Chapter 1: The First Encounter

It was a normal day—or at least, it started out that way.

Same old routine: wake up early, skip breakfast, and jump straight into a match of Legacy.

Legacy wasn’t anything groundbreaking, just another MOBA game with heroes, lanes, and towers. For the past few months, the game had been my escape from the dull rhythm of school and work, it had become my favorite part of the day. Maybe because I wasn't just playing; I was sharing it with people who made everything more fun.

"Oi, Rai!"

My phone buzzed, Nico's message lighting up the screen.

Nico: Ranked? Let’s go. I need saving.

Me: You always need saving.

Nico: Pleaseee. Carry my entire being.

Me: Fine. Last game for today though.

I smiled and launched the game, accepting his invite as soon as it popped up.

I entered the lobby that he created and we queued up, and it didn't take long before we found a match.

While loading in, I glanced over the player list.

My eyes skimmed past random profile pictures; flashy avatars, anime characters, flaming skulls–until one caught my attention:

a simple photo of a chubby gray cat, staring blankly with wide eyes.

"Alright, time to babysit you again," I teased Nico through voice chat, locking in my hero.

This time, I chose a tank, a sturdy, heavily armored warrior with a giant shield; the exact opposite of a fragile assassin or mage.

I was ready to tank all the damage, control the battlefield, and keep everyone else alive.

The match began.

Everything seemed normal at first: farm minions, poke enemies, rotate lanes.

But then... something weird happened.

No matter where I was—even hiding within the towers—Jairem kept targeting me. Me, the tank.

Not our squishy mage. Not our fragile marksman.

Me.

“Dude, why is this assassin so obsessed with you?” Nico snorted, laughing through his mic as he tried to peel Jairem off me for the third time.

"I don't know! I'm literally built like a brick wall!" I cried, dodging yet another ambush.

Still, no matter how hard my hero was, he kept diving at me like I was the softest target on the field.

I had no choice but to keep repositioning, trying to figure out if he was trolling or just incredibly stubborn.

And then it happened.

Right after we won a chaotic team fight, my health bar hanging by a thread, a message popped up in the All Chat:

[Jairem]: Be my duo, Rai.

I froze, my hero awkwardly standing in the middle of the battlefield again.

Did I read that right?

“What the-” Nico exploded into full-on laughter.

"Is he seriously confessing in the middle of ranked?!"

The chat blew up immediately:

[Nico]: BRO HAHAHAHAHAH

[RandomTeammate]: Really? During a match?

[EnemyMarksman]: this is better than Netflix

[Jairem]: I'm serious. Duo with me, Rai.

My face burned, even though no one could see me behind the screen.

Why was this happening? Who even flirts mid-match—especially after trying to assassinate someone who's hard as a brick wall?!

"Come on, Rai," Nico teased, still laughing. "Maybe he likes strong women."

"Shut up," I muttered, trying yet failing to hide my grin.

We ended up losing by a slim margin, and honestly, it was my fault. I couldn't focus with Jairem’s words echoIng in my head every time he appeared on the map.

As soon as the defeat screen faded, a notification popped up:

> Jairem has sent you a friend request.

I stared at it, heart beating just a little too fast.

Nico’s voice chimed in again, smug as ever:

“Well? What are you waiting for? Your knight in shining assassin armor is waiting.”

Rolling my eyes, I clicked Accept, partly out of curiosity, partly out of something else I didn’t want to admit yet.

And just like that, something new had begun.

Chapter 2: Unexpected Duo

The friend request turned into a message almost immediately.

[Jairem]: Thanks for accepting.

[Jairem]: Sorry if that was weird lol.

[Rai]: A little.

[Jairem]: Worth it tho.

[Jairem]: Duo?

I hesitated.

Nico had already logged off after our last match, leaving me alone in the lobby with a guy who had spent half the game trying to assassinate me.

Still, curiosity won.

[Rai]: Fine, just one game.

The party invite popped up right away.

I accepted and loaded into the lobby without thinking too hard about it.

I hovered over my usual tank picks, but Jairem pinged Support.

[Jairem]: Pick a carry. I'll keep you alive.

I frowned slightly, amused. From trying to assassinate me to offering bodyguard services. That was a quick change of roles.

Rolling my eyes, I picked a marksman; high damage, paper-thin defense. If he was serious, he'd have to work for it.

The match started.

And, surprisingly, he meant it.

Every time someone tried to dive me, Jairem was already there; blocking shots, stunning enemies, tossing shields like his life depended on it.

It wasn’t flashy, but it was clean. Easy. Like we’d been a duo since forever.

I didn’t want to admit it, but it was kind of fun.

The kind of fun that made you forget what time it was.

When we finally smashed their base, a new message popped up:

[Jairem]: Told you we'd make a good team.

Before I could even answer, another invite popped up.

And somehow, one game turned into two.

Then three.

I glanced at the clock after our third win and froze.

It was nearly 1 AM.

Had we really been playing for almost three hours?

[Jairem]: Last one for real this time?

I snorted.

[Rai]: You said that two games ago.

[Jairem]: I meant it this time.... maybe.

Despite myself, I clicked Accept again.

It wasn’t even about the rank or rewards anymore.

The matches just... flowed. No weird silences, no ego fights.

Just good plays and the kind of teamwork you couldn’t fake.

During a loading screen, Jairem sent another message.

[Jairem]: Rai.

[Jairem]: You always this good, or am I just lucky?

I smirked at the screen.

[Rai]: Definitely just lucky.

[Jairem]: Ouch. Respect tho.

The last match flew by in a blur of kills, saves, and ridiculous plays.

When we finally landed back in the lobby, I realized my hands were starting to ache and my eyelids felt heavy.

[Jairem]: You’re probably dead tired.

[Rai]: A little.

[Jairem]: Wanna call it?

I thought about it for a second, then typed back:

[Rai]: Yeah, nice game.

There was a small pause.

[Jairem]: Play again tomorrow?

It was simple. No pressure.

But it still made me smile a little.

[Rai]: Sure, of I'm free.

[Jairem]: Bet.

I closed the game, sitting there for a moment in the quiet.

Three hours of matches with a complete stranger, and somehow, it hadn’t felt like a waste of time.

If anything...

it felt like something was just getting started.

Chapter 3: In Denial

Monday morning felt like getting hit by a truck.

I shuffled through the school gates half-asleep, every step a reminder that staying up until nearly 1 AM was a mistake. My backpack weighed a ton, my brain even more.

Yawning, I dragged myself into the classroom, and there he was: Nico, already slouched in his seat with his phone in hand, that smug, unbearable grin plastered across his face.

I knew that look.

I hated that look.

"Morning, Raiii," he sang out, way too happy for a Monday.

"Don’t start," I said, dropping my bag onto my chair with a heavy thud.

"Start what?" he asked, twirling his pen between his fingers like he was the picture of innocence. "I’m just being friendly."

I shot him a suspicious glare.

He lasted all of two seconds before cracking up, snorting loud enough that a few classmates turned to look.

"So," Nico said, leaning in, his grin growing even wider. "How’s your assassin boyfriend?"

I froze mid-unpacking, my hand gripping my notebook a little too tight.

I stared at him, unimpressed. "He's not my boyfriend. It's just a duo, not a relationship."

"Sure, sure," he said, mock-nodding. "Totally normal for someone to get confessed to mid-match and then duo for, oh, I don’t know, three straight hours."

I rolled my eyes, refusing to take the bait.

"It wasn’t like that. It was just a few games."

"Three. Hours," he repeated, holding up three fingers like I somehow didn’t know how to count. "After midnight. With one guy."

I shrugged, pulling out a pen and pretending my notes were suddenly the most fascinating thing on earth.

"We had good synergy. That's it," I said.

Nico snorted so hard he almost dropped his pen.

"Synergy, huh? That what the kids are calling it these days?"

I shot him a glare. "It’s called playing the game, Nico. You should try it sometime instead of feeding every match."

He grinned, completely unfazed.

"Hey, at least I’m not the one getting public proposals in the middle of ranked," he said, tapping his pencil rhythmically against the desk. "‘Be my duo, Rai.’ Bro didn’t even hesitate."

My ears burned just remembering it.

The sheer audacity of Jairem—messaging like that in All Chat, right after trying to murder me all game.

"I didn’t even answer him during the match," I muttered, flipping a page way louder than necessary.

Nico smirked. "Yeah, but you accepted his friend request."

I gritted my teeth. "Out of curiosity."

"Mhmm, curiosity. Classic."

I pressed the pen harder into my notebook, pretending to take notes even though the page was still blank.

"It’s not a big deal," I said, voice low.

"Right," Nico said, nodding sagely like he was some kind of wise old monk. "Not a big deal. Definitely explains why you were smiling at your screen like an idiot the whole time."

"I was not—!"

The bell rang, mercifully cutting off my denial before it could get any louder. I ducked my head, focusing intensely on the front of the classroom as the teacher walked in.

Nico, of course, leaned over and whispered one last thing before class officially started:

"You’re really red."

I elbowed him under the desk without looking.

He chuckled but let it drop, finally turning his attention to his notes—or more likely, just pretending to.

I should’ve been relieved.

But instead, I sat there, staring at my empty notebook, pretending to focus, pretending I didn’t hear Nico’s words echoing in my head.

Whipped.

Ridiculous.

It didn’t mean anything.

It was just games.

Good synergy, smooth teamwork, that’s all.

But even as I scribbled nonsense onto my paper, I couldn't quite chase away the memory of Jairem’s voice through chat.

The easy way he laughed.

The way the game didn’t feel like just a game when we played.

Not that it mattered.

Not that it meant anything.

I shook my head hard, pushing the thoughts away.

I had better things to focus on.

Like math.

And pretending that Jairem, and Nico’s dumb teasing weren’t taking up way too much space in my brain.

Right?