author's note: in honor of my lovely KOO Tigers - now ROX Tigers - making it to Worlds, where I'll hopefully get to see them this year, i finally finished a piece set during last year's worlds, where they came so close to victory. Smeb is probably one of my favorite players in the world, second to Faker, as he'd just beaten out Piglet. i'm so happy for them this year, and i truly hope to be able to get to see them sometime this october. (title taken from smile by mikky ekko.)

2015 Worlds Group Stage

“Yah, Uijin~” Smeb wrapped his arms around his best friend’s shoulders, rocking him back and forth at the lunch table. “What’re you doing in here? You’re in second place, how can you sit here?” he joked. “Second place eats outside~”

Rolling his eyes at his former teammate, Reignover quipped, “Just because you’re winning doesn’t mean you can be rude. At least we lost to Cloud 9 and not to Flash Wolves.”

Grinning a Cheshire grin, Smeb stood up straight. “I’m just saying! But seriously though, I’m so impressed! You’ve really improved so much!” He clapped his friend on the back, finally looking at Reignover’s team, Fnatic, who were all watching the two in amusement. His eyes then landed on a young girl who was sitting next to Reignover.

She was short, he could tell that much. Her caramel brown hair was in two braids, an orange headband in her hair and a Fnatic jacket sitting on her shoulders. Smeb noted that it was Reignover’s jacket, as his friend was in his T-shirt. She looked up at him, and he smiled at her sweetly.

“Who’s this?” he asked finally, looking to Reignover.

His friend blushed a little. “This is Soojung,” he replied softly. “She’s my friend from Europe, a student who is studying in Germany.” He looked to her, and she watched with a small smile.

“Hello.” She beamed up at the Korean top laner, who suddenly felt his heart jump in his chest for some reason, one that he couldn’t quite place. “I saw your matches. You’re very good, from what I can tell.” She paused, then sheepishly added, “Although I’m not sure that means much. I’m not very good at League. Uijin has been teaching me, but I’m still not very good.”

Reignover laughed a little, gently patting the girl’s hand. “That’s a lie. You’ve improved a lot.” He switched to English, a language Smeb understood only slightly, and asked his team, “Soojung has improved at League, right?”

The team nodded with broad smiles on their faces. Huni, the other Korean on the team, grinned cheekily. “She’s a good top player, but she refuses to play top. Says she wants to play jungle like Uijin,” he teased his jungler.

Reignover and Soojung both rolled their eyes at Huni. Smeb, however, poked Reignover with an equally cheeky grin. “So, you’ve been teaching your girlfriend how to jungle? What if she takes your spot, huh?”

The two blushed and exchanged looks. Huni snickered, then explained to Rekkles, who only laughed, then relayed the explanation to the rest of the team. Soon enough, all of Fnatic was laughing at Smeb, Reignover, and Soojung, who was a bright red as she fidgeted in her seat.

“Um… I’m not Uijin’s girlfriend,” she mumbled. “We’re… we’re just friends.”

Smeb looked to Reignover, who looked a little upset, but didn’t question it. Instead, he laughed it off, apologizing softly, patting his friend on the shoulder. Noticing the awkwardness that lingered in the air, he quickly excused himself, chancing a glance back at Reignover and the obvious object of his affection, who obviously didn’t return his feelings.

heartbreak

It was the quarterfinals, and Smeb had just walked offstage, grinning in their victory over kt Rolster. They had gone into it just hoping to put on a good enough show for the rest of the world, but had come out of it as semifinalists.

They had dropped a game, but Smeb felt secure enough in his victories in order to keep his head high and his smile wide. They’d tied with the Flash Wolves in games won, but their game time was just much longer than the Taiwanese team’s, and so, Koo ended up snagging second place.

He’d been proud, although a bit off-put, especially due to the fact that the team they’d lost to twice had been the team to take first place. Yet second place, only because of game times, was something that made Smeb’s chest swell in pride.

He remembered that Reignover had been pleased for his friend as well, even though he’d jokingly claimed that second place had to sleep outside.

The two former IM teammates had shared a good laugh, but had also realized what winning their quarterfinals matches meant for them. It meant that they’d be able to face each other in the semifinals – meet at Worlds, just like they’d planned when they’d left IM together, less than a year prior.

It felt like fantasy to Smeb, who had once been called the worst top laner in Korea, to now be meeting his friend, Reignover – the Gameover – at Worlds, a stage that the two of them had only ever been able to dream of standing on.

He chatted happily with GorillA as the team walked offstage, through the halls of the Worlds stadium. He couldn’t wait to talk to Reignover, to tell his friend that he’d see them at semifinals, and make sure that Reignover would play the best game that he could.

“Hey,” whispered Kuro, the quietest of the KOO Tigers. Smeb looked to the mid laner, who was worriedly gazing over at the entrance to the lobby of the stadium. “Isn’t that your friend?”

Smeb followed Kuro’s line of sight, only to see Reignover, his entire body curled into a ball as he buried his face in his knees. All of Smeb’s triumph fell from his body, and he looked to his team, who only nodded at him, urging to go to Reignover’s side, and he did so. He heard nothing but his own footsteps, which mixed with the barely audible sobs that the slightly younger boy was letting out.

As Smeb drew closer, he could see Reignover shaking. He slowly came to a stop next to his friend, waiting for Reignover to say something, anything, to assure him that he was alright.

When no such thing came, he slid down the wall to sit next to Reignover. He kept his eyes on his old friend, whose only movements were when his shoulders shook with his crying. Reaching out hesitantly, Smeb drew an arm around Reignover, pulling him close in a soft hug.

“Kyungho…” the jungler managed, his eyes bloodshot as he finally looked up at Smeb. He frantically wiped at his teary eyes, attempting to hide the things that Smeb had already seen. “Sorry, sorry. I’m fine, it’s nothing.”

Even he didn’t sound convinced by his reassurances.

Smeb only sighed, gently rubbing Reignover’s shoulder. “It’s that girl, isn’t it? Soojung?” he guessed quietly.

At her name, Reignover paused, then nodded slowly. “I told her I loved her,” he whispered, his voice breaking at his confession. “And