Chapter Text
Nam-gyu remembered how he felt when he first woke up in this sick joke of a game. He remembered his confusion, the fear of not knowing where he was, or what would become of him.. Especially after the events of the first game.
Even though he had survived and was still okay, even after the last game (6-legged pentathlon), he was terrified. Not even the drugs coursing through his veins could subdue him enough to stop his crippling fear. Though.. There was something, someONE, who helped calm his nerves, if only for a little bit. That someone was Thanos, of course. His dear friend (lies), Choi Su-bong, the one he knew from his time working at club Pentagon. He had been somewhat close to the rapper, if you consider casual small talk to be “close.” He was the only person in the whole place he really knew, so he decided to stick near him, the familiarity almost comforting.
“Nam-suu~ look over thereee!” Thanos sang out next to him, a wicked grin on his face. God what now..
“Nam-gyu.” He corrected, slightly irritated, but he complied with Thanos’ request, redirecting his gaze to where the other was pointing. “What?” He asked, unsure of what exactly it was he was pointing at.
“You look stupid” Thanos replied, laughing at him. “What??” Nam-gyu looked both annoyed and very confused. Thanos was being overly irritating today.
“I ask you to do something and you obey like a dog” Thanos giggled, shoving Nam-gyu playfully, to which Nam-gyu scoffed and shoved him back, “shut up..”
“Maybe i'll even start treating you like one” Thanos continued to tease, purposefully getting Nam-gyu all riled up. It was almost like he enjoyed seeing Nam-gyu all annoyed and flustered. “I-i- wh.. What.???” Nam-gyu stuttered out, showing that Thanos indeed succeeded in annoying Nam-gyu.
“I'm just messing with you~” Thanos hummed. His tone made Nam-gyu feel like he was gonna throw up, he couldn't even tell if Thanos was doing this on purpose or not. He always denied his feelings for anyone, chalking it up to “one time flings” or just some crush that would go away once he knew the person.. But he couldn't react like that and not have it raise some flags.
“That wasn't very funny..” he huffed, feigning anger. He tried to come across as irritated that Thanos was messing with him, but his own voice failed him, and he hated why. He hated getting this attached to people, especially if it goes further.. Especially if he knows he has no chance.
“Mmh.. suck it up” Thanos responded, before his attention was quickly caught by something.. Probably that stupid fuck, Min-su. Nam-gyu thought, his expression turning sour. He hated Min-su, hated the way Thanos paid so much attention to him. Attention that was meant for Nam-gyu, or at least that's what he thought.
Nam-gyu was saved (sorta) from having to witness that interaction, if there was one, because a voice over the intercom called for dinner. Great.. More shitass food, Nam-gyu thought, slowly rising to his feet, before Thanos grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down.
“Hey man, whatcha doin??” He asked, looking over at Nam-gyu. “I'm uh, getting food?” Nam-gyu replied, confused as to why he was being stopped if the intercom clearly said it was dinner time.
“No.. I'll get some food for you.” Thanos said, his tone surprisingly stern, though his grip was oddly gentle. “You stay here. I dont..” he trailed off, like there was something he was stopping himself from saying.
He then turned around and left, walking towards the forming lines and cutting half the line off. When he got to the tables, he took two, saying a simple “My friend is injured and can't walk.” as an excuse, before making his way back.
While he was gone, Nam-gyu had some time to think about what exactly was going on with Thanos. I mean, why was he being so nice all of a sudden? Was it because Nam-gyu reacted negatively to the teasing from Thanos? Nam-gyu didn't know, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted by Thanos dropping the food he got for Nam-gyu on his lap, before sitting down next to him.
“Hehe, eat up” Thanos said, smiling, “cuz if you dont im taking your food for myself”
He always knew how to take something sweet and turn it into some sort of joke, but Nam-gyu never minded that. If anything, he found it endearing, often hoping to see how he would turn what they were talking about into some sort of joke.
“You can just have it, since you want it so bad,” Nam-gyu said, picking up his food, but before he could hand it to Thanos, he pushed it back down into Nam-gyu’s lap, “No. You need to eat.”
That was unexpected. He sounded so adamant that Nam-gyu eats his food, and seeing him be so commanding was almost ho- fucking christ get a grip.
“I-.. yeah, ‘kay” Nam-gyu said, confusion heavy in his tone. He started eating his food, and after a bit he actually felt like he could eat it all, so he did. Afterwards he turned to Thanos, “uhm.. Thanks, for getting the food” He said, not very used to saying ‘thank you’ so personally.
“Of course, Nam-su” Thanos said, smiling warmly, and for a second it was hard for Nam-gyu to even be mad at him for getting his name wrong again. “I do love you, y’know”
He wiat heey wahat? “What.?” Nam-gyu’s eyes snapped to the man now standing next to him, and he slowly turned to face him, still sitting on the stairs. He wondered if he had heard right, and if he did, platonic or not, it was still a crazy thing to hear from Thanos. The Thanos.
“I know you heard me.” He chuckled, slumping down into his bed, “you need to go to bed, Nam-gyu.. You haven't been sleeping well and it shows.” He sounded almost annoyed that Nam-gyu wasn't sleeping, but Nam-gyu didn't even care, all he heard was Thanos finally saying his name right.
“Y-yeah.. Totally man” He climbed into his bed, the one above Thanos, and tried to make himself feel tired enough to sleep.. But his mind really didn't wanna stop thinking, especially after what happened just before.
After a bit though, he finally managed to fall asleep, waking up suddenly to someone shaking him awake. It was Thanos, as always, straddling him and holding his shoulders tightly as he shook him, “Cmon Nam-su!! It's time for the next game!!!” he cheered, obviously doped up on whatever he had in his cross.
“Fuck-! God get off me, I'm awake!” Nam-gyu protested, pushing the other man off of him and sitting up. “You couldn;t wake me up any other way?” he wasn't actually mad. If anything, he was flustered from having the other man literally straddling him, joke or not. Eventually though, Nam-gyu got out of his bed and followed the other man towards the middle of the room as they waited to be sent into the next game.
He was nervous, he always was, but he had a bad feeling about this game, and felt the need to stay even closer to Thanos, no matter what the other thought of it. As they walked into the next room, Nam-gyu kept his hand around the arm of the other, keeping as close as he could without it seeming too out of the ordinary. Fuck he needed those pills right now, his hands were shaking. So much so that Thanos could feel it from the hand wrapped around his arm.
“Dude, you okay? You seem awfully tense today” Thanos said, though his tone of voice didn't seem all that concerned about Nam-gyu. Maybe he just found the shaking overly annoying, or maybe he was being too clingy, too close.
“I-i uh, yeah i'm fine..” Nam-gyu stumbled out, “just tired is all..” god he was an awful liar.
“You suck at lying.” Thanos said, laughing at him, “just tell me whats wrong, my boyy~ The legend Thanos will save you” He had said that last part in English, but Nam-gyu was okay enough at context clues to pick apart what he did and didn't know.
“Really it's nothing.. I just- i have a bad feeling about this” He said, his hand instinctively grabbing his arm tighter. “C'mon Nam-suuu~ It’ll be finee” Thanos reassured him, playfully shaking him before opening his cross and taking out two pills, one for himself and one for Nam-gyu, “We’ll make it through this, yeah? Together, like always”
Did he always know just what to say? “Yeah.. we- we will” Nam-gyu said, and he’d be lying if he said he didn't feel even a bit better.