Chapter Text
The morning after their arrival in Beijing began like every first tournament morning did: too early, too bright and with Jihoon regretting his own existence. He groaned as he buried his face into and then under the pillow, still half-asleep and haunted by the memory of yesterday’s airport chaos.
He had been following the crowd toward baggage claim, headphones in, eyes glazed from not having slept nearly enough the night before. He had no one else to blame for that besides himself … and maybe Geonwoo, who had kept him awake with live commentary of his own chaotic evening.
It had all gone wrong for Jihoon when they had left the gate and he had spotted a sign with Chovy on it in big letters. Who could blame him for assuming it was one of the staffers waiting to guide them to their transport?
He had walked right toward it, suitcase in hand, only realizing way too late that it was actually just a fan holding a handwritten cardboard sign. Her big, surprised eyes, the squeal of delight and the quick swarm of cameras that followed would have been funny … if not for the fact that it happened to him and that the video had gone viral within an hour.
Now it was everywhere.
He reached for his phone with a groan and opened his messages. A new text from Hyunjoon greeted him at the top of the screen.
<I swear someone’s gonna kidnap your naive ass. At least you looked adorable in the video, like a lost little puppy.>
Jihoon groaned again, muttering: “No, that would be Minhyung.”, before typing, explaining his behaviour. The answer came promptly. Good to know that he wasn't the only idiot up this early.
<Sure, sure. Maybe next time wear a leash, so the team doesn’t lose you.>
He couldn’t even be mad. His friend was right and Jihoon could already imagine the smug grin on his face when they saw each other next.
Staying in bed sounded so tempting, but the second key card that had been left for him at the reception burned a hole into his wallet. So he got up and ready, quietly and quickly, doing his best to not wake up Minkyu, still sleeping peacefully in the other bed.
By the time Jihoon was on his way to Geonwoo’s room, he was at least somewhat awake. 7 in the morning was an ungodly hour, but he would do worse to spend some time with the man that had so quickly become one of the most important people in his life; some last moments of comfort, before tournament reality fully caught up to them.
Fucking hell, when did I become this sappy?
The door two floors up from his own opened with a startlingly loud beep. He almost expected Geonwoo to still be asleep, but no. He was up, sitting more or less upright against his pillows, phone in hand, looking all soft and inviting. And suddenly Jihoon wanted nothing more than to forget about his schedule and just stay in bed with him all day.
“Morning,” he mumbled, kicking off his shoes. “I hope you had a better night than me.”
“Maybe,” Geonwoo admitted, his voice still rough from sleep. “We were having a very late dinner and then sorted out rooms for the rest of our stay here, because for some reason neither of us thought about doing that earlier.”
Jihoon pulled off his jacket with some effort and dumped it on the unused bed in the room. “Who’s bunking with who?”
“Peanut and Viper, obviously,” Geonwoo said with a cheeky grin that got lost in a yawn. “Those two are practically glued together at the hip. Zeus and Delight wanted to marathon some anime, which means Zeka …” he gestured vaguely toward himself “... gets a room to himself.”
Jihoon frowned. “You get your own room and I’m stuck with Duro?”
Geonwoo tilted his head, expression purposefully innocent. “I mean, you could always stay with me, you know? Sleep here whenever you want. Would you like that?”
It took his sleep-addled brain a moment to sort through those words. The thought of it, of sharing a bed, of sleeping next to each other without the pretense of exhaustion felt … monumental.
“I probably can't stay over all the time or it will get suspicious, but yeah,” Jihoon said quietly. “I think I’d like that a lot.”
Geonwoo’s answering smile was small, as if he had no energy yet for anything more, but it still managed to convey how delighted he was by the idea. “Great, then you can just keep that key card. And now, will you please finally come here so I can kiss you?”
Hours later, after their first official scrim block, Jihoon pushed away from his station, scrolling through social media. The teaser from T1’s Great Wall of China shoot had just gone live and the production was impressive as always. The team looked like they’d been born for the camera and he had to admit, even his derpy hyung looked kind of epic.
Jihoon knew how much his friends had dreaded that freezing, exhausting day, but damn had it paid off. He opened a chat and typed a quick message to Hyunjoon:
<The video looks incredible. You’ll get sick in that weather though, I bet. Try to take care of yourself … and that jungler of yours.>
The little read notification appeared almost instantly, but there was no response to his teasing. Jihoon chuckled, shaking his head. Typical.
Gen.G decided to watch the all important Play-ins series together, spread out over the room and deeply entertained by the insanity happening on screen. Afterwards, still boggling at that disastrous Rek’Sai dive from the first game, Jihoon tapped on Minhyung’s name in his contacts.
<Good job! Those Ashe arrows were clean. Guess you get to stay a little longer.>
The reply came barely a minute later; a sticker of a happy dog with his tail wagging, followed by a sleepy one. Jihoon couldn’t help chuckling at the screen.
It might come back to bite us in the butt, but World's without T1 wouldn't have felt the same.
The last thing happening that day was the draw, the decider who would play against who in the first proper round of the tournament. Gen.G got paired with one of the arguably easiest opponents, PSG, while Hanwha Life was set to face Anyone's Legend. When Jihoon came to Geonwoo’s room late that night, the draw results were still their topic number one while they got ready for bed.
“I respect Maple and his team, but they really don't compare to Shanks or Tarzan.” Geonwoo groaned as he brushed his teeth. “Why does it feel like we got opposite extremes?”
Jihoon snorted around his toothbrush. “Because we kind of did,” he said, nearly choking on the foam in his mouth at the sight of Geonwoo’s exaggerated pout.
Once they returned from the bathroom, they awkwardly stood in front of the twin beds for a moment. Geonwoo half turned to him, suddenly uncharacteristically serious, sounding almost a little shy. “We’re sharing, right?”
Jihoon’s eyebrows rose to his hairline in surprise. “Did you really just ask that?”
Geonwoo bumped his shoulder against him. “In case you didn’t notice, we’ve never actually just gone to bed together before. Without, you know, doing other things first. I don’t even know if you wear pajamas or sleep naked or-”
“I sleep like this,” Jihoon interrupted, amusement evident in his voice, gesturing towards his t-shirt and boxers. “Sorry if you expected something cuter.”
Geonwoo rolled his eyes, though his expression softened. “You’re ridiculous.”
“As far as I know, I don’t snore or sleepwalk or anything like that and I prefer the left side of the bed,” Jihoon continued, deliberately matter-of-fact, but grinning. “I’d also love to be hugged and use you as my pillow. Any other burning questions?”
Geonwoo just shook his head fondly as he grabbed Jihoon’s hand and pulled him toward the bed. The gesture seemed confident again, until Jihoon realized that Geonwoo’s pulse was still fluttering under his fingertips.
They climbed into the bed closer to the window, blankets rustling as Geonwoo switched the lights off and then basically manhandled a chuckling Jihoon into place. When they finally stilled, Geonwoo was lying on his back, Jihoon half-draped over him, their legs tangled together.
“Sorry, kitten,” Geonwoo murmured, nuzzling into his hair. “I always get a bit anxious at the start of big tournaments, I should be back to normal soon.”
Jihoon smiled against his chest. “Don’t say sorry. I’m the opposite. I get more restless later. We’ll balance each other out.”
Geonwoo’s arm tightened slightly around him, his fingers brushing lazily over Jihoon’s side, dipping under the fabric for skin contact every now and then. “Sounds nice.”
They lay there, just enjoying the quiet for a while until Jihoon tilted his head up, pressing a soft kiss to Geonwoo’s jaw.
“Good night and sleep well,” he whispered.
“You too,” Geonwoo replied, his voice barely audible.
It took them mere minutes to fall asleep. Memories of intense strategy talks and all future worries finally overridden by the comfort they found in each other.