sure if he's amused. Thirty years later, and life is not even as interesting as post-apocalyptic movies from the 2010s. The only thing that comes close, Jongdae believes, is Ancient Warfare, Korea's most popular live-action MMORPG. In hopes of spicing up his life, Jongdae has therefore spent most of his time in the game. He's reached level 99 in eleven different characters, and he just needs this one knight-currently on level 87-to achieve the same result.
Jongdae is excellent at math-well, actually, he's sort of excellent at everything, which is why he isn't at all worried about his finals tomorrow. It is also why he isn't worried about battling this snake-like monster in front of him despite only having 20% HP left. If his calculations are correct (and since he's Kim Jongdae, the calculation is most definitely correct, Jongdae thinks to himself) this monster should be dead after one last slash.
Jongdae jumps and swings his sword, decapitating the monster right in the center of its long neck, and the monster falls with a loud thud to the ground, green slimes of blood splattering from it. Jongdae smirks. No one is around to appreciate his sword skills, so instead he cheers for himself, "Victory!"
The ground shakes beneath him, and Jongdae looks up to see the monster, the one he just killed, or most likely did not kill, up and alive, with two snake-like head coming out of its body. "Well, shit," mutters Jongdae. If he gets killed here, he's going to have to wait thirty minutes to respawn. Ain't nobody have time for that.
Jongdae starts running. The monster spits out green lava from its mouth, and Jongdae counts his remaining HP inside his head-17%, 14%, he'll be dead within three more shots. Jongdae contemplates giving up. It's much more convenient than running. But what is he going to do while he waits thirty minutes until respawn? Also, ugh, the pain.
He's at 5%, if his calculations are correct (and again, it's Kim Jongdae, his calculations are correct). Jongdae stops, turns around and spreads out his hand, tilting his head up to accept his death in style. He closes his eyes and waits for the pain to surge through his sensor jacket.
He counts to three and it doesn't happen. Jongdae peeks through his eyes.
A translucent purple globe surrounds him. Jongdae recognizes this as the ultimate skill of a healer in their 60s. He looks around and tries to find the source of the globe. A chat notification appears on the corner of his screen.
SweetyLoveBb92
stop posing, start attacking
Jongdae turns around and find a healer behind him. Unlike its girly name, the character is a cute boy, with puppy eyes and soft fluffy brown hair, but Jongdae knows better than to trust people's avatars in this game. He has been fooled too many times before (i.e. Kyungsoo's character being 180 cms tall, Joonmyun's character having blond hair, Yixing's character having boobs, etc). Unlike Jongdae, who plainly scans himself and creates a character that looks exactly like him in real life, a lot of people seem to be unsatisfied of their real-life feature. Jongdae weeps for them. In the words of his favorite SJ The Legend member, love yourself !
SweetyLoveBb92
R U A KNIGHT OR AN OGRE?!?!
The chat comes as an alert, complete with a noisy tone in Jongdae's ears. He notices the cute figure's hands shaking as the shield he casted above the two of them becomes weaker.
SweetyLoveBb92
MVO E!!!
Ah, right, the game. Jongdae turns his head to the monster and aims for its tail. Now that he knows what the monster really is, he knows just how to kill it. He chops its tail into thirteen pieces and then aim for the head, cutting them between the eyes right before the stranger's shield fades. The monster falls with a thud to the ground, and disappears into puffs of green. Jongdae smiles proudly. "Victory," he whispers to himself.
Jongdae checks his HP and finds that it's healed to 50%. He figures he could walk around and find tamer monsters to kill while he recharges. He heads north. The cute figure follows him.
JDTheLord
wht r u doin
SweetyLoveBb92
xcuse, i saved ur life
SweetyLoveBb92
pls appreciate
SweetyLoveBb92
n help me lvl up
Jongdae snorts. A leecher. Of course. Jongdae has encountered way too many of them throughout his career in the game.
JDTheLord
no
SweetyLoveBb92
i will suck back the hp i gave u
SweetyLoveBb92
have fun waiting 4 respawn
Whose idea was it to give healers the ability to suck HP, Jongdae laments. Healers are supposed to be defense materials with no useful offence.
JDTheLord
fine
SweetyLoveBb92
yay
*
"Hyung, I can't believe you went on your own!" Jongin complains as he sits down across from Jongdae. The campus cafe is quite deserted, with everyone camping at the library for finals, so Jongin doesn't really have customers to attend to. "I thought you were gonna help me level up!"
Jongdae looks up from his e-book. "That's if you follow my schedules," Jongdae replies calmly. "I asked you to go last night, you refused, your loss."
"I had finals! Education! Mother!" Jongin cries. He slumps down on the table. "Whatever, I'll go with Chanyeol hyung."
"Your loss," Jongdae repeats. Jongin sulks.
"How did you survive the woods without a healer, anyway?"
Jongdae clicks his tongue at Jongin. "I am a very knowledgeable person."
*
Honestly, there is no way Jongdae can level up without a healer at his level. But as the healer friends he knows keep disappointing him and choosing education over fun, Jongdae has no other choice but to try and once again brave the woods alone. An annoying notification greets him upon arrival.
SweetyLoveBb92
hi jd!
JDTheLord
pls
JDTheLord
i go by ‘my lord'
SweetyLoveBb92
[barfs]
SweetyLoveBb92
need a healer?
This is not ideal, thinks Jongdae, but he has no other choice. It's more bearable than having to wait thirty minutes to respawn every time he dies.
JDTheLord
ok
SweetyLoveBb92
yay
SweetyLoveBb92
u can call me bb
JDTheLord
i'd rather not
SweetyLoveBb92
or sweety
SweetyLoveBb92
or love
Jongdae nearly vomits in real life. Thirty-minute wait for respawn looks a lot more appealing at this point, and they haven't even begun the quest. Jongdae claps for himself as he finds a compromise.
JDTheLord
i will call you SLoB
SweetyLoveBb92
ro0d
JDTheLord
lol
*
SweetyLoveBb92 is a very annoying quest partner, but otherwise a very skilled healer. They have only died three times in over fifteen hours of playing, and waiting for respawn doesn't really feel like thirty minutes when you have a stranger going on and on about battle strategies and past experiences of monster encounter. Jongdae also finds it very admirable of SweetyLoveBb92 to not study during finals week and play Ancient Warfare instead. Jongdae totally approves of his life choices. After five quests together (Jongdae currently at level 93, SweetyLoveBb92 at 77), Jongdae finally approves his request to activate the private microphone channel between the two of them.
SweetyLoveBb92 immediately initiates connection. "Hello!" the voice on the other hand chirps. Jongdae can now confirm that SweetyLoveBb92 is, in fact, not a girl. "God, finally! I'm so tired of typing."
"You could have just talked less," comments Jongdae. SweetyLoveBb92 laughs. It sounds a little cute. Jongdae clears his throat. "Anyway. Let's go, Slob!" he commands as he takes the first step inside the woods.
The person on the other side makes an audible snort. "It's worse when you actually say it."
"Well, I'm not calling you bb," Jongdae replies. He sees a monster on his right, a small ball of fur with long fangs and claws, and Jongdae swings his sword distractedly, killing the monster in one go. +20 exp shows up above their characters' heads. "Also, please stop leeching and start contributing exp."
His quest partner chucks a small monster with his staff and another +20 exp shows up. "There," SweetyLoveBb92 says, "My lord."
Jongdae lets out a sound of appreciation. "It's better when you actually say it."
His new friend sighs and for another five minutes they walk in silence, killing random furballs and spikeggs that appear from time to time. Jongdae is literally going to fall asleep if they don't find any higher level monsters soon. But then SweetyLoveBb92 starts singing.
Jongdae might be in love.
He can tell that SweetyLoveBb92 isn't exactly making an effort to sing, but his voice is so clear, his notes are on pitch, and Jongdae feels like his soul is being cleansed by listening to this tune. Jongdae wonders how beautiful it would be if this person sings with all his heart. Jongdae thinks it would be amazing if the two of them sing a duet. After all, Jongdae is an excellent singer as well-as stated previously, Jongdae is excellent at everything.
Jongdae is just about to harmonize into his own microphone when an unfamiliar woman's voice comes into Jongdae's headgear. "Baekhyun! Get off your game and come help me with dinner!"
And then, "Mum! I told you not to call me while I'm playing!" Jongdae hears SweetyLoveBb92 whines. "What if the person I'm playing with is a serial killer? What if he finds out my name? What if he finds me?" the rant still goes on and Jongdae decides that this person-Baekhyun, his name possibly is-is whinier than Jongdae himself.
"FYI, I'm not a serial killer," Jongdae comments as the commotion finally ends.
"So you say," the other guy replies. "I have to go offline, sorry."
"I heard," Jongdae answers. "See you tomorrow?"
SweetyLoveBb92 hums, amused. "I like how eager you sound," he comments. Jongdae doesn't have a chance to protest because he immediately continues, "See you, my lord."
SweetyLoveBb92 is now offline.
*
Jongdae defaults to going on quests with Baekhyun (he safely assumes that this is indeed SweetyLoveBb92's real name), and finds problem in the form of his old quest squad having free time after finals week is over.
"What time can I see you in Ancfare tonight, hyung?" Sehun asks excitedly as he sits on the empty spot next to Jongdae in the campus cafe. He waves his hand towards Jongin, motioning for him to come over with the menu even when he has it all memorized.
Jongdae looks up from his iPhone 54s and assesses the situation for a moment. First of all, he already has a healer. Second of all, three's a crowd. Third of all, he actually prefers Baekhyun to Sehun. Jongdae looks away from Sehun and returns to the device in his hand. "I no longer require your assistance," he replies.
There is silence for a couple of second, so Jongdae tears his gaze away from his Outraged Birds game to find Sehun gaping at him. Jongin comes to the rescue. "Jongdae hyung doesn't want us there anymore," he comments sadly. "We're only lowly healers now in his eyes."
"Your words, not mine," Jongdae answers while nodding solemnly.
Sehun whips around to Jongin with a desperate look in his face. "But he needs a healer!" he cries. Jongdae ignores this and returns to the screeching birds on his screen. "There is no way he could finish up monsters at that level without being healed!"
"I actually think found someone," Jongin whispers loud enough for Jongdae to hear. "And wants to be with them, like, alone, you know."
Jongdae feels his ears burning. This is not how he expected this conversation to go. "Ooh," Sehun whispers back-Jongdae doesn't have to look to tell he's snickering. "Someone's in love."
He will not take this, Jongdae decides. So he takes his student passport and leaves the vicinity, sticking his tongue on his way out.
"Who do you love, my lord?" Sehun dares to tease, practically loud enough for the entire campus to hear. Jongdae swears to never help him level up ever again.
*
Joking aside, Jongdae honestly really likes playing with Baekhyun. He enjoys how easily they banter, and admires how much Baekhyun actually knows about Ancfare. He has also confirmed that their voices sound amazing together. This one time they turned on their public microphone and sang a song from a musical in the middle of the woods, and got around 6000 gold donations from passerby and ten people calling them gay.
Jongdae decides he isn't in love. He's just slightly attracted.
Jongdae deems fifteen quests together as enough assurance that neither of them are serial killers and upgrades Baekhyun's status to friend. He tells him his real name, and Baekhyun verifies that that is his name.
"They're opening this winter woods for Christmas event," Baekhyun informs Jongdae when they meet up on today's quest session. "A bunch of monsters and bonus exp. Wanna go?"
Bonuses are always good. "Let's," Jongdae replies.
Baekhyun talks all through the journey to the woods, as per usual. They have never told each other where they lived, but from Baekhyun's stories (and he tells a lot), Jongdae has concluded that they're actually students of the same college. The slight attraction almost makes Jongdae asks Baekhyun if this is true, but then again he's Kim Jongdae. He will not express interest before interest is expressed towards him. He has standards.
A huge snowman monster appears on the gate of the Christmas woods. Ohlaff, its nametag says. Very 2014. "Shall we, then, Slob?"
"I can't believe you keep that name," complains Baekhyun. "I have risked my life and tell you my actual name, and this is what I get."
Jongdae snickers. He would answer, but the monster opens its mouth and lets out a snowstorm that throws him towards a huge tree. 50% of his HP is gone. Jongdae can't believe this is the first level monster in these woods. The damage is no joke.
"Baekhyun?" Jongdae calls, trying to find his quest mate while trying to attack the monster. One sword thrust kills the monster. +100 exp, his status board says. Sort of worth it.
Baekhyun appears from behind a tree after the monster is gone. "What the hell?" he exclaims when he checks Jongdae's health point. "That's an outrageous damage! It's only the first level monster!"
"That's what I thought," Jongdae replies, satisfied that Baekhyun thinks the same. "Heal please."
Jongdae closes his eyes for dramatic effect-he's all for theatrical performances in this game. But then he feels warmth from around his sensor jacket, and opens his eyes to Baekhyun hugging him.
Not that he doesn't appreciate it, because it feels a lot comfortable although a little awkward, with Jongdae's hand hanging on his sides, but what the hell? Jongdae doesn't understand what Baekhyun is doing, and why Jongdae doesn't have the urge to throw him across the woods for this atrocious action. Jongdae actually sort of want to hug him back. But really, though, what the hell?
"Baekhyun what-"
"Shh," Baekhyun cuts him. "Testing out new skill."
Jongdae checks his health and it is, indeed, recharging. He decides to enjoy the warmth that he sort of like, and lets the slight attraction grows bigger.
A little farther away, a bunch of knights and elfs pass by and exclaim, "Gay!"
*
Jongdae couldn't sleep that night. When he did, he dreamt of cute puppy eyes and fluffy hair, and the warmth of arms around his waist. The growth of the Baekhyun attraction, Jongdae must admit, has possibly gone too far. Jongdae seeks the help of his fellows.
"Say, Sehun," he casually starts over lunch that day. Sehun is watching some 3D movie on his tablet, and says pause upon Jongdae's interruption. "Are there any Baekhyuns in this campus?"
Sehun looks at Jongdae with disinterest. "Probably 300," he replies.
"What the hell?"
"Hyung," Sehun sighs. "You totally underestimate the popularity of EXO during our mothers' time."
Jongdae tries to remember the names of the 27 members of EXO. He fails. "Is Baekhyun the more popular member?"
"The most in Korea," Sehun answers as he unpauses his 3D movie. Jongdae huffs, disappointed that it's nearly impossible to find the Baekhyun he wants to find, and that Sehun's knowledge of K-Pop has proven to be useful, after all.
Jongdae goes against his better judgment and asks Sehun another question. "Do healers have this skill where they hug people to heal?"
Sehun scrunches his nose like he can't believe he's stopping his Die Hard 2040 movie for this. "No," he replies curtly.
"Really?"
"Look, hyung," Sehun says, clearing his throat and straightening his body like he always do when he tries to lecture his hyung. "I have been a healer in my entire career of Ancfare. I have gone through all the possible tracks a healer can level up to. Twice. I know when a skill exists and when it doesn't."
"So there isn't any healer skill that requires you to hug people?"
"Ew, no," Sehun answers quickly. Jongdae sadly regrets ever asking when Sehun's face changes into his annoying mischievous expression. "Someone got hugged."
"Shut up," Jongdae snaps as he tries to hide the blush on his face under his e-book.
"Hey Jongin!" Sehun calls. Jongin immediately comes. "Mystery man hugged Jongdae hyung," Sehun tells Jongin. They sound like housewives sharing gossips.
"Ooh," Jongin responds, telling Sehun to scoot and sits down next to him, ignoring the fact that his shift doesn't end for another hour. "Hyung, tell us more!"
Jongdae ignores the brats.
"We can help!"
"I have connections!"
"I have excellent social media stalking skills!"
Jongdae just needs the two children to shut up. But they won't, so Jongdae does his routine of walking away from them.
"Let me hug you, too, my lord!"
*
Baekhyun continues claiming that the hug is a skill, and Jongdae lets him because he secretly enjoys it. Jongdae regrettably accepts that the slight attraction has now become actual crush. Meanwhile, Jongin proves that he does have an excellent social media stalking skills.
"I have right here," Jongin smugly says, playing with a block of data in his hand, "the intricate details of student Byun Baekhyun, a.k.a. Ancfare user SweetyLoveBb92."
"Terrible username choices," Sehun shakes his head.
Jongdae is so very interested, but is hindered by his standard to not express interest before interest is expressed. This is very dilemmatic.
"I can just throw it away, if you don't want it," Jongin teases, pressing his fingers together like he's about to crush the data. Jongdae forgets about standards and reaches for it in desperation. Beautiful people like Baekhyun may not come twice in Jongdae's life.
Sehun and Jongin cackle at Jongdae's misery, confirming Jongdae's initial belief that the two of them are children of satan. Jongdae pouts. This is not how a lord should be treated. "Actually, hyung," Sehun tries to say while catching his breath and wiping his tears, "We can take you to him right now, if you want."
Jongdae's heart pounds. Pride be damned, he wants to meet this fine man right now and sees for himself whether or not Baekhyun is as cute as his avatar suggests. Jongdae gets up from his seat faster than he ever did. "Well, let's go, then!"
Jongin and Sehun cackle some more.
*
"Jongdae?" Baekhyun sounds ten thousand times better without the noise from the microphone. He has puppy eyes, but not the fluffy brown hair. His hair is jet black, making him look much hotter than his avatar. Jongdae's crush instantly gets bigger.
From afar, Jongdae can see Jongin pulling out his camera from his pocket and getting ready to take pictures. Paparazzi majors are the worst. "My healer friends have told me that the hugging skill doesn't exist," Jongdae blurts.
Baekhyun blushes a little, but laughs good-naturedly. It's beautiful. "Oops," he says, scratching his hair sheepishly. Jongdae prays that Jongin catches this moment with his camera. Jongdae wants to print this Baekhyun and plaster the picture in his bedroom. "I'm so-"
"Do you want to hug me," Jongdae cuts him, willing himself not to blush as he speak, "like, in real life?"
Baekhyun gapes at him, but then laugh and gives him a hug. Jongdae hugs back with a huge grin on his face. "As you wish," Baekhyun whispers. "My lord."
A little farther away, two juniors barf and exclaim, "Gay!"
Recipient: oniongulru
Rating: pg-13
Side pairing/s: bff!jongin/sehun
Word Count: 3951 words
Summary: [Gaming!AU] As the healer friends he knows keep disappointing him and choosing education over fun, Jongdae has no other choice but to try and once again brave the woods alone. An annoying stranger greets him upon arrival.
The year is 2040. You can buy sunshine and rain in packages at the übermarket. You can go around town with the public teleportation gates. You can travel to Neptune for vacation. But you can't, apparently, find friends to go on a quest with.
"Hyung," Sehun's hologram protests, waving his hand trying to get Jongdae to leave, "I have finals. Tomorrow."
Yep, even flying cars are obsolete, but they still insist on keeping schools and finals and homeworks. So much for inventions. "Oh, come on!" whines Jongdae. "One quest? Please?"
Sehun 's hologram shakes his head firmly. "Hyung, I really can't right now. I still have twelve pages worth of 21st century K-Pop groups and member names to memorize. Go bother Jongin or Joonmyun hyung," he suggests. "I'm plugging off, bye."
Sehun disappears without another word, and Jongdae snorts. Why Sehun picked K-Pop history, out of all the courses a dance major can take, will forever be a mystery to Jongdae. Alas, the quest for a quest partner must go on, so Jongdae dials Jongin's channel. "Oi, hyung," Jongin greets from behind his computer as they connect, eyes red and hair disheveled, with projections of three similar pictures behind him.
First things first. "Please learn to greet me better," Jongdae complains, shaking his head in disapproval. "Am I not your favorite hyung?"
"My favorite is Chanyeol hyung," Jongin clarifies, still typing like crazy in his computer. "And I can't go on quests tonight. I'm 4000 words short on this photography essay."
"Noo, why?" whines Jongdae. If Jongin won't go with him, Jongdae has no other options than to go with Joonmyun. He really doesn't want to go on quests with Joonmyun. Joonmyun always spends too much time feeding the fake animals in the game. "What are you working on, anyway?"
"Comparing Different Angles and Lighting of Fantaken Pictures Circa 2014," Jongin recites, grabbing the screen of his computer. Jongdae takes another look at the pictures projected behind him-they are all of the same scene of someone on a throne wearing oversized white shirt. Jongin waves his hand at the pictures and starts explaining, "That's-"
"EXO Kai's Deep Breath performance," Jongdae finishes for him. Jongin looks at him in awe. Jongdae scoffs. "Don't look so surprised. I am a very knowledgeable person."
"I bet you only know that because your mum's an EXO-L," comments Jongin as he returns to his essay.
Jongdae sighs. "Aren't all our mums," he mutters sadly. Back to the problem at hand, though, "So, one quest to refresh your mind?"
"Bye, hyung," Jongin singsongs before plugging off. Jongdae wonders why children nowadays have no manners.
Jongdae regretfully moves on to the last available healer he's acquainted with. Joonmyun won't even pick up his holophone. Probably busy grading assignments from his classes, considering the fact that he's assisting for three different courses. Jongdae snorts. Fine. Who needs a quest partner, anyway? Jongdae will brave the woods without a healer on his side. He will be okay and emerge victorious at the end of game season.
He sits in front of his screen. His headgear is on, the sensor jacket is up. Game on.
*
Life in the 2040 is pretty much boring. The hunger games didn't happen, neither did zombie apocalypse or machine domination, and Jongdae is honestly not sure if he's amused. Thirty years later, and life is not even as interesting as post-apocalyptic movies from the 2010s. The only thing that comes close, Jongdae believes, is Ancient Warfare, Korea's most popular live-action MMORPG. In hopes of spicing up his life, Jongdae has therefore spent most of his time in the game. He's reached level 99 in eleven different characters, and he just needs this one knight-currently on level 87-to achieve the same result.
Jongdae is excellent at math-well, actually, he's sort of excellent at everything, which is why he isn't at all worried about his finals tomorrow. It is also why he isn't worried about battling this snake-like monster in front of him despite only having 20% HP left. If his calculations are correct (and since he's Kim Jongdae, the calculation is most definitely correct, Jongdae thinks to himself) this monster should be dead after one last slash.
Jongdae jumps and swings his sword, decapitating the monster right in the center of its long neck, and the monster falls with a loud thud to the ground, green slimes of blood splattering from it. Jongdae smirks. No one is around to appreciate his sword skills, so instead he cheers for himself, "Victory!"
The ground shakes beneath him, and Jongdae looks up to see the monster, the one he just killed, or most likely did not kill, up and alive, with two snake-like head coming out of its body. "Well, shit," mutters Jongdae. If he gets killed here, he's going to have to wait thirty minutes to respawn. Ain't nobody have time for that.
Jongdae starts running. The monster spits out green lava from its mouth, and Jongdae counts his remaining HP inside his head-17%, 14%, he'll be dead within three more shots. Jongdae contemplates giving up. It's much more convenient than running. But what is he going to do while he waits thirty minutes until respawn? Also, ugh, the pain.
He's at 5%, if his calculations are correct (and again, it's Kim Jongdae, his calculations are correct). Jongdae stops, turns around and spreads out his hand, tilting his head up to accept his death in style. He closes his eyes and waits for the pain to surge through his sensor jacket.
He counts to three and it doesn't happen. Jongdae peeks through his eyes.
A translucent purple globe surrounds him. Jongdae recognizes this as the ultimate skill of a healer in their 60s. He looks around and tries to find the source of the globe. A chat notification appears on the corner of his screen.
SweetyLoveBb92
stop posing, start attacking
Jongdae turns around and find a healer behind him. Unlike its girly name, the character is a cute boy, with puppy eyes and soft fluffy brown hair, but Jongdae knows better than to trust people's avatars in this game. He has been fooled too many times before (i.e. Kyungsoo's character being 180 cms tall, Joonmyun's character having blond hair, Yixing's character having boobs, etc). Unlike Jongdae, who plainly scans himself and creates a character that looks exactly like him in real life, a lot of people seem to be unsatisfied of their real-life feature. Jongdae weeps for them. In the words of his favorite SJ The Legend member, love yourself !
SweetyLoveBb92
R U A KNIGHT OR AN OGRE?!?!
The chat comes as an alert, complete with a noisy tone in Jongdae's ears. He notices the cute figure's hands shaking as the shield he casted above the two of them becomes weaker.
SweetyLoveBb92
MVO E!!!
Ah, right, the game. Jongdae turns his head to the monster and aims for its tail. Now that he knows what the monster really is, he knows just how to kill it. He chops its tail into thirteen pieces and then aim for the head, cutting them between the eyes right before the stranger's shield fades. The monster falls with a thud to the ground, and disappears into puffs of green. Jongdae smiles proudly. "Victory," he whispers to himself.
Jongdae checks his HP and finds that it's healed to 50%. He figures he could walk around and find tamer monsters to kill while he recharges. He heads north. The cute figure follows him.
JDTheLord
wht r u doin
SweetyLoveBb92
xcuse, i saved ur life
SweetyLoveBb92
pls appreciate
SweetyLoveBb92
n help me lvl up
Jongdae snorts. A leecher. Of course. Jongdae has encountered way too many of them throughout his career in the game.
JDTheLord
no
SweetyLoveBb92
i will suck back the hp i gave u
SweetyLoveBb92
have fun waiting 4 respawn
Whose idea was it to give healers the ability to suck HP, Jongdae laments. Healers are supposed to be defense materials with no useful offence.
JDTheLord
fine
SweetyLoveBb92
yay
*
"Hyung, I can't believe you went on your own!" Jongin complains as he sits down across from Jongdae. The campus cafe is quite deserted, with everyone camping at the library for finals, so Jongin doesn't really have customers to attend to. "I thought you were gonna help me level up!"
Jongdae looks up from his e-book. "That's if you follow my schedules," Jongdae replies calmly. "I asked you to go last night, you refused, your loss."
"I had finals! Education! Mother!" Jongin cries. He slumps down on the table. "Whatever, I'll go with Chanyeol hyung."
"Your loss," Jongdae repeats. Jongin sulks.
"How did you survive the woods without a healer, anyway?"
Jongdae clicks his tongue at Jongin. "I am a very knowledgeable person."
*
Honestly, there is no way Jongdae can level up without a healer at his level. But as the healer friends he knows keep disappointing him and choosing education over fun, Jongdae has no other choice but to try and once again brave the woods alone. An annoying notification greets him upon arrival.
SweetyLoveBb92
hi jd!
JDTheLord
pls
JDTheLord
i go by ‘my lord'
SweetyLoveBb92
[barfs]
SweetyLoveBb92
need a healer?
This is not ideal, thinks Jongdae, but he has no other choice. It's more bearable than having to wait thirty minutes to respawn every time he dies.
JDTheLord
ok
SweetyLoveBb92
yay
SweetyLoveBb92
u can call me bb
JDTheLord
i'd rather not
SweetyLoveBb92
or sweety
SweetyLoveBb92
or love
Jongdae nearly vomits in real life. Thirty-minute wait for respawn looks a lot more appealing at this point, and they haven't even begun the quest. Jongdae claps for himself as he finds a compromise.
JDTheLord
i will call you SLoB
SweetyLoveBb92
ro0d
JDTheLord
lol
*
SweetyLoveBb92 is a very annoying quest partner, but otherwise a very skilled healer. They have only died three times in over fifteen hours of playing, and waiting for respawn doesn't really feel like thirty minutes when you have a stranger going on and on about battle strategies and past experiences of monster encounter. Jongdae also finds it very admirable of SweetyLoveBb92 to not study during finals week and play Ancient Warfare instead. Jongdae totally approves of his life choices. After five quests together (Jongdae currently at level 93, SweetyLoveBb92 at 77), Jongdae finally approves his request to activate the private microphone channel between the two of them.
SweetyLoveBb92 immediately initiates connection. "Hello!" the voice on the other hand chirps. Jongdae can now confirm that SweetyLoveBb92 is, in fact, not a girl. "God, finally! I'm so tired of typing."
"You could have just talked less," comments Jongdae. SweetyLoveBb92 laughs. It sounds a little cute. Jongdae clears his throat. "Anyway. Let's go, Slob!" he commands as he takes the first step inside the woods.
The person on the other side makes an audible snort. "It's worse when you actually say it."
"Well, I'm not calling you bb," Jongdae replies. He sees a monster on his right, a small ball of fur with long fangs and claws, and Jongdae swings his sword distractedly, killing the monster in one go. +20 exp shows up above their characters' heads. "Also, please stop leeching and start contributing exp."
His quest partner chucks a small monster with his staff and another +20 exp shows up. "There," SweetyLoveBb92 says, "My lord."
Jongdae lets out a sound of appreciation. "It's better when you actually say it."
His new friend sighs and for another five minutes they walk in silence, killing random furballs and spikeggs that appear from time to time. Jongdae is literally going to fall asleep if they don't find any higher level monsters soon. But then SweetyLoveBb92 starts singing.
Jongdae might be in love.
He can tell that SweetyLoveBb92 isn't exactly making an effort to sing, but his voice is so clear, his notes are on pitch, and Jongdae feels like his soul is being cleansed by listening to this tune. Jongdae wonders how beautiful it would be if this person sings with all his heart. Jongdae thinks it would be amazing if the two of them sing a duet. After all, Jongdae is an excellent singer as well-as stated previously, Jongdae is excellent at everything.
Jongdae is just about to harmonize into his own microphone when an unfamiliar woman's voice comes into Jongdae's headgear. "Baekhyun! Get off your game and come help me with dinner!"
And then, "Mum! I told you not to call me while I'm playing!" Jongdae hears SweetyLoveBb92 whines. "What if the person I'm playing with is a serial killer? What if he finds out my name? What if he finds me?" the rant still goes on and Jongdae decides that this person-Baekhyun, his name possibly is-is whinier than Jongdae himself.
"FYI, I'm not a serial killer," Jongdae comments as the commotion finally ends.
"So you say," the other guy replies. "I have to go offline, sorry."
"I heard," Jongdae answers. "See you tomorrow?"
SweetyLoveBb92 hums, amused. "I like how eager you sound," he comments. Jongdae doesn't have a chance to protest because he immediately continues, "See you, my lord."
SweetyLoveBb92 is now offline.
*
Jongdae defaults to going on quests with Baekhyun (he safely assumes that this is indeed SweetyLoveBb92's real name), and finds problem in the form of his old quest squad having free time after finals week is over.
"What time can I see you in Ancfare tonight, hyung?" Sehun asks excitedly as he sits on the empty spot next to Jongdae in the campus cafe. He waves his hand towards Jongin, motioning for him to come over with the menu even when he has it all memorized.
Jongdae looks up from his iPhone 54s and assesses the situation for a moment. First of all, he already has a healer. Second of all, three's a crowd. Third of all, he actually prefers Baekhyun to Sehun. Jongdae looks away from Sehun and returns to the device in his hand. "I no longer require your assistance," he replies.
There is silence for a couple of second, so Jongdae tears his gaze away from his Outraged Birds game to find Sehun gaping at him. Jongin comes to the rescue. "Jongdae hyung doesn't want us there anymore," he comments sadly. "We're only lowly healers now in his eyes."
"Your words, not mine," Jongdae answers while nodding solemnly.
Sehun whips around to Jongin with a desperate look in his face. "But he needs a healer!" he cries. Jongdae ignores this and returns to the screeching birds on his screen. "There is no way he could finish up monsters at that level without being healed!"
"I actually think found someone," Jongin whispers loud enough for Jongdae to hear. "And wants to be with them, like, alone, you know."
Jongdae feels his ears burning. This is not how he expected this conversation to go. "Ooh," Sehun whispers back-Jongdae doesn't have to look to tell he's snickering. "Someone's in love."
He will not take this, Jongdae decides. So he takes his student passport and leaves the vicinity, sticking his tongue on his way out.
"Who do you love, my lord?" Sehun dares to tease, practically loud enough for the entire campus to hear. Jongdae swears to never help him level up ever again.
*
Joking aside, Jongdae honestly really likes playing with Baekhyun. He enjoys how easily they banter, and admires how much Baekhyun actually knows about Ancfare. He has also confirmed that their voices sound amazing together. This one time they turned on their public microphone and sang a song from a musical in the middle of the woods, and got around 6000 gold donations from passerby and ten people calling them gay.
Jongdae decides he isn't in love. He's just slightly attracted.
Jongdae deems fifteen quests together as enough assurance that neither of them are serial killers and upgrades Baekhyun's status to friend. He tells him his real name, and Baekhyun verifies that that is his name.
"They're opening this winter woods for Christmas event," Baekhyun informs Jongdae when they meet up on today's quest session. "A bunch of monsters and bonus exp. Wanna go?"
Bonuses are always good. "Let's," Jongdae replies.
Baekhyun talks all through the journey to the woods, as per usual. They have never told each other where they lived, but from Baekhyun's stories (and he tells a lot), Jongdae has concluded that they're actually students of the same college. The slight attraction almost makes Jongdae asks Baekhyun if this is true, but then again he's Kim Jongdae. He will not express interest before interest is expressed towards him. He has standards.
A huge snowman monster appears on the gate of the Christmas woods. Ohlaff, its nametag says. Very 2014. "Shall we, then, Slob?"
"I can't believe you keep that name," complains Baekhyun. "I have risked my life and tell you my actual name, and this is what I get."
Jongdae snickers. He would answer, but the monster opens its mouth and lets out a snowstorm that throws him towards a huge tree. 50% of his HP is gone. Jongdae can't believe this is the first level monster in these woods. The damage is no joke.
"Baekhyun?" Jongdae calls, trying to find his quest mate while trying to attack the monster. One sword thrust kills the monster. +100 exp, his status board says. Sort of worth it.
Baekhyun appears from behind a tree after the monster is gone. "What the hell?" he exclaims when he checks Jongdae's health point. "That's an outrageous damage! It's only the first level monster!"
"That's what I thought," Jongdae replies, satisfied that Baekhyun thinks the same. "Heal please."
Jongdae closes his eyes for dramatic effect-he's all for theatrical performances in this game. But then he feels warmth from around his sensor jacket, and opens his eyes to Baekhyun hugging him.
Not that he doesn't appreciate it, because it feels a lot comfortable although a little awkward, with Jongdae's hand hanging on his sides, but what the hell? Jongdae doesn't understand what Baekhyun is doing, and why Jongdae doesn't have the urge to throw him across the woods for this atrocious action. Jongdae actually sort of want to hug him back. But really, though, what the hell?
"Baekhyun what-"
"Shh," Baekhyun cuts him. "Testing out new skill."
Jongdae checks his health and it is, indeed, recharging. He decides to enjoy the warmth that he sort of like, and lets the slight attraction grows bigger.
A little farther away, a bunch of knights and elfs pass by and exclaim, "Gay!"
*
Jongdae couldn't sleep that night. When he did, he dreamt of cute puppy eyes and fluffy hair, and the warmth of arms around his waist. The growth of the Baekhyun attraction, Jongdae must admit, has possibly gone too far. Jongdae seeks the help of his fellows.
"Say, Sehun," he casually starts over lunch that day. Sehun is watching some 3D movie on his tablet, and says pause upon Jongdae's interruption. "Are there any Baekhyuns in this campus?"
Sehun looks at Jongdae with disinterest. "Probably 300," he replies.
"What the hell?"
"Hyung," Sehun sighs. "You totally underestimate the popularity of EXO during our mothers' time."
Jongdae tries to remember the names of the 27 members of EXO. He fails. "Is Baekhyun the more popular member?"
"The most in Korea," Sehun answers as he unpauses his 3D movie. Jongdae huffs, disappointed that it's nearly impossible to find the Baekhyun he wants to find, and that Sehun's knowledge of K-Pop has proven to be useful, after all.
Jongdae goes against his better judgment and asks Sehun another question. "Do healers have this skill where they hug people to heal?"
Sehun scrunches his nose like he can't believe he's stopping his Die Hard 2040 movie for this. "No," he replies curtly.
"Really?"
"Look, hyung," Sehun says, clearing his throat and straightening his body like he always do when he tries to lecture his hyung. "I have been a healer in my entire career of Ancfare. I have gone through all the possible tracks a healer can level up to. Twice. I know when a skill exists and when it doesn't."
"So there isn't any healer skill that requires you to hug people?"
"Ew, no," Sehun answers quickly. Jongdae sadly regrets ever asking when Sehun's face changes into his annoying mischievous expression. "Someone got hugged."
"Shut up," Jongdae snaps as he tries to hide the blush on his face under his e-book.
"Hey Jongin!" Sehun calls. Jongin immediately comes. "Mystery man hugged Jongdae hyung," Sehun tells Jongin. They sound like housewives sharing gossips.
"Ooh," Jongin responds, telling Sehun to scoot and sits down next to him, ignoring the fact that his shift doesn't end for another hour. "Hyung, tell us more!"
Jongdae ignores the brats.
"We can help!"
"I have connections!"
"I have excellent social media stalking skills!"
Jongdae just needs the two children to shut up. But they won't, so Jongdae does his routine of walking away from them.
"Let me hug you, too, my lord!"
*
Baekhyun continues claiming that the hug is a skill, and Jongdae lets him because he secretly enjoys it. Jongdae regrettably accepts that the slight attraction has now become actual crush. Meanwhile, Jongin proves that he does have an excellent social media stalking skills.
"I have right here," Jongin smugly says, playing with a block of data in his hand, "the intricate details of student Byun Baekhyun, a.k.a. Ancfare user SweetyLoveBb92."
"Terrible username choices," Sehun shakes his head.
Jongdae is so very interested, but is hindered by his standard to not express interest before interest is expressed. This is very dilemmatic.
"I can just throw it away, if you don't want it," Jongin teases, pressing his fingers together like he's about to crush the data. Jongdae forgets about standards and reaches for it in desperation. Beautiful people like Baekhyun may not come twice in Jongdae's life.
Sehun and Jongin cackle at Jongdae's misery, confirming Jongdae's initial belief that the two of them are children of satan. Jongdae pouts. This is not how a lord should be treated. "Actually, hyung," Sehun tries to say while catching his breath and wiping his tears, "We can take you to him right now, if you want."
Jongdae's heart pounds. Pride be damned, he wants to meet this fine man right now and sees for himself whether or not Baekhyun is as cute as his avatar suggests. Jongdae gets up from his seat faster than he ever did. "Well, let's go, then!"
Jongin and Sehun cackle some more.
*
"Jongdae?" Baekhyun sounds ten thousand times better without the noise from the microphone. He has puppy eyes, but not the fluffy brown hair. His hair is jet black, making him look much hotter than his avatar. Jongdae's crush instantly gets bigger.
From afar, Jongdae can see Jongin pulling out his camera from his pocket and getting ready to take pictures. Paparazzi majors are the worst. "My healer friends have told me that the hugging skill doesn't exist," Jongdae blurts.
Baekhyun blushes a little, but laughs good-naturedly. It's beautiful. "Oops," he says, scratching his hair sheepishly. Jongdae prays that Jongin catches this moment with his camera. Jongdae wants to print this Baekhyun and plaster the picture in his bedroom. "I'm so-"
"Do you want to hug me," Jongdae cuts him, willing himself not to blush as he speak, "like, in real life?"
Baekhyun gapes at him, but then laugh and gives him a hug. Jongdae hugs back with a huge grin on his face. "As you wish," Baekhyun whispers. "My lord."
A little farther away, two juniors barf and exclaim, "Gay!"