#i want rei to be my gamer bf fr

[yeosangs-horizon]

One Call Away

Genre: Fluff | Friends -> Lovers | Pairing: Rei x Reader Word Count: 5.4k Content Warning(s): Mention of abusive parent Author’s Note: There may be a part 2 to this coming out soon!

You let out a sigh as you put on your gaming headphones, glancing to the side of the massive pile of papers and textbooks next to you that you knew you had to burn into your mind before your final exams. A bit of a break wouldn’t hurt right? You switched your status to online and hovered your mouse over you friend Rei’s profile.

You were deprived of human contact besides your roommate but you hadn’t seen them in awhile either as the two of you were busy gearing up for your finals, thankfully the last time you would have to do them as you would be done with university by the end of the month.

‘Wanna race?’ you typed to Rei. His instant response to you didn’t surprise you at this time of night, he would go on benders sometimes, gaming for nights in a row. He was someone who you could talk to online, although you had never met him you didn’t feel as if he had malicious intent and therefore trusted him. He wasn’t much of a talker, but he would listen to you ramble to no end. You had met him through an online forum that you would post your gaming highlight reels on and he seemed to interact with your posts every time, despite having a vast following you had noticed his interactions.

You messaged him and the two of you started chatting. It was mainly about Morio Kart, sharing techniques and talking about your favourite builds. It branched into other games the two of you shared in common too and one thing led to another and the two of you would play games together. You hadn’t spoken to him for awhile though with your busy schedule and his, as far as you knew he told you that he and his roommate were private investigators but kept pretty quiet about the specifics about his job. Nonetheless you missed him, you loved late night discussions with him, even if it was one sided. 

‘Sure.’ he simply replied. ‘Call or nah? I have a lot I wanna catch you up on’ you typed, hoping that you could get him onto a call. The two of you called a couple times in the past, you always initiated first as you picked up that he was pretty reserved. His voice took you by surprise at first, you knew that Rei was a man, but wasn’t expecting his voice to be so deep and… attractive. You hadn’t seen his face yet, but you already found him pretty attractive with his personality and voice. 

Rei looked around his surroundings, the reason why he had been so preoccupied recently and hadn’t been calling with you was because of Miri. The incident where Kazuki took in a little girl of the father that they had to kill during a mission took up most of his time. With finding a suitable daycare to buying supplies, and almost rendering the two of them broke, he had to cut back on gaming. Things were slowly going back to normal though, as normal as things could be with raising their new daughter that they had taken in. She was passed out on the couch next to him, but he usually didn’t talk that loudly anyway and Kazuki was taking a nap, why not? He turned his mic on in his headphones and pressed the button on your profile to call you. 

“What’s up Rei?” you chimed as you connected to the call. “Exhausted. Finally have some time for myself though…” he mumbled, trying not to be too loud. You had to turn up his volume. “Gah yeah, tell me about it. I’ve been so swamped with essays and studying for my finals. What’s been on your plate?” “I have a daughter now,” he bluntly spewed out. “What?” That was something you were not expecting from him, not in a million years. You had always known him as an isolated being, just wanting a kitty to accompany him but had to live with a rowdy couch crasher but took care of him. Was he seeing someone this entire time? Was it his? “You mean a cat right? You finally adopted one?” you asked lightheartedly, hoping that your previous thoughts weren’t true. “No. A little girl.” 

Damn, so it was true. The few months of getting to know him and developing bits and pieces of feelings for him shattered immediately, or so you hoped as you felt a pang in your chest.”With who?” your voice cracked a bit, hoping it wouldn’t be heard on Rei’s end. “Um during our work we ran into a little girl who was convinced that Kazuki was her papa. He looked similar to the guy in the photo she was holding to find her papa so he took her in. Now I’m kinda… forced to be a father too.” He sugar coated the fact that he had shot her actual father and now they are dealing with the consequences of their line of work. “Oh haha! So you weren’t seeing anybody and accidentally had a kid?” “(Y/N) you know how much I despise children… I wouldn’t do that, but Miri is ok… you’d like her.” You let out an invisible sigh of relief, knowing that he wasn’t seeing anyone as far as you knew. 

“That’s adorable Rei. You’ll be an amazing father! Let me know if you need me to babysit sometime, I’m surprisingly good with kids,” you joked around. You hadn’t even met him in person yet, but was this an opportunity amidst your joking manner? “(Y/N) I know you said you’re in the area, but maybe… in the future… you could?” Rei and Kazuki were exhausted by parenthood, they were looking into getting her a babysitter for the times when they would have to go scope or execute their missions in the middle of the night. “Wait actually?” “Yeah… maybe.” He was eager to lessen the load for their roommate and contribute something for once, and have a chance to meet you. Rei’s face flushed a light tint of pink, thinking about the idea of meeting you after so long. 

“Rei Papa, who are you talking to?” The sound of a little girl suddenly chimed in your headphones. You smiled a bit, Miri called him papa, how adorable. You heard him groan on the other side. “Miri go upstairs and tell Kazuki to put you to bed.” “But papa I’m not tired! I just slept! I wanna play Morio Kart!” She started to throw a tantrum. “(Y/N) I’ll message you later. I need to deal with Miri.” You chuckled, hearing him go into ‘parent mode’. “Sure, I’ll talk to you later Rei.” With that he hung up, and you grinned to yourself. He’s so adorable. Now that the highlight of your night was over, you rubbed your eyes and shifted your head towards the textbooks and papers again. You could only procrastinate for so long. You groaned as you grabbed your psychology textbook, getting back to it trying to shove Rei to the back of your mind.

You groaned as you felt your back crack, lifting yourself up from your desk. What time was it? It wasn’t the first time you had fallen asleep like that studying at your desk. Your back ached though from your posture, when had you even fallen asleep? You heard a ‘ding’ from your phone as you picked it up. It was already noon? You usually didn’t even sleep in this late. You swiped up to see your messages, two of them from Rei. ‘Sorry ‘bout last night. Do you think we could meet?’ ‘Miri wants to meet you, and we need a babysitter.’ Your heart skipped a beat, Rei was asking to meet you? You trusted that he wasn’t some creepy old man with bad intentions, you heard Miri last night too, you had to trust him that his situation was real with how much time you’ve spend with him.

You replied back, ‘Sure, what are are you located in? We can meet in public first, but I trust you.’ He sent a location at a nearby mall in the city, that was only a couple miles away from you. ‘No way that’s so close! We could meet there, when were you thinking?’ you texted back eagerly. ‘Today. If you can, at 3?.’ you started to feel giddy, you always loved meeting friends you got close to online and Rei wouldn’t be the first. Your heart started to race a bit, wondering what he looked like and if he would be the same as he was online. ‘Absolutely.’ you replied, rushing to get changed into a nicer outfit. 

Rei looked down in his phone, feeling a bit nervous now knowing that he was going to meet you in person. He had never initiated any plans with anybody else besides Kazuki before. This was foreign to him. You meant a lot to him, somebody that he could sit in silence with sometimes and he enjoyed listening to you ramble, even if he knew that he wasn’t the one to give the best advice. Through the months that the two of you had gotten closer, he also developed some sort of feelings for you although he did not know how to put it into words. He had told Kazuki the night before about your offer to babysit Miri to lessen the load for their missions and he was ecstatic. He picked out a nice suit to wear, trying to look nice for you.

He put his hair back, sideburns showing as he would usually do on his missions. He walked out of the room, tie in hand, knowing that he had to ask Kazuki to help him as he always did before their missions. “Kazuki…” he called out in routine. The blonde turned his head and gazed at him all dressed up. “Rei what’s all this for, I thought we were just meeting your friend at the mall, not going on a mission.” Rei had realized that too and started to blush as he averted his eyes from Kazuki’s direction. He caught on pretty quick. Grabbing the tie in his hand he gently put it around Rei to help him out. “Oh Rei, trying to impress them I see?” he said with a smug smile. “No…” Rei muttered. “You usually don’t give any effort in what you wear when we take Miri out to go shopping, you like em don’tcha?” he giggled. “I don’t know…” Rei answered dryly, still looking away from Kazuki with a blush. “Well in that case, I should dress up to par with you too, don’t wanna be looking like the housewife or anything and maybe I’ll impress em too!” he teased. Rei shot him a glare. “Alright I’m not some partner stealer don’t worry.” “It’s not like that,” he grumbled. Kazuki stepped back after helping Rei with his tie. He shot him a smirk. “Yet.” 

You spritz on a spray of your favourite scent. Looking in the mirror, you had a modest fashionable outfit on, trying to look your best for Rei. You picked up your phone and realized that it was already 2:45 PM. You were going to be late. You grabbed your keys and exited your shared apartment.  Your roommate caught a whiff of your strong vanilla scent that you put on and turned their head. “Headin’ out on a date?” you heard them remark. “Uh, something like that!” you shrugged whilst rushing to put on your shoes and head out the door. “Stay safe! Call me if you need an excuse to leave!” You smiled to yourself, heart racing as the time ticked down to the moment you were going to meet Rei. Surely it wouldn’t be that bad, you enjoyed his company online, even the silences became comforting at this point instead of being awkward.

You rushed towards the meeting spot, checking the time every once in awhile knowing that you still had a ways to walk. By the time you got to the entrance of the mall that Rei had texted you that they were at, you were out of breath. Hiding behind a corner, you decide to straighten yourself up and wipe the beads of sweat away from your forehead before approaching them. You took a deep breath and hoped that you didn’t smell gross from the exercise you had done to get there. You peered your head around the corner and looked down to see a little girl at your feet. “Are you (Y/N)?” she beamed. 

That must be Miri, you thought. You nodded and stammered, “Yes I am! Are you Miri?” You glanced your head up to see a blonde and a darker haired male standing not too far away looking in your direction. That must be them! You wondered which one Rei was, you had a feeling that he was the one in the suit and slicked back hair. You giggled, he’s cute. You stepped out from the shadows. “My papas wanted me to meet you!” She exclaimed with joy. She really was a bundle of happiness if you’d ever seen one. You glanced up at Rei whose eyes were widened now after noticing you and held up a hand in a slow wave. You ran towards him, time stopping a bit as you crashed into him with a hug.

You felt one arm around you patting your back awkwardly as you pulled away, a bit embarrassed as you were normally pretty touchy with the people close to you. “Sorry Rei, uh, it’s wonderful to finally meet you!” His cheeks tinted pink as he gave you a half smile. “(Y/N)... I don’t mind… this is Kazuki and Miri.” He began, mumbling the first part. “(Y/N)! Don’t I get an introductory hug too?” Kazuki joked, opening his arms up. Rei shot him a glance. You shrugged and accepted it, he patted you on the back with the embrace. He was shooting daggers at Kazuki. “Miri too!” You heard the brown haired girl exclaim. You smiled, kneeling down to pick her up as she giggled. “She seems to take a liking to you already,” Kazuki cheered. You smiled and nodded. “So (Y/N), down to be our babysitter? I’m sure Rei has already told you lots about our situation,” he grinned. “Of course! When do you need me?” He looked at Rei. “Tomorrow if you’re not busy um… but if you wanna see our apartment and familiar with things we can right now… or if you want to game,” he added the last part with a hush. “I’d love to Rei.”

The four of you walked back from the mall entrance to Rei’s flat. You and Rei trailed behind, walking in silence as Miri begged Kazuki for an ice cream cone as she noticed a stand with colourful decor. You stood next to Rei, appreciating your time with him. “You look really nice, the suit fits you.” You commented, feeling a bit shy now.” His expression softened as he glanced at you. “You’re really pretty…” he mumbled. You felt your lips tug into a smile as you blushed. “You’re sweet. I’m glad you’re just like how you are online and not some creepy human trafficker.” You joked trying to feel less shy. “Hate those kinds of creeps,” he mumbled. “Me too.” You leaned back against the wall as you watched Miri choose her ice cream flavours and Kazuki chat up the lady at the stand. You went to stretch your back as you heard a crack and lost your footing, falling into Rei who was also leaning against the wall.

Instinctively, he reached out and caught you before you smashed your head on the wall and grasped your arm. His loose strand of dark brown hanging down brushed against your face as you shifted your orbs to meet his. He’s beautiful. Realizing the predicament you were in, you hoisted yourself back up. “Sorry ah, I had a long night of studying and fell asleep at my desk!” You exclaimed, noticing his hand still having a hold on your arm. “I don’t mind…” he blushed as he slowly let go of your arm, the two of you not wanting to break contact. You looked towards the distance and saw Kazuki and Miri walking back with an ice cream in hand. You turned towards to Rei who was still flustered. “Let’s go.” 

The group arrived at the apartment and you stepped in, gazing at the luxury. I guess that was how two private investigators spent their money. “C’mon (Y/N) let me give you a tour so you know where things are for tomorrow!” Kazuki beamed. Miri followed behind closely, wanting to talk to you more. “I’ll have food prepared so it’ll be in the fridge on the top shelf, just reheat it and it’ll be good to go!” He whispered the next part. “And the pudding is in this box. Rei and Miri love pudding.” Miri’s ears perked up. “Pudding! I want pudding!” Rei turned his head too as he was messing with his consoles to prepare for you. Kazuki shook his hands frantically and hopped away. “Quickly uh, over here is where the emergency first aid is kept, never know when you might need it, and Miri’s bedroom is upstairs with the flowers on the door!” You peered down as you felt a tug on your pants. “I want to take a nap. Sleepy…” Miri mumbled. You looked at Kazuki. He sighed as he bent down to scoop her up. “Guess I’ll put her to bed now.”

You stepped away as you looked towards Rei, already sitting on the couch and gestures for you to come. You sat next to him and looked on the screen. He had already set up Morio Kart for the two of you to mess around in. He handed you a controller as you smiled. “Never thought we would be able to race together in person.” “I’ll beat you…” he said with enthusiasm in his tone. After a while of racing, you won more races against him fair and square as he sulked at your gloating. “I lost on purpose for you…” he mumbled, a half true statement. You giggled and leaned towards Rei, resting your head on his shoulder as your leg touched his. “I’m glad I could finally meet you y’know.” He hummed in agreement as he set his controller down. Kazuki hadn’t come down in awhile, assuming he had put Miri to nap and also fell asleep there himself.

The room was dark at this point as the two of you had been playing for awhile. The only light was illuminated from the TV screen, giving light to his facial features as you looked up to admire him. You felt his hand shift from his lap to gently touch yours. Your fingers mindlessly danced around his as they found their way in between his. It felt right. You relaxed against his comfort as he stiffened up, not used to this touch and physical contact. “Am I making you uncomfortable?” You asked with worry. He shook his head. “Just never had this…” you knew a bit about his past, about how rough his father treated him but not in detail and he wasn’t one to socialize around and be touchy. But he felt your hand in his and it felt comforting to him, he liked it.

Your phone lit up with a notification as you noticed the time. It was already 8 PM and you had an essay due that night. You jolted away from your position, startling Rei. “Shit sorry, I just have an essay due soon. After playing with you last night I tried to study and just passed out I’m sorry!” You apologized, knowing you had to get back and it was a walk away. “Wait (Y/N), let me drive you.” He was so thoughtful but you didn’t want to inconvenience him. “Are you sure?” He nodded firmly as he stood up to grab the keys to the car. 

You sat in the passenger seat and looked out at the window at the illuminating lights that made your face glow. You didn’t notice but Rei was staring at you at the red light. You were stunning to him, and he knew that he had fully fallen, the butterflies churning in his tummy was a dead giveaway. He had never felt anything like this before. “Sleep after you finish your work… in your bed ok?” He asked with a soft tone. You hummed. “I’ll try. What time did you want me at your place?” “Around 5. You can bring your work too if it’s too much. We’ll pay you too for your trouble…” Rei offered. You shook your head. “No need. Just take me on a date…” you mumbled the last part. “Hm?” He asked, hoping you’d repeat the last part. You lost your sudden confidence, fearful that he would not reciprocate. “Nothing, just thanks for the ride! I’ll see you tomorrow!” You beamed whilst exiting the vehicle. He watched as your figure disappeared into the darkness of your apartment complex. He couldn’t wait to see you again. And for the record he did want to take you on that date. 

You ran inside to get started on your essay with an hour or two to complete it. Trying to push Rei out of your mind for the time was difficult, the day went so well. You thoroughly enjoyed his company and had fallen for him harder than before. He checked all of your boxes in a potential partner and not to mention that he had an adorable daughter and was so thoughtful. You would have been able to fully focus if you hadn’t received a text an hour into your focused mindset from Rei that said ‘sleep well’ with a kitty blowing a kiss emoji at you. 

The following day you were exhausted. You had managed to turn in your essay on time and spent some more time studying for your finals that were coming up in about two weeks. Groaning, you knew you had to get out of bed as you had chores to do, it was your turn to clean the apartment this week and pack your things to head to Rei’s place later to babysit Miri. Shoving your textbooks and laptop into your bag, you hear a notification from your desktop and saw that it was from Rei. Your face automatically lit up as you clicked to open his message. “Need a ride?” As much as you wanted to be with him as soon as possible again, you decided that the walk was needed to get some fresh air before committing to more work again. ‘I’ll walk to destress a bit, but I can’t wait to see you again!’

As you walked out of your room to vacuum the apartment, you seemed in a happier mood than usual as your roommate noticed you from the kitchen table. “Date went well yesterday?” they asked grinning at you. “Uh yeah! Gonna babysit his kid today,” you remarked. “Damn (Y/N), getting it on with a dad?” they smirked. “Nah it’s not like that, just a special circumstance.” “Well just make sure he’s not a player or a liar.” “He’s not like that, just an extreme introvert who loves to play games,” you smiled. 

Rei stared at himself in the closet, knowing that had to wear stealth clothes to blend in with the public, meaning just his regular attire and not a suit. He wanted to impress you again, a bit fearful that you wouldn’t find him attractive with his hair down. Kazuki caught onto his tension and made his way over. “Relax, I have a feeling that (Y/N) likes you for you, don’t worry about it too much.” He tensed up with embarrassment, not knowing that he could give away his emotions that easily. “How do you know?” “Just trust me Rei,” he grinned. Just as you were on the topic of their conversation, they heard you knocking on the door and an excited squeal from Miri as she came running from her bedroom.

Rei was the one to quickly rush to the door to greet you. “Nice to see you again Rei. Missed you,” you added with a giggle. He felt his heart race a bit as you flirted with him. “You too,” he stuttered out. Miri ran between the two of you and wrapped her small arms around your legs. “(Y/N)! Papa Rei, do I get to spend time with them tonight when you’re gone?” Your gaze softened at Rei after hearing Miri call him papa. The more time you spent with him, the more qualities you saw in him to be a good father, even if he was distant and didn’t act like an adult at times. “Yes Miri, we’re going to be out for awhile. Don’t give (Y/N) a hard time.” She nodded with enthusiasm. He gazed at you again, taking in your comfortable sweater that you had on you and your sweats. You didn’t bother dressing up today as you were focused on chores and your homework. You caught on his gaze and chuckled, “I got busy this morning, sorry for not looking my best,” you excused.

He shook his head, “No you look… stunning,” he confessed. You noticed how casual he looked too and imagined that he would be looking like that when talking to you. “So are you,” you smiled. The moment was interrupted by Kazuki swinging his arm around Rei’s neck. “Watch it…’ Rei mumbled. “Let’s go or else we’ll miss the check-in time!” Kazuki exclaimed enthusiastically. You assumed that they were doing some private investigative work tonight. “Oh hey (Y/N) have fun with Miri tonight we’ll be out for awhile!” You waved at him as they walked out the door. “Good luck!” you called out, now turning your gaze towards Miri. “Papa told you where the pudding is! Gimmie!” 

Spoonfuls of pudding later, you put on her favourite TV show for her to watch as you got started on an assignment. You were in the zone before you heard a ‘ding’ from your phone, a notification from Rei. ‘Hope Miri isn’t giving you a hard time.’ It wrote. You smiled and looked at her and replied. ‘Not at all, she’s watching her show and I’m just catching up on some assignments. I miss playing games with you on the couch though :(‘ Miri noticed your preoccupation with your phone. “(Y/N) you’re done with your homework already? Can we play Morio Kart?” You glanced down at her and sighed. “Not yet Miri. Unfortunately I was just got distracted with your papa texting me.” ‘Ding.’ Another notification. “Me too. It’s so boring here at this festival with Kazuki. I wish I could have brought you.’

You smiled at his text, imagining yourself on a date with him there. ‘Me too Rei. I’ll put Miri to bed soon and wait for you to come back. Stay safe ok?’ You put down your phone as Miri was looking at you with widened eyes. “What did my papas say?” she asked curiously. You smiled and shook your head. “Nothing too important, Rei just said that he was bored doing his job. I can imagine that takes a lot of time and patience.” She nodded and turned towards the kitchen. “I’m hungry (Y/N).” You glanced down at your half finished assignment and the kitchen. You suppose dinner couldn’t hurt your progress. 

You served Miri dinner and had some yourself. Kazuki made pad thai, something you really liked and the flavors hit just right. You didn’t know how he knew, but you guessed Miri liked it just as much as you. The only person you’d told that to as of recently was Rei, perhaps he had spilled the beans to Kazuki about your favourite food, how sweet. You took initiative and washed the dishes for them, knowing that it must be tiring coming back from work to doing more chores. Soon after you tucked Miri into bed and read her one of her favourite bedtime stories. Closing the door behind you, you made your way down into the living room to finish your assignment again. Putting in some of your favourite tunes on the TV, you got to work but not before texting Rei that Miri was tucked away in bed and you were going to try to get your assignments done. He left you smiling by writing to you, ‘Be back soon. Things are going well.’ and reacting to your message with a heart. 

You knocked out two assignments before midnight. You wondered when Rei and Kazuki were going to be home, and by this time your eyelids felt heavy and you were quickly losing concentration in your textbooks. You weren’t sure when you passed out but you were softly snoring on the couch when the duo walked inside the flat. Rei’s eyes instantly fell upon you, looking at how the moonlit illuminated your skin and your peaceful expression. Kazuki noticed and whispered to Rei, “I’ll leave it up to you. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He got a slight smack on the shoulder from Rei. 

Rei quietly made his way next to you, but not before grabbing a blanket from the extra closet they had. He sat down slowly, hoping to not disturb your sleeping state. He draped the soft blanket over you whilst placing a hand on your cheek. He knew that he was in love with you. You made his life so much easier and was there to support him and trusted him enough to babysit his kid and come over to his house on the first day of meeting him. He felt himself smile and let go the angst that he had. He ran his fingers through your locks whilst leaning down and placing a small kiss on your forehead. He didn’t want to leave your side. He wanted to feel your palm in his again and your touch. You stirred in your sleep, making him a bit startled but still caressing your cheek. “Rei…” you mumbled half coherent about what was going on. His gaze softened whilst staring at you, letting himself admire you against the moonlight. He was definitely going to take you on that date to make up for your hard work today.

You shifted as the morning sunlight hit your eyes. Moving around, you felt your back hit against a warm wall and slowly, you realized that there was someone behind you. You gazed down and saw an arm that was draped over you and the sound of quiet breathing behind you. You took it to be Rei instantly. You looked at your mess of papers around the coffee table and realized that you had probably passed out a bit after midnight in their house. You felt a bit guilty for staying over without asking and unintentionally, but you couldn’t help feel a bit flushed in the cheeks as your heartbeat started to race after realizing that Rei was cuddling you.

You saw the blanket over you and realized that he had probably come home to find you passed out on his couch and didn’t want to leave you to freeze in the middle of the night. You smiled, gazing at his mouth half open and messy brown locks that splayed across the couch and his face. Letting yourself feel comfortable in his embrace, you felt him shift and bury his face in the crook of your neck. “Good morning to you too Rei,” you mused. He opened his eyes and found his limbs with yours. He jolted up a bit, startling you. “Ah shit, I thought I was dreaming. Sorry for… that,” he sheepishly stated. You stared at him, realizing that he may have feelings for you too. Fuck it. You closed the distance between the two of you and captured his lips in yours.

You felt his hand cup your jaw and pull you in closer. After a heartwarming kiss, you pulled away and giggled. “I like you a lot Rei, I didn’t mind waking up to you cuddling me this morning. It was so adorable.” He looked down and replied in a hush, “Me too (Y/N), does this make us…” he trailed off. “I’d love to be yours. I’ve had feelings for you for awhile y’know.” He pulled you into another kiss, wrapping his arms around you and embraced your warmth. 

“I’ll take you out on that date, thank you for taking care of Miri and loving me.”