Chapter Text
The chat is going so quickly it's hard to catch anything but Hoshi is doing his best to interact with his viewers, answering questions and posing with props so they can take screenshots of him. He's engaged and attentive; he's so comfortable with the camera it's like it's not even there.
Jihoon hovers over the donate button with his mouse, contemplating sending a tip.
"WildHamzzi, Juicy88, thank you so much for the donations. I really appreciate it! Horanghae!"
The boy on the screen smiles brightly and does his signature claw pose. He gives the camera one last glimpse of his collarbone before he starts buttoning his shirt, which has been half open the whole stream. Jihoon sighs and moves his mouse away, embarrassed. Maybe next time.
"Thanks for tuning in guys, I'll see you again soon. Bye!" He finishes with some finger hearts.
Jihoon closes the lid of his laptop. It’s only 10:30pm but he might as well go to bed now. Aside from working out (which is usually a morning affair) and grinding in the studio, he doesn’t have a lot of hobbies; tuning in to Hoshi's random streams helps him to unwind. His shows are usually spontaneous which is fun. It keeps everyone on their toes. He gets bored easily, so he switches up his content a lot according to the requests of his top subscribers. Sometimes he just talks about his day, other times he does ASMR, or dance covers. Jihoon likes those best- he’s a wonderful dancer.
He does a lot of flirty content too. Hoshi is no stranger to acting cute, and is happy to comply with his fans' wishes. He’s a pro at taking boyfriend shots, posing with the camera at just the right angle, laughing like he's just heard the funniest joke ever, staring down at the lens to fake eye contact. Jihoon may or may not have one of them printed out.
Jihoon isn't stupid. He knows that Hoshi is just doing his job, acting for the camera. He's providing an experience for paying customers, and Jihoon is just one faceless username among many, but it's nice to pretend, sometimes.
Hoshi has this uncanny way of talking like he's in the room with him and Jihoon tends to let his imagination run wild. It's embarrassing, but when he's alone in his big apartment and starting to get heartsick it's easy to let himself get lost in the fantasy.
He pads into the bathroom and brushes his teeth, eyeing his reflection in the mirror. His dark hair contrasts nicely against his fair skin. He brushes it past his ear and out of his eyes so he can see. He looks good. That's what he tells himself, anyway. He's not quite convinced about the efficacy of positive affirmations, but what the hell. Can't hurt. Jihoon used to fixate on his height and skinny frame, but these days he's working out more and started growing his hair out a bit for a change, and when he goes out he can feel more eyes on him lately.
He’s still single, though.
Dating has been difficult for Jihoon. It's not for lack of trying; he meets plenty of people in the music business and has made a valiant effort to mingle at the mixers and the dinners, suffering the small talk, but it really isn’t his scene. His friends have all tried and failed to set him up over the years but everyone he dates soon realises that he's too unavailable and things inevitably break down. It’s hard to be in a relationship when you’re married to your job.
It's okay to be single. He knows that plenty of people his age are, and actually maybe it's better this way- he shouldn't get into a relationship just because he feels like he should. Finding a partner isn’t the be-all end-all that people say it is. For now, he has something else to fill the void.
He drums his fingers in a random rhythm against the wall, wondering when the next stream will be. Probably in the next couple of days, since Hoshi has been streaming more than usual lately, several times a week.
He’ll wait for the notification.
It comes at a good time. Jihoon has wrapped up with work and is on his way home already so he’ll catch most of it if he drives fast.
When he gets back, he toes off his shoes, throws his keys on the mantle and hastily hangs his coat up and pulls his laptop out from his bag and hauls his tired body into bed with it. He’s still logged in, so he quickly tabs to the stream. The screen finally loads and Jihoon's mouth falls open.
Hoshi has dyed his hair black.
Jihoon loved his white blond look more than he’d care to admit, and does mourn for it but something about this inky blue-black is charming in its own way. He looks great.
His eyes crinkle into cute crescent moons as he reads a subscriber’s comment and smiles widely, showing his perfectly white teeth. As far as Jihoon knows, they’re about the same age, but Hoshi has such a bright energy to him that he could definitely pass for younger.
“Okay horangdans,” he whispers into the mic, “what shall we do today? I don’t have anything planned so I’m open to requests!” He leans on one hand, absentmindedly applying lip balm with the other as the comments flood in.
[Omg our tiger turned into a panther!]
[Hoshi is so handsome I’m gonna die]
[I’m looking SO respectfully]
[How is he so cute?? That colour suits you sooo much…]
“Aw thanks guys, I’m glad you like it!” He runs a hand through his glossy hair. “I thought about dyeing it on camera but it was too messy, I didn’t want you to see me spill everything,” he laughs. Jihoon smiles to himself, picturing Hoshi struggling with the instructions.
“Hmmm~ I’m seeing mukbang a lot; how did you guys know I ordered in? Ahhh you know me so well. Did you eat yet? Better grab something so we can eat together!”
Jihoon's stomach bubbles as if in response and he realises that he hasn’t had a meal since this morning. He unplugs his laptop so he can bring it to the kitchen.
He thinks he still has some leftovers from a meal kit subscription service he tried out somewhere in the freezer, so he digs through until he finds the labelled tupperware. He likes cooking but isn’t all that motivated to do it for himself since the café at work is really good and he tends to keep to a diet anyway.
If he had someone to cook for, he'd probably put the effort in.
He brings a bowl of microwaved chicken stir fry back to his laptop and notices that the waiting music has been playing for a little while; a cute upbeat track with tiger-related lyrics that Hoshi recorded himself. The black and orange Be Right Back screen is up and it has the donation request tiers on it. The lower tiers are for simple things like shout outs and cute poses, but the more you donate, the more specific the actions can be. Jihoon vividly recalls a subscriber donating $100 to get Hoshi to try every single melona bar flavour. It was the middle of summer and he was wearing a mesh shirt and, well. It was a memorable stream.
The live feed flicks back on and for a second the unfiltered background of Hoshi’s room, which had been a virtual backdrop, is visible. There are some boxes piled up on a bed and noticeably less decor on his walls than there usually is. There’s an unmistakable pile of tiger plush toys in one corner. Hoshi sits back down in front of the camera with a steaming bowl of udon and gives his thanks for the meal, and the background flickers.
He holds the bowl up to the camera so they can see it- the broth looks rich, with crisp leaves of seaweed, a thick knot of noodles and two halves of a jammy soft boiled egg.
“Waah, it looks so good. Can’t wait!” Jihoon waits for him to start before eating himself.
“Oh-" Hoshi says between mouthfuls of thick noodles. “-you guys saw that huh? Damn, you're fast," he laughs. "Yeah I’m actually moving to a new place soon. I was gonna mention it later but whatever!” He scrolls through the comments with one hand.
“Mm it’s waay bigger than this place and it’s got an office that I’m gonna use as a studio. I’ll need help decorating, so if you have any suggestions, leave a comment.” Jihoon didn’t know that he was just streaming from his bedroom. It's none of his business, really, but somehow it’s nice to know that Hoshi is doing well enough to move to a nicer apartment.
The chat starts going a bit faster.
“Drop the wishlist? Okay, okay,” he grins. “Maybe I should have put more on it~” He pastes the link to his amazon wishlist in the chat and the fans race to buy everything on the list. Jihoon does glance at it but it's already all bought out before he can get a good look.
He holds his chopsticks in his mouth pensively. If he’s moving, maybe now would be a good time to donate, he thinks.
Hoshi finishes up his meal, and thanks the viewers for their kindness, licking his lips. He moves his dishes somewhere off camera and glances at the clock. “I think I’ll go a little while longer if that’s okay with you guys. Any more requests?”
Jihoon clicks the button, reasoning that he just got paid and maybe would like to join in on spoiling Hoshi for once.
Hoshi’s eyes light up when the notification flashes across the screen.
[Wooahae has donated $500]
“Oh my gosh, thank you! What a generous donation, Wooahae!”
Shit.
He meant to donate $50, but had pressed the zero key too hard and didn’t check the amount before he sent it. Hoshi looks ecstatic though, and he can’t bring himself to admit that it was a mistake. Hearing him read out his username gives him goosebumps.
He exhales a deep, slow breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, and reasons that the money was just sitting there in his bank account anyway; at least Hoshi will put it to good use.
He never usually comments but it would probably be quite rude to not say anything, so after a too-long pause he manages to type something out.
[Good luck with the move.]
Hoshi's playful smirk gives way to a soft smile and he looks genuinely touched, all traces of bravado draining away for a brief moment.
Jihoon's heart stutters and he's beginning to regret it less and less.
“I really appreciate it, Wooahae. Thanks again.” He lowers his voice a notch and just like that he's back to being confident and flirty, his persona settling back into place. Hoshi is a bit of an attention seeker and tends to play up the cute angle because it's what the majority of his followers like; he does aegyo for his older fans without a shred of shame but he changes it up now and then. He’s famous for his duality, able to switch between cute and sexy at the drop of a hat, and he’s definitely turning it on now. “You’re the top donator today, and you know what that means,” he whispers.
Jihoon’s brain is a little bit scrambled because he’s remembering that actually the reason that people donate is to get Hoshi to do things for them, not just to gaze into his eyes as he reads out your username. Donations of $200 or more are entitled to request nearly anything, and virtually all the high donations are for NSFW requests. Thinking about it now he's pretty sure that there's a donation cap, and he might have just hit it. The gesture is a lot more extravagant than he meant it to be. He quickly glances around as if waiting for the cops to spring out of his wardrobe and arrest him, before reminding himself that he’s an adult and this is all perfectly legal and consensual, and types out his request in the private chat box he's been invited to. He reads it back and deletes it once, then re-types it out again and has to close his eyes and count back from three before he hits the enter key, heart thumping like a galloping racehorse.
[I want to see you touch yourself]
He might as well get his money’s worth before he dies of embarrassment.
Hoshi chuckles and adjusts the camera angle to film from below. He looks excited, like he’s been waiting for this.
“Of course. Anything for you,” he purrs.
Jihoon can't quite believe this is happening.
Hoshi is wearing some stylish wide leg pants today. It's almost a shame to see them pooled around his knees. With purpose he thumbs at the brass button and the zipper, slowly unwrapping himself like a present. He’s biting his lip, and Jihoon is short circuiting as he watches Hoshi touch himself through his boxers, looking directly into the camera, letting out a pleased hum and the thought that he’s doing this because Jihoon asked him to is making him crazy.
“How’s that, are you enjoying the show? Hmm?” Hoshi pauses to squeeze, gasping out a breath and he looks so hot doing this. He's barely done anything and Jihoon's legs are already jelly, and the tension in his body is winding tighter by the second, coiling like a spring. The anticipation is killing him but he sort of feels like getting off to this must be illegal or something, so he just mutely watches Hoshi readjust himself in his chair, scrunching the covers in his fists by his sides. Hoshi slips a hand under his shirt which coincidentally reveals a flash of his toned abs and Jihoon knows by the smile that it’s on purpose.
“Feels so good,” He moans. He loves the attention; he's an exhibitionist at heart. He may be alone in his room but he’s got thousands of people watching, hanging on his every word, losing their minds over him and it's turning him on so much. He wonders how many of them are touching themselves too.
He hopes Wooahae is.
Hoshi picks up the camera and brings it in for a close up. There’s a clear tent in his pants. “Look what you’re doing to me.” His eyes are half-closed, head tilted down towards the camera lens, and his lips are glossy from the biting. Jihoon drinks this in. He’s afraid to blink because he might miss something. He has seen one or two NSFW streams before but this is different. Hoshi isn't just playing to the masses- he's like this, stiff and aching and eager because of him. It's feeding Jihoon's delusions. He's hyper aware of every sound; his rough exhales, pounding heart loud in his ears. He dare not move because he's so hard already and if he starts to touch himself it feels like he’ll break the spell and everything will burst into seafoam. He just absorbs every moment, letting it pass over him.
“Ahh,” hisses Hoshi.
He’s pulling his pants all the way down and his cock springs up. It’s blush pink and glossy with precome, and the camera shakes as he shudders. He’s clearly quite far gone because he’s not teasing so much anymore; he’s stroking himself faster now, swiping over his slit. He disappears under the table for a second and there’s the click of a bottle cap and when he comes back up his cock is so wet. His mouth falls open as he starts to rhythmically buck his hips into his own hand, the regular creaking of his chair punctuating each messy thrust as he loses himself in the waves of pleasure.
"Are you watching?" he asks.
Jihoon can't take his eyes off him.
He’s going in and out of frame again but he doesn’t seem to care about the stream anymore; he’s just chasing his finish and he starts whining as it builds, seemingly too intense but also not enough, and he pushes his shirt up and tweaks at a nipple to send himself over the edge.
He cums with a gasp, painting a thin rope of white onto his half naked stomach as he's wracked with spasms from the force of it. His chest heaves with deep breaths as he calms down, looking extremely satisfied.
"Look at that," he drawls, marvelling at his cock, which is softening but still oozing cum. "All for you."
Jihoon thinks he feels his soul leave his body but is brought back by Hoshi's musical laughter. His smile is elfin and cheeky as he stretches, flexing a little for the hell of it.
“Did we all enjoy ourselves? It was pretty good, right?” he breathes. “Everyone say thank you to Wooahae.” The chat is an incoherent mess of keysmashes, crying and begging. He leans back so his eyes are out of frame but he's smug and satisfied as he signs off for the day.
He has no right being this hot.
Jihoon wilts into the bed, lies there for a moment contemplating what just transpired, files the whole exchange away for future consideration and with burning ears and a heavy heart he drags himself out of bed to change his pants.