If you were to tell Hyukjae three years ago that he’d garner a small fanbase from being in a relationship with a gamer and Twitch streamer, Hyukjae from three years ago would have looked at you weirdly and walked away without looking back. 

Yet here he was now with a steadily growing fanbase alongside easthae, and honestly, Hyukjae couldn’t have been more grateful. More so for the success Donghae is receiving because he knows that his boyfriend deserves it more than anyone else. Not that he’s one to boast, but Hyukjae thinks that it’s worth noting that Donghae has stayed the same even after he transitioned to a full-time streamer on Twitch. 

The Lee Donghae he met at the cafe remains the same Lee Donghae he now knows and calls the love of his life. Sure, there are some changes, but overall, his boyfriend is still the same goofy and clumsy rascal who accidentally spilled Hyukjae’s order on the latter. 

Admittedly when Hyukjae agreed to go on a date with Donghae, he wasn’t aware nor had he heard of ‘streaming,’ much less of the streaming platform Twitch. So when Donghae mentioned on their first date that he was saving up to buy a new computer and streaming equipment, that information flew past Hyukjae’s head and continued other general questions like did he have siblings and so on. 

Two months later, now more sure of their feelings for each other (Hyukjae is also steadily falling more and more in love with Donghae), Hyukjae receives a message from Donghae asking if he’s free. 

ddohae 😚🥰

hi hyukkie!!

are you free later? around 8:30pm?

hello hae :3

yea I think so, I get off work early today

why?

ddohae 😚🥰

I’ll be streaming later

I was hoping you’d come watch?  👉 👈

cutie 😚

of course I’d come watch, what time do I need to get there?

ddohae 😚🥰

yeyy!!

and don’t worry you don’t need to come over

I’ll send you the link here and you could watch me on your phone ☺️

Hyukjae was on his phone minutes before 8:30; anticipation and excitement filled his whole being. This was the first time Hyukjae would see what Donghae does in his stream. Despite knowing and dating each other for months now, Donghae had always avoided giving Hyukjae too much information about anything regarding streaming. The two things that Hyukjae knew were that he streamed on Twitch and that Donghae played fps games (whatever that meant) during his streams. And seeing as how Donghae would immediately change the subject every time Hyukjae asked how his streaming career was going, Hyukjae instead chose to be patient and wait for the latter to bring it up himself. 

So when Hyukjae’s phone pings and a message notification from Donghae flash across his screen, Hyukjae doesn’t waste another second and opens the message right away. He quickly clicks on the Twitch link Donghae sent him, only to be delayed from watching as the site that opens asks him if he has an account or if will he be watching as a guest. 

What was supposed to be quick and easy was nervewracking for Hyukjae as his excitement to be one of Donghae’s viewers on his stream finally turned into annoyance and impatience. After fifteen minutes of going back and forth, Hyukjae finally created and logged into his Twitch account, he even downloaded the app on his phone for a smoother viewing experience.

With his earphones plugged into the headphone jack, Hyukjae presses the link Donghae sent him which directly takes him to the latter’s stream. Having no prior knowledge or experience of watching streams, Hyukjae doesn’t know what to expect. But when Donghae’s stream opens on his screen, his eyes immediately focus on the latter’s face cam. Donghae, or easthae—Donghae’s streamer name, is hunched forward toward his screen, his eyes are laser focused on the game he was playing (Hyukjae had no idea what the name of the game was). Though there was light coming from the lamp at the corner of Donghae’s room, the light from the monitor was bright enough to show all the expressions that flight across Donghae’s face. 

Hyukjae then sees Donghae turn his head towards the camera but not looking at it directly, he looks like he’s reading something below the camera. A second monitor, maybe? He then sees a large smile bloom on Donghae’s face as he continues to read something from the screen, “weeesnaaaw thanks for the six months tier three! Welcome back, thanks so much for staying I really appreciate it.” Donghae says, the tone of his voice bright with excitement and gratitude for the notification he received. 

Hyukjae listens to Donghae read more subscription alerts and questions from his chat before curiosity consumes him and he starts poking around his screen to look for the chat box. It didn’t take him long, after pressing the message bubble icon at the bottom right of the screen, the chat box opens and occupies a third of the screen to the right. There he sees a moderate amount of messages ranging from emojis to words, terms, and expressions that Hyukjae isn’t familiar with. Yet strangely, that doesn’t make Hyukjae feel left out or not enjoy watching Donghae’s stream. If anything, Donghae is doing a good job multitasking; focusing on his game enough not to throw it but also looking back at notifications he may have missed just so everyone who subscribed and donated get noticed. 

An hour into watching Donghae’s stream, he sees him reaching for something out of the camera’s view. Not a second later, Hyukjae’s phone pings and a notification banner appears at the top of his screen with Donghae’s text message.

ddohae 😚🥰

are you watching?

Hyukjae almost facepalms himself. He forgot to text Donghae earlier that he was already tuning in. The fifteen minute struggle prior to watching the stream really did a number on him that when Donghae’s stream finally started playing, Hyukjae was relieved that he was able to make it work. Like clockwork, Hyukjae’s thumb hovers over the notification bubble but he doesn’t press down; he’s thought of a much better way to let Donghae know that he was indeed tuning in on his stream.

leejae86

Subscribed at Tier 3 for six months in advanced!

leejae86: you’re so cool :O hwaiting!

It took Hyukjae a few minutes to successfully subscribe for six months in advanced. He’s blaming his shaky fingers on the excitement and the slight nerves he’s feeling from thinking up of such a plan. Once the transaction is complete, he patiently waits for Donghae’s team to win the round so that he could start reading the notifications. 

His heart pounds louder against his chest when the round is over and he sees Donghae check his phone first only to pout when he doesn’t get a message with Hyukaje’s contact name. If he weren’t so wrung up with anticipation, Hyukjae would have cooed at Donghae for being visibly disappointed and being cute about it. But he holds himself back and actually holds his breath when Donghae finally turns to his second monitor to read the list of new chat notifications.

“Of course, we win those dynasty. Leviheichou thank you for the five gifted, everybody say thank you to Leviheichou and enjoy the emotes. Lee—? Lee jae eighty six?” Hyukjae bites on his bottom lip in anticipation as he watches Donghae pause. He sees his eyebrows furrowing for a second, as if he’s heard of something that closely resembles the username he read out, but decides against it last second like he too couldn’t believe what he was assuming and continues to read out the notification. “Thank you so much for the six months tier three. Wow… ‘you’re so cool, hwaiting?’ Thank you so much for thinking so, leejae86.” 

Hyukjae didn’t read out all the perks a tier 3 sub had, not when he doesn’t understand the mechanics of Twitch yet. But a tier 3 subscription was the most expensive out of all the options; it’s why Hyukjae chose it. The six months in advanced may have been an overkill, however, Hyukjae has always been a generous spender for his loved ones (and, maybe, also for the one whom he’s steadily falling in love for). 

And it looks like it was the right investment as well, seeing as how Donghae was practically breathless reading out his subscription. So although his username wasn’t enough to ring any bells of recognition, Hyukjae was determined to let Donghae know that he was watching and was willing to support his growing streaming career on Twitch. He may not know a lot now but Hyukjae knew he wanted to learn more so that he too could understand this part of Donghae’s life.

So Hyukjae types out on the chat box the reply he would have sent Donghae.

🐠 leejae86: yes, i’ve been watching for more than an hour now :>

🐠 leejae86: you look so handsome and so cool playing :3

“Yes, I’ve been watching for an hour now?” Donghae reads out his first message. He’s wearing a confused expression on his face then he pauses and visibly thinks back if he’s asked a question relative to the chat username leejae86 typed. Hyukjae giggles as if he could see Donghae’s brain smoke and spark from how hard the latter is thinking; this was, undeniably, the best way to reply to Donghae’s message.

But not a second later, Hyukjae and everyone else tuning in watch Donghae let out a guffaw before slowly clapping to himself. To anyone else, Donghae just looks like he’s thought of an inside joke or just simply lost his mind. However, Hyukjae wasn’t just anyone else, and he’s perfectly knowledgeable that when Donghae starts laughing loudly and clapping to himself with his hands almost covering his face; the streamer was bashful and embarrassed. Donghae knows leejae86 is Hyukjae. 

Throughout the rest of the stream, Donghae is even more lively and giddy compared to the past hour. There’s nothing that could wipe away the huge smile on the streamer’s face. No one in chat seems to notice the sudden boost in Donghae’s demeanor, nor do they tie leejae86’s comments here and there to the streamer’s upbeat mood. 

“I’ll end the stream here guys.” Donghae says after he exits his game, he turns to the camera and waves at it as if he was talking everyone in person, “Thank you to everyone who tuned in, to those who followed, and to those who subbed and resubbed. Have a great evening, everyone! I’ll see you all on my next stream.” Hyukjae’s screen turns to black but before he could close the application, Donghae’s contact name and picture flashes on his screen along with the soft tune of his assigned ring tone.

“Hae?”

“You’re leejae86, right? Please tell me I wasn’t flirting with someone that wasn’t you.”

Hyukjae softly chuckles after hearing the panic in Donghae’s voice, for a second he wanted to deny and tease Donghae first “Yeah, that was me. You were flirting with the right person.” Hyukjae answers instead, remembering how cute Donghae was when he found out it was him on stream.

“Thank God… how—how’d you think of the stream?”

“It was awesome Hae; you were awesome. You’re really entertaining to watch, even for someone like me who doesn’t know anything about the games you were playing.”

“Thanks Hyukkie,” Hyukjae giggles softly as he could almost see Donghae’s bashful expression, the soft tone of his voice also suggests that the latter is likely blushing, “You didn’t have to subscribe by the way, knowing that you were watching is enough for me.”

“Nonsense. This is my way of supporting you; you have to be patient with me though, I still have no idea what most of the terms and words you were saying earlier.”

“I’ll teach you! Don’t worry, it’s not that hard once you understand the meaning. Plus, most of the terms have the same use anyway. You’ll be talking like everyone in chat in no time.”

---

Hyukjae doesn’t remember when it exactly started, but he kind of expected it to happen anyway. It was inevitable, especially when he and Donghae lived together.

Donghae and Hyukjae moved in a two-bedroom apartment a month and a half after their anniversary. Donghae’s streaming career was starting to earn him money but it’s not stable enough for Donghae to quit his job at his brother’s cafe. Which was more than fine since he enjoyed working there and it was close to Hyukjae’s workplace that he can easily pick the latter up from work so that they could both go home together. 

It was Sehun who brought up the idea of living together, and the more Hyukjae thought about it, the more it made sense to do it. First of all, their workplaces are a walking distance from each other so getting a place near that area would save them time and money. Second, since Donghae’s stream had a time schedule, living together would give Donghae more time to rest and prepare for his stream every night as opposed to Donghae sometimes rushing and being late due to traffic from his commute. And lastly, Hyukjae wasn’t going to deny that seeing Donghae first thing in the morning on top of being the last person he sees before he shuts his eye to sleep was a good selling point.

But no matter how tempting those pros are, Hyukjae worries that living together would bring an extra burden to Donghae financially. Because as much as Donghae now makes enough money for his needs and wants, living independently is too much of a financial burden for someone who was just starting to make decent money. So as much as the thought of living together with his boyfriend excites Hyukjae, he’s choosing to put that thought off and wait.

Or so he thought.

Because a week after Sehun’s suggestion, Donghae invites Hyukjae out for dinner where he asks the latter to live with him in an apartment he had been eyeing for a while now. 

“I’d love to Hae, but wouldn’t it be too much for you? Didn’t you say you were saving for new streaming equipment?”

Donghae chuckles at his question, the hold he has on Hyukjae’s hands are firm yet soft still, “I already bought the equipment months ago. I had to tell you that so you wouldn’t catch on, when in reality I was saving for the apartment.”

“I don’t know Hae. Don’t get me wrong, I want to live with you; it’s just this is a huge responsibility.”

“I know that, Hyuk. I wouldn’t have proposed living together if I haven’t already thought of the possibility of difficult situations ahead. But if it’s any assurance, I have enough money in my savings account for at least three months worth of rent and electric bills at least.”

Donghae flashes Hyukjae his puppy eyes (damn him), knowing well enough that Hyukjae was weak to those shiny ers. He releases a sigh, Hyukjae already knows that this was a losing battle. Not only does Donghae look determined but there’s an air of confidence in his boyfriend; like he already knows what to do at all and any kind of situation they might face. And although that is impossible, Hyukjae finds comfort in that. 

“Just promise you’d tell me if it gets too difficult. I don’t want you to burn through the money you’ve earned without giving you the freedom to spend the it for yourself. You should be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.”

“I will, I promise. And don’t you worry, spending my money for our apartment is me enjoying the fruits of my labor.”

Living together with his boyfriend has been a joy, more than Hyukjae would like to outwardly admit (he doesn’t need give Donghae more reasons to smother him with even more kisses and hugs, if he did neither of them would get anything done). Their simple two-bedroom apartment became a home after a month of arranging and living in it. 

Surprisingly, it didn’t take long for either of them to get used to living together. They still go home together, except now they eat dinner together and watch a little tv before Donghae does his nightly streams. Even though they’re now living together, Hyukjae still watches Donghae stream online, only this time he’s using his laptop. Might have been due to habit but there’s no denying that Donghae’s streams are fun to watch.

The first time Donghae’s viewers asked if he was in a relationship, Hyukjae thought Donghae would come out of his streaming room and ask him to appear on stream for a second. As someone who wasn’t involved in the streaming community, that thought made Hyukjae break into cold sweat. Standing in front of people you already knew for a presentation was already nerve-wracking, how much more when it’s in front of faceless strangers. Thankfully, Donghae respected his privacy and instead answered with a simple yes, and moved on to the next chat message.

The next time someone attempts to ask, it was entirely Hyukjae’s fault. 

Based off of Donghae’s stream, his boyfriend’s camera was angled downwards in a way that it blocked the door behind him so that when he goes out for a bathroom break or to get some snacks, the viewers wouldn’t get a glimpse of their living room. Equipped with that knowledge, Hyukjae didn’t think much of it and decided to bring Donghae something to snack on while he waited to enter a match.

After the peaches have been skinned, Hyukjae places the equal slices of peaches and apples (Donghae likes to keep the skin on his apples; that’s where all the vitamins and nutrients are, he says) on a saucer. He also brought out the coldest bottled water from the fridge just in case Donghae already finished the one he brough with him before the stream started. 

Hyukjae doesn’t knock (as if Donghae is going to hear him), instead he quietly opens the door while safely balancing the tray of snacks in one hand. The sounds of mouse clicks and keyboard keys pressing welcome Hyukjae as soon as he opens the door. Though the room’s ceiling lights are off however the multiple lights from Donghae’s mood LEDs and computer setup were enough to illuminate the room. 

“As much as I want to play with heenim and bluepenguin—I’ll just call him by his name, Kyu’s Twitch handle is too long. Anyway, as much as I’d like to play LoL with those two, all our stream scheds just don’t match up,” Hyukjae quietly approaches his boyfriend. Donghae’s looking at his second monitor while he answers the questions his chat sends; he’s so focused that he only notices that there is someone else in the room when Hyukjae is near enough that he sees him from his peripheral vision.

Donghae’s change in demeanor is instant; an easy-going smile immediately blooms on his face, his whole physique straightens in attention but quickly laxes in familiarity as he reaches for Hyukjae’s waist to hug. Hyukjae giggles at his boyfriend’s antics, forgetting for a second that they had a live audience watching their every move. Though his face wasn’t shown, Hyukjae still feels shy and he feels his face warm from the flood of questions asking who he was on Donghae’s chat box. 

“Hae, c’mon,” he softly nudges Donghae’s shoulder, albeit reluctant to let go of the warmth emanating from his clingy boyfriend. He tries again, pushing firmer on Donghae’s shoulder this time which is effective to some degree. It only results to his boyfriend loosening his grip on Hyukjae’s waist, just enough so that he could tilt his head up and look at him with puppy eyes and an exaggerated pout on his lips. If Donghae’s mic wasn’t on, Hyukjae is positive that the streamer would have whimpered and whined as well. When Donghae senses that Hyukjae wasn’t going to budge, the streamer makes a show of sighing before completely releasing Hyukjae’s waist. 

Aish, this kid. 

If the camera wasn’t on, Hyukjae would have given in and leaned down to kiss his sulking boyfriend on the forehead. Unfortunately, Hyukjae had a stronger sense of self-control and instead settled with playfully pinching Donghae’s left cheek. Donghae sighs as he removes his arms around his boyfriend. He doesn’t forget to thank Hyukjae for the snacks before watching the latter leave and close the door to his room.

When Hyukjae returns to his laptop, he sees Donghae happily munching on the sliced fruits while he pointedly ignores the flood of questions on who the mystery person was. Reading through his chat, Hyukjae knows that there will be those that are frustrated for not getting a straight answer from their favorite streamer. But to Hyukjae, it’s a sweet gesture that Donghae respects his to not be revealed as the streamer’s boyfriend yet. It may seem like a ridiculous request to some; others might argue—why? It’s not like you’re dating a celebrity. 

But when you live in a society that isn’t as open and accepting on a relationship like theirs, Hyukjae learned long ago to be content with having only a handful of people know. 

Although, the sudden snack breaks from time to time might be a way for Hyukjae to test his apprehension. While seeing the increasing positive responses and honest curiosity towards him is helping Hyukjae slowly open to the possibility of allowing Donghae to reveal their relationship, Hyukjae needs a little more time still. Thankfully, Donghae has no trouble waiting and is having the time of his life teasing his curious viewers. 

A little short of a month later, Hyukjae freely gives Donghae permission to tell his kind viewers about him and their relationship.

---

It might come as a surprise, but Hyukjae has never played any form of video game whatsoever. Sure, he’s heard of the classics like Super Mario and Pac-Man, but he’s never had the chance to play them, even those available at arcades. When he was a kid he just didn’t find any appeal to playing them. How could he when his father’s family home had a wide, open field to play in?

After school, little Hyukjae would leave his bag at home and then quickly scurry down the road to his grandparents’ home to play with the other kids that lived nearby. They’d chase each other to their hearts' content across the endless open fields and try to outclimb each other on tall trees among other things. Then when they’re all sprawled out on the cool grass, Hyukjae’s grandma comes bearing cold and freshly squeezed fruit juices and delicious baked pastries. He can proudly say he had a great childhood even without playing a single video game, contradictory to what most believe.

However, now that he was dating a gamer and has been religiously watching his streams, Hyukjae might have a change of heart for video games. Though he knows that he could never be at par with Donghae’s game sense and skill, the amazing graphics are enough for Hyukjae to be curious enough to try playing them. When Donghae’s viewers start suggesting that he teach Hyukjae how to play Valorant, that was the final push for the latter to download the game on his laptop and give it a shot.

Remember how long it took for Donghae to fulfill that request? Here’s the real reason why that is:

Hyukjae hasn’t mentioned any of it to Donghae but he tried to learn to play Valorant on his own. Hyukjae already had the game installed on his laptop but it was only a week after did he open it and made an account. Originally, he wanted to surprise Donghae so when he finally accepts the streamer’s request to play with him, Hyukjae already has a decent amount of game sense and skill to be a worthy duo.

Unfortunately, after finishing the training and spending more than enough time in the practice range to familiarize himself with what buttons to press and a little aim training, Hyukjae didn’t last long in a match before leaving mid-game and uninstalling the game completely. One of the saddest things about playing Valorant was how many toxic players can get away with talking without many consequences. Most of their victims are newbies like Hyukjae that would expectedly underperform since their aims aren’t perfect and would usually over peek because they are, as the name suggests, new to playing the game.

Now Hyukjae wasn’t usually deterred by harmful words from nameless strangers but the constant bombardment of said words without any help from any of his in-game teammates was enough for Hyukjae to call it a night and leave mid-game. 

So when Donghae tries to pitch the idea of teaching him to play Valorant on stream for the first time, the unpleasant memories of him trying out the game come back at him and Hyukjae’s negative answer leaves no room for Donghae to try and convince him otherwise. But despite not knowing the reason behind Hyukjae’s vivid denial, Donghae wasn’t someone that gave up that easily. The streamer was consistent, persistent, and most importantly, patient; three of the thousands of reasons why Hyukjae loves Donghae. Also, the three reasons why he decided to give Valorant another shot and accept Donghae’s invitation to stream with him.

And as they say, the rest was history. There’s no need for Hyukjae to retell the stream that started it all; that was a corny, sugary mess. He doesn’t even know why Donghae’s viewers aren’t already sick of them, Hyukjae from three years ago would have gagged at every little antic he and Donghae has done on stream. 

He snorts to himself; ah, look at how far you’ve come. Who would have thought that a simple office worker like Hyukjae would find the love of his life and gain a steady amount of followers all in a span of three years? Hyukjae from three years ago would have popped his head off laughing at the ludicrousy of that possibility in his future.

“...Hyukkie? You okay? I lost you for a sec there,”

“Huh?” Hyukjae turned towards Donghae, who is looking at him with concerned eyes. He blinks a few times before shaking his head, both to signal that there is nothing wrong and to further get his head out of reminiscing. “Nothing, just looking back on how far we’ve come.”

“Aw, and?” Donghae sets aside the clothes he’s folding to look expectantly at Hyukjae. “What’d you think?” 

Hyukjae chuckles at puppy-like boyfriend. This is the guy who has at least a third of his chat thirsting over for, only to see him turn into a giant puppy at the mention of his boyfriend. Hyukjae has never felt so in love and so lucky to have someone like Donghae who’s consistently showed effort and excitement just at the thought of spending time with him, even more now compared to when they first started dating. 

So he lets his heart speak for himself, “I think it’s been a crazy journey, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way but only if it’s with you.” and almost immediately, he feels Donghae tackle and envelop him in the warmest hug. “You can’t just say that and not expect me to smother you. What prompted this anyway?”

“I don’t know. I just thought, the me from three years ago would have never imagined any of the things I have now, much less have someone like you.”

Donghae lifts his head to look up at Hyukjae with eyes glistening and the pout on his lips trembling as he holds himself back from bawling. Before Hyukjae could even coo and tease at his emotional boyfriend, Donghae already has a hold of his shirt color so that he can freely pull Hyukjae toward his awaiting lips.

Hyukjae feels every bit of emotion; everything Donghae wishes to tell him into the slow yet intense liplock. But it was over before he could let it wash over him. Instead, Donghae releases his lips but he keeps their foreheads connected so he could look intensely into Hyukjae’s eyes. “You’re going to make me propose out of nowhere, so don’t tempt me.”

“What happened to surprises?” Hyukjae chuckles. He’s still a little breathless from the kiss but he also feels his heart beat quicken from what Donghae is insinuating. “How am I supposed to look shocked in our engagement announcement on Instagram if you’ve already told me that you’re planning on proposing?”

“Hey, all I’m telling you is that I plan on marrying you. When and where I pop the question is my  secret.”

“Whatever.” he says while playfully pushing Donghae away just to delay his boyfriend from seeing the blooming blush on his face, “Finish up folding your clothes so we could put them away and order food already, I’m starving.” Hyukjae grabs his phone to start looking through delivery app for their dinner, only to feel Donghae hold onto his right wrist to stop him from moving away.

“I love you, Hyuk, so much.” Donghae says to him once Hyukjae looks back. He sees nothing but sincerity and love in them, gone were the teasing glint from earlier. 

Hyukjae answers with an I love you so much immediately. It didn’t require much thinking; the answer will always be as easy as breathing.